Chapter 69 I've come to take you home
Chapter 69
Later, when she heard that Jiang Mingxu had made a bet to jump into the sea, teased a group of people who had been splashing around in the sea for half the night, and then deliberately led them into the aquaculture area, causing some thugs to damage the fishermen's sea cucumbers and have to pay three thousand yuan in compensation, Jin Ran finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
She whispered to Jiang Xuli, "I didn't expect your dad to be so ruthless."
Jiang Xuli glanced at her.
She thought to herself, "He's always been quite shady; I'm afraid only she thinks his father is upright and honorable."
Jiang Haikuo's wife prepared a large table of seafood. Living by the sea, the villagers of Pingcun usually eat all kinds of fish, shrimp and shellfish, but they can't be careless when serving guests. All of them are the good things they have saved up over the years.
Seeing this, Jin Ran quickly reached out to help, but the other party wouldn't let a guest do it, and said with a smile, "When Hai Kuo and I got married, Brother Jiang even sent a red envelope, so why don't you treat us to a meal?"
"That's right, sister-in-law, don't be so polite with us."
Putting everything else aside, the fact that Jiang Haikuo, a grown man in his thirties, called her "sister-in-law" without batting an eye was enough to prove that Jiang Haikuo and Jiang Mingxu had a really good relationship. Realizing this, Jin Ran stopped being polite to them.
Halfway through the meal, a noisy commotion came from outside.
It turned out that Wang Cuihua had come looking for them with her family.
Upon learning from the villagers that Jin Ran and Jiang Xuli had returned to the village, Wang Cuihua immediately discussed it with her son and daughter-in-law. They ultimately decided that they couldn't just let the two go elsewhere—after all, they had been trying to repair their relationship with Jiang Mingxu for years, but they had never been able to see him.
Her son said that it was fortunate that Jiang Mingxu's wife and children came this time, especially since his current wife was his second wife and definitely didn't know about the past. Rather than letting her hear exaggerated rumors from others, it was better for them to take the initiative to "open up" the matter.
Her daughter-in-law also said that she should make her mother suffer a little, thinking that Jiang Laochuan was still in prison, and they could only try to curry favor with the two of them.
So the family, without even having a meal, hurried to Jiang Haikuo's house.
Because Jiang Mingxu had always been hostile to the Jiang family, he did not invite them to his wedding with Jin Ran. However, there were only a few people in the room, and Wang Cuihua still recognized Jin Ran at a glance.
To be honest, I didn't like it at first glance.
Too beautiful, too confident, she's clearly not someone you can control.
As for how this conclusion was reached, it was naturally by comparing it with the previous one.
Most people don't know that Jiang Mingxu's first wife was actually arranged by Wang Cuihua.
When Jiang Mingxu first left their home, Jiang Laochuan and Wang Cuihua were secretly relieved, eager to sever ties with their nephew. But who could have imagined that Jiang Mingxu would receive help from a benefactor so soon—a wealthy businessman, recognizing his intelligence, offered to sponsor his education. Even more surprisingly, in Pingcun, a place that hadn't produced a single university student in over a decade, Jiang Mingxu actually got into university!
That's not all.
During his second year of university, Jiang Mingxu brought back some money and renovated his parents' graves. The money for the renovation was said to have come from a business he started with his classmates.
Now, the Jiang family couldn't sit still any longer.
Jiang Mingxu is a member of the Jiang family. Jiang Laochuan, as his uncle, is no different from a father. Now that he has been admitted to university and gone far away, they find that they can no longer control him. So they try to find him a woman from a neighboring village.
The woman was happy to be the "kite string," and the two sides hit it off immediately. Taking advantage of the holiday, Wang Cuihua and Jiang Laochuan secretly drugged Jiang Mingxu and the girl, forcing them to have sex and thus finalizing the marriage.
Everything was under their control, but in less than two years, the girl heard rumors that Jiang Mingxu's business had failed and ran away in fright!
With her leverage gone, Jiang Mingxu took the child directly to City A, no longer subject to their control. Wang Cuihua was furious but helpless.
She put aside all her thoughts and focused her attention on the stepmother and son in front of her.
She was also clever; instead of immediately speaking to Jin Ran, she inquired about Jiang Xuli's well-being, saying, "This must be my grand-nephew. I'm your aunt; I even held you when you were born."
