Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 195

There have been too many troubles at home lately, and Zhao Tingxu is having a terrible time. His granddaughter, Zhao Da'e, keeps causing trouble at home every few days. If she weren't currently away from the Zhao family, he would definitely teach this unfilial descendant a lesson.

If only Zhao Da'e were a little more obedient, the Zhao family could live a comfortable life.

The granddaughter threw a tantrum, and now the son is doing it too? It's never going to end. The problem is, Zhao Tiesheng has recently started imitating Zhao Tiegang; he doesn't do anything all day, and there are already few people to do the work at home. Cheng Jinxiang went back to her parents' house, and the family is counting on Zhao Tiesheng to do the work. Now, not only is he not doing any work, but he's also started throwing tantrums? It's outrageous!

And then there's Zhao Tiegang, that good-for-nothing! How much did he drink today to cause trouble?! With the family in this situation, where are we going to get the money to build a house…

The Zhao family had become the laughingstock of the whole village; the young and the old alike were making a scene. This infuriated Zhao Tingxu, the head of the family: "Are you two ever going to stop? I… (omitting several minutes of Zhao Tingxu's cursing)… Putting everything else aside, if I could get you both married, I'd have completed my mission. Zhao Tiesheng, your wife ran away because you were incompetent! What are you making such a fuss about? I just don't understand, even if your wife is right, you can't fight in the market! Can't you talk things out behind closed doors? You're all shameless! Get out of here… I… (omitting several more curses)"

Zhao Tiesheng lowered his head and did not refute his father. His father had been the pillar of the family for many years, and was very authoritative. He had been beaten by his father since childhood, so he rarely refuted his father, at least not openly. But he would still grumble in his heart that it was the family who had ganged up on Cheng Jinxiang and her mother.

Seeing that Zhao Tiesheng did not respond, Zhao Tingxu felt the exhilaration of being the head of the household. See, he spoke differently from Wang Guixiang, at least this rebellious son dared not contradict him.

Of course, Zhao Tingxu didn't intend to let the others off the hook either. He turned around and cursed at Zhao Tiegang, "And you, it's almost New Year's, why don't you hurry up and persuade your wife to come back? If word gets out that your wife is spending the New Year at her parents' house, where will our Zhao family put our face? Aren't you worried? You just stay at home all day like nothing's wrong, you don't cook, you don't do any work, and you drink three times a day. What kind of behavior is this!"

Zhao Tiegang, who had been rebuked, lowered his head, pouted, and couldn't help but mutter, "These things were all done by my second sister-in-law before, how could it be my turn?"

When Zhao Tiesheng saw Zhao Tingxu asking Zhao Tiegang to persuade Cuilan to go home, he felt a little resentful. "Dad, Jinxiang is also your daughter-in-law. Why don't you ask me to persuade Jinxiang to go home? Aren't you being a little too biased?"

Zhao Tingxu stared wide-eyed, snorted coldly, and said, "You have arms and legs, can't you go and call her back yourself? Besides, if she wanted to come back, would she have to go to the street and fight with your mother? I think she's just deliberately looking for trouble! She gave birth to two girls, and she's already got a temper. At worst, let her live at her parents' house for the rest of her life. Anyway, they're girls, and they're not of any use to carrying on the Zhao family line. If it doesn't work, then hurry up and get a divorce..."

Zhao Tiesheng was shocked to hear his father's request. His eyes reddened, whether from anger or something else, and he angrily shouted at Zhao Tingxu, "Dad, what kind of nonsense are you talking about? How can you advise me to divorce Jinxiang? Do you hate Jinxiang that much? Jinxiang has taken care of you wholeheartedly all these years. She does every single chore in the house. Even the clothes you're wearing were bought for you by Jinxiang in town. What did she do wrong that makes you so dissatisfied with her?"

Zhao Tiesheng was disappointed in his family. Cheng Jinxiang was his wife, and Zhao Dage was his daughter, but his family didn't respect his wife's daughter. This was the first time he had been so assertive: "Besides, do you and Mom have no problems at all? You two are old and senile, aren't you? You've squandered all our savings. If we hadn't lost that money, and the new house had been built, which of your daughters-in-law would have run away? Isn't it all because of you and Mom? We're almost ruined!"

Seeing her son siding with Cheng Jinxiang again, Wang Guixiang was even more furious. She yelled at Zhao Tiesheng, "Tiesheng, how dare you side with your father! You've never argued with your father before, but today you're not only arguing with me but also with your father for that damned woman Cheng Jinxiang! Have you taken the wrong medicine today?!"

Zhao Tingxu slapped Zhao Tiesheng across the face without hesitation, yelling, "You've gone too far! Get out of here! I don't want to see you right now!"

