The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 255

| TBBOTOF | 255

Tang Xu had originally planned to visit the Tang family again, but someone arrived before he could go.

It was Boss Wu, along with a steward from the merchant guild, bringing New Year’s gifts.

Entertaining guests kept Tang Xu busy for most of the day.

By the time he was finished, it was already the morning of the fifth day of the lunar New Year.

On the fifth day, it was tradition to eat dumplings, so early that morning he and Wei Dong set out, leaving the task of chopping meat and preparing the dough to Liu Ge’er and Zhao Ming.

“I wonder if I’ll frighten grandma if I just tell her directly,” Tang Xu muttered to himself in the carriage, propping his chin on one hand and staring straight ahead.

Sitting at the front of the carriage, Wei Dong turned to glance at him when he heard this, noticing Tang Xu’s absent-minded expression, and waved his hand in front of his eyes.

Tang Xu snapped out of his daze and asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“What did you just say?”

“Did I say something?”

Tang Xu blinked, a bit confused.

Did he really say something?

He hadn't even realized it.

"You did say something," Wei Dong replied.

Tang Xu tilted his head and thought for a moment, then asked, "What did I say?"

"You wondered if telling grandma directly would scare her," Wei Dong repeated his words, then added his own answer, "It won’t scare her; it’ll make her angry."

Tang Xu looked at him helplessly. "Either way, the result is grandma passing out."

"No, she won’t," Wei Dong chuckled, lifting his hand to gently touch Tang Xu’s face. "She’s in great health—she’d probably just yell at your aunt to hurry and bring your cousin back home."

Tang Xu pursed his lips, looking at Wei Dong with an expression that suggested he didn’t quite believe it.

In the end, things happened just as Wei Dong had predicted.

When they arrived, the old lady had just finished breakfast and was planning to head to the backyard to feed the chickens and ducks. She was holding a bowl with mixed feed—wheat bran, shredded cabbage leaves, and soybean residue.

Hearing the gate creak, she turned her head and saw the two of them walking in together.

Wu Guizhi looked a bit bewildered. She set down the small bowl, wiped her hands on her apron, and came over to greet them. “What brings you two over here so early? Have you eaten yet?”

Tang Xu nodded and, with a cheerful smile, reached out to support the old lady’s arm. “We ate before we came, Grandma. I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Wu Guizhi glanced at him, then at Wei Dong, and said, “Dongzi, go to the backyard and feed the chickens and ducks. Just pour the feed from the bowl, that’ll do.”

Her beloved chickens and ducks couldn’t be left hungry; even missing one meal could mean fewer eggs.

Wei Dong agreed with a quick “Got it.”

Wu Guizhi took Tang Xu’s hand and led him into the house, where Tang Guangliang was leaning back and puffing on his pipe. She picked up a little broom she used to sweep the kang and gave his shin a couple of taps with it. “All you know is smoking, smoking, smoking! Smoking first thing in the morning, too! Someday I’ll break that pipe of yours!”

Tang Guangliang squinted his eyes in satisfaction, humming a couple of times as he knocked his pipe against the edge of the kang to shake out the ashes. He didn’t respond to her scolding, but instead looked over at Tang Xu with a smile. “Xu Ge’er, you’re here!”

Tang Xu called him “Grandpa,” then turned to the old lady and said, “Grandma, take a seat. I have something to tell you, but don’t get too worked up.”

“What could it be, talking all mysteriously like that?” Wu Guizhi chuckled at him, then sat down.

Tang Xu then briefly recounted what Luo Pingping had told him. He wrapped up by saying, “I think my eldest cousin hasn’t really been able to recuperate well. So, I gave Auntie an idea: which is to pretend to be ill and have my eldest cousin come back to take care of her. She can bring her children along and stay here for a month or so.”

From the moment Tang Xu started speaking, Wu Guizhi’s expression kept changing, and by the time he finished, she jumped up, angrily muttering under her breath as she stormed outside. “Those two fools didn’t think to bring my granddaughter back right away! That damn Sun family—is their plan to wear her down to death and then find someone else to marry into their family?”

Tang Xu glanced at his equally shocked grandfather, signaling that he should probably follow her.

