Chapter 4: Marriage? Old man? Burden?

“Dad, wait for me a bit longer. Bro, come with me.”

Back at the Xia house, Jiang Peiyu took out the key and opened the door, leading Jiang Yanwen into the kitchen and opening a cabinet.

“Second Brother, quick, take this 50 jin (25 kg) of rice, 30 jin (15 kg) of white flour, 20 jin (10 kg) of noodles, and these 50 or so eggs and load them onto the ox cart.”

“Little Sis, th-this doesn’t seem right…” Jiang Yanwen hesitated when he saw all those good things. He was a little scared being told to take it all.

“What’s not right? Hurry up and move it. If we wait too long, it’ll be dark before we get home.”

“…Alright then.” Resigned, Jiang Yanwen swung his arms and took everything.

It was July, the middle of summer, and he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Jiang Peiyu couldn’t help but drool a little as she watched the biceps flexing on her second brother’s arms.

Such a pity. This tall frame, solid muscles, and well-proportioned physique—no matter the angle, he radiated manly charm.

“So close, and yet all that masculine energy belongs to this body’s biological second brother… sigh…” Jiang Peiyu felt bitter. All that eye candy, and she could only look, not touch.

But while her heart might suffer, her body and stomach didn’t have to. Before leaving, she opened another cabinet nearby and pulled out a clay jar.

“Ooh, there’s still two jin of brown sugar and one jin of White Rabbit milk candies—take it, take it. Better to eat it myself than leave it for Xia Lizhu. Oh, there’s salt too, let’s take that.”

So Jiang Peiyu swaggered out the Xia house’s front door, hugging the clay jar in her left arm and carrying the sugar and salt in her right hand.

Before closing the door, she turned to glance back—not out of sentimentality, but just to toss the key onto the floor. Then bang!—she slammed the door shut.

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“Girl, are you sure taking all this won’t cause trouble?” Jiang Fugui looked worried as he quickly took the large clay jar from his daughter’s arms. Peeking inside, he saw it was filled to the brim—several layers of pure pork lard, at least 40 to 50 jin (20–25 kg). Enough to last the whole family an entire year.

“This…”
“Oh come on, Dad, it’s fine. We’ll eat it ourselves when we get back.”
“I want white rice for dinner. Tonight, everyone in our family gets as much rice as they want!”

Jiang Peiyu spoke cheerfully as she jumped up onto the ox cart. Taking all this stuff would definitely make Chen Hui furious.

But calling the police? No way. Xia Zhihao cared too much about his pride. He would never report this just for a few sacks of food—it’d be too humiliating. So Chen Hui could only swallow the loss. Honestly, Jiang Peiyu still thought she hadn’t taken enough.

The three of them took the ox cart from the city back to the village, swaying along the road for four to five hours. Jiang Peiyu’s butt was sore, and her head was spinning from the ride.

As soon as they arrived at the doorstep, a tanned little boy about six or seven came running toward the house, shouting:

“Grandma! Grandpa and Uncle are back!”

“Your dad, Yanwen…” Jiang’s mother, Li Shuzhen, came out, calling to her husband and second son. Then she turned her teary eyes to Jiang Peiyu, carefully and nervously watching her, wanting to approach but not daring to. She just stood there, staring at her daughter.

Seeing this, Jiang Peiyu softened and spoke up, “Mom.”

“Oh! It’s good you’re back. That’s all that matters. Come inside, you must all be hungry. I made white rice for you.”

The moment she heard her daughter call her Mom, Li Shuzhen was overjoyed. She wiped her eyes and quickly pulled Jiang Peiyu by the hand, leading her inside.

Jiang’s father, Jiang Fugui, was the typical rural man—bronze skin, gray at the temples, lean but strong build, coarse hands, and a face full of wrinkles that told the story of years of farming.

Likewise, Jiang’s mother was a classic country woman—wearing plain homespun clothes and cloth shoes, her skin slightly yellowed, her hands rough but warm. Her hair, however, was still black and shiny, and she had a simple, honest smile on her face.

Li Shuzhen held her daughter’s hand all the way into the courtyard.

Jiang Peiyu looked around. Directly opposite the gate was the main hall and dining area, with a square table and four long benches. To the left was a door with a window facing front, suggesting two small rooms. The right side was similar.

On the left side of the courtyard was a chicken coop with chickens inside. On the right was a separate small structure that looked like a kitchen. Corn cobs were piled under the wall, and many were also hanging on the wall and posts. In front of the chicken coop were piles of sweet potato vines.

All in all, the family didn’t seem too poor—they could at least feed themselves.

