BXBX NOVEL Chapter 23 - 23: Chaos and Panic _1
The fish were sold out, and Uncle Jiang Sanlang and his nephew packed their things and went home.
When they reached the old house, Jiang Sanlang fed his donkey with a bundle of straw, took a three-pound green fish out of the jar and gave it to his nephew, and asked him to pay for the donkey cart.
He also handed the purchased herbs to his sister-in-law. “The doctor at the town center can’t leave, and doesn’t want to make a house call, so I collected two doses of Typhoid Medicine. Give one to my second brother and the other one for you to stew for my eldest brother.”
Zhou Family nodded, took the bag of medicine and quickly went to the kitchen to find the pot to stew the medicine.
Jiang Sanlang entered his eldest brother’s room and saw him lying on the bed with a wet cloth on his forehead, whining.
Seeing his third brother coming in, he struggled to sit up and asked, “How much did you sell?”
“I haven’t checked yet.” Jiang Sanlang put the bag of coins on the table: “I’ll call my second brother to come; we can count it together.”
The so-called clear accounts make for good brothers. Jiang Sanlang could not possibly count these coins on his own. Even if his eldest and second brother were both sick, they would still have to be present to watch.
Before long, Jiang Erlang arrived, coughing all the way.
Jiang Dabang was already off the bed, and the three brothers huddled together to count the money.
“In total, we have seven thousand, one hundred and thirty-four coins! Oh, haha, we’re rich, cough cough…” Jiang Erlang couldn’t stop laughing and coughing.
Jiang Sanlang also laughed, claiming triumphantly: “If we hadn’t lost those three big fish, we could have earned more.”
Jiang Dabang was very happy, rubbing his hands, he said, “Why don’t we do like before, give our parents three hundred coins, and also give YingBao three hundred coins. The rest of it, we three brothers can split evenly, how about that?”
Jiang Erlang had no objections; he didn’t go to sell the fish this time; he knew his contribution was less, so he thought this was a fair distribution.
Jiang Sanlang naturally hoped to give more to his daughter, after all, the bait was hers, and without it, they wouldn’t have been able to catch anything, let alone big fish, in such cold weather.
But he held back from speaking first, and refrained from letting them know more.
Well, three hundred is three hundred then. Yingbao is still young, so she can’t hold on to too much money.
After all, he would save up for her dowry as her father. Giving her this money is just to let her have a little more freedom, saving up a bit of her private money.
After all, most children in the village, after they are more than ten years old, don’t even have a single coin at hand, just like his second nephew.
So, each of the three brothers got two thousand, one hundred and seventy-eight coins, which is almost half a year’s income for them.
Getting the money, Jiang Dabang immediately felt significantly better.
Erlang also didn’t let this weigh on him, and with the heavy coins in his embrace, he went back home in light steps.
When he got home, he gave all the Copper Coins in his arms to his wife Leng Family, smiling and saying, “Today Sanlang sold seven thousand coins in town, cough cough, each of us got more than two thousand coins, you keep them safe. We can buy a couple of pieces of cloth in town later, cough cough…
You and the kids can have new clothes for the New Year.
Leng Family received the copper coins and counted them, then frowned, “Erlang, that’s not right. If Sanlang sold seven thousand coins, why did we only get two thousand, one hundred and seventy-eight coins?”
Jiang Erlang gave a cough, and then said, “Three hundred coins were given to pay respects to our parents, and another three hundred split for Yingbao. The rest naturally is divided up this way.”
Leng Family looked displeased: “It’s right to pay respects to our parents, but why Yingbao? What did she do to deserve this? She received as much as our parents. ”
Jiang Erlang frowned, thinking to tell her about the big fish being lured by Yingbao, and that the fish hook was also given by Yingbao. But remembering his younger brother’s insinuations, he suddenly couldn’t explain it to his wife, so he said, “This is how the eldest brother divided it, cough cough, also Sanlang is making money with us brothers, so what’s wrong with giving Yingbao a little?”
Leng Family was even more upset when she heard this. “What do you mean ‘Sanlang is making money with you’? You are brothers; isn’t this supposed to be how it works? Plus, if you guys didn’t help out, could Sanlang catch so many fish by himself? This is clearly eldest brother in collusion with Sanlang, taking advantage of our family!”
The portion given to the in-laws will eventually be left to the eldest son after they die, won’t it?
