Chapter 10
Jiang Xuan, who was in the house, heard the noise and hurried out. Seeing this scene, she was angry and anxious. She didn't even have time to scold Xie Han. She quickly helped Yu Ze up.
Jiang Hui said, "I have a first aid kit in my room. Come in with Auntie and I'll bandage you."
Xie Han clutched the apple in his hand and said dissatisfiedly, "You are not allowed! Why should we bandage him? He deserves it!"
Jiang Hui's eyes turned red with anger: "Shut up!"
Xie Han was a little scared when he saw this.
Zhang Tong, who was standing by, hurried over to call Aunt Nan Tao and Aunt Zhou Mei the moment Xie Han pushed Yu Ze down and scared Yang Xuan to tears.
When Nan Tao heard that Yu Ze was pushed down and injured, she hurried to Jiang Hui's residence.
Jiang Hui was applying alcohol to Yu Ze's wound to reduce inflammation, and Yu Ze was grimacing in pain.
Nan Tao was so heartbroken that her eyes suddenly turned red.
Yu Ze hurriedly comforted her, "Mommy, it's okay. I don't feel any pain. Look, it doesn't hurt at all...hiss...it doesn't hurt at all."
Nan Tao took over Jiang Hui's position and carefully and gently bandaged Yu Ze with gauze.
Jiang Hui stood aside and apologized guiltily: "Nan Tao, I'm sorry, I asked Xie Han to come over to apologize to you and Xiaoze."
Nan Tao had a blank expression on her face. Although she knew that Jiang Hui's fault was not hers, she still couldn't help but vent her anger on her.
After bandaging Yu Ze, Nan Tao asked Jiang Hui, "Where is he? He didn't run away, did he?"
Jiang Hui took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and assured her, "Don't worry, even if he runs away, I will drag him back and apologize to Xiaoze."
Jiang Hui turned around and went out to look for someone.
At the door,
Zhang Tong described the scene that had just happened with clear logic and articulate speech. Wen Manqing's gentle smile faded and she asked worriedly, "Is it not frightening you?"
Zhang Tong said, "I'm not scared at all. Xiaoze was pushed to the ground and his hand was injured. Sister Xuanxuan was scared."
Yang Xuan was sobbing. When she heard her name, she poked her head out of Zhou Mei's arms and said angrily, "Bad!"
Jiang Hui's anger was bubbling up, but she suppressed her anger and apologized to Wen Manqing and Zhou Mei. "I didn't educate the child well. I'll apologize to you on his behalf first. I'll let him apologize in person after I find him."
Neither Wen Manqing nor Zhou Mei spoke.
Zhang Tong said, "Aunt Jiang, I saw Xie Han running in that direction."
After Jiang Hui left in a hurry, the two families entered the yard and came to the room to see Yu Ze.
While the adults were talking, howling sounds were heard at the door.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Why did you pull my ear? I'll tell Dad and Grandma later!"
It was Xie Han's threatening voice.
Jiang Hui grabbed Xie Han's ear and dragged him into the room, "Go, apologize to them!"
"Why? I didn't do anything wrong, so I won't apologize!"
Jiang Hui's eyes turned red with anger, "Are you going to apologize or not?!"
Xie Han pushed Jiang Hui away, collapsed to the ground, and rolled around, throwing a tantrum. "They were the ones who hid the food behind the village chief's back. I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize? Ahhhh, I'm going to tell grandma that you abused me."
Jiang Hui: "They didn't hide it, the old man gave it to them. Stand up and apologize to them!"
Nan Tao and the other two exchanged a glance, and they said in unison, "Forget it, it's getting late, let's go back and rest for a while."
Jiang Hui's eyes were red, and she could hardly hold back her tears. She choked and said, "Xie Han, get up and apologize! Otherwise, I won't want you anymore!"
Xie Han snorted coldly: "If you don't want it, then don't. I'll go find my aunt. My aunt won't abuse me like you do!"
Jiang Hui was so angry that she was shaking all over.
Netizens in the live broadcast room were so angry that they couldn't bear to watch it anymore.
[Doesn't this show's crew do any research before casting guests? Xie Han is such a jerk, not at all likable.]
[Oh my god, Xie Han almost made actress Jiang cry.]
[Isn't Xie Han's aunt Jiang Mei? I feel like I know something.]
[Could it be that Xie Han is really Jiang Mei's biological son? ]
[Don't you think Xie Han looks nothing like actress Jiang? ]
[I suddenly feel sympathy for actress Jiang. It's so tiring to have such a naughty child.]
