Chapter 26 Shameless

Wang Chunhua was so angry that his body was shaking. When has he ever been so humiliated in front of Tang Chunming?  he said bitterly: “ Yes, I am not as good as my brother now. They are wild men coming to help at your fingertips I really should not have underestimated your ambition.”

“Looking at your enticing face. You have completely embarrassed the Zhao family! All of you think it’s a joking matter, guard your men well, or what if they are seduced one day, there’s no place to cry!” 

These words have touched the hearts of some of the gers, especially those who are from the family of the men who came to grab food from Yu Mu and others in the past two days. The expressions on their faces toward Tang Chunming are not correct. Among everyone working in the fields who has such a good face as Tang Chunming?

Now they suddenly realize that in the past few months since Zhao Dahu’s death, Tang Chumming’s life has not been difficult, but has become more and more comfortable. Li Feng didn’t even think of helping his relatives with the planting but came to the geer’s house, it looked okay but they couldn’t bring themselves to believe it.

Some older gers in the village have been scorning Brother Ming’s actions from the beginning. They did not sympathize with Brother Ming’s experience but only said that Brother Ming was brave enough to dare go against old Zhao.

Living separately is not very appealing to them, but Brother Ming’s act of picking on the young men in the village is very disrespectful to the elders and mothers, and what if kids learn from such a bad example? How will they be perceived in the future?

Moreover, after the husband died,  his life became more prosperous. This is unrivaled, in the eyes of the older mothers, they will not think about whether the man in the past treated him badly, but will only think that he is shameless.

A widow who has forgotten about his husband so quickly, who would dare ask for such a ger?

Now they could voice out what they were thinking, and several people murmured in low voices, when Wang Chunhua heard them, he became more jealous and secretly Proud at the same time he just wanted to tear Tang Chunming’s stinky face into pieces, and make him disreputable in the whole village.

“Waa…” Old Zhao who had been standing motionless and staring at Tang Chunming with sinister eyes suddenly sat on the ground when no one expected it and burst out howling so loudly with a hoarse voice, he looked so sad and miserable.

“Dahu, Why did you go and leave this poor mother behind? look at your wife who is seducing people and has forgotten which family he belongs to in the  blink of an eye he has ruined the reputation of our Zhao family, Dahu…”

 He suddenly beat his chest rolled his eyes and fell backwards. Tang Chunming was paying attention to Madam Zhao. With Such sinister looks in her eyes, how could he be happy letting him go?

When he burst out, Tang Chunming breathed a sigh of relief and quietly watched him finish his allegation. Having experienced it once, he knew what kind of tricks old Zhao was playing. Looking at this scene the eyes of some older people looking at him became unpleasant. But he was not afraid of improvising, he, Tang Chunming was also good at it.

Back then when schooling, he also coaxed many teachers by pretending to be sick.

“Ah… my stomach hurts so much, ah…” Tang Chunming cried out while holding his stomach. Zhang Xiu and Da Mao, who had been shocked by old Zhao’s sudden outburst, were even more frightened now.

Zhang Xiu nervously turned around and grabbed Tang Chunming, asking anxiously: “Brother Ming, what’s going on? Dashan, hurry up, call Hu Langzhong, Brother Ming is not feeling well!”

Tang Chunming screamed while secretly squeezing Zhang Xiu’s hand looking at Zhang Xiu who was anxious. Only then did Zhang Xiu realize Brother Ming was acting and couldn’t help but want to laugh angrily, his heart was beating fast but he still cooperated with him on the show.

Old Zhao is despicable and this is the only way to deal with such a shameless old man.

Li Dashan ran quickly to the village. Li Feng stuffed Ah-Lin who was worried about his mother into Yu Mu’s arms and ran toward Tang Chunming. Zhang Xiu followed Tang Chumming’s ishes and cried loudly:

 “ Zhao family, what has Brother Ming done to you that you want to push him to his death? The child in his belly is he not the flesh and blood of the Zhao Family? Which of you has cared for him after Dahu left? Have you ever visited the house and given him a bite of food?”

 “Now you care about the reputation of the Zhao Family and Zhao Dahu, who was it that forced Brother Ming to remarry in the first place? What do you think about the reputation of the Zhao family? When you need it you use it to force Brother Ming when you don’t need it, you throw it aside, are you only willing to let go after Brother Ming, and the child in his belly dies in front of you?”

