Chapter 29 - 029 Tian Manlan

Sisi knew that Man Lan was still quite fortunate; although the man she married was unreliable, the three sons she bore all turned out to be very promising—two with post-doctorates and one with a doctorate. Later on, they all settled in the United States and brought Man Lan over with them. Jizu, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky and didn't live to see his sons' success. It seemed he passed away due to some incident, which should have occurred within the last decade or so. However, Sisi couldn't recall the exact year. Man Lan also had significant wealth in the form of a large arborvitae forest that had been allocated to Jizu during the household division of responsibilities. Arborvitae was a major local product of Huangkeng Village, only this piece of land could cultivate it. In later years, this nut has become extremely popular, fetching nearly two hundred yuan per half kilogram. The people of Huangkeng Village enriched themselves by growing arborvitae, with every household affording cars and houses. But now that everyone lacked food to eat, arborvitae was no longer valued—people would only use it as a snack for their children or to give relatives a taste. Sisi's house had plenty of fried arborvitae that Man Lan had sent over, which tasted exceptionally good. Besides arborvitae, the mountains of Huangkeng Village were also abundant with tea trees and bamboo, which could be converted into money. Dealers from the purchasing station in the town would often come to buy them. Therefore, when Jizu's parents divided their property, the financially valuable tea and bamboo mountains were given to the eldest and youngest sons, leaving Jizu, the middle son, with the least valuable arborvitae forest. Jizu never worked and was too lazy to fuss over it, so he agreed to the division. Man Lan knew the true value of it, but she was naturally meek and dared not object, so she accepted the short end of the stick without complaint. However, this arborvitae forest started to become trendy by the late 1990s. Jizu's eldest brother and younger brother wanted to reclaim it, but by that time, although Jizu was gone, Man Lan's three sons had all accomplished great things. Though they didn't care for the profit from the forest, they didn't want to let their uncle and younger uncle benefit from it cheaply, so they asked their second uncle, Man Yin, to look after it, with all earnings going to him. As soon as Sisi and Xinhua entered the village, they saw a group of kids bullying three little ones. The oldest protected the two younger ones under him, shielding his head with his hands, while a rain of punches fell on him. Yet, the child was resilient and didn't utter a sound, his eyes staring defiantly at the children hitting him, as if committing their faces to memory. Upon seeing the child's face, Xinhua hurriedly ran over to chase the children away. The bullies, merely seven or eight years old, scattered in fright upon seeing the tall and sturdy Xinhua. Only then did Sisi remember that the three children on the ground were indeed her little aunt Man Lan's sons. The eldest was Jianguo, aged 9; followed by Weiguo, aged 6; and the youngest, Baoguo, aged 3. At the moment, little Weiguo and Baoguo were crying with faces covered in tears and snot, nowhere near the appearance of future elite socialites. Sisi felt a bit like laughing—if only she had a camera to capture the little ones' expressions, to show them when they make it big. It would definitely be amusing. But she didn't have the mood to dwell on that now. Why were the village children bullying Jianguo and his brothers? Sisi wiped the little ones' faces clean with a handkerchief and then took out some cookies given by her fourth aunt's husband to share with the three of them. Weiguo and Baoguo, fascinated by the cookies, stopped crying and began to eat eagerly. Jianguo, however, did not eat but put the cookie into his pocket, intending to bring it back for Man Lan to eat. Sisi felt a pang of heartache—their father was irresponsible, their mother too weak, and this nine-year-old boy had already taken on too much of the family's burden. She softly encouraged Jianguo to eat the cookies and showed him the entire bag of cookies in her basket, indicating that there was plenty to eat without worry. Only then did Jianguo carefully retrieve the cookie from his pocket and nibble on it bit by bit. Jianguo explained what had happened—it was the children of his uncle and younger uncle who had instigated the issue. Because of their grandparents' favoritism, Jianguo and his brothers were often bullied by their cousins, with their grandparents only ever scolding them. Their mother could only cry, so they