The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 87

 

| TBBOTOF | 87

Tang Erhu drank a bowl of grape wine and a bowl of sorghum wine, his face flushed even before eating.

The middle-aged man wasn't behaving like a drunkard; he just kept patting his son-in-law's shoulder, repeatedly emphasizing how fortunate he was.

Wei Dong nodded repeatedly, affirming, "Yes, yes, you're right."

Seeing this, Tang Xu couldn't take it anymore and called out, "Dad! Why don't you take a nap!"

Tang Erhu glanced at his son, who was comfortably leaning against the blanket, waved his hand, stood up, and headed out, saying, "You sleep here, I'll go sleep in another room."

Tang Xu exclaimed, "Dad! I'm not sleeping!"

Tang Erhu didn't know if he heard or not, anyway, he didn't respond.

Tang Xu turned to Wei Dong, complaining, "Why did you pour him so much?"

Wei Dong was wronged.

He only poured the wine twice, who could have guessed that his father-in-law would get dizzy after just three and a half bowls?

Sigh!

Seeing Wei Dong's innocent expression, Tang Xu realized he was venting his anger at the wrong person. He felt a bit embarrassed.

With flushed cheeks, he pulled Wei Dong's arm, and with a soft tone, said, "Let's have lunch later, don't drink too much with him."

Wei Dong nodded and sat next to him, wrapping his arm around him, his broad hand directly touching his belly.

"Wouldn't you like to take a nap for a while? It was quite a tiring drive."

Tang Xu gave him a sidelong glance.

Tiring? 

He had been motionless the whole time, wrapped up in thick blankets, not even needing to exert himself to sit up straight. The blankets were so thick that they provided just the right amount of support for him.

Apart from not looking very dignified, it was quite comfortable and warm.

"Brother!" Just as the two husbands were talking, Tang Yang's voice came from outside the window, carrying a hint of cheerfulness.

"Tang Yang, slow down!" Wei Xi was chasing after him.

Tang Yang leaped onto the kang, and Wei Dong reached out to lift him up, giving him a stern look in the process.

Tang Yang flinched, shrugging his shoulders and standing obediently beside them, his head half-lowered, not daring to speak, holding two sheets of paper with lots of writing on them.

"I was wrong, brother-in-law."

No matter what, he must apologize first.

Wei Dong lightly hummed, "Don't pounce on your brother."

"Oh, I see," Tang Yang looked up at Wei Dong, then glanced at Tang Xu. Just then, Wei Xi came in, panting, and said, "Tang Yang, next time don't run so fast, I can't catch up with you."

Tang Yang quickly nodded, "Okay."

He handed the piece of rough paper to Tang Xu, eyes full of anticipation. "Brother, look, did I write well?"

Tang Xu took the yellowish paper and unfolded it. It was quite a large piece of paper with a lot of writing on it. Although it started off a bit messy, the writing improved significantly towards the end, at least becoming more neat and legible.

"Not bad at all, Tang Yang. You wrote our family members' names," Tang Xu pointed to some of the words. "You did a really good job."

Tang Yang's mouth opened wide in surprise as he looked at Tang Xu. "Brother, you can read?"

Tang Xu smirked, looking at him with amusement. "You didn't know I could read, so what were you trying to show me?" 

He reached out and pinched the little kid's cheek, barring his teeth in a non-smiling way. "Up to some mischief?"

Tang Yang laughed, his eyes squinting as he leaned against the kang, looking up at him. "Brother, brother, you really can read! How many characters do you know? Can you write?"

Tang Xu glanced at Wei Dong from the corner of his eye and said to Tang Yang, "When Ah Rui was studying before, I listened for a while and I was able to follow along, and I learned a bit."

This wasn't a lie. Tang Xu indeed enjoyed listening to Tang Rui reading at home, even though he didn't recognize many characters.

After Tang Xu finished speaking, Tang Yang nodded. "I remember, brother. You used to squat outside Big Brother's door back then, and Mom scolded you."

At this point, Tang Yang pursed his lips, obviously recalling that since that incident, Liu Xiangxiang had never come back to see them ever since she was driven away.

When Tang Yang first heard the harsh words Wei Dong said to Liu Xiangxiang, but he didn’t take it seriously. But even so, Liu Xiangxiang never returned.

