After Li Xiangdong finished speaking, Grandma Hong was the first to applaud, "Good boy, your mother was right about you!"

Grandma Jiang's icy expression softened slightly. "Then I thank you, old woman!"

Li Xiangdong replied solemnly, "You're welcome!"

Having said that, he turned and left with a flourish.

......

In the stillness of the night, the gentle sound of rain lulled people to sleep. The people in the east room were fast asleep, and the long and short snores of the floodwaters reached the ears of the two old ladies in the west room clearly.

Grandma Jiang covered her ears in annoyance and rolled over. "It's so noisy! How have you been sleeping all these years?"

Grandma Hong said very calmly, "You'll get used to it. If I couldn't hear it at first, I wouldn't be able to sleep well!"

In the darkness, Grandma Jiang rolled her eyes speechlessly.

"You're still so straightforward. It's been decades, and you've suffered so much, hasn't it changed your temperament?" Old Mrs. Hong asked casually with her eyes closed.

"I'm not like you, always smiling and saying nice things to everyone! I'm unyielding, and my integrity remains even when I'm broken!"

"You have such a mouth! You've been like this since you were a child, haven't you suffered enough?"

Grandma Hong sighed, then suddenly remembered something, opened her eyes, and whispered to Grandma Jiang, "Oh, Sister Jiang, I heard that Jiang Fang and the others are coming back, saying they want to be by your side and serve you?"

"What Jiang Fang? He's not a member of the Jiang family at all! They don't even deserve the surname Jiang!" Old Mrs. Jiang said with annoyance.

"That bitch from Hancheng gave birth to a litter of bastards, and she still wants to please me? Serves me? Bullshit! She's just trying to covet what little the Jiang family has left!"

After saying that, Old Mrs. Jiang gave a cold laugh.

Grandma Hong sighed, "Han Cheng married into the Jiang family, and he changed his surname to Jiang long ago! Back then, you were right to insist on not acknowledging Han Cheng's illegitimate children. It was just that the circumstances were special at the time, and Uncle Jiang had no choice but to acknowledge those illegitimate children..."

The grudges and affections from decades ago seem to be right before my eyes.

Grandma Jiang sat up abruptly. "My father was blind. He said that daughters couldn't carry on the family line and insisted on marrying a good-looking but heartless man who was just a pretty face."

"Oh dear, why did you sit up? Be careful of your leg injury!" Grandma Hong quickly turned on the light to check on her.

Under the dim light, Grandma Jiang looked pale and listless. Grandma Hong quickly pressed her back down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and covered her with the quilt.

I'm an old man, and I don't even feel warm in the middle of summer.

These past few days have been raining heavily, and I feel the cold and dampness seeping into every crevice of my bones and limbs.

"So many years have passed. Uncle Jiang has been reincarnated for who knows how many years. Han Cheng's bones are probably rotten beyond recognition. What is there for you to hold onto? If you don't want to deal with those illegitimate children, then so be it!" Old Mrs. Hong comforted her.

"Yes, so many years have passed. Hancheng is dead, my father is dead, and I'm all left."

Surprisingly, Grandma Jiang didn't refute her words.

But the way those words were said made people sad for no reason.

Just as Grandma Hong was about to comfort her and tell her not to be too sad, Grandma Jiang said happily, "Finally, I can have some peace and quiet. I can finally study my calligraphy, painting, and seal carving in a proper way!"

Grandma Hong: ......

Well, Sister Jiang has never been the type to wallow in melancholy.

She thought Sister Jiang was grieving for her deceased father and husband!

Okay, she's overthinking it.

"Hey, you know, this Li Xiangdong is really strange. I've seen plenty of young people who can put on airs. Back then, that scoundrel Han Cheng was quite the actor, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to fool me and my dad. Even so, Han Cheng looked envious when he saw my house! This Li Xiangdong is just a mere farm boy, yet he's completely unmoved by the gold?"

Seeing that Grandma Hong remained silent, Grandma Jiang began to talk incessantly on her own.

Grandma Hong was speechless. "How much is your little bit of gold worth? That kid bought two harvesters in one go!"

"I've never seen such a brave and resourceful kid in all these years. For some reason, I feel like we're kind of kindred spirits. Tell me, how come he was the only one from another village who happened to run into me and save me in this heavy rain?"

"Yes, you know that they saved you, right? Then why are you talking to their child so sarcastically?"

Grandma Hong was also exasperated by this man's strange temper. No normal person would treat their savior like that!

"I wasn't being sarcastic or sarcastic; I just talk like this!"

Grandma Jiang was especially innocent; she'd been saying things like that for over sixty years!

"Besides, I took out gold earrings to thank him. Isn't that a generous gift?"

"I didn't say your gift wasn't valuable; I was saying your attitude was bad."

Grandma Hong remained patient, calm, and gentle.

In the darkness, Old Mrs. Jiang smiled slyly, "I did it on purpose!"

Old Mrs. Hong...

"You'd be happy if you deliberately made others unhappy?"

"Of course not. You've been slow-witted since you were little, so it's no wonder that Hongshui isn't very bright."

Grandma Jiang first gave her best friend a slight look of disdain, then said with great interest, "I'm testing Li Xiangdong."

"Testing the waters?"

Grandma Hong had a vague suspicion in her mind.

"You know me, it's rare to find someone I can stand. This Li Xiangdong not only saved my life, but most importantly, he just happened to appear when I was thinking about finding a successor."

"Don't you think it's a coincidence?"

"I think this is probably fate that God has given me!"

"It's rare to find someone who is both intelligent and bold, and also reasonably good-looking. That's why I'm going to deliberately test his character and see if he has any backbone!"

Grandma Jiang talked excitedly for a long time, but Grandma Hong didn't respond. Then she looked again and saw she was asleep...

"It's rare that this kid has grown some backbone, good, good..."

Grandma Jiang muttered to herself softly, and soon drifted off to sleep.