Until Nan Tao and the others left, they didn't hear Xie Han's apology. Instead, Jiang Hui kept apologizing, which made them feel embarrassed.
After returning to her own little nest, Nan Tao lazily lay on the broken wooden bed and suddenly said, "Xiao Ze, stay away from Xie Han from now on, lest he go crazy again and implicate you."
Yu Ze said seriously, "I'll pay attention."
Nan Tao praised: "You did the right thing today. You protected the two little sisters. You are a little man."
Yu Ze curled his lips slightly.
The sky outside gradually darkened and the guests began their first collective dinner.
When Nan Tao and her son arrived, the other guests were already there.
Jiang Hui didn't know how to talk to Xie Han, but Xie Han actually came over and apologized to them.
Nan Tao accepted it with a smile.
The village chief standing nearby saw that everyone had gathered and said, "It's time to have dinner. Here are the specialties of Changxing Village, including eight-treasure duck, Chinese sausage, stinky tofu, etc. Come and try them."
Both adults and children had been hungry all day, so they ate without hesitation and ate very quickly.
Only Xie Han ordered Jiang Hui around many times, such as picking up dishes, pouring water, and removing fish bones.
After seeing this, Nan Tao felt that Jiang Hui was doting on the child too much, so she said, "The child is old enough, so let him develop his own initiative."
Jiang Hui was worried: "I want to, but I'm usually very busy with work and can only stay at home for a few days a year. It's all my grandma who helps take care of him. Who knew he would develop this temper? I can't help him. If I really don't serve him rice with vegetables, he really won't eat. I'm worried that he'll be hungry, and if he makes a fuss in the middle of the night, he'll suffer."
Nan Tao suddenly understood Jiang Hui and agreed: "That's right. If I don't take care of him now, he will make trouble at night. It's better than not being able to sleep."
Jiang Hui looked at Nan Tao enviously: "How did you teach Xiaoze? He is so well behaved. When I was pregnant, my dream was to have such a caring son. I never thought... His personality is nothing like mine. Sigh..."
Nan Tao thought to herself that since the child wasn't her biological child, of course he wouldn't take after her. However, it was hard to say this directly, so she hinted, "Usually, a biological child's personality takes after both parents. Since he doesn't take after you, then he must take after his father?"
Jiang Hui said, "He takes after his father a bit, but his father wasn't this naughty when he was little. It was my sister who was really naughty when she came to my house at the age of seven..."
When talking about her sister, Jiang Hui looked gentle.
Nan Tao's ears twitched, "You and your sister have a good relationship?"
Jiang Hui said: "My mother passed away early when I was a child. The appearance of my sister has brought vitality to my life. Although taking care of her is tiring, I am not lonely because I have someone to accompany me."
Nan Tao asked, "Aren't you biological children? How come he came to your house when he was seven?"
Jiang Hui smiled and said, "My dad was worried about me being alone, so he wanted to find someone to keep me company. He adopted Meimei from an orphanage."
Nan Tao sneered: "Then your father is a really nice person."
Jiang Hui didn't hear the sarcasm and fell into nostalgia: "Yeah, that was a long time ago, but my dad had a stroke last year and died within six months."
Nan Tao said: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Jiang Hui smiled and said, "It's okay. I've gotten over it now."
Nan Tao was curious: "Xie Han is very close to your sister?"
Jiang Hui smiled and said, "My sister dotes on him very much. She gives him whatever he wants. I've told him many times but it's no use. I'm not at home and can't control him, so this is the only way."
Nan Tao said, "It's not easy to have and raise a child nowadays. Don't tell me, a few days ago I saw someone who had given birth to a child with great difficulty, but the child was then switched. How unethical is that? It even became a hot topic."
Jiang Hui agreed, "Are you talking about the baby-swapping incident that rocked the country last week? I saw it too. The child you painstakingly raised for over twenty years turned out to be not your own, but the illegitimate child of your husband's cheating mistress. It's really not easy for a woman. Luckily, it didn't happen to me."
Nan Tao pursed her lips and hinted, "When Xiaoze was born, I was worried that someone might have switched the two, so I did a paternity test right after I was discharged from the hospital. What about you?"
Jiang Hui nodded: "I am also a bit timid, just like you. I wanted to do it, but they said they were watching and there was no problem, so I didn't do it."