“Look, Brother Ming only has a few acres of land left by Dahu. But now that he is pregnant, how can he work in the fields by himself with a child as young as Ah-Lin?” Those who land a helping hand to this orphan and widowed are still gossiped about, have you all forgotten what happened to Dallian back then?”

Li Feng ran over and took Tang Chunming directly from Zhang Xiu. Before Zhang Xiu could react, he took him over and laid him flat on the ground. Seeing Li Feng half-kneeling on the ground and feeling his pulse, Zhang Xiu was stunned for a moment.

He blinked, what was the reason for his tension and did Li Feng know medical skills?

“Mom, Ah-Lin protects Mom and younger brother. Both Uncle and Grandma are bad people. Waa…”

Zhao Lin was so frightened that he forgot his promise of not speaking ill of Unle and Grandma. In his opinion, they were the ones who caused harm to his Mother and he struggled to reach out to his Mother from Yu Mu’s arms.

After Yu Mu put him down Ah-Lin rushed to his mother’s arms. He used his little arms to help his mother feel comfortable. Tang Chunming hugged Ah-Lin in his arms and whispered in his ear, Ah-Lin’s crying turned into whimper. Li Feng who was taking Tang Chumming’s pulse, also noticed this scene, his dark eyes had faint light but his face remained calm

Those who had sympathized with old Zhao just now were speechless when faced with Zhang Xiu’s questioning, some people blamed Wang Chunhua, seeing him stupidly standing aside, they gave him a shove:

“ Why don’t you hurry up and help your Grandma up, are just you going to let him lie on the ground like this? You are greedy for other people’s meat and drag your Grandma in it, not letting him live a peaceful life.”

“I… He…” Wang Chunhua was so angry that his chest heaving. Old Zhao had played so many tricks before, he didn’t believe that he had passed out. He was just trying to take advantage of Tang Chunming by pretending, he didn’t care whether the reputation of the Zhao family plummeted all that the old Zhao cared about was his third son.

Li Dashan carried Hu Langzhong on his back, explaining the situation to him along the way, they came together with Li Zheng’s family whom they had met on the way. Li Zheng’s family has a lot of land, and the two sons have come back from the county to help. However, they are not as proficient as those who have been doing farm work for many years.

So during the busy farming season, Li Zheng’s family will hire a few people to help. Shen Fulang went to the fields to deliver food asking his two sons to eat and go back and have rest. After all, he felt sorry for his two sons, on his way he saw Dashan hurriedly carrying Hu Langzhong on his back and anxiously asked.

Upon learning that something had happened to Brother Ming and it was due to Old Zhao and Wang Chunming causing trouble again he became angry and called his husband Li Zheng to follow him. The two sons were also curious about what had happened. Li Zheng and Shen Fulang told them not to get close to Zhao Laosan in the future and just be acquaintances.

The two brothers glanced at each other behind their parent’s backs and decided to tag along and have a look.

“Okay, put me down quickly, I’m bloated making me feel uneasy.” Hu Langzhong said angrily, blowing his beard. Li Dashan then put him down with a sneer, following him carefully. Although Hu Langzhong sometimes had a bad temper, he is a sharp-tongued man with a soft heart, and his medical skills are not worse than those of the doctors in town.

After Hu Langzhong got to the ground, he walked towards Tang Chunming ignoring the voices asking him to check on old Zhao first. As he walked he complained:

“Didn’t I tell you not to get angry anymore? Why don’t you care about your own body, for the child in your belly?”

Perhaps what doctors can’t tolerate the most is when the patient doesn’t seriously take care of his body. So no matter how much medicine he prescribes, it will be a waste. “What’s the issue? I’ll check both of you one by one, as a doctor I’ll have to know which of these two people’s situations is more important?” he turned around and shouted at Wang Chunhua.

Some people can’t help suspecting that Old Zhao’s condition is not fake. Pretending to be sick is a common tactic used by some elderly people to manipulate younger people. Some people still remember the contents of Tang Chunming’s account book, it’s recorded that Old Zhao often got sick and asked Zhao Dahu for money for his medication, but who knew what the truth was?

Given that Old Zhao’s face has now become thinner, they are worried that he might be sick. Hu Langzhong’s words made them suspicious, some of them took a few steps back and decided not to intervene.

Tang Chunming gritted his teeth and stretched out his wrist, well he could only hope Hu Langzhong would sympathize with him and not expose his pretense.

