Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

The lettuce was big and thick, very pleasant to the eye. Xia Yi carefully dug them out one by one and placed them aside, waiting for him to use a cart to put them on. With difficulties, he had dug out every single one of the lettuces, he rubbed the sweat off his forehead and went home in satisfaction.

Outside the village, on the road, Gu Wen Zhu was walking home with a boar leg, going home to make dinner. Yi did not look too good for these few days. He wanted to ask if there were anyone killing their pigs in the neighboring village and to bring back home some meat. At the end, when he went out of the door in the morning, he bumped into the hunters who were going downhill back home with a boar on his shoulder.

Yi loved his stewed boar, so Gu Wen Zhu bought a boar back leg, prepared to go back home to stew it. There was no one at home so he thought that Xia Yi must be at the farmlands. Gu Wen Zhu began to pull the fur off it and roasted the skin, then cut the meat into pieces and added them into boiling water to improve the flavor.

At last, he put the processed boar into the pot to stew with other food. Not long after, a scent of the meat came out of it.

Xia Yi was going back home and talking to 179 about the harvesting of the lettuce. Then he came to their front door.

Just when he pushed open the front door, Gu Wen Zhu peeked out from the kitchen and greeted him with a smile on his face, “Now you are back, go and wash your hands to prepare for the meal.”

Xia Yi has always been enthusiastic about eating. He cleaned himself up in no time and sat around the table to wait for dinner. Gu Wen Zhu had prepared the bowls and chopsticks. Then he took out a steaming pot of boar meat, placed it onto the table, said, smiling, “Taste it now. See if it’s good.”

“Wow. I love boar meat.” Xia Yi’s eyes glowed and he held the chopsticks in his hand steadily. He did not have the time to care about how hot it was, and swiftly stuffed one piece into his mouth, making his face all puffed up, and he began to chew.

Gu Wen Zhu stood in front of the desk, looking at Xia Yi, smiling, with hope in his voice, “How is it? Is it good?”

Xia Yi was chewing the mouthful and wanted to give a strong nod, but he suddenly felt a bad smell rush up towards his nose. He felt his stomach churning and began to vomit but nothing came out. However, he still did not want to throw up that pork. So it stayed in his mouth with his eyes all red.

Gu Wen Zhu was worried about seeing him this way. He hurriedly leaned down after taking a few steps forward, then he stretched his hand towards Xia Yi’s mouth and said, “Get it out.”

Xia Yi breathed a couple of times to wait for that feeling to pass. Then he insisted on chewing a little, then he vomited but, again, with nothing coming out. Seeing his eyes all teary and that he did not want to give up on that piece of pork, Gu Wen Zhu felt bad for him and funny at the same time. He urged, “Stop eating. Get it out.”

Xia Yi, unwillingly, vomited out that piece of pork into Gu Wen Zhu’s palm.

Gu Wen Zhu entered the kitchen to throw that piece away. He cleaned his hand and took out a bowl of clean water. He let him drink the water and rub Xia Yi on his back. He blamed himself, “You love boar meat. I must have processed it badly to make you throw it up.”

Xia Yi’s nose and eyes were still red. He heard him and shook his head, “You have processed it well. That’s the way I like it as always. But I don’t know why, today I feel bad smelling that.”

“Do you have a cold and your stomach hurts?” Gu Wen Zhu spoke, worried, then he extended his hand to test the temperature of his forehead.

“No. I must have been eating this too many times and it was too heavy. Let’s just have some veggies with the rice.” Xia Yi, seeing that he was still worried, started to laugh, “How serious could it be? Let’s eat.”

That full pot of boar meat was placed on the table, and only Gu Wen Zhu ate it.

Xia Yi was eating the vegetables bitterly. A few times, he wanted to use his chopsticks to steal one piece, but as soon as he recalled the foul smell, he lost his appetite. At this moment, his nose followed the soft wind and smelled the scent of the meat wafted into his nostrils. Xia Yi felt a rough churning in his chest again. He immediately put down the bowl and the chopsticks and dashed to the front door, then he began to vomit everything out.

Gu Wen Zhu quickly put down his as well and followed.

Although he was throwing up nothing, Xia Yi still felt as if he was going to die and was weak all over his body. He leaned into Gu Wen Zhu’s arms with his mouth open, feeling drained.

Gu Wen Zhu saw his pale face, and that the hair on his temples was wet with sweat. He quickly carried him to the bed and placed him down then he covered him using a blanket. He made sure that he was all covered up with no air coming to the inside of the blanket.

