Chapter 9: Beating Tang Xiang

Chapter 9: Beating Tang Xiang

By the time Tang Wu came to her senses, she had rushed into the courtyard and chased all the chickens out of their coop, causing a commotion with chickens squawking and pigs squealing.

She woke everyone up, and just as they were being taken back to bed by their parents, she estimated that Uncle Tang and Auntie Tang were about to fall asleep again and started howling like a wolf.

It was a deliberate attempt to drive everyone to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

As a result, the Tang family didn't get any sleep that night, and neither did their neighbors.

The next day, everyone was too exhausted to work properly.

Uncle Tang's face was visibly gloomy.

Old Lady Tang didn't cry or make a fuss; she just looked sullenly silent.

Auntie Tang cried and wiped her tears, threatening to die in front of Uncle Tang, and eventually went on a hunger strike.

That evening, she refused to eat while lying on the kang, and even Uncle Tang couldn't persuade her.

She sobbed and blamed Uncle Tang for not considering his son, "I might as well starve to death. My son is getting old and still single. What face do I have left to live?"

Originally, a matchmaker was supposed to visit today, but they didn't show up.

Auntie Tang made an excuse to take the day off and went to the matchmaker's house herself. To her surprise, the matchmaker had heard rumors and said that their family had a madwoman, so no one would want to be in-laws with them.

No one would agree to a marriage swap if it meant taking in a madwoman.

Now that Tang Yuan was mad, the option of swapping brides was closed. The only alternative was to pay a high dowry for a bride.

Normal matchmaking families wouldn't marry into a household with a madwoman either, fearing the consequences.

They had hoped their niece could help secure a wife for their son, but now she had become an obstacle. Naturally, Auntie Tang couldn't bear this.

"If she stays mad, there's no hope of curing her. And we'll have to spend money and time looking after her. That means two people can't work and earn points. Just think about how many points we'll lose."

Uncle Tang was frustrated and tired, yawning widely, "She's my own niece. How can I abandon her?"

Auntie Tang: "But what about your son?"

Uncle Tang: "Tang Wu is still young, only nineteen. Why rush? We can wait a couple more years."

Auntie Tang grew even more anxious and sat up abruptly, "Wait a couple more years? This is the best time for him. If he can't find a wife now, it will be even harder in a few years."

Once he turns twenty, he'll be heading towards thirty, becoming an old bachelor!

Uncle Tang remained firm.

After dinner, he wasn't in the mood to go out and chat with Dad Tang. He spoke a few words and then went back to bed.

Auntie Tang continued to nag him.

But he was so tired that he started snoring.

On the third day, Tang Wu couldn't take it anymore and suggested tying up Tang Yuan.

Mother Tang immediately protected her daughter like a mother hen shielding her chicks, crying that no one should touch her daughter.

Dad Tang also disagreed with tying up their daughter, believing that her madness was due to a shock and not her true nature.

He firmly believed she would recover.

On the fourth and fifth days...

Tang Yuan wanted to make Auntie Tang realize that it was more important to drive them out than to wait for her recovery to secure a wife for her son.

She rested for two days.

One day, when Mother Tang went to fetch water, Tang Yuan rushed into the main room and smashed two bowls and a dough mixing bowl. She even threw the cooking spatula into the water barrel to chop at the water spirits.

When Mother Tang returned, Tang Yuan climbed onto the stove with a stool, claiming there was a lame ghost in the pot and she needed to smash it.

Mother Tang managed to carry her down in time.

Actually, Grandma Tang and Auntie Tang could have restrained her together.

However, they were convinced that Tang Yuan was possessed or had been driven mad by a shock, and now she was stronger and truly desperate. They dared not act rashly.

Everyone knew that mad people were irrational and capable of murder.

So Grandma Tang finally joined Auntie Tang in insisting on dividing the household.

In these ten days, Tang Yuan's madness had exhausted the whole family. If they didn't divide the household, life would be unbearable.

Auntie Tang threatened suicide and refused to eat, and Tang Wu sulked and didn't work properly.

To prevent Dad Tang from feeling disheartened, Grandma Tang specifically called Zhonghe to check if there was any hope of recovery.

Initially, Grandma Tang feared that others would mock them, damaging their reputation. But seeing how mad Tang Yuan was, the entire village already knew, so what was there to fear?

