Chapter 6: Jiang Wan, why are you so stingy?

“I’m not drinking that!”

Song Jiuchi stubbornly turned his head away. There was no way he was going to drink water handed to him by that wicked woman.

The eldest Madam Song handed the water to Song Jiuli instead. This little girl was different—she might dislike Jiang Wan, but that didn’t stop her from eating or drinking.

So, after a few quick gulps, she drank some of the water too, though her attitude toward Jiang Wan remained cold.

Watching the family drink the water so intimately, Shen Qian’s eyes twinkled as she said,

“Grandmother, we’re not very capable, we could only trade for white steamed buns. Are you thirsty?”

She was clearly trying to provoke them. Jiang Wan took a casual bite of the black, hard bun and lazily watched Shen Qian’s little performance.

Madam Song struggled to swallow the bun in her mouth, her throat was dry and scratchy, and she muttered miserably,

“After traveling so far, who wouldn’t be thirsty?”

Her mouth was so dry it was blistering. When had she ever suffered like this in the past?

“Eldest sister-in-law, you can’t just look after yourself and ignore mother, right?”

Second Madam Song spoke with pointed meaning, casting her eyes toward the eldest Madam. She knew her elder sister-in-law was soft-natured and easy to manipulate. A single word could convince her to give up the water pouch Jiang Wan had prepared.

Sure enough, the eldest Madam looked conflicted and turned to Jiang Wan. But Jiang Wan responded coldly,

“Why didn’t you say anything about helping us when you were trading for those buns? As far as I remember, we haven’t divided the household yet, have we?”

It was just a bit of water—she wasn’t being stingy. She simply couldn’t stand seeing these people gloat.

The eldest Madam was just about to hand over the water pouch when she immediately pulled it back. That’s right, the family hadn’t been split yet—they were technically still one household.

But truth be told, they had drawn clear lines between them long ago.

“That’s not the same!”

Second Madam Song’s tone was full of twisted logic. “We all showed our filial respect to Mother, so you should too.”

“Mother, we should show respect to Grandmother,” Song Jiuli chimed in.

She had been close to the old lady since childhood. Seeing her grandmother purse her lips, she immediately felt distressed. Grandmother must be really thirsty.

The eldest Madam was visibly conflicted again. She was naturally soft-hearted—but this water didn’t belong to her in the first place.

So she looked toward Jiang Wan again. Jiang Wan stepped forward, took back her water pouch without hesitation, and let her cold gaze fall on Shen Qian’s bundle.

“If I’m not mistaken, there’s a water pouch in your bundle.”

Aside from the water pouch, there were some dry rations too. Shen Qian had been hiding them to avoid sharing with the others, but she hadn’t expected Jiang Wan to call her out.

Her face instantly turned dark, and she clutched her bundle tightly in frustration.

“You’re making excuses when asked to show respect to Grandmother!”

“My water can’t compare to yours,” Jiang Wan replied smoothly. “Ours was fetched from the river. If you’re going to honor Grandmother, naturally, you should give her the best. Don’t you think?”

With her eloquence, she left no room for argument. The old lady’s eyes locked onto Shen Qian sharply. That’s right—she expected the best.

Faced with her mother-in-law’s expectant gaze, Shen Qian was unwilling, but her husband Song Chen had already spoken up.

“Qianqian, as the younger generation, we can’t let Grandmother down.”

“Mm,” Shen Qian muttered unhappily as she reluctantly opened her bundle. Afraid the others would see what was inside, she quickly pulled out the water pouch and handed it to the old lady.

“Grandmother, it’s not that I didn’t want to honor you. I just wanted to save it for later.”

She cast a meaningful glance at Jiang Wan, clearly implying the old lady should compare their attitudes.

The old lady nodded in satisfaction. “Don’t worry, Grandmother knows you’re a filial girl—not like some ungrateful wolf.”

That last sentence was all but naming names.

Song Jiuli glared at Jiang Wan, upset. “Jiang Wan, why are you so stingy!”

That was their grandmother, after all!

“If you’re so generous, why don’t you go find food yourself?” Jiang Wan shot back without hesitation.

Song Jiuli’s face turned pale with rage. “Fine! I’ll find food myself!”

She shouted defiantly. The little girl had never suffered so much before. Everything that had happened over the past day had drained her tears dry.

But Jiang Wan couldn’t care less. She let her cry while turning her attention to Song Jiuyuan, who had his eyes closed, resting.

Song Jiuyuan was so seriously injured—eating coarse black buns every day wouldn’t do him any good. But this big family was too complicated. Jiang Wan had no intention of supporting them all.

So… the best option was to split the household. But that would depend on Song Jiuyuan.

While she was lost in thought, the officers had finished resting and urged them to keep moving.

These pampered bodies weren’t made for such hardship. In the second half of the journey, everyone was gritting their teeth to hold on.

Jiang Wan was no exception. The original host had been delicate and weak—naturally, this body couldn’t endure much either. But she bit her tongue and forced herself forward.

Not only that, she even took out body-strengthening medicine from her space, treating the trek as training to strengthen herself.

According to the plot of the original book, a disaster was about to strike soon. Without a strong body, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself.

“Mother!”

Suddenly, Song Jiuli screamed. Her beautiful mother had fainted.

The eldest Madam Song had always been frail. After pushing herself this far, her collapse was expected.

Even the old lady was sturdier than she was.

“What’s going on?” one of the officers came over with a dark face, full of irritation.

Song Jiuli could only cry, sobbing and unable to answer. Jiang Wan stepped in to explain, “My mother is frail—she probably passed out from exhaustion.”

“Useless weakling,” Second Madam Song muttered, successfully darkening the officer’s expression further.

Seeing the whip in the officer’s hand, Song Jiuli cried even harder in fear.

“Sir,” Jiang Wan sighed, “I know this will delay the journey. I’ll carry her on my back.”

She was starting to regret it—was following this family into exile really the right decision?

But when she met Song Jiuchi’s helpless and sorrowful gaze while he piggybacked Song Jiuyuan, Jiang Wan felt in her bones that this wasn’t a mistake.

“Fine. You carry her—just don’t fall behind!”

The officer’s expression finally softened. For once, Song Jiuchi and Song Jiuli didn’t say anything sarcastic and quietly watched Jiang Wan carry the eldest Madam on her back.

The eldest Madam was frail and not heavy, but for a weak girl like Jiang Wan, it was still exhausting.

Yet Jiang Wan carried her steadily, gritting her teeth and keeping pace with the group. The officers couldn’t help but look at her with newfound respect.

The eldest Madam had truly fainted from exhaustion. After Jiang Wan carried her for a while, she finally woke up. As soon as she regained consciousness, she found herself on Jiang Wan’s back and felt terribly embarrassed.

“Jiang Wan, let me down—I can walk.”

Seeing her energy had returned, Jiang Wan didn’t force her and gently put her down. But her forehead was already drenched in sweat.

This moved the eldest Madam’s heart, and her opinion of Jiang Wan began to shift. Perhaps those underhanded schemes in the capital had come from the Minister’s household, and this girl had just been caught in the crossfire?

Thinking back to how the Minister’s residence had publicly cut ties at the city gates, the eldest Madam felt this line of thinking made sense, and her attitude toward Jiang Wan softened considerably.

“Good child, thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

Jiang Wan wiped the sweat from her brow, responded casually, and slowly walked to the back of the group. Then, from her space, she took out a bar of chocolate.

She quietly took a bite to regain her strength, but didn’t dare eat too much. She hadn’t stocked up on much chocolate in her previous life—it was a luxury she couldn’t afford to waste.