In essence, Liu Xiangxiang was scared—scared of Wei Dong's revenge, and scared of getting beaten by Tang Erhu.

Tang Xu noticed the sudden change in the boy's expression, realizing he was thinking about Liu Xiangxiang.

He gently touched the boy's forehead and said in a warm tone, "Once Mom reflects on herself, she'll come back to see you guys."

As for what reflections or when they would happen, Tang Xu didn't elaborate. After all, considering Liu Xiangxiang's temperament, it was unlikely she would think about, let alone acknowledge the possibility of coming back to see her eldest son.

Tang Yang nodded. "Maybe Mom will come back to see us during the New Year."

Tang Xu felt it wasn't certain, but still nodded. "Yeah, maybe she'll come back."

What state was Liu Xiangxiang in that Tang Yang would genuinely miss her? This story starts with her divorce from Tang Erhu.

They said it was a divorce, but in reality, Liu Xiangxiang's family knew well that she was sent back home.

Originally, not many people knew about Liu Xiangxiang taking someone else's child to raise as her own. Only Liu Xiangxiang and her mother, as the instigators, were quite clear about it. 

On the Zhang family's side, the two elders knew clearly, while the younger generations only knew that the child was gone, without knowing why. Anyway, since he wasn't their own child, they didn't feel distressed; if he was gone, he was gone.

About half a year ago, when Liu Xiangxiang went back to her mother's house, she burst into tears and made a scene as soon as she entered. Not only did she shock her siblings and in-laws, but even her mother was dumbfounded—her father had already passed away a few years ago.

Liu Xiangxiang's mother, Liu Wu, upon hearing that her daughter was divorcing, immediately wanted to go to the Tang family to find someone, but was stopped by Liu Xiangxiang's elder brother.

After pulling her mother into the house, the two whispered for a while. Liu Wu didn’t dare to cause trouble anymore, but she agreed with Liu Xiangxiang's decision to go back and retrieve the chickens and pigs.

As a result, that day Liu Xiangxiang took her older brother to the Tang family, and then the siblings were beaten by Wei Dong.

After the two returned home in a sorry state that day, Liu Xiangxiang fell ill, the severity was similar to that of Tang Xu’s previous illness, almost losing her life.

She brought back more than twenty taels of silver, which fortunately helped her to afford the necessary treatment. Otherwise, she might have died from her illness.

Her mother was really good to her. Even though she was angry that her daughter easily revealed the truth, she shouldn't have agreed to the divorce. After all, there were three children to take care of!

Liu Wu was filled with anger, regret, and hatred, but unfortunately, it was all futile. After all, the divorce had already happened, and Liu Xiangxiang had also received a considerable amount of silver.

By the time Liu Xiangxiang's illness had mostly recovered, it was already August. At that time, every household was busy with the crops in the fields. Her brother, sister-in-law, and younger siblings were all busy in the fields, leaving her unable to work there, so she stayed home to help with cooking.

When they were alone at home, her mother asked her.

"What are your plans, Xiangxiang? You can't stay at home forever. Your brother and sister-in-law will definitely complain."

"Let them say whatever they want! Why can't I even come back home?" Liu Xiangxiang looked at her mother indignantly. She had just recovered from her illness, and her mother brought up these things. Did she want to drive her away?

Seeing her daughter's expression becoming more ferocious, Liu Wu was afraid that she would start causing a scene, so she quickly tried to comfort her. "Don't think too much, Mom is just asking out of concern. You and Tang Erhu are no longer possible, so you should find another good husband while you're still young."

It took Liu Xiangxiang a moment to understand her mother's meaning, and then she went crazy.

According to neighbors, Liu Wu was pushed down by Liu Xiangxiang and hit her head. She didn't suffer any serious injuries, but she would occasionally feel nauseous and vomit. She could no longer do any heavy or tiring work.

After Liu Xiangxiang pushed her own mother down, she took her silver purse and ran away. 

However, out of the twenty taels of silver she received from the Tang family, she only had ten taels left. The remaining ten or so taels were used for her own medical treatment, and she also gave a hundred or so copper coins to her family to cover living expenses during the time she was at her mother's house.

