Chapter 121: Nephew and Maternal Uncle

Li Xiao had just returned from Wuya Village, passing by Hedong Fortress just at noon.

So he rested for a moment in Hedong Fortress, planning to set off for Hexi Fortress in the afternoon.

Luo Ping wanted to prepare well and treat Li Xiao.

But he was directly refused by Li Xiao.

“Uncle Luo, we aren’t strangers no need to be so polite.”

“It’s the busy autumn harvest time now— work in every family is tight.”

“We can’t delay the autumn harvest because of us.”

“Everyone should just do what they need to do, just pretend we don’t exist.”

“I just came to see Eldest Sister, we will return to Hexi Fortress later.”

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

Subsequently, led by Luo Meng, he returned to rest inside Hedong Fortress.

“Dalong, you guys wait a moment— I’ll cook for you.”

After returning home, Li Dafeng started bustling about, but was stopped by Li Xiao.

“Eldest Sister, no need to busy yourself; we brought our own dry rations.”

“We’ll leave after eating and sitting for a while” Li Xiao shook his head and said.

Following Li Xiao back this time were all young men from the Four Fortresses.

Excluding those from Hedong Fortress, the young men from the other three fortresses added up to nearly ninety people.

The women of Hedong Fortress were still busy in the fields. Li Dafeng alone couldn’t cook for so many people.

Fortunately, everyone carried dried meat and grain on their horsebacks.

“How can that enough? You’ve come home.. how can you still eat those dry things?” Li Dafeng said unwillingly.

After all, they were her maiden family— she couldn’t be too shabby.

But Li Xiao smiled gently and insisted, “Sister, really no need for you to go to such trouble; we are already used to eating this.”

“Just go boil some hot water and ignore everything else,” Li Xiao instructed.

Then he looked at Dahu and Erhu: “You two go help.”

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

One was air-dried meat, replenishing energy at any time.

The second was fried flour. After frying the flour, it was put in a bag and could be eaten directly by brewing with boiling water when consuming.

Simple to make, convenient to carry.

During the Korean War in later generations, fried flour was the staple food of our army, providing great energy for soldiers in that world of ice and snow.

Before the war with the Naimans began, Li Xiao had people fry a large amount of flour.

Each soldier carried a bag, which was of great use.

Subsequently, Li Dafeng, with Dahu and Erhu, boiled several large pots of hot water, finally satisfying the needs of these young men.

Li Xiao also held a bowl full of fried flour paste, looking like a bowl of mud, with a few pieces of rock-hard dried meat soaking in it.

But Li Xiao ate with great satisfaction.

“I really don’t get tired of eating this stuff.”

Luo Meng beside him also nodded— “Eating it makes me think of the time when we were in the Altai Mountains.”

“At that time, I just wanted to drink a mouthful of hot water and eat a bowl of hot fried flour.”

“Unfortunately…”

Saying this, he shook his head with a light laugh, as if amused by his own insatiability.

To avoid being discovered by the Naimans, they didn’t dare to light a fire at all.

Those days were spent eating raw fried flour with dry dried meat.

“Thinking about it now, it really feels like a lifetime ago,” Li Xiao shook his head.

It was also from that battle of crossing the Alai Ridge that Li Xiao truly emerged.

Opening the channel to the upper power center of the Northern Frontier.

This battle was very important to Li Xiao.

“When we are old in the future, we will definitely recall that scene; maybe we’ll even miss it quite a bit” Luo Meng laughed.

Li Xiao chuckled and shook his head: “How old are you?”

“There are still many battles to fight in the future and many more memorable deeds to come. Crossing the Alai Ridge probably won’t even catch your eye.” Li Xiao smiled.

Talking about previous battles, the few of them soon ate the bowl of fried flour clean.

At this time, Luo Meng suddenly said, “By the way, Dalong.”

“The child in Dafeng’s belly will be born in a few months.”

“When the time comes, help give a name!”

Hearing this, Li Xiao was stunned for a moment and turned to look at the inner room.

After boiling the hot water, Li Xiao chased Li Dafeng away to busy herself with her own affairs.

At this moment, she was in the inner room, doing who knows what; only creaking sounds could be heard.

So, Li Xiao said to Luo Meng, “Eldest Sister still has at least five months before giving birth; what’s the rush now?”

“Besides, the child’s name should be given by you, the father.”

Luo Meng stood up, put the rice bowl aside, shook his head, and said unconcernedly, “Isn’t there a saying— Thunder God in the sky, Maternal Uncle on earth?”

“You are the child’s uncle. For the child, besides me, your share is the biggest.”

“It’s the same if you give the name.”

“Moreover, aren’t I less cultured than you?” Luo Meng grinned.

The name Li Xiao was chosen by himself, replacing the name Li Dalong and becoming his formal name.

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

Of course, there was another most important reason.

