The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

In no time, Chen Changsheng’s old wife, Madam Qian, stormed out of the kitchen armed with a rolling pin, pointing at him and yelling, “You old coffin-filler! Who upset you? Why are you coming home in a foul mood?”

As she spoke, she brandished the rolling pin to hit him.

Chen Changsheng gave a start, quickly jumped up and ran out of the courtyard. Seeing that his wife remained at the entrance without following, he hopped about and hollered, “You’re so out of line! How dare you hit your own husband! Wait and see how I deal with you when I get back!”

Before he had finished his sentence, he saw his wife coming after him with the rolling pin, so he ran off to Dongchen Village in fright.

By this time, everyone in the village had gone to the river to fish, and even most of the children were there to watch the scene.

Chen Changsheng leisurely made his way to the edge of the pond, sitting down on a rock to rest his feet.

He thought of how he had exhausted himself caring for the villagers, only to be met with a barrage of complaints from those ingrates.

And his own sons had been so disappointing, even failing to properly educate their children.

No one could understand him now, and no one could share his feelings. Whatever he did was wrong in their eyes, and he was not as good as others.

The more Chen Changsheng thought about it, the angrier and sadder he became, and he couldn’t help but choke up.

“Grandpa Chen. What are you doing?” a childish voice sounded from behind him.

Chen Changsheng was startled, hastily wiped his eyes and turned around to see a few children standing not far away, looking at him curiously.

Each of them was holding a small bamboo basket filled with red dates. It seemed that they were gathering dates from the nearby orchard.

Yingbao noticed that Chen Changsheng’s eyes were red, as if he had been crying, and she couldn’t help but feel curious.

Why was old man Chen sitting by the pond crying? Was he planning on jumping in the water to commit suicide?

Oh no, that couldn’t be. The pond was an essential source of life for their home. Having a dead body in it would be terrifying.

The villagers nearby washed clothes and vegetables in this pond. It couldn’t be polluted.

“Grandpa Chen, this is for you.” Yingbao walked up and stuffed a basket of red dates into Chen Changsheng’s hands. “They’re so sweet; take them back and share them with Yaya and the others.”

Chen Changsheng’s granddaughter, Yaya, was the same age as Yingbao and had often come over to play recently.

Chen Changsheng held the basket, his eyes redder than before. He hastily turned around to avoid Yingbao’s gaze, picked up a big date, and crunched it in his mouth, swallowing it along with his tears.

His own grandchildren were not as considerate as little Yingbao, who managed to cheer him up with a basket of dates.

What luck old man Jiang had to have such a granddaughter.

When Yingbao saw Chen Changsheng wiping his tears again, she became even more worried that he might commit suicide, so she advised, “Grandpa Chen, you should go home. I saw Old Chen Shuan going to your house.”

Old Chen Shuan had indeed gone to Chen Changsheng’s house, but before that, he had come to thank her grandfather, Jiang, for helping his granddaughter Chen Zhao thank Chunniang for bringing her back from such a faraway place.

As soon as Chen Changsheng heard that Old Chen Shuan was looking for him, he knew something was up. He quickly thanked Yingbao and headed home with the basket.

Watching Chen Changsheng walk away, Yingbao finally heaved a sigh of relief and led the other children back to the orchard to pick apples and pears.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was tomorrow, so they needed to pick a lot of fruit to offer to the moon.

Fortunately, their orchard had everything like persimmons, chestnuts, dates, hawthorns, apples, and pears. Although most of them had been picked and sent to the shop, there were still many left on the trees.

Later, she would go to the vineyard to look for some late-ripening grapes.

Wei Zhan, having found an apple tree, tucked the corner of his robe into his waist and climbed up the tree.

Five-year-old Xiao Chengyu also wanted to climb, but he was firmly held back by the guard.

Xiao Chengyu twisted and turned, but couldn’t break free. In his anger, he kicked the guard and wailed, “Sister Yingbao, come and hit him!”

Yingbao glanced at the little brat and said, “You’ll hurt yourself if you climb up. Just pick them up from below.”

