The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book)- 4

 

| TBBOTOF | 4

After finishing their meal and tidying up, Tang Xu returned to his room for a short rest. His body still felt weak, and he needed to conserve energy for his afternoon trip to the mountains.

While Tang Xu rested, Liu Xiangxiang  was seething with anger in the main house. Beside her, Tang Erhu was already snoring loudly, but Liu Xiangxiang was too agitated to sleep. She got up from the kang, put on her shoes, and stormed out of the house.

"You little brat, come out here!" she yelled, pounding on the door.

The loud banging woke Tang Xu from his light sleep, and his head felt foggy.

"Tang Xu! Come out!" Liu Xiangxiang  continued to pound on the door and shout.

Tang Xu unlatched the door and opened it, his expression unreadable as he faced Liu Xiangxiang. "Mother, if you keep shouting so loudly, do you not fear waking Father and getting a beating?"

Liu Xiangxiang's tirade was cut short, and her expression shifted. Tang Xu's smile remained on his lips. "Mother, if you're not napping and you're here to find me, don't worry. I'll take care of the chickens when I return from the mountains. You don't need to exert yourself."

Hearing this, Liu Xiangxiang's anger flared up instantly. She raised her hand and attempted to slap Tang Xu across the face, cursing him as she did so. "You worthless bastard, how dare you think about the chickens I raised! I'll teach you a lesson today!"

Tang Xu wasn't one to stand and be struck. As soon as he saw Liu Xiangxiang raise her hand, he dodged to the side, darted out the door, and sprinted toward the main house. While running, he shouted, "Mother, please don't hit me! I was just thinking of stewing a chicken for Father's health. If you don't allow it, I'll talk to Father!"

His voice echoed through the house, waking not only the sleeping Tang Erhu but also the neighbors in the adjacent homes.

Instead of entering the house, Tang Xu stood by the window of the main house, continuing to shout and dodge, "Mother, please don't be angry! I won't kill the chicken, I promise! I'll tell Father we won't kill it. You don't need to worry about his health!"

His agile movements allowed him to evade Liu Xiangxiang, who was now wielding a stick as she chased after him, cursing all the while.

Liu Xiangxiang's original intention was just to vent her anger and scold Tang Xu, but she didn't expect things to escalate like this. Her already limited rationality was further clouded by rage, causing her to chase after Tang Xu.

Tang Xu kept a close eye on the situation inside through the window. The rhythmic snoring had ceased, replaced by the angry mutterings of Tang Erhu. Sensing a change, Tang Xu's evasive actions slowed for a moment, and that was all it took. Liu Xiangxiang's swinging stick came down toward his shoulder, and Tang Xu swiftly dodged to the side, his leg buckling as he fell to the ground.

With tears in his eyes, Tang Xu continued to plead, "Mother, please don't hit me! I know I was wrong, I won't kill the chicken."

In just a short moment, the commotion had attracted the attention of neighbors, who had gathered to watch the spectacle. Tang Erhu emerged from the house as well.

Tang Xu lay on the ground, crying out in pain, his body curled up and his head bowed in shame.

Tang Erhu's expression darkened as he reached out and snatched the stick from Liu Xiangxiang's hand. With a fierce swing, he slapped Liu Xiangxiang hard across the face, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Liu Xiangxiang looked up at him in shock. "You hit me? Tang Erhu, you're actually hitting me for this bastard!"

Tang Xu's heart skipped a beat. What did that mean? That sounded strange.

Tang Erhu, with a cold expression, bent down to help Tang Xu up. "Are you hurt?"

Tang Xu shook his head and, with sincere eyes fixed on Tang Erhu's face, said, "Thank you, Father. Don't blame Mother, she didn't mean it."

The neighbors who had been watching from the wall expressed surprise and suspicion, their eyes shifting from Tang Xu to Liu Xiangxiang.

What's going on? What did Tang Xu do? Wasn't he just talking about whether to kill the chicken?

Tang Erhu turned to look at Liu Xiangxiang, his anger evident. "You wicked woman! When Tang Xu wanted to kill the chicken to help me, you wouldn't allow it. Are you trying to exhaust me to death so you can find another man to live with?"

Liu Xiangxiang was stunned, staring blankly at Tang Erhu without a retort.

Tang Xu was also surprised by Tang Erhu's unexpected outburst. Despite Liu Xiangxiang's shortcomings, she had always been respectful towards Tang Erhu. In Liu Xiangxiang's mind, Tang Erhu ranked high, probably in the top three, while Tang Xu himself might not even be as highly regarded as the chickens laying eggs in the backyard.

"Tang Erhu! I've given birth to four children for you, how could you say such things to me! Have you no heart! If this is how it's going to be, just kill me!" Liu Xiangxiangwailed, pounding on her husband's chest.

Tang Erhu knew he had gone too far with his words, but the thought of Liu Xiangxiangnot willing to kill a chicken for his health angered him again.

Tang Xu, wiping off the dust from his body, spoke with red eyes, "Father, don't be angry. Mother cares too much about the chickens laying eggs. I'll go check the mountain later. If I find wild chickens, I'll catch them and bring them back for you. Let the mother chickens keep laying eggs. Don't let Mother be upset."

