Chapter 002: Strange and Abnormal Mother

The old lady's scolding skills are top-notch.

Tang Shirong's heart was in turmoil, and she quickly lay down. She heard Mrs. Wang and Tang Shirong come in.

Mrs. Wang cried and said, "Why are you so stubborn? The three of us are still counting on you. It would be better to secretly help us than now! What can you do when you come out?"

She was furious and cried as she beat him, "You disobedient child! Why won't you listen! I raised you for nothing! We can't count on you even in our darkest hour!"

She exerted all her strength to beat him, and the slender young man was shaken by her, but he seemed not to feel any pain. He lowered his eyelashes and said calmly, "Mother, since grandmother has made up her mind to drive us out, she won't have a change of heart. I can't bear to see you suffer while I'm safe."

Mrs. Wang let go of him and cried, "How can she be so heartless, not even wanting you? If I had known this, I wouldn't have let you go..."

She choked up and looked at the two with resentment.

Tang Shirong didn't notice and walked into the room. He quickly walked to the bed, touched Tang Shirong's forehead, and carefully examined her face under the light. "Mother, is Yueyue feeling better today?"

Mrs. Wang just cried, and Tang Shirong sighed silently. He searched the room but found nothing.

He went out and found a few branches, tied them together, and quickly swept inside and outside the house. After sweating, he brought in two tree stumps as stools and busied himself for a while. The room finally looked somewhat habitable.

As it was getting dark, Tang Shirong went out and returned in less than a stick of incense time, carrying a broken iron pot, two bowls, and a small basket with two steamed buns and even a leek, which smelled fragrant from a distance.

Tang Shirong was the kind of person who liked to be in control and thoroughly understand the situation. She really wanted to know where these things came from. It definitely couldn't be from Granny Sun, and this child didn't seem like the type to beg for things. He must have exchanged something with someone.

But he had nothing valuable, so what did he exchange?

She couldn't figure it out, and Mrs. Wang didn't ask. She was pleased to see him bring back food and sat down to eat, sobbing.

Tang Shirong wiped his sweat, went out to fetch half a bucket of water, poured a bowl of water, and helped Tang Shirong up from the bed, calling her softly, "Yueyue? Yueyue?"

Tang Shirong opened her eyes suddenly.

The voice and the feeling were so familiar, just like her own brother.

Her brother was fifteen years older than her and had always doted on her. Despite her being skilled and tough on the set, he always treated her as the little sister he cherished. Even his wife said that he treated her like a daughter.

She really missed her parents, her brother, and her niece! Why did fate bring her here!

She held back her tears and looked at him.

The young boy, not yet fourteen, looked even younger, slim and handsome, with a dusty face and hair. His innocent deer-like eyes looked at her tenderly. "Yueyue, Brother is back. Here, have some water."

She looked at him for a while and slowly drank the water.

Tang Shirong helped her to the bed and put down the bowl. Mrs. Wang was sitting at the table, eating the steamed buns slowly, with a mournful expression but not slow in her movements.

Xiao Yao stood aside, her face thin, with only her big black eyes left, occasionally swallowing saliva but not daring to speak.

Tang Shirong poured another half bowl of water and fed Xiao Yao, whispering, "Mother, give some to Yao."

Mrs. Wang sighed and looked at him with a resentful gaze, just like a jealous wife looking at her husband defending a concubine.

Tang Shirong's hair stood on end, and at least ten stories of a twisted and jealous woman flashed through her mind.

Then Mrs. Wang took the remaining piece of steamed bun and gave it to Xiao Yao, who eagerly wolfed it down.

Tang Shirong washed his hands, split the remaining steamed bun in half, and gave one half to Tang Shirong.

As she took it, she smelled the same fragrant oil on the outside of the steamed bun, but the leek had already been eaten by Mrs. Wang.

The steamed buns here were similar to the steamed buns in later generations and didn't have any filling.

Tang Shirong could only smell the aroma and eat the steamed bun, which was coarse but surprisingly sweet, as she was really hungry.

When she looked up, Mrs. Wang had already taken the remaining piece of steamed bun and was eating it slowly.

Tang Shirong's hand paused.

Tang Shirong didn't seem surprised and drank half a bowl of cold water before starting to tidy up the room again.

So, the young brother didn't need to eat? What was the matter with Mrs. Wang?

She didn't leave any food for her son, nor did she leave the leek for her children. She shamelessly enjoyed the best treatment as if it were only natural and right?

Wasn't she acting more like a wolf than a mother? This was outrageous.

Tang Shirong didn't eat anything in the end.

The young boy worked in the yard until late at night. When he came in, Mrs. Wang and Xiao Yao were already fast asleep. Tang Shirong heard him come in, and as he washed his hands, she noticed that he seemed to have injured his hand while working.

Then he came over and wiped his hands on his clothes, gently touched Tang Shirong's forehead, and softly called her, "Yueyue, be a good girl and go to sleep."

It feels like she has found a fulcrum. On the first night in this time and space, she fell asleep in his simple words.

When she woke up in the morning, it was just getting light. Tang Shiyue moved a bit and felt sore all over, but at least she could move her limbs.

She glanced at the bed and saw Wang Shi sleeping inside, covered in her own outer garment, sleeping soundly. Xiaoyao probably felt cold, as she had burrowed under the straw, only revealing half of her dark and messy head, looking like a little dog.

Tang Shiyue furrowed her brows.

Wang Shi seemed like a weirdo and couldn't be relied on. She needed to find a chance to "recover" as soon as possible.

She groped her way up and, with the light coming through the broken window, checked her body. There were long, thin marks on her body, with bruises and marks on her face, arms, and legs. She couldn't see her back, but it felt painful, and she didn't know how many there were.

But she remembered many things, except for why she was injured. She only heard people in the village gossiping that she had been sold to someone. She needed to find someone to ask for details.

Thinking this, Tang Shiyue leaned against the wall and walked outside.

The courtyard originally had three main rooms and two side rooms on each side, all made of adobe. Now they were collapsed and dilapidated, with grass growing on the broken walls. The only place that could be lived in was this half main room on this side.

Tang Shirong had built a mud stove next to the collapsed half of the main room, made of stacked stones without any mud plaster, but it looked surprisingly sturdy.

The courtyard gate was tied with branches, and thorns were stuck in the broken walls. The collapsed stones and mud were all piled up in one corner of the courtyard, leaving a large part of the courtyard empty. In this way, the dilapidated house, abandoned for who knows how many years, had some signs of life.

It was probably because this child thought that there was no one to take care of him at the Confucian school, so he rushed to do all the work.

He was a good child, taking on the responsibility of an older brother at such a young age.

Suddenly, there was a voice outside the courtyard wall: "Little troublemaker! Come out!"

Tang Shiyue frowned, stepped on a stone, and leaned against the courtyard wall to look outside.

Two children were pulling and tugging at the entrance of the Tang family. Tang Shirong was carrying a broken wicker basket with some wild vegetables inside, trying to avoid the other child, but the basket was torn apart, and the vegetables were scattered all over the ground.