had to bear it or try to stay away from them. They wanted to keep the peace, but their cousins seemed to be addicted to bullying them, often rallying other village children to join them. Hearing this, Sisi's eyebrows furrowed in anger—those bastards, do they think the Tian Family has no one to stand up for them? Xinhua, too, was furious; he rarely visited his little aunt, and hadn't realized how tough Man Lan's life was. No way, the daughter of the Tian Family couldn't be mistreated by outsiders like this. The siblings exchanged looks, understanding each other's thoughts. Sisi took Jianguo's hand and said, "Jianguo, just watch how I avenge you guys later. Hmph, daring to bully the Tian Family, I'll teach them a lesson." As she spoke, Sisi waved her little fists. Jianguo looked at Sisi's small frame and said cautiously, "Sister Zhaodi, I'm fine. Don't go looking for them." "Call me Sister Sisi, with the Sisi that means to think back with mixed feelings. From now on, I'm Tian Sisi. Don't worry, Jianguo, they wouldn't dare do anything to me and Brother Xinhua." Sisi's words carried confidence; in this era, she had the support of Mr. Tian, a major patriarch in Wangjiazhen. A little matter like sticking up for her cousin was not a problem at all. Only Man Lan, the pushover, would be bullied like this. Weiguo and Baoguo were a bit younger and didn't think as much as their big brother Jianguo, so when they heard Tian Sisi say she would take revenge for them, they both jumped up in excitement. Weiguo exclaimed loudly: "Sister Zhaodi, ..." "Sisi," Tian Sisi corrected again. Weiguo was pretty quick-witted—no wonder he later became a postdoctoral researcher—he immediately corrected himself, "Sisi, Shou Liguo is the worst, always the one hitting hardest; you've got to thrash him real good later, Sisi." "Is Shou Liguo the slightly chubby kid, about ten years old?" "Yeah, that's him. He's my uncle's son. Grandpa and Grandma favor him the most, giving him all the good food," Shou Weiguo nodded. "Alright, just wait and see how Sisi gives Shou Liguo a beating, turning his butt into three pieces." "Yes, into three pieces! So he can't even poop anymore." Tian Sisi: "...." She picked up a wooden stick from the ground, weighed it in her hand; it felt quite right, perfect for beating dogs. Tian Xinhua watched Ah Nan with a proud and heroic stance, not stopping her. That's how a girl from the Tian Family should be—bullied to this extent, how could she not fight back? Just that softie Auntie, not at all like a member of the Tian Family. Shou Jianguo led them back to his place. As soon as they stepped into the yard, they heard a powerful scolding from an old lady: "You bitch who threw herself at our door, none of the sons you raised are any good, and you still dared to hit my grandson? If Liguo got injured, I'll beat those three little brats to death." Granny Zhao's "threw herself at our door" had its reasons; originally because Tian Manlan insisted on marrying Shou Jizu, the Old Man, in a fit of anger, said: "If you insist on marrying that good-for-nothing, your mother and I won't give you a penny for your dowry." It's known that a bride's dowry represents her face and status. Even the poorest families would borrow money to prepare a dowry like chamber pots, washbasins, and cotton quilts for their daughters when marrying them off, lest they lose face and get looked down upon by the in-laws. That's why the Old Man used this to pressure Tian Manlan, thinking it would scare her, but Tian Manlan stood firm, even declaring even without a penny for dowry, she would still marry him. This infuriated the Old Man to the point where he let Granny Zhao know she didn't need to care about the daughter's wellbeing anymore, not preparing any dowry, not even hiring a matchmaker, and not even hosting a wedding feast. Tian Manlan and Shou Jizu just went to the town to get a marriage certificate and then lived together. After the marriage, Tian Manlan wanted several times to return home for the New Year but was always turned away at the door by the Old Man. He did give red envelopes to the three children but didn't allow them inside the house. That's why Old Mrs. Shou scolded Tian Manlan as a whore who threw herself at their door. At that time, this was an extremely offensive utterance already. Tian Xinhua and Tian Sisi's expressions changed upon hearing this; that old lady was attacking their Tian Family's reputation! Humph, failing to get a daughter-in-law for her own son, yet she dares to criticize our aunt for not having a dowry. PS: Old Yang doesn't know about customs in other places, but where Old Yang lives, if a girl doesn't have a dowry, she indeed gets looked down upon by the husband's family.