Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 131 Recognition of relatives

"...your sister-in-law is pregnant again. Now we have four sons in the family and they are too noisy. I hope the next one will be a girl. A girl is the best. It seems that we don’t have a girl in our family yet. Dad said that our family is too masculine, which is not good..." Song Dazhuang kept talking to his younger brother about the changes in the family over the years, regardless of whether he could understand him or not.

Song Dahao sat quietly without responding, staring intently at the lantern on the stove. Seeing that he was interested, Song Dazhuang brightened the light a little.

Song Dahao's lips were chapped because he had been sitting by the fire. Song Dazhuang thought of Song Chunlin's spiritual spring water, so he took out a military water bottle from his bag. The water bottle was filled with space water mixed with spiritual spring water. Not much spiritual spring water was added, so that they could relieve fatigue on the road.

Song Dazhuang found a clean ceramic bowl, poured water into the bowl, and handed it to Song Dahao's mouth.

Song Dahao had been thirsty for a long time, but he didn't know he should drink water. It was not until Song Dazhuang handed the water to his mouth that he instinctively lowered his head and drank a few sips.

Lingquan water has healing properties. Although the amount is small, it has relieved Song Dahao's headache to a certain extent.

I don't know if it was because the water tasted good or because Song Dahao was too thirsty, but he drank the bowl of water in a few gulps. After drinking it, he raised his head and looked at Song Dazhuang for the first time.

Song Dazhuang was so excited when he saw the changes in his brother that his hands were shaking. He calmed down and poured another cup for Song Dahe. Song Dahe finished it quickly. This time he didn't ask for more, but he no longer just looked at the flames. Instead, he looked at Song Dazhuang with a little doubt.

Song Dazhuang noticed that his brother was looking at him, and immediately gestured to himself incoherently: "I, it's me, I'm your brother, Dahe, I'm Dazhuang, your brother, do you still remember me?"

Of course Song Dahao would not respond to him. He just continued to look at Song Dazhuang quietly. Apart from that, he had no other reaction.

Song Dazhuang's tears welled up in his eyes, but he stopped himself. The two younger generations were still there, and how could a grown man like him have the nerve to cry?

Song Chunlin didn't pay much attention to this side. He was squatting beside the bed, intending to check Fu Nian's broken leg.

Fu Nian was a little embarrassed: "Don't look at it, little brother. The wound is very horrible. You will have a nightmare after seeing it."

Song Chunlin firmly lifted Fu Nian's quilt. Although he had been bedridden for many years, Fu Nian was kept very clean. He was covered with a soft and dry quilt, with thick animal fur underneath, and the broken limbs were also flat.

Song Chunlin reached out and touched it, then gently asked him, "Does it hurt?"

Fu Nian smiled gently: "Of course it hurts, but after so many years, I'm used to it."

Song Chunlin knew he was lying. How could a broken leg not hurt?

Lu Ming said calmly: "You woke up in pain last night."

Fu Nian was embarrassed after being exposed by his companions.

Song Chunlin pursed his lips, looked at Fu Nian's broken limbs, and then stared at the cloth on Lu Ming's face.

Unlike the clean and tidy Fu Nian, Lu Ming's towel was a little dirty, and so was his body. It was probably because he was the only "healthy person" in the family, so he did most of the housework. Fu Nian could help with some light work, but Song Dahao was a complete useless person. Not only could he not work, but most of their income had to be used to buy medicine for him.

Lu Ming and Fu Nian didn't tell Song Chunlin all this, but Song Chunlin could guess it. When he examined Song Daha just now, he found that apart from the severe blood clots in his brain, he had no other serious problems. Even the clothes he was wearing were the thickest among the three.

Song Dahao was sick and afraid of the cold, so he wore the thickest clothes in the house, while Fu Nian could only stay in bed all day long. In order not to add burden to Lu Ming, he even drank less water every day.

Song Chunlin walked around the room and found two pieces of rough pottery. He also took out an identical military canteen from his bag, poured two bowls of water and handed them to them, shouting angrily: "Drink!"

Both of them were stunned by his actions and unconsciously took the ceramic bowl and drank the water.

As soon as they drank the spiritual spring water, Fu Nian and Lu Ming both noticed the difference of the water. Although the amount of spiritual spring water was very small, the effect was particularly obvious after drinking it. Fu Nian's injured leg and Lu Ming's eyes, both of them felt that their affected areas were much more comfortable, and there was no longer the dull pain as before.

