Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 19

Tang Dingyuan is stunned as he looks at the silly and happy Lu Baobao. Does this pretty girl even know that her parents have casually arranged a marriage for her?

However, Tang Dingyuan does not find the proposal unacceptable.

Though his affection for Lu Baobao is merely an instinctive appreciation for beauty, and he is too young to fully grasp the nature of romantic love, he at least does not dislike her. The Lu family has always treated him kindly. Tang Dingyuan feels that they can at least respect each other and support each other as written in the storybook.

Thus, he acquiesced to the proposal.

“Mother, since Yuan Ge’er is now part of our family, when we send Baojin and Baoyin to study, let’s take Yuan Ge’er along too,” Lu Jiafu says.

 Lu Jiafu thinks that if he accidentally lets this slip, so be it; it could be a good chance to bring Yuan Ge’er into the fold for his daughter. This way, when Yuan Ge’er becomes successful in the future, the couple from the third branch will not come to claim him for their daughter.

He always believes that the third brother is the most cunning in the family. Though seemingly quiet, he suspects that the third brother harbors the most hidden schemes.

“Since we are all family now, we should indeed send Yuan Ge’er to study,” Lu Miao echoes. 

Lu Miao gives her son a deep look. How did her son suddenly become so insightful? A child husband! She hadn’t even considered this option. A foster son and a son-in-law; it would be no different from a biological son. 

 The more she thinks about it, the better it seems. This way, Lu Baobao’s delicate condition can also be resolved.

Lu Jiafu and Xu Jiaoniang share a laugh, taking advantage of the situation once again.

Lu Baobao also giggles on the side; she hasn’t taken the idea of a child husband seriously at all. Having another brother is indeed a happy thing.

Tang Dingyuan feels a bit dazed. He lowers his head so no one can see the moisture in his eyes. 

What he thought would require careful planning and calculation has come so easily… 

These new relatives are much better than he expected.

　　******

“Your mother is really biased. What did I say? How strange she was yesterday to propose letting the second son raise the Tang family boy; turns out she is waiting for this!” As soon as Liu Lanhua returns to the room, she begins pounding on the quilt. “Bringing home a child out of nowhere is already troublesome enough. Now, spending everyone’s money to send him to school is just absurd! Do they have so much money they don’t know what to do with it? Jiahou, do you think your mother is bullying me? How come whenever I want to take something back to my family, she gives me that look? Isn’t she supposed to help her own family? She’d rather assist outsiders than help her own in-laws?”

Liu Lanhua cries as she wipes her tears. Several of her nephews back in her family are also of school age.

“That’s enough!”

Lu Jiahou feels upset as well. After closing the door behind them, his expression suddenly darkens.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s enough’? This time it’s not enough! They’re really bullying us.” Liu Lanhua kicks off her shoes and begins pounding on the kang (a traditional heated bed).

“If you have the guts, go and talk to Mother!” Lu Jiahou snaps at her in frustration.

“You’re yelling at me?” Liu Lanhua falls silent for a moment, but then her emotions intensify. “I say one wrong thing, and you actually yell at me? You heartless man! You just watch as our family is bullied, you soft and useless coward!”

As she shouts and curses, she starts scratching at Lu Jiahou.

“What do you want me to do?”

After being scratched several times and having blood drawn, Lu Jiahou, feeling frustrated after failing to defend himself, gets angry and grabs Liu Lanhua’s arms, throwing her forcefully onto the kang.

“Second Brother has already accepted him as his son-in-law. Now the boy from the Tang family isn’t just an adopted relative; my parents have agreed to send him to school. Can I still object? My eldest brother and sister-in-law don’t even say anything.” Seeing Liu Lanhua finally calm down, Lu Jiahou speaks with irritation.

As the old saying goes, the emperor favors the eldest son, and the people love the youngest. But that doesn’t apply in their family. The eldest brother is respected, the second brother is favored, while he, the youngest son, feels neglected and unvalued.

Lu Jiahou truly believes he is not inferior to the eldest son. Why should the bulk of the family business go to him just because he is born a few years earlier? 

And the second idiot in the family, who does nothing, is already so old yet still acts like a child, fawning over their parents, which makes Lu Jiahou feel disgusted. But his parents fall for it and are easily won over by him.

Lu Jiahou finally understands that his parents want his second brother to raise the boy from the Tang family because they hope he will become successful and eventually repay the second brother and his wife. His parents have been far-sighted, planning for the second son’s future all along.

It is so unfair. The eldest brother has the family business, the second brother has his parents’ careful planning, but what about him? What does he have?

“Say… why don’t we find a son-in-law for San Ya too?” Liu Lanhua sits up and whispers to Lu Jiahou. “Fu Ge’er, my eldest brother’s son, is eight this year. Of all my nephews, Fu Ge’er is the smartest. Why don’t we arrange a marriage for San Ya? Then we can ask Mother to pay for Fu Ge’er’s schooling. Once Fu Ge’er becomes successful, San Ya will enjoy a great fortune too.”

