Chapter 17 : Cheap dogs are not cheap for them

Chen Jinhua quickly took the items to the inner room, lifted the cloth, and saw two pieces of pork, half a pig’s liver, sugar, and eggs. She burst into laughter, her face full of wrinkles.

Considering that the Xiao family are good people, she had thought they might be very poor.

Jiang Qiaoqiao brought out two bowls of water. They were just two bowls of water, with no courtesy at all.

“Here, have some water, new bride!” When she said the words “new bride,” she emphasized the tone and felt a sense of gloating.

Moreover, she kept eyeing Jiang Sui from head to toe. When she saw the pair of pink embroidered shoes on her feet, which were delicate, she liked them very much and thought to herself that she would get a pair for herself tomorrow.

However, the contempt in her eyes was clear, especially when she saw Xiao Hechuan. She couldn’t help but laugh.

Xiao Hechuan snorted arrogantly, crossed his arms, and refused to take her water.

Jiang Sui didn’t answer either, as if no one wanted to drink her bowl of water.

“No, we’re not thirsty. We’ll leave now.”

Jiang Sui didn’t want to stay here at all, but she had no choice but to follow the rules. If she didn’t come, she was afraid others would gossip about her.

“Oh, now that you’ve found a husband and are so powerful, wearing new clothes and new shoes. You’re so impressive. Do you think you’ve turned into a phoenix from a wild chicken? You’re still just a sparrow at most. Even a sparrow is flattering you. You’re begging for favors and think you’ve gotten something good. As the saying goes, when you marry a man, you get clothes and food. I’ll just wait and see until your father-in-law and mother-in-law can no longer work. How can you be so powerful? I’m afraid things will end up worse than before!”

Jiang Qiaoqiao had inherited all of Chen Jinhua’s sarcasm and harshness. It could be said that she was even better than her teacher.

“Don’t worry about that. I will definitely get better and better in the future,” Jiang Sui fought back, pulling Xiao Hechuan’s hand.

“That’s right, my wife is right, just wait and see!”

Xiao Hechuan’s main role was to protect his wife, and he was her loyal supporter.

“Hahahaha… This is so funny, you? I’ll just wait and see.”

Jiang Qiaoqiao didn’t believe that a fool like Xiao Hechuan could let Jiang Sui live a good life. She was just comforting herself.

She laughed so wildly that it was really annoying.

Chen Jinhua listened to the noise outside but was not affected at all. She was happily thinking about how to deal with the two pieces of meat and the pork liver.

Jiang Sui also guessed that the meat would be fed to the dogs, but it didn’t matter. This was all for the Xiao family’s dignity. There would be no such good things in the future. Even the cheap dogs wouldn’t be cheap to them.

She was too lazy to argue because they would eventually be slapped in the face anyway, and she was waiting to see the joke unfold.

By the time Chen Jinhua came out, Jiang Sui had already left with Xiao Hechuan. On the way home, they met many villagers. They greeted Jiang Sui on the surface, but once they turned their backs, they looked at the situation with amusement.

It was a joke that she treated a fool like a treasure but he was a treasure, he was the future top scholar, her support.

‘Laugh now, it won’t be long before you can’t laugh anymore.’

When she returned to the Xiao family, everyone had already left. Mother Xiao thought that they wouldn’t be back so soon, so she took Xiao Lanlan to the mountain to pick the unharvested wood ears. Father Xiao and his other three sons had gone to work in the fields.

Jiang Sui happened to have nothing to do, so she washed the dirty clothes that she and Xiao Hechuan had taken off. Originally, it was Mother Xiao who washed them, but since she wasn’t the one doing it now, it became Jiang Sui’s job.

Xiao Hechuan didn’t go to play with Dazhuang either. The children in the village weren’t free until the afternoon. In the mornings, they had to go to the old scholar in the village to learn how to read.

The old scholar received all his salary in the form of grain. As a lonely man, he could only rely on this salary to make ends meet, plus the money and grain distributed by the government every month.

Scholars are exempt from taxes, and their families are exempt from corvée labor. For construction projects initiated by the court, a family with a scholar can save two quotas. Moreover, scholars do not have to kneel when meeting the county magistrate and receive a subsidy of thirty cents and a dou of rice every month.

Scholars are respected wherever they go. Having less pressure in life is one thing, and being respectable is another. This is why Jiang Qiaoqiao is trying her best to marry a scholar.

Mother Xiao and Xiao Lanlan deliberately rushed back before noon, intending to make lunch. However, when they got home, they were surprised to see smoke already rising from the yard.

Jiang Sui and Xiao Hechuan were busy in the kitchen. Jiang Sui was cooking pumpkin porridge while Xiao Hechuan was helping to watch the fire. He was very obedient.

When Mother Xiao came in and saw this, she was very puzzled

“Why, didn’t Chen Jinhua invite you to have lunch before leaving?”

She thought, even if Chen Jinhua is a bad person, she shouldn’t be so bad, right? Shouldn’t she at least try to be kind? Isn’t she afraid of gossip from the villagers?

“No, we just went there and came back quickly. I didn’t want to stay for dinner, so it doesn’t matter.” Jiang Sui replied calmly.

She really didn’t care and didn’t want it.

Mother Xiao still felt uncomfortable and pitied her daughter-in-law.

“You’ve lived in their house for more than ten years. Do you really have no feelings for them at all? I feel sorry for the meat and candy now. I gave them all. I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused to you, little girl.”

“Mom, I don’t feel wronged. You’ve already treated me very decently.” Jiang Sui wasn’t the kind of person who didn’t know what was good for her. Although she was a little selfish, she wasn’t without conscience.

On the other hand, Xiao Hechuan was still upset after the whole morning, just because the mother and daughter of the Jiang family had given his wife the cold shoulder and spoken ill of him. Although he didn’t quite understand what the words “bird” and “phoenix” meant, he could tell good from bad based on the tone of Jiang Qiaoqiao’s voice.

“Mom, I will never go to Widow Chen’s house again. They’re all bad people. They make my wife unhappy. If my wife is unhappy, I’ll hate them.”

Xiao Hechuan pouted his lips, holding a pair of pliers and poking the ground in annoyance.

This made Mother Xiao laugh. No matter what her son became, he had a good heart.

“Okay, okay, I won’t let you go in the future. You were sensible today and even knew to help watch the fire. I’ll reward you with some sugar water later.”

For country people, sugar is a rare treat, priced the same as refined white flour. Ordinary families are reluctant to eat it even if they have it in stock. They only take it out and mix it with water during the busy farming season because it helps them stay energetic.

So, when giving the Jiang family a return gift, Mother Xiao left some sugar in it, thinking there was a pregnant woman at home, and this could be for emergency use. Xiao Hechuan loved drinking sugar water, so she made an exception and decided to reward him.

When he heard that there would be sugar water to drink, Xiao Hechuan smiled happily and put the unhappy things behind him.