Because of this incident, Tang Cuimei made a special detour to the town. When her eldest and second eldest sisters found out that her sixth brother also knew about it, they were so excited that they burst into tears.
"That's great, that's great! How is she doing? Do you see her? Is there anything wrong with her?"
Because of the fourth sister, the eldest sister was very worried that the remaining sisters also had hidden illnesses, and Tang Cuimei naturally understood her meaning.
She shook her head. "We only exchanged a few words. I can't see anything wrong with her. As for her personality, well, she's quite guarded. I don't know if she trusts me. But that family isn't good to her. You can imagine, sister. Of all the sisters we've sent away, how many of them have had a good life?"
Tang Cuimei was unaware that Tang Xiaojiu was their family's Xiao Jiu, so she naturally didn't know that she had ever had a good relationship with her, but she was probably the only one.
The eldest and second eldest brothers were overjoyed when they heard that the sixth brother might come to town to look for them.
But when Tang Cuimei's plight was mentioned, the two sisters became very worried, and unexpectedly, the fifth brother comforted them instead.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Not to mention that Cui Fangfang's uncle has been arrested, even if he hadn't, he couldn't do anything to me. I'll rest here for half a day and won't go home. I have to go back to school for evening self-study tonight. I need to tell the principal about this first. This Cui Fangfang is simply ruining her future. She married into such a family, and she deserves to end up like this."
Tang Cuimei had long known that there were many immoral things happening in the countryside, especially when the husbands went out to work and the women stayed home to take care of the family. Anything could happen in those situations. Incest was commonplace in the countryside, and there were even cases of siblings having children together, which was utterly devastating.
Of course, she wasn't discriminating against rural people, but in a village, any little thing that happens in someone's home can be heard for miles around.
There are naturally such people in the city, but neighbors live their own lives behind closed doors. The city is so big, and there are so many migrant workers. In comparison, there is no situation in the countryside where every household knows each other. Even if there are rumors, they are only talked about by the old men and women behind their backs. Young people are too busy to have time to gossip.
Cui Mei slept until three or four in the afternoon, ate a quick meal, and hurried back to school.
The eldest and second eldest sons had already gone to work in the fields.
Although it's cold and there's not much work to do in the fields, the sweet potatoes have just been harvested, and they're always worried that some might have been missed. So, the two of them go to the sweet potato field every day to check on the sweet potatoes. They even go to check on other people's harvested fields. Sure enough, they can bring back five or six pounds every day. Although some of them are broken, they can still be eaten after washing.
Huang Dou is a very proactive person. She is worried that if this matter is exposed one day, she will no longer be of any use.
After seeing Tang Cuimei off, she went to the village chief's house. Cui Fangfang's attitude was very bad, but she didn't care.
"I want to see my aunt, say a few words to her, and then leave immediately."
"My mother is resting. Whatever you need, let's talk about it tomorrow."
Cui Fangfang still had marks on her face from being hit, and her tone was very bad. Especially since the person in front of her had lost her luggage, she didn't kick him out directly. Even though she had learned her lesson today, she didn't dare to be too arrogant.
The harsh words that the aunt left behind frightened the mother and daughter. Although she didn't know what her mother was afraid of or why her father looked so grim, she knew that when everyone in the family was in a bad mood, silence was the best way to deal with it.
But she didn't expect that her mother, who had gone back to her room to rest, would hear the noise and let Huang Douzi into the room.
Cui Fangfang wanted to go in too, but Huang Dou stopped her: "I think you'd better go outside and wait."
Helpless, Cui Fangfang glared at Huang Dou and, at her mother's signal, closed the door, but still lingered outside, unwilling to give up.
Huang Dou knew she hadn't left, so he simply opened the door, gestured for her to go away with his eyes, and left the door open to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.
In the blink of an eye, she saw Cui's mother leaning wearily against the bed, and she could only find her actions amusing.
"Speak, what do you want to talk to me about? Have you come to your senses and want to return the blankets to us?"
“Auntie, I’ll say it a hundred times, it’s still the same thing: I didn’t take it, so let’s leave it at that. I’m here to make a deal with you. It all started that night when I was starving and wandered into a cornfield. While I was stealing some corn, well, I heard some things I shouldn’t have heard…”
Surprisingly, Cui's mother didn't stop her from continuing. Instead, her eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at her. The girl, being sensible, didn't continue.
What do you want to do?
“I just want to leave the Huang family. You know I’m not part of that family, and I’m too old to stay any longer. I need the village chief to give me a relocation permit. Where I go in the future will have nothing to do with them. If I had to give a reason, it would probably be similar to your situation, except that you two are in love, while I only see them as brothers. Since we can’t be siblings anymore, I might as well leave as soon as possible.”
