"Does Lord Xiao have many children?"
"...... No."
"Oh."
Xiao Tian finally saw Yi Qing's inheritance in Baozi.
Yi Qing was aggressive, while this kid... was sullen.
Xiao Tian felt his face flush. He cleared his throat and said, "...... But there are many children in my comrade's family."
He just hadn't seen them. This didn't count as lying.
Xiao Tian carved a small wooden sword for Baozi. Whenever he was free, the big one and the small one would practice sword - fighting in the yard.
As they practiced, Baozi might have felt lonely without an opponent, so he let the chickens out of the coop.
Now that he had something to do, his friendship with the chickens came to an end. He turned against them.
So, in the yard, the chickens flew and the kid jumped around. Xiao Tian was laughing. It was really lively!
Yi Qing closed the window. Out of sight, out of mind.
Anyway, there were feathers and chicken droppings all over the place. Whoever caused the mess should clean it up. She wasn't going to pinch her nose and deal with it.
Zisu said, "Why don't you consider seducing Xiao Tian? At least he's nice to your son."
Yi Qing: "...... Just settle your accounts!"
Zisu was settling the accounts and handing them in. She was about to leave.
After Baozi and Xiao Tian had enough fun, they held hands and went to the sweet - water shop at the village entrance.
The sweet water there was added with ice and tasted especially good.
He was just telling Xiao Tian about this.
"Leave? Where is she going? Isn't she your mother's maid?" Actually, Xiao Tian had always found it strange that there could be such an unruly maid as Zisu.
"Aunt Zisu has to leave at this time every year and will come back in early spring next year." Baozi swayed his short legs. "She said she couldn't stand the cold in winter and had to go to the south to avoid it."
"Your Aunt Zisu, isn't she a swallow spirit?" Xiao Tian joked.
Baozi's cheeks puffed up, and his big, bright black eyes stared round: "Lord Xiao, you can't talk about my Aunt Zisu like that."
Seeing that he was about to get angry, Xiao Tian said, "I'm just joking. Don't you think Aunt Zisu is a bit strange?"
This remark was somewhat of a probe.
But Baozi said, "I don't think so. What's strange about her?"
Xiao Tian: "...... When did she come to your mother's side?"
"Anyway, she's been there since I can remember."
Well, how many years could you remember?
The owner of the sweet - water shop raised several cats. They jumped back and forth between the tables and chairs, looking very leisurely. Baozi stared at them blankly.
When Xiao Tian talked to him again, he found that he had drifted off.
Following his gaze, Xiao Tian asked, "What are you looking at? Cats?"
"Yeah, cats are cute." Baozi said concisely.
"If you like, you can find a kitten to raise."
There were cats everywhere in the countryside. They weren't anything special.
"My mother doesn't like cats or dogs, and she won't let me raise them." Baozi said regretfully.
"Why doesn't she like them?"
"She thinks they're dirty."
It wasn't hard to understand Yi Qing. In the countryside, there were no conditions like modern families for raising cats and dogs. There were no vacuum cleaners for the shedding hair, the animals walked around everywhere, and it was inconvenient to bathe them...
"Then..." Thinking of Yi Qing's toughness, Xiao Tian said, "Let's not provoke her. If you like, I'll take you out to play with the cats here."
"Okay."
Zisu left soon.
She carried a big package on her back and her heavy sword. Like a lone female knight - errant, her back was lonely but firm as she left.
Each autumn rain brought a bit more cold. The weather gradually turned cold. Baozi changed from a thin shirt to a lined jacket. Seeing that Xiao Tian was still dressed as when he came, he said enviously, "Lord Xiao, aren't you cold?"
Xiao Tian stretched out his chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat for him: "Eat more meat. You'll grow taller and won't be afraid of the cold."
Baozi actually buried his head and ate hard like a fool. He ate half a bowl more rice than before.
Yi Qing felt that her son had been won over by Xiao Tian.
She originally thought that it would be more than a decade later when he got married and forgot his mother. How come being with a glutton like this, there was already a risk of him forgetting his mother now?
But she had to admit that since Xiao Tian came, Baozi had become much more lively than before.
Yi Qing thought she was clear - eyed about gratitude and resentment, so she was a bit nicer to Xiao Tian.
What she could do for him, of course, was to serve him delicious food and good drinks.
The food was, of course, no problem. As for the drinks? She could also make wine, which was much better than the watered - down wine that could be bought in the village.
One day, when Xiao Tian came back from teaching Baozi, he saw a small bowl of red liquid on the table, emitting a strong aroma of wine. He couldn't help asking, "What's this?"
"I made some wine for fun when I was free." Yi Qing said proudly.
"Why is it red?"
"I used red yeast rice."
"Let me have a taste." Xiao Tian picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He even ate up the glutinous rice soaked in the wine at the bottom of the bowl.
The glutinous rice was filled with a strong aroma of wine, very delicious and leaving one wanting more.
Yi Qing didn't have time to stop him. Her eyes widened.
Xiao Tian: "...... What's wrong? Can't I drink it?"
You've already drunk it all and you're asking me if you can drink it? Yi Qing pursed her lips. "You can."
That was the wine she had taken a sip of...
Forget it, she wouldn't say anything.
Xiao Tian said, "Do you have more? Give me another bowl."
Baozi looked at them longingly.
Yi Qing said, "It's in the kitchen. Go and serve it yourself. Baozi, this is wine. You're still too young to touch it."
Regret showed on Baozi's face, but he still nodded obediently.
"Come on, I'll take you to the kitchen to wash your hands." Xiao Tian took Baozi's hand.