“Look how good this little devil is,” she said, pointing at one of them. “He has collected so much. Later, we’ll compare who has more fruit in their basket. I’ll perform magic tricks for the one with the most.”

She had become a master at tricking children. She would hold something in her hand and make them guess which, left or right. They never guessed correctly.

Of course, if they behaved well, she would generously let them guess correctly once and give them the candy or other little knickknack in her hand.

This trick worked every time, and no child could resist the toys she brought out.

All these toys were purchased in Beijing, things like cowhide slingshots, bamboo dragonflies, mud puppies, square sky halberds made of peach wood, bamboo section snakes, and so on.

However, Xiao Chengyu was completely indifferent to what Yingbao said. Being obsessed with climbing trees, he would start crying if he didn’t get to climb one.

In the end, the guards, who had been harassed by him, helped him climb a low tree branch.

Yingbao, not caring about them, began picking up the fallen fruit under the tree with little devil and her two younger brothers.

Weizhan and Huzi Yuanbao who climbed up the tree would pick a fruit and toss it down. The children at the base of the tree would catch them barehanded and put them into the baskets.

Jiang Wu enjoyed this task the most, darting from one side to the other, catching the most fruit.

At dusk, Jiangcheng returned home from the county town.

Several people got off the carriage. It turned out to be his aunt, Jiang Yunniang, and her son and daughter.

Suddenly, she took another boy, about two or three years old, off the carriage. The boy was the son of her husband’s concubine.

The boy timidly looked at the crowd from the Jiang family. He wanted to cry but dared not. He tightly clung to his elder brother Zhang Yuying’s sleeve.

“Yunniang, this is …?” Jiang Liu started hesitantly, looking at the little boy.

Jiang Yunniang said calmly: “He is the son of the concubine, named Zhang Xiaolang, and I am raising him now.”

She waved to the boy, “Xiaolang, come here and bow to your grandmother.”

Under the guidance of his brother Zhang Yuying, Zhang Xiaolang knelt down and bowed to Jiang Liu: “Grandma.”

Jiang Liu felt awkward. She didn’t understand why her daughter would bring home a child conceived by the concubine.

Still, she helped the boy up and gave him a chestnut cake, “Good boy, eat.”

Jiang Yunniang again asked the child to bow to Jiang Old Man, “This is your grandpa.”

Zhang Xiaolang, somewhat bewildered, bowed to Jiang Old Man as well.

Afterwards, Jiang Yunniang asked her son Zhang Yuying to take the children out to play, and then she sat down and started a conversation with her mother:

“I am Zhang Jia’s legal wife. If the concubine’s child wishes to stay, he must either call me his mom or stay with that slut and become a slave. Dog-like creatures have no right to choose; they can only accept my decision.”

Jiang Liu sighed, saying to her daughter: “What you are saying is not untrue, but if you are going to raise the child, you should treat him well and not play petty tricks.”

“What kind of petty tricks would I, a mere woman, play?” Jiang Yunniang said unconcernedly, “I feed him well; I take good care of him.”

From then on, the child became her weapon, a sword she used to break the hearts of that pair of adulterous miscreants.

Jiang Old Man sat nearby, smoking, and asked her daughter: “Erquan said you’d set up a small food stand next to their shop, how’s business?”

Jiang Yunniang picked up a piece of chestnut cake and began eating, “It’s alright. Many scholars from the county school come to buy snacks. I earn about two to three hundred coins a day, which is enough for the family.”

Jiang Old Man: “What about Yukan? He’s seventeen, right? Are you planning to let him sell snacks with you his whole life?”

“What else can he do if not sell snacks? The family store was pledged to the concubine’s older brother by that dog-like creature. The document has already been filed in the county government; it’s impossible to get it back …”

Jiang Yunniang wiped her eyes and sniffed, “Yukan has known about this for a long time, yet he and his father kept it a secret.”

She then scoffed, “Since that’s how it is, let him sell snacks for the rest of his life. Being a woman, I was fortunate enough to get our nephew’s approval to set up a stall next to the specialty shop, there’s nothing else I can do.”