Looking at Gu Wen Zhu who was worrying about him, Xia Yi spoke weakiy, “I think, I have really caught a cold.”

“Lie down first. I will go fetch you the doctor.” Gu Wen Zhu was worried and could not hide his emotions. After saying so, he immediately pushed the door open and went out to the yard then towards north where the doctor’s home was.

Xia Yi saw that he was out and felt that his discomfort was easing. He was then feeling more relaxed. He felt sleepy. He yawned and, before going to bed, did not forget to tell the system, “179. Wake me up later. I want to eat meat after waking up. Zhu’s cooking was so nice. I love it.”

“I know. Host. Rest.” 179 could not understand how much this host loved food.

He had to eat and vomit, and after vomiting, he still wanted to eat.

There was this doctor, Li, in the village. He could not do anything to some serious sickness, but he could do enough for smaller things like this.

Gu Wen Zhu went to the back of his house. The doctor was having dinner at the time. When he heard what Gu Wen Zhu was here for, he swiftly put down his bowl and chopsticks, taking his medical box with him, and went away with him.

“He must have caught a cold and hurt his stomach. Let me see him, give you a formula, and all will be good.” Doctor Li comforted the worried Gu Wen Zhu while walking alongside with him.

When they reached home, Gu Wen Zhu pushed the door open to see that Xia Yi was asleep. He was in the blankets silently and sleeping deeply, mouth slightly opened.

Due to doctor Li waiting at the dining room, Gu Wen Zhu woke him up, “Yi. Yi. Stop sleeping for a second. The doctor is here. Let’s let him see you.”

Xia Yi made a humming noise and waved his hand off him. He turned to continue sleeping and snorted a little.

With doctor Li standing up and pacing in the dining room, Gu Wen Zhu started to pat on Xia Yi’s face, “Yi, Yi. Wake up. The doctor is here. You can sleep afterwards.”

Xia Yi was more awake this time. He opened his eyes semi consciously and could tell that this was Gu Wen Zhu, so he asked, murmuring, “Is it day now?”

“Sleepy head. I have just left for a while. I invited Mr. Li here to have a look at you.” Gu Wen Zhu began to straighten him up, giving him an outer on, “Let’s wear some clothes first.”

Xia Yi closed his eyes, laying his head on Gu Wen Zhu’s shoulder heavily and let him lifted his shoulder to wear clothes. After finishing with two sleeves, Gu Wen Zhu heard snoring again.

When the outer was finally on Xia Yi, he fell asleep again.

Gu Wen Zhu resignedly sighed then tugged him back into bed.

After covering him up with the blanket nicely, he directly invited doctor Li in, and spoke to doctor Li while snoring around embarrassingly, “Mr. Li. I  can’t wake him up. He was too tired. Why don’t you just see him here?”

Doctor Li laughed and shook his head, “Let’s just do it here. I will sense his pulse now.”

Gu Wen Zhu sat on the side of the bed and pulled Xia Yi’s arm out from the blanket, placing it on his lap to let doctor Li sense his pulse. It was silent in the room. Only the breath of Xia Yi could be heard. Gu Wen Zhu was watching beside them and could barely breathe.

After some time, the doctor opened his eyes to show a hesitating face.

“What? What’s wrong?” Gu Wen Zhu became nervous.

Doctor Li shook his head, “Nothing. I will do it again.” 

Then, he put his fingers on Xia Yi’s wrist again. Gu Wen Zhu suppressed his breath and stared at doctor Li’s face unblinkingly, wishing to guess what was going on. He squeezed his fists on both sides of him, his back tightened.

After a long while, doctor Li let out a breath and put down Xia Yi’s hand slowly. He turned to face Gu Wen Zhu, with a smile on his face, “Go buy some paper money to burn and tell Gu Da Shi and Li Xiu Er about the good news.”

“Good news? What good news?” Gu Wen Zhu was confused, clueless. But then the reaction came, he was first looking disbelieving, then he showed a surprised face, “Mr. Li. Is, is this what I think it is?”

Doctor Li laughed and nodded, “Go tell them. Tell them they have a grandson.”

Gu Wen Zhu dozed off and froze. His face sometimes looked happy, sometimes looked worried. He seemed not knowing what to do. Thinking of the fact that Xia Yi was not a strong guy, Gu Wen Zhu began to feel worried, “But Mr. Li. Yi, will the child be in danger?” 

