Chapter 40 [40] The Truth
Tang Yuanyuan went to the vegetable market and bought some meat bones to take home.
Li Mu crossed his arms in amusement, "Tang Yuanyuan, you're really good. You even thought about me, silly dog. Why didn't you remember to buy me some meat?"
Tang Yuanyuan threw a bone to the dog: "This is for you, do you want to eat it?"
Li Mu rolled his eyes at her. "How dare you call me a dog?"
Tang Yuanyuan didn't understand why this person always spoke in sarcastic tones: "How can you compare yourself to an animal?"
Li Mu: "I am also from the animal kingdom. I am a brave wolf!"
“…You mean, you’re not human?”
"Tang Yuanyuan, I'm on strike tonight."
"I'll make it so you're not picky about food."
“…I don’t eat sweet potato porridge.”
“That’s all I do.”
Li Mu walked into the kitchen with puffed cheeks and said, "You must have been a cockroach in your previous life. You're not picky about food."
childish.
Tang Yuanyuan was too lazy to argue with him. "By the way, I've found a shop. It's right next to the department store. There's an empty house nearby. Are you planning to open a shop in the wholesale market or come to my place?" Li Mu turned his head back and said, "I'm going to be the boss?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "..."
Li Mu: "Our Li family's ancestors must be brimming with joy. A minor becoming a boss? I'm sure I'll have a pager on my waist and a cell phone in my hand in the future."
Tang Yuanyuan: "..."
I was too lazy to pay attention to him, so I hung up the towel, went into the house, opened the book and reviewed my homework.
Li Mu: "Hey, Tang Yuanyuan, what do you mean by rolling your eyes? Don't you believe me?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "I'm saying your goal is too small. You'll definitely be able to drive a Santana in the future."
Li Mu suspected that Tang Yuanyuan was speaking in a sarcastic way, but he felt that with the current income, in a few years, he might really be able to drive a Santana to go to college.
"Tang Yuanyuan, just wait. I'm going to drive the Santana."
Tang Yuanyuan opened the book and automatically blocked out his words.
Li Mu brought the beans into the house and picked them. "I've decided to open a garden next to yours. I sell men's clothing anyway, so I'm not competing with you."
Tang Yuanyuan is reading classical Chinese. I wonder if she has taken his words into account.
Li Mu snorted in displeasure: "Tang Yuanyuan, if you get into university in the future, it will also be due to my contribution."
Tang Yuanyuan raised her eyes and glanced at him.
Li Mu: "Look, I'm the one who prepares three meals a day. It's not an exaggeration to say that I raised you. Does this count as my contribution?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "If you feel unbalanced, I can pay you one dollar a day for your hard work."
Li Mu suddenly had an idea: "That's right, I'm going to be the boss soon, why should I still suffer the hardship of cooking for myself!"
"I can hire Aunt Huang."
He suddenly stood up and went next door. After a while, Aunt Huang came over with him.
Li Mu gave the lunch to Aunt Huang for two dollars a day.
So, Li Mu lay on a chair, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, admiring the smoke from the kitchen: "Tang Yuanyuan, do I look like a wealthy landlord now?"
Tang Yuanyuan curled her lips speechlessly, "He has some resemblance to Zhou Paopi."
Li Mu: "You are such a dog, you can't say a single good word about me."
Tang Yuanyuan was too lazy to pay attention to him. High school classical Chinese was too difficult to memorize.
Li Mu rocked comfortably in the rocking chair, talking non-stop: "My dad is so lucky to have such a promising son like me. He's probably laughing in his grave."
"Tang Yuanyuan, don't you want to come and rest?"
"Tang Yuanyuan, tell me, you can make so much money now, why are you still working so hard?"
Li Mu turned his head from the recliner and heard Tang Yuanyuan reciting classical Chinese in a low voice. He curled his lips speechlessly and got up to go to the stove door.
"Aunt Huang, are you hot?"
"Cooking is always hot. Xiaomu, are you hungry? The meal will be ready soon."
"No hurry, I'm not hungry yet. By the way, Aunt Huang, I opened a clothing store."
Aunt Huang: "Really?"
Li Mu: "I can't lie to you about this. When my shop is renovated, I'll take you to visit it."
