Xiao Xun ate a piece but didn’t find it too tasty, so he said to his mother, “Mother, I want to eat pork buns.”
Yin Hui smiled and said, “Tomorrow, I will ask someone to go to the street to see if there are any for sale.”
Liao Qiuniang made the best pork buns, but it was uncertain whether she would open a store in Jinling after marriage.
The children were picky, but Wei Luo wasn’t, and he had a good appetite when tired from errands. So, he ate all the six pieces left by the two brothers.
Yin Hui took the opportunity to teach the children, “Look, Father eats a lot, that’s why he is so tall.”
As Wei Luo stood up, the three brothers and sisters looked up at their tall father, their faces full of reverence.
In a blink of an eye, it was the tenth day of March.
Yin Hui not only bought farm tools but also prepared three sets of coarse cloth and short brown for Wei Luo and his sons. Short brown was the clothing that people in the village often wore. The clothes were hanging on the rack the previous night, and Wei Luo got up in the morning and changed into it directly.
It was said that people’s appearances were influenced by their clothing, and Wei Luo, when clad in a brocade robe, appeared akin to a relative of the Emperor. But when he wore coarse clothes, it concealed his refined appearance from behind, creating an impression of a tall and robust man. Yet, when he turned around, he unveiled his handsome and composed face. His dignified countenance immediately dissuaded others from perceiving him as an ordinary farmer.
Wei Luo fastened his belt, turned his head, and met her eyes looking at him beside the bed. Looking at each other, Yin Hui suddenly put down the curtain and softly reprimanded, “Where did you come from? The Princess’s boudoir is something you cannot trespass.”
The figure suddenly burst into flames.
At that moment, the children’s chatter and laughter came from the yard. Wei Luo had no choice but to press down the fire.
Xiao Heng and Xiao Xun were both dressed in coarse cloth and short brown, with cloth scarves on their heads. However, the two brothers had white skin and red lips, giving them the appearance of children from wealthy families.
Xiao Ning was still wearing a beautiful dress. Seeing her father and brothers all dressed strangely, the girl looked around curiously.
When Yin Hui emerged, Wei Luo cast a glance at her. She was still adorned in a brightly colored dress, creating a contrast against the three of them—father and sons. She almost resembled a fairy descended from the earth.
“Does Ning Ning want to dress like her brothers?” Yin Hui sat down beside Wei Luo and asked her daughter with a smile.
Xiao Ning immediately shook her head; her brothers’ clothes were ugly, and she preferred her own and her mother’s.
Wei Luo observed and listened, already envisioning that when his daughter grew up, she would undoubtedly be as beautiful as Yin Hui.
After breakfast, the family of five headed to Taoran Hall together.
Chang Feng and An Shun’er were already waiting there, and Taoran Hall had arranged several sets of farming implements in front of the two vegetable gardens in the front yard, including a yellow ox pulling a plow.
Two days ago, Yin Hui had ordered someone to water the vegetable garden first and then let it dry for another day. So the ground was slightly moist and suitable for farming.
Wei Luo, not requiring assistance from others, instructed all the servants to leave, leaving only his family in Taoran Hall.
He first acquainted Xiao Heng and Xiao Xun with the ox, then he assisted with the plow behind, and his sons jointly led the ox in front.
After the first furrow was plowed, the father and sons switched roles, and he took the lead in guiding the ox.
Holding the plow also demanded strength. Xiao Heng and Xiao Xun were very serious and plowed three furrows in a row.
Wei Luo remarked, “Some people don’t have the money to raise ox, and they rely on their strength to pull and push the plow.”
Xiao Heng and Xiao Xun looked at their ox, finding it unimaginable.
Xiao Ning watched her father and brothers bustling to and fro, wanting to come over and play several times. Still, upon seeing their trouser legs stained with dirt, she hesitated and stayed obediently by her mother’s side.
Yin Hui smiled and said, “Should I teach you how to sow seeds?”
Xiao Ning nodded.
Yin Hui lifted up the hem of her skirt and pinned it to her waist, asking Ning to hold the small clay pot with vegetable seeds firmly. After that, she picked up her daughter, put some vegetable seeds along the first ditch, and demonstrated to her daughter.
Xiao Ning found it fun, so she asked her mother to take the clay pot. She grabbed a handful of vegetable seeds, bent down, lowered her head, and sprinkled them seriously.
Yin Hui couldn’t stand that kind of posture, so she put Ning down within a few steps. Now Ning was no longer afraid of stepping on the soil, and the little girl couldn’t wait to continue planting seeds after her mother helped her fasten her skirt.
Wei Luo looked over. The spring was bright, and the mother and daughter were both wearing a set of peach-red skirts. The daughter had two small buns on her head and a pink headband, looking cute. Yin Hui’s hair was in a bun, she wore a jade hairpin on her head, and a double-flowered crabapple on her sideburn. Because she had to support her daughter, she bent over, revealing her slender and fair neck at a glance.
Wei Luo thought that if she were a young woman farming in the fields with such an appearance, she might have gotten surrounded by a group of country dudes.