With ten taels of silver in her hand, Liu Xiangxiang was not worried.

Her first thought was not where to run away to, but she had a clear purpose and went straight to the county.

What was she going to do in the county? To find Tang Rui!

This incident happened just before the farm break at school. At that time, many students from farming families had returned to their villages to help with the harvest, and some hadn't gone back home yet. Tang Rui hadn't gone home either.

Some classmates from families in the county asked him why he hadn't gone back this year, and Tang Rui said it was because the school exams were coming up, and he wanted to stay and study more. He also mentioned that even if he went home, he wouldn't be of much help.

His classmates didn't inquire further about this matter, but they invited him to have dinner together a few times. Of course, they didn't treat him; they each paid for their own meals.

Tang Rui never expected that the next day, Liu Xiangxiang would come to the school looking for him, crying and begging him to give her money to support her. 

Tang Rui was bewildered at the time and was even pulled by his mother, tearing the sleeves of his student robe.

Not only that, but he also became the subject of ridicule among his classmates.

In the end, Tang Rui was pestered by Liu Xiangxiang to the point where he had no choice but to give her two taels of silver.

"How can you only give me this much!" Liu Xiangxiang angrily exclaimed.

Tang Rui was also angry and impatiently replied, "It's all gone! I've given it all to the teacher. I still need money for food, writing materials, and other expenses! I don't have any spare money!"

Liu Xiangxiang didn't believe him and wanted to search his clothes, but Tang Rui pushed her down.

This is what karma that the world talks about; Liu Xiangxiang hit her head on a rock as a consequence of her actions.

However, Tang Rui wasn't as ruthless as Liu Xiangxiang. He didn't leave his mother lying alone on the ground but instead helped her up and took her to the nearby clinic.

Now Liu Xiangxiang had a severe headache. Being pushed down by her son, who was much taller than her, made her feel not only physically uncomfortable but also incredulous.

This was the son she had raised and nurtured with her own hands—her own flesh and blood!

After receiving two injections and spending a tael of silver on medicine at the clinic, Liu Xiangxiang was pulled away by Tang Rui.

Tang Rui lived in the dormitory at the school in the county. Liu Xiangxiang couldn't stay there, so if she wanted to stay in the county, she would have to rent a house, which cost money.

In that area, ten taels of silver wouldn't last long, and the rent for a house for a month was at least thirteen to twenty taels. What rural family could afford it?

Because of this, Liu Xiangxiang made a fuss again.

But her protests were futile. Tang Rui lied, saying that he had to return to school for classes and asked his mother to stay at the inn for a day while he figured out a solution.

However, that very day, Tang Rui returned home and told his father that he was dropping out of school.

Later, Tang Erhu gave his son a good beating, and Tang Rui, feeling embarrassed, ran back to the county.

But let's not dwell on that.

Let's talk about how the next day, when Liu Xiangxiang went to the school to find Tang Rui, she was told that he had taken leave and gone home the day before. It felt like the sky was falling for her.

Despite feeling desperate, she didn't make a scene. Instead, she told the headmaster that there was an urgent matter at home and she needed money. She hoped the headmaster could lend her five taels of silver or at least return the two taels of meal money her son had paid.

Fortunately, the headmaster knew Liu Xiangxiang. After all, it was she who had brought Tang Rui to this school in the first place. Otherwise, she might have been mistaken for a beggar and chased away.

The headmaster said he couldn't lend her money, but he could give her two taels from Tang Rui’s meal money. More than that was not possible.

Liu Xiangxiang didn't mind the small amount. Anything would do.

So, with the two taels given by Tang Rui and the two taels returned by the headmaster, she left.

As for where she went, she didn't say, and nobody knew.

When Tang Rui returned to school and found out that his mother had taken two taels of the meal money, he felt resentful but had to suppress his anger.

After Tang Rui returned this time, he wanted to ask his father for some more money. It was nearing the New Year, and he needed to give gifts to the headmaster and treat his classmates to meals. With so many expenses, he didn't have much money left in hand, and it wasn't enough.

But he didn't get a chance to ask for money.

Because Tang Xu came to visit.

Tang Rui felt like his opportunity had come.

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