This is outrageous! How dare Zhao Tiesheng speak to me like that?

Wang Guixiang showed no pity whatsoever. Instead, she kept nagging, "Your mother was bullied in front of outsiders, and instead of speaking up for me, you kept siding with that damned woman. You're such a traitor, a complete ingrate. I should never have given birth to you. You're useless."

Zhao Tiegang felt a chill run down his spine. He thought his mother and father had been too harsh on his second brother today.

Zhao Tiesheng was stunned. Looking at his mother and father pressing him relentlessly, he felt exhausted and wronged. No matter what he said, he would be scolded and refuted. But he was also very wronged. What did he say wrong?

Cheng Jinxiang has been busy taking care of things in the Zhao family for the past few years. To outsiders, she is a well-regarded good daughter-in-law, but she is being slandered by her father and mother, who even try to persuade her to get a divorce. Even her daughter is being scolded along with her.

Seeing his father and mother speak ill of his loved ones like this, he felt incredibly wronged and shouted angrily at Zhao Tingxu, "Enough! I don't think you're upset about Jinxiang, you're upset about me! You've always spoiled my older brother and younger siblings, but I, the second oldest, receive the least attention from you. Why, Dad? I'm your child too, but why do you always ignore me? It's one thing if you treat me badly, I'm your son, so I can hit you or scold you, it's fine. But you say I'm useless? If my husband and I didn't work, you kids would have starved to death long ago!"

Zhao Tingxu's eyes widened. He never expected that his unfilial son would contradict him like that. He was so angry that he wanted to slap him again, and then he did.

"It's against you!"

A crisp slap rang out, leaving Zhao Tiesheng with a handprint on each cheek. Zhao Tingxu angrily rebuked, "Isn't it your duty to work? Your mother and I have lived for over sixty years, and you've been supporting us all this time? This yard is mine, and what property wasn't built by me?!"

Zhao Tiesheng was stunned: Family business? What family business? The Zhao family is almost bankrupt. His wife gave birth and they can't even afford eggs. What family business?

"Dad, you're sixty years old, what have you saved up? Both of your daughters-in-law are so poor they've run off to their parents' homes and won't come back?"

Zhao Tingxu couldn't take it anymore and slapped him again, yelling, "Get out! Get out of here! I don't want to see you again!"

Zhao Tiesheng was slapped three times, feeling even more aggrieved and exhausted. He realized that no matter what he said, he couldn't get through to her. Only then did he realize how difficult Jinxiang's life had been before. Her father-in-law disliked her, her mother-in-law was in a difficult position, and even her resistance was so powerless, while he himself had acted as if nothing had happened.

Only when he experienced Jinxiang's situation firsthand did he understand her, why she was so angry that she went back to her parents' home, why she was disappointed in him, and why she didn't want to see him.

Faced with parents who were impossible to reason with, Zhao Tiesheng simply left without saying another word.

Wang Guixiang, seeing this, grumbled in dissatisfaction, "This is outrageous! Has he lost his mind? He's married and his wife can't even control him, and you blame his parents..."

Zhao Tiegang, standing nearby, fanned the flames, saying, "Dad, Mom, I don't think Second Brother cares about you at all. He dared to talk back to you like that today; who knows, he might dare to hit you tomorrow. I think it's better to separate the family sooner rather than later and kick Second Brother out to fend for himself. By the way, Dad, when are you going to build a new house for me and Cuilan? Your grandson will grow up eventually and should have his own room. Sigh, when we separate the family, I think we should demolish the storage shed that Second Brother is living in now and rebuild a tiled house. That way, we'll have an extra room. That would be perfect!"

Even Wang Guixiang chimed in, "Tie Gang is right. It would be better to allocate housing sooner. Anyway, Tie Sheng is no longer on our side and is not someone we can rely on. We'll have to depend on Tie Gang to support us in the future, so we should make plans for Tie Gang as soon as possible."

Hearing this made Tie Gang very happy; he knew Wang Guixiang would speak up for him.

Zhao Tingxu was extremely irritable, and hearing Zhao Tiegang mention dividing the family property only made him more agitated. He retorted to Zhao Tiegang, "Dividing the family property? Is dividing the family property all you can think about? I'm not even dead yet, and you're already thinking about all this. Are you trying to drive me crazy? If I hear you mention dividing the family property again, I'll slap you too!"

Not content with scolding Zhao Tiegang, Zhao Tingxu then went on to scold Wang Guixiang, "And you, you've lived such a long life in vain, and you still get bullied by outsiders. I think you're quite useless, you can't even control your own daughter-in-law."

After finishing his rant, Zhao Tingxu couldn't help but add, "All of you are just making a scene! If you keep this up for a few more days, this family will fall apart!"

After venting his anger, Zhao Tingxu left; he was very troubled.

