Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After all, Granny Hu is banking on Jiang Erjie to take care of her, especially with Jiang Ningning around.

As for keeping it a secret—just because they stay quiet, does that mean no one will know?

If it were truly unknown, Aunt Mao and Aunt Hu wouldn’t keep pestering Jiang Yiwei about it whenever they ran into her.

Gossip? Unless you’ve got a thick skin, as long as you’re human, you’ll eventually be affected.

It’s 1977, and reputation still means everything for a person.

So, Jiang Ningning will get what’s coming to her.

Jiang Sanjie sat on the chair, his head swimming with Jiang Yiwei’s words and everything that had happened over the years.

"Dad, are we still sending the malted milk to Granny?" Jiang Weilin clutched the can of malted milk and murmured.

Jiang Sanjie stared at the malted milk powder but didn’t say whether to send it or not.

Jiang Haolin glanced at Jiang Sanjie, then took the malted milk from Jiang Weilin’s hands and scooped up some candies and cookies, placing them in Jiang Weilin’s palm. "Go take these over!"

"Wait, what?" This time, it was Jiang Weilin’s turn to be surprised.

Because every time they sent something to Granny Hu, it was usually Jiang Wei who was sent, and it was always something fancy like malted milk.

"Big Brother said to go, didn’t he? Hurry up and take these to Granny."

Seeing Jiang Weilin still dazed, Jiang Yiwei chimed in from the side.

"Oh!" Finally snapping out of it, Jiang Weilin clutched the cookies and candies and headed toward Granny Hu’s room.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yuexin, who had been munching on sunflower seeds nearby, sneered. Though she disliked Jiang Yiwei, she hated Granny Hu and Jiang Ningning even more.

Skipping Granny Hu when handing out treats? Jiang Yuexin was totally on board.

In Granny Hu’s room:

"Granny, Third Uncle is back—he’s sure to have brought you something."

Jiang Ningning spoke while kneading Granny Hu’s legs.

Every time Jiang Sanjie returned, he always brought gifts for Granny Hu.

Granny Hu’s lips curled. "Of course he ought to bring me nice things—I’m your Third Uncle’s mother. He should be filial to me."

He was her son, after all. What’s wrong with a son being filial to his mother?

That’s only natural, isn’t it?

"Don’t you dare forget me, Granny!"

Jiang Ningning knew that every time Jiang Sanjie returned, he would prepare something nice for Granny Hu.

"When have I ever left you out of your Third Uncle’s gifts?" Granny Hu booped her nose playfully.

Most of what Jiang Sanjie gave would end up in Jiang Ningning’s hands—or with Jiang Erjie’s family. In short, the second branch always walked away with the loot.

"Granny, you’re the best. I’ll make sure you’re set when I’m grown."

Jiang Ningning had Granny Hu laughing so hard she could barely open her eyes.

"Granny, Dad sent me to bring you something."

Just then, Jiang Weilin's voice came from outside, "Granny? You there, Granny?"

"Wei Lin, come in."

Granny Hu hurriedly let Jiang Weilin into her room.

Granny Hu's heart leapt with joy, wondering what Jiang Sanjie had prepared for her this time. But all she saw was a bunch of candies and cookies in his hands.

Even Jiang Ningning was taken aback.

This is it?

In the past, it was always milk powder or hard-to-find fruits and other items.

Stuff like this was already available in her home.

She wasn't impressed by these; she wanted something else.

Jiang Weilin was smart enough to sense Granny Hu's displeasure. He placed the items on the table and said with a grin, "Granny, I've left the stuff on your table. I'm heading back now."

He was out the door in a flash.

Granny Hu was just going to ask if that was all, but now she didn't need to—Jiang Weilin's swift departure made it clear that only these cookies and candies were given.

Jiang Ningning, who'd been standing there, was also unhappy, clearly dissatisfied with just the candies and cookies.

She quietly resented Jiang Sanjie for sending such things.

In the evening, Jiang Yiwei enjoyed the heartiest meal she'd had since arriving here. The everyday meals kept her from going hungry, but apart from the meat pie she bought last time on the street, Jiang Yiwei had barely had any meat.

At most, there was some lard flavoring the veggies.

It wasn't that they couldn't afford meat, but buying meat required meat ration coupons, and with so many people in the household, they burned through the coupons fast. Even if they wanted to eat meat, there was none to be had.

Tonight, Jiang Yiwei got to eat several pieces of meat. She would have liked more, but there was only so much to go around—each person got a few pieces. Though the portions were small, every dish carried the flavor of meat.

Jiang Yiwei ate happily and felt more satisfied than ever before.

That night, she even dreamed about dishes of meat.

On New Year's Eve, the whole family stayed up late. With so many children in the family, the kids were running around the yard.

Especially in Granny Hu's yard—Jiang Sanjie, Zhang Cuifen, Jiang Haolin and his wife, even Jiang Dajie and Jiang Erjie, all went to keep Granny Hu company.

Jiang Yiwei stayed out of the commotion.

She preferred to walk around the yard to walk off her meal.

Jiang Weilin came running back from outside, trailed by a bunch of kids—Jiang Dajie and Jiang Erjie's grandkids.

When Jiang Weilin saw Jiang Yiwei, he waved at her, "Third Sister, wanna set off some firecrackers?"

"Sure!"

