When Grandpa Zhao was still alive, although he was fond of his third son, it was his second son, Zhao Dahu, that was his favorite. Zhao Dahu resembled him the most. He was genuine and worked hard on the farm work. So, at that time, Zhao Daniu had the lowest status [in the family]. Although Zhao Daniu was happy that his younger brother took on most of the work and he had an easy life, because he was always compared to him by their father, he did not have a good view of Zhao Dahu.
Therefore, Zhao Daniu coldly watched Zhao Dahu pick up all the burdens of the family after their father passed away. He knew that his mother didn’t necessarily like this son, nor did he like him, and his status became lower. After Zhao Dahu married a ger that his mother did not care for, his status was even lower. On the contrary, he married a wife that knew how to read his mother’s face and act accordingly. He was happy to see Zhao Dahu suffering at the hands of their mother, and even secretly joked that Zhao Dahu had no brains. Did he really think that their mother valued him, could he not see that he was exhausted [by their mother] and the two at home were looked down upon?
The Zhao family’s youngest brother, always looked down his nose at his brothers. The longer he stayed in school, the more he despised his own two brothers that worked in the fields. Zhao Daniu did not care how his brother thought of him, and as they stayed together, would rely on him [in the future].
The big tiger’s wife is not good in his mother’s eyes, and did not know how to please their mother. Zhao Daniu would coldly watch on when his mother was scolding his younger brother’s wife and [Tang Chunming] did not dare resist or even dare to say anything to Dahu. At this moment, he simply did not believe Wang Chunhua’s words, after thinking about the soft and honest nature of his younger brother’s wife. It would be more in line with his temperament for him to be at home in mourning and keeping filial piety.
“Do I dare lie to you? No one in this family ever pays attention to you, and I know you dislike me for not having another son. Now that your brother is gone…um…” Wang Chunhua stared at his husband as his mouth was covered and could not finish his words. He listened as his husband defended himself, “How dare you say these words. When have I ever despised you? In this house, I always listen to you and the money is also kept in your hands. You say you don’t want me to open the door so I shouldn’t go and open it. Be careful my mother doesn’t hear you and give you an endless [scolding].”
Zhao Daniu coaxingly tried to persuade him, and Wang Chunhua was very pleased and even very proud. Although [Tang Chunming] was very good looking, he couldn’t even hold onto his man and couldn’t even give birth to a son. He was very proud in this regard, (1) and did not think that Tang Chunming could really do anything earth shattering today.
How could he not be aware of how powerful their grandmother was? When Grandma Zhao rushed forward, he would also fan the flames with a few words from the rear, forcing Tang Chunming to retreat. It would also be best to get rid of the evil spawn in this stomach and then he would no longer have a reason to resist not remarrying. So it was better for Wang Chunhua to allow Grandma Zhao to go outside and yell a few times. He whispered this into Zhao Daniu’s ears, and Zhao Daniu nodded in agreement. His husband was really caring and always took him into consideration.
Zhao Pingchuan worked hard in the study early in the morning. He valued this examination very seriously, and he waited for this opportunity to show off what he had learned for many years.
But at this moment, the constant noise in the courtyard outside the gate made him very annoyed. His mother, well there is really nothing to say, as a mother, he was embarrassed to let his classmates come over. So he would always entertain his classmates in town or in the county.
Zhao Pingchuan threw the book in his hand on the table with a “pop”, got up and strode out, and yelled in the direction of the house where his older brother lived. “What is this noise?” Although his mother is not good, as a son he cannot say anything. Regarding his older brother, he did not have a good temper with him, after all in the future they would depend on him to live.
When Grandma Zhao heard the words, he had been focusing on scolding others, and forgot that his youngest son was still reading a book at home. He quickly put down the needlework in his hands and walked out with a smile. “Pingchuan, it’s all your mother’s fault. Your eldest brother’s ger is a lazy child. Ah-Mei, that bastard, who knows where they went to die. This has affected Pingchuan’s studying, see how I will fix it for you later. Pingchuan, you go back into the house and continue reading. I will go and see who is here, do not mind the noise.”
Ah-Mei is [Zhao Daniu’s oldest child] and a ger. He was usually busy at home and would open the door. But at this time, he had gone to the river to wash the family’s clothes. In regards to their grandson, who knows where he went to play.
“Okay,” said Zhao Pingchuan with a cold face, he was getting impatient with his mother, “Look at [Daniu’s] yard, why is there no noise? I’ll open the door and see who’s making a ruckus.” The chickens and the pigs kept screaming in their pens, which made Zhao Pinchuan feel that he should move to the town. He couldn’t stand this environment, and at a later date, he should ask his mother to rent him another house in town. Better yet, he should just settle down and stay in the county town.
“Good, good, Pingchuan. Mother will make you a meal with delicious foods, look at how thin your body is.” Grandma Zhao distressedly said
Zhao Pingchuan is 17 this year, and originally should be looking at marriage. However, he thinks that he will not be trapped in this countryside village, and sooner or later will escape from this cage. How can be he willing to marry a vulgar country brother like his older brothers? Literate gers, like his older brother’s wife, who is the child of a Tongsheng, was squandered when married to his reckless second brother. He has really wasted his abilities to read and write.
Unexpectedly, when the door was opened, the man who was raising his hand and knocking on the door was the ger who had just flashed in his head. He had a bad face and seemed to really have lost his original education after spending a long time with the second brother. He was now a vulgar country ger, and [Zhao Pinchuan] unhappily said, “What are you doing?”
