The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 237

 

| TBBOTOF | 237

The mule cart clattered home, and Tang Xu wiped his hands as he came out of the bamboo house.

The backyard door opened, revealing the three large baskets that the two of them were carrying from the cart.

He went to greet them.

Tang Xu had sharp eyes and noticed Wei Dong's hand at a glance.

He frowned, hurried over, and asked, "What happened? Did you get hurt?"

He grabbed his man's hand to examine it and found a wound on his palm.

He then looked over the man’s body and noticed blood spots on the cuff of his sleeve.

Tang Xu narrowed his eyes and looked again at the blood on his hand; it was clear that the knuckles on the back of his hand were a bit red and swollen.

It was obvious he had gotten into a scuffle.

It must have been quite intense.

What happened? They had only gone to the river to catch fish for a while; how did it turn into a fight?

"You got into a fight with someone? Who is so blind as to provoke you?"

It’s not that he is arrogant; his man, even though his reputation has improved quite a bit over the past two years, is still like a tyrant in the village. 

Anyone with any sense knows not to provoke him. After all, Wei Dong either doesn’t take action or hits hard; there’s never a middle ground.

Even though Tang Xu has seen his man in action, just watching him slaughter a pig with one knife gives him a sense of how quick, ruthless, and accurate he can be.

Liu Yao, standing in the back, heard his question and couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

Tang Xu turned to look at him. “What’s so funny?”

Liu Yao stood in place and threw a couple of punches at the air, excitedly saying, “Brother-in-law just beat up the two ungrateful sons of Wei Family!”

???

 What? 

Tang Xu was confused.

He went to deliver some fish and ended up beating someone up? 

No way, those two ungrateful sons from Old Wu’s family didn’t have the guts to make his man unhappy; it was impossible they were looking for a fight.

Could it be that his man couldn’t stand it and stepped in to help his aunt deal with them?

Tang Xu speculated in his heart, his face full of confusion.

Wei Dong shrugged and said calmly, “Those two deserve a beating.”

Then he grabbed a basket of fish and walked over to the pond, where he began cleaning the fish and tossing them directly into the water. Ducks and geese came to eat, and the snails in the pond also feasted. 

Their family’s pond kept getting bigger, filled with all sorts of chaotic little things.

Tang Xu couldn’t help but mutter that the pond needed to be kept clean. It hadn’t been cleaned for years. 

Although it was a flowing underground water source, it couldn’t just be left alone; at the very least, the silt needed to be dug out.

Tang Xu was itching with curiosity, wanting to know what caused the fight.

He didn’t expect his man to tell him, so he turned to the other two.

Zhao Ming was even less inclined to speak than Wei Dong. Tang Xu scrutinized him carefully, focusing directly on Liu Yao’s face.

“What happened?”

Liu Yao rubbed his hands together, looking a bit excited, and waved to Zhao Ming, saying, “You help my brother-in-law with the fish, and I’ll tell you the story.”

Zhao Ming sighed helplessly. Although he was a few years younger than Liu Yao, it was clear from their personalities that Zhao Ming was much more mature and steady.

Liu Yao stood next to Tang Xu, just about to speak when he was interrupted by Tang Xu.

“Wait a moment, let’s go back inside to talk. Don’t just stand out here in the cold,” Tang Xu turned to glance at his man who was sitting on a small stool by the pond, cleaning the fish, and also at Zhao Ming, who was next to him, wearing the same stoic expression.

He sighed and muttered, “It's hereditary facial paralysis.”

“What? What did you say, brother?” Liu Yao asked, having caught the last part.

Tang Xu shook his head. “Nothing.”

The two of them went back to the main house. Inside, Tang Erhu and Wang Cuicui were playing with the three kids. The bed was a mess, and the three kids were rolling around on the quilt, with Er Bao moving a pillow around.

When they saw the two of them come in, Tang Erhu smiled and asked, “How many fish did you catch?”

Liu Yao saw Tang Li and, hearing the question, replied with a smile, “Brother-in-law is amazing! We caught a lot. We delivered one basket to Grandpa and Grandma, and another basket to his aunt, and we brought the rest back.” 

As he spoke, he spread his arms to demonstrate the size of the fish.

Wang Cuicui widened her eyes and asked in surprise, “How big were they?”

Liu Yao mimicked a gesture with his hands, “Brother-in-law cut a big hole in the ice, and the fish in the river jumped right up. They were so lively, we hardly had to put in any effort.”

Seeing that they were getting more and more excited in their conversation, Tang Xu quickly interrupted, saying, “Alright, let’s wrap this up and talk about something serious.”

Liu Yao nodded repeatedly, then looked at Wang Cuicui and held back the urge to ask, Where’s Ah Li? Is she in the house?

“Ah Li is inside tidying up with Ze’er and Liu Ge’er. What’s up? Do you need to find her for something?” Wang Cuicui asked with a smile.

Liu Yao’s face turned red, and he quickly shook his head, “No, no.”

Tang Xu looked at him helplessly and teased, “You two are together every day, and you still can’t get enough of each other?”

Liu Yao scratched his head, blushing. Even though they were together every day, he still wanted to see her; he felt like he was missing out if he didn’t catch a glimpse.

He chuckled a few times, then quickly turned to Tang Xu and said, “Brother, let’s talk about what happened earlier when Brother-in-law hit someone!”

Tang Xu raised an eyebrow. So, he was trying to change the topic, huh?

Upon hearing about Wei Dong, Tang Erhu and Wang Cuicui both widened their eyes. “What happened? Why did he hit someone? Did he hurt them? Who did he hit?” 

Wang Cuicui asked anxiously.

Liu Yao sat in the chair, waved his hand, and poured himself a cup of warm water. 

