Chapter 27
All of Team Leader Jiang’s anger seemed to be stuck.
Not only couldn’t he say anything, but he also felt extremely guilty.
Jiang Yexun withdrew his gaze and walked straight out. It was only when he was completely gone that Team Leader Jiang took a deep breath and said to his wife impatiently, “You should also manage him properly. The past is in the past. We’re all family. Does he have to hold a grudge forever? A man with such a small mind won’t achieve anything significant.”
“Even if he holds a grudge forever, so what? Is that a crime?” replied Aunt Guo staunchly.
Team Leader Jiang was infuriated, and his hand even trembled a little.
However, when he looked at his wife’s face, he ultimately retreated. “When the kids grow up, they will eventually be separated, and we’ll eventually follow our eldest son. I’m doing this for your sake. You should also talk to Yexun and ensure that he won’t end up completely estranged from his brothers.”
If following those two ungrateful sons, we wouldn’t even get a sip of rice soup.
Aunt Guo rolled her eyes and muttered to herself. But saying such things to this stubborn fellow wouldn’t make him believe it, and she couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath.
“Isn’t he your son as well? If you want to educate him, do it yourself. I don’t think my son is doing anything wrong,” Aunt Guo declared firmly and pushed past Team Leader Jiang and carried her own bowl of dumplings into the living room.
The eldest and second son’s families saw her coming in with a full bowl of dumplings, and their eyes lit up. However, they soon wrinkled their brows in dissatisfaction. They had just seen Jiang Yexun bring back a large piece of meat and a bag of flour. And this was all?
Before they could even complain, Aunt Guo sat down and started eating, paying no attention to them.
The children watched her intently. “Dumplings! Grandma, we want to eat dumplings!”
“Alright, stop crying. You can have my share,” said Team Leader Jiang.
The three children stopped crying when they saw dumplings in his bowl and rushed over. “Grandpa, we want to eat dumplings!”
“Sure, sure, you can eat dumplings,” Team Leader Jiang smiled as he served each of them two dumplings. Then he added two dumplings to his two sons’ bowls, leaving himself with two dumplings.
The two granddaughters were envious but dared not say anything. They buried their faces in their bowls to suppress their desires.
The second brother’s wife hesitated for a moment and touched her belly but didn’t say anything. However, Hu Yuezhen couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “You all have dumplings; what about Siping and I?”
Hearing this, Team Leader Jiang was angry. He put the chopsticks down on the table heavily, “Whose dumplings do you want? How about you eat all mines?”
He hadn’t eaten meat in a month and how could he be willing to give the last two to his daughter-in-law?
The second brother grabbed a dumpling from his own bowl and put it in his wife’s bowl. “You’re pregnant; you should eat something good.”
The eldest brother’s wife immediately looked at her husband, but he had already finished his two dumplings. She felt her eyes well up with tears but refrained from crying aloud. She shot a resentful look at Aunt Guo, who was leisurely eating her dumplings.
The three children quickly finished the dumplings they were given, but the aroma of the dumplings made them want more. They looked at Aunt Guo expectantly, saying, “Grandma, it’s not enough! We want more!”
“Want more? Ask your parents,” Aunt Guo replied dismissively.
As soon as Aunt Guo said that, the three children rushed to their parents and demanded more dumplings. “Mom, we want to eat dumplings!”
Their parents gave in and served them more dumplings. Seeing this, Aunt Guo said, “Greedy kids, you’ve already eaten enough.”
But as the dumplings started to disappear, the three children grew anxious and tried to snatch Aunt Guo’s remaining dumplings.
“You wicked woman! Everything in this house belongs to us. How dare you eat our food!” one of the children exclaimed.
Aunt Guo smacked the child who had spoken with her hand, and the child started crying.
Hu Yuezhen hurriedly comforted him. “He’s only four years old; why are you arguing with a child?”
“I’m not arguing with him. I’m arguing with you. If someone didn’t teach him, how could he say that? I haven’t died yet, but you’re already thinking about dividing the family’s belongings? You should be ashamed!” Aunt Guo berated angrily.
Hu Yuezhen’s face turned red with embarrassment and didn’t know how to respond. However, her sister-in-law said, “This must be someone from Manku’s biological grandma’s side, deliberately trying to sow discord in our family by teaching him to say such things.”
“Yes, that’s right! It must be them,” Hu Yuezhen chimed in quickly.
Although they were closer with Team Leader Jiang’s ex-wife, at this moment, they couldn’t admit that they had taught their sons such things.
“Huh, you’re quite clever,” Aunt Guo sarcastically remarked, looking at Yu Siping coldly.
Yu Siping blushed and tried to say something, but Team Leader Jiang interrupted her, “Alright, stop arguing. You’ve talked enough.”
—
“Xiaoxiao, did you really plan to marry Jiang Yexun? Did Uncle and Aunt agree to it? They entrusted me to take care of you when they left on the train. I absolutely can’t let you do something so foolish!”
As soon as Su Xiaoxiao returned to the educated youth dormitory, she was accosted by Pan Yongsheng. His feigned concern was making her sick.
“Get lost!” she said, not even bothering to waste words on him, and kicked him in the knee.
The sharp pain made Pan Yongsheng cry out, and he knelt on the ground.
“Our parents work in the same factory. How can you beat me repeatedly just for a guy from the countryside?” Pan Yongsheng gritted his teeth, unwilling to admit defeat.
“Are you telling me that spreading rumors about our relationship behind my back is your way of taking care of me?” Su Xiaoxiao heard such an absurd statement and couldn’t help but find it laughable.
However, unlike at lunchtime, Pan Yongsheng didn’t seem as guilty now.
“I said those things to break your ties with the other male educateds youth and those rubes from the village. The male educated youths may be fine; at most they try to court you. But the rubes resort to shameless tactics. Think about it, why did you fall into the water today? Why did Jiang Yexun ‘coincidently’ save you? It was all part of his plan to deceive you into returning home. Can you even stay here if you marry that village boy? Are you willing to abandon your parents, who care so much about you, just for a man? Your brother has been stationed at the farm for years, unable to come home. Even if he marries, he’ll have to settle down in his assigned area. Your parents are getting older, and they won’t have their child by their side. How miserable would that be?” Pan Yongsheng’s words seemed to have no loopholes.
Pan Yongsheng explained his perspective, and anyone listening would find it difficult to find fault with his argument.