Chapter 17

Tang Chunming did not care about how the Zhao family lived their lives. He only kept in mind the days of raising and milking the sheep to feed his son. Because he was greedy, he took the money that Zhang Xiu’s husband brought back from the town. Oil, big bones, and some internal organs are indispensable, otherwise cooking without oil, Ah-Lin may be able to bear it but Tang Chunming couldn’t. The price of the bones and internal organs is naturally lower than pork, just like in his life before.

Zhang Xiu just sighed and didn’t dissuade him. After all, he also knows that sometimes people can crave certain things during pregnancy. Maybe Brother Ming just wanted to eat meat, but Brother Ming is not ignorant. He always chooses cheaper things to buy.

However, after drinking the big bone soup made by Brother Ming, he no longer objected to letting Dashan help him with buying back big bones regularly. Even his two sons like to drink big bone soup while chewing pancakes and adding a few slices of pork liver or heart. It didn’t taste too bad. After eating for a few days, even Dashan felt that his two sons had been raised with a much more ruddy face.

Tang Chunming felt that it was convenient that Li Dashan was working in town. Although he left early and returned late, if there was anything that [Tang Chunming] needed to buy, he could have Dashan bring it back at night. It was convenient and a good benefit and it was easy to request a few things.

Seeing that the weather was getting warmer at the beginning of the month, Tang Chunming had many more members in his family. First of all, regarding the puppies that Tang Chunming wanted to use to guard the house were finally found. Shen Fulang asked around for him and found a hunter. This hunter also knew Zhao Dahu and his dogs were very fierce and often helped him hunt. It just happened to give birth to a litter and the hunter knew that Zhao Dahu’s widow was looking for puppies. So he sent one without asking for any money and sent one back with Shen Fulang. He heard from Shen Fulang that Tang Chunming was overjoyed when he learned that the previous generation of the puppy was a wolf dog.

Naturally, Zhao Lin’er received a new pet and was encouraged by his mother to give his new puppy a name, Xiao Hua. Da Mao and Er Mao would often run around with Zhao Lin and Xiao Hua. They all began to flourish with the nourishment of the sheep’s milk. Whenever he heard the name Xiao Hua, Tang Chunming would sneer. This doggie has the blood of a wolf, and he will be a very powerful dog when he grows up. How can he be so happy to be accompanied by the name Xiao Hua.

The order of chicks were also delivered and with the addition of fifty little chicks,the house has become more lively. Tang Chunming’s daily schedule has become busier which makes him happy and he didn’t have to lie on the kang all day long. The chicks, like the previous goslings and lamb, were carefully fed with spring water and vegetable leaves grown in the space. They were in much better condition than when they first came to the house within a few days.

On this day, Zhang Xiu carried a tub of clothes to the wash by the river. When he got to the river, he heard the stern voice of Wang Mo, who has always been gentle and unwilling to quarrel with others, “It is important to say something, who doesn’t know what happened that day. Since Dahu passed, Brother Ming has only walked around the village a few times. Tell me, when did he talk to others? Hook up with others? Don’t you guys spend a longer time dangling around outside than him?”

“Oh, by helping say this, I don’t know what benefits Tang Chunming gave you to say good things for him. As the saying goes, he is upright and not afraid of having a crooked shadow. (1) Is he really not doing anything in the village?”

“Yeah, let me say it again, even Grandma Zhao doesn’t object to Brother Ming’s remarriage. We are still looking forward to Brother Ming finding a good family. Good people, let me say, that soldier, tut…”

“You…” The more he spoke, the less plausible. Wang Mo is so angry that he smashed the laundry stick into the water, causing a splash.

Only then did Zhang Xiu understand why Wang Mo, who has always been good tempered, made such a loud noise. He was not as nice as Wang Mo and he put the tub on the ground with a forceful “boom”. The gers looked at each other and closed their broken mouths when they saw this.

“Speak, want to talk about what happened to Brother Ming? If you are so nice and good-tempered, why don’t you go to the army man’s house to help him as a matchmaker? You all stare at the army man, and even you are staring at others. It’s clear what you are doing? Who is the wrongdoer?”

“Bah! What are you talking about, Dashan’s wife, who is wrong? Who is going to hook up? Which one of you saw it?” At the age of thirty, the white-skinned ger put down the clothes in his hand and stood up, pointing to Zhang Xiu, asking him to make this clear.

