Chapter 15 "Amnesia"

Chapter 15 "Amnesia"

Although more than 90% of the families in the surrounding villages of Mingfu Village are impoverished and struggling to make ends meet, there are undoubtedly different levels and gaps between different levels of poverty.

The small group of people at the top of the pyramid, although they also live frugally and are careful with their money, live in brick houses and own a number of fields. Not to mention that they can eat chicken, duck and fish to their heart's content every day, they can wear fine silks and satins and have no problem eating and dressing well.

Even if there are promising students among their descendants, they can tighten their belts and barely afford the large expenses required for their education.

The majority of the pyramids were occupied by families who, although they owned houses and land, found that their houses and land were far from sufficient to meet the needs of their families.

They not only often had to eat coarse food and wear tattered clothes patched upon patched, but also had to rack their brains to make each family member contribute their maximum value to the survival of the family.

This is primarily reflected in the labor of men, while for women, it includes not only labor but also being "sold".

Whether it's marrying someone to get a dowry or exchanging a wife for a brother in exchange for a wife, their original families felt that "such a grown daughter can't be raised for nothing, and can't be given away to another family for nothing."

As for Jiang Yuan, just as Wang Xiaozhi said, he had no house or land, and was kicked out of his adoptive parents' house by the Wang family with nothing. Even his place of residence was temporarily lent to him by Hao Yu.

In the eyes of others, he was undoubtedly a propertyless person at the bottom of the pyramid, someone who would never be able to save enough money to buy land and build a house, someone who couldn't afford a dowry and had no sisters to exchange for a marriage partner, making him the worst possible marriage prospect.

This is why, even though Jiang Yuan himself is very outstanding, every time Wang Xiaozhi tries to arrange a marriage for him, other people avoid him like the plague.

Wang Xiaozhi was very anxious and upset, but Jiang Yuan himself didn't take it seriously at all.

He said to Wang Xiaozhi, who was holding Chen Yuan's hand, "I know what I'm doing."

Every time she nagged him, he would brush her off with this sentence. Sometimes, when Wang Xiaozhi got angry, she felt like kicking him.

Chen Zhao noticed that his wife was about to lose her temper, so he pretended to try to calm her down and stepped forward to stand between Jiang Yuan and Wang Xiaozhi. "Yuan, your sister is right. You're having a harder time than us right now. You might as well sell all those fish and meat that you sent to my house and exchange them for some copper coins."

He winked at Jiang Yuan, signaling Jiang Yuan to go along with Wang Xiaozhi.

Jiang Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "I understand."

Chen Zhao then turned to Wang Xiaozhi, "Xiaozhi, Ayuan already knows he was wrong, so don't take it to heart. That's just how he is, a real taciturn guy, don't you know him? He knows you mean well, but he's clumsy with words, he won't say it."

Wang Xiaozhi was amused by him, "So you're the only one who can say that, huh?"

Chen Zhao chuckled, "Of course, otherwise how could I have won over such a virtuous and beautiful woman like you?"

Wang Xiaozhi glared at her husband reproachfully, scolding him without really meaning it, "What nonsense are you spouting in front of A Yuan and Yuan Yuan?"

Jiang Yuan, the Tool Man: Now you remember it was in front of me? When I was a kid, you used the excuse of taking me out to play to secretly meet with Chen Zhao. Why don't you remember that you were also exchanging sweet words and flirting in front of me back then?

Jiang Yuan was inwardly grumbling when he heard Wang Xiaozhi ask him, "By the way, I haven't asked you yet, what are Wan Niang's plans next?"

“She plans to stay in the village for the time being.” Jiang Yuan glanced at his sister and brought out the excuse Xie Wanniang had prepared to use to deal with the villagers, “I don’t know if she hit her head in the river, but she found that she has forgotten a lot of things, including where her home is and who her family is.”

Wang Xiaozhi exclaimed, "Oh dear, does that mean she has to keep seeing doctors?"

Jiang Yuan nodded, "We'll definitely watch it, but we'll have to wait until we've earned some money."

Wang Xiaozhi looked puzzled. "The two of you?"

Jiang Yuan glanced at his older sister, "She understands pharmacology, can do needlework, can embroider, and cooks exceptionally well."

Wang Xiaozhi: ......

For some reason, she always felt that Jiang Yuan was showing off to her. But the question was, did this brat even have the right to show off? Wan Niang wasn't his wife!

Wang Xiaozhi rolled her eyes at Jiang Yuan and asked, "So she's planning to make money by embroidering?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head. "She said embroidery hurts the eyes."

Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao: ......

The two exchanged a glance, their feelings quite complicated.

Women from families like theirs have nowhere to learn embroidery, yet Xie Wanniang, on the contrary, complains that embroidery is bad for the eyes.

Wang Xiaozhi calmed herself down. "She wouldn't want to go into the mountains with you, would she? It's windy, sunny, and rainy here, and you won't even have a hot meal. Gathering herbs is much harder work than embroidery. What would she want from that?"

Jiang Yuan: "Safety."

He knew perfectly well that the excuse of "it hurts the eyes" was just that—an excuse. The real reason was that Xie Wanniang was afraid to stay home alone.

If it weren't for the fact that half of his martial arts skills came from Hao Yu, and that he couldn't teach Xie Wanniang martial arts without consulting Hao Yu, he would have offered to teach her a few moves long ago.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao immediately recalled the incident where someone climbed over the wall and broke into Jiang Yuan's house.

Although they were told the news that "Jiang Yuan returned in time and Xie Wanniang was safe and sound" when they heard about this, they still couldn't help but worry for Xie Wanniang.

"That damned bastard!" Wang Xiaozhi couldn't help but curse. "Luckily you came back quickly that day."

Otherwise, she wouldn't even dare to imagine what Xie Wanniang would encounter.

Jiang Yuan didn't tell her that even if he didn't return in time, Xie Wan Niang would never let herself be slaughtered.

Jiang Yuan believed that a girl who remained calm under pressure, carrying a knife and a stick, and ready to strike at bad guys at any time, had enough wisdom and ability to protect herself.

The siblings chatted for a few more minutes, mainly asking questions and receiving concise answers from Jiang Yuan.

Only after all of Wang Xiaozhi's questions were answered did Jiang Yuan take out a small oil paper packet and hand it to Chen Yuan, saying, "Then I'm leaving. You should all go home early too."

"OK."

Goodbye, Uncle.

"Be extra careful when going into the mountains."

"Mom, it's rice candy!"

"You can only eat one piece now."

"Then I'll break off some for Mom and Dad."

"......"

Amidst the conversation of Wang Xiaozhi and her family of three, Jiang Yuan quickened his pace and returned to his own home at the end of the village.

Inside the main room, Xie Wanniang sat at the table, mending his clothes by the dim light of the oil lamp, while occasionally looking up towards the door.

The creaking sound of the courtyard gate opening and closing reached her ears, and she quickly put down the clothes and needlework in her hands, her eyes immediately turning towards the gate.

Seeing that it was Jiang Yuan, she breathed a sigh of relief and got up to quickly go to meet him.