Eight years ago, Mrs. Liu said in a hurry that she had to go out for a while, and when she came back, she was holding her one-year-old mute girl in her arms.
All the adults in the family gathered in the main room and quarreled fiercely.
The adults didn't let the children get involved in this matter, and asked the eldest brother to take him and the third brother to play.
He took advantage of his elder brother's inattention, returned home, and lay on the door to eavesdrop.
At first, Mrs. Liu just said that she picked up the child on the road, and her family was not short of food, so she adopted the child if she could, which could also be considered as accumulating merit for her ancestors.
His mother disagreed.
There is no shortage of people in the family. We already have three boys and one girl. Raising another girl is just asking for trouble. It is difficult for my brother-in-law to pass the examination to become a student, let alone a scholar. As long as he fails to pass the examination to become a scholar, the family will have to continue to support his studies and pay taxes. The remaining food is only enough for the whole family to eat every day. Who will pay for one more mouth to feed?
After arguing for a long time without any result, Mrs. Liu became angry and said, "If you don't want to raise it, I will throw it away wherever I found it. It's a human life, you can do whatever you want with it!"
In the end, it was her grandfather who asked her to tell the truth and ask where the girl came from.
Mrs. Liu grunted and mumbled but couldn't say anything useful. There was a bang from the door, and silence fell for a while.
Later, he could not hear clearly the whispering sounds in the main room.
Then he had a younger sister.
Looking back now, the "bang" sound was probably the sound of silver hitting the table. For a long time after that, the food at home was pretty good.
Since the mute girl was kept, her mother also protected her. When someone in the village asked where the mute girl came from, her mother just said that she was from their Lao Jiang family. If someone was ignorant and continued to ask, she would chase them and scold them to their homes. Over time, no one mentioned the mute girl's background anymore.
It's a pity that although she was able to protect the outside world, she failed to protect the inside. The old lady Liu who seemed to be sincere in wanting to keep the mute girl turned out to be so cruel...
Jiang Huaixu took a deep breath and said, "Do you know that Liu secretly abused me?"
"I've never seen it myself," Jiang Erlang said. "I only knew you were afraid of Liu, and I thought it was because she wasn't happy with you."
Jiang Huaixu thought about it and realized that Liu was indeed very cautious when she abused the original owner. She didn't dare let anyone see it and then tell old man Jiang.
When Jiang Erlang saw that the youngest sister was silent, he felt even more guilty. He and his elder brother thought that the mute sister was wronged in front of outsiders, but they did not realize that there were also people bullying her at home. They thought that the mute sister's transformation was because of those people outside.
His guilt made him not say a word even though he noticed that something was wrong with his youngest sister.
Seeing his grim expression, Jiang Huaixu began to calculate the accounts: "One ingot of gold is worth one hundred taels of silver, plus the money earned from selling mushrooms, this alone is more than enough for me to repay your Jiang family for raising me over the years."
At this point, she paused. "I've always been a person who repays kindness and revenge. Although my parents were negligent, they also fulfilled their responsibilities. You and my eldest brother and his wife have taken the most care of me. After my eldest brother and his wife have taken medicine for a month, they should be able to have children. As for you, your strength is because of me. These repayments are enough."
"You want to leave the Jiang family?" Jiang Erlang slowly raised his head, his clear eyes filled with bloodshot at some point.
Jiang Huaixu tilted his head. "You know my uniqueness and that I can live better alone. Why don't you give me a reason to stay?"
Jiang Erlang wanted to say that the world was difficult, people's hearts were unpredictable, and it was as difficult as climbing to heaven for a little girl who was not even ten years old to make a living, but the words came to his lips but he swallowed them back.
"Dad, Mom, and Grandpa all think highly of you now..."
Jiang Huaixu snorted and interrupted him, "It's important for people to know themselves. If I were the me of the past, I would know exactly how much I weigh. I always judge people's hearts from the lowest point of view. Do they value me or the value of me? I'm sure Second Brother has considered this as well."
Jiang Erlang was dazzled by the smile, but after he came to his senses, his expression gradually became resolute. "I, Jiang Xun, hereby make a promise. As long as I am here, the Jiang family will not be an obstacle to you, but will only be your support. Just do whatever you want, and I will take care of the aftermath for you."
At this point, the embarrassment on his face flashed away. "Although I haven't even passed the Tongsheng exam yet, I believe that one day I will pass the imperial examination and keep you safe. If I can't do that, let me be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"
There was a soft "click" sound, which was not very clear in the rainy night, but both of them were people with sharp ears and eyes. Just by looking at each other, they knew that the other had heard it too.
[The person left?]
[Let's go.] Fu Tuan yawned lazily, [This Tuanzi is going to sleep, host, you're on your own!]
"I can seek peace and stability on my own and don't need to rely on others." Jiang Huaixu sat in front of the stove and yawned.
"And..." She spread out one hand, and a silver ingot appeared out of thin air in her palm. She smiled slyly and said, "From now on, I'll ask Second Brother to take the trouble to help me keep it secret."
When Jiang Erlang saw this scene, he couldn't help but open his eyes wide and took a few steps back.
He looked dazed for a moment and asked in shock, "Is this... a magical technique?"
Retrieving the silver from his hand, Jiang Huaixu simply said, "Everything I can conjure up belongs to me. Second brother, if others knew about this, I'm afraid I'd be burned to death or drowned. My life is in your hands, so you'd better consider whether you can protect it."
After saying that, she changed her tone and said, "If you can't protect me, I'm not afraid either. But by then, I won't be the one who dies."
Jiang Erlang, who had just recovered from his shock, knew in his heart that the last sentence must not be groundless. Once a secret is heard by the second person, it is no longer a secret. He didn't believe that Jiang Huaixu didn't know it.
Thinking this in his heart, Jiang Erlang said seriously: "I will never reveal a single word to others."
Jiang Huaixu didn't say whether he believed it or not, he just threw a bottle of milk to Jiang Erlang and said, "It's too late, forget about eating, drink it and dispose of the bottle."
After saying that, she put the mermaid pearl back into the space, stood there for a while, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, and then walked out of the kitchen.
Ever since Jiang Erlang mistakenly drank the bowl of water, her only choice was Jiang Erlang.
People in ancient times were not fools. She never thought she could hide it from everyone. Even if she didn't say it, Jiang Erlang knew a lot. It would be better to be frank and tell half and hide the other half. Even if Jiang Erlang had other ideas in the future, he would be cautious.
As for Qian Xiuzhu, she just wanted to test it out and wanted to know the result. She would know it tomorrow.
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