Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

Chapter 43 Unorthodox Methods

The sun set behind the mountains, and the sky gradually darkened.

Without a bicycle or any other means of transportation, Tang Huaiyi walked to Lijia Gou on his own two legs, ate a meal of fried duck eggs, and then walked back to Tangmaji Village on his own two legs. The afternoon passed by in a hurry.

When Tang Huaiyi, carrying his bag, saw the entrance to Tangmaji Village, a figure with a cigarette in his mouth and his hands behind his back was walking back and forth at the village entrance.

"father?"

Tang Huaiyi approached and called out.

Tang Zhengjin immediately looked over, cigarette dangling from his lips, his expression slightly reproachful: "Hey, Erwa, where have you been? You weren't home all afternoon when you were supposed to be out of school!"

"Your mother told me to check on you, so that you don't get too stressed about school and stop coming home."

"You're only coming back now? Were you studying at school, or were you looking for work in the city?"

"No, I went to Lijia Gou," Tang Huaiyi said. "I took Li Xiujuan home and had a meal at her house."

Tang Zhengjin was stunned for a moment, then looked at Tang Huaiyi in surprise: "Didn't you say you didn't want to get married? Why did you go to her house?"

"We made it clear before that we both wanted to go to school, and that's how we managed to postpone the marriage arrangement for a year. I can't just abandon her after we've done our part, so I took her home after school today."

Upon hearing Tang Huaiyi's words, Tang Zhengjin recalled his previous visit and said, "You're quite shameless, daring to stay for dinner... Didn't her father give you a hard time?"

"The nasty things you said last time made me so sick I couldn't even eat chicken, but you ate it with relish."

Tang Huaiyi smiled and followed beside him, the two walking home together: "Dad, what's there to be embarrassed about? It's rare for our family to eat meat, we should at least have our fill!"

"Go away, your words are like farts!" Realizing Erwa was joking, Tang Zhengjin scolded him irritably, "They've already said it, we'd rather starve than die at their doorstep and lose face, you know that? Only you, with your greedy mouth, actually sat down and started gnawing on their chicken leg, eating this scornful food!"

As he spoke, he told Tang Huaiyi some village "tales": "There was a guy named Tang Erleng in our village. The production team leader scolded him for being lazy, saying he couldn't finish one mu of land in two days. He said this in front of the whole production team, which was very embarrassing. So he got really determined. In the sweltering heat of midsummer, he worked on two mu of land under the scorching sun. He stopped to drink three ladles of water, lay down under a willow tree, and died. His face was as red as a ripe shrimp."

"Erwa, do you know why? People live for their reputation, just as trees live for their bark."

"Although Tang Erleng is dead, now when people in the village talk about him, who would say he was lazy? They all say he was a tough guy."

Tang Huaiyi was genuinely shocked when he heard this: Just to avoid losing face, he was willing to die from heat and exhaustion? Although it did save face and reputation, and the villagers felt it was a courageous act... this was a human life at stake.

After Tang Zhengjin finished speaking, he worried that Tang Huaiyi might have been wronged: "Did the Li family say anything unpleasant during your visit?"

"No, they called me 'son-in-law' with a smile, they were very enthusiastic," Tang Huaiyi said with a smile.

Tang Zhengjin was relieved, but then angrily picked up a cigarette and exhaled a puff of choking smoke: "Were those nasty words only said to me? Making things so difficult for my in-laws, what kind of person are you..."

As they were talking, and they were almost home, Tang Zhengjin remembered something else: "Your third uncle told me that you took six yuan from him to help him find a female teacher from the city to be his wife. Is that true?"

"That's true," Tang Huaiyi said.

Tang Zhengjin stopped and stood at the doorway, looking at his son in the dim light, as if trying to see right through him.

"Erwa, did you make this up to scam your third uncle out of money, or is it really true? Our family doesn't produce people who cheat and swindle."

Tang Zhengjin said in a low voice, "I know it's hard for you to go to school, and our family did give some money to your third uncle, which makes you feel uncomfortable; but if you try to get the money back by trickery, I'll whip you."

"We must not take such crooked and unethical paths."

Tang Huaiyi thought to himself, "My third uncle has become a lapdog for Widow Ma. If I don't find a way to get some back, am I just going to accept my fate and give up?"

In other words, if Teacher Xu's matter could be accomplished, Tang Huaiyi would consider it settled; if that matter could not be accomplished, Tang Huaiyi would not allow his father to be so honest and easy to bully. Just because he owed his three brothers a debt in the past, he brought his wife and children to send money to his three brothers, making them invest in Widow Ma's bottomless pit.

Objectively speaking, Tang Huaiyi would not engage in crooked ways that deceive the good and kind; he felt perfectly justified and had no conscience whatsoever in taking back the money that rightfully belonged to him and was about to be wasted.

But the situation is different now, and there's no need to force these thoughts out or argue with his father again.

"This is indeed true. I told Teacher Xu that they don't look down on people from rural areas; they just want someone who is family-oriented and easy to live with."

Upon hearing Tang Huaiyi's words, Tang Zhengjin, who had initially been somewhat skeptical, immediately beamed with joy: "Is that really true?"

"If your third uncle can marry a woman from the city, then all our worries will be over!"

"Erwa, tell me what's going on with that female teacher..."

Just as Tang Huaiyi was about to speak, his third brother, Tang Huaili, came out of the house: "Second brother is back!"

Tang Huaiyi nodded: "Yes, you're back."

"What are you doing standing at the door? Come in!" the mother called out coldly from inside the yard.

Tang Huaiyi looked at Tang Huaili with suspicion and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

"Third Uncle is here."

Tang Huaili said in a low voice.

Tang Huaiyi suddenly realized that his mother had always been extremely disgusted by his third uncle's inability to find a wife and his subsequent demands for money, which had led to numerous arguments with his father. Naturally, she spoke with anger when his third uncle came to the house.

As for why Uncle San came today—he was probably waiting for Tang Huaiyi to get out of school so he could ask about Teacher Xu.

With these thoughts in mind, Tang Huaiyi walked into the courtyard and exchanged greetings with his elder brother Tang Huairen and younger sister Tang Xiaoli.

Uncle Tang Zhengcai couldn't help but come out of the house: "Our student Huaiyi is back from school? Come on in, Uncle has something to ask you."

Tang Huaiyi nodded and went into the dark house—it was all dim outside, and the mud-brick house, which didn't get much light, was naturally pitch black. There were no electrical wires in the house, so you could barely make out the outlines of people.

Tang Zhengcai was in a good mood and was quite busy. He took the initiative to light an old oil lamp in the house with a match, and Tang Huaiyi could immediately see the people and faces inside the room.

His grandparents were sitting on either side of the high table, watching him.

"Grandpa, Grandma."

"Yes, Huaiyi is back." Grandpa said, taking a puff of his pipe. "Your third uncle said he needs to talk to you. Sit down and let's talk."

Following his grandfather's words, Tang Zhengjin, Tang Zhengcai, and Tang Huaiyi all sat down.

The eldest brother, Tang Huai-ren, and the third brother, Tang Huai-li, also found a wooden stool to sit down.

The mother and her younger sister, Tang Xiaoli, stood to the side. The mother glanced at the oil lamp, then pursed her lips and stepped forward to press down the wick—it needed to provide light while conserving oil.

Tang Zhengcai couldn't wait to ask, "Huaiyi, what did that female teacher say? What happened? Tell me quickly!"