Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 487 - 461: The Origin of the Chubby Boy (3)
Li Xingmao also smiled and said, "As long as you like it."
On his face there was a smile, but inside his heart was a pang of bitterness.
He never expected that his sisters’ marriage would be so impoverished and hasty.
.
The next day, Li Yuzhu went again to Mu Yuanxiu’s Niu Tou Mountain to look at how their new house was set up.
The Great Princess didn’t go out; she was playing with Guoguo while cutting fabric for her and the Second Princess’s wedding dresses.
The Second Princess and Li Xingsheng took a carriage again to the marketplace.
They went early today, so the market wasn’t as crowded as it was yesterday afternoon.
But it was still busier than a normal day, bustling as if it were a big market day.
Sellers and buyers jostled each other.
When Li Xingsheng drove the carriage to the door of the shop, that chubby young man immediately walked over, "You’re here?"
Li Xingsheng was surprised and said, "You arrived so early." He got off the carriage and noticed that the large bundle the chubby young man had brought yesterday was still piled in a corner of the shop’s entrance, "You came with your luggage? Where did you stay last night?"
The chubby young man said embarrassedly, "I just found a random place to stay for the night."
Li Xingsheng looked at him, parked the carriage neatly, and called out the Second Princess from inside the carriage.
Today there was no snow, but it was even colder than yesterday, the kind of cold that penetrates the bones.
The Second Princess held a hand warmer in her hands, blinking her eyes, and asked the young man, "In this cold weather, why aren’t you wearing a cloak?"
The young man shrugged, "I’m not cold, I’m chubby."
The Second Princess was surprised, "I’m chubby too, but I’m afraid of the cold."
As soon as she went out, the Second Princess’s cloak never left her body.
Li Xingsheng got up early to drive the carriage, and he was blown by the wind along the way, so he also wore a thick cloak plus a thick mink fur hat, wrapping himself up tightly.
Both of them saw the chubby young man wearing so little, and didn’t believe he wasn’t afraid of the cold.
Li Xingsheng called out to him, "There won’t be many customers in the morning. I’m going to start the stove, come help pass the firewood."
Starting the stove was warm, and the chubby young man immediately said, "Sure."
Li Xingsheng took the key, opened the shop door, and the three of them moved the jars with cakes outside, setting up the counter properly.
The chubby young man placed the price sign outside the jars.
The Second Princess went to check which types of cakes needed to be made, Li Xingsheng went to start the stove, and the chubby young man stacked the piles of firewood neatly in a corner of the shop and carried them one by one to the stove.
Li Xingsheng looked back and saw the young man’s hands red from the cold, secretly shook his head; this young man was really stubborn, his hands were red from cold, yet he said he wasn’t cold.
When the stove was finally lit, he told the chubby young man to sit by the stove, instructing him how to add firewood to keep the stove burning strong without smoking.
It was still early morning, and no customers were coming in, so Li Xingsheng taught patiently.
The chubby young man learned quickly; though the fire wasn’t as strong as when Li Xingsheng did it, it didn’t produce much smoke.
Li Xingsheng patted his shoulder, praising him, "Not bad, not bad, just keep stoking the stove like this." The chubby young man was very happy.
Guarding the stove, the chubby young man got warmed all over.
He felt grateful inside, and worked more earnestly.
Having spent half a day together yesterday, Li Xingsheng and the Second Princess were already somewhat familiar with the temperament of the chubby young man, the three of them worked together, and even though the business was busy, it didn’t feel chaotically at all.
When it was time for lunch, the number of people hadn’t lessened much.
The business was good and they couldn’t take a break, so Li Xingsheng went to the nearby noodle shop and ordered three bowls of beef noodles, asking the little worker to bring them to the shop in a while.
This noodle shop was the one where the chubby young man ate noodles yesterday evening.
All the stores were on one street and weren’t far apart, and when Li Xingsheng and the Second Princess were at the marketplace, they would eat meals on the marketplace street, sometimes having soup noodles at this shop, sometimes going further ahead to another restaurant for a hot meal.
After frequent visits, the worker there became very familiar with the Li brothers and sisters.
The noodle shop was only separated from Li Xingsheng and his shop by four stores, and each could see when the other had customers coming in.
The worker said to Li Xingsheng, "Li Er, the little chubby boy who helped you is, spending the night at your shop door last night, is he up to something?"
Li Xingsheng frowned, "He spent the night at our shop door? In this cold weather?"
