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The tied-up man stared at them in disbelief.
“You… You two, what’s wrong with you?!
I clearly saw her hit you both just now—I was watching from the mountain!”
Even though Sanbenzi’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, he absolutely couldn’t admit that Jiang Niannian hit him.
He immediately rebuked the man:
“What’s wrong with you? Whether we got hit or not, we’d know that ourselves.
Who needs you running your mouth?”
Wang Fendou winced and hissed in pain as he held his face.
He quickly chimed in after glancing at Jiang Niannian.
“Exactly! You got hit yourself and now you want to drag us down too?
Why did she hit you, huh?
Must’ve done something shady—otherwise why would a female comrade hit you and not anyone else?”
Jiang Niannian’s lips curled into a smile.
That line was gold.
“Exactly, comrade. Why don’t you explain—why did I hit you and not the others?
First, when I passed by, you were raising a stick to hit Big Yellow, the dog from the village chief’s home.
Second, Big Yellow is a smart dog. He wouldn’t bite just anyone—he held onto your pants because you must’ve done something.
You panicked and tried to break free because you were worried about exposing yourself.
You were right in front of Li Laosan’s house.
Why don’t we call him over and see if he knows you?”
As soon as she said that, the man’s eyes darted around in panic, landing on Xiao Jingyan.
Xiao Jingyan narrowed his eyes at the man’s reaction.
Li Laosan was brought over and questioned. He looked completely confused.
“I don’t know him!
How would I know why he was lurking outside my house?”
To Jiang Niannian, his denial might very well be laying the groundwork for a cover-up later.
Just then, Xiao Jingyan stepped up.
“If you don’t know him, then I suggest we send him to the station and let the Public Security comrades interrogate him properly.”
The village chief agreed and immediately ordered someone to accompany Xiao Jingyan in escorting the man to the station.
Wang Yingxiu rushed over, worried.
“Are you hurt?”
Jiang Niannian gave her mother a look and shook her head.
“No, nothing serious.”
Wang Yingxiu let out a sigh of relief.
In her past life, her daughter often worked with the police and had put in the hard work.
She was already a Sanda champion and held a black belt in Taekwondo.
Still, even the most careful could trip up someday—so she always worried.
“As long as you’re okay.
But what was that man doing in our village anyway?
Scoping it out to steal piglets at night?
And to think we just talked about contracting the barren hill this morning—what if he snatched two piglets while passing by?
That would be a painful loss.”
The villagers nodded in agreement.
“Thank goodness for Niannian!
She caught the guy—otherwise, if he really was scouting and ended up stealing our pigs, we wouldn’t even know where to start looking.”
“Right, no one’s money falls from the sky.
Hey, Aunt Jiang, is it true your family’s planning to contract that barren hill to raise chickens?
Can it really work out?
What if you raise that many chickens and can’t sell them?
And ducks too? It’s fine to keep a dozen or so at home, but contracting a whole hill?”
Wang Yingxiu smiled.
“We’re planning to raise a lot!
The policies are open now—the country allows breeding and contracting.
So why wouldn’t we raise more?
We’re just following the Party’s lead.
If the higher-ups say go, then we go!
We’re thinking of raising over a hundred birds.
Rather than keeping them all at home where it stinks, better to let them roam the hills freely.
Actually, you all could raise some too! Even just for your own meals!”
After hearing that, the village women all exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
They decided to wait and see whether her family could actually sell that many chickens.
“Auntie, if you’re raising so many chickens and ducks, better watch out for avian flu!”
Jiang Niannian turned to look at the one who said that—her annoying younger aunt.
This girl’s brain must be full of holes!
Everyone was planning to wait and see if raising poultry would make money,
yet she jumped in talking about bird flu. Unbelievable.
And she was from the Jiang family too.
No wonder she was still unmarried at twenty—anyone who knew her wouldn’t want a woman like that with no sense.
Wang Yingxiu knew exactly what this little sister-in-law was like.
“No need for you to worry about that.
Why don’t you focus on finding yourself a husband first!”
That line hit hard. The younger aunt turned red with anger.
“Whether I marry or not is none of your business!
Why don’t you think about your new so-called daughter and how she’s going to handle her engagement with Comrade Xiao?
Jiang Xiaolin was the one originally engaged to him.
Now that she’s gone back to the city, I doubt that engagement’s still valid.
I wonder if Comrade Xiao even wants your new daughter—he might not be interested!”
Jiang Niannian replied coolly,
“Auntie, even if all the men in the world died, I wouldn’t hang myself on one tree.
Besides, he’s her fiancé—what’s that got to do with me?
You keep obsessing over it. Could it be that you want this marriage?”
Jiang Meiling immediately snapped back.
“I don’t even like that jinx! Don’t you go pushing him on me!
He’s cursed—everyone around him dies!”
Wang Yingxiu scolded her sharply.
“Jiang Meiling, what nonsense are you spouting?
Say that again and I’ll report you for spreading superstitions!”
“Ugh, whatever,” Jiang Meiling muttered, rolling her eyes.
“It’s true anyway—what, scared someone’s gonna say it?
Only that fool Jiang Xiaolin would want him.
Other than his face, what’s so great? He’s a walking disaster.
She was all dramatic and insisted on being engaged to him.
Now she’s left, and that engagement’s probably going to fall on your precious daughter’s head.
You’ll be the one crying when the time comes!”
Jiang Niannian raised an eyebrow.
“Mama, what’s going on here?”
Wang Yingxiu gave her a simple explanation.
“Apparently, when Comrade Xiao came here, he had no family—no grandparents, no parents, no uncles or aunts.
They all passed away. Just him left.
So people started saying he was cursed—anyone close to him would die.
I say that’s all feudal superstition!
If he’s really that deadly, send him to another country—wouldn’t that nation disappear off the map?”
Jiang Niannian was curious.
“So no one stopped Jiang Xiaolin when she got engaged to him?”
“Yeah, but who knew she’d disappear the day after the engagement?
And then you showed up.
Now the engagement seems to have fallen on your shoulders.
Sometimes I wonder if she did it on purpose…”
Jiang Niannian thought for a moment.
“Then don’t wonder—it’s definitely on purpose!
Either way, Dad already broke off the engagement, so that’s that.”
But as soon as she said that, Jiang Weiguo walked over with a sheepish expression.
“Uh… about that…
The engagement didn’t actually get called off.”
Wang Yingxiu: “What?!
What do you mean it didn’t get called off?!”
Jiang Niannian stared at her dad, stunned.
Didn’t he say yesterday it was canceled? What happened?
Jiang Weiguo looked around awkwardly and whispered,
“Let’s talk at home.”
Once they got home, Wang Yingxiu couldn’t wait.
“Spit it out. What happened exactly?!”