Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

Chapter 8 Food Bag

"You silly goose, jumping on stage to put on a show on a whim, doing whatever comes to mind!"

Walking along the country dirt road, with lush green corn stalks taller than a person on both sides, Tang Zhengjin started talking again.

"When you get home, your mother will scold you for it."

"Go ahead and say it," Tang Huaiyi replied. "Say what you have to say, and if you can't get through to me, I'll leave."

Tang Zhengjin was panting heavily. He took a deep drag on his cigarette, stomped the butt under his foot, and walked forward with his head down.

"You stubborn little donkey, I'm not going to bother with you anymore!"

He was angry, but Tang Huaiyi was not.

Today, Tang Huaiyi had a big argument with Li Xiujuan and managed to postpone the arranged marriage to a year later, thus securing precious time for Tang Huaiyi to go to school. Tang Huaiyi is now feeling very relieved.

Although he has to go to school tomorrow and his family may not be able to provide him with money or food, he has already relieved some of the pressure. He can take it one step at a time and always find a way.

Tang Zhengjin's figure walked further and further away, and Tang Huaiyi did not follow him.

In the afternoon, Tang Huaiyi returned to Tangmaji Village.

Tangmaji Village was originally two villages, Tangkou Village and Majia Village. It is unknown when, but the two villages were joined together to form Tangmaji Village, which became one of the larger villages in the surrounding area.

Tangmaji Village is also the site of rural gatherings held on the fourth and ninth days of each lunar month, and it is only two miles away from the Donghe Township government.

Under the shade of a tree at the street corner, several children bent over and crawled on the ground, digging out palm-sized mud pits and lines. They held small glass balls, also called "slippery eggs," and bounced them from behind the lines, trying to knock other people's glass balls into the mud pits to win. They shouted and yelled.

Tang Huaiyi watched with great interest. Amid the child's shouts, a line of ants busied themselves nearby. Occasionally, a green caterpillar would fall from the tree, but no one paid any attention. The ants began to work around the caterpillar, which then rolled and rolled with all its might until it was finally carried to the anthill by the ants working together.

After watching the children and ants for a while, Tang Huaiyi went home.

When I got home, I found that there was no arguing or fighting, and no one was glaring at me.

Tang Huaiyi was a little confused at first, but he understood everything by dinner time.

Grandpa used his chopsticks to pick up a salted egg and ate a couple of bites of rice. Then he started talking about how Tang Zhengjin and Tang Huaiyi had gone to Lijia Gou that day.

"Huaiyi, your father said that you and the second daughter of the Li family have discussed it and decided to talk it over first, go to school for a year, and then get married. Her father agrees, and your father agrees too. So it's settled."

What are you thinking?

Tang Huaiyi glanced at his father, feeling a slight sense of admiration.

It seems that although the father was angry, he did not intend to make the whole family quarrel over this matter and blame Tang Huaiyi for being ignorant. Instead, he kept the blame for Tang Huaiyi's "mistake" to himself.

Tang Zhengjin glared at him coldly and then lowered his head to eat.

What are you looking at? I'm still angry!

"I haven't thought about it much. I just want to go to school first and talk to him. After all, we're classmates." Tang Huaiyi said to his grandfather.

"Talk? It's not easy to talk. If we keep talking, it might not work out." Before Tang Huaiyi could speak, his mother, Wang Lanhua, took a big gulp of her porridge, licked her lips, and said, "If you ask me, we should get things done as soon as possible. Otherwise, Erwa might not be able to negotiate well with the other party, and Dawa's marriage will be ruined."

"Besides, Da Wa and the eldest daughter of the Li family are not young anymore. If they wait another year, what will that be like?"

Tang Zhengjin said in a muffled voice, "Both sides have already agreed, so we can't change our minds now. Let's leave it at that for now."

The mother, Wang Lanhua, complained in a low voice, "What have you two been doing? This was a perfectly straightforward matter; the sooner it was done, the better. Now, it's dragged on for a year—who knows what will happen?"

"What if someone's eldest daughter has a lover? What if someone's second daughter doesn't want to switch?"

Tang Zhengjin remained silent, eating with his head down.

The mother sighed again: "Now we're in trouble. If we wait another year, our second child will be a senior in high school—we barely have enough to eat and drink, where will we get the money and food?"

"Let's take it one step at a time," Tang Zhengjin said. "If all else fails, we'll borrow some money from the second and third brothers..."

"Borrow? How can we borrow? If any one of us in the family were even slightly well-off, we wouldn't be living in such poverty. Your three brothers are obsessed with wives. As soon as they heard a widow wanted to marry one of them, they went and gave her money and food." The mother muttered, "If he hadn't said he was in a real bind and immediately brought his wife home, how could we not even have money for our second child's schooling?"

"Now, he hasn't even gotten a whiff of his wife's farts, yet he's spent a fortune on things and money, all he's got is a widow to play with!"

Tang Zhengjin slammed his hand on the table in displeasure: "What are you saying in front of the children!"

The mother huffed, "She didn't say anything. I deserved to be married into this family!"

After speaking, he slurped down the bowl of porridge, licking the bottom and rim of the bowl clean, and then went outside to get a bag.

Seeing her packing food for his school trip into a bag, Tang Huaiyi quickly stood up and reminded her, "Mother, don't pack too much food. I'll figure out how to get to high school in the county myself."

"What kind of nonsense are you coming up with!" His mother, in a fit of anger, also scolded him. "If I don't give you food, you won't be able to hand over your food coupons tomorrow, and you'll starve to death!"

"Dating? Going to school?! Why don't you take your third uncle along to date too?!"

After packing him a small bag of grain, he straightened up, looked at the fading yellow sky, and sighed, "They're all useless, they can't make ends meet!"

Upon witnessing this scene, Tang Huaiyi couldn't help but feel a heavy weight in his heart.

His family didn't believe in him and resigned themselves to farming, that was one aspect.

The hardship of life, forced by circumstances, is indeed the most direct reason.

Grandma spoke up at this moment: "Eldest daughter-in-law, don't worry. I'll ask the third son tomorrow. If his marriage doesn't work out, I'll make him find a way to pay back the money he borrowed."

Tang Huaiyi's mother, however, showed no joy. She merely snorted, "If he could repay it, the sun would rise in the west!"

Tang Zhengjin gritted his teeth and said, "Mother, you don't need to go. Third Brother is also worried because he hasn't found a wife yet."

If Tang Huaiyi hadn't known what was going on before today, after hearing his father talk about it, he understood that his father felt guilty because he had married first, causing his third brother to marry without any family property and miss the marriageable age. That's why his father was so tolerant and caring towards his third uncle.

"The whole family is almost running out of food and drink, how can we not be anxious?" Grandma said. "I'll go ask around."

"Also, advise the third brother that Widow Ma doesn't seem like the type to settle down; tell him to give up on the idea."

After the meal, few family members were in a good mood.

Tang Huaiyi was also thinking about finding a way to earn money as soon as possible. His family was struggling financially, and he lacked money and food to go to school.

After going inside to rest, he saw his eldest brother, Tang Huai-ren, with his head down and not saying a word. He suddenly understood a little about his father's feelings for his third uncle.

If you are brothers who grew up together, your choices will affect their fate. Who can remain indifferent?

However, Tang Huaiyi did not say anything.

Having finally gained valuable time, he will try his best to make changes and let the facts speak for themselves.

In the middle of the night, a soft "ga" came from inside the courtyard.

Tang Huaiyi, who was not sound asleep, was suddenly awakened. He got up and opened the door, and two crows, each carrying something in their beaks, swooped down from the sky and landed on his arm.