The newly widowed brother is not at home mourning, but running out in disgrace instead. In Zhao Pingchuan’s view of Tang Chunming, it seems the greater the hope the greater the disappointment. When he was a teenager, Tang Chunming was very much in line with his fantasy of a ger, and at the time he was not pleased with his second brother. He was determined to study hard to one day save Tang Chunming from misery. But he had worked so hard for Tang Chungming, but Tang Chunming gradually faded from the originally different ger to being like the other gers in the countryside, ignorant and irredeemable. Zhao Pingchuan single-mindedly determined that Tang Chunming had failed him, and how much fondness he had before was how much disgust he was now.
On the contrary, Tang Chunming was happy when he saw this person, oi, isn’t this the person he was waiting for, and now he didn’t have to make a bigger fuss to get this man to come out. He pulled his son to his arms and bent his legs, kneeling down firmly. Zhao Pingchuan, Tang Chunrong, and the others who followed were shocked. What is this for?
Tang Chunming grew up in the countryside and his father didn’t have much time to care for him. He would always discipline him with a stick, so he did not see a lot of women’s quarrels in the countryside. However, wasn’t it all just very good acting, even if he didn’t learn how, he could still be able to paint the picture accordingly.
Therefore, Tang Chunming did not take Tang Chunrong’s hand that reached out to pull him up. He cried openly to the confused Zhao Pingchuan, “Uncle, I brought your nephew to beg you today. In these past few years, most of the money Dahu has earned was for your studies. Now that he is gone, please save your poor nephew and I, give us a way to survive. Please tell Grandma not to sell Ah-Lin and I, how much money do you want? I will sell the house and sell the land immediately and give you the money. Even if we have to go out to beg, we do not want to enter this fire pit. Uncle…”
The little Zhao Lin saw his mother crying and suddenly also cried out, “I don’t want to be sold by Grandma. I want to stay with my mother, little uncle, if you want ten silver taels, when Ah-Lin grows up, he will earn it for you, wu wu wu….”
In order to make the play more realistic, Tang Chunming used his brains. He had applied ginger juice on the cuff of his sleeves. The more he cried and wiped his tears, the more the tears dripped like a faucet. He cried while hugging his son and sneaked a glance at Zhao Pingchuan’s face, which was as dark as soot.
Take That! Who let you and your mother bully people. If I don’t kill you today, then my surname is not Tang!
To create the perfect scene, he even contributed his precious Lin’er in order to increase the bitterness of the scene. Son, this is the last time, in the future, mother will not let you be wronged again, I am fake crying but my son is crying for real.
What more, what his son said is really powerful and he definitely stabbed his uncle with a knife!
Wang Ying, who was standing at the back of the crowd, saw this scene and couldn’t keep his mouth closed. He wiped his eyes, but knew he didn’t see it wrong, was this still his stepson? Is it possible that marrying someone can completely transform a person’s temperament? This stepson of his, he was someone that cared about his face the most, it would have been impossible for him to cry shamelessly if he had not changed.
However, when he looked up and saw the look on the third son of the Zhao family, he now understands what his stepson is trying to achieve. This time he has really found the right way. Grandma Zhao knows how to play, but this time his stepson has found how to handle him. If Grandma Zhao doesn’t solve the matter today, the third son of the Zhao family will not be able to keep studying anymore. The most important thing to a scholar is their reputation.
People always like to sympathize with the weak. Moreover, compared with the Zhao family, the mother and son who knelt on the ground and cried together set off their pity. Some people can’t help criticizing the Zhao family and the Zhao family’s youngest son.
“Zhao’s third son, you will be a Xiucai in the future. Though your brother is gone, Brother Ming is your sister-in-law and Lin’er is also your nephew, how can you bear to force them!”
“The Zhao family is a top family in the village, do you have to force a widow and an orphan to pay for the expenses of going to exam? My family would rather not have such a scholar, who has really gone to the dogs.”
“Yes, Grandma Zhao is always showing off his youngest son in the village. Isn’t Zhao Dahu his biological son? Although, Lin’er is a ger, at least he still has the Zhao family’s blood flowing in his body.”
“This is also too cruel. Are they not human?”
…
Zhao Pingchuan raised his eyes and scanned the people gathered around the door. Most of the people’s eyes revealed contempt and despise, and they expressed sympathy and pity for the mother and son who were kneeling on the ground and crying. Suddenly, Zhao Pingchuan’s body shook in anger, at this moment he wanted to strangle Tang Chunming. When did he force them? Wasn’t it always his mother and eldest brother who persecuted him? Really degrading!
&&&
Zhang Xiu rushed to the Village Leader’s house in a breezy manner. The village leader and his wife had the surname Li. Li was a common surname in Pingshan Village and the only ancestral hall in the village also belonged to the Li family. However, many moved due to escaping from the war and Pingshan Village gradually became a mountain village with many surnames. But the surname Li is still the surname of the village and all the village leaders have been from the Li family.
Footnotes:
- He is basically saying that since he can have a son, he is better than Tang Chunming, who wasn’t able to have a son.
Late Night Adventurous Ramblings 
Thanks for the chapter! Nice tactic!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, from Zhao Daniu monoloque, his wife is a woman.
Then please use the correct pronoun not only for her but all of the characters’ gender. Reading this, I thought there’s no woman, only man and ger in this world.
LikeLiked by 1 person