Chapter 5 – Catching Fish, Digging Out Wild Herbs
Thanks to my editor Gold Fairy~ <3
Having taught the two little buns how to swim, and also having helped them clean their bodies, Ling Jingxuan then cleaned himself. Luckily they were bathing in the little brook. If they did it at home, the bathwater would probably have turned black. The dirt on the body was soaked in the water. Rubbing with both hands only scraped off a layer. Guessing that the original owner hadn’t washed in several years, the dirty Ling Jingxuan fought the urge to vomit.
“Daddy, how about we eat fish for dinner?”
Ling Jingxuan, whose skin was rubbed red, pulled up his waist length hair. He was just thinking about looking nearby for inflammation reduction or pain relieving herbs like hairy agrimony or fish mint, when the little bun paddled through the water in front of his face. His big round eyes shining with luminescence looked at him. His little mouth appeared to have signs of saliva drooling. Ling Jingxuan couldn’t help but stare blankly. Immediately after he began to laugh. This little brat probably couldn’t help himself after seeing the little fish in the brook.
“You can catch fish if you want to eat fish tonight, but you’re not allowed to go into the areas with deep water. You can only stay in shallow waters to catch fish.”
Reaching his hand out to flick his forehead, Ling Jingxuan doted on them.
“Yah! Daddy you’re great. Oh! Brother, brother, daddy said we can catch fish, brother…”
Excitedly cheering, the little bun didn’t forget to praise his father before leaving. Seeing this, Ling Jingxuan lifted his head. His smiling expression never broke. The two little buns muttered in consultation. Their little bodies began paddling along the stream. Ling Jingxuan pulled his hair into a lump. His very gaunt face was completely pale and young. Long and thin phoenix eyes were faintly raised and brought their own bewitching seductive charm. A small and delicate high firm nose, and thin dark red lips. Although a bit dull, it was still fresh, tender, and luscious. To sum it up, Ling Jingxuan was pretty good looking. At least, his foundation was good. From now on he ought to become even prettier.
In the summer it doesn’t become dark until very late. Although they arrived halfway through the afternoon, but with both learning to swim and noisily playing about, the sun was about to set. Ling Jingxuan swam to the shore to take a look. He actually really did find fish mint in the clump of lush green grass. Carefully digging it out with their roots, Ling Jingxuan looked around. Without any trouble he bundled them together and put them aside on the shore. Very soon, he had dug out a lot.
“Dad, what do you need all these weeds for?”
It was unknown when the big bun swam over. With a quick glance he saw the pile of delicate dark green weeds on the shore. His little eyebrows firmly wrinkled. It seemed like in his mind he was scolding his father for not doing honest labor.
“To eat. These aren’t weeds. They are all edible herbs. It also has an inflammation reduction and pain relieving effect. It’s a kind of herbal medicine. “
He threw him a smiling expression as he dug out more. It wasn’t until he dug out all of the fish mint did he finally stop. Looking at the pile of herbs, Ling Jingxuan’s smile became even more brilliant. Ancient times were good. Edible wild herbs were both tender and big. It was probably also crispy and tasty ba?
Thinking about this, he actually washed some white and plump fish mint roots and delivered it to his mouth. A faint sweet taste mixed with a faint medicinal taste spread between his lips. It was even tastier than the ones he planted in his fields in modern times.
“What is this la? Does your face hurt?”
He turned around but saw big bun’s tears in his eyes. Anxiously he rushed to hug him, right hand probing his red and swollen face.
“Eng… I’m happy. Daddy is finally not stupid anymore, can even recognize wild herbs. From now on we should dig out more wild herbs to bring to the market to sell. We can also collect some money and our days will get better and better. Wait for me to grow up to help you fix our house and two fields. I also want to give Daddy and Xiao Wen a two room house like Great Grandpa’s brick tiled house…”
Big bun shook his head. On one hand he cried, on the other he drew a big cake for Ling Jingxuan. Every word was linked to money. He was probably scared of being poor. Ling Jingxuan could only feel all kinds of distress. Although children from ancient times matured early, but Ling Wen was not even five years old yet and was already very sensible. He also wanted a big tiled roofed house to let him live in. Ling Jingxuan, who was iron hearted for the longest time, felt the urge to cry. He was aggrieved but also touched.
“Ok, from now on our money will be given to you to control. Good boy, don’t cry anymore. Isn’t Daddy better now? Our family will get better day by day.”
“En.”
Wiping away his tears, the big bun withdrew from his embrace with embarrassment. His little face was flushed. Ling Jingxuan chuckled and pretended not to see his embarrassment. He pulled the little bun that was still swimming over to them, “How is it? Did you manage to catch any fish yet?”
Quickly sweeping his gaze over the empty basket revealed that he came empty handed. Ling Jingxuan deliberately laughed.
“No, the fish here are too sly. I can’t catch them…”
Seeing Daddy, the little bun’s mouth deflated. His entire face was aggrieved. Ling Jingxuan laughed and shook his head. He patted his butt to signal them to first go ashore. “It’s getting dark. Wear your clothes first so that you don’t catch a cold. I’ll see if I can catch some fish.”
“Ok.”
Hearing what was said, Little Bun swept away his grievance. A pair of eyes sparkled, the only thing missing was slobber. Big Bun was a bit more restrained, but his face was full of excitement. The two little ones nodded their heads and went ashore to pick up their clean clothes on the rock. Two pairs of eyes did not leave Ling Jingxuan in fear they would miss him in action.
Watched by his sons with undisguised fanatical worship, Ling Jingxuan was a bit invigorated. But…
Plop!
“Fuck, still full of energy?”
When he failed to catch fish again and again, the smiling expression on his face finally disappeared. Wild fish were more sensitive and agile than the mass bred fish. They did not even wait for him to pounce before the sharp witted fish swam away. Their movement was quick. If you blink they would vanish. If it was his previous body, wanting to catch a few fish would not be a problem. But now with this little body…
“Daddy…”
Two steamed buns went from being excited to disappointed. Happy lips turned flat. Ling Jingxuan turned his head around to take a glance at them. No need to mention how unhappy he felt. Turning back around, his eyes suddenly became sharp. Looking at the deep water, he saw a big carp swimming by. His heart jumped, and with a splash, Ling Jingxuan dove into the water. Two buns straightened their backs. Holding onto each other’s hands, they held their breath as they gazed towards the surface of the water.
“Dad? Daddy… wuwu…I don’t want to eat fish anymore, Daddy don’t die, Daddy…”
Soon there was no movement in the water. Little Bun couldn’t help but wail while Big Bun extended his hand to hold him. Eyes held tears with an even bigger fear of helplessness. Even if Daddy was dumb and muddleheaded before, they’ve never disliked him. As long as Daddy was there they weren’t afraid of anything, much less the Daddy now who wasn’t dumb anymore. They really liked this Dad alot. If he’s not there anymore…
“Dad! We don’t want to eat fish! Dad come out quick, daddy…”
“Wuwu… Daddy..”
As time passed by, Big Bun also began to yell and cry. Two buns faces were full of fear. Fear that their Daddy who finally was over his illness would disappear like this. For a long time at the quiet stream there were sounds of wails.
***
JADE: Here is the next chapter of PPC! So I’ve decided to keep certain words that signify dialects/expressions in the translations since they are very prevalent in the writing style of this series. So words like “La, Ba, Ma” will appear at the end of certain sentences. They don’t have any actual meaning, its just part of the writing style. Hope you enjoy!