Jiang Xuli had no recollection of her, but he was polite to his elders, so he called her "Grandpa and Grandma".
Wang Cuihua immediately beamed with joy and invited the two to her home.
Jiang Xuli refused without even thinking.
Not to mention that Jin Ran was also with him, on the other hand, he didn't really have any feelings for these relatives.
Jin Ran herself didn't care where they went, but seeing Jiang Xuli's firm attitude, she tactfully smoothed things over for him: "Xiao Li is a picky sleeper and doesn't feel comfortable sleeping outside. Besides, Ming Su has already arranged accommodations for us, so there's no need for you to trouble your aunt."
His attitude was gentle, leaving no room for criticism.
What else could Wang Cuihua say? She could only leave temporarily under the watchful eye of Jiang Haikuo, that boorish man.
Seeing this, Jiang Xuli hesitated for a moment, then followed her out.
He had not forgotten his purpose in coming to Pingcun. Jiang Mingxu was tight-lipped about everything in Pingcun, let alone the matter of Jiang Xuli's biological mother. If he wanted to know about her, he could only ask Wang Cuihua.
“Oh, your biological mother.” Wang Cuihua’s eyes flickered. “She remarried and went to the next town with her husband.”
Jiang Xuli remained calm about remarrying, as it was within his expectations.
After all, his parents divorced when he was as old as he can remember, and so many years have passed; everyone should have a new life by now.
Wang Cuihua sighed: "I was hoping to get your parents to remarry, but I didn't expect your dad to marry a new wife so soon. They say that with a stepmother comes a stepfather. If your stepmother has another child, your dad's company might end up being passed on to him."
She was trying to sow discord with her words, but Jiang Xuli glanced at her curiously and said, "Whoever my dad passes the company on to is none of your business."
Wang Cuihua's smile froze instantly.
Not only did they not follow the expected pattern, but they also resorted to insults!
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” she explained awkwardly. “I was just worried that you, as a child, would be bullied. You are your father’s biological son, and the family property should rightfully be yours in the future.”
Jiang Xuli remained indifferent: "It's none of my business."
He had no interest in sitting in an office all day and had long since decided not to work for a company but to do what he liked. If the two of them had a child... he thought about it and felt it wasn't a bad idea.
Anyway, his dad wouldn't let him starve to death.
Wang Cuihua was speechless.
She could hardly believe her ears. If she didn't have to play the role of a "kind" aunt, she would have loved to grab him and shake him to see if the child had something wrong with his head!
Just as she was feeling emotionally overwhelmed, she suddenly heard Jiang Xuli say, "It's getting late, so I won't see you off."
After saying that, he turned and went into the courtyard.
...
"Pah, you little bastard!"
After she could no longer see them, Wang Cuihua spat on the ground in anger. "It's the middle of the day, how can it be dark? They're clearly just using this as an excuse not to talk to us."
Jiang Mingxu is no good, and his son is indeed a bad seed!
She walked home cursing and swearing, discussing with her son and daughter-in-law what to do next. She had only taken a few steps when dark clouds suddenly rolled in from the clear sky.
Immediately afterwards, large raindrops began to pelt down, and the sky became so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face, as if covered by a thick black cloth. Before Wang Cuihua and her group could react, they were soaked to the bone.
On the other side, Jin Ran, who was sitting at the entrance of a rural courtyard eating sunflower seeds, saw Jiang Xuli return: "Did you find out?"
Jiang Xuli nodded.
"Do you want to go see her?"
The two of them knew perfectly well who "she" was referring to.
Jiang Xuli hesitated.
Perhaps it was a feeling of trepidation about returning home, or perhaps she worried that he had already started a new family and that her presence would disturb his mother's life.
We'll see.
After a moment of silence, he changed the subject, "You just said my dad would be coming?"
"Oh, that was a lie," Jin Ran blinked and explained with a smile.
The two families didn't have a good relationship. Before coming, Jiang Mingxu had repeatedly warned Jin Ran that she was only saying Jiang Mingxu would come because she was afraid they would suddenly cause trouble, hoping to make them think twice.
Jiang Xuli: "..."
Besides his father being ruthless, he felt that she was also quite ruthless.
The two stayed in the village for half a day, originally planning to leave that day. Unexpectedly, the sunny afternoon weather suddenly turned cloudy, and after a strong wind, the summer rain came down hard, accompanied by lightning and thunder, shrouding the small seaside village in a hazy rain curtain.