Zhang Xiu was also a little anxious at the side and said: “ Hu Langzhong, Brother Ming was so angry right now that he had a stomachache. Is there something wrong with his recuperating body? Aiya, my fellow villagers can’t see that Brother Ming is overwhelmed, how can some people be so cruel? They don’t want to let Brother Ming recover, are they trying to force people to death?”

He told Hu Langzhong in a roundabout manner about Brother Ming’s situation and difficulties hoping he would help Brother Ming.

“There are some elders who are not can’t bear to see the younger generation live happy for a few days. They have to torment people to the breaking point.” 

Shen Fulang who came over stood beside Tang Chunming and accused Old Zhao. Since Hu Langzhong wasn’t in a hurry to see Old Zhao it meant that his situation was not serious.

“And you, Wang Chunhua, instead of working hard in the fields, why are you looking for trouble all the time? It wasn’t you who made the trouble in the first place and took back the land intending to cut all ties with Brother Ming, and now you are accusing him of not fulfilling filial piety? How dare you a ger ask for meat from a fellow ger who has no backer? How thick-skinned are you!”

Shen Fulang scolded Wang Chunhua unceremoniously. As an upright person, he was straightforward and had a certain status in the village. When Wang Chunhua tried refuting Shen Fulang continued scolding:

“I have never seen you helping Ming Geer in any way, the child in his belly is also the blood of the Zhao family, if you don’t help him farm the land you still say that those helping him are hooking up with him? Then my big mule was lent to Brother Ming does that mean my family is also involved?”

Some people burst into laughter when someone went to borrow the mule, they were told straight out rejected and told to wait until Brother Ming was done plowing first. Turning around he saw Li Zheng’s face was dark and gloomy, Shen Fulang didn’t have any scruples about what he said but his husband was getting irritated.

Even his two sons looked at their father’s face and suppressed a smile, their mother’s combat effectiveness had not weakened at all.

“ Brother, have you seen it Grandma Zhao’s face is rolling.”

The second son of the Li family whispered to his eldest brother. Having been ignored by Hu Langzhong, old Zhao had no choice but to continue lying down, but flaws could be detected in his pretense.

Although the second son of the Li family talked in a low voice, everyone nearby still heard it. The eldest son glared at him and asked: “You are not a doctor, how do you know what it is like to faint? Maybe that’s how it is supposed to look.”

Oh, this brother is so cunning. Tang Chunming perked up his ears, and almost couldn’t help laughing when he heard the conversation between the two brothers, but held it in. He had a vague impression of them, but after listening to their words, he knew they were completely scholars different from Zhao Laosan, and didn’t put on airs.

Hu Langzhong angrily stared at Tang Chunming and explained a lot to the people next to him. In short, Brother Ming had fetal gas again and needed to rest. He couldn’t get tired, and his anger today caused the recovery for the past few days to be wasted, this must not be done in the future.

Tang Chunming smiled gratefully at Hu Langzhong: “Thank you Hu Langzhong, I will pay attention and try not to let other people’s words affect me.”

Hu Langzhong is a very interesting little old man, thinking about how he met him when he first came to this world, it was so embarrassing he was so scared that he fainted at the sight of the needle, he had held.

Hu Langzhong hummed with his arms behind his back and walked toward old Zhao. The bystanders looked at him, itching to know whether old Zhao’s illness was real or he was faking it. Hu Langzhong took his pulse and lifted his eyelids.

Zhao Daniu, who was standing by the side rubbed his hand and stepped forward asking: “Is mom okay? How come such a healthy person suddenly…”

“Yes, how can a healthy person pass out all of a sudden? I have been practicing medicine for many years and I still can’t figure out. What if I give him a few injections with a needle to see if I can resuscitate him”

Hu Langzhong pretended to be contemplating, he then opened the box he carried with him, took out a row of needles, specially selected the longest and thickest one, and made a few gestures in front of Old Zhao, as if he couldn’t decide where to poke.

Zhao Daniu was scared, he didn’t know whether to stop him or wake up his mother: “Hu Langzhong, do you need such a large needle? How about changing to a smaller one? You must be careful, my mother is old and can’t bear it…”

Before he finished speaking Old Zhao suddenly opened his eyes and saw that such a needle was about to prick him. However, he did not faint but got up from the ground and hid behind Zhao Daniu.

