Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s-Chapter 28 - 0 Deliver Meat

Tian Bajin patted Zhong Boqiang's shoulder, comforting him: "Don't overthink it, you need to look forward when living life. If your parents knew from the underworld that you've had so many sons, they would definitely be thrilled."

Tian Bajin spoke these words not without reason. Zhong Boqiang could be considered Yuequan Village's professional son-producer, having fathered six sons and two daughters. His eldest son is about the same age as Tian Aiguo, and his youngest son is the same age as Tian Shouhua. The youngest son and nephew in his family are about the same age and they look so alike that people mistake them for twins, which has led to quite a few hilarious incidents.

A sense of pride appeared on Zhong Boqiang's face - Other things he might not compare to Bajin, but when it comes to fathering sons in Yuequan Village, if he claimed to be the second best, no one would dare to claim to be the first. Seeing the expression on Zhong Boqiang's face, Tian Bajin laughed and scolded him a few times before beginning to work.

Although Tian Xinhua was young, his height had already reached 170 cm, so riding Tian Manjin's bicycle was quite effortless and steady. Tian Sisi comfortably sat on the back seat, this time learning from past lessons, she took a cotton cushion to pad the seat, feeling no pain at all in her buttocks.

They planned to go to the town first, to deliver items to Tian Mantong, Tian Manlian, and Tian Manju first, and on the return trip, they would deliver to Tian Manlan, Tian Manju, and Tian Mantao. Although they had to visit six families, since it was all along the route, it wouldn't take much time, and they could manage it in one afternoon.

"Brother Hua, whose house are we going to first?" Tian Sisi, sitting idly, chatted with Tian Xinhua sporadically.

"Let's go to Auntie at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative first. If Uncle Wang Baishan (Tian Manlian's husband) is also there, we can give it to him as well. If he's not around, then we'll go to the town school to find my fourth aunt, then to fifth aunt's (Tian Manju), then to the eldest aunt's (Tian Mantao), followed by second aunt (Tian Manju), and finally to youngest aunt's (Tian Manlan) home. This way, it's all along a straight path, and we won't need to make detours."

Tian Xinhua arranged everything in an orderly manner, while Tian Sisi listened until her head spun. First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth – so many aunts, she definitely shouldn't get confused later. Seeing Tian Sisi's baffled expression, Tian Xinhua couldn't help but laugh - Ah Nan must be confused again; she had always mixed up the names of the aunts in the past and caused quite a few laughs. Thinking of this, he cautioned: "Ah Nan, later on, make sure you don't call anyone the wrong name. Follow my lead, call whoever I call, understand?"

"Oh, I get it." Tian Sisi was worried about this very thing, but upon hearing Tian Xinhua's words, she immediately obediently complied, which made Tian Xinhua look back at her suspiciously several times. Ah Nan seemed to have changed so much; if it had been before, she would definitely have argued with him.

Realizing this, Tian Sisi knew she must have acted differently from the original protagonist. She was too lazy to correct it, rationalizing that she was still young and could use the excuse of growing up to understand better. However, after Tian Xinhua looked back at her several times, she couldn't help but yell: "Focus! If you let me fall and see if I don't complain to great-grandpa, he'll definitely spank you."

Tian Xinhua chuckled and began to focus on cycling. It must have been his illusion - Ah Nan was still the capricious and unreasonable Ah Nan. They quickly arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where Auntie and Uncle Wang Baishan were both conveniently there. Tian Xinhua took out two halves of a rabbit from the bicycle basket and handed them over. Wang Qiuyang and Wang Baishan looked at the plump rabbits in surprise, questioning them with their eyes.

Tian Xinhua didn't elaborate much, vaguely stating it was great-grandpa who had hunted them on the mountain and asked him to deliver them. Wang Qiuyang and Wang Baishan hurriedly placed the rabbits in a basket, covered them with dry grass, and hid them in a secret place, to avoid others seeing them and asking too many questions. In these times, having something good to eat still needed to be hidden, as there were too many people with jealousy.

Wang Baishan and Wang Qiuyang didn't keep the children for too long, knowing that they still had to deliver meat to a few other households. With the character of the old man, he wouldn't play favorites. Wang Baishan handed a packet of cookies to Tian Sisi, indicating for the two of them to take them back and share with their siblings. Tian Xinhua and Tian Sisi didn't hesitate - this uncle being the procurement officer at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, had plenty of means; a packet of cookies was nothing much to him.

