The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Wen Hengyin felt screwed.

His goodwill bore no fruit and he found himself trapped by two little brats.

Just a moment ago, Yingbao and her sister stormed in. Upon seeing the tiny knubs of hair sticking up from his head, an immediate rage hit them. Not only did they chase him half-way through the village, they also punished him by making him copy the Nei Jing ten times.

Her sister said that until he finished copying, he would get no food.

Who did he provoke to deserve this?

Hmph! Unreasonable! For the sake of them being women, he would not argue with them.

He was a strong man. How could he be scared off by copying the Nei Jing ten times?

If he couldn’t finish it today, couldn’t he just do it tomorrow? Anyway, the Nanny would never see him starve, she would always sneak some good food to him, so he wouldn’t even be hungry.

When school was let out at noon, Yingbao brought her two younger brothers and her second sister Huzi home.

There were quite a number of people standing in Uncle Jiang’s yard, and two tables were set up in the house.

Yingbao and the children went into the room to look at Brother Dacheng’s future wife.

Several women were sitting in Sister Dani’s room, and a girl of fourteen or fifteen was particularly eye-catching.

The young lady was dressed in a peach-colored jacket and skirt, with twin buns in her hair. Her skin, fairer than Brother Dacheng’s ex-wife, made her more beautiful.

The only thing was her eyebrows that seemed a bit too sharp, making her seem difficult to get along with.

Next to her, a woman in her thirties who looked somewhat similar to her, looked aged with difficulty in her steps.

“Oh, whose twin children are these?” A lady in her twenties asked with a smile.

Spring lady, who was accompanying them, laughed, “They’re mine. The girl is my eldest daughter, Yingbao. Yingbao, Xiaojie, Xiaowu, greet your aunts.” Yingbao stepped forward to greet them, and sweetly said, “Hello, Aunts.”

Xiaojie and Xiaowu also followed her and greeted everyone in turn.

When it was the young lady’s turn, Yingbao also greeted her, “Hello, My Sister.”

The young girl suddenly giggled, “So you are the child bride found by your third aunt. I thought you would have three heads and six arms. Turns out you are just a kid. The rumors are really not to be trusted.”

There was a hint of embarrassment among the women when they heard this while Spring lady’s expression instantly darkened.

Yingbao turned to the girl with a beaming smile, “Yeah, is there a problem? Even though I was picked up, I’m no child bride, nor do I have three heads or six arms.”

Suddenly, Xiaojie and Xiaowu blocked their sister, clenched their little fists at the girl, and exclaimed, “You are the one who was picked up! Your entire family was picked up!”

Seeing this, Yingbao quickly pulled her two brothers out of the room.

The girl in red turned beet red, clasped the sleeve of the woman next to her, and with a sob in her voice, said, “Mother, I, I want to go home.”

The woman gently patted her daughter’s hand, then turned to Spring lady and said, “Young Sister, my daughter is straightforward and often speaks without thinking. Please do not take offense.”

Spring lady simply smiled, “No harm done, they’re all children. My younger son is only three years old, and sometimes his words don’t reflect well.

Sister-in-law Chu, you mustn’t take it to heart.”

“Yes, children often speak without thinking,” the ladies around them laughed, trying to ease the tension.

Outside, Yingbao was a little annoyed. She had regrets about coming at this time as well. If she had caused trouble for her Cousin Brother’s engagement banquet, she would be the one to blame.

After she led her brothers home and stroked the tops of their heads, she decided not to lecture them.

After a while, Spring lady returned, hugged her daughter, and said, “Baobao, there’s no need to lower yourself to their level. We are the true family.

Everything others say is nonsense.”

Yingbao grinned and cuddled up to her mother.

Yes, she had her father, her mother, her siblings – her true family. Why should she care about what others said?

In the afternoon, with no school, Yingbao continued reading, and at the same time, supervised her brothers’ handwriting practice.

