WBSGVS Chapter 118

“The communal dining hall shut down two years ago. Now, everyone eats what they provide for themselves. To build our house, I had to borrow money, and your aunt got pregnant, but she miscarried. The doctor said her health is poor, and she can’t have children anymore. If I don’t risk everything, what else can I do?”

Tang Sisong’s tone seemed casual as if he were simply recounting events, but his weary eyes betrayed the exhaustion that weighed on him.

These days, life is hard for everyone. Complaining wouldn’t help. The only way to survive was to fight tooth and nail.

The black market was dangerous, but people still flocked to it in droves.

Qingli had only asked a casual question, never expecting Tang Sisong to respond so earnestly. His words struck a chord in her, leaving her at a loss for words.

Then, Tang Sisong added, “San’ya, if you ever run into Tang Tiantian, don’t have anything to do with her.”

“Huh?” Qingli blinked in confusion.

Tang Sisong explained, “The eldest branch of the family, being your grandparents’ firstborn, have truly mastered their ways. Tang Tiantian doesn’t have enough to eat or wear and works the fields every day. I felt sorry for her and gave her some food once.”

“But after that, she started targeting me. The first time, I gave her food; the second time, she outright demanded it. When I refused, she made a scene. By the third time, even though she caused a ruckus, I didn’t give in—we didn’t have enough for ourselves! Then she deliberately followed me to town and shouted at me while I was avoiding some people. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have almost gotten caught!”

Qingli: “…”

She glanced toward the empty alleyway, bewildered. Tang Tiantian wasn’t there now, but causing trouble at such a critical moment was utterly reckless—a true betrayal.

Qingli sighed. “You shouldn’t keep doing this, then. What if she comes after you again?”

Tang Sisong shook his head. “If I don’t do this, what else can I do? I don’t have connections, and I’m not skilled enough to get a factory job.”

Qingli thought for a moment before suggesting, “Uncle Si, let’s start a business together. I’ll teach you to identify medicinal herbs. You can gather them from the mountains and bring them to me. I’ll process them, and you sell them. We’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.”

With the situation not yet completely dire, she figured it was best to earn as much as possible while they still could. In a few years, when money became harder to come by, she’d focus on her studies instead.

“Medicinal herbs?” Tang Sisong looked puzzled. “San’ya, since when did you know anything about that?”

Before Qingli could respond, he waved his hand to stop her. “Never mind, don’t tell me. I get it now. No wonder you and your mother moved out, and the Li family helped build your house. I thought they were just being generous.”

At the time, he’d found it strange. Normally, families wouldn’t build houses for daughters, even if the parents were willing. The sons wouldn’t allow it—certainly not a situation like theirs.

In his own family, the house had gone to the eldest son, not to someone like Tang Tiantian.

Qingli smiled. “Uncle Si, since you understand, do you want to do it or not?”

She was eager to find a partner. The deep mountains near Tang Village, though restricted, had plenty of medicinal herbs growing on the lower slopes and foothills. The potential profits were significant.

Tang Sisong nodded eagerly, his eyes lighting up. “I’m in! Tell me what to do—I’ll follow your lead. And forget fifty-fifty; give me thirty percent, that’s enough!”

Even a little extra income would be a big improvement over his current situation. He could imagine how much Qingli was making; even thirty percent was a fortune!

Qingli shook her head. “I don’t have time to sell the herbs. You’ll handle that, so it’s fifty-fifty. Wait here while I go back to school to grab some paper and sketch out the plants for you.”

“Alright!” Tang Sisong quickly followed her.

Qingli had skipped grades over two years, completing five years of elementary school in that time. Now, she was attending junior high in town.

Half an hour later, Qingli returned with paper in hand, displaying sketches of several medicinal herbs. The drawings were simple yet vividly captured the essence of the plants.

Tang Sisong pointed at one sketch excitedly. “I know this one! It grows all over the fields. Is it medicinal?”

Qingli nodded with a smile. “Yes, but this one isn’t worth much. It’s just for practice.” She then explained how to identify and harvest each herb, along with other important details.

When they were done, Qingli gave him a warning. “Uncle Si, you need to keep an eye on Tang Tiantian. She only bullies those who seem weak. If she fears you, she won’t dare mess with you. Otherwise, even our herb business might not last long.”

While Qingli didn’t know much about Tang Tiantian personally, her memories painted her as an extreme opportunist. She never hesitated to exploit anything that benefited her. For instance, she had no qualms about selling Qingli for personal gain.

This time was no different. Tang Sisong didn’t give her food or help her, so she retaliated by making trouble for him.

Their father, Tang Dashun, had left the family in shambles, and their mother, Qian Guiying, treated their sons as tools. The children they raised needed to be dealt with firmly.

Tang Sisong hesitated. “It’s not that I can’t handle her, but she’s sly. With the village already looking down on our family, even if I discipline her, she’ll make a scene, and the whole village will know. Sometimes she even causes a ruckus for the brigade leader.”

Who had the time or energy to deal with her? And considering how the eldest branch behaved, they resorted to underhanded tactics. He couldn’t even stoop to that level because Tang Tiantian didn’t live with them.

