Chapter 195 Tang Family Branch

Xiao Jiu looked at her sisters who came to her door carrying two piglets in surprise, and was extremely excited to hear the piglets squealing.

"Sis, you guys struck it rich! You actually bought piglets???"

Tang Cuiju rubbed her head, both amused and exasperated, while Grandpa Tao and Grandma Tao looked on with curiosity.

Tang Cuimei explained with a smile, "We rescued a classmate at school, and his family brought him here. We can't afford to raise him, so we brought him to you two. If you can't feed him, we can see if anyone in the village wants him or sell him."

"Hey, why aren't you feeding me? I want to eat pork, Grandpa and Grandma, Xiao Jiu, feed me! Xiao Jiu has strength."

Grandpa was worried she'd overwork herself. "You're feeding the sheep, the chickens and ducks, and you still have the energy to feed the pigs? Aren't you afraid of exhausting yourself?"

Little Jiu whispered to everyone, "If we fatten them up, we can kill them and make sausages that will last a long time. We can't just stock up on vegetables; we also need to stock up on some meat, right?"

Xiao Jiu's reminder startled the elderly couple, then they realized what she meant. But with so many animals at home, what if…

Cui Mei immediately saw their concerns: "Before the famine, it wasn't a problem, but after the famine, we won't be able to feed them even if we wanted to..."

It was just a hint; everyone understood what it meant, as Cuiju also indicated.

"Don't worry, Grandpa and Grandma, my sister and I will help feed them too."

Xiao Jiu nodded vigorously, "Yes, Grandpa and Grandma, let's feed them together, and then we can share the spoils."

As she spoke, she started teasing the two little pigs as if they were braised pork. Grandpa Tao quickly led her to find a place for the piglets to live.

The two sisters didn't stay long. They chatted for a while, but didn't talk much before hurrying home.

Back home, Tang Cuimei, who had transmigrated from the book, remembered some things.

"It seems that Tang Jiabao got someone else's daughter pregnant and couldn't come up with a decent dowry, so they reported him for indecent assault. 'A cornered dog will jump over the wall,' that's exactly what they're talking about with the first wife's family. Tang Cuicui is probably going to be in trouble next."

The eldest son and grandson absolutely cannot get into trouble. Since they can't get any benefits from them, they will definitely try to find a way out from other places.

Tang Cuihua couldn't help but sneer, "At this crucial moment, our bad reputation will come in handy. Second Uncle's family has no daughters, and Fourth Uncle's two younger sisters are still young. Right now, the only ones of the right age are Tang Cuicui and us. If we split up the family, none of them will be able to control our future. Then, the one who will be in big trouble is Tang Cuicui."

Tang Cuicui is a year younger than Cuihua, and she is twenty years old this year. She is also an older single woman. She has always been picky and unwilling to marry anyone. She is not interested in this person or that person. If she stays until this time, she will most likely be sold off at a high price by her snobbish parents.

To be honest, none of the members of the Tang family are capable of achieving anything significant.

"They probably inherited it from the old lady. The women are all selfish and opportunistic, and the men are all cunning and treacherous. Although they don't starve to death, they're not exactly living a happy life. Of course, none of them are as miserable as our sisters."

When their past lives were mentioned, Cuihua and Cuimei looked unwell, but fortunately Cuixiang comforted them.

"No matter what, we've found them all, haven't we? Now we're just missing Seventh Sister and Eighth Sister. As long as we find them too, and we can get through this famine safely, we'll be able to make a living with our hard work."

These words brought a light to the eyes of all the sisters, and Cuihua, as the eldest sister, stood up to speak at this moment.

"To prevent the old family from setting their sights on us, everyone must be careful when going in and out. Let's hold on for a few more years, and once we get through the famine, everything will start to look better. Fifth and sixth sons, study hard. We don't expect you to help the other sisters out in the future, but at least we'll be happy if you two can live well. As long as one of our family members becomes successful, we'll be better off than them. You all need to make us proud!"

At this moment, Cuihua's gaze involuntarily turned to Cuihong, who was immersed in her own world.

It's so nice to be able to hear nothing and not have to worry about these social niceties. I just feel content as long as I cook happily every day.

If I want to talk, I will; if I don't want to talk, I won't respond to anyone.

She also possesses the ability to protect herself, and no one can do anything to her.

For the first time, Cuihua felt that even though she had dreamed of being reborn, she was still not as happy as Cuihong.

As the eldest sister, the inherent responsibility she was born with compelled her to stand up for her sisters.

In the evening, the sisters gathered together and fried vegetable dumplings filled with chives, vermicelli, and eggs.

"We'll get up early tomorrow to make dumplings. After you eat, you can go to school. Don't worry about things at home. We're here. Even if the sky falls, we tall guys will hold it up. Fifth and Sixth, you two need to be careful at school. I always feel that Tang Jiabao is up to no good. I'm afraid he'll do something desperate. I'm not worried about Cuihong. Cuilian is in the county town. Aju, you and I need to be extra careful. Uncle is a cunning guy. Who knows what radical things he might do for his son and daughter? We don't have our parents to protect us. We can only rely on ourselves."

