Lu Hanbai snatched his bowl away.
Jiang Queyun eagerly served the food to Lu Yu. This child was the apple of Lu Hanbai’s eye and the treasure in his palm; surely he had to be well-protected and cared for?
“If it is not enough, just call me, and I will give you more rice.”
“Where is my dad’s food? Did you eat it all?” Lu Yu asked, sticking out his neck with a wary expression.
In the past, this troublemaker would eat all the food and leave him only the scraping at the bottom of the bowl!
If there was not a portion for his dad, it was better to save his own.
Jiang Queyun shook his head like an electric fan. “Look at what you are saying. Am I that unreasonable? Your dad naturally has his own.”
The neck that Lu Yu had been sticking out gradually relaxed.
Although he was suspicious that Jiang Queyun had undergone such a drastic change of heart, since the other person was being nice to him right now and had not done anything bad, he naturally could not be discourteous anymore. He nodded at Jiang Queyun, displaying a bit of a young master’s demeanor after all.
Once Jiang Queyun walked back out, however, he let out a heavy sigh. This meal was enough, and the next two days would be enough too, but a couple of days after that would not be. The household was running out of food.
Thinking about all this, Jiang Queyun felt that even the bits of minced meat in his mouth lost their flavor.
With the family’s current state of barely having enough to eat, he still needed to figure out a way to make money quickly. But what could he do to make money?
He had indeed read quite a few novels, but knowledge gained from books was ultimately superficial. If he really wanted to accomplish something, he still had to try it out for himself. Unfortunately, the family’s conditions were limited, so he had to start by doing something that did not require any startup capital.
“If you are going to eat, eat properly. What is with that hunched back and slouched posture?” Lu Hanbai frowned. Reluctant as he was to speak to him, he could not stand seeing him looking so lazy.
If it were the previous days when he returned, he would not have said a single word. Saying this today was mostly because he felt Jiang Queyun was genuinely repentant.
Jiang Queyun gave a dry oh, slowly straightening his posture. Before long, his leg started moving restlessly, wanting to step onto the bench. Glancing sideways at the upright and proper Lu Hanbai, he quietly put his leg back in place.
After Jiang Queyun put down his bowl and chopsticks, Lu Hanbai quickly shoveled down his rice. As soon as he finished, he efficiently cleared away all the tableware, which actually saved Jiang Queyun the trouble.
He did not like washing greasy bowls to begin with, let alone washing them with pot ash. He could not stand it.
Lu Hanbai worked efficiently. Seeing him finish washing the dishes and enter the small room, Jiang Queyun subconsciously wanted to follow to check on Lu Yu’s condition, only to overhear the conversation between father and son.
“Dad, is the money for private school really enough? Did we earn it all this time? Is there any left over?” Lu Yu swallowed the food in his mouth before asking.
Lu Hanbai’s gaze drifted slightly. Sensitively sensing someone outside, he calmly changed his story. “We did not earn much. I will go borrow some more so you can study.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Queyun silently pulled his foot back. Even Lu Hanbai admitted the family had no money. If he had said this to him directly, Jiang Queyun certainly would not have believed it, but since he was telling his own beloved son, it definitely was not a lie.
Lu Yu was already seven years old. It was time for him to start first grade. How could a child not study? Only by studying could one find a way out.
With the family’s difficult conditions, even if he wanted to do some small business, he did not have the capital for trial and error. He still had to play it safe first.
Speaking of this, back when he was at the rural orphanage, he always followed Granny, the director, to dig up medicinal roots. Herbs were precious things and would definitely fetch some copper coins!
Every little bit saved helped. He had to coax this father and son duo first. Otherwise, having them glare at him and talk about killing him all day long would not do. Life was too precious.
“I want to make a trip into the mountain.” Jiang Queyun put a small hoe into his bamboo basket and then called out loudly to the people inside the house.