Qingli smiled knowingly. “What if she’s the one who makes the first mistake?”

Tang Sisong’s gaze darkened as understanding dawned.

When he returned to the village near midday, he spotted Tang Tiantian at the crossroads. She looked filthy, like a beggar, and his expression immediately hardened.

She saw him too and smirked defiantly. “Fourth Brother, are you going to give me food or not? If you don’t, don’t blame me if you get caught.”

Tang Sisong pressed his lips together. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing much,” Tang Tiantian said with a tilt of her head, extending her hand. “I’m starving. Big Brother and Sister-in-law won’t give me food. They cook for themselves every day, and I can’t do anything about it.”

In just two years, she had grown cunning, resorting to any means necessary to secure food.

With their parents in prison, no one would protect her anymore. The elder brother and sister-in-law, who once treated her kindly, had turned hostile after inheriting the family property. If she ate even a little more, they mocked her. Sometimes, they deliberately ate early to avoid feeding her.

When she came back, all that was left was watery porridge so thin it resembled soup.

Throwing tantrums didn’t help—being able to eat even that was already considered a blessing.

In the first six months, Tang Tiantian would still instinctively act spoiled. At first, her eldest brother and sister-in-law would endure it, but after just a few instances, her sister-in-law began hitting her.

At only eleven years old, how could she possibly fight back?

As time went on and her food portions dwindled, she resorted to stealing and snatching. In response, their beatings grew harsher, and the food they gave her grew scarcer. Every day, Tang Tiantian lived through hunger and pain.

There were times when her body ached and her stomach was empty, and she genuinely thought she was going to die. At that point, she decided she wouldn’t tolerate it anymore. If she was going to suffer, she would make as much noise as possible.

Even though the brigade leader was already sick of her antics, whenever she went to him, he had no choice but to intervene. That kept her from getting beaten too much and ensured she wouldn’t starve to death.

But even with the brigade leader’s help, there was no way she’d be eating well. She ended up as skinny and malnourished as Tang San’er had been, her face pale and her development stalled.

After all, how could the whole family be eating poorly while she got better food?

Of course, the rest of the family secretly had their meals.

When Tang Tiantian was on the verge of despair, her fourth brother gave her a little food, and it was like seeing hope while drowning. But nobody told her how to properly show gratitude to someone who showed her kindness. She only knew that if she wanted more, she’d have to cause trouble.

That’s how things escalated to this point.

Tang Tiantian’s entitled demands and her tendency to create chaos when denied painted a pitiful yet revolting picture. Tang Sisong had never liked this sister of his. Seeing her like this now, his gaze turned cold, but he smiled on the surface. “Fine. I’ll give you something.”

He pulled out two fifty-cent coins.

Tang Tiantian’s eyes lit up with joy. Without a second thought, she reached out to take them. Once she confirmed the money was real, she exclaimed, “Wow!”

But before she could celebrate further, Tang Sisong’s face darkened. Without warning, he kicked her hard.

“Bam!”

She hit the ground, stunned. Before she could even cry out in pain, a flurry of blows rained down on her.

Grinding his teeth, Tang Sisong cursed as he struck her, “You think I owe you something? If you’d asked nicely, maybe I’d have pitied you and given you some extra food. But you dare act like this? Did you think I wouldn’t hit you?”

“Aaahhh!” Tang Tiantian finally screamed as the pain overwhelmed her.

Tang Sisong didn’t hold back. Though his initial kick had been out of anger, he focused most of his strikes on her backside—where the flesh was thicker and less likely to cause serious injury but would still hurt plenty.

Slap after slap landed until Tang Tiantian collapsed on the ground, too scared to resist, sobbing loudly, “It hurts! Stop, please!”

Tang Sisong remembered Tang San’er’s advice: strike fear into her so she wouldn’t dare cause trouble again. Determined, he didn’t stop.

When his hand grew tired, he picked up a stick from the roadside.

“Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!”

The stick struck harder than his hand, causing Tang Tiantian to wail even louder.

By the time Tang Sisong finally stopped, she was huddled on the ground, trembling. Whenever he raised his hand, she instinctively flinched but didn’t dare move, afraid of provoking him further.

Their commotion dragged on until nearly quitting time.

A woman passing by on her way home to cook stopped and stared at the scene, surprised. “What’s going on here?”

“Help! My fourth brother’s gone crazy and is beating me for no reason!” Tang Tiantian immediately shouted, her voice full of desperation.

The woman’s expression shifted as she looked between them.

Tang Sisong chuckled coldly, calmly taking back the money from her hand and holding it up. “This kid tried to steal from me. What do you think? Should I have let her get away with it? If this were reported to the police, she’d be in big trouble.”

The woman’s face turned scornful as she glanced at Tang Tiantian. “She deserves it! Lying and stealing—what kind of upbringing is that? If she’s like this now, imagine what a menace she’ll be when she grows up!”

Tang Tiantian, who had been hoping for support, froze in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Before she could defend herself, Tang Sisong raised the stick again.