Chapter 37.2

The voice came from outside, loud and intimidating, scaring everyone inside. They rushed out to see who it was and were met with the sight of over a dozen people. Among them were Du Ping, the brigade leader of Tianxi Village, and a few of his men. The others, some familiar and some not, included Aunt Zhao, Aunt Wang, and Aunt Li from Xu’s village, all neighbors whom Jiang’s mother knew from her frequent visits to the Xu family.

Among the group were two very conspicuous figures. Lu Lao’er from the Xu family and her daughter, Xiao Nian.

The imposing group frightened the Jiang family.

Cao Lan was the first to react, yelling at Xiao Nian, “You ungrateful girl, you finally came back! Get over here!”

It had been almost half a year since they sent the letter, and she had been anxious. Seeing Xiao Nian now, all her pent-up anger from the past few months surged forth. She was also eager to fulfill her promise to Du Ping’s cousin to marry Xiao Nian off.

That would be 400 yuan in bride price.

Lu Yu’s cold eyes fell on Jiang’s mother. He stood in front of Xiao Nian and said, “Since Jiang Nian married into the Xu family, she’s part of the Xu family. Her decisions are her own to make.”

“Rubbish!” Cao Lan glared, “I am her mother. She came from my womb, and even in death, her blood belongs to the Jiang family.”

Lu Yu knew reasoning with such people was pointless and didn’t want to waste his breath. He turned to Du Ping and the brigade leader, “Jiang Nian has been married into the Xu family for four years. Over these four years, the Jiang family has openly and secretly taken money from her. I calculated it last night. Including the grain from the Xu family, it totals one thousand yuan.”

Cao Lan’s family was wary of Lu Yu. Hearing that he came to demand money made them panic. “Who took your money? Don’t slander us without proof!” 

Jiang Guo and Lian Qin were also anxious. They depended on this money for a good life, so they quickly sided with Cao Lan. “We never took her money. She’s making it up.”

Jiang Guo looked at Jiang Nian, “Do you have any conscience? Mother raised you and found you a good husband. Instead of being grateful, you accuse us of taking your money?”

Jiang Nian, with the original owner’s memories, knew the family’s shamelessness but had never seen it firsthand. Seeing it today, she was truly appalled.

It is truly shameless and has no bottom line.

Aunt Zhao wasn’t happy to hear this. She, along with Aunt Li and Aunt Wang, spoke to the brigade leader and Du Ping, “Don’t listen to their nonsense. We clearly saw them taking things from the Xu family. They carried full bags every time they left. Do they think we are blind? The Xu family’s daughter-in-law endured it in silence, but now she’s asking us to testify. We must speak the truth. If we lie, may our Zhao family be cursed with no descendants.”

This strong statement shocked Du Ping and the brigade leader.

Even Jiang Nian and Lu Yu were surprised. Aunt Li and Aunt Wang, knowing Aunt Zhao was telling the truth, chimed in, “We saw it too. We have nothing to hide. When Xu Cheng’s father was around, they came once a month. After Xu Cheng’s father passed away, they came several times a month. I think Xu Cheng must have been pissed off to death by the Jiang family.”

Aunt Zhao, Aunt Li, and Aunt Wang’s sharp tongues were no match for Lian Qin and Jiang Guo, and certainly not for Cao Lan alone. Jiang Hai sat inside, listening to the commotion outside. He turned his tired, aged gaze to the window, looking at Jiang Nian with deep guilt and helplessness.

If he hadn’t been crippled and unable to work, if he had some authority in the family, Xiao Nian wouldn’t have suffered so much.

Cao Lan shouted, “Everyone shut up! Let my daughter speak. Ask her if I took her money.”

She was confident that Xiao Nian wouldn’t say anything. She knew her daughter well: timid and cowardly, never daring to talk back. She believed that as long as Xiao Nian denied the theft, nothing anyone said would matter.

All eyes turned to Jiang Nian. Jiang Guo also looked at her, assuming a brotherly stance, “Xiao Nian, mother and brother have been worried about you. Why didn’t you inform us before leaving?”

Jiang Hai watched from inside but remained silent.

Lian Qin added, “Xiao Nian, your sister-in-law has been worried too.”

