Standing next to Jiang Suihe was a boy. Due to the distance, Jiang Ling could not see the boy's face clearly. She could only see from afar that the boy was about half a head taller than Jiang Suihe, wearing a dark gray coarse cloth outfit, with dark skin and a strong build.
Jiang Suihe seemed to be talking to the boy in front of her, and the boy kept nodding. Just then, Zhao Erleng's wife suddenly pushed open the door.
The door creaked open, making Jiang Suihe and the boy next to her seem startled. They both turned to look at the door. Then the boy seemed to say something to Jiang Suihe, who nodded and watched him leave with reluctance.
"Tsk..." Jiang Ling clicked her tongue unhappily at the sight. Although people in ancient times married early and girls had to undergo a coming-of-age ceremony at the age of fifteen, Jiang Ling did not want her own child to get married so early. Thinking of this, Jiang Ling quickly crawled out of the big tree.
"Oh dear, Sister-in-law Jiang, you startled me!" Zhao Erleng's wife patted her chest and said.
"Sister-in-law Erleng, did you see what happened just now?" Jiang Ling whispered to Zhao Erleng's wife.
"What did you mean just now?" Zhao Erleng's wife looked at Jiang Ling with a completely bewildered expression.
"It's...it's the person next to our Suihe," Jiang Ling said cryptically.
"Ah! Him! Zhang Dazhuang, the young man from the Zhang family in Guiyue Village!" Zhao Erleng's wife exclaimed, slapping her forehead.
"Guiyue Village? Zhang Dazhuang?" Two words that sounded somewhat familiar yet were quite unfamiliar kept swirling in Jiang Ling's mind.
“Yes, Zhang Dazhuang, this child seems to be related to Lightning Mom, but I don’t know the specifics. Why don’t you go ask Lightning Mom?” Although Zhao Erleng’s wife was straightforward, she was also quick-witted. Not wanting to get into unnecessary trouble, she quickly pushed the matter onto Lightning Mom.
After thanking Zhao Erleng's wife, Jiang Ling nodded and hurried towards Lu Wangde's house.
"Lightning Girl, are you home?" Jiang Ling gently knocked on Lu Wangde's door and asked.
Footsteps soon came from inside, and then the door creaked open. Lu Wangde's wife peeked out and, seeing that it was Jiang Ling, quickly opened the door to let her in.
"Oh, Sister Jiang, what brings you here!" Jiang Ling had once saved Lu Wangde's two children's lives, and Lu Wangde's family had always been very grateful to Jiang Ling.
"Lightning Girl, I have something I want to ask you."
Jiang Ling's serious expression startled Lightning's mother. She looked at Jiang Ling with a somewhat blank expression and asked, "What? What's wrong? Did our Lightning bully your child? Don't worry, Sister-in-law Jiang, I'll beat him up right now!"
As she spoke, Lightning Girl suddenly stood up from her chair and began searching around for something to go and rage against Lightning Walk.
Seeing this, Jiang Ling quickly stopped her, saying, "No, no, no, you didn't bully our child. I have something else I want to ask you."
"Other matters?" Lightning Girl sat back down in her chair and asked Jiang Ling.
"Hmm...yes, I heard you married into Guiyue Village?" Jiang Ling asked tentatively, her eyes darting around.
“Yes, Guiyue Village is my hometown. What’s wrong, Sister Jiang? Why are you suddenly asking about this?” Jiang Ling’s words made Shandian’s mother even more confused. She even looked at Jiang Ling with some helplessness.
"Ah, Lightning Girl, don't be nervous. I heard that Zhang Dazhuang from Guiyue Village is related to you, isn't he?" Jiang Ling continued to ask.
"Ah, you mean that child? Well... how should I put it, this child, more or less, takes after his father..." As she said this, Lightning Mother moved her chair closer to Jiang Ling.
She lowered her voice and continued, "His father is known throughout the surrounding villages as a scoundrel, much like Wang Laizi from our village. His son is even more of a cunning schemer... Sister Jiang, I remember it all so well..."
At this point, Lightning Girl scratched her head, looking deep in thought. After about two or three minutes, she stammered, "I seem to remember that Old Madam Lu arranged a marriage for your Suihe when he was a child?"
"What?" Jiang Ling was shocked. She tried hard to search her memory, but she couldn't remember anything about the arranged marriage with Sui He.
"Tsk... Not to be rude, Sister-in-law Jiang, please don't blame me for being nosy. Although this is your family's business, you are the savior of our family's Lightning and Xiaoyu. Suihe is also a lovable child. I really don't want to push Suihe into a fire pit!" Lightning's mother's expression was very conflicted when she said these words. She seemed to have mustered up a lot of courage to continue speaking to Jiang Ling.
“Sister-in-law Jiang, I remember years ago when Dazhuang’s family still had some money, it seemed that Old Lady Lu had arranged a marriage between their children. Moreover, Suihe and Dazhuang had met a few times and were quite familiar with each other. I couldn’t persuade you before, but now that you and Lu Youren have separated and your lives are getting better and better, I have to say, please don’t let Suihe marry Dazhuang! Otherwise, the child will be ruined!” Lightning Mother’s face was so tangled that her features were almost squeezed together.
After hearing this, Jiang Ling had a preliminary plan in mind. She nodded and continued to ask, "It's okay, Lightning Girl, just tell me what you know. I won't tell outsiders. On the contrary, I'm grateful that you helped me in the most critical moment!"
Lightning Mother breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Jiang Ling's words. She lowered her voice and continued, "That child has been dishonest since he was little. Although he can't be called a complete villain, he's skilled at stealing and cheating. While Suihe is still doing well, you must be careful, especially regarding our reputation as women. If we lose even a little bit of it, our backbone will be broken by the villagers!"
Although the words from the Lightning Maiden sounded very cryptic, Jiang Ling understood them perfectly. She thanked the Lightning Maiden repeatedly and then got up to leave.
Stepping out of Shandian's family home, Jiang Ling felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that ancient times were harsh on girls, and thinking of this, she hurried home.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Suihe pestering Jiang Zhishan to read and learn to read. Looking at the well-behaved Jiang Suihe, Jiang Ling wondered if she had just seen things.
Her gaze fell on Jiang Yaojie. Jiang Ling walked to Jiang Yaojie's side and whispered, "Yaojie, come here for a moment, Mother has something to ask you!"
Back inside, Jiang Yaojie looked at Jiang Ling with some curiosity. Jiang Ling looked up at the window and asked, "Yaojie, did someone come looking for your sister just now?"
“Mother, don’t you remember? Grandma arranged a marriage for my sister with Zhang Dazhuang from Guiyue Village. Grandma even received half a string of cash back then!” Jiang Yaojie said.
"Half a string of cash? That's good..." Jiang Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she heard about the silver. With the money she had, half a string of cash was more than enough.
"Do you know what he came here for today?" Jiang Ling continued to ask.
Jiang Yaojie stroked his chin and thought for a moment before replying, "It seems they came to borrow grain."
"Borrow grain?" Jiang Ling was greatly puzzled upon hearing this.
"Yaojie, when you followed Magistrate Duan to find a water source, didn't you find one in Guiyue Village?"
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