Chapter 2 – Which Daughter Are You Thinking Of?

As she thought about it more, Jiang Niannian suddenly felt there wasn’t much reason to come back. She was only helping the original Jiang Zhaodi come take a look. Yes, just doing Jiang Zhaodi a favor by coming to take a look.

In the courtyard, the two brothers were talking. Jiang Dagui looked a little worried their real mother wouldn’t be able to handle the truth.

“Bro, Mom’s not in good shape right now. What if this shocks her and her condition gets worse?”

But Jiang Dafu didn’t think their mother couldn’t handle the truth.

“Dagui, you make sense, but facts are facts. Little sister is our real sister. I think Mom can accept that.

Unless you have a better idea?”

Jiang Dagui hesitated.
“I think we should bring our little sister back first. As long as Mom sees her, she’ll get better naturally.

Then we can bring that other girl out in front of her—Mom might take it easier that way.”

Jiang Dafu didn’t agree with that. He shook his head and turned to go outside, trying to keep his tone as kind as possible when he spoke to Jiang Niannian.

“So, what’s your name?”

Jiang Niannian calmly replied,
“My name is Jiang Niannian. That family gave me the name Zhaodi, but I didn’t like it. From now on, I’ll be Jiang Niannian.”

Jiang Dafu nodded.
“Alright, Niannian is a lovely name.
Come, let’s go inside and talk. We’re all family—you don’t need to be so tense.”

As he spoke, he gestured to her to come into the yard.

Jiang Dagui called out, “Big Bro!”
He glanced at Jiang Niannian, then at the house, then back at his brother.

He clearly didn’t agree with just bringing Jiang Niannian inside like this. They all knew how much their mother doted on her daughter—now suddenly replacing her with someone else? Of course she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Jiang Dafu gave him a look and said to Jiang Niannian:
“Your second brother’s just worried about Mom’s condition. Don’t worry, once she sees you’ve come back, I’m sure she’ll get better.”

Jiang Niannian smiled faintly, but she felt a little uneasy. In her last life, she had little connection to family—her father passed away early, leaving her and her mother to depend on each other. When she was ten, her mother died too.

In this life, it seemed like she had a lot of family… but who knew how many of them genuinely cared about her?

At least this second brother didn’t seem like someone who did.

Jiang Niannian was someone who wore her feelings openly—she liked what she liked, and disliked what she disliked. It always showed on her face.

Right now, looking at this second brother, her expression was anything but warm.

Jiang Dagui watched helplessly as his older brother brought this girl into the yard, scratching his head anxiously.

Meanwhile, the village head’s big yellow dog, who had nothing better to do, strolled around like it owned the place. Backed by the village chief’s authority, no one dared mess with it. At this moment, it was clearly looking forward to the drama that was about to unfold.

It barked twice toward the house:

[Your real daughter is back! Why aren’t you coming out to greet her?]

Jiang Niannian had been feeling pretty conflicted, but that shout from Big Yellow eased her mood just a bit.

When Jiang Dagui heard the dog barking, he knew their parents inside must’ve heard it too. Without giving Jiang Niannian a choice, he grabbed her and pulled her toward the east wing.

The Jiang family courtyard was laid out similar to a traditional siheyuan—the parents and youngest son lived in the main house, and the two side wings were for the eldest and second sons.

The other wing had been used by Jiang Xiaolin.

Now, Jiang Niannian was being pulled into the room where the two brothers stayed.

Jiang Weiguo, their father, heard the village head’s dog barking and came out to take a look. Seeing only his eldest son standing in the yard, he asked:

“The village head came?”

Jiang Dafu: “No, he didn’t.”

Jiang Weiguo gave a puzzled “Oh.”
“I heard Big Yellow barking—thought the village head came. That’s weird. If the chief didn’t come, why is the dog here?”

Big Yellow always stuck close to the village chief. Wherever the chief visited, it would rush ahead and bark [woof woof] at the door.