Chapter 41: The Countryside First Wife

Chapter 41: The Countryside First Wife

As soon as the car stopped, Song Xilan woke up.

Still groggy, she realized she had fallen asleep on Jiang Chengxiao's shoulder and immediately sprang up in fright.

Jiang Chengxiao smiled at her, pointed at the corner of his own mouth, and said, "You’ve got something there."

Song Xilan was mortified. Had she drooled while sleeping on someone else's shoulder?

She hurriedly wiped her mouth but found nothing. She wiped several times, but there was no drool.

He had tricked her. Song Xilan glared at Jiang Chengxiao with accusing eyes, only to see a playful look in his eyes. She finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Still laughing, she stood up to grab the luggage from overhead.

Angry, Song Xilan swatted at him, "You're teasing me!"

Song Xilan’s uncle, Tan Jianhua, had gotten a call from his sister early that morning, knowing that his niece was coming. He had driven the brigade’s tractor to the station early and was waiting.

When most passengers had gotten off and his niece was still missing, he decided to board the bus to look for her.

As soon as he boarded, he saw his niece playfully teasing a strange young man!

Wait, his sister hadn’t said anything about her niece bringing a boyfriend!

"Lan Lan!" Tan Jianhua called.

Song Xilan blushed the moment she saw her uncle, "Uncle."

Before Tan Jianhua could ask, she quickly introduced, "This is Jiang Chengxiao. He came with me."

Tan Jianhua noticed that Jiang Chengxiao had already taken down the luggage—a large travel bag and two big buckets of various daily necessities. This looked just like a new son-in-law visiting!

As he helped carry the things off the bus, he said politely, "You didn’t need to bring so much!"

Song Xilan, carrying only her small bag, laughed, "Uncle, he’s here to visit a comrade’s parents. These two buckets are gifts for them, not for us."

Tan Jianhua glared at his niece and whispered reproachfully, "Why didn’t you tell me sooner!" Saying he came with her, how could he not get the wrong idea? It made his old face blush.

Jiang Chengxiao felt a bit helpless too, "You should’ve told me sooner." If he had known her grandmother's family was here, he would have brought some gifts!

Twice now, twice!

The first time was at the Song family, and this time at her maternal family's place. Both times he showed up empty-handed, which was so embarrassing.

If he’d known her uncle was coming, he could’ve split the stuff in the buckets and brought some gifts!

But Jiang Chengxiao didn't need to worry about how to get to Yangsongkeng. Tan Jianhua directly carried their things to the back of the tractor, and Song Xilan pulled Jiang Chengxiao, and they both got on.

The tractor was half-full of fertilizer, white woven bags marked with big red characters: "Urea." The smell was like a long-used urine bucket with built-up scale.

Song Xilan pinched her nose in disgust, "Uncle, knowing you were coming to pick me up, couldn't you have transported something less smelly?"

The tractor belonged to the brigade, and even though Tan Jianhua was the Brigade Party Secretary, he couldn't just drive it out for no reason. Diesel costs money!

But at least he could decide what to transport.

Tan Jianhua said with a hint of annoyance, "Why didn’t you tell me earlier that Little Jiang was coming? Little Jiang, don’t mind the smell of the fertilizer. It might not be pleasant, but it’s a good thing for the fields, helping to increase production and income."

Jiang Chengxiao replied, "It’s alright, Uncle Tan. We’ve been through much tougher environments in the military. This is nothing." As he spoke, he helped Song Xilan adjust her scarf to cover her nose, "Block it out, and you’ll get used to the smell soon."

Song Xilan interjected, "Who’s your uncle? My uncle is the Brigade Party Secretary. You should call him Secretary Tan."

Tan Jianhua said, "No need to be so formal among family. Little Jiang, just call me Uncle Tan. Are you a soldier, Little Jiang?"

This sparked a common topic. Tan Jianhua had also served in the military before becoming a brigade cadre after his discharge. The two of them started talking about their experiences in the army, feeling like they had met too late.

Tan Jianhua suddenly asked Jiang Chengxiao who he was visiting this time.

After hearing the name Lin Guangshan, Tan Jianhua fell silent for a while before sighing, "Guang Shan was a good man. What a pity."

When they reached the village entrance, Song Xilan spoke up, "Uncle, take us to Mr. Lin’s house first! Let’s deliver the things to the elderly. This bag is from my mom for you. Take it back to my grandma first, and have my aunt prepare a room. Jiang will stay with us tonight."

Tan Jianhua agreed, "Alright, I’ll have your aunt prepare a chicken dinner. You two hurry up and come back for dinner."

Jiang Chengxiao broke into a cold sweat. He wasn’t prepared at all and felt embarrassed about going to Song Xilan’s grandmother’s house for dinner and staying overnight, let alone having them prepare a chicken dinner for him.

He had originally planned to have a simple meal at the Lin family’s place, return to the county town in the afternoon, stay at a guesthouse for the night, and take a bus back the next day.

Song Xilan, however, said, "Uncle, isn’t Mr. Lin’s family isn’t well off?"

She hadn’t remembered knowing about Lin Guangshan’s family before. When she used to stay here often, she was just a kid. Lin Guangshan was five or six years older than her, and for a child, that age difference felt like a generation gap, so she hadn’t played much with him.

But she recalled a name from the barrage—Lin Weihong, the supposed country wife of the antagonist Jiang Chengxiao in the original plot.

Seeing that name, she remembered that she had played with Lin Weihong when she was a child!

However, her impression of Lin Weihong wasn’t favorable. She was always crying and whining, a real crybaby. If you offered her something tasty, she wouldn’t take it, but if you didn’t, she would feel wronged and start crying. It was annoying.

From the barrage, Song Xilan pieced together what had happened. Jiang Chengxiao had been set up by the Lin family.

He valued his friendship with Lin Guangshan and did everything for their family, but they exploited his good standing and set him up.

It likely happened during a meal when they got him drunk. When Jiang Chengxiao woke up, he was naked, lying next to Lin Weihong, who was also naked.

Lin Weihong was in tears, threatening to kill herself.

Jiang Chengxiao couldn’t stand by and let his best friend’s sister end her life, so he had no choice but to marry her.