Arriving at the village entrance, she encountered several elderly villagers chatting idly. They noticed Jiang Liuli pushing a cart loaded with goods.
"My, Da Ni! What have you got there?" asked Granny Wang, who lived near the entrance, her curiosity piqued.
Jiang Dani had already stored the pork and chicken in her dimension, leaving only two bulging sacks of grain that concealed their contents.
"This? It's millet and cornmeal," Jiang Liuli explained. "Since Grandpa and Grandma won't let our second branch eat with them, I bought these supplies to cook separately."
"Where did you get money for so much grain?" another elderly woman questioned, eyeing the sacks with suspicion.
The entire village knew the second branch of the Jiang family was disfavored. How could they possibly afford such provisions?
"The silver came from the 'He Bo's Bride Price'," Liuli replied. "Uncle Wei said it was the village's compensation for me. I claimed it from my grandparents, which gave us means to buy food."
Yesterday, after Liu Lizheng had been arrested, the clan elders of Xiaoshitou Village gathered to discuss the embezzled funds. Some suggested that families who had received the so-called He Bo's Bride Price should return the silver for redistribution according to original contributions. However, most elders opposed this, arguing that the bereaved families deserved the money as consolation.
When someone proposed Jiang Liuli should return her ten taels since she survived, Wei Laogen vehemently objected. He argued that without her survival and exposure of Liu Lizheng's scheme, more innocent girls would have died. Moreover, the villagers would never have recovered their losses without her intervention.
Ultimately, the elders decided the ten taels would remain with the Jiang family as compensation and reward for Jiang Liuli's courage.
Wei Laogen had informed her of this decision early that morning, advising her to secure the money personally—since she had earned it with her life.
This was why Jiang Liuli spoke openly about the silver now. Otherwise, she would have kept silent, fearing someone might remember the money was collectively contributed and demand its return.
"You did right to claim it," Granny Wang declared indignantly. "Who knows what your grandparents were thinking? How can they favor one child over another like this? Your family works tirelessly, yet they deny you food—treating your branch like livestock!"
Granny Li nodded in agreement. "Exactly! When your mother was pregnant with you, your grandmother forced her to harvest corn. She fell while heavy with child and nearly lost you. All these years, your branch has done the most work but received the least food. Who could endure such treatment? Taking back that silver was the right thing to do!"
"Your father was too honest, and your mother too gentle—that's why they were bullied. But after your brush with death, you've found your strength! It's good—at least you won't be oppressed anymore…"
The elders continued sharing their sympathies for the second branch and their disapproval of Jiang Qianshi and her husband.
Jiang Liuli listened quietly, a faint smile touching her lips.
"Thank you for your concern, Grannies," she curved her lips, revealing a faint smile. "Our second branch will live well from now on."
With that, she pushed the cart toward the village.
"Aiyo! You didn't see how fierce she was yesterday!"
Old Zhang, squatting under the old locust tree smoking his pipe, suddenly tapped his tobacco pot sharply. His rough voice startled the sparrows in the tree into fluttering away.
"That Jiang family's eldest girl picked up a wrist-thick wooden club and swung it at her grandmother's head! Tsk tsk, that fierceness was truly terrifying…"
Granny Liu, who had been sewing shoe soles nearby, also dropped her previous smiling expression as she watched Jiang Liuli's retreating figure:
"Exactly! In my sixty years of life, I've never seen such a vicious young girl! If anyone dared marry her into their family, she'd surely tear the roof off every other day. There'd be no peace afterwards!"
"In my opinion," Granny Li, holding her grandson, adjusted the child's little belly wrap as the wrinkles around her eyes gathered together, "even without this incident, no young man would dare take her! Just that face of hers – seeing it at midnight would scare the soul right out of you. What family wouldn't have nightmares if they brought her home?"
"Right, right," Granny Yang, who had just returned from picking vegetables in the field, set her vegetable basket against the wall and joined in, "Besides, with such a wild temper, she'd probably dare beat her in-laws in the future. What family would dare take in such a fierce deity? In my view, she's likely to remain an old maid her whole life!"
The old folks chattered back and forth, their voices kept low, but Jiang Liuli's exceptional hearing caught every word.
Truly, poverty breeds troublemakers! They're so smooth with their two-faced behavior – pleasant to your face but gossiping behind your back.
No wonder so many girls lost their lives because of Liu Lizheng's few words.
The root cause was these villagers' inherent ignorance, inability to distinguish right from wrong, and their selfishness…
Jiang Liuli paid no mind to these people's opinions and continued pushing her cart forward.
By the time she reached home, it was already dusk. The second branch hadn't eaten all day and were so hungry they were seeing stars.
Seeing Jiang Liuli return fully loaded, they all gathered around.
When they saw the pork placed on the hemp sacks, the two hens, and the oil-paper wrapped meat buns, they all cheered with joy.
"Take the meat buns inside to eat first, so we won't be disturbed when the others return later."
Jiang Liuli handed the oil-paper wrapped buns to the children, who cheered and ran toward the west wing room.
Jiang Xiaoni, Zhao Shi, and Liu Shi helped Jiang Liuli unload the cart.
"Mother! The weather's hot, so I didn't buy too much meat. Let's save this piece of pork for making dumplings tomorrow. We'll slaughter one chicken today to stew, to nourish Father and Sister-in-law!"
As she spoke, Jiang Liuli carried a hemp sack into the house with one hand.
"Aiyo, that won't do! Even if you have money now, you still need to spend it carefully!" Zhao Shi quickly stopped her. "Eating like this will empty your silver sooner or later. I say stewing one chicken is enough. Should we return the other?"
Jiang Liuli unceremoniously set the hemp sack on the ground with a dull "thud":
"Mother, just listen to me. Father and Sister-in-law are weak – how can they recover without nourishment? Besides—" she lowered her voice, "I have plenty of ways to make money."
Zhao Shi still wanted to say something, but Jiang Yinbao gently tugged at her sleeve.
"Daughter-in-law, let Da Ni make the decision. The child is smarter than both of us. Following her lead is sure to be right…"
Jiang Yinbao's words made Zhao Shi pause for a moment. She looked at her daughter's resolute profile and nodded.