Chapter 5 Male Mothers

When Lu Yuan woke up, it was already the next morning. His head was still groggy, and he couldn’t remember what he had done last night. He only remembered that he could drink a lot, but he was knocked down by a glass of millet wine. It was so embarrassing.

Crumpling his nose, Lu Yuan only smelled the clear and fragrant smell of washed clothes. He nudged into the quilt, found a comfortable position, and slowly closed his eyes.

He was hungover and needed to rest.

“Hmm…” A low groan, like plucking a string, scared Lu Yuan, and then he found that there was a person lying on the inside of the bed. It seemed that he had nudged him just now. Although he didn’t wake up, he frowned and looked very uncomfortable.

Everyone in Shihe Village got up very early. Su Huai got up at dawn every day to work. These days, Lu Yuan never saw Su Huai sleeping next to him when he woke up. Today, Su Huai seemed to be really tired, and he slept soundly. His face looked gentle because of the shallow closed eyes. The hair that was usually neat was now loose, a little messy, but it looked soft. Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh that he was much more pleasing to the eye when he was asleep than when he was awake.

Su Huai didn’t sleep well, and he was about to wake up. He turned over, and the quilt rustled. He put his arms around him and naturally wrapped Lu Yuan in his arms.

Lu Yuan was startled by Su Huai. Su Huai’s slightly heavy hot breath swept over his earlobe, making Lu Yuan uncomfortable all over. Then he realized that he had to quickly get out of his clutches. After a little struggle, Su Huai snorted impatiently. Lu Yuan looked up in shock, and met Su Huai’s eyelashes trembling slightly before he opened his eyes.

What a pair of terrifying eyes…

“I…” Lu Yuan couldn’t react for a while. His mind was filled with only one sentence – is this what it means to be angry? 

“Go away!” Su Huai seemed not to be fully awake yet, and kicked Lu Yuan aside. Then he wrapped himself in a quilt and continued to sleep in a daze.

Lu Yuan rolled off the bed after being kicked, and shivered on the edge of the bed. He looked at Su Huai who was sleeping comfortably wrapped in a quilt: “Brother Su!”

“Huh?” Su Huai frowned, raised his eyelids, and his impatient black face was very scary.

“Uh… I’m cold…” His voice was very unconfident, and Lu Yuan wanted to slap himself in the face.

“So troublesome!” Su Huai muttered, but lifted a corner of the quilt: “Hurry up! The cold air is coming in!”

The mattress rustled, and the quilt bulged with the rising and falling with the movements of the people inside.

 “Go to sleep, it’s crowded!”

“But I didn’t cover myself with the quilt…”

“If you keep moving, I’ll kick you down!”

“…”

*

After the twelfth lunar month, the weather became increasingly cold. When the wind blew hard outside, the walls seemed to be leaking. Lu Yuan was often woken up by the cold at night recently, and couldn’t help but rub against Su Huai’s side to absorb the slightly higher body temperature. Even so, when he woke up, his feet were still cold. Lu Yuan was looking forward to this torturous winter passing quickly.

That day, Lu Yuan was sitting in front of the brazier wrapped in a quilt and warming himself by the fire. Hearing a commotion outside, he maintained the posture of a big dumpling and prepared to peek at the door. As soon as he reached the door, the door opened with a whoosh.

 “Doctor Su, this is your brother, right? What’s his name? Ah! Right! Xiao Yuan, hahaha!” A sturdy man with a stubble on his face walked in and rubbed Lu Yuan’s head, causing Lu Yuan to stagger. The man laughed even louder.

Since Lu Yuan’s activities expanded to the alley outside, he has gradually come into contact with some villagers. The neighbors who seem to show great interest in him often ask him questions. Now Lu Yuan is more or less familiar with the people in this alley. Most of the men who follow Su Huai home are neighbors.

The more familiar Lu Yuan is with this small village, the more he feels something is wrong. He has seen a lot of villagers, those who work hard, those who manage the household, those who are lazy and gluttonous, all kinds of people, but they are all big men, without a single woman!

 “Hey, big bearded man, stop teasing the kid! Hurry up and help Doctor Su with his work!” The person who spoke was the eldest brother of the Li family who had just had a baby. He laughed very cheerfully and came over to pat Su Huai on the shoulder: “Aren’t we building a kang? Let’s do it if we say so. Don’t disturb Doctor Su’s sleep!”

“Kang?” Lu Yuan was from the south. It took him a long time to understand what they were talking about. He was a little curious.

“Ha… I was wondering why Doctor Su suddenly wanted to build a kang! It turns out that this little brother is afraid of the cold!” A tall young man appeared from nowhere and looked at Lu Yuan while laughing. Lu Yuan was a little embarrassed when he thought of his aggrieved outfit and laughed foolishly. Then he heard that young man talking a lot.

