The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 145

 

| TBBOTOF | 145

He knew how to read the room and understood who in the family he could be affectionate with and who he could not.

And as for Tang Erhu, his grandfather—

Before Tang Erhu even saw him, the chubby boy had already started calling out in a sticky, sweet voice.

“Grandpa~~~ Grandpa~~~ I’m here~~~~~” The little voice quivered, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Tang Li couldn’t help but shiver at the sound. She was really beginning to doubt how her elder brother usually taught the chubby boy; he seemed quite normal otherwise, but why did his voice become so soft and delicate when he was being cute?

As soon as Tang Erhu heard the voice of his eldest grandson, his angry expression immediately softened as he looked towards the door curtain.

The curtain was lifted slightly, and the chubby boy squeezed through from outside, he did not even glance at the person kneeling on the ground. He went straight for the kang.

Unfortunately, the kang was too high for him. He ended up lying on the edge of the kang, his legs kicking in the air.

Tang Erhu quickly reached out, and Tang Rui, who was kneeling on the ground, also extended his hand. One pulled, and the other lifted.

The chubby boy climbed onto the kang and turned to smile at Tang Rui, saying, “Thank you, Uncle!”

Tang Rui was taken aback.

He hadn’t seen the chubby boy for a long time. The last time they met, the boy was just a little child who didn’t understand much. Now he had grown up, running around, jumping, and speaking clearly.

He smiled at the chubby boy and asked, “Do you recognize me?”

The chubby boy shook his head honestly, then sat down in his grandfather’s arms and answered earnestly, “Daddy said, when I see someone, I should greet them and be polite.” 

He patted his little chest proudly, “I’m polite!”

Tang Rui smiled slightly, his eyes showing warmth, “I’m your uncle, your Dad’s younger brother.”

The chubby boy tilted his head and thought for a moment. He had two younger uncles, as well as Liu Yao and Ah Ze, and he hadn’t met this uncle yet, but he seemed to have heard his father mention him.

“Uncle!” he called out in a soft voice.

Tang Rui took a small money pouch from his pocket and handed over a couple of silver coins, saying, “This is a little pocket money from your uncle.”

The chubby boy looked surprised but didn’t take it. He waved his little hand and said, “Daddy said to not take money. Thank you, second uncle.”

Tang Rui didn’t insist and thought it would be just as well to give it another time.

Tang Erhu had remained silent. Seeing Tang Rui offer silver, he knew it was given by his father-in-law, which wasn’t like Tang Rui’s usual behavior. Usually, Tang Rui would be the one taking silver, not giving it away.

When there’s silver in hand, it’s really different; now he’s willing to spend it.

“Grandpa~” The chubby boy turned around in Tang Erhu’s arms, gently pushing on his forehead with his little hand, “Grandpa doesn’t look good.” He frowned, showing disapproval.

Tang Erhu instinctively relaxed his furrowed brow and rocked him gently, “Does Grandpa look good now?”

The chubby boy looked at him for a while, nodded, and grinned, “Looks good now.”

“Are you hungry?” Tang Erhu asked, patting his soft belly. “When will your Dad be back?”

“I’m not hungry, I don’t know,” the chubby boy shook his head. He had eaten quite a lot in his uncle’s house earlier, so he wasn’t hungry at all.

“Then what are you here for?” Tang Erhu asked again.

The chubby boy tilted his head, looked at him, then turned to look at Tang Rui before answering, “I missed Grandpa~”

Tang Li, standing outside the door curtain, let out a sigh of relief.

After thinking for a moment, she turned and went outside to find Wang Cuicui, intending to let her know to prepare lunch for the chubby boy.

With a child in the room, even though Tang Erhu was upset with Tang Rui, he wouldn’t say anything in front of the chubby boy. 

So, inside the room, all that could be heard were the child’s innocent words and Tang Erhu’s laughter.

Tang Rui stood up, patted his clothes, and said, “Dad, I’ll go back to my room first.”

Tang Erhu didn’t even look at him or respond.

News of Tang Rui’s return quickly spread through the village. Many people who had a good relationship with Tang Erhu were waiting for him to invite them to celebrate his success as a scholar, but as night fell, they still hadn’t received any invitation.

Tang Xu and Wei Dong returned home just as the sun was setting. When they entered the house and didn’t see their three children, they realized they were with Tang Erhu.

Tang Yang, holding the large characters he had just finished writing, showed them to his elder brother and said, “Elder brother has returned. Father is really angry, so elder sister took the children to comfort him.”

Tang Xu was surprised. As he looked over the characters Tang Yang had written, he nodded approvingly and said, “These characters are much better than before. You still need to practice more to write quickly and well.”

Tang Yang nodded, “Elder brother, I’ve worked hard. Today, the teacher even praised me.”

Wei Xi, standing nearby, added, “Ah Yang has been diligent recently.”

Tang Xu raised an eyebrow. It seemed that since the news of Tang Rui’s success as a scholar had spread, not only had Tang Yang become more diligent, but even Wei Xi had been working harder, studying late into the night. He had caught them several times, worrying that the house might produce two bookworms if they kept it up.

“Alright, let’s go eat. I’ll check on things over there,” Tang Xu said, waving to the two of them to go wash their hands.

Wei Dong put away the things he bought from the town and went to the kitchen to eat, but he didn’t see his husband. Hearing that Tang Rui had returned, he furrowed his brows slightly.

While they were in town today, they heard quite a bit of news.

Even though the examination results had been out for a while, the town was so small that the news spread quickly. Among the many students who took the exam, only three passed as scholars, and none as Juren.

Tang Rui was one of the three scholars. Since his ancestral home was in Heshan Village, it became a hot topic of conversation.

Especially after it was known that Tang Rui and Tang Yang were brothers, many diners at the Fuyun Restaurant tried to dig up gossip to learn how the Tang family managed to raise someone so accomplished.