After finishing it in one go and wiping his mouth, he said with a smile, “When we delivered fish to Wei Family’s house, there were a lot of people gathered outside her yard, all watching the excitement. Even with the courtyard door closed, we could hear cries from inside. Brother-in-law went in carrying a basket, and Zhao Ming and I were waiting outside.”

As soon as Tang Erhu heard this, he began to guess who his son-in-law had beaten up.

Although he hadn’t been in the village for a while, he remembered meeting Wu Hong during a trade trip to the town, where Wu Hong had mentioned that his two brothers and sisters-in-law were particularly angry with his mother, saying she had been sick from anger for a while and had to drink two doses of herbal medicine to recover.

“Ah, those two daughters-in-law from Hongjie’s family are really pretentious. They were fine when they first got married, but just a few years later, they’ve changed completely,” Wang Cuicui, who had a good relationship with Wei Zhonghong, couldn’t help but complain after hearing Liu Yao's words.

Tang Xu also frowned, realizing that the money Wu Hong had brought back must have made them restless, willing to stir up trouble just to grab some cash.

But he thought that with Wei Zhonghong's personality, she wouldn’t let them take advantage of her easily.

Liu Yao snorted, “People say it’s been noisy for almost half a month, arguing every day. At one point, they even heard the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law fighting. Later, it was mostly just the two daughters-in-law crying—mainly the eldest daughter-in-law. Occasionally, you’d hear the second daughter-in-law sobbing a few words. It was all about how the fourth son is making money while the two older brothers’ families are so poor they can’t even afford to eat meat. It’s just the same thing over and over, day after day, with the crying.”

Tang Xu took a deep breath.

Wang Cuicui frowned, looking at him. “What else did people say?”

“They were just gossiping. The people watching were just repeating things,” Liu Yao thought for a moment and shook his head. “Honestly, there wasn’t much else. Later, when my Brother-in-law came out, he said he had beaten them.”

After saying that, he grinned and laughed a couple of times. “I could hear the commotion from outside; the noise was really loud. Brother-in-law said he beat both of them, and that was all he mentioned.”

After hearing this, Tang Xu felt a bit relieved. It seemed that his man had gone to help his aunt settle scores, rather than being genuinely provoked by the two.

They had dinner early that evening. With so many people at home, they made plenty of hearty dishes. The elders had a few drinks, and Wei Dong and Liu Yao joined in for a few rounds as well. 

After putting the three children to bed, Tang Xu went to check in the main room, where Old Sun and Old Wen had already left their seats. His father was animatedly chatting away with his man.

“Dongzi, you did well!”

Wei Dong poured him a cup of warm liquor and nodded slightly. “It’s what I should do.”

As for what he had done well, he didn’t think much of it.

“Those two brothers are really something else. How can you just watch your wives and mother bicker like that without doing anything? They should have given them a good beating!” Tang Erhu took a sip of his drink and then picked up a piece of fried fish, happily taking a bite. 

“Next time they’re ungrateful, just go beat them up. A few beatings and they won’t dare to act up again!”

Just as Tang Xu walked in, he happened to hear his father’s words and had to suppress an eye roll. Noticing how little food was left on the table, mostly just the soup base, he asked, “Ah Dong, are you still eating? If not, I’ll clear the plates.”

“I’ll eat; I’m mixing it with rice,” Wei Dong replied. He only drank liquor and ate vegetables; as far as he was concerned, if he didn’t have staples, he couldn’t feel full.

Tang Xu looked at him helplessly and reached for the plate.

“Brother, let me do it,” Tang Li stopped him, giving him a look. “You sit down and eat a few bites.”

Tang Xu smiled and nodded, “You can pour all that together and heat it up. Use a big bowl to serve it to your brother-in-law.”

Tang Li agreed.

Liu Ge’er also got up to help with the cleanup, as he was really not used to sitting around doing nothing.

“Dad, you should drink less. You’ll wake up with a headache tomorrow,” Tang Xu advised when he saw his father pouring another cup of warm liquor.

Wang Cuicui glared at Tang Erhu, then turned to Tang Xu and said, “Your father has to drink two liang of liquor every day to sleep; otherwise, he can’t rest well at all.”

Tang Xu frowned, looking disapprovingly at his father. “What’s going on? Did I bring you the liquor just for you to drink it all?”

“How can you talk like that?” Tang Erhu glared at him, though his gaze was a bit unfocused, clearly feeling a little guilty.

After all, when Tang Xu had brought the liquor, he had clearly told him not to drink it every day, even if it was a small amount. It was okay to have a cup occasionally, but if he drank every day, he wouldn’t bring him any more.

Clearly, as a father, he recalled what his son had said back then.

If it were someone else, he might have put on a serious face and made a fuss about it, but what kind of personality did his son have? 

Could he fool him?

Indeed, Tang Xu let out a cold laugh, showing no respect for his father at all, and he wasn’t scared by his glare.

“What did I say when I sent you the liquor? You didn’t listen, so I won’t bring you any more. If you want to drink, you’ll have to buy it yourself.” Tang Xu crossed his arms and sneered repeatedly.

Tang Erhu’s expression instantly changed.

He had been drinking his own home-brewed liquor for years; there was no way he could drink anyone else’s!

He rubbed his hands and grinned, “Son, just give me one more sip. Don’t cut me off! I promise I won’t drink so much in the future.”

Tang Xu raised an eyebrow. “Fine, from now on, just a jar every three months. That’s plenty. I’ll lock up the wine cellar right now.”

Wang Cuicui clapped her hands from the side, “Great! I’ll bring over the rest of the liquor I have at home.”

Tang Erhu: “…” He suddenly felt like the sky was falling.

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