The Sweet Little Fulang

 Chapter 33

    The candlelight flickered slightly, and the dim candlelight reflected on Shen Xuanqing's face. The resolute and cold face seemed to soften a bit. He lowered his head to peel the chestnuts. The keenness he acquired from hunting made him aware of something. When he looked up, he saw Lu Gu dazed eyes.

    Caught off guard into those pair of star pupils, the candles reflected in Shen Xuanqing's eyes, bright and a little softer, Lu Gu suddenly became at a loss, and hurriedly looked away.

    He lowered his head and was embarrassed, and wanted to cover up the rude behavior of staring at him just now, so he stuffed the chestnuts into his mouth. Raw chestnuts were not as sweet as ripe ones, they were not crunchy and sweet. He even picked up the chestnuts and peeled them himself, couldn't wait for others to peel it for him.

    Shen Xuanqing was also stunned for a moment, he didn't understand love, but he was happy to live with Lu Gu, he didn't know what Lu Gu was thinking when he saw him, he wanted to ask, but seeing Lu Gu was so nervous, the words that wanted to come out of his mouth couldn't come out.

    Then he lowered his head and smiled, and passed the chestnuts in his hand again, pretending not to notice anything, and said: "It's late at night, it's better to eat less raw things, and dry them in the sun for two days. If you want to eat them again, I'll pick them up again."

    "Yes." Lu Gu nodded obediently, he chewed the one in his mouth, peeled off the one in his hand, hesitated for a while and wanted to hand it to Shen Xuanqing, but he didn't make any movement yet, and saw Shen Xuanqing bowing his head to himself. After peeling one and eating it, he had to rest his mind.

    It was getting late, and the stomach felt uncomfortable after eating too much of this food. After eating a few, they went to the east room with candlesticks to make a bed for monk Huitong.

    There was an extra person, it was not easy for Lu Gu to wash his face in the yard, so Shen Xuanqing brought a basin of water into the room for him to wash, and brought in water for washing his feet.

    After the monk Huitong finished eating, Shen Xuanqing chatted with him for a while, Lu Gu didn't intend to listen to what he was saying, and besides the door was closed, he couldn't hear clearly, so he lay down first after washing.

    The night was dim, and the light in the room was not lit. He lay on his back and looked at the roof. For a while, he thought about weaving two bamboo plaques tomorrow. he had to pickle the watercress tomorrow, and Shen Xuanqing would be able to taste it the next morning.

    He turned over and closed his eyes, and there was a faint voice of someone talking outside the door, as if he was blocked by the door.

    The emptiness around him made him a little uncomfortable, but he didn't notice anything because of his dullness, and when he fell asleep and stopped thinking about things, he fell asleep soundly.

    The habit was there, but not to the point of being intolerable or even noticeable.

   In the early morning of the next day, Monk Huitong left some medicinal materials and bid farewell to Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu.

    The kindly-eyed monk chanted the Buddha's name, bowed his head slightly and gave a small salute, raised his head again, turned and left.

    The night was dark last night, Lu Gu didn't dare to look at people, until now he saw the face of Monk Huitong clearly, when he met those eyes, he suddenly knew what "compassion" was.

    The two of them went back to the yard again, Lu Gu went to boil water to heat the steamed buns, Shen Xuanqing evenly put the medicinal herbs on the bamboo plaque to dry, they were common medicinal herbs for treating typhoid fever, it was good to prepare some, and took the chestnuts to the yard to dry for a few days.

    The stupid tit in the firewood house cooed like a chicken, but the sound was more dull. Although this thing was called a tit, it couldn’t fly. It looked stupid and big, with sharp claws and a long beak. Came here to peck and scratch a few claw marks, blood would flow profusely immediately, most people didn't dare to look for it, and it was hidden deep in the old forest, which was rare in recent years.

    The stupid tit meat was not very delicious, but the feathers were bright and beautiful and  quite popular among Fucheng people, and they were used to decorate screens or other things.

    When Shen Xuanqing caught it, he only hurt its wings, and tied it with hemp rope before approaching. He carried a small bundle of chicken grass into the firewood house, and threw it in front of the stupid tit that was tied up and couldn't escape. If he wasn't there, he couldn't call Lu Gu to approach it, otherwise it would be enough to be pecked.

    He took another look at the hemp rope on the stupid tit's feet, and found that it had been pecked a little bit. The thing's beak was really sharp, so he turned around and took a thicker and stronger hemp rope to tie it again.

    "The door of the firewood room is closed. Don't open it until I come back. This stupid tit broke two strands of the hemp rope with its beak." He bolted the door of the firewood room and told Lu Gu.

    Lu Gu was timid, and he could be said to obey his words, so there was no one who wouldn’t listen.

    After eating, Shen Xuanqing took the dog and left. There was no Dahui left behind today. Lu Gu watched them walked away, turned around and returned to the yard, and remembered that the bamboo strips were all placed in the woodshed. When Shen Xuanqing locked the door, he didn't remember it. Now he had to give up.

    Since he stopped weaving bamboo plaques, he saw that there were some unsplit logs piled up in the courtyard, so he simply took a long ax to chop firewood.

    This ax was heavy, but fortunately he was used to the work, so he wouldn't be unable to swing it. There was also skill in chopping wood. With a swing of both hands, the weight of the ax could be used to chop down, and the wood would be split in one fell swoop without much effort.

    He chopped all the firewood by himself for less than half an hour, and piled it up neatly. Seeing that there was not much firewood left. Shen Xuanqing cast a net into the river the day before yesterday, and he might have fish later. In the evening, stew a fish soup with a small medicine stove.

    Thin firewood was better for stewing things, and the fire wo