"Yeah, in the evening I asked him, aren’t you going to find a place to sleep? He didn’t respond to me." The worker shook his head, "You’ve got to be careful with him."
Li Xingsheng paid for the soup noodles and said, "Thanks for the heads up. Deliver the noodles over later."
The noodle shop had many customers eating noodles, and he didn’t have time to wait here. He paid first, and when the soup noodles were done, the worker would bring them over on a tray.
"Don’t worry, Li Er." The worker laughed.
Li Xingsheng returned to the shop.
By this time, there were no customers in the shop; the chubby young man was chatting with the Second Princess, talking about how to do calculations quickly and well without using an abacus.
The Second Princess seemed reluctant to learn and frowned as she listened.
Li Xingsheng walked into the shop.
Both of them called out to him, "Li Er."
Taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, Li Xingsheng patted the chubby young man on the shoulder, "Tell us about yourself, Brother Lou?"
That morning, Li Xingsheng asked the chubby young man for his name. He said his surname was Lou, and as he was the fifth in his family, everyone called him Wulang (Fifth Lad).
But as he was just a temporary worker, Li Xingsheng didn’t specifically inquire about his background.
Now, with no customers, Li Xingsheng, out of curiosity, asked about his situation.
The chubby young man blinked, "I... What about me?"
"You can read and are good at arithmetic—you can’t possibly be known only by your nickname Wulang, right? What about your parents and family? Your accent isn’t local; where are you from? Why did you bring luggage?" Li Xingsheng asked one by one.
The chubby young man bit his lip, somewhat hesitant to answer.
Li Xingsheng deliberately teased him, staring at his face, "Are you refusing to answer because you’re a criminal on the run?"
"I am not!" The chubby young man said loudly.
"Then why don’t you dare speak?" Li Xingsheng raised his eyebrows, "A real man doesn’t speak ambiguously."
The Second Princess was also listening to their conversation, "We dare to say our names, what are you afraid to say?"
The chubby young man glanced at the Second Princess, hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "My name is Lou Chengye. I’m from the city of Zhen An Prefecture. My family... My family treats me poorly, which is why I ran away."
Li Xingsheng was surprised, "You’re from the prefectural city? No wonder your accent sounds somewhat local yet carries an official tone. It’s not close between Zhen An Prefecture city and here, being about three hundred miles. How did you travel here?"
Zhen An Prefecture is mostly mountainous, with mountains or rivers between every county. Traveling from the city of Zhen An Prefecture to Qingyang County is no easy task across the mountains and waters.
"I came on horseback. When I stopped for a break in the middle, the horse disappeared. I’m not sure if it was stolen or if it ran away on its own. It had a bundle with it that held my travel money." Lou Chengye said dejectedly.
Li Xingsheng suddenly understood. No wonder Lou Chengye’s clothes were not poor in quality—one could tell he wasn’t a poor house’s child. His demeanor was that of someone from a wealthy family, yet he was all dusty, having lost his travel money.
"How much money did you lose? What did the horse look like? Did you report it to the authorities?" Li Xingsheng asked again.
"Report... Report it?" Lou Chengye hesitated, "I lost the horse on the border area between two counties. Probably neither side would care about it."
Li Xingsheng said, "Who says so? How would you know no one would care if you haven’t reported it? Tell me, what did the horse look like, what was the bundle like, how much money was in it, and specifically which mountain or village you lost it in? Tell me, I’ll report it for you."
Lou Chengye waved his hand, "Forget it, if my family found out, they’d definitely laugh at me, and I don’t want to be ridiculed by them."
Li Xingsheng looked at him and laughed, "If your family sees you like this, wouldn’t they ridicule you even more?"
Lou Chengye’s face was embarrassed, "They won’t come here."
Li Xingsheng frowned slightly, "Oh, so you’re hiding from your family?"
"How do your family treat you poorly?" The Second Princess blinked and curiously asked.
The chubby young man glanced at her again, looking embarrassed, "They say I haven’t achieved anything big, can’t study well, can’t pass exams, not even... not even succeed in matchmaking."
"Ah? That sounds miserable." The Second Princess said sympathetically.
"Good kid, you really have it tough." Li Xingsheng patted his shoulder again, "How about this, from now on, you stick with us. Make great achievements and let your family see you in a new light."
Lou Chengye looked at Li Xingsheng in a daze, "Great achievements? What kind of great achievements?"
Li Xingsheng laughed and said, "Didn’t you say your family looks down on you for this or that? Just pick one thing to do, and do it the best, isn’t that a great achievement?"