Aunt Huang: "Okay!"
Li Mu picked up another bone and threw it to the dog's left: "Silly dog!"
The dog jumped to the left and caught the bone. Li Mu thought it was fun and started playing with the dog.
"Silly dog, from now on I will be your father and you will be my son. Call me daddy and let me hear it."
The big wolf dog happily gnawed on the bone and ignored him.
Li Mu: "Your father is the boss, and you are the boss's dog. You are now kept in a golden nest, do you know that?"
"Watch out for thieves at night, and I'll buy you bones every day."
The big dog barked twice.
"Good dog, so good."
Aunt Huang only took half an hour to make braised pork with green beans and stir-fried eggplant with green peppers. Her cooking skills were much better than Li Mu's.
The two were eating when Tang An came and brought the news that Tang Aiguo's hand was injured.
"Ever since you hit him in public, Dad hasn't been quite right. He's always forgetting things and making mistakes at work. Today, he even rubbed a finger on the machine, and half of it was gone. He's gotten his comeuppance, and he knows he was wrong. Let's forget about the past. After all, we're a family, and it's not appropriate for you to always live in someone else's house. Go home."
"Tang An, you're always good at shirking responsibility. Tang Aiguo got injured in class, and you can actually blame me?"
"Also, this matter will never be over. Even if Tang Aiguo died now, it would only be to atone for Mom's sin, let alone forgiveness."
"I've severed ties with you. You two don't have to tell me anything."
Tang An: "You said you wanted to sever ties, so you cut them off. Who doesn't know you're my sister?"
"Do you know what outsiders say about you? They asked me if you wanted to marry Li Mu for free. As a girl, do you care about your reputation?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "I haven't heard anyone say that. Zhou Wei and Aunt Huang both told me to live here peacefully. Your friend sounds like a mean-spirited person, but your affairs have nothing to do with me. If you're willing to get involved with a beast, that's your own business. Don't bring it up on me."
Tang An was furious: "Do you have any shame at all?"
"What are you talking about?" Li Mu kicked Tang An's butt. "Fuck, get out of here. Don't come to my house to quarrel."
Tang An was furious. He glared at Tang Yuanyuan and Li Mu, then turned and left.
At home, Tang Aiguo was lying on the bed holding his severed finger and humming. Tang An had already returned home feeling very angry, and now hearing this humming made him even more annoyed.
He slapped himself twice on the face to remind himself of the lesson.
stupid!
So stupid!
Why did he repeatedly come to Tang Yuanyuan's house to be humiliated? Why did he repeatedly think that she could come back to this home?
She is just selfish.
Which sister doesn’t support her younger brother?
Why would a woman read so many books?
It was just dropping out of school, but she felt that the whole family owed her something, so she persuaded her mother to quit the family business and leave her grandfather to be taken care of by her alone.
Tang Yuanyuan must hate herself to death.
He hated his father for favoring him and hated that he could go to school.
She said that Li Mu was not a good person, but she started a business with others and left her own brother aside.
Now that her father has become like this, he is no longer a money-earning laborer but a burden. How could she possibly come back?
She just wanted to leave this broken home to him alone. Taking care of their parents was her responsibility as the eldest sister.
What a cruel heart.
It's ridiculous. I thought she hated her father because of her mother's death.
She clearly didn't want to take over her father's burden, fearing that they would spend her money.
She is such a calculative person.
He would never look for Tang Yuanyuan again.
It doesn't matter if he has some money. He will definitely be more successful than Tang Yuanyuan and will make her regret what she did today.
"Tang An!"
There was a voice coming from the door, and it sounded like Zhou Wei.
Tang An immediately wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, threw the leftover bowls on the table into the kitchen basin, and changed the blood-stained clothes on Tang Aiguo before leaving.
"Zhou Wei, why are you here?"
Zhou Wei heard about Tang Aiguo’s injury as soon as she got off work. This guy really deserved it. The question is, what will happen to Tang An in the future?
Tang An is still a student. What will happen in the future?
Zhou Wei was very worried, so she quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks after dinner and came to take a look.
"I know everything about your father. I came to see you."