“Go, go! Hurry up and follow your grandma—don’t let her start hitting people,” Tang Guangliang urged, waving him off.

Tang Xu was baffled. 

Hitting people? 

Who would she be hitting? 

But he quickly picked up his pace and went after her.

Outside, the old lady had grabbed a broom handle and was thwacking it repeatedly against Tang Dahu’s back, shouting as she did so, “What kind of father are you? Can’t you see the suffering your daughter’s going through? Are you blind?”

“Mother, I—” Luo Pingping took two steps forward, trying to step in and calm her down.

“And you!” The old lady immediately turned toward her, swinging the broom at her arm. “Don’t call me ‘Mother’! You’ve abandoned your own daughter—what’s the point of calling me, an old woman with one foot in the grave?”

Luo Pingping’s arm was hit several times, each strike sharp and painful, and she gasped, grimacing in pain.

“Mother, please, stop! I’ll send Ah Zu to bring Da Niu home right away!” she cried, dodging back in a panic.

Tang Xu walked in just in time to see his grandmother raising her broomstick to hit someone, so he hurried forward to hold her back. “Grandma, Grandma, didn’t we agree not to get worked up?” 

He had only turned to speak with his Grandpa for a moment, and the next thing he knew, she was already out of sight.

As he caught up, he could hear her shouting before he even entered the room. Rushing in, he quickly stepped between her and his uncle and aunt. “Grandma, please don’t be mad—Uncle and Auntie already know they were wrong!”

“Know they were wrong?” The old lady snorted as she let Tang Xu settle her into a chair. She raised the broomstick and pointed it at the couple, fuming. “Are your brains made of pig fat? Has all that pork you eat gone straight to your heads?”

Tang Xu nearly laughed out loud but quickly turned to get some water, thinking to himself that his grandmother had quite the sharp tongue.

Luo Pingping, feeling humiliated at being scolded so harshly in front of Tang Xu, flushed red with shame.

Tang Xu returned with the water, first handing a cup to his grandmother, then placing a cup each on the kang table for Tang Dahu and Luo Pingping.

“Here, Grandma, have some water to soothe your throat.”

Wu Guizhi took a large gulp, then set the cup down and wiped her mouth, giving Tang Xu a stern look. “And you! This was such a serious matter—why didn’t you tell me sooner? Then we could’ve brought Da Niu back earlier!”

"I wanted to come by yesterday," Tang Xu explained, rubbing his nose. "But we had visitors for the New Year. And besides, there’s no way we could just bring my cousin back right now. Even if Auntie pretends to be sick, it can’t just happen the minute she returns from visiting them—it’d be too obvious. The Sun family isn’t stupid; they’d definitely think she was faking it just to get my cousin back.”

He continued to persuade his grandmother, saying, “Think about it, Grandma. If Auntie comes back, spends a few days here, and celebrates the New Year in a lively, joyful home, it would naturally remind her of her daughter. Then, if she gets sick after all that, it’d be much more believable, wouldn’t it?”

Wu Guizhi grumbled, unwilling to admit it openly but unable to deny that he was making sense. “Hmm.”

“These next few days, let’s pick a good date and have Tang Zu go over there,” Tang Xu said with a grin, glancing at Luo Pingping. “He’s got a quick wit—he could definitely talk circles around them.”

Luo Pingping’s mouth twitched. “Do you think he’s up to it? Maybe your uncle should go along too, just in case.”

Tang Xu’s eyes sparkled as he sidled over to her and suggested, “How about I go with them?”

Luo Pingping instinctively wanted to agree. After all, Tang Xu had quite the silver tongue. If the Sun family tried to block him, he’d likely put them in their place with ease, maybe even make that domineering old woman from the Sun family spit blood in anger!

Just imagining it filled Luo Pingping with a surge of excitement.

Seeing the eagerness in Tang Xu’s eyes, Wu Guizhi’s expression hardened as she glared at him. “What are you getting involved for?” she scolded.

Tang Xu pouted, realizing his suggestion had been a bit out of line. He scratched his head, chuckling sheepishly. “Alright, I won’t go, Grandma. Don’t be upset.”

Wu Guizhi made her decision firmly. “Let Tang Wei and Tang Zu go together. If they won’t let Da Niu come back…” She ground her teeth. “Then they’ll just bring her back by force!”