Tang Erhu waved his hand dismissively at Tang Xu. "If you want to kill a chicken, then kill it. We'll raise more if we run out."

Tang Xu nodded and glanced at Liu Xiangxiang, who was still glaring at him with hatred. He suppressed his emotions and quickly lowered his head. "I'll go back and get ready to head into the mountains."

Rubbing his shoulder where he had been hit, Tang Xu planned to return to his room to prepare. However, he changed course and headed to the backyard chicken coop. From there, he grabbed the fattest chicken.

The chickens were startled by the commotion, clucking and flapping their wings. Hearing the noise, Liu Xiangxiang hurried over.

Tang Xu lifted the chicken, and as Liu Xiangxiang rushed towards him, he didn't even turn around. He simply tightened his grip on the chicken's neck, and with a swift motion, silenced its clucking.

Liu Xiangxiang's ears, she immediately recognized that the chicken whose neck had been twisted was her best one, the one that laid at least one egg every day!

She rushed over in tears, snatching the lifeless body of the mother chicken. She cried and cursed, "You little beast, you've gone too far! How dare you kill my chicken! Why don't you just go die! You wild bastard, get out of my house! My chicken, my egg-laying chicken!"

Tang Xu suddenly turned to look at Liu Xiangxiang. "Mother, are you kicking me out?"

Liu Xiangxiang held the dead chicken in her arms, her eyes filled with hatred towards Tang Xu.

She couldn't fathom how Tang Xu, who used to be obedient and hardworking, had changed so drastically in just over ten days of being sick.

"You get out of here, as far away as possible!" she gritted her teeth, glaring at him.

Tang Xu smirked, "I'll leave when I feel like getting married, Mother, no need to rush. Since you want to handle this chicken yourself, then go ahead. I'll head to the mountain. You can clean up the chicken and put it in a bowl. I'll cook it when I come back down. Mother, I'm leaving."

Without waiting for Liu Xiangxiang's response, he picked up the basket from the corner and left.

Remembering that Tang Li and Tang Yang had said they wanted to go to the mountain with him during dinner, he went to ask them, but they were still half asleep and couldn't get up.

Without waiting for them, Tang Xu left with the basket.

The village of Heshan was named for its location near the mountain and the river, divided into Qiancun (front village) and Houcun (back village). The Tang and Liu families belonged to the prominent families in Qiancun, while the Wei and Wu families constituted the major families in Houcun.

There are also some scattered surnames in addition to the four major ones, but their population is smaller, and they are not as united as the four major families.

Of course, these have nothing to do with Tang Xu. After leaving home, he headed towards the nearest mountain. At this time, everywhere he looked, there were mountains upon mountains, with trees of varying heights, giving off a sense of grandeur.

Tang Xu didn't dare to venture too deep into the mountains. He followed the small paths trodden by previous travelers. It was the season of rampant growth of various wild vegetables. He hadn't gone far before he saw a patch of gray-green vegetables in the grassland.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything he saw, Tang Xu reached out to pick the vegetables. After picking this patch clean, he turned in another direction and found a dozen ferns.

He continued to pick and search. In no time, his basket was filled with various wild vegetables. He also picked some mushrooms, leaving many behind mainly because his basket was full and he couldn't carry any more.

Tang Xu straightened up, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked up at the sky. He estimated it was around three or four in the afternoon.

He hoisted the basket onto his back and, as he turned around, he noticed a dark gray shadow flying out in front of him—a rabbit!

Tang Xu stared at the direction in which the rabbit was bounding off but didn't move.

He didn't have any tools with him now, so catching the rabbit was impossible. He decided to observe its movements and come back tomorrow after breakfast to try catching it.

With that in mind, he tore off a few branches from nearby trees and quickly fashioned a simple trap, placing it on the ground. He also took out two thumb-sized green wild fruits from his basket and placed them in the trap.

Whether he could catch the rabbit would depend on luck. He would come back tomorrow to check.

He picked wild vegetables all the way up and roughly followed the same path back down. On the way back, he surprisingly found a few small pit traps hidden in the grass. Though there was nothing inside, judging from the sharp wooden spikes standing in the pits, they seemed to have caught prey before.

Tang Xu speculated that these traps were likely dug by hunters from the village. He casually grabbed some grass and helped cover the pit traps to prevent any accidents. It was a small act of kindness.

Descending the mountain quickly, he arrived home before Tang Erhu returned. He didn't know where Liu Xiangxiang had gone, but Tang Li was in the yard plucking feathers from the chickens.

As soon as she saw him coming in, Tang Li looked up and asked, "Brother, how many wild vegetables did you pick?"

"Quite a lot. Don't throw away the chicken feathers; I can use them," Tang Xu replied, placing the backpack aside and walking over to take a look. The chicken feathers were all mixed up in the basin, emitting a strong odor.

"I'll go boil some water. After you finish plucking the feathers, wash them and bring them in for me," he said, not engaging much in conversation with his younger sister, mainly because he didn't know what to say.

Tang Li acknowledged with a nod and continued plucking the feathers, but in her mind, she couldn't help but notice that her brother seemed to have become more talkative.

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