Tang An forced a smile and said, "Thank you. Now, my second and third uncles' families don't want to get involved with our family, let alone our neighbors and friends. Even my sister... only has you."
His gaze fell straight on Zhou Wei's chubby cheeks, and his voice softened: "Zhou Wei, you are the only one who came to see me and my dad."
"Thank you."
Zhou Wei's heart was melted by this look, "Tang An, we are good friends, right? Good friends should help each other."
Tang An: "Please sit down. I'll pour you some water."
Zhou Wei: "Don't bother, I just came here after dinner."
Tang An picked up the kettle, only to find it was empty. He scratched his hair in embarrassment and said, "Sorry, I'll go boil some."
I don't know when the stove went out, the leftover dishes from lunch were soaking in the pot, the yard hadn't been swept for several days, it was covered with debris, and there was a bloody shirt in the basin.
In the main room, Tang Aiguo kept groaning, as if he was hungry.
This house is like a tree standing in the shade, dark and damp, and it seems like it is starting to grow mold.
Zhou Wei: "It's so late, you haven't had dinner yet?"
Tang An: "Well, I came back late from the hospital. My dad missed my sister and wanted to see her. I just went to look for her again. She, this family is like this now. She has made a lot of money and no longer needs this family."
Zhou Wei: "Tang An, don't blame your sister."
"She just cares too much about your mom."
Tang An's gaze froze for a moment before he said, "Yes."
Zhou Wei: "Don't look at her making money now. I know she worked very hard to earn it. It's not easy for her to do it alone."
Tang An forced a gentle and elegant smile, "You're right. In the past, it was my grandfather who dragged my sister and my mother down. Now that she can finally do something of her own, she shouldn't be dragged down by my father anymore. This family should also be my responsibility."
"Don't worry, I won't look for her anymore."
"I can support myself and my dad."
Tang An was clumsily washing the dishes and lighting the coal briquettes. Zhou Wei felt a pang of discomfort in her heart and raised her hands:
"Forget it, I'll do it. You go see your dad."
Tang An: "This is my family's business."
Zhou Wei: "You are not good at this. It's just cooking. It's okay."
Tang An went into the house to take a look at Tang Aiguo and said a few words to him. When she came out again, the kitchen had been completely refurbished. She cooked the noodles in plain water as usual, but she added a little soy sauce, making the soup base a little darker and looking better.
Tang An's eyes were slightly red: "Zhou Wei, why are you so nice?"
Zhou Wei's cheeks flushed slightly, "Hurry up and eat."
I went to the yard again, ran tap water, washed the clothes, and hung them up to dry.
After finishing the work and wiping the sweat off my face, a bowl of water was brought to me: "Drink it quickly, it's already cold."
Zhou Wei was thirsty, so she took the bowl from the other side and found it was sweet.
“Did you add sugar?”
Tang An: "Is it delicious?"
Zhou Wei: "It tastes good."
When the sugar water entered my mouth, it seemed to flow through my heart.
Zhou Wei finished the sugar water and felt a little embarrassed holding the empty bowl. Just when she didn't know what to say, Tang An reached out to her and said, "Give it to me."
Zhou Wei handed the bowl to Tang An: "It's getting late, I'm going back."
Tang An: "Wait for me."
Tang An went to the kitchen, put down the bowl, and came back with a flashlight in his hand.
"I'll take you there. It's too dark outside."
Zhou Wei unconsciously raised the corners of her lips.
A small beam of light pierced a circle of light in the night. In the night, Tang An's voice was low and gentle: "Does it look like the moon falling to the ground?"
"picture."
"You're lying. It's nothing like that."
“…”
The beam of light moved and fell on her face. Zhou Wei shielded her eyes with her right hand and saw Tang An's shadow against the light. "The real moon is you."
Zhou Wei was stunned.
Tang An: "Zhou Wei, you are as beautiful as the moon in the sky."
Zhou Wei turned her face away, and the light that fell on her cheek felt as scorching as the sun during the day: "I'm not the moon, I'm just a factory girl."
Tang An: "What happened to the factory girl?"
"You are unworldly and gentle. You remind me of a lotus flower that grows out of mud without being stained, and you have the fragrance of a lilac."
