CH 37.1

Chapter 37: Toss Part 2 (1) Original translation is from tenderflower's blog.

Xiao Lang ran out of the entrance happily. Of course, in the eyes of others, he was kicked out of the house to hunt by Zhang-shi.

He ran to the path leading into the mountain in one breath. Xiao Lang stopped at the corner of the mountain road and looked at the corner hidden behind the house. Thinking about the lazy girl was probably standing under the tree and counting how many apricots were about to rip. He couldn’t wait to run over immediately, hug her, and carry her on his back, watch her bulging cheeks when she ate apricots, and lick her red and tender mouth...

Unfortunately, there were other things to do right now.

Taking back his thoughts, Xiao Lang ran into the forest without hesitation.

***

Shu family.

It was rare for Shu Maoting not to go out to see patients today. He removed the two door panels of the eastern room, put one end on the threshold of the north door of the kitchen, put the other end on the two inverted wooden benches, and put two wooden benches under the middle, which turned into a stable big bed. The fresh wind blew from the north, which was particularly cool.

He took out his little daughter who had started sleeping after eating, put her on a simple bed, then got up to fetch water, came back and supported his daughter’s back, and gently wiped her face.

With the cool water dropping and cool wind, Shu Lan woke up quickly. She blinked, and after the sleepiness completely dissipated, she looked back curiously, patted the door panel below her, and said: “Daddy, it’s so cool here, I will sleep here tonight, okay?”

The small face that had just been wiped was red in the white, and a pair of almond eyes were black and bright. Just looking at him with expectation. Shu Maoting’s heart softened, but he still smiled and said: “That’s not good, the dew is heavy in the middle of the night. You will catch a cold when you sleep here. You can lie here in the afternoon, but you have to lie down honestly to avoid falling to the ground.”

Shu Lan nodded. Seeing Shu Maoting walking away, she lay down and wanted to go back to sleep.

But she didn’t think about it. If Shu Maoting really just wanted her to sleep outside and cool down, why would he clean her face?

After a while, Shu Maoting came over with a well-kept copy of the Three Character Classic, sat down on the low stool next to her, and lifted Shu Lan up again, smiling very gently: “Ah Lan, Daddy will teach you how to read characters, okay?”

Shu Zhan, Shu Wan, and Xiao Lang were all his inspirations, only Shu Lan was never willing to listen to his teaching. Seeing his daughter had become a little more sensible these days, Shu Maoting once again put teaching her how to read on the agenda. The girl was so lazy that she must marry a well-off man in the future. With a servant girl waiting on her, her laziness was not so obvious. She just needed to manage the accounts, then she must be literate. As for whether other people look down on Shu Lan, Shu Maoting had never thought about how he couldn’t marry off his daughter who was like a flower, a jade, and a treasure.

That look and tone of voice were clearly the same as when she was forced to take medicine!

Shu Lan immediately closed her eyes tightly and muttered: “I’m asleep...”

“Pfft!” Shu Wan, who had been standing behind the western room door and peeking, couldn’t bear it any longer, and suddenly burst out laughing. She walked over and rubbed Shu Lan’s forehead: “You little fool, lazy and stupid, even can’t think of a good excuse.”

Shu Lan pouted and ducked aside: “It hurts!”

Shu Wan sat down next to her and said softly: “Okay, okay, it’s rare that Father is at home, so you should learn to read. Your older sister will read it with you. Your older sister tells you if you don’t know how to read, you will be laughed at by others!”

“Just laugh, I can’t hear it anyway!” Shu Lan said unconvincingly. She was not a boy. She didn’t need to read and test like her older brother. Why waste precious time reading characters?!

Shu Maoting silently looked at the two daughters with completely different temperaments. He thought one would be married soon, and the other had not grown up at all, he felt a little melancholy for no reason. He patted Shu Lan’s head and patiently persuaded her: “Ah Lan, be obedient, Daddy will teach you two characters today. If you learn it, Daddy will let you continue to sleep.”

Shu Wan said jokingly: “Well, I’ll reward you with two big apricots then!”

Qin-shi’s helpless voice came from the eastern room: “You can’t be so used to her! Tell her, if she doesn’t obey, just hit her twice, and see if she dares to be lazy!”

In the face of coercion and temptation, what else could Shu Lan do? She had to reluctantly cheer up and follow Shu Maoting to recognize characters.

When Xiao Lang entered the door, he saw Shu Lan sitting cross-legged at the north door, shaking her head and reciting: “At the beginning of a person, nature is good...” Her clear and pleasant voice was like a stream in the mountain, which made people feel at ease.

Shu Lan was the first to see Xiao Lang. She stood up in a rush and shouted to the outside: “Older brother Wolf, you’re back!”

Shu Maoting and Shu Wan looked back at the same time, but their expressions suddenly changed. Shu Maoting strode out to see him: “Ah Lang, what’s wrong with your arm?”

Xiao Lang smiled casually: “It’s alright. I met a boar in the mountains just now and was accidentally bumped while escaping. The bleeding has stopped...”

“You child, why are you running into the mountains again? Didn’t I tell you that you won’t be allowed to hunt in the future?!”

Shu Maoting grabbed Xiao Lang’s arm with half a sleeve missing and checked the injury solemnly. The wound was simply wrapped by Xiao Lang, but the large blood stains showed that he was not seriously injured. Shu Maoting wanted to continue to reprimand him but think it was not the right time, so he had to take the person to the kitchen and let him sit down next to Shu Lan and told Shu Wan to fetch water and get medicine.

Qin-shi heard the movement and rushed out. When she saw Xiao Lang’s gray appearance and the blood-stained white cloth, her face turned pale with distress: “It was fine, why did you go to the mountain again? The last time you were so lucky, you caught up with two packs of wolves competing for territory and let you pick up a bargain. Do you really think you can hunt alone? Look at your injury, how painful it is!”