The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 123 Nephew and Uncle

Li Xiao had just returned from Wuya Village. When he passed by Hedong Fort, it was exactly noon.

We simply rested for a while in Hedong Fort and set off back to Hexi Fort in the afternoon.

Luo Ping wanted to make good preparations to entertain Li Xiao.

But Li Xiao directly rejected it.

"Uncle Luo, we are not outsiders, there is no need to be so polite."

"It's the busy autumn harvest season now, and every family is struggling."

"We can't let the autumn harvest be delayed because of people like us."

"Everyone should just do what they need to do, just pretend we don't exist."

"I just came to see my elder sister. I will go back to Hexibao later."

After Li Xiao finished speaking, he chatted and laughed with some other men from Hedongbao who had rushed over for a while.

Afterwards, under the leadership of Luo Meng, they returned to Hedong Fort to rest.

"Dalong, wait a moment, I'll cook for you."

After returning home, Li Dafeng started to get busy, but was stopped by Li Xiao.

"Don't bother, sister. We have our own dry food."

"After eating, sit for a while and then leave." Li Xiao shook his head and said.

All those who followed Li Xiao back this time were young men from Sibao.

Excluding the young men from Hedong Fort, there are nearly ninety young men from the other three forts in total.

The women in Hedongbao were still busy working in the fields. Li Dafeng alone could not cook for so many people.

Fortunately, everyone carried dried meat and food on their horses.

"How can that be possible? We are already home, how can we still eat those dry things?" Li Dafeng said unwillingly.

After all, they are my own family, so I can’t be too shabby.

But Li Xiao smiled lightly and insisted, "Sister, there's really no need for you to go to so much trouble. We are already used to eating this."

"Just go and boil some hot water, don't worry about anything else." Li Xiao ordered.

Then he looked at Dahu and Erhu and said, "You two go and help."

There are two staple foods in Li Xiao’s army.

One is air-dried meat, which can replenish energy at any time.

The second is fried noodles. After frying the flour, put it in a bag and eat it directly by mixing it with boiling water.

Simple to make and easy to carry.

During the Korean War in later generations, fried noodles became the staple food of our army, providing great energy for the soldiers in the ice and snow.

Before the war with the Naiman people began, Li Xiao had a large amount of fried noodles prepared.

Each soldier was given a bag to carry, which was very useful.

Afterwards, Li Dafeng took Dahu and Erhu to boil several large pots of hot water, finally satisfying the food needs of these teenagers.

Li Xiao was also holding a bowl filled with fried flour, which looked like a bowl of mud, and was also soaked with a few pieces of hard dried meat.

But Li Xiao was very satisfied with the meal.

“I really never get tired of eating this.”

Luo Meng beside him also nodded: "Eating it reminds me of the time when we were in Jinshan."

"At that time, I just wanted to drink a sip of hot water and eat a bowl of hot fried noodles."

"What a pity~"

As he spoke, he shook his head and smiled slightly, as if he was amused by his own dissatisfaction.

In order to avoid being discovered by the Naiman people, they didn't dare to make a fire.

Those days were spent eating dry jerky and raw fried noodles.

"Thinking about it now, it really seems like a lifetime ago." Li Xiao shook his head.

It was also from the battle of crossing the Alai Ridge that Li Xiao truly came to prominence.

It opened up a channel to the upper power center in northern Xinjiang.

This battle is very important to Li Xiao.

"When we are old, we will definitely recall that scene, and maybe even miss it." Luo Meng said with a smile.

Li Xiao shook his head and said, "How old are you?"

"There are still many battles to fight in the future, and the deeds to be remembered are still to come. I'm afraid crossing the Alai Mountains will not even catch your eye." Li Xiao smiled.

A few of them talked about the previous battle and quickly finished a bowl of fried noodles.

At this time, Luo Meng suddenly said: "Oh, Dalong."

"The baby in Dafeng's belly will be born in a few months."

"Please help me choose a name when the time comes!"

Li Xiao was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and turned to look towards the inner room.

After Li Dafeng finished boiling the water, Li Xiao sent her away to take care of her own business.

At this time, I was in the inner room, and I didn't know what I was busy with. I could only hear the creaking sound.

So, Li Xiao said to Luo Meng, "Big Sister won't give birth for at least another five months. Why are you in such a hurry now?"

"Besides, the child's name should be chosen by you as the father."

Luo Meng stood up, put his bowl aside, shook his head, and said without any concern: "There is a saying, there is thunder god in the sky and uncle uncle on the earth."

"You are the child's uncle. For the child, besides me, you have the biggest share."

"It's the same whether you come up with the name or not."

"What's more, I'm not as educated as you." Luo Meng smiled.

The name Li Xiao was given by himself, and it has replaced the name Li Dalong and become Li Xiao's official name.

Luo Meng also wanted Li Xiao to help him choose a name like his.

Of course, there is one most important reason.

