Chapter 21 Fortune and misfortune depend on her. She was surprised at Su Guanqing's sharpness.
"Dad, is Jiang Xuan's life a life, but the lives of our family of three are not lives?"
Jiang Tong's eyes reddened as she spoke of this. She finally stepped onto the steps of the main house and supported Jiang Huaishan. "Jiang Tong has harmed our family to this point. Do you really want to take care of him?"
His beloved wife and young daughter both looked at him with red eyes, and Jiang Huaishan's heart was finally divided between their closeness and distance.
He gently patted the back of his daughter's hand and looked at Jiang Huaiyan: "When Jiang Chen was adopted, my family still had a mansion and courtyard, and hundreds of fertile fields. Now all of these have been given away by Jiang Chen. I am not asking him to pay it back, which is already the most I can do. My wife and daughter also need to eat, and I can't waste the rest of our family wealth on Jiang Chen."
"Jiang Huaishan! Are you really so heartless?" Jiang Huaiyan roared.
Jiang Tong stood in front of Jiang Huaishan, and his eyes pierced through Jiang Huaiyan like a knife.
Jiang Huaiyan didn't take the little girl seriously at first, but under Jiang Tong's gaze, he inexplicably felt as if he was seen through, and was frightened for a moment.
Jiang Tong put his hands behind his back and spoke word by word:
"I remember when I was adopted, I heard that Jiang Yu's family was so poor they didn't even own three acres of land, and the whole family only had one pair of trousers to wear. But I see my uncle is wearing gold and silver, so he must be living a good life. I wonder where he made his fortune?"
After she said this, Jiang Huaishan also turned his gaze to Jiang Huaiyan.
He snorted coldly, "Yes, my whole family wears coarse cloth, but you, my brother, can still afford to wear silk. It shows that your family is richer than mine. If you want to save your son, you have to work hard on your own."
Jiang Huaiyan's face turned pale and red. He opened his mouth and was about to say something when Jiang Tong added in a cold tone:
"Dad, I think we should report this to the authorities. The adopted son emptied the family assets and then returned them to the clan. It seems like a premeditated act."
"Nonsense! I earned my own money!" Jiang Huaiyan panicked visibly when he heard the words "report to the police." He walked backwards towards the door. "If you don't want to save me, then don't save me! I can't believe your whole family is so heartless! You're kicking me when I'm down!"
After Jiang Huaiyan left, Jiang Tong looked at her father again: "We have to get back the money that Jiang Tong took away."
Jiang Huaishan's expression was stern: "Enough! Jiang Tong, that is also the bloodline of my Jiang family! This matter ends here, don't make things too extreme!"
Jiang Tong sneered, his tone sharp: "Dad, are you still protecting them now?"
Hearing that the father and daughter were about to quarrel again, Su Guanqing hurriedly walked over with his broken bamboo stick and advised gently, "Tongtong, let's discuss this matter later. Uncle is still ill, so it's better not to make him angry."
Zhong Wanci also stepped forward to support Jiang Huaishan, gave him a few words of persuasion in a soft voice, and helped him into the bedroom.
Just when the Jiang family was arguing fiercely, Mr. Zhang from yesterday went into the Qiaogong Mounting Workshop to help his old friend inquire about the repair problem.
Shopkeeper Zhao came out from behind the counter and pointed with a smile at the painting by Ni Zan hanging in the hall.
"Look at this painting, gentlemen."
Mr. Zhang was just a rough man who could not understand any painting. Seeing this, he just nodded pretentiously.
"This painting was buried underground for several years, and it's been rotted by rain. When you pick it up, there's a hole in it. Can you see any signs of restoration?"
Zhang Xianggong's eyes widened: "Are you kidding me? How could this be soaked?"
"Excuse me, this is the craftsmanship of restoration."
"How did this happen?"
"Simply put, restoration is to reverse the mounting process. The first step is to remove all attachments added during mounting, then clean the dirt from the center of the painting, fill in the missing parts, and then apply the same color and brushwork." Zhao Ji spoke in general terms, and in the eyes of Zhang Xianggong, he showed the attitude of a veteran craftsman.