"I've never met a better girl than you."
No one has ever praised Zhou Wei like this in her life. She has been a poor student since she was a child. Her two brothers make fun of her for being stupid, and her parents' catchphrase is, "Look at Tang Yuanyuan, how come she always gets 100 points on the test? Look at you."
When such a noble word as "moon" fell into her ears, it was like fireworks exploding in her mind.
She ran away quickly out of shyness.
Even after closing the gate, my heart was still beating fast.
Zhou Wei's mother: "What's wrong with you? Why did you close the gate so loudly?"
Zhou Wei: "No, it's okay."
Zhou Wei's mother: "Why did you stay at the Tang family for so long? I was just about to go look for you. You're at the age where you should be looking for a partner. Don't go to the Tang family anymore. There are a lot of troubles going on in their family right now."
Zhou Wei pouted, "Mom, what are you talking about? I'm only a child, I don't want to get married."
Zhou Wei's mother just thought her daughter was shy. She was busy arranging partners for her two sons before, but now that they have settled down, it is time for her daughter to find a partner.
At night, Li Mu still carried a rope bed and slept in the yard. The big wolf dog barked from time to time, but the barking was very soothing. Tang Yuanyuan had a dreamless night and woke up in the morning to the aroma of egg pancakes.
The thin egg pancake is sprinkled with chopped green onions and fried until golden on both sides. The rice porridge has popped up and the rice aroma is rich.
The two of them had the most delicious breakfast they had ever had.
Tang Yuanyuan: "We're both cooking, and you have the nerve to say you worked so hard before."
Li Mu: "How dare you say that to me? You treat me like a pig and feed me sweet potato porridge."
Aunt Huang prepared breakfast at home and brought it over. Li Mu only had to wash the dishes, and each person took a turn washing them for each meal. Li Mu felt that his life had become easier.
Money is a good thing.
Tang Yuanyuan put the sack on the back of the bicycle and said, "Li Mu, let's go."
"Wait a moment."
Li Mu brought another basin of water and wiped his broken bicycle again, then blew a kiss to his butt: "Boss Li Mu is traveling."
Tang Yuanyuan really wanted to kick him in the butt.
In Tang Yuanyuan's shop, the master had already started doing the basic decoration. Li Mu spent half an hour bargaining with the owner for 20 yuan and rented the house for 280 yuan.
After finalizing the house deal, the two went their separate ways to sell clothes.
Tang Yuanyuan set up her stall on the roadside of the department store. The weather was hot and there were not many customers. Tang Yuanyuan sold slowly. At the end of the day, she only sold 7 pieces of clothing, 4 high-end ones and 3 ordinary ones, earning 258 yuan. Tang Yuanyuan felt more confident. It would be easy to make money with this store.
She just needed to find another trustworthy clerk. She had been very confused during the past year at the textile factory and naturally had no time to make friends. The few girls she had a good relationship with in school were now in high school.
Zhou Wei is the most suitable one.
The salary at the textile factory is 240 yuan, and the salary at the wholesale market is 200 yuan a month. Tang Yuanyuan plans to give her 300 yuan a month.
There are no night shifts, and she doesn't have to stand all the time. The work is also easier, so she should be happy about it.
Tang Yuanyuan was going to have dinner and talk to Zhou Wei about this. Just as he was about to leave, his uncle and aunt came to the door with malted milk and a bag of peach cakes.
Zhang Qiang rubbed his hands and smiled innocently: "Yuanyuan, I wanted to come see you a few days ago, but you were not at home."
Before Tang Youshan fell ill, his eldest uncle and second uncle were frequent visitors to the Tang family. Later, Tang Youshan fell ill and the Tang family fell into poverty. The two uncles were like dead and could no longer be seen.
Tang Yuanyuan guessed that he had something to say: "I have to go out in a hurry, uncle, just tell me what you want to say."
My aunt's tears came immediately: "You child, your uncle and aunt came to see your niece. What else is there? Your mother died unjustly. We came to see you."
Tang Yuanyuan: "I'm going out now. Now that you've finished looking, leave your things behind and go back."
Aunt: “…”
My uncle sighed deeply: "Yuanyuan, this is not the case. Business is not good recently. So many small commodities are sold..."
