After leaving Qingliu Lane, Jiang Zhi and the others headed straight for Dejin's house.
Dejin's wife was startled to see the group in such a disheveled state: "Aunt Jiang, what happened to you? Are you going to call Dejin and the others back?"
Judging from the way Jiang Zhi and the others looked, it seemed like they had gotten into a fight, but she couldn't say that, since Aunt Jiang wasn't a street thug!
Jiang Zhi waved her hand: "It's alright. I have fifty taels of silver here. Could you go to the bank and exchange five taels for loose silver for me? We can save the rest. We'll also buy a few clothes. Let's wash up at your place first."
Upon hearing this, Dejin's wife didn't ask any further questions, and took the fifty taels of silver and left.
Jiang Zhi and the others washed their hands and faces with water at the Xiang family's house. Not long after, Dejin's wife returned with several new clothes in her hands: "Auntie, I haven't gone to the money exchange yet, so I bought you some clothes first. You can boil water to take a bath and change into them."
Dejin's wife was the most thoughtful.
It's already hot now. Jiang Zhi and the others have traveled dozens of miles in a day, spent a night in a dilapidated house, searched for people in the city, and had a fight. Everyone is sweating profusely and their clothes are disheveled, almost smelling bad.
The ready-made clothes that Dejin's wife bought were simple indigo-blue cotton dresses with the most basic design, which were just right for these farm women.
Wang Xiaoju and Pi took the dresses and started picking them out. Although the styles were the same, the sizes were different, as Dejin's wife bought them according to each person's body shape.
The group divided their clothes among themselves, quickly washed and changed, but the oldest woman, Liu, looked at the dress with some discomfort.
She was used to wearing trousers and pants when working in the village and hadn't worn a skirt for many years, but her youngest daughter-in-law persuaded her to change into one.
When Dejin's wife returned, she was followed by Xiang Dejin, who had already finished his mission.
"Auntie, your money has been exchanged. What exactly happened?" Xiang Dejin took out the deposit slip with the smudge and handed it to Jiang Zhi.
Jiang Zhi did not hide anything from Xiang Dejin.
Having known each other for so long, Xiang Dejin and the others were well aware of the situations of Jiang Zhi's family and Xiao Man's family.
This naturally includes Xiao Tian, who has enlisted in the army, and now they even want to know about things on the battlefield.
Jiang Zhi then gave a brief account of Nie Fantian's relationship with her family and Xu Yuxian's affairs.
Many of these are speculations, implying that Xiao Tian's unknown background is unrelated to himself.
She did not elaborate on the relationship between the cloth shop and the "son-in-law who moved in with his wife's family."
These things happened almost twenty years ago, and there are no witnesses or physical evidence; if you say it yourself, it's just making things up.
Moreover, Xiang Dejin could think of the same things that he and Liu could think of.
Sure enough, Xiang Dejin frowned, thought for a moment and then said, "Xiaotian is definitely not your sister-in-law's child. Your family has been deceived and dragged down."
If the Du family doesn't come looking for us, Auntie doesn't need to worry about it. The truth will come out when Xiaotian comes back.
If they want to cause trouble, Auntie doesn't need to worry.
Although eighteen years have passed, clues can always be found if one is determined. I will try to find Xiaotian's family then.
This means that Xu Yuxian is letting go, and everyone will part ways peacefully. If anyone still wants to cause trouble, then we'll turn the place upside down.
Jiang Zhi naturally agreed to this approach.
Not everyone has curiosity and a sense of justice.
Although the Nie family only has one daughter and still has relatives, they have ignored the "lost" child all these years, so it is highly likely that they don't care.
Now that Nie Fantian has gone to the new army and has achieved some success, let's leave things here for the time being and let him handle them later.
When that time comes, whether it will be a case of "kind father and filial son" or "kind son and filial father," will depend on the protagonist's own choice.
At the Xiang family home, Jiang Zhi paid for Pi Shi and Wang Xiaoju to buy vegetables and meat to prepare a feast for the troops.
