CHAPTER 1278: CHAPTER 1256: QUESTION

Early the next morning, before the sky was fully bright, Liulang got up. Their family restaurant usually prepared buns and some flatbreads for breakfast, so he had woken up early. Seeing his brothers still sound asleep, he lay back down and drifted off again.

Finally unable to stay in bed, he got up, dressed, and tugged at Wulang and Lichong, whispering, "Get up quickly."

The three of them burrowed further into the blankets, their heads nearly buried. Lichong mumbled, "Why get up so early? The restaurant isn’t serving breakfast today."

"But there’s still lunch to prepare. We need to buy some ingredients." Liulang, after much effort, finally managed to wake them up.

Despite the thunderous snoring from Silang, he slept soundly. Wulang couldn’t take it, and gave his brother a slap, "Silang, why are you still so lazy?"

Silang’s snoring paused for a moment, then he turned over and kept sleeping.

Reluctantly, Silang eventually went with Liulang and the others to the restaurant.

The streets were already bustling in the cold weather, as most eateries had opened. Some people had set out stoves to sell flatbreads, others had stalls selling noodles.

Liulang stopped at a stall and bought ten large flatbreads.

Silang said, "...Our family runs a restaurant, and you’re buying food outside?"

Liulang replied, "The stove is cold, and it’s too early to open up. Where can I cook for you?"

Silang muttered, "Still not as good as Sister-in-law, she can get noodles out of a bowl as soon as she flips it..."

Liulang ignored him and headed straight to the restaurant. Wulang had already parked the mule cart at the back door and opened the shop from inside, and everyone moved the door panels back in place.

The flatbreads were still warm. They shared them amongst themselves, and Liulang took an extra one next door, prompting the Zhou brothers to glance up in unison.

Liulang turned back to look at Lichong and Liwei, frowning, "Why are you standing there? Aren’t you thirsty? Come over and get some lamb soup."

Only then did the two snap out of it, biting into flatbreads as they caught up.

Next door was a lamb restaurant that only sold lamb bone and lamb tail soup in the morning, with a more varied menu for lunch and dinner. Their lamb dishes and soup were quite famous on this street.

Liulang bought five bowls of lamb soup, keeping one for himself, and had Lichong and Liwei carry two bowls each back.

He handed the flatbread to Old Man Qiu, who was minding the stall, and sat in their restaurant to drink the soup.

Old Man Qiu took the flatbread without hesitation, poured himself a bowl of lamb soup, and added some lamb tails to Liulang’s, then sat opposite him and ate, chuckling, "You closed early yesterday and didn’t catch the morning market today. Is something up at home?"

Liulang nodded, "My fourth brother arrived, so we went home to visit."

"Oh, so that particularly handsome young man who came back with you was your fourth brother?"

Liulang nodded again.

Old Man Qiu laughed, "You brothers and nephews all look quite alike."

Indeed, his mother always said they resembled their father, and Silang especially so.

"Now that your fourth brother is here, is the family considering moving to the capital?"

"Not at all; we still have a lot of land at home. How could we move to the capital?"

Old Man Qiu looked slightly disappointed. He glanced up to see his daughter coming out and smiled as he picked up his bowl, saying, "Pei, you take over here. I’m going to the back to check on the lamb that was delivered this morning."

Qiu Pei’s daughter acknowledged him, standing before the stall. She lifted the pot lid, stirred a bit to let the aroma waft out, then closed the lid again.

As usual, she chatted with Liulang, "Sixth Brother, what’s on the menu for lunch?"

Liulang said, "About the same as yesterday."

He looked up at Qiu Pei, hesitated a moment, then asked, "Pei, have you ever thought about leaving home in the future?"

Qiu Pei was momentarily stunned, her cheeks turning slightly red. She poked at the wood in the large stove, speaking softly, "Never thought about it, my parents are in the capital..."

Liulang realized she misunderstood him and furrowed his brow in frustration, "No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, not coming to live with us but going somewhere else..."

Qiu Pei’s face changed, turning pale as she said, "Somewhere else? Where?"

"Just anywhere, wandering around, not restricted to any place..."

Qiu Pei’s face darkened as she let the wooden tool clatter down, speaking coldly, "No way. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay in the capital with my parents."

Behind the door of their shop, Silang smacked Lichong on the head in frustration, whispering, "Liulang is unbelievably clumsy, he can’t even speak properly."

Lichong: ...Why hit him just because he can’t speak well?

They were so close to the stove that he dared not talk away from fear of alerting the two people nearby, so he just had to endure it.

Liulang, realizing that his words were causing misunderstandings, found himself at a loss for how to explain. He opened his mouth but after a while, only managed to say dryly, "I didn’t mean it like that..."

But he couldn’t articulate what he did mean.

The nearby Silang and others were almost stomping in frustration, and Wulang had already smacked Lichong twice, whispering, "How can Liulang be so dense, not even knowing how to say nice things?"

Lichong: ...Why is everyone hitting me?

The four of them huddled behind the door, muttering and eavesdropping, when suddenly a voice called out, "Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle, what are you doing?"

The teary-eyed Qiu Pei glanced over to see several heads peeking from behind the doorframe of the Zhou’s Restaurant next door.

Her face turned even darker.

Lijun’s expression didn’t look good either, standing in the street with hands on her hips, she said angrily, "Why didn’t you wait for me this morning? I called for you from behind, and you didn’t stop no matter what. Did you know I chased you all the way out of the alley?"

The four of them: ...

Liulang, who came out after hearing this: ...

They genuinely didn’t know...

Lijun huffed a breath of anger, snorting, then turned to Uncle Daji, who had brought her over, and said, "Uncle Daji, have breakfast at the store before you head back. Fourth Uncle, you said you’d meet Shopkeeper Zheng with Aunt, but you ran out on your own. Should Aunt wait for you or not?"

Silang: ...Completely forgotten, only thought about watching First Lady Qiu.

Lijun, releasing her anger, looked up and saw Qiu Pei with reddened eyes, and immediately paused, concerned, asking, "Sister Qiu, what’s wrong?"

It was fine until someone asked; once they did, Qiu Pei’s eyes reddened even more. Whether it was from the hot soup or not, she had tears in her eyes and immediately turned and walked towards the backyard.

Lijun immediately followed after her.

Just as someone came to buy soup, Liulang hesitated for a moment before quietly going over to mind the stall.

Silang’s liver ached, "When did Liulang become such a mute?"

Wulang, often together with Liulang, said, "What’s the big deal, didn’t you turn more cunning too, Silang?"

Silang’s teeth ached, "Your mouth sure hasn’t changed."