The Cultivator's Reborn to 1970s-Chapter 169 - 141:

The village chief’s family bought a television; you could see people inside it, which was really rare. All the old folks and kids in the village went to his house to watch. Some time ago, your uncle also went to have a look and found it magical; he talked about it for days. He was just sitting in the house for a while, saying he wanted to go to the village chief’s house to ask about the price and where to buy it. I guess he might also want to buy one to bring back."

Zhao Li glanced at Lan Tian, feigning jealousy, "Ah, you didn’t think to bring one back for us to watch during your absence, only remembering to buy it once you returned. Your heart really is out of reach."

Lan Tian hugged Zhao Li and acted like a spoiled child, "My uncle is so good to me, and my aunt is even better!"

"You’re so big and still pulling this act, go away," Zhao Li laughed and pushed Lan Tian away, her fingers lightly tapping on Lan Tian’s head, "You think you’re still a child, shamelessly sulking whenever."

Lan Tian smiled with narrowed eyes and shamelessly said, "No matter how old I am, in your eyes, I’ll always be a child."

"Flattery won’t get you anywhere. These are things your grandma picked out to send to Shitou, Tie Jun, and Black Dog’s families. You probably don’t know; they’re all making a fuss about joining the army, causing a ruckus in the village. What grand ideas these kids have nowadays, not listening to their parents?" Zhao Li sighed and glanced at Lan Tian again.

Lan Tian, with an embarrassed smile, quickly took the three items from the table and made an escape, "Aunt, I’ll deliver these to their homes."

"Be careful, the ground outside is slippery," Zhao Li called out to Lan Tian, who was dashing to the door.

"I know."

...

The snow that fell for a week finally stopped, and the weather cleared, slowly melting the snow on the road.

Early in the morning, Mo Yuanle went to the village chief’s house to pull back an ox cart. It was too cold, and Lan Tian was still in bed. Grandma Sun hadn’t gotten up either. Lan Tian, half asleep, heard Zhao Li and Mo Yuanle talking in the hall and turned over to sleep some more.

After waking up and not seeing Zhao Li and Mo Yuanle, Grandma Sun was warming herself by the fire in the hall, "Grandma, where are uncle and aunt?"

"They went to town, come eat breakfast after you wash up."

Lan Tian replied, washed up, and came to have breakfast.

At noon, Mo Yuanle and Zhao Li returned with not only New Year goods but also a television.

The village was once again astir; many people ran to Lantian’s house to watch how Mo Yuanle was going to set it up. When the village chief bought a television last time, everyone didn’t know about it until they heard people in the village talking, and by the time they went to watch, it had already been set up.

The night before, when Mo Yuanle went to borrow the ox cart from the village chief’s house, many people were there watching TV, and when they heard him say he was going to buy a television, everyone waited in their homes. Once they heard the mooing of the ox, they knew he was back and swarmed over to watch.

There’s nothing much to see with the television; it’s just a box, with wires on top of the box, and everyone had different ideas on how to assemble the antenna and put it up on the roof.

"Bro, you’re not installing it right, are you?"

Mo Yuanle, armed with a screwdriver and assembling the antenna, was surrounded by onlookers who were speaking.

"I saw the village chief’s antenna; it’s not set up like this."

"You think you can do better? Go ahead and install it yourself. You talk as if you’d know how," someone interjected, unable to watch any longer.

The villager who spoke before now chuckled and kept silent; this thing was too precious, costing hundreds of dollars. If he broke it, he couldn’t afford to pay.

Zhao Li and Grandma Sun were happily watching from the kitchen. After boiling water for a while, Zhao Li took the teapot and bowls out, pouring tea for everyone. The villagers weren’t fussy and held their bowls to drink tea. On such a cold day, drinking something warm made the whole body feel hot and thoroughly comfortable.

Lan Tian, Chunhua, and Yanhua were reading books over at the Medicine House. Mo Yuanle had prepared a fire barrel specifically for them, and Grandma Sun lit some charcoal for them inside it.

The fire barrel is specially used in the south for warming up in the winter; it’s about the size of a dining table and waist-high, square, with an upper and a lower layer. The bottom has a large iron basin for burning charcoal; the top layer is for resting feet. A family can sit around it, and if they throw an old blanket over their knees to trap the heat inside, it’s comfortably warm.

Just after reading a few pages, they heard noise from the other room. The three lifted their heads and looked out the window to see people moving around the courtyard.

"Lan Tian, did your uncle really buy a television?" Chunhua asked Lan Tian with a smile.

"Mhm," Lan Tian replied blandly, his eyes brimming with laughter.

"Your uncle is so good to you. He was worried you’d be bored at home since he got back, and even I am envious," Chunhua teased.

Yanhua also heard the commotion from the hall and a glint of jealousy flashed in her eyes.

She had seen televisions before when she worked as a nurse in the city. When she went to the department store to shop, she saw them, costing hundreds of dollars, so expensive she didn’t dare to get too close, for fear that accidentally breaking it would mean she couldn’t afford the compensation. But she envied those city folk who didn’t even blink an eye when buying them.

That’s why she later married a city man. At first, her family didn’t have a television; it was only bought later on, and not for her but explicitly for her mother-in-law’s grandson, her son.

Glancing at the two who were chatting happily, Yanhua felt stifled, and with a twisted mouth, she sarcastically interjected, "Could they be anything but good? Uncle and Aunt don’t have their own children; they’re counting on Lan Tian for their old age support. I’ve been there and know these matters well. Once a girl is married, she belongs to another family. If you end up supporting your natal family, it’s fine for a short while, but discontent is bound to arise if it’s for long. I’m just afraid Uncle and Aunt may end up with nothing in the end." She even glanced at Lan Tian and smirked.

"What do you mean?" Chunhua stared at her coldly, her words implying that her mother was a bad mother-in-law, and insinuating Lan Tian was an ingrate.

Lan Tian nonchalantly glanced at Yanhua and said to Chunhua, "You’ve been educated and understand propriety; why lower your dignity to argue with someone uneducated? Not everyone understands the values of courtesy, justice, integrity, and shame. Read your book, lest you can’t answer when my uncle quizzes you,"

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