Tang Yuanyuan interrupted him directly: "Are you trying to sell clothes?"
Uncle: "I am your uncle, you have to help me"
Tang Yuanyuan: "Extend your hand?"
Zhang Qiang subconsciously reached out his hand, but still let out an "ah" in confusion.
Tang Yuanyuan directly put the malted milk and peach cake into his hands and said, "Take it, let's go."
"No."
Zhang Qiang: "You kid, you..."
Tang Yuanyuan made a throwing motion: "No, then I'll throw it out?"
Zhang Qiang quickly caught the malted milk and his aunt caught the peach cake.
"You kid, you really are..."
“Woof woof woof!”
Before the two of them could finish their words, the big wolf dog came over and bit them. The two of them were so scared that the dog chased them out of the door.
Li Mu, who was watching the show, whistled and the big wolfhound ran back.
Li Mu rewarded it with a piece of meat bone.
Tang Yuanyuan: "Take it easy. It's better not to let the dog out casually. If it bites someone, they will have to pay you back."
Li Mu: "Don't worry, I'm a good dog. Otherwise, why do you think I paid 20 yuan?"
"It looks fierce, but it won't bite. Of course, it knows when a thief is out."
Tang Yuanyuan looked at the clock and saw it was already half past seven. Zhou Wei should have been home by now, so she took a flashlight and went to Zhou's house.
Zhou Wei's mother: "Didn't Xiaowei say she was going to play with you? Did she miss you?"
Although there is more than one road leading to the Li family, Tang Yuanyuan took the closest one, and if there were people on the road, there was no reason for her not to notice.
"I didn't see her."
Zhou Wei's mother didn't know what she was thinking about, and her expression changed slightly. "Look at my brain, she just said she went to see her cousin Xiaojuan. Do you have something to say to her? I'll go call her back and let her come find you."
Tang Yuanyuan: "Then I'll go to Xiaojuan's house to find her."
Zhou Wei's mother said, "I'm going to her second uncle's house too. I have something to say to her second aunt. Yuanyuan, come in and sit down first. I'll make you some malted milk. You've become so skinny now that you've lost all your shape."
Tang Yuanyuan didn't want to come in. Zhou Wei's two brothers were both tall and strong, and it would be weird to see them sitting together.
Unable to resist Zhou Wei's mother's strength, she scooped up three tablespoons of malted milk: "This is good stuff, it smells good."
"Just sit still and watch some TV. I'll go get Xiaowei back."
Zhou Wei's two brothers seemed to be very uncomfortable as well, and nodded with a twist of their lips. Tang Yuanyuan could only nod awkwardly.
Zhou Wei's mother trotted all the way to the Tang family's house, put her ear to the door, and sure enough, she heard her daughter's voice.
She knocked on the door gently and called out, "Xiao Wei, open the door for Mom."
Zhou Wei noticed Tang An's embarrassment yesterday, but unfortunately she got off work too late and couldn't buy some meat and vegetables for Tang An. If she gave him money directly, she was afraid of hurting his self-esteem.
Fortunately, she will be able to switch to the night shift tomorrow and buy some meat and vegetables for Tang An.
Today I secretly bought two bowls of rice noodles, tied them up tightly and put them in a cloth bag. Her mother didn't know about it. She just hurriedly put down her bowl and chopsticks and found an excuse to come out.
The Tang family's yard probably hasn't been swept since Zhang Lancao left, and the tables and other things haven't been wiped. She was a diligent girl, so she took a rag and started to work. While she was sweeping the yard, she suddenly heard her mother's voice and was startled.
Tang An went to open the gate and said, "Aunt Zhou."
Zhou Wei's mother had a cold expression on her face. She deliberately avoided looking at Tang An and only stared at her daughter, who was holding a large broom. "Xiao Wei, what are you doing running into someone else's house so late at night? You're a grown woman now. You should know your dignity and consider your reputation."
Zhou Wei's eyes turned red with anger, but she didn't know what to say.
Tang An, on the other hand, seemed to be oblivious to Zhou Wei's mother's sarcasm. Instead, he smiled kindly and said, "Aunt Zhou, it's my fault for not considering this."
