This opened Qin's floodgates. Although Tan had only been staying at her house for two days, she talked as much as she had for two years, immediately starting to complain to Jiang Zhi.
"I have to tell you the whole story from the beginning. Let me tell you, this woman is really hardworking."
"When he came to my house, he started working before dawn and didn't rest until dark. He did more work by himself than Li Laoshi and the old mule combined." Qin used an exaggerated metaphor.
Jiang Zhi ignored the name Li Laoshi and pressed on, "Isn't it good to be diligent? Or tell me why she's not worthy!"
She hadn't expected Qin to bring up Li Laoshi, so she quickly brought the conversation back to the main topic.
Qin said angrily, "Tan does a lot of things. She started pulling weeds the day she arrived, and she's pulling weeds again today."
But this work... how should I put it, just like you saw earlier, something just feels off. I can't really pinpoint what's wrong, it's just a lot of work that feels like I'm making things difficult for myself.”
Qin was so excited that she didn't realize there was anything wrong with the people starting work after only one day.
Jiang Zhi frowned: "If Madam Tan wants to do the work, then she should do it. What does this have to do with the children? And what's wrong with them doing it?"
When the topic of children came up, Qin became even angrier.
But at this moment, Madam Tan had already come out of the room with the children and was walking this way. She hurriedly whispered, "Da Xiangxiang and Xiao Xiangxiang are so pitiful to be with their mother. Not only do they follow her every step of the way, but they can't even say a word to her."
Tan's two daughters were originally named Daya and Erya, but Jiang Zhi changed them to Da Huixiang and Xiao Huixiang.
Pi and the others thought the names didn't sound good, so they bypassed Jiang Zhi, the head of the household, and directly called them Da Xiangxiang and Xiao Xiangxiang.
Hearing that Madam Tan forbade the child from leaving her side and from speaking, Jiang Zhi felt a shadow fall over her heart.
Aside from crying in the refugee camp, the two children rarely heard any other sounds.
However, since Mrs. Tan had already brought the child to her side, it would be inappropriate to continue asking questions. Jiang Zhi waved to the restrained mother and her two daughters and said, "Come here and sit on this bench!"
Madam Tan led the child over, saying, "Madam!" and then urged the child, "Quickly call her Madam!"
The two children shouted in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
The three of them did not sit down, and Jiang Zhi did not insist any further.
In front of the children, she softened her expression: "Have you been eating well these past few days? If you're missing anything, just tell me what you want."
Tan's answer was naturally a denial: "We're not lacking anything, we're fine, we have enough to eat!"
The two children remained silent.
Jiang Zhi beckoned Da Huixiang to come closer to her: "Da Huixiang, come closer, let me take a look at you!"
The girl was extremely nervous. Tan pushed her to stand up, and Jiang Zhi raised her hand to touch the top of her head.
Da Xiangxiang's hair was yellowish, like a clump of withered grass, a typical sign of malnutrition.
Jiang Zhi touched it carefully, as if she were touching Peppa Pig...
She could feel several uneven spots under her fingertips.
Jiang Zhi parted her hair and indeed saw several scars, as well as a deep indentation on the top of her head, indicating that it had been there for quite some time.
Mrs. Tan looked anxious and kept saying, "It's nothing serious, the child is just a little girl, she fell on her own! She's already fine."
Jiang Zhi glanced at her: "How did you know I was going to ask that?"
Ms. Tan twisted her fingers, unsure how to answer.
Jiang Zhi then lifted Da Xiangxiang's sleeve, revealing her thin, stick-like arms covered in bluish-purple bruises, some of which had even turned black.
When you lift up the child's clothes, you can see bruises of varying shades on his back and waist.
"Were these broken again?" Jiang Zhi asked.
This time, instead of saying "fall down," Madam Tan knelt down with a thud and began slapping her own face: "It's all my fault for not giving birth to a son!"
Big Fragrance and Little Fragrance were so frightened that they trembled and rushed over to hug her, shouting:
"mother!"
"mother!"
Jiang Zhi was furious and shouted, "Stop! Tan Shi, your life belongs to me. Only I have the right to hit you. Not even you yourself have the right!"
Startled by Jiang Zhi's sudden outburst of temper, Tan stopped and hugged the child, crying as she said, "It was her father who hit her! He says he's not her son and takes his anger out on Daya every day!"
Jiang Zhi's lips twitched. Tan was lying. There were fresh marks inside, which looked like they had been there for only a day or two. How could they have been left by that Yang Laosan?
She glanced at the weeping Tan mother and daughter, suppressed her anger, and said, "Alright, this is someone else's home. Your crying here will only bring bad luck. Stop crying and shut up!"
Mrs. Tan wiped away her tears and gradually fell silent.
Jiang Zhi continued to examine Xiao Xiangxiang's body. Perhaps because her older sister and mother were protecting her, Xiao Xiangxiang was in better condition than her sister. Although she also had injuries, there were none recent ones.
What worries Jiang Zhi is that Xiao Xiangxiang has a ring of dermatitis around her neck, which looks quite frightening.
However, malnutrition can also cause dermatitis, so it's best to eat a full meal for a few days before dealing with it.
Jiang Zhi looked after the two children and then said to Tan Shi, "There are plenty of herbs at home. You can use them if you feel unwell."
Madam Tan waved her hands repeatedly: "Madam, I'm not sick, I can work."
Jiang Zhi closed her eyes briefly to calm her turbulent emotions.
Actually, Tan was like this on the road, which always made people feel uncomfortable.
Thinking that Tan had just left the Yang family and had been bullied for too long and was not used to other people's kindness, Jiang Zhi did not scold her. She thought that she would slowly return to normal once no one was hitting or scolding her.
However, Tan's actions of not allowing the child to speak and even abusing the child are unacceptable. The key is to separate the child from Tan first.
Jiang Zhi said, "Now that you've recovered, I'm starting to renovate my house tomorrow, so you can go over and help with the cooking."
Mrs. Tan nodded in agreement.
"Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang won't go. The children are too young to do much. Building houses is messy and unsafe. They'll just collect bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest."
The outer shells that fall off bamboo shoots can be used to make shoe soles and are also good firewood. Farm children would go to the bamboo forest to collect a basketful before cooking.
This is also the easiest and most fun thing to do: use a twig to poke the unfolded bamboo shoot skin, and finally tie it into a string, which is very stress-relieving.
Jiang Zhi thought this way, but Madam Tan didn't. Upon hearing that the children weren't with her, she exclaimed in alarm, "Madam, Daya and Erya can work too! They can cook and do many things. They're not afraid of repairing the house either, as long as they keep their eyes on the road!"
Jiang Zhi is no longer angry; she has realized that she and the protective Tan family are not on the same wavelength.
Regardless of whether Ms. Tan secretly abused the children, one thing must be acknowledged: Ms. Tan loved the children very much.
She is protecting her child in her own way, even if that way is wrong.
The Yang family disliked girls, so Tan made the children do more work, speak less, and try to live a humble life.
Keep children within your sight to prevent them from being harmed.
However, now that they've arrived at Xujia Village, they no longer need her distorted protection.
As the head of the household, I have the decision-making power over all three of us.
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