The people inside did not respond, clearly not wanting to pay him any mind at all. Jiang Queyun did not care, though. Ignoring him was actually a good thing, as he did not want to keep seeing that fierce face either.
Although the original owner was lazy and slick, he had at least gone into the mountains and farmed the fields, knowing which mountain slopes were safe to enter and which were not. Relying on his memories, Jiang Queyun shouldered his small basket and started hunching over to search for herbs.
The villagers knew how to dig for wild vegetables, but rarely dug for medicinal herbs.
After all, wild vegetables and fruits could directly fill one’s stomach, whereas medicinal herbs took time and effort to dig in large quantities, had to be dried, and needed to reach a certain weight before they could be sold. By comparison, the crops in the fields that required constant attention were naturally much more important.
Coupled with differences in knowledge, even if a sparse few villagers dug for herbs, they only dug common ones like dandelions that they knew how to use themselves, which was different from what Jiang Queyun wanted to dig.
What he wanted to dig were madder roots and black firewood roots.
In March, the sun in the mountains was already becoming scorching.
Madder roots were everywhere. Plus, the villagers only knew that the leaves and stems of this plant were prickly, having no idea of its actual uses. Since no one had ever dug them up, they grew luxuriantly.
Jiang Queyun diligently dug them up, every single plant boasting thick roots and large stalks that felt heavy in the palm of his hand.
At first, he dug up both large and small ones, but once he encountered old roots, a single old root was worth a dozen small ones, so the tiny ones naturally lost his interest.
Wandering through the mountains, Jiang Queyun quickly dug up a full basket of madder roots, mixed with black firewood roots, a solid, heavily weighted basket.
It was not until the sky gradually grew dim that he reluctantly turned back.
“Oh my, Yun Ge’er, what are you digging up there? Has the Lu family been driven to eating grass roots by you?”
Jiang Queyun stared at her for a long moment before recognizing that the speaker was Aunt Xiaohua, the village gossip who had to poke her nose into every family’s business and would love nothing more than to find out what happened under everyone else’s covers.
Too lazy to argue with her, Jiang Queyun went along with her words. “Yeah, does Aunt Xiaohua’s family still have extra food? Why not lend me some? Save me from eating chaff and vegetable mash.”
At a time like this, no household was particularly well-off. How could anyone just lend grain like that?
Besides, given Jiang Queyun’s notorious reputation, who would dare lend him grain? That would be like sending meat dumplings to feed a dog.
Aunt Xiaohua waved her hands repeatedly. “It is getting late. I have to rush home to start the fire and cook, so I will not stand here chatting idly with you.”
Whenever she encountered a hard question to answer, she stopped talking again.
Jiang Queyun curled his lips. The best way to shut someone up was probably to ask to borrow money.
Carrying the heavy basket, he walked home. As he got closer, he saw wisps of cooking smoke rising. It looked like they were getting ready to make dinner.
He had been gone the entire afternoon, and they had not even bothered to look for him?
“I am back.” Jiang Queyun greeted out of habit, then placed the basket under the eaves and dumped out all the herbs to dry them.
Lu Hanbai’s cooking skills were limited to boiling these greens until they were cooked, which was how he had done it for the past three years in Beihe Village. However, after tasting Jiang Queyun’s cooking at noon, he found himself missing it a little.
It did not matter much to him if he ate boiled greens, but Lu Yu had injuries, so eating something better was naturally better. How could he bring it up naturally?
“I will make it.” Jiang Queyun stood behind him, raising a clear, clean, and pretty face washed with plain water. “Lu Yu has injuries on his body. He can not eat anything too greasy, nor too bland.”
“Please go ahead.” Lu Hanbai gestured with his hand, the look he cast at Jiang Queyun carrying a hint of appraisal.
This person seemed very different from before.
Before, he was afraid of him too, but it was mostly flattery and fawning. Now, however, the fear was mixed with evasion and openness.
A person’s nature might not always remain the same, but the gap between before and now was so huge that no matter how you looked at it, there was something fishy going on. He needed to observe more; their current situation could not weather any storms.
