Inside the house, a young woman with a round face, dressed in coarse cloth and possessing delicate features, had anger blazing in her eyes. Before her scolding could even fade, she had already grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed out.
“Youning! Come back!” Jiang Da, dragging his crippled leg, followed behind his daughter with an anxious face, hobbling as he went.
With a creaking sound, the door was pulled open.
Those inside and outside the door locked eyes and were instantly stunned in place.
Ye Yao, carrying her things, recognized the person in front of her as her cousin, Jiang Youning.
Her gaze fell on the gleaming kitchen knife in Jiang Youning’s hand. She was startled at first, then said in astonishment, “Cousin, it’s just been a long time since I last visited; why are you… greeting me with a knife? Could it be that you’re angry with me again?”
Jiang Youning was three years older than Ye Yao. At this age, back in the village, she should have long been betrothed.
However, the Jiang family was destitute, her father was disabled, and her aunt was mentally impaired. To avoid being bullied from a young age, she had developed a sharp and fierce temperament.
It was precisely because of this personality that the village matchmakers dared not come to her door, so her marriage had been delayed indefinitely.
Ye Yao knew well that although her cousin had a fiery temper, she was kind and simple-hearted deep down.
In her past life, her cousin had been the one closest to her.
But in the end…
It was all her own fault for being unable to judge people correctly, which had indirectly caused her cousin’s death.
Thinking of this, Ye Yao looked at Jiang Youning, and her eyes could not help but turn slightly red.
Jiang Youning had never expected that the person knocking would be Ye Yao.
She hurriedly tossed the kitchen knife to the side and, at a loss for what to do, began to soothe her usually delicate and soft little cousin: “Yaoyao, did I just scare you? Don’t cry, please don’t cry! I didn’t know it was you; I didn’t mean it…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Da exclaimed from behind, “Ye girl? Why are you here?!”
“Yaoyao! It’s Yaoyao! Yaoyao, Yaoyao… wuu wuu, I want to eat candy, I want to eat candy!”
A petite figure let out a foolish, giggling laugh, suddenly darting out from the side. Nimble as a loach, she squeezed past Jiang Da and Jiang Youning and threw herself into Ye Yao’s arms.
The young girl’s face was filthy, stained with soot, and her hair was as messy as wild grass; it seemed to harbor lice and fleas.
Her speech was incoherent, and her expression was dazed and foolish. She only knew how to grin foolishly at people.
Yet, even in such a slovenly and disheveled state, one could not hide her fair, radiant, and stunningly beautiful face.
She was the youngest daughter of the Jiang family, Ye Yao’s aunt, Jiang Yushu.
Although Jiang Yushu was a few years older than Ye Yao, she was only in her early twenties.
The two had somewhat similar features, but in terms of beauty, Ye Yao considered herself far inferior to her aunt.
If one were to ask who was the number one beauty in the surrounding ten miles, it was none other than the simple-minded Jiang Yushu.
Because she was born so eye-catching, Jiang Da would normally go to great lengths to cover her face with mud and ash.
Yet even so, that breathtaking beauty would still reveal itself through the cracks.
In her previous life, after Ye Yao’s business became successful, she had hoped to let her relatives live a good life so her aunt would no longer have to hide in the shadows, so she had often kept her by her side to care for her.
But she never imagined that the magistrate’s son would set his sights on her.
As a result, when the evil servants grabbed her, something went wrong, and her aunt was ravaged, her purity stained. Unable to bear the trauma and despair, she had thrown herself into the river and drowned…
At that time, the magistrate relied on his power, and they, as common folk, could do nothing to him.
Later, when Xie Moyan passed the imperial examination, remembering the humiliation he had suffered, he denounced the magistrate for trampling on human lives and engaging in graft and corruption.
In the end, the magistrate’s family was thrown into prison and sentenced to be beheaded after the autumn.
Xie Moyan had personally judged that case.
Although the deep grudge was avenged, Ye Yao always felt a heavy stone weighing on her heart.
She always felt that it was because she had failed to protect her aunt; everything was her fault.
“Aunt, it’s me, I’ve returned.”
Ye Yao trembled, choked with sobs, and hugged Jiang Yushu tightly in her arms. The tears came pouring down, so much so that the Jiang family members nearby were all stunned.
Since Jiang Ruolan had passed away, they had never seen Ye Yao cry like this; it was as if the sky had collapsed.
Jiang Yushu still had a bewildered and blank look, not knowing what had happened.
But seeing Ye Yao crying so hard, she became anxious as well. She waved her hands and shook her head, gesturing vaguely, “Yaoyao, don’t cry… Yushu won’t eat candy anymore, won’t eat anymore.”
After a long while, Ye Yao finally calmed down.
Fortunately, Heaven had allowed her to live again.
In this life, everything was still in time…
“Alright, I won’t cry anymore. Aunt, have some osmanthus cake; this is what Yaoyao specifically bought for you.”
Ye Yao wiped her eyes with her sleeves and took out a piece of osmanthus cake, stuffing it into Jiang Yushu’s hands.
Jiang Yushu put the cake into her mouth, sucking on her fingertips with satisfaction, and mumbled incoherently: “Sweet… so sweet…”
Jiang Da told her to go inside to play, so she giggled foolishly and obediently ran off.
“Yaoyao, you came to visit, but why did you bring so many things?”
The father and daughter then noticed that Ye Yao was still carrying quite a few items—sugar, meat, and a whole bolt of new fabric.
How much money must this have cost?
The Jiang father and daughter had always been kind and honest. At this moment, instead of showing any greed due to their poverty, they felt pained on Ye Yao’s behalf.
Even when times were at their hardest, Jiang Da had never thought of selling his mentally impaired sister off to trade for silver.
But precisely because they were poor, ever since Jiang Ruolan died and Lady Liu had entered the Ye household, he felt it was inappropriate to keep in touch with the Ye family.
Even when Ye Yao married into the Xie family a few days ago, he hadn’t had the face to go.
He simply couldn’t afford a decent gift, and he feared that if he went, his niece would be mocked for it.
He was even more afraid that the Xie family would look down on Yaoyao later if they knew she had such poor relatives.
So, even though he was concerned, Jiang Da dared not go see Ye Yao, fearing he would drag her down.
Ye Yao understood the concerns of her uncle’s family and comforted them softly: “It’s not much; these are all things that are used daily. I am now earning money by selling steamed cakes in the city myself. Don’t worry about the Xie family, Uncle; the second brother of the Xie family treats me very well, and he won’t mind these things.”
Hearing her say this, Jiang Da finally nodded and stopped declining.
Yaoyao was just like her mother—someone with a mind of her own and a spirit that wouldn’t let her be taken advantage of.
But he still urged her that this should be the only time, and that in the future she shouldn’t waste her money and should focus on living a good life at the Xie family household; that was what truly mattered.
The three sat in the room and talked.
The Jiang family was so poor they couldn’t even serve plain tea, and they could only pour a bowl of plain water for their guest.
Jiang Da asked Jiang Youning to bring some dried sweet potatoes for Ye Yao to taste.
This was already the best food they could offer in this house.
Ye Yao’s nose grew sore; she picked up a piece and put it into her mouth.
The dried sweet potato was sweet and chewy. She curled her eyes and smiled: “It’s delicious.”
Seeing that she ate it naturally, with not a shred of disdain in her eyes, the father and daughter of the Jiang family finally relaxed a little, and the smiles on their faces became a bit more genuine.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At this very moment, a violent pounding sounded at the door outside.
The movement was urgent and heavy, as if it would shatter the thin, old wooden door of the Jiang house the next moment.