"It was burned like that, but it can be restored to this state?" Mr. Zhang pointed at the painting.
"Of course. Other stores may not be able to do that, but our store has an expert in charge." Zhao Ji's face finally showed a bit of pride.
…
That noon, Jiang Tong still refused to eat at the same table with Jiang Huaishan.
Su Guanqing naturally accompanied her. The two of them sat side by side on the threshold of the kitchen, holding their bowls.
Today's meal was naturally cooked by Su Guanqing. After all, he was once the son of the Prime Minister's family. Later, whether he was in prison or in the music troupe, his meals were provided and he didn't have to cook.
It was Zhong Wanci who taught him cooking skills after he arrived at the Jiang family.
Considering that Zhong Wanci's cooking skills are limited to cooking dishes, the level of her founding disciple is naturally not much better.
Besides, Su Guanqing really couldn't see how much oil, salt, sauce and vinegar he added, so the taste of the dish was quite random.
Jiang Tong swallowed the mouthful of choking eggplant without changing her expression, then turned her head to look at Su Guanqing's expression with interest.
Seeing his expression change slightly after he took a bite of the food, I couldn't help but laugh.
After having enough fun, she suddenly asked a question:
"Aren't you going to persuade me?"
"Ah? What should I advise you?" Su Guanqing didn't react.
"Tell me not to be angry with my father, and tell me to come inside and eat with them."
In Jiang Tong's memory, Su Guanqing often acted like an older brother to her when they were little, always nagging her about this and that. Now he was silent, which seemed a little abnormal.
"Actually, I don't think you're that angry."
This time it was Jiang Tong who was stunned: "I'm not that angry?"
"You don't behave like this when you're angry." Su Guanqing said gently.
"How do you say that?"
"I don't know if I'm overthinking it, but I always feel like you're different now than you were before. Before, your emotions were all very intense, just like..." Su Guanqing paused, his lips curled up slightly, "When you paint, you poke the paint hard with your brush, and when it lands on the paper, it's always the thickest and heaviest, making it instantly noticeable."
"What about now?" Jiang Tong took a bite of rice.
"Now..." Su Guanqing thought for a moment, "It's just like the first time it was dyed with three alums and nine dyes, so light."
"Maybe it's like people get redder when they are around red people, and people get blacker when they are around black people. Haven't you always been indifferent? It must be you who influenced me." Jiang Tong said casually.
"No, that's not it," Su Guanqing tilted his head, as if searching for the right description. "It's not just faint, but it's like there's a layer between them. I can see it, but it doesn't feel real."
Su Guanqing said this and smiled a little embarrassedly: "Don't listen to my nonsense, I don't even know what nonsense I am talking about."
He didn't see the flash of surprise in Jiang Tong's eyes.
She was surprised at Su Guanqing's sharpness.
Su Guanqing was right. Wasn't she just in a dream?
Jiang Tong's biggest regrets in her life happened in the past few years. In just a few years, she lost all her relatives, lost her identity, and had to leave her hometown and start over.
She felt that her obsession must be too strong, which was why she had such a beautiful dream before she died.
Let her become her teenage self again, and let her make up for all her regrets in this dream.
It was precisely because she thought this was a dream that she did not care about her life and she picked up the knife without hesitation, wanting to kill her enemy.
This is why, although she was angry about the disagreement with Jiang Huaishan, she was not too angry. After all, it was just a dream. Being able to see her old father again in a dream after more than 70 years of absence, and being able to argue with him, was not a kind of happiness.
Sometimes she felt as if she was watching a play. Although she was in the play, all the emotions seemed to be covered by a layer of gauze, giving her a feeling of unreality.
She doesn't know when she will wake up from this dream, but as long as she is still alive, she will try her best to live every day with her own hands and make the people she cares about live a good life.
When she woke up, at least she would have planned the rest of her life for her parents and Guan Qing. At that time, even if she had to face her own death alone, she would not be afraid.
