The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book)- 20

 

| TBBOTOF | 20

Liu Xiangxiang was a very ordinary village woman; she was petty and loved money. Her attitude towards the other three children in the family, apart from the eldest son, was good. Especially towards the eldest son, her affection was so excessive that even Tang Erhu, a rough man, felt she was overdoing it.

She also cared a lot about Tang Erhu, the head of the household. At night, when lying in bed, she could be tender and affectionate in her words.

Tang Erhu made an effort to recall the events of the twenty years since Liu Xiangxiang married him. He vaguely remembered that when they hadn't divided the household yet, his sister-in-law and Liu Xiangxiang had entered the family around the same time. 

His sister-in-law became pregnant shortly after entering the household and gave birth to a girl, the first child in the family. Their parents were very happy and said their family wasn't lacking in land, having both sons and daughters was good, and they would surely have more children in the future.

Tang Erhu had thought the same. Sometimes, having a family full of sons meant having a lot of land, but before the children grew old enough to work in the fields, having too much land was really exhausting.

The next year, his third brother got married, and his sister-in-law became pregnant again, but Liu Xiangxiang's belly remained silent.

Tang Erhu wasn't in a hurry, and neither were his parents. But Liu Xiangxiang was so anxious that she couldn't eat or sleep well. She even went to the town to consult the doctor, spending a lot of silver. After half a year of taking medicine, she finally became pregnant.

Liu Xiangxiang was ecstatic. Every day, she treated her belly with extreme care, taking small steps when walking and eating very delicately. She wouldn't eat anything that could potentially harm the baby.

He had even joked with her, asking what if the baby turned out to be a girl or a boy. Liu Xiangxiang had said that no matter what, since it was their first child, she would love it.

But what happened later?

The more Tang Erhu thought about it, the darker his expression became, and his gaze at Liu Xiangxiang turned colder.

"I'm asking you a question. Why do you treat Xu Ge'er so badly? Initially, you were looking forward to his birth too," he said, noticing Liu Xiangxiang's blank expression, suspecting that she was hiding something from him.

The fingers tapped on the leg slowly as Tang Erhu spoke, "When Xu Ge'er was born... you gave birth at your mother's house. Your third sister-in-law and you gave birth one day apart. Mother wanted you to come back and have your postpartum recovery at home. She said it wouldn't be troublesome to take care of you along with your sister-in-law. I went to pick you up, but your mother didn't let you leave. She said it would be too much trouble and feared it would affect your health and future pregnancies. Then she sent me back home. Am I remembering this wrong?"

Liu Xiangxiang hung her head without saying a word.

Her attitude fueled Tang Erhu's anger, making him wish he could slap her again to jolt her back to reality.

"You're not going to say anything, huh? Fine, then don't bother about Xu Ge'er anymore. Even if he makes money, don't ask for it!" Tang Erhu knew Liu Xiangxiang's weak spot. He got up from the kang and opened the wardrobe, pulling out a small wooden box from the bottom.

Seeing Tang Erhu take out the box where she kept her money, Liu Xiangxiang, barefoot, rushed to snatch it away, shouting, "Don't touch my money! Tang Erhu, have you gone crazy? That's the money I've saved for Ah Rui's schooling! You can't touch it!"

"If there's money, he can study. If not, he can come back and work on the land. I never went to school and didn't starve to death," Tang Erhu shrugged off her attempts to grab the money and opened the small wooden box. 

Seeing the money pouches inside, he took one out directly. "I'll give this to Xu Ge'er. He's grown up now. Tomorrow, I'll go to my parents and ask my sister-in-law and third brother to find a good family for Xu Ge'er to marry into. This money will be his dowry."

Liu Xiangxiang's eyes turned red with urgency. She jumped up and scratched at Tang Erhu's face, cursing, "Tang Erhu, are you sick? You're giving my money to that bastard as a dowry. Is he worthy? Why should my son's schooling money be used as a dowry? I've already done him a favor by not selling him to an old widower!"

Tang Erhu's face was scratched a couple of times, not bleeding but painful.

With a furious expression, he pushed her away and raised his hand to slap her face while cursing, "You shameless woman! How dare you try to sell my child and lay your hands on me? I'll beat you to death!"

Liu Xiangxiang cried out in pain and sobbed loudly.

The earth house wasn't soundproof, and Liu Xiangxiang had a loud voice. Her cries could be heard from outside. In the kitchen, Tang Xu was waving a spatula while caramelizing the pork belly. Tang Li and Tang Yang were eagerly watching beside him.

The three of them heard Liu Xiangxiang's cries, but none of them moved.

Tang Li didn't want to go in, afraid of being scolded by their parents. Tang Yang didn't think much of it since he was used to his mother's constant shouting and crying. 