Dogs need bones, cattle need grass, and the Qin family needs good wine and meat.
A sumptuous meal made Qin Shi beam with joy: "Sister Jiang, if something like this happens again, be sure to call me."
Go to the city and fight, and you'll not only get a new set of clothes and good food, but you'll also get work points and three feet of cloth when you get back. You'll really make a fortune.
After the meal, everyone was about to leave.
Qin was worried because her daughter-in-law was pregnant. Although Tao'er's mother said she would help take care of her and Genqing said he could take leave early, she was still uneasy.
The most important thing is that I have a new dress and I need to show it off.
With farm work in full swing, the women were unwilling to rest much. Despite not having slept all night and being exhausted during the day, they insisted on rushing back overnight.
So Jiang Zhi hired a carriage in the city, bought all sorts of things, and left before the city gates closed, hurrying back under the moonlight.
The next day, with Qin and Pi's mouths around, the news that Jiang Zhi and the others had found Xu's aunt in the city immediately caused a stir in the village.
Tian Gui and the other outsiders, unaware of the situation, began to inquire.
Those in the village who knew the details recounted everything, even things that happened to the village chief's family more than a decade ago.
So, the fact that Xu's younger sister abandoned her child and went missing, only to hide away and become a mistress, infuriated everyone.
Xu Gensheng and Xu Genqing only found out now, and they angrily said: "What kind of mother is this, abandoning her child to enjoy herself! Why did Aunt Jiang only take you women? All your arguing is useless. She should have taken us and torn down the Du family's gate!"
Xu Changming stroked his mustache and sighed, "This is what happens when a woman is in charge; she really can't handle big things. If it were me, I would report her to the authorities, have the Du family arrested, and accuse them of abducting a respectable woman!"
The old man is indeed cunning and knows how to grasp the key points and strike at the heart of the matter, but it's a pity that Xu Xiaogu doesn't cooperate.
Say you're doing this willingly, say you'll remarry as you see fit, or simply say you already informed your parents of your consent—then there's no way to prove it once they're gone.
What excited the people of Xujia Village even more was yet to come.
Jiang Zhi also mentioned that Xu Xiaogu had given her compensation.
They also bought pork, oil, flour, salt, and other supplies in the city to distribute to several households in the Xu family.
Xu Changming, Xu Gensheng, Xu Genyou and others all received supplies. Jiang Zhi said, "When Xiaotian was raised in the village, everyone knew about my family's situation. We had a lot of farm work and couldn't take good care of the child, so there were bound to be complaints. We relied on the help of everyone in the village to raise him."
Now that Hsu Hsiao-lan wants to make up for all the hard work of raising her children over the years, I have a share, and so do everyone else.
Jiang Zhi's words had a hidden meaning: this is a good thing now, but it's hard to say what will happen in the future.
Anyway, the children are raised by everyone, so we share the food and the punishments.
But that's not how it sounds to others.
Xu Changming, being the oldest and of the highest seniority, spoke up: "To be honest, it can't be said that Errui's mother didn't take good care of that child."
Farmers raise children roughly; it's inevitable that their voices will vary in tone, from loud to soft, from hot to cold—there's not much fuss about it.
Xu Gensheng patted his chest and said, "Everyone has been beaten before. Even my own parents would beat me, but I didn't injure or cripple them. I even raised them properly. I have a clear conscience."
Anyway, I could never raise someone else's child like Aunt Jiang did.
Others chimed in: That makes sense. People say a nephew is like a dog; once he's eaten, he'll leave, and even if you raise him, he'll end up with someone else's surname.
Look, Xiao Tian is now fifteen or sixteen years old, just when he should be contributing his talents, but he's not coming back!
Farm families don't sell their children casually; at most, they might withhold food or beat or scold them a few times.
In these people's minds, children grow up through bumps and bruises.
Besides, Mao Wan and his parents, who died before, also favored Xiao Tian, so he didn't suffer much back then.
It's already remarkable that Jiang, the aunt-in-law, was able to raise the child abandoned by her sister-in-law.
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