Mr. Li was packing things into his medicine, and he said, “Giving birth. Who can say for sure that the child will be safe for the rest of his life? There are always risks. But, everyone gets over this. Or else, people will stop giving birth to children, right?”

Gu Wen Zhu heard him, feeling shakened, the outline of his face tightened up immediately. He said nothing more and stood aside in silence.

Mr. Li, seeing that he did not look good, patted him on the shoulder happily, “I have seen a lot of fathers like you in my whole life. Don’t panic. Just let Yi rest for the following months and wait to have the baby.”

179 began to scream in Xia Yi’s mind, “Host. Wake up. You are going to be a father. No. You are going to be a mother.”

Xia Yi slept till noon the other day. He had not even opened his eyes and he already smelled the fish porridge, making him salivating. Opening his eyes, it was Gu Wen Zhu’s enlarged face in front of him. He was dazed, lying on the side of the bed, staring at him without a word.

“You are scaring me. What’s up?” Xia Yi prolonged his nostril sound, with an adorable feeling that he himself did not even notice. He pushed Gu Wen Zhu’s face with his hand, squeezing those handsome parts into a mess.

Gu Wen Zhu grabbed that hand and put it near his mouth to kiss it, “It’s already noon. You must be starving. Get up and have some porridge. I went to catch fish before dusk today.”

Xia Yi did not have enough the night before and fell asleep in bed until now. When he smelled that scent of the fish, he felt hungry like a wolf and immediately clawed up from bed.

He went to the lavatory in a hurry, running a little.

Gu Wen Zhu was telling him to go slower, and he spread his arms behind him just like a chicken protecting him, “The floor of the lavatory was slippery. Be careful.”

Xia Yi gargled with halite and stared at Gu Wen Zhu, all armed up behind him, weirdly. He asked him, murmuring, “What? I am not having a baby or something.”

Gu Wen Zhu opened his mouth, not saying a word.

Xia Yi began to use the back of his head to bump Gu Wen Zhu’s nose repeatedly.

Gu Wen Zhu resignedly used his hand to protect the back of Xia Yi’s head, “Stay focused.”

After washing himself, Xia Yi quickly went for the porridge, then he moved his nose dramatically, “It smelled so good. I can have ten bowls of it.”

“Don’t move. Let me feed you.” Gu Wen Zhu picked up the bowl of porridge before Xia Yi did. He took a spoonful to blow it, then he carefully put it to the side of Xia Yi’s mouth.

Hmm, he swallowed so hard that he almost swallowed the spoon with the porridge. Shortly, the porridge was almost out, Xia Yi stretched to hold the bowl, “I want some more. Let me go fetch some more.”

Gu Wen Zhu suddenly grabbed the bowl tight and got up quickly, and he said nervously, “You stay there. I will go fetch some more.” Then he hurried his way into the kitchen.

Xia Yi, looking at his figure, began to have questions, “179. Did the doctor come by when I was asleep last night?”

“Yeah.” 179 answered merrily.

“Then did he diagnose me of something? Why is Zhu taking care of me like I am heavily sick?” Xia Yi became anxious.

“Guess. Heehee.”

“179. Are you still my brother? Tell me. I can take it no matter what.”

“It’s not something that I should tell you. You should ask Gu Wen Zhu about it.”

Between the words, Gu Wen Zhu walked out with a bowl of porridge and blowing off the steam from it, using a spoon to stir. Then he fed a spoonful to Xia Yi.

Xia Yi speechlessly finished that bowl of porridge, with a lot of different guesses in his mind. After Gu Wen Zhu tidied up, he nervously sat beside Xia Yi, and Xia Yi could not help but ask, “Zhu. Are you not going to farm today?”

“No. I am here for you all day long for today.”

“But didn’t you say that you are going to water the winter wheat?”

“I am not going. They won’t die without watering for a couple of days.”

“But if they died?”

“Then let them.” After saying that, he began to squeeze Xia Yi’s shoulder lightly.

Xia Yi’s expression turned more and more serious. He held the hand on his shoulder, and asked with a low voice, “Zhu. The doctor came here last night to see me. What did he say?”

The color of his eyes were completely different from Gu Wen Zhu’s, very light in color. When they looked at somebody in silence, it would give a soft and gentle vibe and also some simple insistence in them. When Gu Wen Zhu heard him, his face became weird, as if he was suppressing his excitement, and as if he was worrying.

At last, he thought for a little, and he told Xia Yi softly, “Yi. We are expecting a new member in our house.”