Zhao Tiegang, who was inexplicably scolded, was full of questions. "Mom, what's wrong with Dad? It's one thing to scold my second brother, but why is he scolding me too?"

Wang Guixiang's face was also unpleasant. She thought that Zhao Tiesheng had come back to ask his son to stand up for her, but unexpectedly, Zhao Tiesheng not only did not speak up for her, but also kept saying that it was her fault and that she had offended Cheng Jinxiang.

Wang Guixiang was furious with Zhao Tiesheng, but he was still her son, so she vented all her anger on Cheng Jinxiang, saying, "It's all that damned woman's fault. It's all because of her that our Zhao family is having such a hard time."

……

...

Late night

Zhao Tiesheng tossed and turned in the warehouse, unable to sleep.

After a while, Zhao Tiesheng got up again. He put on his cotton-padded coat, opened the door, walked to the center of the courtyard, looked outside the door, and then looked at the room where Zhao Tingxu lived, which was pitch black.

The night was eerily quiet.

Zhao Tiesheng is a somewhat timid person. He had a few words with Wang Guixiang today, and he was really upset.

His wife, Cheng Jinxiang, had been visiting her parents for a long time, and Zhao Da'e didn't pay much attention to him. As for his second daughter, Zhao Tiesheng hadn't seen her for a very long time since she was born. She was his daughter, but he couldn't see her.

Is having a son really that important?

Zhao Tiesheng was somewhat confused.

I felt a kind of inexplicable depression.

He took a bucket and a carrying pole, went outside to the well, and drew two buckets of water.

The village had a communal well, and individual households also had their own, or they could use the village's well. In those days, there were no water pumps, but the wells weren't very deep; you could draw water simply by putting down a carrying pole.

However, Zhao Tiesheng didn't dare to go to the backyard to fetch water, since Zhao Da'e had fenced off that area, and going to the backyard would inevitably wake up Zhao Tingxu and Wang Guixiang.

Then, those two will probably have something to do again.

It's said that a son shouldn't dislike his mother. Just as a mother shouldn't dislike her son for being ugly, a son shouldn't dislike his mother for being too controlling. However, Zhao Tiesheng still felt that Wang Guixiang was not only controlling but also unfair.

The third son's wife does nothing, which is fine.

Even though her sister-in-law didn't come to the old house, Wang Guixiang didn't seem to have any complaints. Moreover, not only did her sister-in-law not come, she also forbade her brother Zhao Tiebao from coming, and Wang Guixiang didn't dare to have any objections.

Wang Guixiang only dared to have opinions about Cheng Jinxiang.

First, Cheng Jinxiang was weak-willed; second, Zhao Tiesheng himself might not have been assertive.

Filial piety is one aspect, but blind obedience is probably the more realistic one.

Zhao Tiesheng was in a turmoil, so he fetched some water and went home.

He entered the courtyard step by step, then took a rag, wet it, and began to wipe and wash the house.

A moment later, the light in Wang Guixiang's room came on, and she scolded, "Second brother, what are you doing in the middle of the night?"

Zhao Tiesheng snapped, "It's almost Chinese New Year, what's wrong with me tidying up the house?"

Zhao Tiesheng continued wiping the house.

What's the point of cleaning this room?

Mud wall, land.

If you move it, it gets covered in dust.

It's those black and white photos from our wedding that hang in the room; they're good to wipe clean.

Zhao Tiesheng held that photo in his hands.

The photograph was framed in a wooden frame and inlaid with glass.

The place was covered in cobwebs and dust, so Zhao Tiesheng wiped it clean. Then, feeling it wasn't quite right, and with a pang of regret, he took some tissues, dampened them with alcohol, and wiped it again.

Cheng Jinxiang in the photo was very young, only twenty years old at the time, with braids.

It's only been a few years, but she looks so old. Her face is covered in wrinkles.

Zhao Tiesheng sighed, somewhat annoyed, and threw the basin, along with the water, directly outside the house.

Clang.

The iron basin clattered as it was smashed.

The lights in the old house came on again.

Wang Guixiang banged on the window, cursing, "Second brother, what's wrong with you? Can't you live anymore? Why are you making such a racket in the middle of the night?"

Zhao Tiesheng remained silent.

Zhao Tingxu also got up, lit a cigarette, and started smoking.

Plop plop.

After wiping these, Zhao Tiesheng went to wipe the kang mat.

The kang mat was made of sorghum or fine rice, which is a kind of soft wood. Like bamboo leaves in the south, it was still very popular in the north at that time.

After wiping twice, Zhao Tiesheng threw the rag away, pulled the covers over his head, and went to sleep.

Before going to sleep, he said to the old house, "Mom, just wait and see if my third brother and I will both remain bachelors."