Chapter 238: Chapter 238

With nobody to help him bathe, Li Lixing was quite frustrated.

Yet, how could he sleep without bathing?

Li Lixing complained a bit in his heart about the Li brothers but still decided to figure things out on his own.

He knew there was hot water in the Li Family’s kitchen, so he picked up the bucket that Li Xing’an and his brother had used for filling water and headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen had the Li Family’s two daughters inside.

He shyly nodded at Li Yuzhu and the Second Princess.

"I’m getting some hot water," he said softly.

The Second Princess was examining the flour for tomorrow. Without looking up, she casually said, "There’s water in the pot on the stove. Help yourself."

Li Yuzhu also smiled and said, "Go ahead and help yourself."

The firewood in the small stove had burnt out, but the water in the pot on the stove was still hot.

As soon as Li Lixing touched the pot, he jumped back immediately, "So hot."

He pinched his right hand with his left and yelled out in place, nearly crying.

The Second Princess looked at him, raised an eyebrow and said, "Your hand didn’t fall off, why are you yelling?"

Li Yuzhu walked over, glanced at his hand, then went to the big water jar and scooped a ladle of cold water, "Come outside."

She nodded at Li Lixing.

Li Lixing, with teary eyes, followed her out.

"Stretch out your hand," Li Yuzhu said again, "Hurry up!"

Li Lixing stretched out his hand.

Li Yuzhu poured the water from the ladle onto Li Lixing’s hand.

The hand that had been scalded felt significantly less painful when splashed with the cold water.

"Does it hurt anymore?" Li Yuzhu shook the remaining water from the ladle.

"No." Li Lixing looked at his hand, astonished that it could hurt less so quickly. "Do I need any ointment?"

He thought for a moment and asked again.

He hoped it wouldn’t leave a scar.

Li Yuzhu secretly sneered; he had run away from home, yet he still acted like a young master? Using ointment for a minor scald?

"No!" She turned around and went back inside with big steps.

She certainly wasn’t going to pamper this kid!

Li Lixing blew on his hand and sighed as he went back into the kitchen.

Li Yuzhu wrung an old cloth and handed it to Li Lixing, "Here, use this to wrap around the handle, and it won’t burn."

Li Lixing looked at her, took it in his hand, and, looking embarrassed, said, "Thanks a lot."

"No need to thank me, hurry up and get the water. You’re the only one who hasn’t bathed at home," Li Yuzhu waved her hand, "We need to close the kitchen."

Li Lixing placed the old cloth on top of the pot lid.

Holding the lid with the cloth, it indeed wasn’t hot anymore.

"Put the lid here and use this to scoop the water," Li Yuzhu pointed to a wooden rack beside her, then pointed at a gourd ladle on top of the water tank lid.

"Okay." Li Lixing did as instructed.

He scooped the water into a small wooden bucket.

However, when he lifted it, he frowned deeply.

A bucket just a foot high, and he couldn’t even lift it? The Second Princess blinked in disbelief.

Li Lixing looked to Li Yuzhu for help.

Li Yuzhu fanned herself with a small paper fan, standing still, not saying a word. She had no intention of helping him.

A boy his age couldn’t even do something as simple as this, why should she help?

A spoiled brat daring to run away from home? He should face some hardship!

Li Lixing realized neither of the girls intended to help him.

He felt too awkward to directly ask for help, so he sighed softly, gritting his teeth, and tried hard to carry the bucket out.

The water in the bucket steamed hotly; he walked cautiously.

But the road was too long, as he walked with the bucket, he gradually lost strength, and when his hand trembled, some hot water spilled out.

It splashed onto his calf.

It burned, and he almost dropped the bucket.

Luckily, it was through his pants, so the pain wasn’t as bad as the burn on his hand earlier.

Li Lixing, frustrated, set the bucket down and looked behind him. He sighed deeply; he had only walked about twenty steps.

It was only a short distance, still a long way to go.

"Li Lixing, can’t lift it is it? A grown man can’t even lift a small bucket of water? My third sister is the same age as you and she can lift it," Li Xing’an, noticing that Li Lixing hadn’t returned for a while, came out to find him.

Seeing him struggling with the small bucket, couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

"Who said I couldn’t carry it? I just twisted my foot and needed a break." Li Lixing shouted defiantly.

"Are you done resting then?" Li Xing’an looked at him leisurely.

"Yes... I’m fine now." Li Lixing gritted his teeth, picked up the bucket again, and strode forward.