Regarding the portion given to Yingbao, could a toddler manage that much money? In the end, isn’t it just going to end up with third brother?
Jiang Erlang became angry upon hearing this, “What nonsense are you talking about! Collusion? If this word gets out, how can we brothers get along? Cough cough cough…
“What nonsense are you talking?” Leng Family’s eyes reddened, “They are bullying us. It was the same last time, we let it slide when they short-changed us by two to three hundred coins, but they can’t just keep pushing us around.” As she spoke, she began to berate her clueless three-year-old son, “Your parents have always favored your eldest and third brothers, considering you, the second son, as surplus. Now, even your brothers have started to oppress you…”
Jiang Erlang furrowed his brows, “Do you really need to say all this in front of the child? How my parents and brothers behave is none of your business.”
Leng Family saw that her husband was not on her side, which made her even angrier. She began to curse, “You’re just a coward, being bullied yet you only show your temper at home. Have the guts to show it outside. Marrying you, a man of no use, has really brought bad luck upon me for eight lifetimes…”
Jiang Erlang couldn’t win the argument and couldn’t explain either, so furious, he raised his hand as if ready to hit her.
“Go ahead, hit me!” howled Leng Family, clutching her son and bowing her head, rushing toward her husband, “Just kill me then, I can’t live like this anymore. I rather die….”
The three-year-old Huzi, frightened by the scene, started to cry out, struggling to get out of his mother’s arms.
Jiang Erlang, seething with anger, took his son and shouted at his wife,
“Enough! If you don’t want to live with me, then leave!”
Leng Family, who was sobbing into her hands, shuddered at his words, and threw herself onto the kang-bed, continuing to cry out loud.
“Fine, fine, fine, keep throwing your tantrums. Cough, cough, cough…” Jiang Erlang, knowing that he was in the wrong just now, carried his son out of the room and lay down in the west room.
His head was spinning from anger, and he felt that his illness had grown worse.
Let’s not discuss the chaos at Jiang Erlang’s household.
Speaking of Jiang Sanlang, when he got home, he handed the money to his wife. Remembering that he had promised to buy some New Year goods but had forgotten, he slapped his forehead and apologized to Chunniang, “I got too caught up and forgot. Ah, how about I go to town in a few days and buy them.”
Chunniang laughed, “If you forgot, you forgot. Today, Yingbao was still saying she wanted to go to town. Next time you go, take her with you.”
“Alright.” Jiang Sanlang looked around and not seeing his daughter, asked,
“Where is Yingbao?”
“She went out to play with Dani and Erni.”
Chunniang picked up her elder son and started to feed him.
They had been eating a lot of fish these past few days, so she had plenty of milk. Both babies had been eat, sleep, and repeat. They had gotten chubby, their faces so round that they had developed double chins, making them difficult to hold.
Jiang Sanlang watched his son with a loving smile on his face, and poked the baby’s face a couple of times, chuckling gleefully.
The baby, who was poked, let go of the nipple and turned his head to look, as if silently reproaching him.
Chunniang swatted away her husband’s hand, giving him a glare, “Xiaowu is still waiting to be fed, don’t bother him, let Xiaojie finish eating quickly.”
Jiang Sanlang picked up the little baby who was lying next to him, waving his tiny hand, and started to play with him, making all sorts of noises.
Chunniang, while nursing the child, chatted with her husband, “It’s really strange these past few days, lots of village children have been insisting on giving gifts to Yingbao, they get upset if she doesn’t accept them. I don’t know what their intentions are.”
“Hmm?” Jiang Sanlang turned his head and asked, “What are they giving?” “Eggs, white flour cakes, and all kinds of fine food.” Chunniang said.
Jiang Sanlang laughed out loud, “Who are they? How generous of them!” Eggs and white flour cakes are rare items. Regular kids in their village might not get to taste them even once in a few months.
Chunniang, looking annoyed, said, “Who knows which child they are, I guess the children who always follow Yingbao around have given gifts.”
“That’s nothing.” Jiang Sanlang laughed and shook his head, not minding, “We can just prepare some snacks ourselves and let Yingbao give them back.” After all, children trading gifts during their playtime is very normal.
Moreover, the deer their daughter was raising was considered a priceless treasure by the children in the village, so giving some food was just a way of trying to ingratiate themselves..