Tang Xu raised an eyebrow, amused. This plan seemed even more daring than if he went himself.

He glanced around, his mind spinning, but he didn’t say anything more.

As he was leaving, Luo Pingping walked him to the door. When they reached the gate, Tang Xu lowered his voice and said, “When they’re about to leave, swing by my place and bring Dong and me along.”

Luo Pingping paused, startled. “But your grandma…”

“Shh, we won’t tell her.” Tang Xu winked at her. “Auntie, just make sure to explain everything clearly to those two.”

Luo Pingping hesitated, then finally nodded in agreement.

On the morning of the seventh day of the lunar New Year, Tang Yang came over from home and happened to run into Tang Wei and Tang Zu, who were driving a cow cart.

“Hey? Where are you two headed?” Tang Yang asked curiously, noticing the brothers’ weary expressions.

Tang Wei’s face looked tired. Late last night, their mother had roused them from bed to talk at length about their eldest sister’s situation. Neither brother had managed to get much sleep afterward, both too worried to rest well.

Now, their eyes were barely open, and they looked exhausted—if they told anyone they hadn’t slept all night out of worry for their mother’s health, no one would doubt it.

On the way over, the two had even joked that their mother must have purposely chosen the middle of the night to give them a hard time.

The brothers exchanged a wry smile without saying much, and Tang Yang didn’t press them further.

Once they entered the courtyard of the Wei family estate, Tang Xu came over and Tang Yang asked, pointing toward the brothers. “What are they here for?” he asked.

Tang Xu raised his hand and lightly knocked on Tang Yang’s forehead. “You sure are nosy. Go call your brother-in-law over.”

Tang Yang grumbled but ran off to find Wei Dong, who soon came from the front courtyard. After nodding a greeting to the two brothers, he went to hitch up the mule cart.

Tang Xu had already informed his family that they might not return until later in the day. Tang Erhu and Wang Cuicui would come over after breakfast to help take care of the kids.

As Wei Dong harnessed the mule, Tang Xu brought out two small bamboo baskets. He handed one to the Tang brothers and placed the other in the back of the cart. Inside each basket was a large, warm steamed bun, some biscuits, and a water pouch. 

Although the two villages weren’t far apart, it would still take at least half an hour by cow cart. 

Judging by the brothers’ tired faces, they likely hadn’t had breakfast before being sent out of the house.

Without much need for conversation, the mule cart set off quickly, while the cow cart lagged behind. Wei Dong had to pat the mule a few times to keep it from running too fast.

By the time they reached Sunjia Village, it was already mid-morning. The roads were rough, and the cow cart wobbled so much that the brothers nearly lost the buns they’d eaten on the way.

It had been nearly a decade since Tang Mei was married off, and back then, the brothers hadn’t even been ten years old. Even with their father’s directions, they found themselves a bit lost as they tried to identify the house.

They couldn’t just knock on each door to ask, so the two looked at Tang Xu with a hint of panic. Just then, a courtyard gate in front of them opened from the inside.

"Tang Wei?" Tang Mei stepped out, planning to buy some tofu, when she saw her brothers on the cow cart. "Tang Zu? What are you two doing here?"

Hearing her voice, the brothers both turned and froze at the sight. In just over two years, their once-youthful and pretty older sister looked significantly aged. Her face was sallow, her body thin, with her cheekbones jutting out sharply.

"Sister, what happened to you? How did you end up like this?" Tang Zu jumped down from the cart and rushed to her side, anxiously asking, "Why have you lost so much weight?"

Seeing her younger brothers, Tang Mei’s eyes reddened instantly.

Before she could say anything, an angry voice came from inside the courtyard. "You little wretch, who are you flirting with now? Get moving and buy that tofu!"

Not only did the three siblings at the gate hear the words clearly, but Tang Xu and Wei Dong, standing further back, caught every word as well.

Tang Xu sneered and glanced over at Wei Dong, raising an eyebrow as if to say, Just watch.

Wei Dong exhaled softly, bracing himself. He knew his husband was about to put on quite a show. Hopefully, it wouldn’t end up drawing the entire village’s attention.

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TL: So many people surname Liu or Sun are not good people except for Liu Ge'er lol