After hearing this, Mrs. Cui, unusually, did not say anything harsh, and even her eyes softened considerably.
"Thank you for describing our relationship as mutual affection. Everyone is cursing me, no one supports us. Haha, it was a mistake from the start. If even one person had ended this or that ill-fated relationship, we wouldn't be facing this scorn and abuse today."
After she finished speaking to herself, she looked up at her.
"It's not difficult to deal with the village chief, but have you considered that without your parents' consent, this matter simply cannot be accomplished?"
“My father is concerned about his reputation, and my mother is fiercely protective of her children. It’s really difficult for me to leave, so I’m planning to stage an accident, pretend I’ve fallen into the river and drowned. Afterwards, I’ll secretly climb ashore, and then I’ll ask you to issue me a relocation permit. Since I’m dead, this identity will definitely be useless, so I’ll give them some money to sell this identity…”
This method was taught to her by Tang Cuimei. After considering it, she felt it was really good. Of course, she didn't have any money.
How much money are you planning to give them?
"Ten yuan, that's all."
"Given your mother's insatiable nature, I'm afraid this matter won't be accomplished."
"If they're not willing to pay ten dollars, then here's the money. Can you help me with that?"
...
Huang Dou only stayed at the Cui family's house for less than half an hour before leaving.
The next day she went into town, found Tang Cuihua and her sister, and told them her plan.
He also stated that he did not have the ten yuan service fee, but wanted to borrow it from them first and pay them back later.
“We’re like sisters. Go back to your own home. Why are you talking about borrowing and repaying money? Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it. I’ll find someone to handle this. It’s just that it’s so cold. If you fall into the river, won’t something happen to you?”
Huangdou shook his head, clearly confident in his swimming skills.
She couldn't stay in that house for even a day longer, so she went home in the afternoon. There was nothing in her house that she wanted to stay, and she didn't even want the clothes there anymore. They were all torn and patched up, so what was there to pick up?
She immediately carried a bamboo basket to the riverbank and deliberately slid into the river in front of the villagers. Before anyone jumped in to save her, she used the current to quickly swim downstream, choosing to swim in areas with dense aquatic plants so that she could sneak out to catch her breath.
She was very familiar with this river, bathing and swimming there every day in the summer, so she knew the terrain well and perfectly faked her drowning.
That night, the village sent out countless people to search for her, but after a night of fruitless searching, everyone knew that she had fallen into the river and drowned while fishing for the Huang family, and no one even knew where her body had been washed away.
Huangdou and Cuihua met at the agreed-upon section of the road. After climbing ashore, they immediately changed into warm clothes and buried their old clothes on the spot.
After that, they moved into the town with the soybeans.
In the following days, news spread throughout the village that soybeans had drowned.
However, the matter of transferring household registration was not handled until the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. After discussing with the Tao family, Tao Changyi personally handled the household registration transfer.
The price was as agreed, ten yuan. Huang's mother, Li Pandi, wanted to ask for more, but Tao Changyi shut her down with a single sentence.
“It’s only ten yuan. If you sell this household registration, you can keep the money. It’s enough to buy fifteen catties of meat. If you don’t want to, I can go and find someone else. Household registrations like this aren’t hard to find. You don’t necessarily have to hang yourself on this tree.”
Fearing that Tao Changyi might really leave, Li Pandi had no choice but to compromise. So, she spent ten yuan to get Huang Dou's household registration transfer permit.
While the iron was hot, Tang Cuihua took him to the household registration office and changed his name to Tang Cuixiang. From then on, there was no longer a person named Huangdou.
After Huang Dou was registered in the household, he was taken home by Tang Cuihua. When the villagers found out, they naturally sighed again.
Who would have thought that these sisters were really capable, actually finding their children one by one after they had been sent away for more than ten years.
"Sister, what if the people from Qilihe Village come looking for us?"
"So what if you've come looking for us? You've paid the money and obtained the household registration transfer permit, so you're legally registered now. Besides, with that face of yours, who would dare say you're not a member of the Tang family?"
“If people really come, we’re not afraid. We’ll just fight. With so many sisters, our fourth brother alone can take down all four of your brothers.”
With her immense strength, Tang Cuihong has become the backbone of the Tang sisters.
Once the twelfth lunar month arrived, there was no more farm work to do. Tang Cuihua led her sisters back to the village, and the cabbages and radishes at home had already been stored in the cellar.
Cuihong also pickled two vats of sauerkraut and dried dozens of kilograms of radish, preparing to make spicy pickled radish.
Cuihong stays in the village every day and is now quite familiar with her neighbors. Mainly because she is very enthusiastic about helping out, she has learned a lot of skills and now manages everything at home and outside by herself.
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