So even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't.
Fortunately, Jiang Haikuo's family had many houses, so they cleaned out two rooms for them to stay in temporarily.
That evening, Jin Ran told Jiang Mingxu about it during a phone call.
"I was planning to go back the day after tomorrow, but the weather forecast says it will rain for a week."
Jiang Mingxu had lived by the sea for over a decade and naturally knew that it rained a lot there: "Or should I have Assistant Wang pick you up?"
Jin Ran hesitated: "Assistant Wang still has work to do, so let's not trouble him."
Although I know that Assistant Wang has a high salary, I still feel a little bad about bothering him with such a thing.
Why should working people make things difficult for each other?
Jiang Mingxu didn't say anything more, but comforted her, "Take this opportunity to relax."
Jin Ran looked out the window. The torrential rain was pounding on the concrete floor of the courtyard like scattered beans. Occasionally, a flash of lightning would illuminate her slightly furrowed brows. She said with a hint of helplessness, "With rain this heavy, I guess I can only stay indoors."
Little did I know that my words would come true.
The rain continued for the next few days, and even worse, the only road out of the village was washed away. Jin Ran dared not take the risk, so she simply followed Jiang Mingxu's advice and stayed in Pingcun to enjoy the slow life in the farmhouse.
During the day, she played video games with Jiang Xuli and helped Jiang Haikuo's wife process seafood. At night, she watched movies while listening to the raindrops and chatted on the phone with Jiang Mingxu.
Besides that, Wang Cuihua would come over every few days.
No one knows what happened, but the other party suddenly changed his behavior and started to be nice to Jin Ran, bringing her food and chatting with her, as if he really treated her as a close niece-in-law.
Jin Ran accepted everything without question, but whenever the other party tried to talk about how difficult their family life was, and how Jiang Mingxu was now a big boss, she would show a shy smile and say, "I don't know about that. In our family, Mingxu makes the decisions."
“Yes, for families like ours, all we need to do every day is eat, drink, go shopping and buy clothes. Mingxu is afraid that I will get tired, so she doesn’t let me put any effort into it.”
"Why do you want me to help my uncle? What's wrong with him? I haven't seen him since I came back. Is he unhappy with us?"
The main point is that every sentence receives a response, but every sentence is not agreed upon.
Wang Cuihua: "..."
She looked at the seemingly harmless woman in front of her with suspicion, but the woman looked sincere and innocent, as if she didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said.
After seeing Wang Cuihua off again, having returned empty-handed, Jin Ran stretched, her muscles and bones, strained from sitting for so long, making a slight protest.
Looking out the window, I realized the rain had stopped sometime earlier.
Come to think of it, she hadn't had a proper chance to explore Pingcun in all the days she'd been there. Jiang Mingxu wasn't a talkative person, but thanks to their nightly chats, she had learned quite a bit about the village, such as the exceptionally blue sea to the northwest of Pingcun, a rock in the village that looked like a mermaid, and the particularly sweet hairy apricots.
Unfortunately, it's summer now, and the apricots have all fallen, leaving only a tree full of leaves, which are even greener and more vibrant after being washed by the rain.
With Wang Cuihua's family still around, and knowing they probably wouldn't be coming back, Jin Ran suddenly felt a strong urge to see the sea and the rocks.
People are at fault, but the environment is not, especially when Jiang Mingxu brought it up, there was a hint of nostalgia in his tone.
He must miss this place very much.
Perhaps after seeing it all, she could tell Jiang Mingxu everything she had seen. Even if he didn't come back, at least he could see this land he had lived on again through her eyes. Jin Ran made her decision, only to find that Jiang Xuli had disappeared when she went out.
She sent a message but didn't receive a reply, so she decided to act on her own.
This was the first time Jinran had stepped out of the courtyard in days. Surrounded by green hills and clear waters, lush and verdant everywhere, her mood improved with every glance.
Not knowing the exact address, she could only walk northwest by feeling, greeting the villagers she saw along the way. Most of them were warm and sincere. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye and abruptly stopped in her tracks.
After the rain, a rainbow arched across the azure sky, and through the hazy mist, a tall, upright man walked toward her.
Jiang Mingxu arrived at some unknown time; his shirt shoulders were damp, and his hair was still wet. He was talking to several villagers with his head slightly turned to the side.
Seemingly sensing something, he raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the crowd and landing precisely on her.
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