Jiang Nian looked at their hypocritical faces, feeling a cold amusement. Aunt Zhao and the others also looked at Jiang Nian, worried. Aunt Zhao regretted speaking too boldly. If Xu Nian backed down, they would be the laughingstock today.

Du Ping and the brigade leader also looked at Jiang Nian. As leaders of their respective villages, they were approached by Lu Yu, who was a deputy regiment commander in the military. The Jiang family’s behavior was well-known, but they had turned a blind eye until now. With this public confrontation, they couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Lu Yu had explained that the Jiang family’s actions constituted home invasion and theft. Despite the blood relationship, taking Xu family property without permission was a crime. On the way here, the brigade leader saw Lu Yu send Zhao Gang and his wife to the county to call the police.

The brigade leader admired Lu Yu’s legal awareness. In the countryside, people usually relied on the brigade for disputes. Who would think to involve the county police?

Lu Yu calmly glanced at Jiang Nian. She noticed his look but didn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she looked at the hopeful faces of the Jiang family. With both sides harboring their own hopes, Jiang Nian spoke clearly, “Since I married into the Xu family—”

Cao Lan and Jiang Guo stared at her, their eyes full of warning.

Jiang Nian ignored them and continued, “Since I married into the Xu family, every month, Cao Lan would come to me, sometimes with Jiang Guo, forcing me to hand over my money and tickets…”

“You’re lying! You ungrateful wretch! How dare you call us by our names instead of mother and brother. I raised a white-eyed wolf!” Cao Lan rushed at Jiang Nian, and Jiang Guo moved to grab her. Lu Yu stepped in, holding Jiang Guo’s wrist and pressing down on his shoulder. His voice was stern and commanding, “Do you want to add assault to your list of crimes?”

Jiang Guo winced in pain, “It hurts! Let go! Mother, make him let go. My arm’s going to break!”

“Let go of my son!” Cao Lan rushed to intervene, but Lu Yu released Jiang Guo first, avoiding her touch.

He pushed Jiang Guo, who stumbled forward and tripped on the uneven ground, falling flat. Du Ping glared at Cao Lan, “If you cause more trouble, you’ll come to the brigade for a public reprimand!”

Jiang’s family suddenly fell silent.

The brigade leader said to Jiang Nian, “Don’t be afraid, speak up. You’re from our village, we can’t let people from other villages bully you!”

Aunt Zhao also added, “The leader is right.”

Du Ping, the brigade leader of Tianxi Village, glanced at the brigade leader of Xu’s family and then said to Jiang Nian, “Go on.”

Jiang Nian glanced at Lu Yu standing in front of her. His tall figure shielded her from any danger coming from Jiang’s family. Her heart trembled momentarily, but she suppressed her pounding heart and continued, “After my father-in-law died, Lu Yu came back and buried my father-in-law with me, and left me some money and tickets. The money and tickets left by my father-in-law after his death were also given to me. The day after Lu Yu left, Cao Lan and Jiang Guo came to the Xu family and forced me to hand over all the money and tickets, and took away the food in the house, regardless of whether Xu Cheng and I lived or died.”

“After that, they would come every few days to see if Lu Yu had sent any allowance. Whenever he did, Cao Lan and Jiang Guo would take it. Aunt Zhao, Aunt Li, and Aunt Wang all saw these things with their own eyes. Because Cao Lan and Jiang Guo took all the money, Xu Cheng couldn’t afford medicine, causing his old injury to flare up again. And because they took our grain, Xu Cheng and I couldn’t eat enough. Until Xu Cheng’s death, they even took away most of the money I had for handling his affairs, leaving me starving for two days until Li Niu and Liu Fugui from our village barged in—”

Lu Yu interrupted Jiang Nian, his voice cold. “Because of your robbery, my sister-in-law was indirectly left powerless to resist, and was robbed and severely injured. You will bear responsibility for the harm she suffered.”

Jiang Nian understood Lu Yu’s intention in stopping her. He feared she might reveal the attempted assault by Li Niu and Liu Fugui, tarnishing her reputation.

