My Childhood Sweetheart Is a Crazy Beauty-Chapter 70 - How Evil Can Human Nature Be
70: Chapter 70 How Evil Can Human Nature Be?
70 -70 How Evil Can Human Nature Be?
Tang Jianjun had treated Tang Chuxia to a bowl of noodles and promised to buy her a gift when he got back.
This temporarily appeased the agitated Tang Chuxia.
The process didn’t prevent the two from buying some canned snacks and fruits before they hired a donkey cart to visit Jianjun’s comrade.
This comrade had been incapacitated during a diving mission when a giant clam clamped onto his leg.
After being rescued, his leg was left useless.
He had since retired and returned to his hometown to farm.
When they arrived, they happened to meet the comrade returning home from the fields.
Tang Jianjun warmly embraced his comrade, while Tang Chuxia curiously observed the village.
However, calling it a ‘village’ wasn’t quite right, it was by then referred to as a ‘team’, and the village was called Honghe Team.
Tang Jianjun introduced Tang Chuxia to his comrade who was very welcoming and even instructed the village children to call their mothers who were still working in the fields.
Then, he led them to his home.
On the way, Tang Chuxia was deeply moved.
Only while riding in the donkey cart did she understand what it was to feel her buttocks bounced to bits, and she also realized why, after the economic reforms, the country heavily invested in infrastructure.
Whoever experienced that muddy road, especially the pottery holes hidden under the dust which appeared unexpectedly, would understand; the donkey cart seemed to have its own bounce function.
If there wasn’t something heavy on the cart, the moment the donkey sped up, you’d be flung into the air.
When she got off the cart, Tang Chuxia felt her soul had soared to another dimension, feeling dazed.
As the discomfort from the ride hadn’t completely subsided, she saw many village children playing in rags with toes poking out and turned purple from the cold, yet they lay in the snow playing.
She couldn’t understand what work there was to be done in such weather.
Were there still crops in the fields?
But when she observed the people busy outside, she realized they weren’t tending to crops but digging trenches.
Every winter, when they weren’t planting, everyone started digging trenches because the frozen ground was incredibly hard to break through.
She asked why they didn’t dig in summer.
The answer: Too busy!
Whenever work started it was collectively organized, and they went wherever there was work to earn work points.
The comrade invited them into his home.
Only then did Tang Chuxia realize this wasn’t what she imagined as a rural courtyard.
She remembered once visiting a tribe in South Africa and seeing adobe houses where the yard walls were made of branches stuck into the ground.
Perhaps because the owner was disabled, everything seemed carelessly done; not only was the snow not shoveled from the roof, but there were also large cracks in several places.
The temperature inside the house wasn’t much warmer than outside.
How did they manage to sleep at night?
Tang Chuxia was shocked by what she saw.
Tang Jianjun, meanwhile, had set down the things, removed his cotton coat, handed it to Tang Chuxia, and found a shovel to start clearing the snow off the roof.
Tang Chuxia: …
So, her older brother had come here to work.
The comrade handed Tang Chuxia a bowl of hot water, somewhat embarrassedly said, “I’ve made a fool of myself in front of our young lady!”
Tang Chuxia took the tea, unconcerned by the chipped coarse porcelain bowl, and smiled, “Not at all, we’re the ones who arrived late!”
The man grew even more embarrassed and flushed.
“Actually, my house wasn’t always like this!”
Tang Chuxia was curious.
Could there be another story?
Cradling the coarse porcelain bowl, the warmth comforted her a great deal.
“We split the family assets recently, and I haven’t had the chance to build a new house yet!”
He only said that, yet Tang Chuxia heard endless heartache in his words.
Considering what her second brother had told her, his comrade’s family had eight siblings, and he, being the fifth, used to send money home when he was a soldier and naturally received good treatment.
Now that he had retired, he was kicked out because he had no money to bring.
No wonder Tang Jianjun was the first to choose to come here; he probably thought his comrade was having a hard time and came to bring some supplies.
Her gaze fell on the rice and cooking oil her second brother had brought; no wonder he had told her she didn’t understand human feelings when she reminded him to buy more canned goods and snacks.
Thinking about it now, her brother understood best.
She didn’t feel it was her place to comment on the matter, she could only say, “It’s actually good that you’ve separated; you and your sister-in-law can live your own small life now!”
The man gave a bitter smile and said nothing more.
He probably had many unspeakable difficulties that he couldn’t mention.
After Tang Jianjun finished shoveling snow, he jumped down from the roof, “I see many broken tiles on the roof that need replacing.
Do we have any spare ones at home?
If not, I’ll go find the secretary of the Honghe Team!”
The man held Tang Jianjun back from going, clearly knowing there were no spare tiles at home.
Tang Chuxia looked at Tang Jianjun puzzled, “When he was sent back before, he was given a job. freeweɓnovel.cøm
There’s no way he should have to live in a house like this!”
He pointed at the man in frustration and shouted, “Where’s your job?”
The man gave a bitter smile, “I’m crippled, wouldn’t any job I take just add trouble for others?”
Tang Jianjun shouted, “Stop talking nonsense, how could it be troublesome?
That’s a position our regiment commander arranged for you.
If anyone despises you, I’ll take care of them!”
The man said softly, “My younger brother took my place!”
Tang Jianjun became even more furious, almost hitting his honest comrade had Tang Chuxia not timely pulled him back.
There was nothing that could really be done about this situation.
Tang Jianjun, worried he might literally die from anger, headed out to find the Honghe Team’s secretary to deal with the tiles; he couldn’t let his comrade freeze to death in the fierce winter.
Was this year even going to be bearable?
Seeing the man about to run after him, Tang Chuxia hurriedly stopped him, “Second brother’s temper is just like this; holding him back won’t do any good!”
The man’s smile was uglier than his crying.
“I know I’ve let everyone down!”
He squatted on the ground, the pant leg of his missing limb hanging down, touching the snow on the ground, looking extremely pitiful.
Tang Chuxia didn’t offer any words of sympathy, instead, she asked, “Do you really have no regrets?”
The man rubbed his face, “What’s the use of regretting?
I’m the older brother; it’s only through me giving up the job that he could get married.”
Tang Chuxia…
She couldn’t quite understand his actions.
But every family has its own difficult scripture which others can’t recite, so it wasn’t her place to say anything.
She only felt that the future might be troublesome.
As she was unsure what to say next, someone pushed open the gate.
It was a thin woman in a cotton-padded jacket patched over with more patches and short hair.
When the woman saw Tang Chuxia, she was stunned for a while until the man introduced her as Tang Jianjun’s sister.
“Big sister, come in and warm up!”
The woman carried a good amount of firewood inside.
In the middle of the room was a dug pit where she started the fire.
The orange flame illuminated the dilapidated house, and though the cold wind was still blowing in, it brought some warmth.
“Big sister, are you hungry?
I’ll make some food!”
After saying so, the woman lifted the lid of the flour container.
Tang Chuxia peeked inside.
There was only a thin layer inside; the woman carefully scraped half a bowl of flour after a long time.
A whimper slowly emerged, and suddenly the woman broke down in tears, “We can’t live like this anymore!”
