Tian Er felt that he was deceiving his sister, but that person was his fifth uncle, so he figured he wouldn't cheat him in this way. He decided to keep the matter of the debt a secret for the time being.
That evening, when Tian Sangui checked the accounts, he found that 500 coins were missing. Since there were many customers and only Tian Er was busy in the front hall, it was inevitable that some customers would skip out on their bills.
Losing a few hundred or a thousand coins is within the normal range, and Tian Sangui did not blame Tian Er.
It wasn't until the next morning that Tian Er saw his third sister come looking for him, so he got up and went to work with peace of mind. Little did he know that the matter of Tian Laowu running up a debt for him had kept him up all night.
Before they knew it, the seven-day handover period arrived. The family had just finished their lunch at the shop and Tian Laosi started to hitch up the donkey cart.
Zhang packed her belongings, while Tian Sangui and Tian Er prepared the ingredients for tomorrow morning.
The family members were all busy with their own things. When the sun was a little lower and the light was less glaring, they locked the shop and headed home.
The thought of moving into their new house brought joy to everyone in the family.
Having a home brings true peace of mind. While a shop may be convenient, it's still rented, not your own property, and you never feel at ease living there.
The little donkey foal has been eating well with them, and recently it has grown several feet taller and stronger. It can now easily pull the whole family of seven.
A journey that used to take an hour was shortened by half an hour.
Before him, a brand-new wooden door was opened by Tian Da, and the smell of earth filled the air.
Tian Laosi pulled the donkey cart and led the mother and son into the courtyard. The spacious courtyard was surrounded by mud walls, which made them feel extremely safe.
The three newly built mud huts on the original thatched hut foundation look much more sturdy; this is what it looks like to live on the ground.
The Tian family thoroughly explored the house, both inside and out, and were all very satisfied.
Zhang took out three catties of pork that she had prepared earlier and handed it to Tian Laosi, who was grinning foolishly to the side.
"Take it to your mother; we can't let people gossip!"
Tian Sangui, who happened to arrive, overheard everything. She had said beforehand that the old house was built as compensation for them, so what was the point of sending things now?
Fearing that Tian Sangui would disagree, Zhang quickly added, "Sangui, I know it's right for them to compensate us for the house, but we can't ignore the gossip in the village. Consider these three pounds of meat as a way to shut the villagers up and put our minds at ease, right?"
Tian Sangui's lips curled down, but she didn't disagree: "I'm not an unreasonable fool. I'm just afraid that if we give them the meat, they'll say we have ulterior motives!"
Those people in the old house, you could tell what kind of nonsense they were going to spout even with your eyes closed.
Zhang's words made sense; no matter how much the old house residents made a fuss, it couldn't compare to the smearing by the villagers.
Not wanting to cause trouble, Tian Sangui took out a hundred coins from his pocket and handed them to her father.
"Please take it to the old house for me. Consider it compensation for the wages of those uncles. If they think it's not enough, you can take it back. I don't want to do a thankless job."
"Okay, Dad understands. We're all family, so I don't think they'll say we're not."
They gave them money and meat. Even if the family wasn't well-liked, their parents wouldn't dare say anything against them, since they were all family.
Tian Sangui greeted Zhang Shi, saying that she was going to the village head's house to rightfully make the land under their feet their property.
On the way, Tian Sangui encountered Wang Erwazi, who was covered in mud. Upon seeing that it was Tian Sangui, Wang Erwazi hurriedly tried to hide on the edge of the field, but accidentally tumbled into a stinking ditch.
Tian Sangui couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Pfft, haha!"
For the first time, Wang Erwazi found Tian Sangui's smile as beautiful as sunshine, and for a moment he was so stunned that he forgot he had fallen into the ditch out of fear.
Tian Sangui initially wanted to leave, but then he suddenly remembered what his younger brothers had said on her first day after she transmigrated, and reluctantly returned to his side.
He narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "I heard you've been telling everyone I'm dead?"
Just as Wang Erwazi was about to get up, he saw Tian Sangui turn back after leaving. He seemed hesitant and didn't dare to do so, so he simply gave up and went back to stand in the ditch.