“Which one of you, with your own eyes, saw Brother Ming hooking up with someone. I say, perhaps you are confusing it with someone else. Alas, last time I saw you, Zhang Lanhua, talking with Huang Sigou on the edge of the terrace. What were you talking about, since you two were so close together.” Zhang Xiu is not afraid of his threats at all. He knows what to say at a glance, and even if nothing really happens he can create one, two, three, even four events for you. Who let this Zhang Langhua and Wang Chunhua have similar thoughts.

“You…you…I never talked to him at all!” Zhang Lanhua panicked, he quickly looked around and refused to admit it. At first, it was said that he had a match with Huang Sigou, but then he married his current husband. If his husband remembers this original thing, he might be caught and beaten. “I’m done washing, you guys wash slowly. I’m going home.” He put all the clothes into his basin and turned around to leave. He wished he could tear Zhang Xiu’s mouth.

The rest of the remaining people saw that their strongest combatant was gone and they were no match for Zhang Xiu. One of the other gers said to Zhang Xiu, “Brother Xiu, we won’t listen to other people’s nonsense. We know that it’s not true and who doesn’t know what Brother Ming is like in the village.”

“Yes, yes, Brother Ming is still pregnant with a child, how can he come out and walk around.” Someone echoed.

Zhang Xiu was too lazy to care about them, even with Zhang Lanhua, he really didn’t want to talk about him or Brother Ming’s affairs. He brought his basin to the side of Wang Mo and squatted down to wash beside him. Wang Mo looked at Zhang Xiu with stars in both eyes and said, “Brother Xiu, you are so powerful. It’s useless when I say anything but Brother Xui solves it as soon as he comes. But, Brother Xiu, the thing you spoke about Zhang Lanhua and Huang Sihui, did they really speak at the edge of the terrace?”

The people around them lowered their voices and a curious look flashed in their eyes. Zhang Xiu replied amusedly, “How can I speak nonsense like them. However, I really don’t know what they were talking about. I think Zhang Lanhua has a guilty conscience, so let him have a taste of what he dished out to Brother Ming.”

A few older brothers next to him also curiously asked what was going on with Zhang Xiu. Before when Zhang Xiu was not there, they also intervened in Tang Chunming’s rumors. This was the case for people in the countryside who had nothing to do now that there was no farming to do. Now that there is a soldier in the village and the Feng boy has just returned, many people are trying to figure out the situation. Soldiers are not easy to provoke and everyone is curious. So when the rumors came out, it satisfied the hearts of some gossipy people.

Zhang Xiu obviously knew what these people were thinking and as he threw his clothes into the river, he replied, “As I said, at the time, I was too far away and could not tell very well. Who told him to throw dirty water at Brother Ming. I was only trying to frighten him.”

When he said this, these brothers could not figure out if this was true or not. Some people laughed about Zhang Lanhua’s love. After a while, the brothers who talked about Tang Chunming saw that Zhang Xiu ignored them .They hurriedly gathered their clothing and left.

After washing the clothes and taking them back to try, Zhang Xiu thought about it and decided to tell Tang Chunming about the incident, so that he was menatlly prepared. In case he got angry when he heard the gossip while walking around the village, or if he heard it and started to fight with people, this would be bad. Zhang Xiu kept in mind the amazing appearance of him chasing someone with a club.

Moreover, Wang Mo told him that now the village is talking about Brother [Ming] and the soldier. Some even say it is the Feng boy and Brother [Ming], saying that Feng did not dislike him or the child. Plus the Feng child is older now and he does not look good, so with the average ger, who can say [it will work]. It is also good for the two of them to live together. Hearing these words, Zhang Xiu laughed, whether it was the Feng boy or the soldier named Yu Mu, they did not sit idle and let Ah-Lin be bullied. This was also why they were caught up in these people’s gossip.

Tang Chunming now lives with the door closed, so Zhang Xiu knocked on the courtyard door and waited for a while before someone came to open the door.

“Brother Xiu, what’s the matter, it seems that your anger is not small, and Dashan is not at home, who are you angry with?” Tang Chunming joked as Zhang Xiu entered the door, Zhang Xiu suddenly couldn’t hold his face and laughed.

After the door was shut and on the way to the main house, Zhang Xiu poured out all the words he heard and what Wang Mo told him. He paid attention to Tang Chunming’s expression as he spoke in case he got angry and hurt himself. When they arrived at the main house and Zhang Xiu finished talking, he saw his two sons seriously writing on the sand table with two sharpened sticks on the kang. His anger evaporated and a smile quickly showed up on his face.

