TTLJDFL Chapter 34

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Li Jin completely failed to understand this bachelor’s fascination with such topics.

Seeing that Li Jin wasn’t engaging, Chen Xiran gave up and concluded, "You're secretly flirtatious."

Li Jin: "???" What made him say that?

Li Jin decided to change the subject. If they continued down this path, who knew how many labels Chen Xiran would slap on him?

But Chen Xiran clearly enjoyed the topic. He said, "You know about Piaoxiang Tower in town, right?"

Li Jin nodded. "I do."

He still remembered that the original owner of his body had been so obsessed with the top courtesan of Piaoxiang Tower that he had neglected his husband giving birth.

Besides, nearly everyone in the village knew how much the original owner adored that courtesan.

Chen Xiran was surprised. "You actually know about it?"

Li Jin replied, "The town is only so big. How could I not?"

Chen Xiran said, "Alright then. When we pass the imperial exam, let's go to Piaoxiang Tower and book the top courtesan! My treat!"

If the original owner had heard this, he would have been thrilled.

But Li Jin had no interest in such frivolous indulgences.

In this era, scholars loved composing poetry for famous courtesans.

But Li Jin had a sense of purity—not just physically, but mentally as well.

Fortunately, the original owner had been too poor to book a courtesan; otherwise, Li Jin felt like he’d need to wash himself in the river.

With a sigh, Li Jin wondered why he had agreed to walk back to the village with Chen Xiran.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to just give him the address and let him find his own way?

Li Jin endured countless remarks from Chen Xiran along the way until they finally reached his vegetable garden. He pointed at the tiny green sprouts poking out of the soil.

"This is my vegetable garden."

Chen Xiran took a look and asked, "Where are the vegetables? Did you plant potatoes?"

Li Jin replied, "Only the cucumbers have sprouted. The others haven’t yet."

Chen Xiran finally spotted some small seedlings and said, "So this is what cucumber seedlings look like."

Li Jin said, "In another month, we’ll have cucumbers to eat."

Chen Xiran, looking more excited than Li Jin, declared, "Then I’ll come to your house for cucumbers!"

When they arrived at the village entrance, Chen Xiran suddenly seemed a bit nervous.

"Does your little one get shy around strangers?"

Li Jin was about to say, "No, he's even preparing food for you," but then realized that Chen Xiran was probably referring to his little baby instead.

He replied, "I'm not sure. So far, only my spouse and I have held the child."

At this moment, Chen Xiran knew he couldn't back down—after all, it was just holding a baby.

Thinking about how Li Jin was even younger than him by a year and already had a child, he sighed about how tough life was.

Li Jin invited Chen Xiran into the house. Originally, opening the door would reveal a rather spacious courtyard, but now that a study had taken up a third of the space, it still felt open and not cramped.

After putting down his bamboo basket, Li Jin led Chen Xiran to the study.

Now that his home had a proper study, even hosting guests felt a bit more dignified.

Chen Xiran sat in the so-called "study," which, in reality, didn't have many books, and looked around curiously.

Li Jin said, "We don't have tea at home, but I have chilled mung bean soup to cool off. Would you like some?"

Chen Xiran nodded. "Anything is fine."

Li Jin then went to the well, lifted up the chilled mung bean soup, and served it to Chen Xiran.

He said, "There are only a few of us in the house. My spouse is cooking. You can rest here while I check if the baby is awake."

Chen Xiran knew better than to enter someone else's bedroom casually, so he sat in the study and started looking at Li Jin's calligraphy practice.

With just one glance, Chen Xiran was completely stunned.

He still remembered that twenty days ago, when he first met Li Jin, his handwriting was only neat and tidy at best.

But now, every horizontal stroke, vertical line, and hook carried a distinct sense of willpower, making it impossible to look away.

From his limited vocabulary for describing calligraphy, Chen Xiran found one fitting word—"integrity."

—Each of Li Jin’s characters no longer looked weak and limp. Instead, they seemed to have their own structure and strength.

However, there was still one flaw: the strokes for left and right diagonals didn't look quite right.

It was as if the horizontal and vertical strokes were written so well that the diagonals now appeared out of place, lonely and awkward.

Chen Xiran found it odd, as if each character had been written by multiple people—some strokes belonged to one person, while others belonged to another.

Meanwhile, Li Jin walked to the kitchen entrance and saw the young man dressed in a light blue short robe, busy making dumplings at the chopping board.

The young man noticed his gaze and said, "Just twenty more, and I'll be done."

Li Jin looked at the neatly arranged dumplings on the board. After washing his hands, he entered the kitchen, lifted the pot lid, and said, "The water is boiling. I'll start cooking a batch."

The young man asked, "Aren't you going to keep your friend company?"

Li Jin replied, "We talked the whole way back. I'm tired now, so I'll take this opportunity to help you cook the dumplings."

Of course, all Li Jin really did was put the dumplings into the boiling water before heading to the bedroom to check on the baby.

He had simply wanted a brief moment to see the young man and exchange a few words with him.

After all, he couldn't leave his guest waiting for too long.

Li Jin picked up the baby, now wrapped in a fresh swaddle, and carried him to the study.

Chen Xiran's eyes lit up when he saw the little child.

"This baby really takes after you—so handsome!"

The baby had a bright red birthmark at the center of his forehead, giving him a unique, spirited look.

Li Jin smiled and thanked him. "His nickname is Baozi. We'll give him a proper name when he reaches one month old."

Chen Xiran laughed. "Baozi is a great name—perfect for a little kid. It’s definitely unique, just like you."

Indeed, in an era where most children were given names like "Tie Zhu" (Iron Pillar) or "Er Lang" (Second Son), "Baozi" (Steamed Bun) was quite distinctive.