His gentle and sweet gaze clung to Zhou Wei like sticky spider silk. "Zhou Wei, I know you mean well, but don't come tomorrow. I can take care of my dad myself."
Tang An even walked the mother and daughter out the door: "Aunt Zhou, why don't you have a flashlight? It's dark at night, I'll get you one."
Tang An was very polite, but Zhou Wei's mother said coldly: "No need, it's not like I don't have any at home."
Comparing the two sides, Zhou Wei felt that her mother was very rude and felt very ashamed.
Zhou Wei's mother felt that her daughter was being too eager to be a nanny for the Tang family. The Tang family was not a good family. Just look at the ending of Zhang Lancao.
"Give up on this idea. There's no way I'll agree to you and Tang An. He's only in his first year of high school and still has four years of college left. So much can change in seven years. If he has a conscience, he can marry you. If he doesn't, he'll at most be laughed at for being heartless. But as for you, people will just laugh at you for being overestimating your own limitations. A factory girl trying to hook up with a college student, forget about getting married, you probably won't even be able to stay here."
"Mom, what are you thinking about? He has such good grades and is going to go to college and become a university student in the future. How can I, a factory girl, be worthy of him?" How could she dare to even think about it?
"You know you're not worthy, yet you still rush to take care of others."
"I just saw that he was alone and had to take care of his sick father. It was so pitiful, and I wanted to help him share some of the burden."
"I didn't think about what he was doing."
Zhou Wei’s mother was even angrier!
He poked her forehead with his finger in frustration: "Are you stubborn?"
"He's a boy, he won't suffer any loss. If your reputation is ruined, how can you get married?"
"I don't care. Just don't go. I'll arrange a blind date for you and get you married. Give up the thought as soon as possible."
Thinking that the person she was going to marry would never look at her so gently, and would call her the moon, and she didn't even know if she had to urge him to wash his feet, Zhou Wei's eyes were red. Even though she tried her best to wipe the corners of her eyes before entering the room, Tang Yuanyuan still noticed her abnormality at a glance.
"Zhou Wei, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I just had a bug in my eye and I rubbed it for a long time."
"Are there bugs in both eyes?"
"Well, it's summer now, and there are a lot of bugs."
Zhou Wei's mother didn't want her daughter's thoughts to be exposed, as it would make it difficult for her to get married, so she immediately said, "There are so many bugs this summer. I even squinted my eyes just now."
Tang Yuanyuan didn't know what to ask, so she told him about the clerk.
Zhou Wei was of course willing: "I have no problem with that, but isn't 300 yuan too much? Just give me 200, and you don't have to take special care of me."
She knew that some smaller factories could pay 150 yuan a month, but just selling clothes and talking, 300 yuan was too much.
Tang Yuanyuan insisted on giving him three hundred yuan: "Then it's settled. You resign first, and by then my store will be back on track."
The mother and daughter smiled and sent Tang Yuanyuan out the door.
Tang Yuanyuan fell asleep peacefully accompanied by the sound of barking dogs. The dream that she hadn't dreamed of for a long time suddenly appeared in her dream again.
In the dream, this time it was she who died.
On her way home from her night shift, she was robbed by a gangster.
Her mother almost went crazy holding her body, and died of depression less than a year later.
Tang Aiguo was laid off, and Zhou Wei repeatedly stuffed her salary into Tang An's hands.
When Tang An graduated from university, Zhou Wei had aged a lot. Tang An was spotted by a rich girl who pursued him madly, but Tang An remained steadfast and unmoved.
Finally, the rich girl found Zhou Wei. Zhou Wei felt that she was not worthy of him, so she left a letter to Tang An and left alone.
Twenty years later, the two met again. Zhou Wei was already ill and on the verge of death, while Tang An was still handsome and elegant.
Zhou Wei smiled and shed tears, as if she had seen her most satisfying work, and left with her final attachment.
Tang Yuanyuan woke up holding her heart.
Tang An, was actually supported by Zhou Wei to finish college?!
However, in his previous dreams, he said that he relied on himself, he was a miracle from a poor family, and he was the idol of many young people.
No, she couldn't let Zhou Wei have such a tragic ending.
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