Chapter 20 – I Slept With Him

While the two were talking, Jiang Niannian was already off and running up the mountain with her dog.

Jiang Dafu turned around and realized Jiang Niannian had already gone far ahead—she had taken Dahei to find Dahuang.

Outside the village chief’s house, Dahuang was lying in the sun at the door. When he saw Jiang Niannian leading Dahei, he immediately started barking.

Dahuang:
【Woof woof! You dare come back? I should’ve taught you a lesson last time. Stay away from my sister!】

Dahei:
【Woof woof woof! We’re in the same village now, and I don’t have to be tied up every day. If I get the chance, I’ll visit your sister.
Now we’re practically family—brothers-in-law! Show me some respect in front of my master!】

Jiang Niannian: …???

“You two are related?!”

Dahuang:
【My sister is from the pig farm. He visited once, and she got pregnant. She’s probably about to give birth now.】

Dahei:
【My master is awesome. She said she won’t tie me up all the time and that I can visit your sister often. She also feeds me three meals a day. If I can’t finish, I’ll share with your sister too.】

Jiang Niannian felt totally dumbfounded. Why did it feel like she was not just raising this dog but his whole family?

From an outsider’s view, it just looked like Jiang Niannian was standing at the village chief’s door with Dahei, while Dahei and Dahuang barked furiously at each other like they were in a fight.

In truth, they were just chatting.

“Wait, you mentioned the dog from the pig farm. Do you both know Xiao Jingyan?”

Dahei:
【My old master didn’t interact with him much. I only saw him twice—don’t really know him.】

Dahuang:
【I know him. He raises pigs. He’s a decent guy and treats my sister well.
Lots of girls in the village like him. Don’t tell me—you like him too?】

Jiang Niannian quickly shook her head.

“No, I don’t like him. I just… slept with him.”

Dahuang:
【What?! Is he big or not?】

Dahei:
【Woof woof, amazing! I’ve slept in his doghouse, and you’ve slept with him?! When are you taking me to visit my wife?】

Jiang Niannian nearly slapped herself. Great, now the entire village’s animal population would know! Dahuang had a big mouth—why did she blurt that out?!

Dahuang:
【You haven’t even visited my sister once. I’ll bite you!】

Dahei:
【Come on, bro, calm down! I just moved into your village. I’ll go see her soon.】

Jiang Niannian: Great… her first battle general turned out to be a total romance fool.

Inside the yard, the village chief’s wife heard the barking and came out to see Jiang Niannian sitting on a stone stool by the wall, flanked by a large yellow dog on one side and a large black dog on the other.

Both dogs were barking alternately, like they were having a chat.

“Aiya, Niannian! Why are you sitting outside instead of coming in? Come in, come in!”

Jiang Niannian quickly stood up and called out:

“Auntie! I just came to check on your dog. I just got this new one, so I brought him over to get some pointers from Dahuang.”

Right after she said that, she realized how strange it sounded—coming over just to visit the dog without even saying hello properly. That was probably rude, right?

“Uh, Auntie, don’t mind me. You go do your thing. I won’t come in. I’m just letting my dog learn from Dahuang how to be a good boy.”

Her words made the village chief’s wife burst into laughter.

“My Dahuang is something else. Alright, let those two dogs chat outside. You come inside with me—it’s too hot out.”

Jiang Niannian still wanted to ask about the rats at Li Laosan’s house. Since the village chief’s wife was being so warm, she couldn’t turn her down and went inside.

She looked back to see the two dogs still lying in the sun, chatting away. She wanted to find a way to join their conversation again later.

While sitting inside, the village chief’s wife asked about what happened in the city, and Jiang Niannian mentioned how Jiang Xiaolin had suddenly gone back to the city, and how the Jiang couple just declared that Xiaolin was their biological daughter.

The village chief’s wife immediately saw through the fishy situation.

“Ah, Xiaolin grew up in the village. There’s no way she didn’t know she wasn’t their real daughter.
But seriously, how bold is she to go to the city alone like that?”

Jiang Niannian blinked.

“Didn’t Comrade Xiao take her to the city?”

Village Chief’s wife: “What? Comrade Xiao took her?”

Jiang Niannian was stunned by the question.

“Didn’t he?”

The village chief’s wife clapped her hands.

“Then that must be it! He was gone those few days too, said he was delivering goods to the city. That has to be it.”

Jiang Niannian hadn’t realized she was spreading a rumor. She had guessed it, and now the village chief’s wife had analyzed it and confirmed it.

Just like that—it was decided to be true.

Before leaving, Jiang Niannian asked for Li Laosan’s address and told Dahuang to go ask the rats in his house when exactly Li Laosan planned to act.

Then she brought Dahei home. When they arrived, she saw her mother cooking. There was still some pork leftover from yesterday. Jiang Niannian gave Dahei a chunk and mixed it with vegetable scraps in unsalted broth for him.

She told her older brother to bring Dahei with him that evening—man and dog could watch each other’s backs.

Jiang Weiguo thought about the dog pickup earlier.

“I went to check on that family. Their dog was poisoned by someone stealing piglets.
The dogs at the pig farm haven’t had pups yet—once they do, I’ll bring back two more.”

Wang Yingxiu gasped.

“People are stealing piglets now?!”

Jiang Weiguo shook his head.

“No idea who. Now that we’re allowed to raise pigs, everyone can just buy a few piglets and raise their own. Why steal? So immoral.”

Wang Yingxiu agreed.

“And poisoning the dog on top of that? That’s just awful.”

Then she reminded Jiang Niannian:

“You better tell Dahei—not to eat anything unless it’s given by someone from our family.”

Out in the yard, Dahei barked.

【Woof woof woof! Master, there’s an intruder! A kid just snuck into the house!】

“Ahh! Dog! Waaah—”

Jiang Xiaolu’s crying rang out, and Jiang Niannian immediately knew who the “intruder” was.

She ran out and called off Dahei, who looked like he was about to bite.

“Don’t bite—that’s my rebellious little brother.”

Seeing Jiang Xiaolu crying while sitting on the ground, Jiang Niannian finished her sentence. Jiang Xiaolu glared at her, and she shot him a fierce look in return.

Wang Yingxiu understood. After what had happened with the third branch of the family, it was obvious the kid had gotten a rough deal and ended up here.

“You came over? You’re not staying at your third uncle’s place anymore?”

Jiang Xiaolu stiffened his neck and sniffled.

“I came to eat. Third Uncle, Third Aunt, and Big Cousin aren’t home. Grandma told me to come here to eat.”

Wang Yingxiu laughed bitterly.

“And why should you come here to eat?
You don’t even like this family—what are you eating here for?

Every day you eat our food and turn around to curse us, always siding with outsiders. If you like their house so much, go eat there.
We’ve got nothing to do with each other anymore—don’t come back here.

Leave! Do you hear me?! I don’t have a son who turns his back on his own family. Get out!”

Jiang Xiaolu, only eight years old, burst into sobs.

“Waaah!”

As her eldest grandson and youngest son, Jiang Weiguo felt sorry seeing him cry and tried to step in.

“The kid’s hungry. Why argue with him? Let him eat first!”

Wang Yingxiu turned and went back inside. She didn’t want to look at him.

Because last time, he’d stolen ten yuan from the family and given it to the third branch. Just thinking about it made her mad all over again.