Chapter 31.1

The following day, Jiang Rou and Li Xiao took the children to visit her parents.

Jiang Rou’s family lived in a village just outside the county town, and the journey was somewhat long, so Li Xiao rented a motorcycle for the trip. The tricycle that he and Zhou Jian usually used had been taken by Zhou Jian, who was busy with his upcoming wedding to Wang Yan and needed the vehicle for transporting things back and forth.

When the two arrived at Jiang Rou’s home, they didn’t bring much. They only carried a pound of meat and a bag of tangerines—nothing more.

Li Xiao had initially planned to bring some brown sugar and dried longans, but Jiang Rou insisted on leaving them behind. It wasn’t that she was stingy; she was aware of the Jiang family’s nature. With her second sister having recently run away, bringing too many good things might encourage her parents to become overly dependent on them.

Jiang Rou’s mother, Zhang Yan, was much harder to deal with than Lin Meiru. Unlike Lin Meiru, who showed her unpleasantness openly, Zhang Yan was truly calculating and selfish, a person with deep thoughts and a frightening nature.

Since they were taking the motorcycle, Jiang Rou wore an extra layer and wrapped An An tightly. An An seemed to understand that they were going out and behaved exceptionally well while being dressed—she was lying still and allowing Jiang Rou to dress her without making a fuss, unlike usual when she would squirm and fuss during diaper changes or getting dressed.

Jiang Rou took An An outside, and at the gate of the courtyard, Li Xiao was already sitting on the motorcycle. He wore a black knitted hat and a blue scarf covering half his face, revealing only a pair of narrow, deep-set eyes.

He had been staring blankly with his eyes lowered but looked up when they appeared—his eyes dark and profound.

His gaze eventually landed on the plump child in Jiang Rou’s arms, and a trace of a smile gradually appeared in his eyes. “Why is she wearing so many clothes?”

It was indeed quite a lot—An An was wearing two sweaters, a thin cotton jacket, and a thick winter coat, making it so that she could hardly lift her little arms.

Jiang Rou struggled to lock the door and then sat on the back of the motorcycle.

Once seated, she unbuttoned her thick coat and covered An An with it.

An An, not understanding much, thought her mother was playing with her, giggling and showing her pink gums.

Jiang Rou laughed too, lowered her head to kiss the little one’s head, and adjusted her hat.

Hearing their laughter, Li Xiao’s mouth curled into a smile. He turned his head slightly to look back and reminded them, “Hold on tight.”

Then, he pressed the starter, and with the roar of the engine, a slight twist of his wrist got the motorcycle moving.

This was the slowest ride Li Xiao had ever taken on a motorcycle—very steady and smooth.

The originally forty-minute journey took him a full hour and a half. By the time they arrived at the Jiang Family’s house, it was already past eleven in the morning.

The oldest sister’s family had already arrived, and the atmosphere in the house seemed to be tense. Her brother-in-law sat silently in the living room, with the two children standing beside him.

Her parents wore sullen expressions, while her older sister appeared slightly lost. However, upon seeing Jiang Rou arrive, she seemed relieved and got up to greet her.

Li Xiao parked the motorcycle in the yard. Jiang Gui, who had been hiding inside the house, couldn’t resist running out when he heard the sound of the motorcycle.

However, he only stood at the door, watching from a distance, not daring to approach.

When Zhang Yan saw Jiang Rou and Li Xiao arrive, her expression softened a little. She felt that although her daughter had been disobedient, at least she hadn’t completely forgotten her parents and knew to return home for the New Year.

Noticing her son’s eager expression, she spoke in a mother-in-law-like tone, “Let Xiaodi have a ride too. He hasn’t been on a motorcycle before.” 

She rarely treated the two of them warmly and added with a smile, “Come in and sit down. It’s cold outside.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Gui looked up at Li Xiao with anticipation in his eyes.

Li Xiao took the child from Jiang Rou’s arms and replied indifferently, “He can ride it, but I rented it for five yuan. Just give me two yuan.”

“…”

Zhang Yan’s smile froze. She had intended to embarrass her eldest son-in-law. After all, this usually honest and easily bullied man had the nerve to ask them for money this time, claiming that after all the help he had given them if they didn’t lend him the money, he would never come back. He even said that they had other sons-in-law and didn’t need him.

Zhang Yan became furious when she heard this, so when she saw Jiang Rou and Li Xiao, she felt the need to teach her eldest daughter and his husband a lesson—reminding them that she did indeed have more than one son-in-law.

Let’s not even talk about the second son-in-law. No matter how dissatisfied she is with her daughter, Jiang Rou’s marriage, Li Xiao is from the county town and is said to be making money now. It was also a matter of pride to mention him. He was certainly no worse off than the second son-in-law had been.

But what about the eldest son-in-law? He was just a poor farmer. How could he have the audacity to ask them for money?

Upon hearing Li Xiao’s words, Zhang Yan felt embarrassed and couldn’t help but complain to Jiang Rou, “Why does it cost so much for just a short ride? He’s your younger brother.”

She was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Xiao’s apparent stinginess.