“Come on, let’s go check the west room. That’ll be your room from now on,” Li Shuzhen said.

“Okay.”

The west room was simple. Right inside the door was a bed. At the foot of the bed was a large wooden chest. Against the wall opposite the door was an old-fashioned wardrobe.

To the right was a window covered by a red floral cloth as a curtain. Beneath the window was a very old desk and a small stool. That was all.

Jiang Peiyu noticed that the bed was made with a new red floral quilt and matching new sheets. The wall above the bed was covered with pasted newspaper.

Seeing her daughter’s gaze, Li Shuzhen hurried to explain, afraid that she would be dissatisfied.

“The quilt and sheets are new. The bed’s new too—your dad made it himself from wood. It’s not the one Lizhu used.”

“The rest of the furniture, your dad will make you new ones when he has time. If you don’t like them, after we sell the rice next month, we can buy new ones.”

There wasn’t much money left at home—it had all been stolen by Xia Lizhu, that ungrateful brat.

It was only after they sold the rice that they could afford to buy new furniture. Jiang Peiyu, having never experienced true hardship in either life, was now truly encountering what poverty meant.

But for a rural family, the fact that her parents were willing to sell their rice just to buy her new furniture said a lot. At the very least, they didn’t favor sons over daughters.

Otherwise, how could Xia Lizhu—a girl raised in the countryside—grow up to 120 jin and still be sent to high school? It was only because she failed her college entrance exam that she didn’t go further.

But when she returned to the Xia family, what did she say?

She said her family was poor, that her parents favored boys over girls, that they wouldn’t let her continue school after high school, and had even arranged a marriage for her.

That for money, they were going to marry her off to a 30-year-old man who had beaten his ex-wife to death and had two children in tow.

Wait a second… arranged marriage? An old man? Kids from a previous marriage?

Now that Xia Lizhu had returned to the city, were they planning to send her to marry him?

“Mom…”

The thought made Jiang Peiyu immediately turn to Li Shuzhen to ask about the engagement—what exactly had happened?

“Yes, daughter, what is it?”

“I heard Xia Lizhu was engaged to some 30-year-old man who beat his last wife to death and has two kids…”

“This…” Li Shuzhen didn’t know how to explain it to her.

“Mom, why are you standing outside the room? Why don’t you go in?”

“Little Sis, where should I put these two suitcases and all the other stuff from the ox cart?” Jiang Yanwen interrupted as he walked over carrying the suitcases.

“Second Brother, just leave them on the floor. I’ll sort through everything myself later.”

“Alright, then I’ll just leave them here… Mom, I’m heading back to the fields with Dad. There’s still about an hour of work left.”

“Go ahead. Your big brother and sister-in-law won’t be able to handle it all alone.”

After tying up the ox cart, Jiang Yanwen grabbed his tools and headed back to the fields with Jiang Fugui.

On the way, they ran into some villagers—one after another came over to join in the fun.

“Fugui, we heard your real daughter came back?”
“Fugui, the girl you raised for over twenty years turned into a phoenix, huh? Aren’t you all moving to the city to enjoy the good life?”
“What good life? She’s a rich young lady now, doesn’t even acknowledge them anymore. What ‘good life’ could there be?”
“If you ask me, that Jiang Lizhu is just an ungrateful brat. Heard she even stole money from home and ran off.”
“Isn’t that the truth. You raise a dog and still form a bond. And she had no feelings for the parents who raised her for over twenty years—just because they weren’t blood-related…”

“Enough, enough! Get out of here, all of you! You’ve got too much free time—haven’t even finished your own work yet?”

Once the village chief, Lu Dacheng, showed up, everyone quickly shut up and scattered back to their own fields.

As the villagers babbled away, Jiang Fugui and Jiang Yanwen just listened in silence, ignoring them.

Once everyone had left, Village Chief Lu offered Jiang Fugui some words of comfort.

“Brother Jiang, they’re just bored and love to gossip. Don’t take it to heart. What matters is your daughter’s back.”

“Brother Lu, I know. Just now… thank you.” Jiang Fugui grinned sheepishly.

“No need for thanks between us. Come by my house sometime for a drink. I’ve got to get going for now.”

“Alright, take care.”

After the village chief left, Jiang Yanwen leaned in and quietly spoke to Jiang Fugui.

“Dad, what do you think Uncle Lu’s family is up to?”
“Now that that ungrateful Jiang Lizhu has run off, are they thinking of having Little Sis take her place?”

Jiang Fugui fell into thought. He couldn’t quite figure it out either. With the way things stood between the two families, this engagement… what were they going to do about it?