Hu Langzhong sneered and did not force himself to poke him with a needle. He put the needle away and said to old Zhao: “ When you become older, you should control your temperament. Although it is fine this time it will cause quiescence in the mind and body if it is like this for a long time”

He then took a medicine box and looked at Dashan: “ Li Dashnan, send me back and bring Brother Mings anti-fetal medicine by the way”

“Hey, here I come.” Li Dashan obediently walked over and squatted in front of him. He Langzhong hopped on his back and waved to everyone.

After Hu Langzhong left, some people laughed and others murmured, the situation was very clear one was prescribed medicine and the other was not. You could tell the one sick and the one faking it.

Old Zhao was told to relax and and not get depressed, which affirmed that she still wasn’t reconciled with what she had done before and Brother Ming was angered by her.

The third Uncle also came over after learning about the situation from others. He pointed at Old Zhao, he had told her to avoid confronting Brother Ming in the future, but he didn’t listen. They caused a ruckus again embarrassing himself and Losing face for the Zhao family, didn’t he see that Brother Ming was no longer as docile as before and couldn’t be controlled? And gained nothing twice?

Old Zhao also realized that there was no need to continue making a fuss, so he lowered his head because he could act barbarously in front of others but wouldn’t dare in front of his third uncle.

“You… how many times should I tell you?” the third Uncle trembled with anger, “Didn’t you ask Brother Ming to remarry? Since he had already cut ties with the family what do you care about our family’s reputation? Let me tell you, Brother Ming is just raising the flesh and blood of the Zhao family whether he remarries or remains Dahu’s widow doesn’t concern the Zhao family, don’t let me hear you meddle in Brother Ming’s affairs again!”

In other words, if anything happens to Brother Ming in the future, it will have nothing to do with the Zhao family. Even if he is talked about for having a bad reputation, it shouldn’t matter to the Zhao family. The previous matter has not died down yet and these two people can’t see the bigger picture. 

After Zhao Laosan passes the exam, they’ll surely make Tang Chunming suffer for losing the Zhao family’s reputation.

“You should also stop being immodest in front of your Grandma, why don’t you help your grandma back quickly? Do you think the humiliation caused is not enough?”

He yelled at Wang Chunhua and finally said to Zhao Daniu: “Take good care of your mother and the fields as well, you are the eldest son of the family in the past, it was Dahu who carried all the responsibility.”

“Yes, third Uncle I understand and will do a good job.” Zhao Daniu nodded with a red face and hurriedly help Old Zhao and Wang Chunhua home.

“Okay, let’s all get busy in the fields. Brother Ming, you also know your grandma’s temperament, for the sake of his old age don’t quarrel with him, after all, he is the grandma of your two kids.”

Tang Chunming realized that Wang Chunhua and Old Zhao weren’t as scheming as the third uncle who relied on his prestige and old age. What made him unhappy and uncomfortable was the disdain for himself in his words, and it was as if he was afraid entangling with him was simply degrading.

Others didn’t understand but Li Feng understood it just like Tang Chunming. This was using his status to pressure Tang Chunming, Li Feng couldn’t help clenching his fists. Although the third uncle of the Zhao family was kind on the surface, he detested Brother Ming, and Li Zheng was also aware of that.

The third uncle had a strong opinion of Brother Ming, thinking that he was ruining the reputation of the Zhao family. He was not aware that the roots of the Zhao were rotten to the core and it didn’t need others to ruin it. 

Li Zheng clenched his fist in his mouth and coughed lightly intending to speak, but Tang Chunming stood up holding Zhang Xiu’s hand, and stared straight at the third uncle with a smile, he said:

“Third uncle, I understand what you said, I’m also well aware of Grandma’s temperament, so sometimes if I give up I’m afraid there will be no way for us, mother and son to survive. But don’t worry third uncle as long as they don’t trouble me I also won’t bother. How can I have so much free time? The yearly taxes are enough to cause me a headache, third uncle don’t you think so?”

Li Zheng coughed again, he had underestimated Brother Ming, Brother Ming also saw the attitude of the third uncle of the Zhao Family clearly, this was fine.

The third uncle thought that Brother Ming would stick to the Zhao family again because of the land title deeds, but it seems that Brother Ming will not come to the Zhao family even if he is dead.

The third uncle was annoyed at Tang Chunming for being unreasonable and not respecting the elders, he waved his sleeves and said: “You asked for it yourself, an old man like me is just trying to persuade you, how will you take care of the two children in the future.” He came angrily and left angrily.

Tang Chunming curled his lips. Even if he couldn’t survive, he would rather take his children and remarry than go back to the Zhao family.