Nan Tao was about to say something when the children came back one after another after chatting with the village chief, each holding pots and pans in their hands.
Yu Ze said excitedly: "Look, Mommy, I answered the village chief's question correctly. Here are two basins that you can use to wash your face."
Nan Tao praised: "Xiao Ze is awesome!"
After dinner, the village chief and the children finished their question-and-answer session and then went back to their own homes.
Nan Tao went to her next-door neighbor's house to borrow some hot water. After washing her face, she used the remaining water to wash Yu Ze's feet.
Yu Ze said: "Mommy, let me wash you."
Nan Tao was so touched: "My dear son, let's do it next time. Your hand is injured today and you can't touch water."
After cleaning up, the two closed the door, chatted for a while on the bed, and then fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, the guests got up one after another.
Nan Tao yawned and brought Yu Ze to the gathering place.
The village chief said, "Good morning, everyone. Take a look at the breakfast in the back. Is it hearty?"
The children said in unison: "Abundant!"
The village chief asked, "Do you want to eat?"
The children said, "We want to eat!"
The village chief smiled and said, "It's time to do a task. Look, there are four tables in total. The breakfasts on each table are arranged in descending order of richness. You will be seated in order of your completion of the task. This time it's a rope skipping task. Whoever jumps the most within one minute will win first place!"
Nan Tao rubbed her hands in anticipation: "I've been the best at skipping rope since I was a child."
As expected, Nan Tao won first place with 120 jumps in one minute, Jiang Hui came second with 102 jumps, Wen Manqing came third, and Zhou Mei, who couldn't jump rope, came last.
Yang Xuan saw that there was only a bowl of porridge on the table and swallowed her saliva. "Mommy, you eat first."
Zhou Mei picked up the bowl calmly, scooped a mouthful of liquid from the porcelain spoon, blew on it, and passed it to Yang Xuan, "Eat."
Nan Tao, who was watching from the side, picked up the wontons on the table and handed them over. She also picked up two meat buns and placed them on their table, "We can't let our little Xuanxuan starve."
Zhou Mei said, "Thank you."
Yang Xuan said in a baby voice, "Thank you, Auntie Taozi."
Nan Tao smiled contentedly and said, "You're so good."
After breakfast, the village chief issued new tasks.
"Based on the ranking of this morning's skipping rope task, you'll be divided into pairs. Nan Tao and her son, along with Jiang Hui and her son, will go to the county town to help the old lady sell sesame cakes. All the proceeds will go to the old lady. Zhou Mei and her daughter, along with Wen Manqing and her daughter, will help the village head feed the pigs."
As soon as the words fell, Wen Manqing couldn't maintain her gentle smile, "Feed the pigs?"
Nan Tao was glad that she was good at skipping rope, otherwise she would have been feeding the pigs.
After the tasks were assigned, Nan Tao and Jiang Hui brought their children to the old lady's house, who turned out to be the same old lady who gave Yu Ze and the others apples and biscuits yesterday.
Yu Ze greeted her obediently: "Hello, grandma."
The old lady smiled kindly and said, "Hello, little friend." Then she turned and went into the house and came out again soon, holding oranges and candies in her hands, which she handed to Yu Ze and Xie Han.
The two children thanked him separately.
Nan Tao asked, "Grandma, are you the only one at home?"
The old woman sighed, "My son and daughter-in-law both work in the city, and they didn't want to leave their child behind, so they took him in."
Nan Tao asked, "Are you the only one at home?"
The old lady smiled and said, "My husband passed away years ago, and I'm all alone now."
Nan Tao was deeply touched, but she couldn't say anything to comfort him, so she just stood there silently.
The old lady didn't care. "I'm already so old, lonely, that's just the way it is. Some roads have to be walked alone."
Then, the old lady took Nan Tao and the others into the kitchen and said, "Thank you for helping me sell sesame cakes in the county town."
Jiang Hui was born in the countryside and did farm work when she was a child. She knew how to carry this kind of shoulder pole to save energy. She stood in the center of the shoulder pole, squatted first, similar to the horse stance, then bent over, held the shoulder pole with both hands, stood up, and carried it on her shoulder very smoothly.
Nan Tao quickly stepped forward and said, "Why are you carrying it all by yourself? Let's do it together. It will be easier this way."
Jiang Hui is a down-to-earth and capable person. She waved her hand and said, "I've always felt guilty about what happened yesterday. Consider it my way of compensating Xiaoze."