Xiaojie’s writing skills were beginning to show promise. His daily copying of characters had transformed into writing, each stroke and each dot full of charm. Xiaowu’s writing was not bad either, but it lacked the vitality of Xiaojie’s.

Yingbao believed that diligence could make up for deficiencies, and Xiaowu would be able to write good characters one day.

However, they couldn’t just keep instructing them without proper guidance, they had to find a good master for them as soon as possible. Otherwise, once they developed a habit in writing, it would be hard to change.

Time flew, and it was the last lunar month. The tributary labor finally ended, and the villagers began to return home.

The three Jiang brothers also returned home, looking relatively unharmed, albeit much thinner and darker.

Chunnain heated a large pot of warm water for her husband to take a bath, and warmed up the kang, making the room much warmer.

She took out a set of new clothes and laid them on the rack, saying, “You change into these after washing. I made them for you.”

With abundant cotton and sufficient money in the house, Chunnain made new clothes and shoes for everyone in the family whenever she was free.

Jiang Sanlang took off his dirty and shabby clothes and sat down beside the bath tub, lowering his head for his wife to wash his hair.

Chunnain scooped a handful of soap mud out of the can and began to knead it on her husband’s head. Black water trickled down from her fingers.

“The wedding date for your big nephew is fixed in April next year. The date was chosen by the girl’s side.”

Chunnain discussed the family affairs with her husband. “In a few days, Dani is going to have her betrothal, with the grandson of Widow Zhang.”

Jiang Sanlang responded with a nod of approval, then asked, “Why is the eldest sister-in-law setting Dacheng’s betrothal at this time?”

The children’s engagement was set when he and his two elder brothers were not at home, which was quite unexpected.

Chunnain: “It was suggested by the matchmaker from the Chu Family, we didn’t know either. The eldest sister-in-law and parents also proposed to the matchmaker that it would be better to wait for your return, but the Chu Family didn’t mind.”

Jiang Sanlang did not reply, merely rinsed his hair with the hot water in the yellow basin.

Seeing the water turn black, Chunnain hurriedly dumped it out and scooped another basin of hot water for him to wash again.

After washing his face and head, Jiang Sanlang got into the big wooden bath tub to soak.

While Chunnain was scrubbing his back, she noticed a scar half a finger long on his shoulder and couldn’t help but ask, “When did you hurt your shoulder?”

Jiang Sanlang said with his eyes closed, “Forgot.”

Chunnain touched the scar and frowned, “Such a long one, it should have bled quite a bit.”

Jiang Sanlang didn’t respond.

His wound was caused by Chen Guanglu’s dagger, but that guy didn’t end up well either. He had his leg crippled by Sanlang, he was regretful to have not found Miss Han, otherwise he would have made her suffer the same fate as her husband.

Daring to harm his daughter, since the government couldn’t punish him, he would take revenge himself.

Luckily, he had taken a medicine made by his daughter beforehand and smeared the wound with a prepared ointment. The wound healed promptly once he arrived at the work site.

This was done so discreetly that even his elder brother had no idea.

Only his second brother knew what had happened, and did not let him do heavy work while they were working.

Jiang Sanlang wore a new blue cotton robe after the bath.

It was his first time wearing such a robe, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

Usually, peasants like them wore shorts. A short top and short trousers, tied with a belt at the waist, it was convenient for work.

Those who were well-off would only wear long robes on important occasions, to show their respect. The rest of the time, they would still wear shorts. “Tomorrow Dani will get engaged, you as her uncle have to show up.”

Chunnain adjusted her husband’s robe.

Not to mention, Sanlang, when dressed up, did look handsome. No one could have guessed he was a peasant.

Seeing that his wife suddenly blushed, Jiang Sanlang smiled and said, “You should also dress up. We’ll all go together.”

Since he had to show face for his niece, it was not only up to him. At critical times, it was the women from the family who had to step forward..