Chapter 236: Chapter 236
The young boy turned his head and saw Li Yuzhu again, his eyes slightly stunned.
"I say, kid, your temper is really stubborn to have found your way to my house," Li Yuzhu shook her head. "Aren’t you afraid your family will worry about you running around ?"
The young boy’s eyes turned cold, "I have no family."
Li Yuzhu squinted slightly. The county magistrate was obviously still alive, so how come one moment he says his parents are dead, and the next he has no family?
Could it be, he ran away out of spite?
"Very well then, you can stay at my place for now. By the way, what’s your name?" Li Yuzhu asked.
The young boy looked at her, "Li Lixing."
The Second Young Master laughed and said, "Oh, you’re actually sharing our surname."
Li Xing’an laughed heartily, "Hey, young brother, you really have a connection with our family."
Li Lixing’s eyes widened in surprise, "You’re also surnamed Li?"
Li Xing’an nodded, "Yes, our whole family is Li. My name is Li Xing’an, this is my second brother Li Xingsheng, and this is my third sister, Li Yuzhu."
Li Lixing glanced at Li Yuzhu, lowering his gaze.
Li Xing’an ladled another spoonful of syrup to his mouth, "Here, there’s still half a bowl of syrup, drink it quickly. My third sister is a doctor; she says you fainted from hunger and should drink some syrup to regain strength before eating."
Li Lixing quickly lifted his eyes again.
He glanced at Li Yuzhu and nodded, "Yes, I want to drink."
Li Lixing took the bowl from Li Xing’an’s hand and drank it all in one breath.
The syrup eased much of his fatigue, and his complexion improved a bit.
"I am homeless, with no food. Please take me in, I will work," Li Lixing looked towards Li Yuzhu and her two brothers, "If you don’t take me in, I’ll starve to death. You won’t just let me die, right? I promise I won’t steal anything."
He raised his hand to swear.
The third brother Li Xing’an and second brother Li Xingsheng said together, "Don’t worry, we’ll take you in." After all, who would refuse silver delivered to their doorstep?
Mu Yuanxiu, however, was not as excited as they were. He said solemnly, "Li Lixing, if you don’t obey, if your hands and feet aren’t clean, I’ll send you to the government office for punishment."
The County Magistrate is Li Lixing’s father, sending him to the county government doesn’t scare him at all.
As long as he knows that the county government is much lower than the government office in hierarchy, he should be afraid of the government office!
The people there certainly wouldn’t spoil Li Lixing like a son.
Sure enough, Li Lixing’s face drastically changed.
"I will definitely behave," Li Lixing nodded seriously.
"Good, as long as you behave," Mu Yuanxiu said coolly.
It was already getting dark.
The Li brothers took Li Lixing into the house to see Prince Luling, and Mu Yuanxiu went inside too. He bid farewell to Prince Luling and his wife, mentioned about looking after Li Lixing, and then returned to the mountains.
Here at the Li family, Prince Luling nodded at Li Lixing, "Homeless, huh? That’s unfortunate. You may stay here for now."
Princess Consort Luling looked at Li Xing’an and said, "Third one, isn’t your room still vacant? Let him stay in that room temporarily."
The family didn’t have enough silver, no extra money to buy more furniture, so the third brother still shared a room and bed with the second brother.
For the county magistrate’s reward money, Li Xing’an readily agreed, "Understood, mother."
Li Lixing was very pleased, "Thank you, Auntie."
Princess Consort Luling smiled and said, "You’re also a Li, our family is too. When you call me Auntie, you’re not mistaken."
This family’s temper wasn’t bad, and Li Lixing felt relieved.
Li Yuzhu called over the Great Princess and together they made something for Li Lixing to eat since Li Xing’an took him to recognize the room.
In front of the kitchen, everyone was discussing Li Lixing.
"The county magistrate’s son, looks decent and mannerly, how did he wander into the countryside? From the way he speaks, he doesn’t seem foolish," Prince Luling said puzzledly.
Li Yuzhu said, "The way he talks, it sounds like he ran away from home in a fit."
"So young, just how bad is his temper? Playing runaway?" Princess Consort Luling frowned and looked at the Princely Heir and Li Yuzhu’s sons and daughters, "When you were young, you were so naughty, but none of you dared to run away from home, all living orderly in the prince’s mansion."
Prince Luling snorted coldly, "If the magistrate can’t even manage his son, how can he manage state affairs?"
The Princely Heir said, "This kid is stubborn, takes money and leaves, must have been spoiled at home."
"Just a brat!" Li Yuzhu also said.
Prince Luling added, "If the magistrate can’t manage or educate his son, he should reflect on his mistakes!"
"A brat needs discipline," Li Yuzhu said.
Prince Luling wanted the magistrate to reflect, while Li Yuzhu wanted the brat to introspect properly, so the family agreed to let Li Lixing stay.
Li Yuzhu and the Second Princess Li Yu En together lit the stove for boiling water and lifted the large pot filled with water onto the stove, and then she went to Li Xing’an’s room.
At home, boiling water for baths is done using a stove, with a large pot about a foot high placed on it.
This pot is specifically used for boiling water. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI(F)ire.net
Nowadays there are ten people in the household, plus it’s summer, so three pots of water are enough.
In some village households, they boil bath water using a cooking wok.
After cooking, the large iron wok is cleaned and then used for boiling water.
But since there’s no dishwashing liquid back then, only soapberry mud, which isn’t as good at removing grease, even after scrubbing the wok with soapberry mud, a layer of floating oil remained on top of the boiling water.
Using a stove to boil water is much more convenient and cleaner.
Li Yuzhu explained this method to some villagers, and only Liu Da Niu’s and the village chief’s family heeded her, while others in the village dismissed it, saying their ancestors have always boiled water this way.
Talking about boiling water with ancestral roots became absurd; she understood that everyone simply took the easiest way and wanted to save firewood.
Since they wouldn’t listen, Li Yuzhu stopped explaining.
In Li Xing’an’s room, there was no bed, of course, there were no tables or chairs either.
It was just an empty room.
Li Lixing followed Li Xing’an inside and immediately asked, "Where’s the bed?"
Li Xing’an was about to answer when Li Yuzhu, who followed in, said, "Bed? No, we don’t have one." She shook her head, "However, we do have a wooden board."
A brat having a room to stay in is already good enough, and still want a bed?
"How to sleep without a bed?" Li Lixing shouted.
Li Xing’an, not knowing this was a brat, joined in asking, "Yes, third sister, how to sleep without a bed?"
Li Yuzhu said, "Third brother, wasn’t our family sleeping in caves when we first got here? Was there a bed in a cave? Our whole family, young and old, even little Guoguo as a baby, slept like that. Can’t he sleep like that alone? Those caves were damp and had no doors. Here there’s a door, and the ground is clean and flat, how can he not sleep?"
She spoke while giving Li Xing’an a meaningful look.