Chapter 34: Tao Daqiang Makes a Vow

Li Jianguo entered from outside, took off his hat after closing the door, and cursed under his breath

"It's too cold! It's like the heavens don't want us to have a decent winter!"

"How is Xiaoxia's father?" Liang Yuemei asked, currently preparing meat to render oil in a pot.

"He's alright, he can get out of bed now." Li Jianguo shook his hat and placed it on the fire wall to warm up, then spoke while changing his shoes

"He's just exhausted, plus malnutrition. And he's still putting on an act with me—trying to give me money. I told him to shove it! Back when we were working together to dig that canal, that cornmeal bun he stuffed into my hand counted as payment. He just laughed and said that bun was truly precious, worth two big fish and a squealing chicken!"

Li Yuemei smiled but said nothing.

"Where are Juan and Qiangqiang?" Li Jianguo glanced around, seeing no one in the room, and asked.

"They took the whetstones to the Lu family's place to play. There's nothing good enough to keep her from showing off."

"That's normal. Lu Jiani is always showing off those two whetstones; look how green Juan gets with envy." Li Jianguo laughed. "Now that she has her own, won't she want to return them? Juan isn't the type to let herself be cheated."

"I wonder how the sale of the small dragon fish went today." Liang Yuemei changed the subject. "If it didn't sell well, we won't go netting tomorrow, right?"

"I think we still have to go. We can't just leave those two ice holes empty." Li Jianguo said. "After lunch, I'll go out and cast a few more nets to catch more. That way, Xiao Long and the others can head out early tomorrow."

"Then what are you doing in a bit?"

"What else? I have to process those remaining five squealing chickens. Then, on the second day of the New Year, you can take Juan and Qiangqiang back with two of them, plus some fish and mutton legs, so our parents can have a proper New Year too."

"Alright." Liang Yuemei smiled, feeling a sense of sweet satisfaction in her heart.

In the past two years, her parents had helped them quite a bit, and there had been no shortage of gossip. But neither her parents nor Li Jianguo had said a word. As the eldest son-in-law of the Liang family, Li Jianguo truly showed up whenever his father-in-law's family had trouble, standing firm. Back then, when Liang Wenyu was still a minor, people thought their family was easy to bully, but Li Jianguo had smoothed over every single incident.

Now that life was getting better, Liang Yuemei was even happier.

***

Li Long first took Tao Daqiang to the Tao family home. After dropping off the rice, flour, and meat, he pulled the sled and turned back home.

He felt the sled was still too slow; it would be great if he could get a bicycle.

Just as he was thinking this, Tao Daqiang rushed out from the courtyard and asked

"Brother Long, are we going again tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll go check the lake in a bit. If I can catch fish, we'll go again tomorrow."

"Then I'll come over right away," Tao Daqiang said excitedly.

Tao Jianshe looked at the piles of rice, flour, and the two kilograms of fat on the ground, feeling a bit dazed.

His son had struck it lucky!

But if his own family had done this, wouldn't they have earned even more?

After all, if his son could bring back this much, the Li family's second son must be taking double.

It seemed this fish-selling business was worth pursuing!

Tao Daqiang entered the house and saw his father's eyes darting over the items on the ground; his heart immediately felt heavy.

"Go, cut a piece of meat and take it to your brother," Tao Jianshe ordered. "Your brother has children; take some rice and flour over there as well."

"I'm not taking anything!" Tao Daqiang said with a dark face. "My brother's family slaughters pigs, and he only sends a small portion of meat to his father-in-law's house, while giving us nothing but a pig's head and trotters. I'm the one who cuts grass for that pig every single day in the summer—does he ever think of me? Every year I give him all the fine grains; am I not even human?"

For the past two days, Tao Daqiang had felt a sense of oppression every time he came home, making him want to go out constantly.

But today, he knew that the moment he stepped out, his father would send these things to his elder brother's house.

He didn't want the things he worked so hard for to go to that elder brother who hardly ever gave him the time of day.

Actually, Tao Dayong hadn't been like this before, but after getting married and splitting the household, his behavior had changed more and more.

Tao Jianshe raised his tobacco pipe as if to strike Tao Daqiang, but seeing his younger son's stubborn gaze, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.

"He's your brother!"

"His family's conditions aren't any better than ours, so why doesn't he know how to look out for this side? He took the wood I hauled back, he took the fish I caught; now that there's nothing left to burn, you add that tiny bit of coal every day—how does he not know to send some coal over?"

Tao Daqiang was originally a simple-minded person and rarely spoke so much at once.

It was also because he had seen how good the relationship was between the brothers Li Long and Li Jianguo, while his own relationship with his brother had turned out like this.

Was he supposed to give unconditionally?

Just then, the door opened.

Tao Dayong walked in. Seeing the items on the ground, his eyes lit up

"Oh, Daqiang, not bad! You hauled back so much? Good, good, very good! Looks like I'll get a landing net tomorrow so we can give it a try too."

He took off his hat and said while preparing to change his shoes

"Why is it so cold in here?"

"There's no coal left, and you hauled away the wood I brought back to burn, so of course it's cold!" Tao Daqiang said irritably. "Your house has coal; why don't you bring some over?"

"What are you talking about? How much coal could I possibly have? The wood looks fine; I was thinking of making some furniture in the spring. Can't you and that kid from the Li family just make a few more trips?"

"You think it's that easy?" Tao Daqiang had changed significantly over the last two days. He sat down with a cold sneer and looked at his brother. "Look at how many vehicles went out yesterday and how much they brought back."

Dayong's expression faltered for a moment, then he swatted Daqiang with his hat

"What's wrong with you? Did you swallow gunpowder? How are you talking to me?"

"Why can't I talk? You took the wood I hauled, you took the mutton legs I brought, you took the fish. Are you looking at what I brought back today planning to take that too?"

Tao Dayong froze.

He actually had intended to do exactly that.

But hearing it put so bluntly by his brother, the tone changed.

"Daqiang, what are you saying?" Tao Jianshe, not wanting his two sons to fight, scolded Tao Daqiang. "That's your brother's house, and those are your nephews!"

"I might be dim, but I'm not stupid! Out of those two mutton legs, at least one went to my sister-in-law's house, believe it or not?" Tao Daqiang suddenly felt the urge to vent everything he had been suppressing. "Dad and I haven't even had a bite!"

Tao Dayong fell silent.

Of the two mutton legs, his father had sent one over, and he had taken one back. He had let his wife send one to her parents' house that very same evening.

He had come over now because his wife had seen Li Long and Tao Daqiang returning with the sled and urged him to come and "share" the goods.

He had originally been used to it, but hearing his brother say it so directly, and seeing his father's increasingly aged face, Tao Dayong wanted to argue but didn't know what to say.

"I'll be going with Xiao Long to haul more wood later. Brother, that wood is meant to keep us burning until spring. Don't blame me for not making it clear—if you take it again, I won't be happy about it!"

In the end, Tao Dayong took nothing and slammed the door as he left.

Tao Jianshe spent a long time complaining to Tao Daqiang

"Why are you two brothers fighting? Your brother hasn't always been like this."

"Then let him live his own life; why does he have to take things from this side?" That was all Tao Daqiang had to say.

He was no longer afraid of his father scolding him. At worst, his father would go live with his brother's family, and he would be left in peace.

But his father wouldn't, and his sister-in-law wouldn't allow it.

Tao Daqiang didn't intend to take advantage of his brother, but he wanted to live a good life with his own two hands; he didn't want to be taken advantage of for nothing.