In recent days, Tang Yuan's madness had drawn sympathy and visits from neighbors, but Grandma Tang blocked them all.

In Grandma Tang's view, only a few close families were genuinely concerned, while the rest were just there for the spectacle.

Damn it, they just wanted to see the commotion in their home.

Even the old Liu from the neighboring house stood on a stool to inquire, hoping to watch the spectacle, which infuriated Grandma Tang enough to throw a broom at his head!

Uncle Tang still insisted on not dividing the household, wanting to help his younger brother care for his niece. He refused to utter the word "division."

Dad Tang has been in a heavy mood these days. He initially thought his daughter's condition was fluctuating, but now it seems to be getting worse.

His wife also wiped her tears and complained, "It must be this place that's upsetting our daughter. If we separate and move out, maybe things will get better."

Although he didn't like his wife speaking ill of the family, he couldn't help but secretly wonder if it might actually work.

Why not give it a try?

Seeing his elder brother still insisting on helping him, Dad Tang finally couldn't hold back his emotions and wiped away a tear with his sleeve. "Elder Brother, I'm grateful for your words."

Grandma Tang looked at Dad Tang's expression and said, "If there's no other way, then..."

"No, we won't separate!" Uncle Tang's voice boomed. "I swore when my father passed away that I would take care of my mother and my younger brother, and that our family would never split up. Now that my niece is in trouble, how can I not help? No more talk about separating. As the eldest son, I make the decisions."

"Aah—"

Auntie, disheveled and crying, rushed out from the east room, heading outside.

"I don't want to live anymore; let me drown myself in the South River. You're good, I'm bad, I deserve to die. I can't take care of both my son and my niece..."

Second Brother held her tightly around the waist. "Mother, what are you doing? If you die, what will I do? I don't even have a wife yet."

Auntie cried, "Let me die. If I don't, I'll go mad. Today she stood outside the window with a stick, staring at me. I'm really worried she'll stab me one day..."

This time, Uncle Tang neither hit nor scolded her; he just had his son carry her back inside.

In truth, all the trouble could be solved if Second Brother and his wife agreed to tie up their daughter, but they clearly couldn't bear to do so.

Sigh...

Grandma Tang knew that Elder Brother had tacitly agreed to the separation.

She said sternly to Dad Tang, "Alright, let's discuss this again after work tomorrow evening."

Tang Yuan, hearing this from the east room, smiled victoriously.

As long as there isn't genuine affection, a little provocation will cause everything to fall apart.

Really, it's too fragile.

In her previous life, she had seen every kind of human nature.

Dealing with an insincere elder brother and his wife is simply too easy.

Perhaps Elder Brother and Father have some brotherly love, but no matter how close brothers are, once they have their own families, those families come first.

Unless he has lost interest in his wife, cheated, and wants a divorce, then his wife becomes an outsider and his brothers become family.

In the end, it's all about interests.

Tang Yuan had already discussed what to do about the separation with Mother Tang in secret.

Although the house belongs partly to her parents, as long as they stay here, they will continue to be exploited.

Living in the same courtyard means sharing food, chickens, ducks, stoves, and firewood.

If Grandma Tang comes into the house to scoop some flour, would you stop her?

Dad Tang hasn't fallen out with his mother yet.

He would give her anything, even his life.

She is his mother, who has cared for him, and he can't be heartless to her.

If they separate and live far away, even if Grandma Tang wants to interfere, it won't be convenient.

So they should leave this house and move out.

Tang Yuan is confident she can lead a good life with her parents.

In her previous life, she worked on poverty alleviation projects, examining many villages and developing localized ecological agriculture plans.

Her courtyard ecological economic model helped many impoverished families achieve self-sufficiency and earn extra money.

The ecological farms she established at the village level lifted entire communities out of poverty.

In short, she has extensive experience in rural development.

While she slept, Mother Tang couldn't sleep, looking tenderly at her daughter's sleeping face.

To be honest, she also wanted to separate. How could she not?

Who wouldn't want to live independently and work hard to provide better for their child?

Yuan Yuan loves boiled eggs, but she has eaten only a handful in her life.

If they separated, she would work tirelessly to ensure her daughter always had eggs and brown sugar.

After separating, she would save all the cloth coupons to make new clothes for her daughter!