The early March weather after sunset was still somewhat chilly. Jiang Queyun worried over the dwindling grain, but still resolutely scooped out a bowl of white flour, getting ready to pull dough-pieces for dinner.
As he kneaded the dough, he softly reminded him. “The flour vat at home is hitting the bottom. Shouldn’t we buy some back?”
“Tomorrow I will go to town and buy some back. You do not need to worry about this.” Lu Hanbai glanced sideways at him. “You are much more sensible than before. It seems you are just used to bullying the soft and fearing the hard.”
“If that is what you think, there is nothing I can do.” Jiang Queyun muttered with some displeasure, classic jerk quotes slipping right out of his mouth.
Is that not exactly how Lu Hanbai thought?
He actually felt as though he had thrown a punch at a cotton ball, and he longed to shut that bickering mouth up.
He thought again of the grass roots Jiang Queyun had brought back. Medicinal herbs had to be dried before they could be sold. He was just waiting for Jiang Queyun to beg him.
Thinking of this, he finally felt a bit better.
A pot of light dough-soup was done. Jiang Queyun filled his small bowl to the brim and retreated under the eaves to eat, pausing every now and then to push aside the medicinal roots, striving to get them dried by tomorrow.
“You are just eating this?” Lu Hanbai lowered his gaze to look at him.
“This is enough for me. You two father and son can split what is in the pot.” Jiang Queyun did not look at him, gazing with rapt joy at his medicinal roots, there were at least two jin of them, which surely could be exchanged for some rice and flour.
He did not really want to meddle with the Lu family father and son either, but since they still held deep prejudices against him, he figured he should do something to win their favor, hoping they would not glare at him coldly all day long. It was terrifying enough to scare him to death.
Besides, judging by the current situation, he would likely be staying in the Lu family for a long time. Since he bore so many undeserved reputations, for the sake of this little life, he had to tuck his tail between his legs and properly live out his days.
A dog-tempered kid. A life-threatening dad. And poor him.
Poor him stared as the long-legged, tough, and sturdy hunk walked into the house, saliva practically threatening to drip into his bowl. What a pity, what a pity, this fierce, mighty, unyielding hero was destined to belong to someone else.
Jiang Queyun sighed lightly. Before he could continue lamenting, he heard a soft, lingering voice.
“Why are you sighing?”
“You scared me!” He widened his eyes at Lu Hanbai, looking like a ruffled lion.
Lu Hanbai took in every bit of his reddened cheeks and let out a light snort. “If you did not have a guilty conscience, how could you be scared by me? Jiang Queyun, you are not honest.”
Caught right on the spot, Jiang Queyun wanted to jump up and punch him in the knee.
I am not honest, so what? Go call the police. Go report me to the officials!
If you see through it, do not point it out, understand? Zero boundaries!
“I am talking to you.” Lu Hanbai frowned at him. “Why are you so devoid of manners?”
Jiang Queyun pointed a finger at himself. Me again?
“Not a single word you say is anything I want to hear. I do not want to deal with you!” Jiang Queyun finished speaking and lowered his head to shovel down his dough-pieces.
Chew chew chew chew chew.
Anyway, whoever wanted to talk to him could talk. He certainly was not going to!
Lu Hanbai had clearly never encountered such a situation before. He looked at Jiang Queyun in disbelief. “Is this the attitude you should have when speaking to me?”
“Then how am I supposed to talk? Do I need to find a table and enshrine you like an idol?” Jiang Queyun slurped the last bite of his dough-piece into his mouth, stood up with his hands on his hips in exasperation, and blurted out. “You are so annoying!”
“I am annoying?!” Lu Hanbai’s eyes widened.
“Yes.” Jiang Queyun nodded with exaggerated politeness.
Lu Hanbai snatched his bowl away and took it off to wash without looking back.
His guess was right. Jiang Queyun really was different from before.