"Carry it properly, don’t spill it. This is hot water; if it spills on your legs or feet, not only will it hurt, but it will also peel your skin." Li Xing’an swaggered along behind him, acting as a supervisor.

With someone watching him and his strong sense of pride, Li Lixing didn’t dare to rest even once and walked the remaining few dozen steps in one go.

After pouring the hot water into the empty bathtub, Li Lixing realized that there was no cold water in the bathhouse.

"How am I supposed to bathe with water this hot?" Li Lixing asked Li Xing’an, who had followed him.

"Get the water yourself from the kitchen’s water tank," Li Xing’an replied. "The three of us brothers always bathe . You should learn from us."

Li Lixing frowned and asked, "Is the kitchen the only place with cold water? Is there anywhere else?"

Just one bucket of hot water nearly wore him out. If he had to get another bucket of cold water, he’d be exhausted to death.

Hopefully, the Li Family had some closer source of cold water.

Li Xing’an said, "Yes, there’s a bamboo pipe outside the courtyard, where the water flows continuously. It’s redirected from a mountain spring. But the flow is slow, and you’d have to wait with a bucket for about half an hour to get a bucket full."

What? Outside the courtyard?

Feeling defeated, Li Lixing drooped his head and reluctantly went to the kitchen to fetch some cold water.

The water was excessively hot today, and it took him three buckets of cold water to make the hot water lukewarm.

Dragging his sore and tired arms, he undressed and sat in the bathtub, unable to get up for a long time.

If it weren’t for Li Xing’an shouting from outside, "A snake has come! Li Lixing, come out quickly!"

He would’ve soaked there indefinitely.

Upon hearing about the snake, Li Lixing was so frightened that he didn’t even bother to dry off. He hastily threw on his clothes and shoes and ran outside.

"The snake... where is it?" Li Lixing grabbed Li Xing’an and asked, trembling.

"Oh, it crawled outside the courtyard." Li Xing’an raised the lantern in his hand and leisurely shone it toward the back of the bathhouse’s courtyard wall.

Li Lixing let out a breath, "So it has already gone."

Li Xing’an smirked, thinking he still couldn’t handle this kid’s temper?

"Alright, it’s late, let’s go back and sleep." Li Xing’an led Li Lixing to the room prepared for him.

He was currently sharing a room with the Second Young Master, and since it was empty, he temporarily let Li Lixing stay there.

Dragging his weary arms, Li Lixing entered the room, saw the "bed," and was speechless, collapsing to sleep immediately.

The bed was too hard, and he jumped up right away.

But Li Xing’an had already left, and the room was pitch black.

He couldn’t find anyone to complain to, so he sighed and reluctantly lay back down.

However, Li Lixing didn’t sleep well, as the mosquitoes buzzed incessantly around his ears.

He covered his ears with his hands, barely managing to fall asleep.

The next day was cloudy. For original chapters go to novelꜰire.net

But it was even hotter than yesterday.

Li Lixing was awakened by the heat.

With his face full of mosquito bites, he rubbed his hungry, empty stomach and went looking for Li Xing’an.

Only to find the door to the next room was closed.

Fortunately, the window was open. Standing in front of it, Li Lixing looked inside to find the room empty.

Thinking for a moment, Li Lixing headed toward the kitchen.

He guessed right, there were people in the kitchen.

Several members of the Li Family were in the kitchen, eating!

They didn’t even call him for breakfast?

Li Lixing put on a long face, "Didn’t you call me for breakfast?"

Prince Luling, sitting at the head of the table, immediately scowled, "Sleeping until the sun is high, how shameless, and still yelling in front of your elders! Where are the manners you learned at home?"

That voice was even more authoritative than his own County Magistrate father’s voice.

Li Lixing was so startled that he didn’t dare make a sound.

Li Yuzhu approached him, saying, "Come with me to get a towel to wash up."

"Oh." Li Lixing hung his head and followed Li Yuzhu outside the kitchen.

Outside the wall on one side of the kitchen, a bamboo pipe was set up. Clear water flowed from it.

Beside the bamboo pipe was a bamboo rack, with several bamboo cups lined up on it. Each cup contained a willow toothbrush, and beneath them, several towels of varying colors and sizes hung.

On the corner of each towel, there were conspicuous black letters embroidered.

There were "An", "Sheng", "Mao", and "Jing", and so on.

The towels were all wet, dripping water.

Evidently, they had been used.

Li Yuzhu took a dry one from the rack and handed it to him, "These towels with words are owned by someone. Yours has no lettering, remember that? Don’t take the wrong one. If you take someone else’s, be careful they might beat you up."