Du Ping now realized the extent of Jiang Nian’s suffering. He looked even colder towards Jiang’s family. With a family like Jiang’s in Tianxi Village, he, as the leader, would certainly face criticism. This matter couldn’t be easily smoothed over now. Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the new year, Jiang’s family had caused such a mess. When it came to selecting outstanding cadres at the end of the year, he was certain to be excluded.

Seeing Jiang Nian lay out the situation so clearly, Cao Lan began to stall, “How do you know this money is yours? Even if there’s money and notes at my home, what proof do you have that it belongs to you?”

She then looked at Aunt Zhao, “Did you personally witness me taking her money?”

This question stumped Aunt Zhao and the others. They had only seen Jiang’s mother and Jiang Guo carrying things out of Xu’s house; they hadn’t actually seen them taking money.

Lian Qin and Jiang Guo noticed their silence and smirked triumphantly.

The two leaders exchanged looks. In this deadlock, Lu Yu spoke up again, “The notes you took from Xu family were sent by me from the military. They bear the military seal. One thousand yuan is no small sum. I’ve investigated your family’s situation. Jiang Hai is crippled and unable to work in the fields. Jiang Guo is lazy and rarely does the work assigned by the village. Jiang Guo’s wife, Lian Qin, also contributes very little. It’s all left to you, Cao Lan, an elderly person, to support the whole family. Under these circumstances, not only is there no surplus in the house, but this money won’t exist either. It’s clear that producing this money and notes will be conclusive evidence.”

Jiang Guo started to panic, “What right do you have to investigate our family?”

Cao Lan also realized, panicked, “Yes, if you dare to enter my house, I’ll kill you!”

Lu Yu said calmly, “We don’t have the authority to search your house for evidence, but the police do. I’ve already reported this to the county police. They’ll be here soon. Whether or not you have this money and notes in your house, the truth will come out.”

This statement made Jiang’s family uneasy.

They didn’t understand much about these matters, but Lu Yu had served in the military and understood them clearly. If what he said was true, what could they do?

Jiang Guo grew anxious and asked in a hushed tone, “Mother, what do we do?”

Cao Lan didn’t know either. She kept glaring at Jiang Nian, but Lu Yu’s imposing figure blocked her view. Cao Lan never thought that this brother-in-law who came out halfway would be so protective of Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian bit her lip, feeling warmth in her heart as she looked at the man who had sheltered her from the storm.

She became even more convinced that bringing Lu Yu with her this time was the right decision. With him around, many things that would have required her to argue tirelessly were now resolved.

The leader walked straight to a bench in the courtyard and sat down. He said, “Since the police are coming, I’ll wait here. If people from Tianxi Village come to rob us of our money, as a leader, serving the Party and the people, if I can’t handle the grievances of my own villagers, what am I doing as a leader?”

This statement was not just for Jiang’s family but also for Lu Yu.

Lu Yu’s position was extraordinary, and he could potentially help the village with more matters in the future. If his assistance could bring the village closer together, the leader could advance further. Who wouldn’t want to gain some benefits?

Only by achieving results and gaining the respect of the villagers could he seize opportunities.

And the Xu family’s daughter-in-law may be an opportunity.

Aunt Zhao and the others heard what the leader said and decided to sit on the bench as well. They said, “We won’t leave either. We’ll wait here. My son and daughter-in-law will bring the police here soon. Let’s see how long you can stall.”

As the saying goes, it’s difficult for an honest official to resolve household matters. However, Jiang’s family’s actions had indirectly led to Jiang Nian being bullied by Li Niu and the others, and the money they had taken was not a small amount. Moreover, this money was sent from the military, making it far more than just a domestic issue.

The neighbors around Jiang’s house had heard the commotion early in the morning. Word spread quickly, and soon many people had gathered around Jiang’s yard. They knew quite a bit about what Jiang’s family had been up to in recent years. Jiang Guo’s lazy nature had long been notorious in Tianxi Village, and his wife Lian Qin had been married in from several villages away.

Jiang’s family had very few people working in the fields to earn their share of the work points. However, ever since Jiang Nian got married and left, they could afford to eat meat on a regular basis, which made many villagers jealous and resentful towards them. Du Ping didn’t hide his displeasure whenever he saw Jiang’s family.