No more hand-me-downs from her sister or shared clothes with her cousin.

Thinking about how her daughter has never worn a new dress, Mother Tang felt a pang of pain.

This was the first time she had kept something from her husband, being less than honest with him, but she... doesn't regret it.

Yuan Yuan was right: "My father is a pushover. As long as others don't strike first, he thinks everyone is good and treats them with all his heart. I just want my aunt to strike first so that my father will willingly agree to separate."

Why is my daughter so amazing?

She kissed the top of her daughter's head, then got off the kang bed and went outside to discuss with her husband where they should move.

Following Dad Tang's wishes, they would still live in the east wing.

How could that be?

Mother Tang whispered, "If we stay here, won't our daughter be upset again?"

Dad Tang was somewhat embarrassed. "We'll stay here temporarily. There's nowhere else to live right now, and we don't have the money or materials to build a house."

All the family's money and wood had been used for Tang Wen's new house.

But Mother Tang preferred to move out first, even if it meant enduring hardship for two years.

She didn't want to live with her sister-in-law anymore.

Over the past few days, while her daughter pretended to be crazy, her sister-in-law had gone from showing concern and sympathy to not speaking to her at all, only glaring at her as if she were trying to leech off the main household.

It was full of resentment.

Mother Tang truly felt both grateful and regretful. If her daughter hadn't acted this way, she might never have known the true nature of her seemingly amiable sister-in-law.

Although she had always thought her sister-in-law was a bit petty and could put on an act, she hadn't cared much, thinking it was just about having more food and clothes.

Now she realized that it was only when it came to major issues like money, houses, and marriages that her sister-in-law's true colors showed.

She said, "Isn't there a room in the commune's livestock shed? We can stay there for a while, helping to feed the animals in the morning and evening. We can also borrow some wood from the commune and get some help to build a couple of straw huts, repaying them with labor over time. If that doesn't work, we can dig an earth cellar to live in."

Dad Tang replied, "An earth cellar isn't suitable for long-term living."

An earth cellar is a sunken underground chamber, which the family dug during winter to weave mats.

While an earth cellar can block wind and keep warm, it is damp and prone to seepage, which is bad for health after prolonged use.

Especially since our daughter and daughter-in-law are women; that wouldn't do.

Straw huts are fine for summer but not for winter.

They still needed to build proper houses, even if small ones.

However, staying in the commune's livestock shed was feasible, despite the strong smell. Their daughter and daughter-in-law weren't overly delicate.

If it weren't for their daughter being so sensitive, Dad Tang would have preferred to stay here temporarily, separating but not moving away, slowly saving up materials to build a house before moving out.

Building a house wasn't easy. The family had saved for over a decade to gather wood, stones, and money, barely managing to build a tiled roof for the main house and two west wings, still owing a hundred yuan for bricks and tiles.

With no money left, how could they build another house?

But given the urgency of their daughter's situation and his wife's insistence, he agreed.

"I'll talk to the commune tomorrow."

Grandma Tang and Uncle Tang agreed to the separation. Today, Auntie stopped her hunger strike, and Tang Wu stopped pretending to be sick.

Tang Da Ge felt quite embarrassed looking at them, really... why go to such lengths?

Second Uncle never wanted to burden them; it was Dad who refused to separate.

Now it seemed as if Second Uncle was the one refusing to separate, and they were forcing him.

At noon, Auntie and Tang Wu didn't come back for lunch. They had gone to inform the daughters about the family's plan to separate, asking them to come back and support them.

Also, they asked Second Daughter Tang Fang to bring Tang Xiang back.

Auntie felt sorry for her youngest daughter, guessing that she must have been terrified by Tang Yuan's antics.

Seeing how crazily Tang Yuan had behaved these past few days, Auntie imagined how badly Tang Yuan must have bullied her daughter by the river, surely scaring her.

In the afternoon, as the sun began to set and the commune members were still working, Tang Fang brought Tang Xiang back.

As soon as they entered, Tang Xiang called out, "Grandma, I've missed you so much."

She only knew that Tang Yuan had been acting crazy at home and didn't know the specifics, assuming it was just some commotion.

Inside, Tang Yuan heard Tang Xiang's voice, immediately jumped off the bed, slipped on her straw shoes, grabbed the stick hidden behind the door, and rushed out, aiming for Tang Xiang.