Chapter 36 Cuihua Returns to the Village to Argue with Her Parents

After discussing it, the three of them decided that Tao Changyi would stay and help his wife. When there weren't too many middlemen, he would take some time to go out and buy the goods. At worst, he would just do less and close down the shop once he sold them all.

Tang Cuihua took the 10,000 yuan that Tao Changyi gave her to take a bus home. She dared not accept more, fearing that she would be robbed when she got home. Cuihua was reluctant to take the bus and insisted on walking until nightfall. After dark, the rural roads were very scary. Cuihua carefully observed her surroundings all the way and finally arrived at her doorstep around seven or eight o'clock.

When she got home, the yard was pitch black. She called out, but no one answered.

Exhausted, Cuihua was too lazy to go out and find someone. She went inside to look for food to cook something for herself, but the house was not only dirty and messy, but there was nothing to eat. It was still the lean season, and the yard, which should have been full of vegetables, was now desolate, overgrown with weeds, and looked like no one lived there.

The house where the sisters used to live was drafty, and now that they weren't home, it was covered in a thick layer of dust, and the house was as cold as an icebox.

Upon seeing this environment, Cuihua wanted to turn around and leave, but when she thought about the trouble she might cause the Tao family if she left like this, she became so angry that she tidied up a place in the dark that people could live in. She endured her hunger, drank some water, and then fell asleep on the bed.

She woke up before dawn the next day, hungry. There was nothing to eat at home, so she had to find a way to make something to eat. She went out early with a basket on her shoulder.

The villagers all get up early. When Cuihua appeared with her basket, they were all stunned. They thought they were seeing things and had mistaken her for someone else. After all, the village roads were still shrouded in mist in the early morning. The air was chilly and filled only with the chirping of birds, but it was also filled with the fragrance of earth, a special scent that could not be smelled in the city.

"Cuihua? Oh my, it really is Cuihua! When did you get back? Why didn't your parents mention it? Oh my, it's only been a short time, but you've grown so much more beautiful, you're really pretty!"

"Fourth Aunt, I came back in the dark last night. Where are my parents? I couldn't find them. There's nothing in the house. I was so hungry that I rushed out this morning to find some wild vegetables to cook and eat."

Upon hearing this, Fourth Aunt slapped her thigh. "You don't know? Yesterday, those two heard from Liu the Crybaby (meaning someone who's always crying and difficult) in our village that you're selling food in the alley next to the county hospital. They've been planning to go there first thing this morning. They've been staying at your grandparents' house since the Lunar New Year. Go and see if they've left yet!"

Upon hearing this, Cuihua immediately understood and laughed, "They're not exactly hardworking people, no wonder they're up now. I was saying I couldn't find them."

"Cuihua, you rushed back overnight, could it be because you were worried about them?"

Cuihua said with a gloomy expression, "I got fired. As soon as they heard I had parents like that, they fired me on the spot. I had nowhere to go, so I had to come back."

"What about your two younger sisters?!"

Cuihua's face turned pale. "It's lost. Now I'm all alone."

"What? What did you say? Lost? You lost them?"

Cuihua didn't want to say anything more, so she turned around and walked towards her grandparents' old house. Her fourth aunt kept making noise behind her, but she ignored her.

After many twists and turns, she arrived at her grandparents' house. Seeing that the gate was locked, she knew that they were still asleep. Cuihua went to the low wall, placed a large stone under it, and climbed over.

The moment she jumped into the yard, seeing the equally dilapidated and messy little courtyard, she couldn't help but complain.

"How disgusting! This whole family has become so lazy!"

She went straight to the room on the west side. She didn't go to the main room where her grandparents lived. The kitchen was on the east side. It was so early, and they hadn't gotten up yet!

Grandparents are too old, and parents are just too lazy.

She kicked the door open, and the person inside was still snoring. She was so startled that she jumped up from the bed.

The smell when she entered the room was so unpleasant that Cuihua frowned and instinctively covered her nose.

When the couple saw who was standing at the door, they doubted they were seeing things.

"I actually saw Cuihua! Am I dreaming?"

Tang Cuihua crossed her arms and looked at her parents with a very unpleasant expression.

"I thought our departure would make you two more diligent, but I didn't expect you two to be the same as before. You are really disappointing!"

Cuihua coldly glanced at their pathetic and slovenly appearance, then turned and went to the main room to see her grandparents. Even if she didn't like them, it was only right for a junior to come and see his elders upon returning home.

Actually, the old man and woman had already woken up and started getting dressed when they heard the noise. As soon as Cuihua entered the main room, they heard her grandmother's sharp voice.

"Who is it? It's so early in the morning, they can't even give us a moment's peace."

Cuihua rolled her eyes. "Grandma, it's me, Cuihua."

"Hey, you little slut, you actually know how to come back?"

The old lady opened the door, grabbed the smelly shoe in her hand, and slapped it at Cuihua's buttocks. Cuihua dodged in time and jumped outside the door.

"Grandma, what are you doing? How old am I? Why are you hitting me? Can't I just stay away? After that Liu the Big Mouth went and caused trouble, they fired me."

Thank goodness, those two can't read and don't know Tao Ji Snack Shop. Haha, this is truly a stroke of luck!

She only said she was at a restaurant, but didn't know the exact location or the name of the restaurant. This complete ignorance actually helped her a lot.

"Why is it just you who came back? Where are Zhaodi and Pandi?"

"They're lost. I went to work, and I don't know where they went. I've been looking for them for a year and still can't find them."

As she spoke, her voice began to choke, her eyes reddened, and when she looked up again, tears streamed down her face.

Just then, Cao Amei and Tang Youtian finished dressing and ran out. Upon hearing this, their expressions changed instantly.

"What did you say? You lost your two younger sisters? Where did you lose them? Didn't you look for them? What are you doing back here if you didn't find them? You're living a life of luxury while you've lost your sisters..."

When Cao Amei lunged at her, Tang Cuihua dodged with a look of disgust, then stared at her coldly.

“If you hadn’t forced us, would we have been able to leave? If you hadn’t been running around doing chores at other people’s houses every day, if you hadn’t been taking away all the things we’d painstakingly saved up, would we have been able to leave? Could we? I have to support two younger sisters by myself. If I don’t work, what will we eat? They disobeyed and ran away. I don’t know where they went. Do you know I haven’t looked for them? I’ve been looking for them for a year. I’ve searched the whole county, but I can’t find them. What can I do?”

"You call yourselves parents? How do other parents treat their children? And me? In your family, I'm just a slave, an animal. I work the hardest and eat the least. Having two lazy parents like you is the worst thing that could happen to me!"

With a 'smack', Tang Youtian, unable to bear Cuihua's roar, slapped her across the face.