Cuihua had considered everyone's needs, and luckily, one of her family members was a transmigrator who knew the general outline of the story.

Logically speaking, the eldest branch of the Tang family wasn't poor. Living with the old folks, and being shrewd, they had taken a lot of benefits from this branch over the years. With three sons and a daughter, they hadn't managed to arrange a single marriage for all these years.

Cuihua is already twenty-one, and Tang Jiabao is the first grandson of the Tang family. He is already twenty-six years old (by Chinese reckoning), almost thirty, and still hasn't found a wife. Is it really that he can't find one?

No, it's that the wretched woman couldn't find a cheap eldest daughter-in-law who would come to her house to be her slave without asking for a single penny.

The Tang family has four branches. Although they are said to have separated, only the third branch has actually separated completely. The eldest branch still lives off the old couple, while the second son often goes back to try and get something. The fourth son is good at sweet talk and can always make the old lady happy, so she is willing to give him things. Although the old lady has no daughters, she treats her granddaughters other than the third branch as her real grandmother.

She hated Cao Amei and looked down on her, which extended to all her sisters, plus her good-for-nothing third son. This whole family deserved to be despised by her. So what if she married Zhang Yanhong? Zhang Yanhong got pregnant as soon as she entered the family, giving the old lady no chance to manipulate her. After having a son, she avoided the old lady with various excuses. The fact that they are now not too close or too distant is the biggest concession the new daughter-in-law has made.

Do they still want Tang Youtian to serve the other three wives to the death, just like before?

That's a dream.

The old lady didn't get any advantage, and her brothers, sisters-in-law, and other relatives, seeing that there was no profit to be made, became even less willing to associate with them.

But they're like flies; once they know someone is making money off them, they swarm in droves.

It was even worse than the actions of bandits.

Sure enough, Li started arguing with Tang Youjin that very night.

"What? You want to marry Cuicui off to that cripple from the Deng family? What are you thinking? That's your own daughter!"

Tang Youjin sneered, "Just because the Deng family can give three hundred yuan as a bride price, without that money, how are you going to get your eldest son a wife? That Miao family's daughter is already pregnant by your son. If you don't get married soon, her belly will get bigger and bigger. If you really accuse him of being a hooligan, he could be beheaded. Don't think I'm bluffing you!"

"Pah! With his ugly daughter, how dare he ask us for three hundred yuan? Why doesn't he just rob us?"

"Your son took a liking to that ugly woman, slept with her, and got her pregnant. That's the proof. So what if he stole you? If you're not happy, you don't have to marry her!"

One sentence left Li speechless with anger, and Tang Youjin continued to pour cold water on her.

"Tang Jiabao is twenty-five this year, Tang Jiabei is twenty-three, Tang Jiaqian is twenty-one, and Tang Cuicui is twenty. Our family has four older single men and women. If you don't hurry up and marry off your daughter while she's still desirable, even if you pay her off, she might not be willing to stay!"

To this day, Tang Youjin can only be thankful that Tang Cuicui is good-looking, with big breasts and a big butt, which are symbols of having sons. In addition, her mother gave birth to three sons in a row, and the Deng family, which had few offspring, took advantage of this and made their only son marry Tang Cuicui.

She's a bit pricey, but she's beautiful and has the figure to bear sons, so marrying her wouldn't be a bad deal.

Li Qingqing hesitated. Should she just marry her daughter off like this?

"Wouldn't she make a scene then?"

"It's an arranged marriage, she's my daughter. If she doesn't listen to us, does she expect to find someone else on her own?"

"But this is a new society now. If you do this, what if she gets upset and sues you?"

"Even if she sues me, I'm still her father. She has to marry into the Deng family, whether she likes it or not!"

Li Qingqing's gaze drifted, and she thought of the daughters of the third branch of the family. Her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"Don't just think about how you have a daughter. The third brother's family has plenty of daughters too. Each one is worth three hundred yuan. How many three hundred yuan's worth could they sell for?"

Tang Youjin sneered, "You stupid woman, do you think they're still the same as when you used to do whatever you wanted? Now that they've severed ties with the third brother, do you think they'll listen to your uncle and aunt's arrangements? Besides, with their terrible reputations, who would want them?"

"As long as she's a woman, why wouldn't anyone want her? And look at those vixens, they're not bad looking. One of them even works at a winery. If you pull a little strings, they can make a fortune. We have three sons, each gets three hundred. How can you expect to get married with less money for the other two?"

These words really hit a nerve with Tang Youjin. Thinking about how Lao Er looked at Cuihua and the others today, his heart tightened.

Could it be that the second son and his wife are also eyeing them?

His eldest and second sons are not young anymore and should be getting married. Given how stingy they are, they probably won't be willing to spend their life savings.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt there was a chance for this, especially after his wife casually mentioned it, which made him even more interested.

"I heard that the price is even higher if sold to other places. There are many men in the mountains who can't find wives. In some families, several brothers pool their money to marry one man, and the bride price can be extremely high. If we can really get things done, our Cui Cui won't have to marry a cripple, right?"