Chapter 14: No More Taking the Blame, Compensation Required

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Tang Erlong's face turned red, but he couldn't say a word.

Xiao Cao, who had listened to Liu Xiujing's words, quickly said, "Yes, I'm a good kid, and I tell the truth. My sister, to prevent me from causing trouble, made me sit on the wall and watch over it while they played hopscotch with Sister Aishi. I saw Uncle Erlong enter the house and eat the meat with chopsticks. He ate a lot and only dropped the chopsticks and ran out when he heard Aunt Er coming back from the back door."

The world suddenly fell silent.

Tang Ailian's father and Xiao Cao's father were brothers. Their houses were separated by just a wall. In the past, when their relationships were good, there wasn't even a wall between them. Later, due to conflicts between the women in both families, they had a falling out.

According to Tang Ailian's mother, it was because Tang's grandmother looked down on Xiao's father, and Xiao's mother couldn't stand for her husband to be belittled. After a big quarrel, they built a short wall in the yard.

Of course, despite the tension between the women of the two families, the men and children from both sides had nothing to do with it. They often shared things over this short wall or shouted greetings, and sometimes, they even walked directly across the wall if they didn't want to take the long way around. The children often played on the wall.

In her previous life, after Tang's grandmother had a big fight with Xiao's mother, they raised the wall, but now it was still the same short wall.

Xiao Cao sat on the short wall between the two yards, so it's no wonder she could see Tang Erlong eating the meat so clearly.

Actually, Tang's grandmother had known all along that Tang Erlong had eaten the pork, but because Tang Ailian's father, Tang Dalong, had been working away from home since he was sixteen, Tang's grandmother had been extremely fond of Tang Erlong. She had even treated him as her favorite grandson, so she wanted to put the blame on Tang Aishi instead of him. She didn't expect Xiao Cao to see it all and expose the truth.

Tang Erlong turned red in the face again, this time out of embarrassment. He snorted, "I ate my own meat; how is that stealing?" He pushed Liu Xiujing away and walked out.

Tang's grandmother was left speechless, realizing that she had made a big mistake by favoring her second son. Even though she knew Tang Erlong had eaten the meat, she had wanted to put the blame on Tang Aishi to protect him. She didn't expect Xiao Cao to witness the whole thing and reveal the truth.

Tang Aishi shouted, "Eating your own meat isn't considered stealing, but you can't blame me for it!"

Tang's grandmother looked at Liu Xiujing with disdain and said, "A person may have four ounces of flesh, but half a pound in his voice!"

Liu Xiujing, unlike in the past, was not willing to let this slide. She looked at Tang's grandmother seriously and said, "Mom, what do you think we should do about this? Aishi shouldn't be falsely accused."

Tang's grandmother, still favoring her second son, replied angrily, "What can we do? He is Aishi's uncle. Can you really expect Aishi to hit her uncle? Who ever heard of a niece hitting her uncle?"

But Liu Xiujing didn't give in. "Mom, haven't you experienced being falsely accused before? Aishi was wrongly accused and even got beaten. At the very least, make her uncle apologize to her, and you should compensate Aishi in some way."

Tang's grandmother glared at Liu Xiujing, but Liu Xiujing stared back at her. Even Tang Aishi and Tang Aiwu watched her silently, and Tang Aiwu even reminded her, "Grandma, I will tell Daddy that Uncle Erlong bullied me."

Tang's grandmother was finally defeated. "Fine, it's New Year's, so I'll make Aiwu and Aishi each a piece of clothing."

Liu Xiujing knew that this was the maximum concession her mother-in-law could make. While it was customary to make new clothes for New Year's, Tang Dalong's wages were taken by Tang's grandfather and entirely controlled by her mother-in-law. She had no money to sew new clothes for herself, let alone for her daughters.

At Tang's grandmother's house, she had only made new clothes for her father-in-law, Erlong, and little Yue. She hadn't even made any for herself. Liu Xiujing didn't dare to ask for more.

Despite the new clothes, the pants were still old. Tang Ailian wore patched pants, which was quite heartbreaking for Liu Xiujing. However, Tang Aishi and Tang Aiwu were quite satisfied with their new clothes.

"Dad gave us red envelopes! Let's go and wish him a Happy New Year!"

"Dad, you're great! Happy New Year!"

"Dad, get rich!"

"Dad, have a happy New Year!"

The children enthusiastically called out to Tang's grandfather, and he handed each of them a red envelope containing twenty cents.

Twenty cents, to these children, was a huge sum of money. And it wasn't money they had to give to their elders!

On New Year's Day, children could take their red envelopes and go to the market. What the children looked forward to the most was eating rice noodles at the market. A bowl of market rice noodles cost only eighty cents, or one hundred and twenty cents without food coupons.

Tang Ailian also received a red envelope and, on New Year's Day, the whole family went to the market. Aiwu announced that she was a boy and would follow the men. So she went with Tang Dalong's family to the market, while Tang Ailian was carried by Aishi, going with Xiaodad's family and Xiao Hua.

At this time, there were four long pavilions at the market. Since there were too many vendors to fit inside the pavilions, they lined up along the road on both sides. Even though it was New Year's Day and a day for celebration, many people still wanted to make money, so they came to sell things.

The market was bustling with people, and the three of them squeezed around for the whole morning. After eating rice noodles, they continued to push through the crowds. Tang Ailian was feeling quite uncomfortable and just wanted this market day to end quickly. Tang Aishi was also tired and wanted to take Ailian off her back for a rest.

Suddenly, Aishi exclaimed in delight, "Auntie Hua, look, Xiaodad is over there!"

(End of this chapter)