Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 316 Looking for trouble
The travel expenses are so expensive! He was reluctant to spend that money. If Lao Liu hadn't promised to reimburse them, they probably wouldn't have made this trip.

"You're just taking your family's side!" Niu Cuilan said angrily, sulking because she couldn't win the argument with Tang Bing.

But she couldn't hold onto this resentment for long, because she knew that what Tang Bing said was true. Back then, Tang Jing and Tang Yu almost had to drop out of school to work because their family was poor. Although they had a hard time at that time, they had the ability to help each other out, but she couldn't bear to spend the money. In addition, she felt resentful, thinking that since the whole family were farmers, why could Tang Jing and Tang Yu get ahead? She was even happier that they couldn't go to school, so she stopped Tang Bing from interfering.

Now she doesn't have the confidence to ask Tang Jing and Tang Yu to pay for them to stay in Guangdong Province.

The more Niu Cuilan thought about him, the more heartbroken he became, and he couldn't sleep all night.

But what happened next was even more devastating.

Around 5 a.m., the makeup artist and stylist arrived at the villa with their tools and began applying makeup to the bride.

They didn't make much noise, but Niu Cuilan and the others were used to going to bed early and getting up early, so they got up at five o'clock.

So Niu Cuilan, Tang Li, and Tang Hua came together to watch Tang Jing put on her makeup.

Upon seeing that Tang Jing's room had inexplicably acquired an enormous dressing table, Niu Cuilan immediately pressed for details.

The stylist explained, "This was brought over by Mr. Xu last night, specifically for the bride's styling."

Niu Cuilan looked at the colorful bottles and jars on the table and kept asking questions.

Tang Li couldn't stand it anymore and frowned, saying, "Sister-in-law, can you please be quiet? People are busy and don't have time to talk to you."

Niu Cuilan, thick-skinned and unconcerned, looked around and, somewhat bored, said, "Jingjing, why don't you have any melon seeds or anything in this room?"

Tang Jing's face darkened.

Ding Ruman happened to come over and said loudly with a laugh, "Hey! Sister-in-law, you should have said you wanted some sunflower seeds! Go downstairs and ring the bell, and the waiter will bring them over. There's a trash can downstairs, so you can come back up after you're done!"

“Exactly.” Tang Li nodded in agreement with Ding Ruman.

Niu Cuilan was jealous of Ding Ruman's youthful beauty, fashion sense, and elegance, and left in a huff after hearing this.

Tang Hua asked timidly, "Is my sister-in-law angry?"

Tang Li glared at her, "Only she gets angry? Doesn't she know what day or occasion it is? What does it have to do with her? It's ridiculous!"

Tang Hua was scolded so badly he fell silent, like a quail.

Ding Ruman had a good impression of her sister-in-law Tang Li. She smiled at her and her tone softened considerably. "The waiter just came by and said that breakfast would be served at six o'clock. It's still early, so we can order. What would you like to eat?"

Tang Hua habitually looked at others.

Tang Li was bewildered. "We don't know either. Just prepare whatever you see. But I'm not used to the plain congee from the South. Could you prepare some noodles or pancakes?"

Ding Ruman nodded, "It's definitely no problem. I've heard that there are quite a few famous breakfast spots in Anshi. I'll have the waiter bring them over to try later, so everyone can have a taste."

Tang Li and Tang Hua both expressed their gratitude.

After Ding Ruman left, Tang's mother came over. The three of them sat on the edge of the bed watching Tang Jing put on her makeup and chatting.

Tang Li immediately complained to her mother, "Mother, my sister-in-law is getting more and more outrageous. We've come here as guests, but she's always trying to steal the spotlight. Doesn't she know where we are? It's so embarrassing! You have to talk to her!"

Tang's mother was confused. After hearing about her eldest daughter-in-law's actions from her eldest daughter, she was furious and got up to leave.

It's obvious what she went to do.

Tang Hua was a little worried, "Big sister, what are you doing? Big brother and sister-in-law are definitely going to argue again in a bit."

Tang Li snorted in dissatisfaction, "Let's argue! If we don't argue, she'll think she doesn't know her place! She's getting too big for her britches!"

She was not satisfied with her sister-in-law Niu Cuilan at all, thinking that she was selfish and liked to take advantage of others. Before her brother and sister-in-law moved out, they often quarreled. Now that everyone had moved to the county town and worked in the same industry, they got along even worse.

Tang Hua glanced at Tang Jing secretly and explained in a low voice, "I'm doing this for everyone's good. It's not appropriate to make a fuss on Third Sister's big day."

"Making a racket is unacceptable, but embarrassing me is acceptable? If she didn't want to come to the South, no one forced her. Now that she's here, she acts like she's the lady of the house. Who is she trying to fool?" Tang Jing slapped the table lightly.

Tang Hua was startled, realizing that her soft-spoken sister from her memories was different. She hurriedly got up and said, "I'll go see how they are."

Tang Jing stopped Tang Hua and said expressionlessly, "Second sister, I won't stop you from calling her, but please pass on a message for me: if she dares to cause trouble at my wedding today, don't blame me for turning my back on her!"

Tang Hua's face turned even paler, his eyes flickered as he nodded repeatedly, and he ran away without a word.

Tang Li felt incredibly relieved. "That's right, we can't spoil her. If we don't teach her a lesson, she'll really think she's the boss of the Tang family!"

Tang Li then followed closely behind to watch the excitement.

Tang Jing's room finally quieted down.

At this moment, Tang's mother was accusing Niu Cuihua of all sorts of wrongdoings in front of Tang Bing. "When the family was in such a difficult situation, your father and I never thought of letting you raise your younger siblings. Back then, the fifth and sixth children almost dropped out of school because they didn't have money. You, as the older brother and sister-in-law, pretended to be deaf and dumb. Did you think we didn't know?"
If it weren't for the fifth and sixth sons being so hardworking and earning their own future, they wouldn't be where they are today. They relied on themselves, not on me and your father. You have no right to covet them or demand anything in return!

This time, it was Lao Wu's wedding. Logically, you, as the older brother and sister-in-law, should have given something in return. But where was the gift? Nothing at all! Did Lao Wu complain to you? Did she say anything? Nothing! They even covered your travel expenses and accommodation.

"What more could you possibly want? Niu Cuilan, what gives you the right to point fingers everywhere? Let me tell you, my husband and I aren't dead yet, and this family is none of your business! You know nothing but try to steal the spotlight and disgrace the Tang family!"

Niu Cuilan was unhappy and stretched her neck to retort, "Mother, what are you saying? How come we didn't give anything? We also prepared red envelopes!"

Tang's mother sneered, "How much did you prepare? Sixth Brother gave Fifth Brother 10,000, how much did you give?"

Tang Hua and Tang Li, who had just arrived, overheard this and both looked a little strange. Tang's mother, however, didn't seem to care and just stared at her eldest son and his wife.

Niu Cuilan said matter-of-factly, "Sixth Brother is rich, how can we compare to him? According to the customs where we're from, a few hundred yuan is the maximum we can give as a wedding gift to our brothers and sisters, but we've prepared six hundred!"

"The two of you, and you're spending six hundred?" Tang's mother found it laughable.

Tang Bing was shocked to see his younger brother had brought so much money. His face turned pale and then red. Seeing that Niu Cuilan was about to speak, he immediately pressed her down and stammered, "Mother, I only brought two thousand yuan with me this time."