Except for the two women from the Wang family who were eavesdropping on the commotion from the other side of the wall, and another neighbor who lived a bit farther away, nobody else paid much attention. After all, Liu Xiangxiang was always shouting and yelling, and who had the time to constantly listen to what she was yelling about? It was always the same old complaints and curses.

Soon, there was no more noise from the main house. Tang Li pursed her lips, feeling somewhat scared, and moved closer to the stove. She asked softly, "Elder brother, should I go check on mother?"

"Don't go," Tang Xu replied as he took out a jar of maltose from the cupboard and scooped two spoons of sticky syrup into a bowl, pouring in hot water. "Just sit here and drink the syrup. If you go see mother now and see her in such a miserable state, she'll definitely scold you. Don't worry, father won't do anything to her."

Because Liu Xiangxiang always counted every penny and her nosy behavior embarrassed Tang Erhu in front of the neighbors, he would end up hitting her. Eventually, she became afraid of being beaten and realized she couldn't control her tongue, so she reduced her visits to the other side of the Tang family's old house. 

With fewer visits, naturally, there were fewer beatings.

But today, Tang Erhu beat her up again, leaving Liu Xiangxiang with a swollen face and red eyes from crying, her throat hoarse and unable to make a sound.

Tang Erhu snorted with a grim expression, grabbed the small money pouch, and walked out.

The two people eavesdropping on the wall quickly shrank back when they saw him coming out, their faces full of gossip but afraid to ask, fearing they would bring trouble upon their own men.

Tang Erhu ignored them and went into the kitchen.

The kitchen was filled with the fragrant smell of stewed meat. Tang Li and Tang Yang each held a bowl of syrup, sipping it slowly. Tang Xu poured the soaked wild vegetables into a large bowl. As he looked up, he saw Tang Erhu coming in.

"Dad," Tang Xu assessed his expression and asked uncertainly, "Is everything okay?"

Tang Erhu handed him the small money pouch and said, "From now on, keep the money you earn for yourself and don't give it to your mother."

Tang Xu was stunned. He hadn't expected such a thing to happen.

After a moment of thought, he pushed the money pouch back into Tang Erhu's hand and smiled, saying, "Uncle is building a new house, and we haven't been able to help. Dad, take the money and give it to Uncle to use. I hope they don't find it too little."

Tang Erhu didn't expect his son to say such words. He was instantly moved and hugged him tightly, patting his shoulder with a look of relief, "You are really good, very good."

"Uncle and Aunt have been good to me too. I even had sugar water eggs cooked by Aunt when I was young," Tang Xu said insincerely as he stepped out of his father's embrace. "Dad, don't be angry with Mom. Be careful not to let anger affect your health. Mom just loves money too much."

Tang Erhu pursed his lips tightly, staring at Tang Xuhao for a long time before asking, "Don't you hate her?"

Tang Xu was surprised. Huh?

Tang Erhu glanced at the other two children in the kitchen, then reached out to put his arm around Tang Xu's shoulder and led him outside.

Tang Xu quickly turned back, "Ah Li, you two keep an eye on the fire, low heat is fine."

Tang Li nodded.

Tang Xu followed Tang Erhu into his own room and poured two bowls of water.

"Father, do you have something to say to me?" Tang Xu asked.

"Well," Tang Erhu held the bowl and drank water, "Your mother isn't good to you, you know that, right?"

Tang Xu nodded. Xu Ge'er was soft-hearted but not foolish. How could he not know whether his mother treated him well or not?

"Then, don't you hate her?" Tang Erhu asked again.

Tang Xu fell silent for a moment, then shook his head slowly.

He didn't mention that he hadn't suffered any grievances from Liu Xiangxiang since he came here. Instead, he had made her uncomfortable in various ways. Xu Ge'er didn't hate Liu Xiangxiang. He was just sad. He felt that it wasn't easy for his parents to raise him. Being scolded and beaten wasn't a big deal, but not receiving their love was what made him the most upset.

He pulled Tang Erhu to sit down and looked at him very seriously. "Father, I know mother is biased against me. She scolds and beats me, but she also raised me. So I don't hate her. I'm actually quite grateful to her. At least she didn't abandon me or let me starve." His last sentence carried some personal emotion. Having a mother like Liu Xiangxiang was worse than being a wild child.

Of course, it was just his anger speaking. Being a wild child wasn't easy in this era, and the chances of starving to death were even higher.

Tang Erhu's eyes were full of guilt.

"I..."

"Father, the past is already behind us, let's not dwell on it," Tang Xu interrupted him, smiling wryly. "If mother finds me displeasing, then when there's idle time in farming, I'll find someone I like and marry myself off, so I won't be a nuisance at home."

Tang Erhu was momentarily stunned.

What?

He can find someone to marry himself off?

What about parental arrangements and matchmakers?

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