When Tian Sangui mentioned those old, trivial matters, Wang Erwa shook his head vigorously.
"No, your brother must have misheard. I would never dare to say anything bad about you." He was terrified of being beaten, so how could he admit it to her face? He didn't want to die.
"Good to know. If I hear you spreading rumors again, I'll skin you alive!" Tian Sangui raised his hand, pretending to slap him on the forehead to scare him.
Wang Erwa quickly shrank his neck and dodged backward.
After intimidating him, Tian Sangui slowly withdrew his hand, glared fiercely at Wang Erwazi, and then strode towards the village head's house.
Wang Erwazi didn't know where he got the courage, but seeing her walk away, he felt an impulse and quickly got up to follow her.
Tian Sangui was puzzled; it seemed like Wang Erwa was following her around.
She turned and glared at him: "What are you doing here?"
The question made him blush with embarrassment. He scratched his head and blurted out what he was thinking: "I... uh, San Gui, your clothes are really nice. Even Yuniang from our village isn't as pretty as you."
This was the first time she had ever heard someone in the village praise her beauty, especially since it was Wang Erwazi, whom she disliked. It was truly outrageous.
Today, the family is wearing new clothes. As the weather gets warmer, they have changed their cotton-padded jackets into thin cotton skirts and long shirts. Most ordinary people's clothes are mainly gray and black.
In Wang Erwazi's eyes, clothes without patches are beautiful. Yu Niang is the village's recognized beauty, and her mother dresses her up in fancy clothes all day long and doesn't let her work in the fields.
The purpose was to marry her off to a wealthy landlord. While other families would support a scholar, their family did the opposite, aiming to support a landlord's wife.
Praise sounds pleasant, but Tian Sangui still doesn't want to say anything nice to Wang Erwazi. After all, he did so many bad things to her family. No matter how nicely he praised him, Tian Sangui had no good feelings towards him.
"Go away, how many times have you even met Yu Niang? Don't talk back to me, or I might just beat you up!"
As soon as she said that, Wang Erwazi was scared away. Even though he was reluctant to leave her, his legs wouldn't allow it, and he ran away in a flash.
It was so funny to look at.
Walking briskly over, he saw that the village head's gate was tightly closed, so Tian Sangui raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Is the village head home?
The village head's family was the first in the village to live in a house with blue bricks and tiles. It was said that the house had been passed down for three generations. In Tianjia Village, they were a family with a special status, and everyone envied them.
Soon, the tightly closed wooden door opened from the inside, and out came the village head's wife, whom everyone called Sister-in-law Agen.
"Oh, it's San Gui! Come in and have a seat!"
"Hey, Auntie, is Uncle Village Head home?"
"He's making brooms in the backyard. Come in and sit down, I'll go and call him out."
"Thank you, Auntie!"
After exchanging pleasantries, Tian Sangui sat down on a small stool under the eaves to wait.
She looked around and saw that apart from the house being a bit grand, the furnishings inside were the same as those in an ordinary family home. It was quite remarkable that they were able to preserve their ancestral home during the years of war.
I imagine they must have given away quite a few valuable possessions back then.
As his thoughts wandered, the village headman emerged from the back gate, covered in dust.
"San Gui, is there something you need from your uncle?"
"Uncle Village Head, I've come to discuss our family's land foundation with you!"
The village head was taken aback. He had heard that the fourth brother's family had made a small fortune in town. Were they moving so soon?
What a spendthrift! Houses in town are so expensive, nothing compares to those in Tianjia Village. When war breaks out, the town is the first place they loot, while the village has time to hide after hearing the news.
Sigh, young people are so naive; the fourth brother just spoils this girl.
"The land in the village belongs to everyone with the same surname. This is just to help you out. Now that you're doing better, it's a good thing if you want to go to town. Just go ahead and do it."
The village headman spoke of good things, but he wasn't really happy inside. He felt that instead of renting a house in town, it would be more practical to spend some money to buy a house in the village.
Hearing the village head's words, Tian Sangui knew that he had misunderstood.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com