After thanking Wang Baishan, the two got on their bikes and left, delivering rabbit meat to several households including Tian Manju's. When they returned, their basket was much fuller with various items: homemade frozen rice candies from Tian Manju (cooked rice and sugar mixed together and stretched into strips after cooling, also called rice cake in some areas), rice noodles shaped like wisteria stems from Tian Mantao, and rice cakes from Tian Manju, filling the basket to the brim.

Tian Manlan married the worst among her sisters, not only was her husband a good-for-nothing, but the place itself was the poorest in the town—Huangkeng Village. Nestled halfway up the hill, the village was all uphill on the way in and downhill on the way out. The villagers rarely left, essentially self-sufficient, except for buying essential items like salt and vinegar in town.

As a result, there were quite a few bachelors in the village; any girl who was slightly better-looking hurried to marry out. Not many girls from other villages wanted to marry in, not even the landlord's daughters—they'd rather marry older men from other villages than young men from Huangkeng Village. When Tian Manlan married into this village, it was such a rare occasion that the whole village came out to watch, wondering why a well-born, pretty, healthy girl would marry into their barren village.

The uphill path was tough to bike on, so Tian Xinhua had to get off his bike and push it forward. Seeing Tian Xinhua pushing the bike alone, Tian Sisi couldn't just watch; she started pushing from behind. Seeing Tian Sisi's face turn red from the effort, Tian Xinhua quickly told her to take care of herself, as she had just recovered from illness and shouldn't overexert herself.

Tian Sisi took off her ski jacket and removed her hat and gloves, insisting on pushing the bike. Tian Xinhua, being just a 13-year-old boy himself, had his limits too. Unable to push it alone, he didn't insist further and tried to exert more effort so Ah Nan wouldn't have to struggle too much.

Fortunately, not all roads were uphill. Usually, there was a stretch of flat road after each uphill, and during such times, Tian Xinhua would ride the bike for a while before getting off to push again at the next climb. The two continued this way, riding and pushing alternately and took nearly an hour to reach Huangkeng Village. Exhausted, Tian Sisi collapsed to the ground, forgetting all about her appearance from afar.

Tian Xinhua was also exhausted, thankful for the hearty lunch they had, or else he wouldn't have had the energy to make it up the hill. After resting a bit and getting dressed, they rode to Tian Manlan's house. Tian Manlan's husband, Shou Jizu, lived at the very back of the village in a relatively spacious area with five rooms in their house and a large courtyard. Shou Jizu was the second of three brothers.

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Typically, the middle child is the least regarded, and Shou Jizu was no exception. Disliked by his parents from a young age, and a troublemaker to boot, his parents disliked him even more, to the point of not wanting to arrange a marriage for him. Later, Shou Jizu resorted to using his good looks to woo Tian Manlan from another village to marry him.

Actually, Shou Jizu wasn't really a bad person; he just didn't want to work himself to death for a pittance. Handsome, fashionable with fair skin, and red lips, he was a smooth talker and often traveled to Shanghai for small business deals, mainly selling cigarettes on trains.

It must be said that Shou Jizu had a good business sense, just unfortunate with timing. In an era where private selling was prohibited, although his line of work was profitable, he risked getting caught and reformed at any moment, living a life like a rat dodging and hiding, earning but limited money. Over and above all, he preferred to live well, and his earnings were not enough for his personal expenses.

Sometimes he would bring home some money, other times he came back empty-handed. Not only did he earn no work points, but Tian Manlan also had to support him. Thus, Tian Manlan's life with her three children at home was miserable, and they had no one to help. If not for Granny Zhao and Tian Manjin secretly aiding them, Tian Manlan and her three children would have starved long ago.

Moreover, Tian Manlan was not at all like the Old Man and Granny Zhao; she was too gentle and easily swayed, indecisive, and only knew how to cry. The only time in her life she insisted on her own way was when she rebelled against her father for love, insisting on marrying Shou Jizu. Who knows if she regrets it now?

PS: Although Tian Manlan is not a major character, her three sons will later be the loyal followers of the female protagonist. Hence, Old Yang elaborates on Tian Manlan's family here.