Without hesitation, Jiang Rou defended him, “Have you seen how chubby my younger brother is? He will surely use up a lot of fuel.”

“……”

Zhang Yan wanted to say more, but Jiang Rou turned to Jiang Gui and said, “If you want to ride, go ahead, but be careful. Just a few days ago, someone accidentally crashed into a wall and died. Their family’s property was seized by their relatives. But our mother has been frugal and saved quite a bit for you.”

There was a hint of expectation in her tone.

Zhang Yan’s face turned green with anger. She promptly sent Jiang Gui back inside, insisting he couldn’t ride the motorcycle.

She had saved money all her life, not for her relatives, and certainly not for these ungrateful daughters of hers.

Jiang Rou didn’t mind; she walked straight into the house and sat down.

Li Xiao sat beside her, holding their child.

Since no one was attending to them, Jiang Rou poured herself some water and checked the biscuit box on the coffee table. Her brother-in-law and his two children were stunned. He had thought that asking for money was already quite shameless, but Jiang Rou and her husband acted as if nothing was amiss, helping themselves to water and snacks without any discomfort.

Zhang Yan’s face grew darker. She took the small portion of meat that Jiang Rou had brought, which was still less than what the brother-in-law had contributed.

She spoke harshly, “It’s almost noon. You two come and help me cook.”

Upon hearing this, Sister Jiang quickly stood up.

After taking a few steps, she realized that no one was following her. Instinctively, she turned around and saw Jiang Rou still seated on the bench, not moving, and playing with An An.

Jiang Rou’s daughter, An An, was laughing happily as she played with her. Her face was chubby and rosy, clearly well cared for.

Meanwhile, her own two children stood nearby, staring enviously, as thin as bamboo sticks.

Sister Jiang felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.

Zhang Yan also noticed that Jiang Rou hadn’t joined them. Feeling a lump in her chest, she turned around, suppressed her anger, and asked, “Third child, are you deaf?”

Jiang Rou looked up and smiled at her. “Mom, I’m a guest now. It’s not right to have guests cook. I like braised pork, so don’t forget to add more sugar.”

Then she called out into the room, “Jiang Gui, Mom asked if you want to eat braised pork.”

A response came immediately from the room: “Yes!”

“……”

Zhang Yan had never encountered someone so difficult to deal with before. She was usually the one who irritated others, but now she finally knew what it felt like to be irritated by someone.

Her expression was beyond difficult to describe. Her face twisted momentarily, and then she shot a resentful glance at Jiang Rou before turning around and leaving.

Sister Jiang silently followed behind.

Her third sister’s words to their mother were things she would never dare say in her lifetime. Yet, for some reason, she felt a strange envy in her heart when she heard them.

She wasn’t sure if she envied Third Sister for daring to challenge their mother or if she envied Third Sister for living so freely.

In the main room, Father Jiang also remained silent, puffing on a low-quality cigarette that smelled terrible. Jiang Rou disliked it and took An An outside to the yard.

The Jiang family’s kitchen was next to the main room. At this moment, Sister Jiang was squatting at the kitchen door, washing meat.

Jiang Rou walked over with An An and saw a table beside the kitchen door, covered with vegetables and the bag of tangerines that she had brought.

An An seemed curious, so Jiang Rou carried her into the kitchen. Zhang Yan was watching the fire on the stove. Upon seeing Jiang Rou enter, she turned her face away, pretending not to notice.

Jiang Rou casually walked to the table, opened the bag of tangerines, and grabbed a handful of tangerines to put in her pocket.

Then she went outside.

In the yard, she called out to the two children in the main room, “Xiao Hai, Xiao Xue.”

Hearing their aunt calling them, the two children ran out. Jiang Rou put the tangerines from her pocket into the child’s pockets.

The children looked up at Jiang Rou in surprise.

Jiang Rou smiled and said, “Eat up.”

They hesitated; they didn’t eat directly but instead looked up at their mother. Sister Jiang’s expression changed slightly, then she nodded at her children.

Only then did the children accept the tangerines. They whispered: “Thank you, Auntie.”

Jiang Rou shook her head, correcting, “I’m not ‘Youngest Aunt,’ I’m ‘Third Aunt.’”

The children looked confused and turned to their mother for guidance.

Sister Jiang explained, “She’s your third aunt.” She’s not your youngest aunt.”

Then, as if reminded of something, she sighed and looked at Jiang Rou. “Our little sister is quite unfortunate. I heard her adoptive parents want to marry her off.”

Jiang Rou, who was playing with An An, paused, not immediately grasping what she meant. She frowned as she asked, “What do you mean? Did you just say that she’s getting married? How old is she this year, fourteen? ”

Sister Jiang nodded. “Yes, she’s still so young.”

Jiang Rou opened her mouth but was at a loss for words. Fourteen years old? That was still a child. At that age, most kids were still in middle school.

Her body hadn’t even fully developed. How could she be getting married?

Jiang Rou asked hoarsely, “Why is mom and dad not interfering? ”

Sister Jiang sighed again and didn’t answer.

—o—o—o—