Jiang Tong secretly put a large piece of eggplant into Su Guanqing's bowl and spoke from the heart, "You're right. I've felt like I'm in a dream these past two years. Everything seems fake. Maybe one day I'll wake up and open my eyes and find that everything was just a dream."
Su Guanqing felt sympathetic: "After the Su family's incident, I had the same feeling. At that time, I was imprisoned in a cell, and I thought that maybe all this was just a nightmare, and when I woke up, I could go back to the way things were before."
"I'm different. I'm having a beautiful dream now. I don't want to wake up." Jiang Tong said, and smuggled another piece of food into the other person's bowl.
I don’t know if Su Guanqing noticed that the food in his bowl was getting more and more. He tilted his head slightly and felt the warm and soft sunshine after noon in spring falling on his face.
After a while, Jiang Tong finally heard his mumbling voice——
"What I'm doing now is also a beautiful dream."
As the two were talking, a dark grey figure flashed over the wall and landed silently in front of Jiang Tong.
"Aqiao!" Jiang Tong's eyes lit up, "You're back."
Su Guanqing didn't hear Aqiao's footsteps, but he knew that he was very good at Qinggong, so he didn't take it seriously. He just smiled and asked, "Miss Qiao, have you eaten?"
Ah Qiao didn't answer, but just made a face to Jiang Tong, which meant -
Is this the meal cooked by Mr. Su?
Jiang Tong narrowed his fox eyes, smiled and nodded.
Ah Qiao's cravings were gone, and she cleared her throat. "Well, I've already eaten. You guys eat, you guys eat. Ah Tong, when you're done, come back to the room. I have something to tell you."
As she spoke, she walked towards Jiang Tong's room.
Jiang Tong couldn't wait to eat and stuffed the bowl of rice to Su Guanqing: "I don't want to eat anymore. I'm going to go first."
Su Guanqing turned his head towards her and asked, "Are you going to eat later?"
"No, no, I'm full." Jiang Tong went back to his room without stopping.
Su Guanqing listened to Jiang Tong's footsteps disappearing behind the door of the hut. He wanted to pour Jiang Tong's bowl of rice directly into his own bowl, but when he touched it with his chopsticks, he found that his bowl was actually full. He was a little amused and helpless for a moment. He finished his bowl of rice in a few mouthfuls, put the empty bowl at his feet, and started eating Jiang Tong's bowl.
This time, he held the bowl and ate slowly, taking small bites at a time, chewing carefully.
As soon as Jiang Tong entered the room, A Qiao closed the door.
"What happened?" Seeing her so mysterious, Jiang Tong's first reaction was that the enemy behind the fire at the dock had found Aqiao's whereabouts.
"I found out something," Ah Qiao said straight to the point without beating around the bush, "There's something wrong with your cousin."
Jiang Tong was startled: "What's wrong?"
"I've been having my men keep an eye on the father and son these days. Not to mention Jiang Meng being held captive, but Jiang Huaiyan's movements are strange. My men are quite skilled, but we managed to lose him several times. I managed to sneak into the inn where he was staying, rummaged through his bag, and found his travel guide."
Jiang Tong's heart was in turmoil when he heard A Qiao ask, "Isn't your Jiang family's original home in Northern Zhili?"
"yes."
"Jiang Huaiyan's travel permit shows that he is not from Northern Zhili at all."
Jiang Tong was a little puzzled: "Aren't you from your hometown?"
Ah Qiao nodded. "I felt something was amiss, so I sent someone to investigate the Jiang family's hometown. Jiang Xuan's biological parents died ten years ago, so this Jiang Huaiyan isn't his biological father. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find any trace of this person. The only thing I can be sure of is that he can't be the real Jiang Huaiyan."
Jiang Tong’s first reaction was to tell Jiang Huaishan that he had been cheated.
The next moment, Aqiao's voice sounded again:
"Also, I checked. The letter your father sent to Jiang Huaiyan via the post road, asking him to come and pick up his son, was not sent to the Jiang family's hometown at all."
Jiang Tong suddenly looked at A Qiao: "You mean, my father knows that this Jiang Huaiyan is fake?"
A Qiao nodded solemnly: "Not bad."
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