"Brother, what did you give us to drink?" Lu Ming asked Song Chunlin excitedly.

Song Chunlin smiled slightly: "It's a magic medicine."

Fu Nian burst out laughing, and Lu Ming's face fell.

"If you don't want to talk, then don't talk. Why are you trying to fool people?"

Fu Nian gently squeezed Lu Ming's big hand, signaling him to stop talking. The young man almost laughed out loud.

"You haven't eaten yet, right? Brother Lu, go to the kitchen and see if there's anything to eat?"

Lu Ming nodded and groped his way out. Song Chunlin followed closely behind him. He said he had brought food with him and there was no need to bother Lu Ming.

Lu Ming was a little skeptical, but when Song Chunlin took out a whole roast duck, Lu Ming smelled the tempting aroma and was sure that they really brought food, and it was much better than what he had at home.

Song Chunlin borrowed a pot, took out the spring pancakes from the space and heated them up, and also cut a few cucumbers.

Lu Ming listened to him busying himself in the kitchen and felt a little embarrassed. The other party was obviously a guest, but he had nothing to entertain the guest.

Song Chunlin put the sliced roast duck on the spring rolls, topped it with shredded cucumber, carrot, and green onion, dipped it in roast duck sauce, placed it on a plate, and handed it to Lu Ming who had been standing.

"We are sorry for disturbing you so late at night. Please share these with Uncle Lu and Uncle Fu as a midnight snack."

Lu Ming's hands were cold as he held the ceramic bowl, and he returned to his room with mixed feelings.

The room was not big, and Fu Nian heard what they said in the kitchen. Seeing that Lu Ming's face looked bad, he knew that he felt guilty. They had finally waited for Song Dahao's relatives to come, but they couldn't even treat them to a decent meal, and they wanted the young man to treat them instead.

Fu Nian took Lu Ming's hand and asked him to sit down, patiently comforting him: "This is a token of the child's love, don't think too much about it."

Lu Ming hummed dejectedly. Fu Nian was more open-minded and had already started studying the food in the bowl.

There was a candle lit in the room that Song Chunlin had brought out. He saw in the candlelight that it was something that looked like a pancake. He carefully picked one up and fed it to Lu Ming first.

"Is it tasty?"

The roast duck rolls made by Song Chunlin were very solid, one was equivalent to three or four of others. Lu Ming took a bite and found that the things rolled inside seemed to be things he had never eaten before. One of them tasted fresh and refreshing, and he liked it very much. The other one was not so wonderful. Anyway, it had a smell he didn't like, but he could still endure it and eat it.

Fu Nian fed him one and finished it. Seeing how happily he ate it, he also felt greedy. Although they had already had dinner, the simple dinner in their family could not compare with the delicious roast duck wrap. Fu Nian stuffed another one into Lu Ming's hand and took one himself and took a bite.

The roast duck was still hot, the duck skin was crispy and full of oily fragrance, the duck meat was tender and sliced thinly so it didn't get stuck in your teeth, the cucumber shreds were refreshing, the carrot shreds were crispy and sweet, and although the scallion was a bit spicy, they tasted just right when mixed together. The roast duck sauce was evenly coated on top, making the roast duck rolls even more flavorful. Fu Nian hadn't eaten such delicious food for a long time.

No, Fu Nian had never eaten such delicious food.

Song Chunlin made six roast duck rolls for them, each of which was as long as an adult male's palm. They had already eaten dinner, so after each of them ate three, they felt their stomachs were rarely so full.

In the kitchen, Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue sat on small stools, each holding a pancake, and watched Song Dazhuang feed Song Dahao roast duck rolls.

"Dad, did you give Uncle Er some water?"

"Yes, I drank two bowls."

Two bowls were a little too little. Song Chunlin thought about it and decided not to feed Song Dahao the spiritual spring water directly. Although the wound on his head had healed, it still looked scary overall. You know, the human skull is the hardest thing. It was incredible that Song Dahao was still alive after the skull was smashed.

After Song Dazhuang finished feeding his brother, he saw him turn back to look at the flames. He wiped his face helplessly and discussed with Gu Fengyue: "Are you going to explain it to them?"

Gu Fengyue wiped his mouth and nodded, then he took Song Chunlin back to the next room. Lu Ming and Fu Nian had not gone to bed yet, and they were planning where to let the three of them sleep that night.