Jiang Yiwei agreed without hesitation and went with Jiang Weilin and the others to light firecrackers.

Jiang Weilin was bold, lighting the firecrackers, while Jiang Yiwei stayed with the younger children like Jiang Xiaohua to set off fireworks.

Vibrant fireworks lit up the sky, beautiful and colorful.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Jiang Yiwei watched through the window as Jiang Liling, her expression icy, carried her luggage in one hand, waiting for her eldest brother Jiang Weien to take her to the station.

Today was the day Jiang Liling had to return to the commune team.

But Jiang Yiwei knew that Jiang Liling would eventually return triumphantly.

After Jiang Liling had truly left, Jiang Yiwei saw the barely hidden glee in Jiang Ningning's eyes.

Jiang Liling's departure made Jiang Ningning the happiest, because in the plot Jiang Ningning was familiar with, Jiang Liling was the heroine. With the heroine gone, she could take everything that belonged to the heroine.

But in the plot Jiang Yiwei knew, Jiang Ningning was the heroine, and so was Jiang Liling—it was just that their paths hadn’t fully crossed yet.

Right now, Jiang Yiwei had no time to overthink it. Glancing at the sky outside, she put on a bulky winter coat—she had somewhere to go today.

On her way out, she bumped into Jiang Yuexin, who was also leaving, but Jiang Yuexin didn’t spot Jiang Yiwei, so she didn’t realize Jiang Yiwei was behind her.

Jiang Yiwei watched her figure, not intentionally following her but simply happened to be going the same way.

She trailed behind Jiang Yuexin until they reached a crossroads, where Jiang Yiwei turned in a different direction.

After walking for nearly two hours, Jiang Yiwei stopped in front of a scrap station.

She sighed in relief—thank goodness this body was strong. If it had been her original body, she would’ve plopped down to catch her breath long ago.

Walking for two full hours—how could she not be exhausted?

Regaining her composure, she glanced at the scrap station, where an old man sat at the entrance reading a newspaper.

Exhaling slowly, she edged forward shyly, playing up her helplessness.

"S-Sir, I heard you have high school textbooks here. Could you find a few for me?"

The old man looked up at Jiang Yiwei and snapped, "Little girl, we don’t have any here. Go look somewhere else." He refused without hesitation.

"N-No, that can’t be. I heard from others that they found them here."

"Those books were all things other people didn’t want."

Jiang Yiwei thought the old man simply didn’t want to let her in.

But today, she was determined to enter the scrap station.

The old man set down his newspaper. "Did they also tell you that these things aren’t free?"

In an instant, Jiang Yiwei understood his meaning and quickly pulled out two dimes. "Sir, is this enough? This is all the money I have—just two dimes."

She even managed a few crocodile tears.

The old man scowled at the meager sum but still took the money.

"Fine. But don’t even think about—" he huffed, trying to intimidate her. "Only look for books. Don’t take anything else, or if I catch you, I’ll have someone arrest you."

Jiang Yiwei feigned fear obediently, which made the old man grunt and wave her in. She entered the scrap station to search for books.

When Jiang Yiwei entered the junkyard, she stuck her tongue out at the old man.

Like he could actually scare her.

Maybe the original owner would've been scared, but not her—she wasn't that timid.

Jiang Yiwei frowned slightly as she looked at the piles of junk on the ground—broken tables and chairs with missing legs, nasty dirt-caked quilt batting, worn-out bamboo baskets, dirt-crusted broken bottles, and discarded elementary and middle school textbooks. Basically, anything broken or unwanted was dumped here.

Where was all the good stuff—gold, jewelry, antiques?

She shot a look at the old man and saw he was still reading the newspaper, not paying attention to her.

She crouched down in one spot, putting on a show of searching through books, jumping every time rats or roaches came scurrying out.

Her yelping got the old man's attention.

"Ah!"

"If you scream again, I’ll kick you out," the old man threatened.

"I won’t scream anymore. I already gave you my last twenty cents. I need to find my books."

After finally talking her way in, Jiang Yiwei wasn’t about to leave.

"Then keep looking, and stop making noise."

Only after Jiang Yiwei nodded did the old man walk away.

As she picked through the trash, she cautiously avoided the scurrying rats and cockroaches. The old man rolled his eyes and shook his head every time she jumped in fright, then went back to his newspaper.

While searching, a cockroach crawled onto her hand. She flung it away in panic and stepped back onto a torn pillow. The strange texture underfoot made her freeze. She instinctively glanced at the old man to confirm he wasn’t watching.

Pretending to search for books, she felt around the pillow frantically and found something. Not even stopping to look, she quickly stuffed everything into a hidden pocket she had sewn into her clothes.

Thinking fast, Jiang Yiwei kept finding more items.

If she hadn't needed to keep quiet, she would’ve burst out laughing.

She also uncovered a wooden box about 15 centimeters long, caked with grime that wouldn't wipe off. Inside was empty, but the box itself was surprisingly heavy.

She carried the books she found to the old man. "Grandpa, I found these books. Can I take this wooden box too? I want to clean it and use it to store small things."

The old man noticed Jiang Yiwei's dust-streaked face from digging around and her wide-eyed, jittery look. It reminded him of his own granddaughter, who was always sweet-talking him. His heart softened.

The box looked like worthless junk to him.

Meeting Jiang Yiwei’s hopeful gaze, the old man relented. "Fine."