Nan Tao refused: "How can that be possible? It's so tiring."
Jiang Hui smiled generously and said, "You don't know, I've always done farm work like this since I was a kid. I'm very strong. It's okay, you take a rest first. I'll call you when I can't carry it anymore."
Nan Tao thought, this is fine. But Jiang Hui was an eye-opener. Jiang Hui looked so beautiful, she didn't look like someone who had been doing farm work since childhood.
Changxing Village is about seventeen or eighteen miles away from the county town. Among many villages, it is considered to be relatively close to the county town, but Nantao and his friends walked, so the journey seemed quite far.
Nan Tao saw Jiang Hui sweating profusely and grabbed her arm, "Let's stop here and switch."
Jiang Hui was worried: "This... If you can't carry it, let's rest for a while before leaving."
Nan Tao saw that Jiang Hui carried it easily and didn't think she couldn't do it. However, as soon as she stood up, she stumbled and almost fell.
"Why is it so heavy!" Nan Tao was stunned.
Jiang Hui smiled and said, "There are more than a hundred pancakes in there."
Nan Tao gave Jiang Hui a thumbs up: "Great!"
Jiang Hui smiled shyly: "I got used to it when I was a kid."
Nan Tao was worried. She couldn't let Jiang Hui do it alone. Otherwise, she would be exhausted. "I'll try again."
Nan Tao gritted her teeth, staggered, and struggled to carry it up. She walked two miles like a snail, and was so tired that she was out of breath.
Yu Ze felt extremely distressed, "Mommy, let me help you carry it."
Nan Tao said, "You can't carry it."
Xie Han, who was only concerned with eating, suddenly said proudly, "Hey, I can carry it. Aunt Nan, please move aside and look at mine."
Jiang Hui felt sorry for her son, "Xiao Han, can you do it? Let mom come."
Xie Han complained, "Why can't I do it? I'm telling you, I'm amazing. If you can carry it, why can't I? I have to let you see."
I have to say that Xie Han was very strong and fat, and he was very strong. He carried the shoulder pole and walked three miles in one breath before stopping.
Nan Tao looked at Xie Han differently: "Xiao Han is not bad, he is quite amazing."
Xie Han raised his head proudly: "Of course, I am Xie Han, I am extremely strong!"
Nan Tao smiled from the bottom of her heart, and then her eyes lit up. She saw a tractor coming towards this road from behind, and hurried forward to wave: "Brother, brother?"
The tractor driver heard someone calling him, stopped his car, and asked curiously, "What's going on?"
Nan Tao said with a flattering smile, "A few of us are going to the county town to sell sesame cakes. This shoulder pole is too heavy for us to carry. Could you help give it a ride?"
The tractor driver said straightforwardly, "Okay, get on board."
Nan Tao smiled and said, "Thank you, big brother."
Several people got on the bus swiftly and soon entered the county town.
The county town is bustling with people coming and going.
Nan Tao and Jiang Hui entered the ancient street in the county town, which was built by the local government in order to vigorously develop tourist attractions, attract tourists and drive local economic development.
However, setting up stalls in the ancient street is very expensive and requires a fee. Nan Tao and Jiang Hui chose a crowded spot at the entrance of the ancient street to set up their stall, which attracted a lot of attention.
After all, two beautiful women with two children always attract attention. Many people recognized Jiang Hui as the well-known Golden Award winner and kept taking pictures of her.
Nan Tao said to Jiang Hui, "I'll take Xiao Ze to have a look inside and ask the other vendors what the prices are, so we don't sell them too cheaply or too expensively."
Jiang Hui nodded in agreement: "Then be careful and don't get lost."
Nan Tao took Yu Ze to several pancake shops and pretended to be customers to ask about the prices. Some sold pancakes for three yuan, some for five yuan, and some for seven yuan. The price fluctuations were mainly due to the different fillings. Some were pure meat fillings, some were pure vegetarian fillings, and some were a mixture of vegetarian and meat fillings.
The last pancake shop is the most famous one in this ancient street.
Nan Tao took Yu Ze past the jade stall and walked to the pancake stall next door. She was about to ask the boss how much a pancake cost when she suddenly heard her son's thoughts.
[Tongjie, you mentioned the two people buying jade at the jade stall next door. Are they Jiang Mei and Xu Shan?]
Nan Tao's eyes widened. What? Jiang Mei and Xu Shan? Aren't those Jiang Hui's adopted sister and her husband, on a couple's trip?
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