Liu Lanhua thinks this is a great idea. She has long wanted to strengthen ties with her mother-in-law’s family. Her mother and sisters-in-law have hinted at this idea before. However, she hasn’t decided whether her daughter should marry back into her own family or whether her son should marry one of her nieces.

Now that the second branch has set a precedent by sending their son-in-law to study, why can’t she do the same?

In Liu Lanhua’s view, her brothers and nephews have been held back by a lack of money. If her family had the means to send them to school, they might all be scholars by now.

“Stop it,” Lu Jiahou frowns, cutting off Liu Lanhua’s wild idea. “Don’t let those people from your mother’s family drag our daughter down.” 

 Speaking of the Liu family makes Lu Jiahou even angrier.

Back when his second brother was younger, he often fell ill, and it wasn’t faked—it was real. Because of this, Old Butcher Lu and Lu Miao spent more time caring for their sickly second son, and from the moment he was old enough to understand, Lu Jiahou disliked his brother.

Later, Lu Jiafu married the most beautiful girl from the neighboring village. At the time, Lu Jiahou was young and proud, and he believed his future wife should be no less than his brother’s. Despite his family’s objections, he insists on marrying Liu Lanhua.

Though Liu Lanhua’s appearance couldn’t compare to Xu Jiaoniang, she was still considered one of the prettiest girls in the countryside. Otherwise, the Liu family wouldn’t have dared to demand such a high bride price. 

His mother had tried to advise him back then, saying the Liu family didn’t have a good reputation, but Lu Jiahou, eager to outdo his brother, ignored her advice and married Liu Lanhua anyway.

Over the years, the Liu family constantly tries to take advantage of Liu Lanhua in various ways. Liu Lanhua, too, is attached to her family. Whenever she gets something good, she sends it back to them, which causes several arguments between her and Lu Jiahou.

In Lu Jiahou’s eyes, the men of the Liu family are just as useless as his second brother. He has seen Fu Ge’er, the nephew Liu Lanhua speaks of so fondly, several times. While Fu Ge’er has some cleverness, he often uses it to manipulate Liu Lanhua into giving him things. He is nothing compared to the boy from the Tang family.

How could someone like that ever be worthy of being his son-in-law?

“Explain to me clearly—how exactly is Fu Ge’er going to wrong our San Ya?”

Liu Lanhua is displeased. She wants to marry her daughter to her nephew for the sake of her daughter. That girl has the typical Lu family appearance—tall, strong, and not very attractive to men. Fu Ge’er, on the other hand, is decent-looking and delicate. She is even worried that Fu Ge’er might not find San Ya cute enough. 

Marrying her daughter back into her own family would ensure a close bond. Surely, her brother and sister-in-law wouldn’t mistreat their own niece.

“You’re not allowed to even mention this again. As San Ya’s father, I will decide her and Baotie’s marriages. Your job is to look after this household,” Lu Jiahou warns her, fed up. Lu Jiahou knows that when it comes to the Liu family, Liu Lanhua is blind. He doesn’t want to argue anymore and simply gives her a warning. “Don’t even think about arranging our child’s marriage without my permission. If you do, you can go back to the Liu family.”

Over the years, Lu Jiahou grows more and more irritated with this woman. If it weren’t for their two children, he would have divorced her long ago.

“What are you saying? Are you planning to divorce me?” Liu Lanhua is shocked, grabbing Lu Jiahou by the collar to confront him.

“Keep quiet!” Lu Jiahou pushes her away, straightens his collar, and turns to leave.

“Lu Jiahou, you’ve lost your conscience!” Liu Lanhua curses at him, but the only response is the sound of the door slamming shut.

“You Lu family are too much!” She collapses onto the floor, wailing. Liu Lanhua truly feels she has been wronged. 

Her husband’s attitude earlier doesn’t seem fake. Although Liu Lanhua has scolded him fiercely, she is afraid that Lu Laosan might actually divorce her, so the idea of drawing closer to her family is temporarily put aside.

But how can she help her family? 

Liu Lanhua grits her teeth. The Lu family is so heartless. They could easily help her family with just a little effort, but they all pretend not to see.

Her mother has mentioned that her eldest and fourth brothers have recently had more children, and her eldest nephew is about to get married. There are financial burdens everywhere. Over the years, the money her husband has saved from his private work has been used by her to support her family, yet even that help feels limited.

In Liu Lanhua’s view, her brothers just need an opportunity. If given the chance, with their cleverness, they would have soared to success long ago.

How can she help them? 

Liu Lanhua purses her lips. This time, her mother has asked for a significant sum of money—more than she can afford. She has to think this over carefully…

(TN Notes: Somehow this feels like a foreshadowing, or is that just me?) 

******

After returning to the house, Jiang Bai’e wants to create a fuss but holds herself back. 