Upon seeing this, Cao Lan, Jiang Guo, and Lian Qin panicked and didn’t know what to do.

Inside the house, Jiang Hai sat calmly on the bed, seemingly detached from the situation.

After some time passed, someone outside started shouting, “The police officers are here!”

The crowd parted, and Zhao Gang and his wife brought two police officers into the house. Jiang’s family members were at a loss and didn’t know what to do.

One of the police officers said, “We received a report about a robbery here.”

Lu Yu looked at Zhao Gang, who hesitated for a moment before hurriedly saying, “Isn’t it a robbery you asked me to talk about?”

Lu Yu: …

Jiang Nian: …

She remembered that Lu Yu didn’t put it quite like that.

The police officer frowned and asked, “What exactly happened?”

Lu Yu then briefly explained the situation between Jiang’s family and Xu’s family. The other police officer recognized Lu Yu from before when he had brought in two suspects involved in attempted assaults. He confirmed his identity and prepared to take statements and gather evidence.

Having previously investigated Xu’s family’s situation, they now linked it to Jiang’s family’s actions, understanding this wasn’t a simple home invasion but also involved indirect harm caused to the victim due to Jiang’s family.

Therefore, the police officer said, “We don’t have the authority to conduct a search.”

Cao Lan, Jiang Guo, and Lian Qin breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. However, the police officer continued, “But I will now apply for a search warrant. Until the warrant is issued, no items in Jiang’s house can be moved or destroyed.”

The faces of Jiang’s family turned pale again.

To prevent them from tampering with evidence, Du Ping locked Cao Lan’s house and assigned someone from the brigade to guard it. Lu Yu informed them of his departure time. The police officer said, “We’ll file the application right away. The warrant could be issued as soon as the day after tomorrow.”

Today was the fifth day of the new year. If the search warrant could be issued tomorrow, the matter could be resolved. Lu Yu planned to catch the train at six in the afternoon on the sixth day and return home on the seventh.

They could only wait for news from the police officers for now.

Tonight, the Jiang family members were all gloomy, except for Jiang Hai, who seemed indifferent. Even if he knew the whole story, he wouldn’t speak out against his family. Let the police officers investigate; if they found evidence, so be it. If not, he wouldn’t say a word.

Compared to the worried Jiang family, Jiang Nian was much calmer.

After returning home, Jiang Nian bought fine flour from the brigade and some eggs and brown sugar from the supply and marketing cooperative. Returning to the kitchen, she started kneading dough, planning to make some pastries and brown sugar cakes for the two aunts and to take some to the brigade leader’s house.

Today’s events were thanks to them. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly.

Feeling cold, Jiang Nian shivered a bit. Lu Yu washed his hands by the well, then entered the kitchen and took the enamel basin from Jiang Nian’s hands. “Let me knead the dough. You start the fire.”

Jiang Nian shook her hand and smiled, “Okay.”

She sat by the stove and lit the fire, added water to the pot, then sat down to warm herself by the fire while watching Lu Yu knead the dough that she had already mixed.

Jiang Nian pursed her lips. “Lu Yu.”

Lu Yu turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

She smiled at him, her eyes bright. “I bought flour to make pastries and brown sugar cakes. I want to give some to the next door aunts and the brigade leader. What do you think?”

Was she seeking his approval?

Lu Yu looked at her cheerful expression and spoke in his deep voice, tinged with tenderness, “That sounds good.”

As the sky darkened, the dough rose nicely. Jiang Nian steamed several types of pastries in the pot, with a kerosene lamp lighting the kitchen. Lu Yu sat by the stove, watching the fire. He glanced at Jiang Nian as she covered the pot, then turned his gaze to her face, his dark eyes observing her expression. “After we finish making the pastries, let’s also bring some to the professor who lives in the cowshed, the one you mentioned.”

**

Hey everyone! 😊

I’m working on a new translation—it’s a sweet slice-of-life story about a couple who got married on not even 24 hours after their first meeting! 💍💖 If you love cozy, heartwarming stories, give it a try!

Thanks for your support, and happy reading! 📖✨

Three Meals a Day