Chapter 9: Grievances

Chapter 9: Resentment

Speaking of this son, Old Wang Shi also wore a helpless expression.

"Jiang Laosan was much weaker than Second Son when he was first born, and I didn’t have much milk. He survived only because mother-in-law carried him around the village, asking around for milk from one household to another.

At that time, news came that you had died, and the elderly couple doted on their only grandson as if he were their very life, which is how he ended up with the temperament he has now.

Ah, after all, it’s my fault as a mother for not raising him well."

"What nonsense are you talking? Is that what I meant? A son who’s cowardly and weak is usually the result of not enough discipline. As the old saying goes, 'A child’s faults are the father’s failures.' What does that have to do with you, a woman?"

Jiang Huailiang turned his head and glared at his wife, tossed the towel back onto the rack, and walked to the bedside to get dressed.

"From now on, I’ll take over and discipline him myself. I’m sure under the stick, he’ll grow into a good man, just like me!"

This immediately made his wife laugh.

"Don’t say that.

Our Eldest Daughter has been using that very excuse to frequently discipline her younger brother, which has greatly upset Father and Mother.

If you join in and egg her on, I’m afraid you’ll make the old couple so angry something might happen to them."

"Hehehe, no wonder I say Eldest Daughter acts like a proper older sister. That spirit of hers really takes after me!"

"Yes, yes, yes, your daughter Jiang Daxiong—who else would she take after if not you? Enough small talk, hurry up and get ready to go out for breakfast, then get on with whatever you need to do. I also have a pile of chores to handle and don’t have time to idle with you."

As she stood on tiptoe to adjust her husband’s collar, she frowned and complained.

"Why didn’t you bring a couple of sets of regular clothes? Even if this armor is light, it’s still tiring to wear. It’d be better to have a few sets of regular clothes ready. Now that the world is at peace, there’s no need to sleep armed and armored every day."

The tall man enjoyed his wife’s gentle nagging—this was the kind of bliss he had only dared dream of all these years. Hey, I really made it back alive!

He pulled his wife into his arms, lowered his head to nuzzle the top of her hair, and muttered.

"Tiring? How could a warrior like me, who’s rolled on the edge of a blade, not wear armor? What if I’m unlucky and get stabbed by someone? Wouldn’t you become a young widow then?"

"Bah!"

Old Wang Shi was so angry she wanted to pinch him.

"You’ve just come back from the dead, and the cenotaph hasn’t even been leveled yet, and you’re already spouting nonsense! It’s not like I haven’t been a widow before. All these years, I’ve been known far and wide as the feisty widow."

"I know."

Jiang Huailiang held his wife tightly. This big, tough man found his throat aching from his wife’s words.

"Sorry, Yu Jie’er. Your husband returned too late."

With just these words, Xu Shi’s tears came instantly. She buried her face in her husband’s broad chest, crying until her eyes were blurred.

How could she not feel wronged?

A young, beautiful woman, raising three children and two elderly people—what hardships had she endured all these years?

Back when ruffians crept in to harass her in the middle of the night, she was terrified! Although her in-laws did their best to protect her and the old clan leader stood up for her, her reputation was utterly ruined.

The gossipy women in the surrounding villages pointed fingers at her behind her back, and the idle ruffians always spoke suggestively and leered at her.

In the end, she was driven to a dead end by the rumors and gossip, yet she couldn’t abandon the children and die. Left with no choice, she had to mar her own face.

"Do you know I was bullied? Do you know they all wanted to take advantage of me? Do you know how bad it hurt when the fire burned my face…"

Every word of bitterness was the resentment she had bottled up all these years, with no one to turn to.

"I know.

Don’t cry, wife. Your husband has gotten even for you. Those bastards—I didn’t let a single one get away!

We’ll leave this place later. We’ll go to Maocheng, to the Capital. No one will ever know about these things. Don’t be afraid, don’t cry. Listen to me. From now on, your husband will always be here!"

A responsible shoulder can shelter a whole family from wind and rain. It can also turn a spirited woman back into the gentle young wife she once was.

By the time the couple had gotten ready and stepped outside, the sun was already high in the sky.

The whole family was gathered around the dining table, staring intently at Xu Shi’s swollen, tear-filled eyes. The quick-tempered Jiang Han was the first to jump up.

"Mom, did he strike you?!"

The girl, who distinguished clearly between gratitude and grudges, had been utterly fascinated by her powerful biological father just a couple of days ago but now immediately turned against him.

Although she wanted an official as a father, her mother who had raised her was more important! How could she stand by and watch her mother, who had worked so hard to bring her up, be bullied?

Impossible!

The little girl turned around to get backup.

"Sis, look at Mom’s eyes—they’re swollen from crying! I told you she was crying in the room and something was wrong, but you held me back and wouldn’t let me break the door down. She must have been bullied!"

"Shut up! Eat your meal."

"Hahaha, Big Sis, hit her quick. See if she still dares to speak out of turn…"

Jiang Yaozu, seizing the chance to add insult to injury, was also shut down by a glare from his eldest sister.

"You shut up too! Don’t make me wallop you first thing in the morning."

"Oh!"

He quickly lowered his head, becoming an obedient little chubby boy again.

Jiang Wan looked at her mother’s embarrassed and annoyed expression, then at her father’s smug, satisfied face. As a well-seasoned VIP who had seen it all in the modern world, those implied but not spoken steamy scenes churned wildly in her mind.

She quickly shook her head to clear away those naughty thoughts, then obediently lowered her eyelids and continued drinking her porridge.

With the eldest sister’s intimidation, the second and third siblings didn’t dare speak up randomly, which left Old Wang Shi, who often loved to stir up trouble, standing out.

The old lady banged her bowl down on the table, clicked her tongue twice, then picked up a leaf of cabbage from the plate with her chopsticks.

"People’s fates are just different from birth. Some people, though born unlucky, act entitled—they won’t even get up to cook and clean when the sun is high up. It’s hard on an old woman with one foot in the grave like me, having to get up early to put food on the table for the whole family. Really…"

"Really forcing hardship where there is none!"

The retort came smoothly. Without even lifting her eyelids, Jiang Wan finished the porridge in her bowl in one go and gestured to Second Daughter. The clever little girl swiftly dashed to the door, fetched the "tool for disciplining her brother," and handed it to her eldest sister.

The unlucky Jiang Laosan immediately started howling.

"Grandma! Are you really my real grandma?! Am I your foundling grandson? Why do you always get me whipped?!"

Realizing what was happening, Old Wang Shi raised her hand, pointing at her eldest granddaughter, and yelled furiously, "Jiang Zhaodi, how dare you hit my favorite grandson again! Your father is back now—this isn't your house to turn upside down! I’ll make sure your father teaches you a lesson. Just you try laying another finger on my grandson..."

"Fine!"

The words were barely out of her mouth when the stick came down.

"Waaah! Grandma, I hate you! Wuwuwu... Big sis, I was wrong, save me!"

Once again, the Jiang family's usual drama started up again.