The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 551: First, Er...

Chapter 551: First, Er...

***SEE AUTHOR NOTE AT END: HIATUS IN DECEMBER 2024!!!***

Although Xu Feng was semi-confident that he could probably cook with the baby carrier on, it wasn’t the wisest choice for the new dad. Who would he cry to if Da Long got burnt or scalded?

Still, he couldn’t help but glance at the baby carrier once again before pushing up his sleeves. It was hard only carrying one baby, but being without either of their warmth felt a bit unnerving.

Everything in the kitchen was neat and clean, just the way Xu Feng liked things. There was even a nice supply of meat available. It wasn’t processed, so the meat was either bought in town or the village, slaughtered by their household, or it had come from some mountain game.

Either way, even with meat, the kitchen still looked a bit hollow somehow.

There weren’t as many spices.

He thought they would stock up on his minimum necessities like herbs and spices. Xu Feng had spent so much time in the kitchen with both Xu Si and Xu San, they should be comfortable using the same seasonings...

But in his absence, maybe they stopped living extravagantly. If that was the case, why was there so much meat?

"We’ll need to process meat for the winter." Xu Feng said nonchalantly. He could question all he wanted in his head, but the girls were still a bit sensitive. They didn’t need any more tears in all of Nanshan Estate.

Xu Feng wasn’t good at dealing with it, and it made his chest hurt to see them cry.

It would be a lot of work, but it wasn’t something they hadn’t done before. Their very first winter was like this. They started making preparations late, he thought by their second winter they would be better prepared, but nothing was certain.

This year, there were more mouths to feed—although many weren’t home—it was still possible to get everything done satisfactorily if they worked efficiently. Well, Xu Feng was back, and now he needed to take care of his home, there was no need to point fingers when they could just work together.

Theirs was a large family that needed to be fed. Vegetables and even fruits were something he could provide—although he’d need to be mindful of how much he supplied. It was the meat and other fermented foods that would take a lot of effort.

"Let’s make some simple buns and congee." Xu Feng decided on the menu before adding in one more dish. "We’ll also make some stir-fried kimchi and vegetables."

Neither Xu Si or Xu San had any objections.

The meat preparation for the buns was the most time-consuming step.

There were two types of filling: one with mountain game meat mixed with kimchi, and the other with domesticated goat meat—according to Xu San—and fall vegetables. Despite the limited spice selection, Xu Feng was still able to make the fillings flavorful.

The congee, prepared with some dried fish Xu San pulled from a cupboard, was straightforward. Xu Feng carefully balanced the flavors to avoid any overly fishy taste, ensuring the dish complemented the heavy meat buns.

Lastly, the stir-fried kimchi and vegetables seemed like the easiest dish, but Xu Feng quickly found out otherwise.

The kimchi was extremely sour.

"How long has this been fermenting?" Xu Feng muttered, his brows furrowing. Adjusting the recipe became a battle. He added fresh vegetables to balance the acidity, testing the flavor several times before it finally tasted right.

Even so, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration. So much must have happened in the last few months...

On the surface, everything seemed normal, but so much had slipped beyond the cracks.

...

In the end, the buns still took the longest since the dough needed to be prepared carefully.

There was more than enough meat to make more, but that could wait till a later time. As it got colder, he would start to make easy-to-prepare foods and use their cellars as refrigerators to lessen cooking time in the winter.

He’d just returned but the was a long list of things to do for Xu Feng. Being a matriarch... patriarch... whatever. Running a household wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies.

"Is Xu Hu Zhe feeding the animals?" He asked, but no one answered. "What about Xu Zeng?"

Xu Feng hadn’t seen either of the two he mentioned. Even when bathing earlier, neither was present. Xu Hu Zhe had always been the one to help with his bath water. Maybe he was a bit spoilt, but Xu Feng felt strange otherwise.

And he hadn’t asked, but Xu Feng was secretly anxious about switching places with his brother once again. He didn’t want to accidentally banish his brother back to the apocalypse...

Noticing the heavy silence, Xu Feng glanced at Xu Si and Xu San. Both girls looked guilty.

Although he wasn’t determined to make anyone cry again today, both Xu Hu Zhe and Xu Zeng were important to him.

...

There were no tears, but Xu Feng was enlightened about what his brother and chosen brother were currently up to. They weren’t even in Nanshan Estate or with Xuan Jian and Xuan Yang like he was dreading.

So he really was home alone-ish. Xu Feng thought maybe one would go with Jian and Yang, but they went back where!?

Instead, the two boys... and Bai Mo had gone back to Xu Zeng’s village...

"They did what!?" Xu Feng repeated for the third time, his brain was muddled.

The shock was punctuated by giggles. No Xu Si and Xu San didn’t find his shock funny. It was Xiao Long who found the entire situation hilarious. His dad was so funny, he couldn’t control his joyful laughter.

Da Long wasn’t out of this either. Although he wasn’t laughing as manically as his brother, he seemed to enjoy the sound of his dad’s voice and had a big grin on his face. He even clapped his hands a few times.

Xu Feng, however, was still processing the news.

"They went back to Xu Zeng’s village?" he muttered, mostly to himself. His brow furrowed. Would they be okay?

Before he could dwell too long on his worries, two sticky voices chimed in from the doorway.

"Uncle Feng!"