Maybe it was because Chen Xiran spoke a little too loudly, but Baozi suddenly woke up.

Babies don't recognize people, only scents.

Not smelling anything familiar made him anxious, and he quickly started crying.

Li Jin immediately took Baozi into his arms.

Then, Chen Xiran witnessed the child's astonishing "face-changing" trick—

The moment Baozi was back in his father's arms, he stopped crying instantly.

However, because he had been crying so hard, he still hiccuped a little, looking pitiful.

Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought Chen Xiran had bullied the child.

Chen Xiran was dumbfounded. If he hadn’t known for sure that this was a baby less than a month old, he might have suspected he was being set up.

Shaking his head in amazement, he said, "This child is something else. No one will dare to mess with him in the future."

With such a quick ability to switch between crying and not crying, anyone who wronged him was bound to get blamed for it.

Li Jin felt a bit proud. It seemed that his child didn’t hold grudges—he hadn't given him any trouble after that one morning when Li Jin overslept and didn’t feed him rice porridge on time.

Baozi was truly a well-behaved little one.

Feeling pleased, Li Jin decided to visit a bookshop later to find some well-meaning characters to use for Baozi’s official name.

After holding Baozi for a while, Li Jin patted Chen Xiran's shoulder in front of the child.

Then, under Baozi’s watchful gaze, he slowly handed him over to Chen Xiran.

Baozi’s eyes welled up with tears, looking ready to cry at any moment.

But fortunately, as long as Li Jin remained in his sight, the baby held back, staring at his father without blinking.

For the first time, Chen Xiran held a soft, tiny baby in his arms. The child carried the sweet scent of milk, and with his large, deer-like eyes and the red birthmark on his forehead, he was utterly adorable.

Even though the baby had just been crying the moment he was handed over, Chen Xiran couldn't find it in himself to be upset.

His heart melted as he sighed, "Why am I still not married? If I had married early like you and had a son, I'd definitely arrange a childhood engagement with Baozi right now."

Li Jin replied, "That really is a shame."

But in his heart, he thought, "This guy already dares to set his sights on my Baozi so soon? I’d better keep an eye on him."

In the end, the three of them had their meal together in the courtyard.

Li Jin’s courtyard was spacious, with a persimmon tree adding to the rustic charm of the rural home.

Today, both Li Jin and the young man were dressed in light-colored clothing. Standing together, they looked exceptionally well-matched.

Chen Xiran said, “No wonder Brother Li is always rushing home after class every day. It turns out your spouse is both virtuous and beautiful. This is our first meeting, so I brought a small gift for Baozi. I hope you will accept it.”

Qin Muwen looked at Li Jin, unsure whether he should accept the gift or not.

Li Jin, however, remained calm and took the braided red string bracelet from Chen Xiran’s hand.

The bracelet was short, clearly meant for a child.

Since Chen Xiran was Li Jin’s classmate, no matter how close their relationship was, he couldn’t give a gift directly to Li Jin’s spouse. So, he had prepared only this small present for the child.

Moreover, there were no silver beads or other embellishments on it, making it easier for Li Jin’s family to accept without feeling burdened.

However, the craftsmanship of the woven string was intricate, and it looked quite delicate.

Li Jin thanked him, saying, “On behalf of Baozi, I thank you, Brother Chen.”

After that, the three of them sat down to eat together.

Seeing this, Chen Xiran understood that Li Jin valued his spouse greatly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have openly acknowledged his spouse’s status in front of a classmate.

Li Jin said, “Brother Chen is not an outsider, and we farmers don’t stand on so much ceremony. Let’s have a meal together today—surely, you won’t mind.”

Chen Xiran was never one for strict etiquette; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been squatting by the roadside eating steamed buns.

He said, “Having such a virtuous spouse is a great blessing in life, Brother Li. Of course, I’d love to join you for a meal!”

The young man had prepared dumplings with pork and cabbage filling as the main dish.

The side dishes included scrambled eggs with tomatoes, steamed pumpkin, winter melon pork rib soup, and a cold wild herb salad.

Initially, the young man wasn’t sure if he should make the cold wild herb salad, but after thinking it over, Li Jin said, “Go ahead and make it. It’s quite tasty.

Besides, it has a distinctive village flavor that you can’t find in town.”

As it turned out, Young Master Chen, who usually didn’t eat much meat, ended up devouring most of that wild herb salad.

Qin Muwen thought to himself, “As expected, listening to Ah Jin was the right choice. The wild vegetables we farmers eat every day are actually a rare treat for the young master.”

After finishing his meal, the young man quickly got up and said, “There’s more in the kitchen; I’ll make another plate.”

In the end, when Chen Xiran left, he took half of Li Jin’s wild vegetables with him.

As he left, he even joked, “If my father knew I’d given up meat to maintain my figure, he’d probably be moved to tears.”

Li Jin walked him to the entrance of the village, where Chen Xiran assured him that he knew the way and would have no trouble returning to town.

After bidding him farewell, Li Jin returned home to help the young man wash the dishes.

Baozi, who had been present the entire time, had behaved exceptionally well while they had a guest over.

After finishing the dishes, Li Jin was delighted and gave Baozi a kiss.

This was the first time Li Jin had kissed the child. Previously, he had seen himself as half a doctor and half a father.

But because he was new to this place, he had focused on fulfilling his responsibilities as a father without truly forming an emotional bond.

Today’s events changed that. Li Jin now wholeheartedly regarded Baozi as his own son.

Moved by the moment, he instinctively gave the little one a kiss on the cheek.

To his surprise, Baozi suddenly smiled at him.

It was the first time the baby had ever smiled at him of his own accord.

Tl Notes:

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