The village chief divided the able-bodied young men in the village into two groups: one group was responsible for cutting bamboo on the back mountain, and the other group was responsible for digging ditches.
Jiang Ling wasn't idle either; the village chief arranged for several village women to make "firecrackers" with her.
On the way to the mountains, Wangde's wife quickened her pace and approached Jiang Ling, tentatively asking, "Jiang, I heard from my husband that you came up with this idea?"
"Sister-in-law Wangde, you think too highly of me. This was all my son's idea!" Jiang Ling said, emphasizing the word "son".
Wangde's wife is a kind-hearted person, but she always does good things in a way that backfires.
She had heard more or less about Lu Youren's loss of face before. She glanced at Jiang Shi with a hint of admiration in her eyes and said, "Jiang Shi, I really admire you. It's amazing that you can take three children out and handle this matter on your own. I feel that your complexion is different from before, and you look a bit plumper."
"What? You're fatter than before? No way, I have to lose weight! I'm already dark-skinned, if I get both dark and fat, I'll look like a bear!" Jiang Ling thought, but still smiled at Sister-in-law Wang De and said, "Sister-in-law, I have no choice. Women are lucky, everything is fine, but it's hard to say for those who aren't..."
As she spoke, Jiang Ling deliberately lowered her eyelids and squeezed out a few tears, pretending to have suffered a great injustice.
Seeing this, Wangde's wife realized she had said the wrong thing and hurriedly comforted her, "Jiang, you... don't be like this. It's all my fault for bringing up your sad story."
Jiang Ling deliberately wiped her eyes with her sleeve and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay, it's all in the past. I'm doing fine living alone with my three children now. Besides, we've signed a divorce agreement, so I have nothing to do with their family anymore!"
Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, Wang De's wife touched her chin and her eyes darted around in their sockets.
She leaned close to Jiang Ling and whispered, "Jiang Shi, don't blame me for being nosy, but it's already hard for a woman to live without a man, and you have three children to take care of."
"I'm not saying this to be mean, but although Yaojie is outstanding, Jiang Shi is not your biological son after all. If he is claimed by someone else in the future, your family will not even have a male heir. How will you live then?" Wangde's wife spoke very carefully, glancing at Jiang Yaojie and Jiang Wenxi not far away with almost every word she said.
When Jiang Ling heard Wangde's wife stop, she smiled and patted Jiang Yaojie on the shoulder, saying, "Yaojie, go find Grandpa Village Chief first. He probably needs your command over there! Mom believes in you, you're the best!"
Jiang Yaojie nodded after hearing this and ran towards the direction of the village chief.
Jiang Ling's expression underwent a complete reversal after Jiang Yaojie disappeared. Now, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, her eyes were narrowed, the corners of her mouth were downturned, and even her tone became sharper.
"Sister-in-law Wangde, are you saying this to try and create distance between my son and me?"
Wangde's wife was taken aback by Jiang Ling's question, and waved her hands repeatedly in defense, saying, "Jiang, aren't you being overly concerned? I'm only doing this for your own good. Yaojie is an excellent child, but after all..."
"Sister-in-law Wangde, I hope this is the first and last time you say this to me. Yaojie is a good boy. No matter what, he's still my son, and I'm still his mother. I know you don't mean any harm; you're just worried about me, a woman, living a hard life." Jiang Ling didn't want to have too much of an argument with Wangde's wife, after all, her husband's surname was Lu, and he was from Lujia Village.
“Yes, yes, my older brother is such a good person! Aunt Wangde, please don’t say anything bad about my older brother!” Jiang Wenxi said, holding Jiang Ling’s hand.
Jiang Wenxi's voice wasn't loud, but the village women next to Jiang Ling could all hear it clearly.
Wangde's wife was, after all, an adult and a mother of two. When a young girl said that to her, her face turned red and then pale.
Jiang Ling glanced at Jiang Wenxi, then quickly looked up at Sister-in-law Wangde and said, "Sister-in-law, my child just said things without thinking, you...you don't need to take it to heart!" As she spoke, Jiang Ling's gaze fell on Jiang Wenxi, and she said seriously, "Wenxi, Aunt Wangde is your elder, you can't be rude, quickly apologize!"
Looking at Jiang Ling's slightly serious expression, Jiang Wenxi felt a strange sense of grievance well up inside her. She lowered her head and said softly to Wang De's wife, "Aunt Wang De, it's Wenxi's fault. Wenxi shouldn't have said that!"
"Oh dear, child, why are you saying such silly things? Your aunt was just joking with your mother! Jiang, I was wrong just now, please don't take it to heart!" Although Wangde's wife was displeased, there were so many people in front of her, and she couldn't keep arguing with a four or five-year-old girl. So she could only bite the bullet and say to Jiang Wenxi.
Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Jiang Ling quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Sister-in-law Wangde, it's my fault for not raising my daughter well, please don't take it to heart! Let's hurry on our way and not delay everyone's progress!"
Before Wangde's wife could react, Jiang Ling had already led Jiang Wenxi to the middle of the group after she finished speaking.
Although Wangde's wife wanted to say a few more words, she could only reluctantly shut her mouth when she saw the dense crowd.
The entire group quickly gathered at the entrance of the White-Haired Goddess Cave. Apart from Jiang Ling and the village chief, everyone's faces showed a hint of unease.
The village chief coughed lightly and said, "The deepest part of the cave is where we found the water source. Does anyone want to come in and take a look?"
Upon hearing this, the crowd exchanged glances and all took a step back in unison. Although they were curious, the white-haired goddess still held a powerful and intimidating presence in their hearts.
Jiang Ling stepped out from the crowd, approached the village chief, and said to everyone, "Please rest assured, everyone, the White-Haired Goddess has forgiven us!"
Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, the murmurs among the crowd gradually grew louder.
The village chief frowned and scolded with displeasure, "Don't waste time! Your time doesn't belong to you! It belongs to the crops in your fields!"
After the village chief said that, a few people stood up from the crowd. The village chief glared at everyone and was the first to walk into the cave.
"Water! Really! There really is water!" The men who came in with the village chief shouted excitedly when they saw the water seeping out of the boulder.
When Zhao Erleng in the group saw the water source, he went even further, running wildly to the boulder, pressing his face hard against it, and sticking out his tongue to lick the water seeping out of the boulder.
"Zhao Erleng! Can't you be a little more capable?!" The village chief walked up to Zhao Erleng, raised his head, and slapped Zhao Erleng hard on the head.
Zhao Erleng wasn't annoyed. He just turned to the village chief and chuckled, wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he said with a look of pure delight, "Sweet! Village Chief! This water is so sweet!"
"Get up right now! Look at you, so pathetic! Once the water's been diverted, you can take a bath in there and nobody will care!" The village chief glared at Zhao Erleng with annoyance.
Soon, the village chief led Jiang Ling and the others out of the cave. Upon seeing them, everyone swarmed around them, asking questions about the water source.
Once the water source was confirmed, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. With the village chief's command, everyone mustered their energy and prepared to work hard.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
