On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Jiang An repeatedly instructed the people in his household to take good care of Chen, the scholar, while he took his son and three carriages full of gifts to his second brother's place to pay New Year's greetings to their parents and several elder brothers.
After all these years, this is the first time I've felt so confident and at ease meeting my own family.
The Jiang family had already learned the general situation from the shopkeeper, Fang Hong, and they had wanted to come over, but Fang Hong said that Fifth Master had instructed them to come over on the second day of the Lunar New Year, so they didn't need to go.
Therefore, the Jiang brothers all went to the second brother's house to wait.
When everyone learned that the fifth brother's scoundrel son was not his biological child, but a scheme devised by the steward Wu Qing and Pang Shi to switch the fifth brother's biological son, everyone was furious and cursed Wu Qing and Pang Shi for deserving to die. At the same time, they were also relieved for the fifth brother. Fortunately, the other party's conspiracy did not succeed, and they learned the truth and found their biological son.
As soon as Jiang An and his son arrived, they were surrounded by people who sighed with admiration. They also pulled Jiang Baize aside to look at him. After exchanging a few words, they all said that this was the Jiang family's child, and he was pleasing to the eye at first glance.
Jiang An originally planned to stay there for three days and then return, but his parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law all disagreed. They took turns dragging him and his father to stay at their own homes, and they all started looking for matchmakers to find a good girl for Jiang Baize.
When the father and son returned to Yaozhen on the twelfth day of the first lunar month despite the rain, they had just entered the mansion and rested for a while when they were about to take the good things they had obtained from their father and brother to Manager Yang's house. However, the people in the mansion said that Miss Hong and her party had set off and left on the eighth day of the first lunar month.
Jiang An was filled with regret, slapping his thigh until it was bruised. Why hadn't he checked with them before leaving to see their exact departure time?
It seems that initially, we agreed to stay until after the fifteenth!
I didn't get to see the person I wanted to see, and I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to see them again.
Indeed, there was someone they didn't want to see. The people in the manor said that on the sixth day of the month, someone from Tangjia Village in Zhaozhong Town came by. The person was named Tang Dong. He said that his second daughter and Young Master Bai Ze were in love and had already secretly pledged their lives to each other.
The temporary steward of the Jiang family, unaware of the inside story, dared not neglect the matter and invited the person into the mansion. After thinking about it, he realized that since it was Miss Hong who had resolved his master's affairs, she might know something. So he secretly sent someone to the Yang family residence to tell Miss Hong what had happened.
As a result, the person sent back hurriedly, looking very unhappy, and told him that Miss Hong said that the second daughter of the Tang family had indeed been in love with the young master before, but later felt that she could not live a good life with the young master, so she agreed to become a concubine for the son of the Pang family's elder brother.
After hearing this, the steward was so angry that his face turned black. What kind of nonsense is this? She had already arranged to go to the Pang family as a concubine on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Now that she knows that the young master is the real son of the Jiang family, she wants to continue her previous relationship and enjoy the good life as the young mistress of the Jiang family.
That's quite a dream. They're incredibly shameless and have no skin left!
The steward immediately berated Tang Dong, who was lounging in the living room drinking tea and eating snacks, and then ordered the servants to throw him out.
Unexpectedly, Tang Dong caused a scene outside the mansion gate, shouting that the young master of the Jiang family was heartless, treacherous, and had abandoned his daughter.
The person in charge wasn't one to be trifled with either; he loudly shared the information he'd gotten from Hong Xiaoduo with the surrounding neighbors.
The townspeople were already quite sympathetic to the Jiang family's situation. Now, upon hearing about it, and considering that some of them lived in the town, knew Jiang An's character, and had even seen the real son the Jiang family had found, who seemed to be a decent person, they were even more moved.
Therefore, no one believed Tang Dong's words. Instead, they all criticized Tang Dong for being shameless, greedy, and snobbish.
Tang Dong was almost overwhelmed by spittle and slunk away.
Hearing this, Jiang An was very satisfied with the way the temporary steward was handled and immediately decided that he would become the official head steward of the mansion.
However, Jiang An still privately asked his son if he still had feelings for the second daughter of the Tang family. If he still had feelings for her, then he would accept marrying her.
Jiang An's thinking was simple: regardless of the other party's character, as long as his son was happy, that was all that mattered. With him keeping an eye on things, he wasn't afraid of the other party causing trouble.
However, Jiang Baize responded without the slightest hesitation, saying that he had already let it go.
Moreover, whether Tang Erniangzi was forced by her father or voluntarily became a concubine in the Pang family, it makes no difference. Even if he remains a bachelor for the rest of his life, he would never marry such a woman.
Jiang An was very pleased to hear this. See, he was indeed his and his wife's biological son. How wise of them!
But then he thought about how he hadn't been able to meet the girl or see her off, and Jiang An's mood immediately plummeted.
It was Jiang Baize who noticed his father's distress and said, "We'll meet again someday."
Jiang An then told his son about his decision: from now on, 20% of the family's earnings would be given to Hong Xiaoduo to save. When they had the chance to see her again, or when they found out where she usually stayed, they could go and deliver the money to her.
Jiang Baize had no objections whatsoever, and even said that it was up to her father to decide. She said that she would accept either 20% or all of it.
In a small town hundreds of miles away, Hong Xiaoduo, who was staying at an inn, was unaware that she would receive dividends even if she didn't do business.
Thinking about what she needed to do next, her feelings were very complicated. Of course, she hoped to find out the identities of Tian Shu and the other six. No matter how happy they were with her, it was nothing compared to returning to their biological parents and family!
However, she was also worried because she couldn't be sure that all six of their families were as kind and good as Kaiyang's family.
After two days of frustration, she suddenly realized that once she found the right person, she could be sure if they were a good person. If they couldn't take good care of the child, then after getting the child's own consent, the child wouldn't want to acknowledge such a family and could continue to stay with her.
Even if they weren't sure if they would stay here forever, they still had their master!
Just because we found the child's family, we can't force them to return the child to the other party even if we know they might harm the child.
After figuring things out, Hong Xiaoduo felt much better.
After taking a stroll outside and not finding a place to eat, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Let's go back to the inn and have noodles today."
"Okay, let's eat noodles! Second brother, what kind of noodles are we having? Hand-pulled noodles?" Yao Guang asked with a grin.
Upon hearing this, Tian Shu looked at Hong Xiaoduo and saw her wink at him. His heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the very fresh and delicious noodles they ate on the way back from Zhaozhong Town last time?
She was inside the carriage, and he didn't see her light a fire or roll out the dough. He just smelled the aroma and then she brought him a bowl of noodles. The noodles were crooked and chewy with a great texture. The broth was rich and fragrant, and it also contained braised eggs and some kind of ham sausage. It was the first time he had ever eaten such delicious noodles, and he ate every last drop of broth from the bowl.
Incredibly, she didn't even wash the bowl herself, just put it back in the carriage, and that was it. When they returned to the Yang family residence in Yaozhen and unloaded the truck, the bowl was nowhere to be found.
“You don’t need your second brother to roll out the noodles, Tian Shu. Do you still have the noodles we bought on our way out last time?” Hong Xiaoduo asked Tian Shu with a smile.
Tian Shu pursed his lips, looking at her, trying to figure out what she meant. She must have suggested noodles...
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