Gu Fengyue walked in and brought a small stool with him. After he and Song Chunlin sat down, he took out the token of the Marquis' Mansion from his arms. Lu Ming couldn't see it, but Fu Nian saw it clearly. He would never forget the totem on it even if it turned into ashes.

"You, you are the prince?" Fu Nian crawled forward a little excitedly, and Lu Ming couldn't stop him.

Gu Fengyue quickly stepped forward and held the man down: "Don't get excited, sit still."

Fu Nian: "Why are you still sitting, Brother Lu, come and salute!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming hurriedly knelt on one knee and saluted Gu Fengyue. Gu Fengyue helped him up, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"You are mistaken. I am not the prince. Besides, my brother is the head of the Marquisate now. He has not yet married and has no children."

Fu Nian calmed down now. He looked at Gu Fengyue carefully in the candlelight and found that he was still a teenager, only slightly older than the prince back then. He definitely couldn't be the prince. The old marquis had already died, so the prince must have succeeded to the throne long ago.

"You said you are the second son of the Marquis's Mansion?"

"That's right. I came here this time to bring back my father's remains. I hope you can tell me where my father is buried."

Fu Nian remembered that a guest had come to their house before, claiming to be from the Marquis' Mansion and saying that he was looking for Song Dahao. When they handed in the letter, they thought that someone would come to look for them, but they didn't expect it would happen so soon, and the young master of the Marquis' Mansion came in person.

"I didn't expect that the Second Young Master has grown so big."

Fu Nian sighed, he changed into a more comfortable posture and recounted what happened that year.

"At that time, we received an order to escort Da Sima out of the city. Da Sima was still conscious at that time. He didn't want to leave, but his injuries were too severe to resist, so he had to let us take him out of the city."

"At that time, the Xiongnu people got the news that the Grand Marshal had left the city from somewhere, and we were caught up not long after we left the city. Fortunately, the local terrain was complicated, and we used it to shake off some of the pursuers. But when we stopped, the Grand Marshal...he had already died."

When talking about what happened in the past, Fu Nian's voice was very hoarse. Lu Ming silently held his hand. Fu Nian calmed down before continuing.

"We are so ashamed that we didn't find out that something was wrong with Da Sima in time. I have recalled this more than once over the years. If we had been more careful at the beginning, maybe, maybe Da Sima could still be saved?"

"At that time, we managed to escape far away. All the brothers around us were injured. We took turns carrying Da Sima to the capital, but they were too seriously injured and traveled day and night. By the time we arrived here, only five of us were left. Song Dahe was still conscious at that time, and my legs were still intact. The accident happened when we were entering the mountain. We were unlucky and encountered a blind bear."

"Blind bear? I thought you made that up."

"Hahahaha, no, we really did encounter a blind bear. The blind bear had probably just woken up from hibernation and was so hungry that its eyes were glowing green. The five of us were already exhausted to the limit, and we were also injured. We fought hard with two deaths and three injuries before we managed to kill the blind bear."

"Brother Lu was blinded at that time. Song Dahe...actually I don't remember if he was injured during that time. When we later asked a doctor, he said it was too late. The blood clot was already very large and it affected Dahe's consciousness. It was from that time that Dahe started to become a little stupid. When the weather turned cold, he would go crazy because of the pain."

Fu Nian didn't mention his legs, but it was probably injured at that time.

"Among the three of us who survived, I broke my leg, Big Brother Lu injured his eye, and Da He was unconscious. We really couldn't leave, so we boldly buried Da Sima on this mountain. I hope Second Young Master, don't mind."

Gu Fengyue waved her hands repeatedly: "How could I blame you? If it weren't for escorting my father back to Beijing, you could have escaped even further."

However, they did not. Even though they were injured, they still persisted in carrying the old marquis's body all the way back here from Hutu. Even though survival was difficult, they did not choose to give up on each other, but instead clung to each other for warmth.

"I should be the one thanking you for what you did for my father. If it weren't for my father, you wouldn't have fallen into this situation."

Fu Nian didn't think so: "Second Master, do you know what we saw when we escaped?"

Gu Fengyue was puzzled.

Fu Nian continued: "We saw the fire in Hutu City."

"Second Master, even if we didn't send the Grand Marshal back and stayed in Hutu City, we would probably have died in battle. Now that we can still keep this worthless life, it is a blessing in disguise."