NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 73
The winter night fell early.
Father and Elder brother returned together.
Outside was cold, but inside the house had a warm feeling.
Dinner was prepared by Elder Sister, a big pot of soup, and it was a day to eat plain rice.
The family would eat plain rice every two or three days, which Jiang Mianmian remembered clearly, and she would actively request to cook on those days.
She wanted to soak the rice for a longer time so that it would yield more when cooked.
After Jiang Changtian had warmed up, he came to hug his daughter.
Jiang Mianmian also loved being hugged by Father the most.
Seeing Father extend his arms, she couldn't wait to pounce over.
Being bundled up and well-fed, Jiang Mianmian had a substantial weight, like a small scale weight.
She bumped into Father's body.
Jiang Changtian held his little daughter and was almost choked.
He couldn't help but cough.
Qin Luoxia was startled, worried that her husband might catch a cold in the winter after not coughing for half a year.
Last month, Old man Liu from the village had just passed away from catching a cold.
Jiang Feng took Mianmian over.
Jiang Mianmian felt that everyone was too anxious about Father. She sensed that Father's health was quite good, not that bad, especially since he had been drinking the Magic Spring Water.
Father just had a thin physique.
But she also enjoyed being held by Elder brother.
Elder brother would lift her up and make her fly, really fly.
Jiang Mianmian was thrown up into the air by Elder brother's hands, then caught, thrown up again, and caught again.
She found it very fun.
She couldn't help but laugh "hee hee hee."
Jiang Feng proudly said, "Mianmian can call me 'Brother' now, how amazing."
Jiang Mianmian's drool even flew onto Brother's face.
She was securely caught back into Brother's embrace.
After playing for a while,
the family began to eat dinner.
Although the portions were divided, Mother, Elder Sister, and Elder Brother ate very quickly, always with a sense of urgency that if they ate too slowly, there wouldn't be anything left.
Father ate a bit slower, while Jiang Mianmian ate the slowest.
She could now eat at the table because she could sit, in a small bamboo chair that Mother had made.
She had developed self-awareness and resolutely refused to eat anything that Mother had chewed...
Cut into pieces was fine, but chewed was unacceptable.
This was why Qin Luoxia felt that her youngest daughter was deservedly Father's daughter, with that same cleanliness when eating.
At this moment, only the father and daughter had not finished eating.
Jiang Changtian ate elegantly, while Jiang Mianmian tried her best to eat neatly. After all, she wasn't a real baby, and she would feel ashamed if she got soup and rice all over herself.
But she was still a baby, lacking dexterity with her hands, so she ate very slowly.
She looked exceptionally obedient, a little baby slowly bringing the spoon to her mouth.
It was not easy to precisely find her mouth with the spoon~~.
Jiang Yu watched anxiously, "If my sister eats like this, she'll starve if she doesn't marry into a wealthy family in the future."
She earned a head flick from Elder brother, "Don't talk nonsense."
As Mianmian was concentrating on eating, there was a knock at the door.
"Bang bang bang!"
Visitors at mealtimes were always uninvited.
Jiang Changtian drank his soup, and Jiang Mianmian alertly looked at the food in front of her, wondering if she should hide the small pieces of meat.
But she was an exception.
Elder Sister quickly cleared the table, leaving only Mianmian's food untouched.
Letting her continue eating.
Jiang Mianmian sat at the table and saw the visitor.
The person who entered was an old woman wearing silk clothes, her face heavily made up, appearing quite frightening. (This paragraph is copied from Chapter 3.)
She walked in a very awkward manner, one leg fine and the other a limp, hobbling in with a limp, limp, limp.
It was none other than Sixth Aunt, who had broken her leg six months ago.
She could now walk on the ground, but one of her legs was lame and would not recover.
When Sixth Aunt came in and saw a plump, fair baby eating with meat in her bowl, she was amazed. The infant was incredibly beautiful, certainly well-fed with meat by Jiang the Second.
Jiang Mianmian thought to herself that this old woman had previously said if she survived, she would eat three pounds of feces.
But she hadn't eaten any yet.
With this thought, she looked at the dark pieces of meat in her rice bowl and suddenly lost her appetite...
Sixth Aunt then turned to look at Jiang Yu, who had grown even more beautiful.
She used to often hear Cui's Mother say that her Cui was pretty, but now looking at her, Cui's face was long and thin, clearly lacking good fortune.
Jiang Yu, on the other hand, was truly beautiful.
After all, she had Jiang the Second's genes.
Remembering the tall white horse she had seen outside, greed was barely concealed in Sixth Aunt's eyes.
She hobbled in with a limp, smiling before speaking.
She opened her mouth wide and said, "Good news, great news, Sixth Aunt has come to share the joy with you all!"
Jiang Mianmian thought, here it comes, last time this old woman came with "great news," it was to sell Elder Sister.
What good news could there be this time?
Seeing the Jiang family remain unresponsive, Sixth Aunt was not fazed at all and continued, "Elder Sister Yu has great fortune, Lord Liu has taken a liking to your Elder Sister Yu and wants to take her as his concubine, able to bear children immediately after entering his household. All you need to provide as a bride price is one horse."
"Hic." Jiang Mianmian was so startled that she hiccuped.
Father patted her back.
Qin Luoxia felt that breaking just one of Sixth Aunt's legs last time was too merciful - she should have broken both her legs.
Jiang Yu spoke up first, "I won't become a concubine. Lord Liu is too stingy - in his household, they reuse the sticks for wiping after using the toilet, washing them before the next use. If he wants to take me, asking for our horse too? He can forget it!"
Jiang Mianmian: ...Gross, I can't eat anymore, I really can't finish this dinner.
Jiang Feng also said, "My sister won't become a concubine. Lord Liu is even older than our father - Sixth Aunt, you should accumulate some virtue and leave."
Jiang Changtian did not speak but simply looked at the old woman in front of him, even with a polite smile on his face.
Qin Luoxia's chest heaved up and down, her hand itching to reach for the axe.
Sixth Aunt sneered at the family's attitude.
She hobbled over and sat down on a chair herself.
"It's only because Lord Liu heard that your Elder Sister Yu is fertile that he's giving you this opportunity. Your entire family will be destitute - do you believe that if I shout in the village that Lord Liu wants a concubine, there will be plenty of others sending their daughters?"
"My daughter does not want such fortune. Sixth Aunt, please leave," Qin Luoxia firmly refused.
Sixth Aunt waved her handkerchief lazily and said slowly, "This entire village is Lord Liu's territory. If you don't marry her off, you'd better leave soon. Every mountain and body of water here belongs to Lord Liu's family. Even the wild vegetables you dig up and the animals you hunt belong to Lord Liu. Lord Liu doesn't keep account, so you treat them as your own possessions?"
"To put it bluntly, the very air you breathe is a favor from Lord Liu. If Lord Liu wants to drive you out of the village, leaving would mean death. The outside world is in chaos now - there are fresh corpses lying by the roadside. With the turmoil outside, when would the nobles in the Capital City have time for you? If you're sensible, you'll obediently comply - there's still a path to life. Three days from now on an auspicious day, Lord Liu will send a small sedan to pick up Elder Sister Yu and the horse. Elder Sister Yu's prosperous life lies ahead!" Having finished, Sixth Aunt paid no heed to the expressions of the others. She stood up and hobbled her lame leg out, step by step.