Chapter 6: Thoroughly Offended

On their way back, Jiang’s father and Zhou Guiyun ran into their nephew, Jiang Shouliangu.

As the eldest son of the second family, Jiang Shouliangu had taken his wife and children to visit his in-laws today, and he had just returned. Seeing his uncle and aunt, he hurriedly greeted them.

Normally, Zhou Guiyun and Jiang’s father would respond warmly, but today, neither of them was in the mood. They merely gave a curt nod and continued on their way.

Jiang Shouliangu was left puzzled, momentarily stunned by their coldness.

His wife, however, had a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. She quickly whispered to him about what she had overheard last night. “I told you yesterday, but you said I heard wrong. Look at the expression on Uncle and Aunt’s faces now—was I wrong?”

Last night, while getting up in the middle of the night, she had overheard her sister-in-law crying in their in-laws’ room. Curious, she had snuck closer to listen in.

She had overheard her sister-in-law confessing to having gotten involved with Jiang Qian’s prospective fiancé and even becoming pregnant! This shocking revelation had made her eyes light up with excitement, and she had rushed back to tell Jiang Shouliangu. However, Jiang Shouliangu hadn’t believed her at the time.

Now, though, Jiang Shouliangu couldn’t help but frown. He quickly hurried back home with his wife.

When they arrived, they were met with a chaotic scene. His mother and sister both had visible slap marks on their faces!

“What happened here? Mother, why do both you and little sister have slap marks on your faces? We just saw Uncle and Aunt walking away from here. We called out to them, but they didn’t answer us,” Jiang Shouliangu’s wife blinked innocently, though she already knew what had happened.

“Father, what’s going on?” Jiang Shouliangu asked, clearly confused.

Second Uncle Jiang let out a bitter laugh, “This time, we’ve really angered your uncle and aunt to the core.”

Sun Shi, though frustrated by her husband’s weak demeanor, could only jab her finger at her daughter, “This is all your doing!”

Despite being slapped, Sun Shi was still upset, but she couldn’t deny that the main house had always taken good care of them. Over the years, the main family had never turned their backs on them when they were in need. But this time, they had truly offended the main house deeply.

“Father, Mother, if you want to hit or scold me, I’ll take it!” Jiang Yue said, resigned. She had only gotten involved with Wang Hesong because she couldn’t wait any longer for Han Shiguo. She had lost her patience.

Jiang Yue kept quiet about the fact that she had transmigrated into this book. After all, she wasn’t stupid—there was no way she would reveal something like that.

But Second Uncle Jiang and Sun Shi didn’t say much more either. At this point, scolding or hitting her wouldn’t change anything. After all, she was pregnant with Wang Hesong’s child now. The Wang family lived in town, and Wang Hesong held a decent position in his workplace. In many ways, it wasn’t a bad match—certainly not worse than the Han family.

Besides, Sun Shi thought to herself, Wang Hesong had chosen her daughter over Jiang Qian. Wasn’t that proof that her daughter was more attractive? It wasn’t their fault that the main family’s daughter couldn’t keep a man. How could they blame others for that?

These were Sun Shi’s private thoughts, but she didn’t dare say them aloud.

Meanwhile, at the main house…

Other than their fourth brother, Jiang Shouchuan, who was still working in the county, Jiang Shouhai, the eldest, and Jiang Shoutao, the second eldest, had already returned home with a cartload of firewood. The two brothers had spent the day gathering firewood in the mountains.

As for their third brother, Jiang Shouhe, he had gone into the county with his wife, Su Zhirou, and had just arrived back as well. All three brothers had returned around the same time, only to hear that their cousin, Jiang Yue, had stolen their little sister’s marriage prospect and that the Wang family had broken their trust.

All three brothers clenched their fists in fury!

“Big brother, second brother, third brother, please don’t act impulsively. I don’t need you to seek revenge on my behalf. I already gave Wang Hesong two hard slaps. If you get involved now, it’ll just make it seem like he’s more important than he is!” Jiang Qian, knowing her brothers well, quickly tried to calm them down.