 “I say, Doctor Su, my father advised you to build a kang to get through the winter, but you thought it was troublesome and refused to do it no matter what I said! Now your little brother’s skin and flesh can’t stand the cold, and you don’t think it’s troublesome?”

“Ha… Our Doctor Su looks like he doesn’t like to talk to people, but everyone knows that he has a soft heart! When my wife was ill, I came to see him, but I was really scared by his cold face and turned away! Haha… If he hadn’t grabbed me and said “Do you still want me to treat the patient?” I was really scared back!”

“That’s right! Old Su, you should change your bad habits! Otherwise, with our doctor Su’s conditions, how can he not be a man in his twenties? When I was your age, I had children…”

Several men gathered together, talking more and more frivolously. Su Huai’s face sank, and he quickly sent them to build a kang. Lu Yuan wanted to go over to watch the fun, but Su Huai stopped him with a cold face.

 “Don’t go over and make trouble.”

Lu Yuan pursed his lips. He had figured out Su Huai’s personality these days. He was a typical person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. He didn’t argue with him. Instead, he blinked: “What? Brother Su, are you afraid that they will tell me something? Are you embarrassed?” Lu Yuan smiled and suddenly remembered something: “By the way, what did the brother with the dog-skin hat mean when he said that you don’t like gers?”

He wanted to ask what this ger was, but Su Huai’s stinky face immediately choked Lu Yuan. Then he watched Su Huai, who was provoked, leave him and turn around and walk away.

They did it right away. The men were honest people. They dismantled Su Huai’s original broken wooden bed in a few seconds. The courtyard had already brought in dust and bricks. They first made a half-high kang on the ground, and then built a “J”-shaped flue with bricks.

 Su Huai was busy with work and had no time to care about Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan took the initiative to serve tea and water. Of course, the main purpose was to see how the kang was built.

The guy who talked the most was the youngest son of the Wang family next door. He was tall and thin, and his nickname was Ganzi. He was the most enthusiastic and about the same age as Lu Yuan. He helped and talked to Lu Yuan at the same time.

 “This is called a kang cave. The kang cave is connected to the chimney outside. When the fire is lit on the stove, the hot air will go through the chimney, go around in the kang cave, and then it will be warm.” Ganzi smiled at Lu Yuan, wiped his dirty hands on the hem of his clothes, took the bowl, and drank it all up. When he returned the bowl to Lu Yuan, he saw his hands were a little red from the cold: “Haha! Doctor Su really loves you, brother. I see that your hands have never worked before and can’t stand the cold.” As he said that, he reached into his pocket for a long time, took out a small red round box, and stuffed it into Lu Yuan’s hand.

 “Here!” Ganzi smiled, his two canine teeth looked particularly energetic: “I got this from my daddy, it’s to please a ger I like in the future! Anyway, I’m still too young for gers, and since you’re so pitiful, I’ll give it to you first. Apply it on the back of your hand, I guarantee you won’t get frostbite!”

“Haha… Thank you, brother Ganzi!” Ganzi was enthusiastic, and Lu Yuan couldn’t say no. The small box was dirty and smelled of lard. To be honest, he really disliked this ancient times “hand cream”.

Ganzi said that and went to help wipe the kang. Lu Yuan quickly stuffed the small box into his belt. He didn’t want to be like Ganzi, holding this thing against his chest.

Layer after layer of yellow mud was applied, and the kang had taken shape. Next, the bricks were laid out on the kang surface, and then the yellow mud mixed with yellow sand was used to smooth it. Finally, a layer of ash was applied to the sides of the kang.

While waiting for the yellow mud to dry, the daddy from next door had already brought food. Lu Yuan followed him out after hearing him shouting, thinking that he could finally see the women in this village. As a result, when he stepped out of the door, Lu Yuan was stunned. There was no mother at all, but a short uncle carrying a basket.

“The daddy of the Wang family is here! It’s cold in the yard, come in and sit down!” Su Huai had just walked out at this time, and he greeted him while speaking. He pulled the uncle into the house. Su Huai noticed the dumbfounded Lu Yuan when he reached the door. He frowned and said, “What’s wrong?”

“Hehe… this is your distant cousin, Doctor Su? Look! He’s so cute!” Wang daddy smiled and looked very kind. As he said this, he raised his hand and put his arm around Lu Yuan’s shoulders: “Child, come in quickly. Look at your little face, it’s all white from the cold!”

This is not a cold face, it’s obviously a scared face!

Lu Yuan was still cold until he was hugged by the daddy and entered the house. His mind had not recovered since he saw daddy Wang.

It’s okay that he hasn’t seen a woman for more than half a month, but why do people here still call a grown man mom!