The eldest sister-in-law was momentarily stunned by his words.
“Third Aunt?”
Then a look of contempt appeared on her face.
“Oh, you little Educated Youth sure know how to talk! What Third Aunt? Since when is she your Third Aunt anyway! All I saw was you two pulling and tugging at each other in broad daylight. What kind of behavior is that? Let me tell you, my sister-in-law is already promised to someone. Don’t even think about making a move on her.”
Tang Yumin rolled his eyes and took a step back.
“What do you mean by that?”
Jiang Manman also wore an unpleasant expression.
“Sister-in-law, the only reason I’m still calling you sister-in-law is out of respect for Mom who raised me all these years. As for that engagement with the Wang family that you arranged, you can marry into it yourself. Don’t drag me into it. Let me make this clear – I’m still married to Tang Changsheng. If you dare force me to marry someone else, or if the Wang family dares to pressure me, I’ll report you to the brigade.”
Wang Guihua curled her lips.
“Why are you so stubborn, sister-in-law? Who knows if Tang Changsheng has married some city girl after returning to the city? He probably doesn’t even remember you anymore. That Laicai boy is quite nice. Wouldn’t it be better for you to make do with him than to raise two children all by yourself?”
Tang Yumin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They actually wanted to force his Third Aunt to marry someone else? Did they think his Third Uncle was dead?
“Hey, auntie, what are you talking about? My Third Uncle is Tang Changsheng. The reason I came to the countryside was because my Third Uncle sent me to find my Third Aunt. What? If I hadn’t come, were you planning to force my Third Aunt to marry someone else? How could you do such a thing?”
Wang Guihua was truly dumbfounded this time. She never expected this young Educated Youth to be Tang Changsheng’s nephew.
Taking a closer look, she had to admit he did resemble Tang Changsheng a bit – both had fair complexions.
She felt somewhat guilty but quickly retorted:
“Well, Tang Changsheng has been gone for three or four years without returning. He didn’t even send a letter to explain things. You can’t blame us for that!”
Tang Yumin was furious. He put his hands on his hips and paced back and forth a couple of steps before looking at Wang Guihua.
“My Third Uncle didn’t come back because he broke his leg and couldn’t travel. Besides, my Third Uncle wrote many letters here. Who knows what happened – none of them ever arrived. When I go back, I’ll write to Third Uncle and have him come pick up my Third Aunt and the two children to take them back to the city.”
When Wang Guihua heard the latter part of his statement, alarm bells went off in her head.
If her sister-in-law was taken away, how would she explain things to the Wang family?
No, she needed to quickly inform the Wang family about this.
“You said yourself your Third Uncle broke both his legs. How is he supposed to come get my sister-in-law? A cripple – you want my sister-in-law to suffer with two children following him? Hmph!”
As she spoke, Wang Guihua turned around, placed the lunchbox on the ground, and said to Jiang Manman:
“Sister-in-law, this is lunch for you and the kids. Why do you have to be so stubborn, moving out alone with two children? Luckily our villagers are good people, otherwise you’d really be in trouble! Forget it, I’m not going to argue with you. I’m going back!”
Having said that, she turned and left with quick steps.
Watching her leave, Tang Yumin frowned and asked Jiang Manman:
“Third Aunt, what’s this about the engagement with the Wang family?”
Jiang Manman sneered.
“Some people are just delusional. Don’t mind them. You should go back too. We don’t want people seeing us and gossiping.”
Tang Yumin nodded, his brow still furrowed as he crouched down.
“Alright, I’ll head back too. I’m leaving the Food Stamps, Industrial coupons, and Da Tuan Yuan here.”
“If you don’t want it, I’ll tear it up right now!”
After saying this, he stood up and dashed away as if being chased by dogs.
He was clearly afraid Jiang Manman might catch up and return the items to him.
Seeing him act like this, Jiang Manman didn’t bother with false politeness either. She directly stored the Food Stamps and Industrial coupons, then glanced at the five ten-yuan bills before storing them in her Dimension as well.
“Master, the money in this place is so strange!”
“That one with workers and peasants leading all ethnic groups in unity is a ten-yuan bill. The others are nationally valid Food Stamps and Industrial coupons. It’s 1979 now – in another two or three years, all these coupons and tickets will be abolished. If my memory matches this timeline, that’s how it should be.”
Jiang Manman worked alone around their house, setting up a fenced yard.
“Tang Yuan, Tang Xin, come here both of you.”
Tang Xin, holding the little turtle that had just grown bigger, ran over with Tang Yuan. They looked up at Jiang Manman with their small faces.
She extended the turtle in her hands for Jiang Manman to see.
“Mom, look! Our little turtle has retracted both its legs and head into its shell. Has it died?”
Jiang Ma found it amusing as she took the turtle in her hand, sending a mental message to this divine beast Black Tortoise.
“What’s wrong with you, a Divine Beast, entertaining children for a while?”
The turtle stretched out its neck and glared at Jiang Manman.
“Three or four-year-old kids are even more troublesome than cats and dogs. I don’t want to play with them – they’re clearly toying with me. Only because I’m a Divine Beast could I survive this long. If I were a real turtle, they would have played me to death already. Children this age don’t know their own strength. I’ll protect them, sure, but play with them? Hmph, not a chance!”
“Oh, so you’re a Black Tortoise with great ambitions! I do believe you can protect them both, but for now, all you need to do is keep them company while they play.”
After saying this, she handed the turtle back to the two children.
“It’s fine, he’s not dead. He’s just tired and needs to sleep. Are you two tired? How about going to our secret base to take a nap?”
The moment the two little ones heard about sleeping, they immediately perked up.
“I’m not sleepy at all!”
“Then I’m not sleepy either! I don’t want to sleep – I still want to play with the little turtle.”
Jiang Manman didn’t mind either way. She handed the turtle back to them, thinking that this was a Divine Beast after all. Its shell was so tough that even her full-power Golden Core perfection strike couldn’t harm it.
There was no way two small children could damage it.
“Alright then, if you’re not sleeping, play in the yard. Mom needs to plant iron thorns around this area. These are thorny vines – don’t get close or you’ll get pricked, understand?”
The two children looked at the thorn-covered vines and nodded their little heads in unison.
“We understand, we definitely won’t go near there. Those thorns can prick people.”
Jiang Manman reached out and rubbed Tang Yuan’s head.
“Good kids, go play!”
While she was planting the iron thorns around the small yard, the Wang family found Wang Laicai.
Just as the Wang family was escorting Wang Laicai home, they passed by Jiang Manman’s small house at the west end of the village.
Aunt Wang, having found her son safe and sound, felt relieved. When passing by Jiang Manman’s small yard, she greeted her:
“Oh, Manman! Why are you living separately? It’s not safe with two children. I’ve checked the almanac – the day after tomorrow is an auspicious day. We’ll hold your wedding with my Laicai then. You two should live properly together, no need to live separately in this broken house. Come live at Auntie’s place – my house is quite spacious!”
Jiang Manman, who was squatting by the fence repairing it, listened to Aunt Wang’s words and turned her gaze toward Wang Laicai.