Lu Jiafeng stops her from saying anything. “It’s about time for Baoyin to start school. We’ll need to prepare two gifts for the occasion.”

That’s right—one gift from the first family and another from the second family. No matter how you look at it, the first family won’t lose out. In contrast, the third family might have something to complain about this time.

“Besides,” Lu Jiafeng adds, “Scholar Tang has passed away. The only remaining old scholar in our village stopped accepting students a long time ago. The closest scholar to Santangkou now lives in Shilipu.” This is Lu Jiafeng’s second statement. 

Shilipu and Santangkou are separated by a small hill. A scholar named Xu lives there. He is in his early forties and has likely given up on pursuing the imperial examination. He has returned to his hometown and opened a private school to make a living.

The Lu family’s children are likely to attend school there. As it happens, Scholar Xu is actually Xu Jiaoniang’s cousin, meaning they are distantly related. Because of this, the Lu family might have to rely on their connections with the Xu family, who also live in Shilipu.

From Santangkou to Shilipu, it takes at least half an hour of walking at a brisk pace. If it is windy or rainy, the mountain road becomes slippery, and the children might even have to stay the night at the Xu family’s house.

If Jiang Bai’e argues with the second branch about Tang Dingyuan now, she will only be cutting off her own path. 

Lu Jiafeng sees the situation clearly. He believes that it is a good thing for the second branch’s children to go to school.

“I’ve been too narrow-minded,” Jiang Bai’e admits, her face flushing with embarrassment as she realizes her mistake. “I won’t interfere in the second branch’s affairs anymore.”

Perhaps she really doesn’t see things as clearly as her husband. Gritting her teeth, Jiang Bai’e makes a firm promise.

“I hope you’ll actually follow through this time,” Lu Jiafeng says slowly. They have argued about the second branch’s family many times over the years.

“I really will this time,” Jiang Bai’e insists, her cheeks growing even hotter. “Just wait and see if you don’t believe me.”

She pulls the door curtain open forcefully and goes into the house, looking as though she is fleeing in embarrassment.

******

“Second son, don’t go to the fields today. Take your brothers with you to your father-in-law’s house in Shilipu to discuss the children’s enrollment, and take Yuan’er to meet his relatives,” Lu Miao says, stopping Lu Jiafu, who is lazily preparing to head to the fields with a hoe in hand.

“Your wife is pregnant, so don’t let her go with you.” Noticing the second daughter-in-law, who is eager to tag along, Lu Miao gives her one sentence that quickly quells her idea.

“If Lu Baobao wants to go, take her along,” Lu Miao adds, her eyes gleaming with affection for her granddaughter, clearly indulging her.

“Alright, mother. I’ll take the children there right away. No need to prepare lunch for us today.”

Lu Jiafu moves swiftly, darting back to his room to change clothes. He loves visiting his father-in-law’s house the most. His father-in-law, mother-in-law, and all his brothers-in-law care for him deeply. Bringing Lu Baobao along today means they will surely treat him to a special meal.

He wonders if his sixth brother-in-law has gone hunting in the mountains recently. Last time, his mother-in-law made pheasant stew with mushrooms, and he eats two big bowls of it.

******

“Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Second Uncle… Little Uncle brought Baobao home!” A loud, excited male voice rings out from outside the Xu family courtyard, startling everyone inside. Moments later, a group of men rushes out of the house.

The Xu family is a large family in Shilipu, and Xu Jiaoniang’s family is famous for its thriving population. Xu Jiaoniang has seven brothers, and over the years, they have collectively fathered more than twenty sons. When Old Lady Xu gives birth to her daughter, Xu Jiaoniang, her oldest sons are already married. Despite being of a higher generation, Xu Jiaoniang is actually a few years younger than some of her eldest nephews.

By the time Lu Baobao comes along, some of her cousins are two generations older than her, while many of her younger nephews are the same age as her.

Strangely enough, daughters are rare in the Xu family. Her brothers have all fathered boys, some of whom are already married, but no one has given birth to a girl. Because of this, Xu Jiaoniang, the family’s sole daughter, becomes especially cherished, and Lu Baobao, in turn, also becomes the apple of the Xu family’s eye.

As soon as the announcement is made, a group of teenage boys comes rushing out, followed by a few little ones, ranging from three to five years old.

“Cousin! Cousin! Cousin!”

“Cousin! Cousin! Cousin!”

A swarm of boys surrounds Baobao, creating quite a spectacular scene.

Tang Dingyuan is left stunned, swallowing hard in disbelief.

But Lu Baobao is clearly used to this kind of reception. She greets her cousins and nephews one by one with ease. In her previous life, family planning policies limited the number of children, but here, without such restrictions, simply recognizing all her relatives feels like an exam.

After greeting everyone, Lu Baobao accurately calls out each person’s name and rank. Seeing the joy and excitement on the faces of her cousins and nephews, she discreetly wipes the sweat from her back.

Ah, the exhausting life of someone loved by thousands of people!