Li Xiao was already the Vice Military Governor of Jin Prefecture, and maybe he would be even more powerful in the future.

Letting Li Xiao give the name would have considerable benefits for his son in the future.

“Yes, Dalong, if you have time, help think of one.”

Li Dafeng had been listening to them in the inner room and couldn’t help speaking up at this time.

“Your brother-in-law and the others are rough people; how would they know how to name a child? It would be either Dog Leftover or Cow Egg.”

“The name you chose for yourself sounds quite nice.”

As a mother, how could she not hope her son would have a good name?

At least not called something like Dog Leftover or Sheep Dung Ball.

Because these two appellations were the childhood names of Luo Meng and Luo Ping.

Later, they specifically hired someone to change their names to Luo Meng and Luo Ping.

“This… uh hehehe…”

Li Xiao shook his head gently with a smile.

He merely changed his name to Li Xiao, yet he became a cultured person in others’ eyes.

But giving a name wasn’t a big deal.

Li Xiao thought for a moment and said, “If it’s a boy, let’s call him Luo Wenzhong.”

“Cultured, cultivated, loyal and upright— a hero and a talent.”

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

“Good!”

Clapping his hands hard together, he shouted loudly: “If it’s a son, let him be called Luo Wenzhong.”

Although his understanding wasn’t too thorough, hearing Li Xiao describe it so elegantly and profoundly, he knew this name was extraordinary.

Having more deep meaning and connotation than Luo Meng, Luo Ping, and the like.

Li Dafeng in the inner room also nodded repeatedly, a smile appearing on her face.

Saying incessantly: “This name is good… this name is not bad…”

Finally, they could avoid names like Dog Egg.

“If you have other sons in the future, you can also follow the trend downwards.”

“Luo Wenyi (Righteousness), Luo Wenxin (Trust), Luo Wenyong (Bravery),” Li Xiao laughed softly.

These were all his nephews, the firmest supporters of his hegemony— Li Xiao would certainly put more heart into it.

In addition, he discovered a problem.

The cultural quality of these Jin Prefecture youths like Luo Meng and Erhu was really average.

Many didn’t even recognize characters or know how to write their own names.

This made Li Xiao feel deeply worried.

He planned to open a literacy class in Hexi Fortress after some time.

The Four Books and Five Classics were useless shit— all shackles imprisoning thought.

Li Xiao hadn’t even read them himself, so he certainly wouldn’t teach them.

Li Xiao’s goal for the first stage was just to let these young men be literate.

At least let them be able to read and write, to avoid the danger of them not recognizing characters and needing others to help read when Li Xiao handwrote a military order on the battlefield in the future.

That would be too dangerous.

“Good, good, this is good, hehehe names for future sons are also settled.” Hearing Li Xiao even gave names for his future sons, Luo Meng chuckled.

Li Xiao finished eating the fried flour in the bowl, stood up slowly, and walked to the inner room.

The layout of Luo Meng’s house was similar to Li Xiao’s.

Both had five main rooms. Just now, Li Xiao and the others were eating in the middle guest room.

And Li Dafeng had been busy in the east wing room. 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 yarn?” Li Xiao said in astonishment.

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

Very primitive, mainly composed of three parts— the frame, the spinning wheel, and the spindle stand.

By manually turning the crank to drive the spinning wheel to rotate, which in turn drove the smaller diameter spindle, utilizing acceleration to merge and twist the wool, finally turning it into finished spun thread.

And the reprocessing of spun thread was called weaving cloth.

However, what Li Dafeng was doing was just the simple process of spinning yarn.

“Eldest Sister, when did you learn to spin yarn?”

Li Xiao looked at the spinning wheel in front of him and asked with slight doubt.

In his memory, letting Li Dafeng wash clothes, cook, sew and mend clothes, herd sheep and horses—these things were no problem.

But she definitely didn’t know how to spin yarn before.

After all, Qin Da Ni and the Old Lady didn’t know this stuff.

Where did Li Dafeng learn this from?

Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Li Dafeng said in surprise, “Oh, you a big man actually recognize this is a spinning wheel?”

Li Xiao chuckled— “How could I not recognize it? Although our Hexi Fortress doesn’t have it, I’ve seen it in other places.”

Li Dafeng nodded gently and explained, “What’s strange about knowing how to spin yarn? I just learned it too.”

“After having the child, father and mother wouldn’t let me do any work. Bored at home, I learned to spin from Aunt Huang next door. It’s a way to earn a little money.”

Li Dafeng explained while grabbing a handful of wool from the ground, feeding it bit by bit into the spindle wheel, turning it into a long thin thread through the rotation of the wheel.

Watching this scene, Li Xiao suddenly slapped his own forehead.

“I was really muddled.”

“Although Jin Prefecture doesn’t have cotton, there is plenty of wool.”

“Raw materials don’t need to rely entirely on the Desert.”

“Sigh, a misconception in thinking!”