Chapter 61: Knocked
Tang Jizu looked at Tang Baoyu.
Tang Baoyu's face changed drastically: "Dad, I'm so young, I can't kowtow so much..."
"One of your heads is worth two cents, and you only need to kowtow more than a thousand times to offset it. Since you caused the trouble, you have to solve it yourself. Just follow them and kowtow!" Tang Jizu turned his head away with a look of reluctance.
Qin Huiyin looked at Tang Baoyu, then at Tang Jizu, and said with a malicious look: "Uncle, logically speaking, this matter has nothing to do with you, so if you kowtow on behalf of Tang Baoyu, your kowtow can be worth three coins."
Li Taohua understood Qin Huiyin's intention in an instant, and pretended to be reluctant and said, "If one head is worth three coins, then it won't take long to kowtow. Is your head so valuable? But my daughter has spoken, and as a mother, I can't refuse to give her face. Okay, if you love your son and are willing to take his place, that's fine."
Tang Baoyu showed a happy expression and looked at Tang Jizu: "Dad, if you kowtow once, it's worth three cents, then you only need to kowtow a thousand times. No, Mom has already kowtowed a hundred and twenty times, so you don't need to kowtow a thousand times. Dad, it's more cost-effective for you to kowtow."
"Everyone has his own share of responsibility. You should bear the consequences of your actions. Your mother loves you and is willing to kowtow for you, but I will not indulge you. Either you kowtow now, or you will never be able to eat meat again."
Tang Baoyu's eyes widened, and he looked at Tang Jizu in disbelief: "My mother can kowtow for me, why can't you? Are you still my father? Do you still love me?"
"What did you say?" Tang Jizu looked at Tang Baoyu sharply, and the signal released by his eyes was very dangerous.
Tang Baoyu was frightened by his eyes and shuddered.
He thought of the way Tang Jizu dealt with Li Erniu and didn't dare to say anything. He just burst into tears.
"Uncle, are you really going to make him kowtow?" Qin Huiyin asked, "Once we're sure, we'll take him away."
"Well, you take him to kowtow!" Tang Jizu walked back carrying the luggage.
Since it is unavoidable, there is no need to leave.
He will slowly settle this account.
No one in Tang Dafu's family will have an easy life.
When Tang Jizu turned around, a vicious light flashed in his eyes.
Li Taohua and Qin Huiyin each clamped one of Tang Baoyu's arms and dragged him towards where Tang Yixiao was.
They threw Tang Baoyu to Tang Yixiao, asked Tang Luwu to watch from the side, and continued to take care of their own things.
Nearly one thousand and fifteen heads are not so easy to deal with, but they believe that Tang Yixiao will definitely not miss a single head, and will not let him go out of pity.
If I let him go like this, wouldn't all the suffering I've endured over the years be in vain?
He had struggled to hold on during those desperate days, those self-loathing nights, those helpless times, all for this moment. Now, seeing the man he hated kneeling in front of him, lowering his proud head, and that fat body could no longer press on him to bully him, it felt like a dream.
It turns out that fighting back feels so good.
When Qin Huiyin prepared lunch, Tang Luwu and her brother had not returned yet.
A child was lying on his stomach outside the fenced yard, and said to Qin Huiyin in the yard, "Sister Huiyin, I just checked, and Tang Baoyu still has five hundred kowtows to go!"
"Is that so?" Qin Huiyin opened the fence and said to the child, "Can you do me a favor?"
"Sister, you say..." The little girl was carrying firewood on her back. Her face was dirty and her clothes were too short. It was obvious that they were the old clothes of her brother who was two years younger than her.
"Sister wants you to help me deliver food to Sister Luwu and Brother Yixiao. This is my reward as a thank you." Qin Huiyin wrapped a braised pig's trotter in oil paper and gave it to her. "Eat this before you leave. After eating, use salt water to get rid of the smell."
"Sister Huiyin..." Tang Sanmei's eyes were red, and she looked at Qin Huiyin gratefully, "You can't accept it. I just delivered a meal, it's just a matter of convenience. I can't take such a valuable thing."
"Eat it. I still have some." Qin Huiyin said, "You are too thin. Eat some meat to replenish your body."
Tang Sanmei took the braised pig's trotter tremblingly, sniffed, and asked cautiously: "Can I take it back and eat it with my sister and brother?"
"What a silly child." Li Taohua said as she stood at the door, "If you take it back, will you still have food? You can either eat here or I won't let you help. I can deliver the food myself."
Tang Sanmei touched her belly and swallowed.
She had only had some rice soup these days, not to mention meat, she hadn't even seen a grain of rice. Just now when she went up the mountain to chop wood, she felt dizzy and almost fell off the cliff. Fortunately, she grabbed the branch next to her at the critical moment and saved her life.
"Aunt Taohua, Sister Huiyin, thank you." Tang Sanmei was not stupid. She understood that they said that on purpose because they felt sorry for her.
She lowered her head and gnawed on the pig's trotter. When her mouth was filled with the aroma of meat, she felt like she was alive again.
Click, click…
Tears slid down the mud-stained cheeks, leaving clear tear marks one after another.
"Why are you crying?" Li Taohua asked.
"It's so delicious!" Tang Sanmei choked up, "I've never eaten anything so delicious."
Tang Sanmei ate very quickly. After eating, she rinsed her mouth with the salt water prepared by Qin Huiyin, then picked up the firewood and the rice basket and walked towards Tang Yixiao and Tang Luwu.
Tang Sanmei smelled the fragrance of the vegetables in the basket, thought about what happened in the morning, and was extremely envious of Tang Yixiao and Tang Luwu.
As a stepmother, her stepmother would only order her to do work and take care of her younger brother. However, Tang Yixiao and Tang Luwu's stepmother would protect them.
Tang Baoyu also bullied her, and her stepmother and brother clearly walked by without stopping them. Her two sisters were timid and cowardly, and could only hug her and cry.
When Tang Sanmei arrived outside the ancestral hall, she saw that Tang Baoyu's head had been broken. He knocked very slowly, and it took a long time for him to lift it up after each knock.
Tang Luwu and Tang Yixiao found a seat and sat down, watching him kowtow. Tang Luwu said, "Little brother, how many are there?"
"One thousand and fifty-three."
"Yinyin said we need to kowtow 1,440 times." Tang Luwu counted on her fingers, "Now we still need... still need... what should I do? I can't count it."
Tang Yi smiled and said, "Three hundred and eighty-seven."
"You are so amazing! No wonder you can always calculate quickly when doing accounts. Yinyin even praised you, saying that you are a good businessman. Why am I so stupid?"
"You are dexterous. Every time my second sister teaches us a recipe, you are the first one to learn it. Even mother learns slower than you." Tang Yi smiled and comforted.
"Don't let mother hear this. She just started to like us, and we can't make her angry." Tang Luwu said nervously.
"I know." Tang Yi said with a smile, looking at Tang Sanmei not far away, and then at the basket of vegetables in her hand. "Did my second sister ask you to come?"
Tang Sanmei nodded, took the basket and said, "Sister Huiyin said that you should not let anyone down, so you can eat while watching him kowtow."
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