The bun, as if seeing through his suspicion, proudly raised his head and said, "My mother is a divine doctor. Even if she can't read, she's still a divine doctor."
Guard Xiao quietly asked the bun some more questions and got a clear idea of the daily life of the mother and son.
It turned out that they made a living by practicing medicine. It was really not easy for a woman to raise a child on her own. He knew the Yi family well; they would never send silver.
It was out of necessity for survival. As long as they hadn't harmed anyone's life, Guard Xiao thought he could probably understand.
"Don't you want to ask me about General Xiao?" Guard Xiao asked. "I can tell you."
The bun shook his head. "No. What I said is what I think."
"Dinner's ready! Bun, come and set the tableware!" Yi Qing's clear voice rang out.
"Coming." The bun jumped off the chair, lifted the curtain and ran out. Then he poked his head back in and said to Guard Xiao, "Help yourself. Oh, go wash your hands first. My mother hates it most when people eat without washing their hands."
Guard Xiao didn't need anyone's help. He found a basin in the yard, fetched water and washed his hands. He watched as the little bun set the tableware, Zi Su served the dishes, while Yi Qing was taking off her apron and casually tucking the hair that had fallen from her temples.
Although she was dressed in plain white, her graceful figure and charming face were hard to hide.
She said she was twenty years old and her child was already four and a half years old, but she looked like a girl of fourteen or fifteen. Standing there prettily, she was really eye - catching.
The dishes on the table were simple but full of a homely atmosphere. Looking at them, Guard Xiao felt as if he had never eaten like this before.
"We're just a small family. We don't have the custom of separate seating. Just make do with it." Yi Qing said grumpily as she picked up her chopsticks and put some braised pork into the bun's bowl.
Guard Xiao sat down beside her, looking a bit cramped.
Zi Su served him a bowl of noodles with two poached eggs and a handful of green vegetables on it. It looked quite ordinary, but when he ate it, he found the noodles were chewy and the noodle soup was delicious.
The braised pork melted in his mouth, fragrant and soft. Guard Xiao ate all the food in his bowl and then felt a bit embarrassed.
It seemed Yi Qing hadn't taken a single bite herself.
"One more bowl of noodles." Guard Xiao said.
Yi Qing: "… There's none left."
When she served him the noodles, she had used the biggest bowl in the family, which was almost like a basin. One person had eaten as much as three people, and he still wanted another bowl?
She couldn't afford to feed him!
Guard Xiao felt a bit awkward.
"Could you make do with it? There's still some braised pork in the pot. Have a bowl of it to fill your stomach, okay?" Yi Qing said patiently.
Anyway, the man had given them silver, and it was reasonable for him to ask for enough food.
But she was too lazy to cook, so she had to be patient.
What Guard Xiao was thinking: It suits me fine.
"Alright then." He said reluctantly.
Yi Qing put all the remaining braised pork into his bowl and said resentfully, "May it make you sick of it."
But in the end, Guard Xiao still seemed unsatisfied after finishing it.
Yi Qing was stunned, and so was the bun.
He never knew that a man could eat so much.
Guard Xiao said to the bun, "When I was in the army, I could eat eight bowls of rice in one meal."
The bun immediately looked at him with admiration.
Yi Qing slapped her forehead. Son, why are you admiring a glutton?
Zi Su washed the dishes and then took the bun to have classes.
"Where are you going?"
"There's an old gentleman in the neighboring village who is very knowledgeable. The bun goes to him for lessons on the second, twelfth and twenty - second days of each ten - day period." Yi Qing said.
While saying this, she was sitting in front of the desk in the west wing, drawing something that looked like "scribbles" to Guard Xiao.
Yi Qing was thinking about moving the desk out, but then she thought Guard Xiao would probably only stay for a few days, so it wasn't worth the trouble.
She was pondering a new prescription. A good memory is not as good as a bad pen. As long as she could recognize it, that was enough.
"By the way, Guard Xiao, what's your name?" Yi Qing suddenly remembered this question. "Are you a distant relative of General Xiao or were you given the surname Xiao as a reward for your merits?"
Guard Xiao picked up a writing brush from the penholder. "Snap - " It broke.
Yi Qing: "…"
It cost thirty copper coins! Gone just like that?
She glared at him angrily. "Thirty copper coins!"
Guard Xiao looked at her pouting face. "No wonder it's so lousy."
"Whoever marries you in the future will be in for a tough time. You'll probably break her back." Yi Qing said grumpily and handed him the pen in her hand. "Use it carefully!"
Guard Xiao blushed a bit, while Yi Qing didn't even realize she had made a naughty remark.
Guard Xiao picked up the pen and wrote a few characters on the paper.
"This is my name." He pushed the paper in front of Yi Qing.
Yi Qing looked at it carefully and was suddenly overjoyed. She could actually recognize all of them. For a semi - illiterate person like her, wasn't this fate!
"Xiao Tian Wen?"
It was a good name, easy to understand, and there would be no such tragic situation where others had already handed in their papers while he was still writing his name.
It was just that this "sweet - sounding" name didn't seem to match this serious man.
"Xiao Tian! Tian!" Guard Xiao said through gritted teeth.
He thought he was quite good at keeping his temper, but he just couldn't stand this kind of woman.
"Little Sweetie? So sweet?" Yi Qing laughed out loud. "Then I'll call myself Britney."
Although Xiao Tian didn't know what she meant, he instinctively retorted, "Like mud that can't be plastered on the wall?"
Yi Qing: "Humph!"