Jiang Xile quietly approached the cowshed, and only after confirming that no one else was around did she push open the door and go inside.
Inside the cowshed, Deng Yunbo and Yang Xueqin were drinking porridge from bowls filled with rice that Jiang Xile had brought over last time.
The porridge was very thin, so thin that you could almost count the grains of rice.
"Grandpa, Grandma, why are you eating this!"
"Why did you suddenly come here, child? Have you eaten yet? Grandma will make you a pancake!"
"Don't bother, I've already eaten. Is your cough any better?"
"Much better, I don't cough much anymore. I even went to the fields with your grandpa today. Don't worry, I'm fine!"
"There's no food left! Why are we eating this?"
"We still have some food. We ate dry rations this morning, so we're not hungry now. We can have some porridge."
Deng Yunbo's eager explanation only aroused Jiang Xile's suspicion, and she walked straight toward the rice bin in front of her.
Upon opening it, there was only a thin layer of residue left inside, probably less than two ounces.
"Grandpa, is this what you meant by having grain? Didn't I bring five catties of cornmeal over last time?"
Deng Yunbo lowered his head in shame and sat on a low stool to the side, refusing to say a word.
Jiang Xile frowned, her gaze finally settling on her grandmother, Yang Xueqin.
"Grandma, is something wrong? You can tell me directly. Don't you consider me family?"
"No, Lele, don't misunderstand. Your grandfather just didn't want to be a burden on you. We originally had food, but something happened, so..."
"What on earth happened that left you with not even a single grain of food?"
Deng Yunbo sighed helplessly. At his age, it was still quite embarrassing to talk about this.
It turned out that just the day before, on his way back from work, Deng Yunbo saw a female colleague fall down.
Seeing that the woman hadn't gotten up for a while, he kindly went over to help her up, but unexpectedly, she turned around and blamed him.
They claimed he was the one who knocked the person down and insisted on making him compensate for the damages. Deng Yunbo never expected things to escalate like this.
However, given his awkward position, he had no choice but to swallow his disgust and give all the remaining food in his house to the other party to settle the matter.
After hearing the whole story, Jiang Xile was also somewhat shocked. She never expected that a modern version of staged accidents would happen to her own grandfather.
"Do you know where that woman came from? How did she suddenly appear on Grandpa's way home?"
"Oh! Don't even mention it. That woman is a widow from the Iron Bull Brigade. She's notoriously difficult to deal with. She just happened to be passing by the Forward Brigade this time."
She did slip and fall by accident, but when she saw someone coming, she didn't get up.
This just so happened, and I ended up ripping off your grandfather, such a sucker! The brigade leader even got involved in this.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy to solve; it wouldn't just be a matter of losing a few pounds of grain.
Yang Xueqin finished speaking with a face full of resentment, never expecting that her old man's kindness would become a weakness that others could exploit.
"But this is too much! How could they do this for no reason!"
"Well, there are all kinds of people out there. We'll learn from this experience. She knew we wouldn't dare cause trouble because of our status, so we had to swallow this bitter pill."
"What if this happens again next time? Are we going to have to compromise every time?"
"It shouldn't be like that anymore. The captain has already warned him. Besides, if your grandfather runs into her again, he'll probably either take a detour or stay far away!"
Jiang Xile sighed helplessly. Her grandparents' current status was indeed too sensitive, so it was better to avoid trouble.
"No matter what happens, you can't hide it from me. There's no time now. I'll bring you food after work tonight!"
"You can keep it for yourself, we don't need you to worry about us. There are plenty of wild foods in the mountains, we can fill our stomachs ourselves!"
"We can't rely on what's on the mountain. Don't worry about it. I'll come over quietly tonight, so don't worry!"
Unable to refuse Jiang Xile, Yang Xueqin had no choice but to agree.
Jiang Xile had to go to work in the afternoon, so she sat for a short while and then hurriedly left.
Unexpectedly, when they reached the village entrance, they ran into Ye Haochen.
"Jiang Zhiqing? What are you doing here?"
Seeing Jiang Xile emerge from the side path, Ye Haochen was somewhat taken aback. If he remembered correctly, this direction should be the direction of the cowshed, right?
"Ye Zhiqing...hehe...hello there!"
Jiang Xile felt a little embarrassed, not expecting the two to meet at this time. However, considering He Zhizhang's relationship, she thought Ye Haochen would keep it a secret for her.
"Jiang Zhiqing, you... went to the cowshed?"
She knew Ye Haochen was no simple man; before she could explain, he guessed her purpose.
Now that things have come to this, Jiang Xile has no intention of lying. In any case, the two of them are the same, so this can be considered as "mutual incriminating evidence".
"That's right, to be honest, the two elderly people living in the cowshed of the Qianjin Brigade are my maternal grandparents. I came here to see them!"
"I was right!"
Jiang Xile frowned; she seemed to detect a hint of excitement in his words!
Jiang Xile was right; Ye Haochen was indeed very excited.
He had been regretting that he wasn't in the same brigade as his grandfather, so he was very worried.
I was terrified that something unexpected might happen and I wouldn't be able to get there in time, but there was really no one I could entrust with this, so I could only keep worrying.
But things are different now. After seeing Jiang Xile today, and especially after discovering her hidden little secret, Ye Haochen knows that the thing he has been anxious about has finally been resolved.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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