“Mother.”

“Mother.”

“Aunt Xiu.”

The three children raised their heads and called out before lowering their heads again. Now the three of them are learning to write characters in the morning with Tang Chunming. However, pen, ink, and paper were too expensive for beginners, so Tang Chungming made a sandbox for the three of them to practice their characters. Zhang Xiu only had the idea of letting his children learn as to not be blind and had no idea of forcing them to learn for the examination. Being able to read and write is a sacred thing in the hearts of the villagers and the third Zhao son was envied by many people in the village since he was a child. No matter how unreasonable and nonsensical Grandma Zhao was, when talking about his third son, people will unconsciously ignore the things he did.

“The two boys are not as well behaved as your son, and they are very active. I didn’t expect to see them doing their work so quietly and seriously. Thank you Brother Ming, I am relieved to see them collect their minds.” Zhang Xiu said with emotion.

“How can Da Mao and Er Mao be as bad as you said? They have helped me and I can’t live without them here.” Tang Chunming understood what Zhang Xiu was saying. In fact, in his eyes, his two sons were the most precious, but parents are like this and will have their own opinion. Da Mao and Er Mao are more sensible than when he was a child and his own dark history is unbearable to look back at.

“Aunt Ming, take a look at what I wrote, it’s right this time.” Er Mao is more lively than Da Mao, and couldn’t wait to get Tang Chunming’s praise, even his mother was ignored by him.

Tang Chunming asked Zhang Xiu to sit on the kang first, and he went to help the three children to see. Although the writing in the sand table was a bit crooked, the strokes were correct. Of course, Tang Chunming did not hesitate to praise him. Da Mao was also praised by Tang Chunming. Although he was usually more stable than Er Mao, his eyes narrowed with joy at this time. When it was his turn to look at his little ger, Zhao Lin’s work, Tang Chunming lowered his demands. Ah-Lin was much younger than Da Mao and Er Mao and only a three year old child. So Tang Chunming asked him to learn fewer words, but his son was clever and finished without dropping a word.

“All right, that’s it for today. Go out and play.”

Da Mao and Er Mao cheered, grabbed Ah-Lin’s hand and stepped down from the kang to go see Xiao Hua. For the two boys who were out in the wild every day. It is not easy to sit quietly for such a long time, but because of this, there is extra capital to show off to the other friends in the village, which can make the friends envious.

But who made Zhang Xiu and Brother Ming’s relationship be so good? The parents of those children could only envy and were too embarrassed to ask to join.

It’s cold now, and fifty chicks are also kept in the house with the exception of taking them out to bask in the sun at noon. Because Tang Chunming cleans up after them diligently there was not much stink in the house. Zhang Xiu peeked at the chicks, at first he felt that Brother Ming was taking a risk, but seeing them all alive and well he couldn’t help but be happy. Of course, he himself is more cautious and waits for the weather to get warmer and before going to catch a few of them.

“What do you think about the gossip?” Zhang Xiu started. “Who was the first to say this? Was it Wang Chunhua?” Wang Chunhua had said at the time that Brother Ming seduced a wild man.

Tang Chunming frowned. There were many rumors that came out about him, but he had no intention of looking for a man now. He just wants to raise his son and make his family rich first. Even if he wants to find another man, why should these people care? “This rumor will be passed on and except for those with broken mouths, there will be few who really believe. No matter how much I say, it will not change the rumors. But I don’t think that it was Wang Chunhua, he is currently being confined at home.” He didn’t believe that Wang Chunhua didn’t have a shadow in his heart from that day, how could he recover so quickly to jump around the village. “I think the most suspicious is the Li family who was forced to spit out his nephew’s property.”

“You say it’s Li Conggen’s family?” Zhang Xiu’s eyes widened, but he quickly slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “I think it is him. That day, his youngest son ran to Zhao’s house and called Wang Chunhua. His youngest son often plays with Zhao Dong and always loves to bully other children.”

“Don’t worry too much, I really don’t care, besides, you have already avenged me.” Tang Chunming said. Although Zhang Xiu was also wrong for saying some suspicious words [about others], he did not know what it would be like. However, he was still very grateful for Zhang Xiu’s diligence. It can be said that after he came here, Zhang Xiu was the one who helped him the most.