Jiang Shouhai responded, “Got it. Don’t worry, we won’t go looking for him to settle the score. Otherwise, he might think you can’t live without him and it’d inflate his ego.”

Jiang Shoutao nodded in agreement. “He’s not worthy of having a girl like you as his wife!”

Jiang Shouhe, however, just smiled slightly, which made Jiang Qian feel a little helpless. While her eldest and second brothers seemed okay, she knew her third brother, the “smiling tiger,” wouldn’t let Wang Hesong off easily. Still, Wang deserved it if he got beaten up.

Her sister-in-law, Su Zhirou, who understood her husband well, smiled gently and added, “That Wang fellow is blind for not recognizing gold when it’s inlaid with jade. It’s just his bad luck. Since Qian doesn’t care about it, let’s not go overboard either.”

She was a female educated youth sent to the countryside earlier this year, and after the busy summer harvest, she directly married Jiang Shouhe.

Jiang Shouhe adored her deeply. Instead of focusing on his younger sister’s situation, he shared some good news with the family, “Mother, we went to the hospital today for a checkup, and the doctor said that the baby in Rou’s belly is very healthy. She was just a bit overworked recently, but as long as she rests well, there shouldn’t be any major issues!”

Zhou Guiyun was delighted to hear this and looked toward Su Zhirou. “Take advantage of this slower winter season to rest properly. Pregnancy isn’t an easy thing, especially since this is your first child!”

Su Zhirou smiled and nodded, “Don’t worry, Mother. I’ve already been hearing a lot of advice from my sisters-in-law.”

Jiang Qian also glanced at her third sister-in-law’s belly, which hadn’t started to show yet. She had heard it had been over two months, but it was still too early. Typically, it would take at least four or five months before the baby bump would be visible. Right now, there was no sign at all.

It was getting late, and dinner was already prepared and served.

The meal was very simple—mixed-grain steamed buns with boiled cabbage, and that was it.

But this was already considered a pretty good meal. Many families in the village made do with just porridge.

The whole family enjoyed their meal with great contentment.

Jiang Qian remained calm about it.

Although her personal space had a lot of supplies, other than occasionally having the hens at home ‘lay’ a few extra eggs, there wasn’t much else she could do.

At home, she ate whatever the family ate, never revealing any special treatment for herself. However, in the privacy of her own small room, she would quietly indulge herself.

After all, she was clever and had secretly bought plenty of delicious ready-to-eat foods, neatly chopped and packed by the vendors.

Whenever she craved meat, she’d lock her room door and then pull out something from her personal space. Sometimes it was lobster, steamed fish, roast goose, or even roast chicken, or braised pork trotters…

The space she had was a unique one where time stood still. Nothing ever spoiled. Whatever she put in stayed exactly as it was—same taste, same temperature, ready to eat whenever she took it out.

Unless the family fell into hard times, she would never bring out these special treats from her secret stash.

Moreover, the family’s financial situation was relatively decent, so there was really no need for her to reveal the existence of her personal space. It simply wasn’t necessary.

After finishing the simple dinner, Jiang Qian began tutoring her eldest nephew with his homework.

Jiang Shouhai and Zhao Aiying, her eldest brother and sister-in-law, had three children—two sons and a daughter. Her eldest nephew, Jiang Weiguo, was already eight years old and in the second grade of primary school. Next year, he’d be moving up to third grade.

The second child, Jiang Weihong, was six years old, and the youngest, Jiang Weidang, was three.

Jiang Shoutao and Zhao Aifeng, her second brother and sister-in-law, had two children—one son and one daughter. The eldest, Jiang Weijun, was also six years old, and next year, he would be going to first grade along with the eldest niece, Jiang Weihong. The youngest, Jiang Weimin, was a three-year-old little boy who liked to follow his older siblings, Jiang Weidang and Jiang Weihong, around, catching cabbage worms and digging up earthworms to feed to the chickens!

While Jiang Weimin and Jiang Weidang, the younger ones, could play freely, Jiang Weihong and Jiang Weijun, both six years old, would be starting first grade next year. Therefore, Jiang Qian would tutor them, teaching them how to count and write their names.