Considering that only Cuihua, Cuiju, and Cuilian grew up in the village, only these three were allowed to take turns keeping vigil. The other sisters did not go, and even on the day of the burial, Tang Cuihua did not allow them to go. Although they had lived in the village for so long, their relationship with the villagers was only that of nodding acquaintances. As for their own family, they were even less close, only disliking each other and having no feelings for each other at all.
So early on the day of the burial, when the eldest and second aunts were scolding the other sisters for being insensible, Tang Cuihua retorted without hesitation.
"My grandmother threw them away back then, which caused some of them to become deaf, blind, or even have difficulty walking. We went through a lot of trouble to find these girls. They have never drunk a drop of water or eaten a meal from your Tang family, and they have no debt of gratitude for raising them. What does it matter if they come or not? The three of us are enough."
Cuiju, unable to contain her anger, retorted, "Stop criticizing them! I haven't seen any of my cousins come to keep vigil these past few days. They don't even know what keeping vigil means, so why are they demanding things from their own granddaughters who never ate your food and were thrown out by you? Why is your focus always so bizarre? As a daughter-in-law, did you keep vigil yourself? Look at your clothes! Today is my grandfather's funeral, and what are you wearing underneath? Red! You did this on purpose, didn't you, Second Aunt?"
Over the years at the factory, Cuilian's personality has become much tougher. While she appears to be mediating a fight, she doesn't forget to subtly criticize her father, uncle, and aunt.
“It’s normal that my stepmother didn’t come. After all, she’s the one who came later in the family, unlike you first-marriage couples. My uncle and my father at least ran around taking care of things. My younger brothers and sisters didn’t stay by her side all the time, but at least they came to visit. What about my aunt, second aunt, and you? Oh right, and my eldest aunt, it seems like you haven’t shown up at all.”
As they were talking, Tang Youtian walked in from nowhere and started scolding Tang Cuilian.
"Don't talk nonsense. Your aunt is staying with your grandma, and so is your eldest cousin."
Tang Cuilian chuckled, "If it weren't for their family, my grandfather wouldn't have died. And they still have the nerve to cry in front of the old lady. They're disgusting!"
"Cuilian, shut up! How dare you, a junior, say such things?" Tang Youtian glared at his ignorant daughter, utterly disapproving.
Cuihua also looked coldly at her father, "Why didn't you come out when they burned down our house? But when everyone was questioning them, you stood up and spoke well of them. What is your relationship with them? You've been working like a slave for so many years, and now you, their own father, are standing in front of them? Let me ask you, why didn't you ask where we've been living and how we've survived all this time? In this freezing weather, did you even ask us once, Tang Youtian?"
Tang Youtian knew he was in the wrong and was a little breathless. He felt embarrassed after being scolded by his daughter, but when he heard his daughter call him by his name, he became furious.
"You, Tang Cuihua, is this your upbringing? How dare you call me by my name? Is it appropriate for your children to call me by my name? You're all standing here peacefully, which proves you've been doing well these past few days. Why do I need to ask you any further? What is my relationship with them? That's my brother, that's my sister-in-law, nephew, and niece. Shouldn't I speak up for them?"
"Fairness? What is fairness? Are they fair? Bah, are you blind? They're murderers? First they burned down our houses, stole our food and money, and now they've found a body in their own latrine. Such scoundrels, and you're related to them and want to protect them? What about us? What are we?"
Just as Cuihua was indignantly accusing Tang Youtian, the onlookers around her began to whisper among themselves.
Tang Youtian felt embarrassed and raised his hand to slap Cuihua, but Cuiju, who was quick-witted and agile, stopped his arm.
She glanced at her father with a cold smile, "What, you want to exercise your rights as a father in front of everyone? Have you ever thought about whether you've fulfilled your responsibilities as a father? How do you think we knew Grandpa was gone? It wasn't someone else who told us. Because we moved out, no one we knew informed us. It was when the police sent people to ask us to come back to investigate those two murderers that we learned from them that Grandpa had died of anger. Don't worry, they will definitely take responsibility for their stupidity."
As she spoke, she abruptly shook off Tang Youtian's hand. The three sisters exchanged a glance, then knelt before the old man's spirit in mourning clothes and solemnly kowtowed three times.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, your granddaughter can't be here to see you off. The three of us have kept vigil for you for two days and two nights. You will be buried this afternoon, but we can't stay here any longer. We'll kowtow here to see you off. May you have a safe journey. No matter how far we go in the future, we will always offer incense before your coffin, just to remember how much you loved us. Although you had many grandchildren, the love you gave us was really insignificant. But compared to my grandma, these aunts, uncles, and even our own parents, you were already very good. May you have a safe journey!"
After saying this, Cuihua cried a few times with her two younger sisters, conveying her meaning clearly. Then, she turned around decisively, ignoring the villagers' advice, and resolutely left the scene. Before leaving, she glanced at the east room of the main hall and raised her voice intentionally or unintentionally.
"From this day forward, we sever all ties with the Tang family, and we will never return!"
Even if your old lady dies, she won't come back to see you.
The villagers watched the sisters' retreating figures and sighed deeply.
"Sigh, of all the Tang family members, only these few daughters are sensible and know how to get along with people. What a pity!"
"That's right. It's a good thing that the old lady wasn't here, and that guy from Tang Youjin's family is also a real pain in the neck. If they heard these words, who knows what kind of trouble they would cause. Just watch, Tang Youtian will regret it sooner or later. I'm telling you right now, he won't have a good ending!"
"Hey, do you guys think Tang Youjin and his son might actually kill someone out of desperation? They even dared to burn down and steal from their own niece's house, what wouldn't they dare to do?"
"That can't be right, can it? If they really killed them, how could they dare to leave them at their own thatched hut? They would definitely have dumped them at someone else's house."
"Are you stupid? This is the only way to avoid suspicion. What's it called again? It's the opposite of what normal people think. They're short of money and food, and they even abandoned their pregnant daughter, have you forgotten? If they were to rob someone on the street, it wouldn't be impossible. Given their family's character, when the police come to investigate, ask around, does anyone have a good word to say about them? I think this time, they're probably not getting out of here!"
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