The Fuyun Restaurant, however, was unaware of the details. The owner, Wu, had only met Tang Rui twice and didn’t get much information.

When the news first came back, it was said that a farmer’s son had passed the scholar exam at the age of sixteen, a smart lad. Later, another piece of news came from the county, stating that the scholar had married the daughter of Old Liu’s family, who was a concubine’s child.

This news stirred up the town even more.

Recently, with snow falling intermittently, the rare sunny day brought many people out of their homes. Some came to listen to music or stories, and others came to hear the latest gossip.

By coincidence, Tang Xu and Wei Dong were rarely together in town for shopping.

As a result, they heard quite a bit of gossip.

When settling the bill at Fuyun Restaurant, Boss Wu specifically came to remind Tang Xu, warning him that there might be some rumors going around recently and advising him not to mind them.

At first, Tang Xu didn’t quite understand what was going on. It wasn’t until he asked Boss Wu that he learned about Tang Rui’s wife being a concubine’s child.

Boss Wu explained, “Although Old Master Liu has money, his background isn’t very favorable. He was a son-in-law who married into a family, but after a short time, his first wife’s father died, and soon after, his first wife passed away too. Old Master Liu  is now in his thirties and has married a third wife, who is his current wife. The previous two wives didn’t leave behind any children but did leave him a considerable amount of family wealth.”

Boss Wu’s account was rather conservative. There were many rumors in Qiyang County suggesting that Old Master Liu had harmed his two previous wives and their families just to inherit their wealth. Though there was no concrete evidence, it was often discussed.

Moreover, Old Master Liu was skilled in managing his business. Within twenty years, his family wealth had doubled, and he maintained good relations with officials.

However, good relations didn’t help him much. When the old county magistrate left, the new magistrate, despite being somewhat corrupt, didn’t help with Old Master Liu ’s matters. The money Old Master Liu  sent was essentially wasted, but he couldn’t avoid sending it.

He thought about recruiting a son-in-law.

Unfortunately, despite having married several women and having children, he had very few offspring—a son and a daughter. This daughter was the child of a concubine.

It’s said that scholars are high-minded, and having a concubine’s daughter as a wife doesn’t sound good. How could a scholar of such status marry someone from a lowly background? 

Even though Old Master Liu  had been looking for a son-in-law since his daughter was twelve, he hadn’t found a suitable match.

Now, his daughter is nineteen and has been labeled an old maiden. Finally, he managed to find a candidate for her.

Tang Rui had just finished checking the exam results when he was summoned to Old Master Liu’s residence by the steward. What was said during that meeting remained unclear, but Tang Rui was moved into the residence provided by Old Master Liu  by the second day, and by the third day, the wedding had been arranged.

Within a month, Old Master Liu’s daughter was pregnant.

Upon hearing this, Tang Xu immediately thought, “Could it be that my younger brother is becoming a father ahead of schedule?”

However, considering Tang Rui’s personality, if such an event were to occur, he definitely wouldn’t tolerate it. So, the thought was quickly dismissed.

Throughout the return journey, Tang Xu worried that if his father knew about Tang Rui’s recent actions, there would likely be a scene of domestic violence.

To his surprise, while there was indeed anger, no such violence occurred.

Upon entering the house and seeing his father, Tang Erhu, holding his chubby grandson while eating, Tang Xu raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, I forgot we have a little joy-bringer in the house. No wonder they’ve been keeping him here, serving as the little mascot of the home.’

The moment the chubby boy saw Tang Xu enter, his eyes lit up, and he stretched out his arms, calling out, “Dad! Hold! Hold!”

Tang Xu picked him up and sat him on his lap after taking a seat.

Since there wasn’t a high chair for the child, the chubby grandson could only sit on an adult’s lap, as he was too short to reach the table.

Holding a small wooden bowl and grasping a wooden spoon, the chubby boy tried to reach for the braised potatoes and meat on the table.

It smelled delicious, and the little one eagerly dug into his big bowl!

Seeing him struggle to reach the food, Wang Cuicui quickly served him another bowl and placed it in front of him. “Eat slowly, don’t burn yourself. Xu Ge’er, have you eaten?”

Tang Xu shook his head. “I haven’t eaten yet.” He placed the food in a bowl for his son and told Wang Cuicui, “Auntie, just give me a little. I’m not very hungry.”

Wang Cuicui complied and served him a smaller portion.

Tang Erhu, sitting across from Tang Xu, glanced at him and asked, “How was it? What did you buy?”

“I bought a bunch of random things. It was crowded and the roads were bad,” Tang Xu replied. He then looked at Tang Rui, who was silently eating, and sighed gently. “Dad, now that Ah Rui has returned, when should we arrange the banquet?”

“Whenever,” Tang Erhu said dismissively, appearing disinterested.

Tang Rui bit his lip, remaining silent.

Tang Xu spoke calmly, “Regardless of what happened, Ah Rui has passed the exam and is now an adult. He should be responsible for himself. We don’t need to worry about him forever. Our family will manage its own fortune. Just let him enjoy his success.”

Tang Erhu glared at him and took a sip from his cup.

Seeing his father’s reaction, Tang Xu’s gaze grew stern. 

Tang Erhu, feeling the pressure, reluctantly agreed, “Fine, we’ll have a few drinks.”

Tang Xu then turned to Tang Rui. “How do you want to handle the banquet? Should we combine the scholar’s feast with the wedding feast, or have them separately?”

Tang Rui looked up at him.

Before Tang Rui could respond, Tang Xu continued, “No matter what, since you married Miss Liu, she should come back and meet your father. Even though we live in the village, we can still put on a respectable front. Understand?”

Tang Rui nodded and replied with a hum.

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