Chapter 9
The Jiang family
Dan Bin paid a lot of attention to Jiang Chuan’s family not only because he sympathized with Jiang Chuan’s fate, but also to make up for his regret of not being able to stop Jiang Chuan’s daughter from being forced to marry someone else. The girl who used to smile and call him Grandpa Dan every time she saw him had left.
The higher-ups had stated that forcing a marriage was considered a business marriage, and it was prohibited. However, in this remote village, the practice of forcing a marriage happened all the time. Therefore, most village leaders had no choice but to turn a blind eye to it. As long as the matter didn’t blow up, they would pretend that they didn’t know.
When Dan Bin found out that Jiang Chuan’s eldest daughter was forced to marry, he thought to himself that if Jiang Chuan came to him for help, he would do anything in his power to interfere with the matter. However, Jiang Chuan disappointed him.
When they reached the front of the Jiang family’s courtyard, the door opened before they could even say anything. It was obvious that the people inside saw their shadows.
Jiang Xia raised her head and took a peek. The one who opened the door was the eldest son of the Jiang family, Jiang Gui, Jiang Xia’s oldest uncle.
In the past, Jiang Xia was timid and always liked to lower her head when he is around, giving people a feeling of her being a coward. Jiang Xia, who had just entered this body, had also inherited this habit. After realizing that there was a problem with her standing posture, Jiang Xia straightened her back to give off a confident look.
Jiang Gui had big shoulders, a round belly, and a square face. His face should have been stern, but it was ruined by his small and collapsed triangular-shaped eyes.
To Jiang Xia’s surprise, even with his small eyes, she could easily tell that he was a shrewd and calculative person.
Jiang Gui smiled and welcomed the village chief into the house. He then face the house and shouted, “Father, the village chief is here.”
Jiang Gui’s voice was not only heard by his mother but also by the second son of the Jiang family, Jiang Hua, who was currently living in the west room. After hearing Jiang Gui’s words, Jiang Hua opened the door and walked over with his wife.
Compared to Jiang Gui’s unique appearance, Jiang Hua had a more common appearance and was the type that couldn’t be found in a crowd. Because he was shortsighted in school, he liked to squint his eyes to look at people.
“Chief, you’re here. Come in and have a seat.” Jiang Hua said as he walked up to the village chief and smiled. Only after he addressed the chief that he showed Jiang Chuan a serious look and said, “Brother, why didn’t you discuss it with your family before going up the mountain? Do you know how worried father and mother are?”
Jiang Xia laughed out of anger when she heard this. Fortunately, she was used to lowering her head, so no one noticed her abnormality.
Her second uncle was amazing! He knew how to talk! It was this bunch of blood-sucking bugs that forced them up the mountain, and now they were saying that they didn’t discuss before going up the mountains? All the villages in the vicinity were suffering from drought. Where else could they find food? Wouldn’t that mean their only choice was to go up the mountain?
“It’s my fault. I was afraid that Xiao Xia would be sold by my mother, so I had to go up the mountain. I know that there are wild beasts on the mountain and you will be worried, but the nearby area is dry and there is nothing to eat.” On the surface, Jiang Chuan only answered what Jiang Hua had said, but in fact, he had said everything he meant to say.
Jiang Hua was stunned and looked at Jiang Chuan with suspicion. How did his third brother, who was usually the quiet brother suddenly become so talkative?
Jiang Xia lowered her head and raised her eyebrows. Her father was amazing!
The door wasn’t closed when Jiang Gui welcomed the village chief, and the houses weren’t soundproof. So after he shouted, the surrounding neighbors all came to the door to listen to the gossip. Although there had been many rumors about old Jiang’s family among the villagers, this was the first time they had heard it directly from the person involved.
Jiang Hua’s wife saw that Jiang Hua didn’t react for a moment, so she quickly tried to smooth things. “Chief, hurry up and come on in! There are still some fruits at home, I’ll go wash them.”
Hearing Jiang Hua’s wife’s words, the village chief quickly waved his hand and said, “No, no, I’m just here to see brother Jiang. I’ll leave after a few words.”
As they were talking, Jiang Fu had already arrived in front of them, followed by Wang Fen and Jiang Gui’s wife.
Jiang Xia roughly calculated the time in her heart. From the behavior of these people in the past, this should be the time when Jiang Fu is lying down and getting ready to sleep, while Wang Fen and Jiang Gui’s wife start chatting in the central room.
This was really a heartless thing. Jiang Chuan had worked hard for the Jiang family for so many years, but all he got was indifference and oppression. Even the villagers who had no relationship with him could go up the mountain to look for him, but they could act as if nothing had happened and did not care about his life and death.
The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the more she clenched her fists. Anger was rising from the bottom of her heart. It was not only her dissatisfaction but also the resentment from the original body.