Li Xiao is now the deputy governor of Jinzhou, and he might even become more powerful in the future. Letting Li Xiao come up with this name will have great benefits for his son in the future.

"Yes, Dalong, if you have time, please help me think of one."

Li Dafeng had been listening to their conversation in the inner room, and at this time he couldn't help but speak out.

"Your brother-in-law and his family are rough people, how could they name a child? It's either Gousheng or Niudan."

"That's a nice name you gave yourself."

As a mother, how can you not want your son to have a good name?
At least you can't call him something like Gousheng or Yangfendan.

Because these two names are the names of Luo Meng and Luo Ping when they were children.

Later, someone was specially hired to change the names of Luo Meng and Luo Ping.

"This~uh~"

Li Xiao shook his head and smiled slightly.

I just changed my name to Li Xiao, but I was regarded as a cultured person by others.

But there’s nothing wrong with just giving it a name.

Li Xiao thought for a moment and said, "If it's a boy, let's name him Luo Wenzhong."

"A man of culture, good manners, loyalty and integrity is a man of distinction."

Hearing Li Xiao's words, Luo Meng pondered it carefully and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Good~"

He clapped his hands fiercely together and shouted, "If it's a son, let him be named Luo Wenzhong."

Although I didn't understand it very thoroughly, but after hearing Li Xiao's elegant and profound way of speaking, I knew that this name was very unusual.

It has deeper meaning and connotation than Luo Meng, Luo Ping and the like.

Li Dafeng in the inner room also nodded quickly with a smile on his face.

He kept saying, "This is a good name, this is a good name."

Finally I can avoid names like Goudan.

"When you have other sons in the future, you can also take them down."

"Luo Wenyi, Luo Wenxin, Luo Wenyong." Li Xiao laughed softly.

These are his nephews and the most staunch supporters of his hegemony, so Li Xiao will definitely put a lot of effort into them.

In addition, he discovered a problem.

The cultural quality of young people from Jinzhou like Luo Meng and Erhu is really average.

Many people don’t even know how to read or write their own names.

This made Li Xiao feel deeply worried.

I plan to open a literacy class in Hexibao in the future.

The Four Books and Five Classics are useless; they are just shackles that restrict thoughts.

Li Xiao hasn't read it himself, so he definitely won't give it to them.

Li Xiao’s goal in the first stage is to enable these young people to read and write.

At least let them learn to read and write, so that in the future on the battlefield, they won’t have to wait until Li Xiao writes a military order and they don’t know how to read and need others to help them read it.

That would be too dangerous.

"Okay, that's good. Hehe, I have a name for my future son." Luo Meng laughed when he heard that Li Xiao had even named his future son.

After Li Xiao finished the fried noodles in his bowl, he slowly stood up and walked into the inner room.

The layout of Luo Meng's house is similar to that of Li Xiao's house.

There are five main rooms in total. Li Xiao and his friends were having dinner in the middle guest room just now.

Li Dafeng was busy in the east wing, and the creaking sound never stopped, making Li Xiao very curious about what she was doing.

However, when he walked into the inner room, he was stunned.

"Is this spinning?" Li Xiao said in astonishment.

At this moment, Li Dafeng was sitting on a small stool, in front of him was a spinning wheel of the current period.

It is very primitive and mainly consists of three parts: the bracket, the spinning wheel and the spindle rack.

By manually turning the crank, the spinning wheel is driven to rotate, which in turn drives the spindle with a smaller diameter. The acceleration is used to combine and twist the wool, and finally turn it into finished yarn.

The further processing of spinning is called weaving.

However, what Li Dafeng did was just the simple spinning process.

"Sister, when did you learn to spin?"

Li Xiao looked at the spinning wheel in front of him and asked with a little confusion.

In his memory, there was no problem in asking Li Dafeng to do laundry, cooking, mending clothes, and herding sheep and horses.

But she certainly didn't know how to spin before.

After all, Qin Dani and the old lady don't know how to do this.

Where did Li Dafeng learn this?
Hearing Li Xiao's words, Li Dafeng said in surprise: "Wow, you're a grown man and you actually know this is a spinning wheel?"

Li Xiao chuckled: "Of course I don't recognize it. We don't have it in Hexi Fort, but I've seen it in other places."

Li Dafeng nodded slightly and explained, "What's so strange about being able to spin? I just learned it too."

"After I had a child, my parents didn't let me do any work. I was bored at home, so I asked my neighbor Aunt Huang to teach me how to spin yarn. I can earn some money at least."

Li Dafeng explained as he picked up a handful of wool from the ground and twisted it into the spindle wheel bit by bit. The rotation of the wheel turned it into a long thin thread.

While watching this scene, Li Xiao suddenly slapped his forehead.

"I'm so confused."

"The Golden State may not have cotton, but it has plenty of wool."

"We don't have to rely entirely on the desert for raw materials."

“Oh, what a misconception!”

(End of this chapter)