Old Man Jiang let out a sigh and hung his head like a child who had done something wrong.
Slowly, he gave a brief account of everything that had happened to the Jiang family over the years.
At some point, Jiang Nan had come into the room, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe.
Watching his grandparents talk with the con artist.
“Is your son dead?”
Jiang Xu asked directly.
Old Man Jiang froze.
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow slightly.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Old Lady Xu’s face.
“Oh, I see,” said Jiang Xu.
“Not dead, but unfilial—he doesn’t want you or Yadan anymore.”
Her tone was flat, as if she had seen it with her own eyes.
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Old Lady Xu explained, “Great-Grande-Aunt, Hongcheng was forced into it too…”
Old Man Jiang raised a hand, cutting off his wife. “No need to speak up for that boy in front of Great-Grande-Aunt.”
There was a trace of weariness in his voice.
But the mistakes he had to own up to, he would own up to willingly.
“Great-Grande-Aunt, your grandson has been unfilial—I raised a disloyal, unfilial son. I am the Jiang family’s sinner.”
Jiang Xu gave an “oh.” “To raise a child without teaching him is the father’s fault. You are indeed at fault.”
Old Man Jiang lowered his face, full of guilt. “Yes, Great-Grande-Aunt, I know—”
Jiang Xu cut him off, her tone serious and earnest.
“But as an elder of the Jiang family, I will back you up.”
“Dealing with unworthy descendants—that’s a job I’ll take on.”
“Although my seniority is above yours, you’re now so old you can barely move.”
“I must respect your aging body.”
Jiang Xu murmured to herself, casually dropping truths that were a little hard to accept.
“Great-Grande-Aunt!”
Old Man Jiang lifted his head and looked at her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
At the doorway, Jiang Nan straightened up too.
How was this con woman going to deal with Jiang Hongcheng and Li Mei?
Just the thought of dealing with those two dogs got him fired up!
“Jiang Nan.”
Jiang Xu turned her head to look at him. “Are you cursing your parents in your heart?”
Jiang Nan froze.
The next second, he hurriedly covered his mouth.
Then, realizing he couldn’t speak anyway, he quickly pressed a hand to his chest instead.
He couldn’t let the con woman see through him.
Jiang Xu stood up. “You are their child. Whether they were right or wrong, you may not insult them.”
Jiang Nan eyed Jiang Xu warily.
Was this woman about to play peacemaker?
Before the thought even settled, Jiang Xu continued, “From now on, if you have a grievance against your elders, you can tell your Great-Grande-Aunt.”
“The people you can’t deal with, Great-Grande-Aunt can!”
“The people you can’t curse, Great-Grande-Aunt can too.”
Jiang Nan: ??
So what?
Was he supposed to admire her for that?
Jiang Xu didn’t need Jiang Nan’s admiration—she only needed him to remember her words.
“If there’s a problem, go to the family matriarch.”
Jiang Nan: …
Old Man Jiang and Old Lady Xu nodded along at the side, the old couple fully endorsing everything Jiang Xu said.
They would unconditionally support her every decision.
Jiang Nan: …
So his opinion simply didn’t matter?
Even if he hadn’t become mute, he still wouldn’t get a say?
Jiang Nan glanced at Jiang Xu a couple of times, twitched the corner of his mouth, and said nothing.
Old Lady Xu came over and smacked Jiang Nan on the shoulder. “What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and clean out your room so Great-Grande-Aunt can stay in it!”
Jiang Nan’s eyes went wide!
Wait—their house only had two rooms. If he gave her his room, where was he supposed to sleep?
This time, Old Man Jiang could read his mind without Jiang Xu even needing to see through him.
“Can’t you sleep in the woodshed?”
“There’s the kitchen, the main room—can’t you just lay out a floor bed anywhere you like?”
“You’re a grown man. Can’t you endure a little hardship like this?”
Jiang Nan…
What exactly had he done wrong?
Out of nowhere, he’d gained a swindler of an ancestor, lost his ability to speak, and now he had to give up the only bedroom for this “ancestress” to live in?
Could she even fit in there?
Unable to make a sound, Jiang Nan could only glare viciously at Jiang Xu.
“You rotten brat, what are you looking at?”
Old Man Jiang snapped, “Is that any way to treat your ancestress?”
Jiang Nan…
He screamed silently in his heart: the old couple might acknowledge her as the ancestress, but he hadn’t!
Since he hadn’t acknowledged her, he could treat her however he pleased.
“Get lost!”
“Go clean out your room right now.”
Old Man Jiang slapped Jiang Nan across the head.
Left with no choice, Jiang Nan reluctantly went to tidy up his room.
“Tidy up” was an overstatement—there was really nothing to tidy.
The room was bare as could be: just a wooden plank bed, padded with straw, topped with a thin mattress, a pillow washed nearly to holes, and a quilt that had long since faded from washing.
All Jiang Nan had to do was remove the pillow, quilt, and mattress.
Old Lady Xu took out the bedsheets and duvet covers she had saved up from the family’s only cabinet—meant for Jiang Nan’s future wedding.
Red floral-print fabric, and dacron at that.
Once those were laid on, she hung up a mosquito net, also saved by the old lady for Jiang Nan’s wedding day.
And just like that, a young woman’s boudoir was ready.
Old Lady Xu pulled the straw out from under the mattress and stuffed it into Jiang Nan’s arms.
Then she turned and smiled at Jiang Xu. “Ancestress, I’ll go fetch the quilt that Gou Wazi and I use to pad your bed.”
“It’ll be softer that way, more comfortable for you to sleep on.”
Hearing this, Jiang Nan opened his mouth in silent protest.
But no one paid him any attention.
Jiang Xu walked over to the bed and pressed her hand down on the thin mattress, then shook her head.
“Take this mattress away too.”
Jiang Nan thought she really intended to use his grandparents’ quilt, and he excitedly took two steps forward.
Jiang Xu spoke up. “I’m used to sleeping on hard boards. I don’t need any of this.”
Jiang Nan’s open mouth closed.
Old Lady Xu was startled too. “Ancestress…”
Jiang Xu said, “Go attend to your chores.”
Old Lady Xu nodded. “Then I’ll head out first.”
“If the ancestress needs anything, just call for this rotten boy Jiang Nan.”
“Mm.”
The two left the room, leaving Jiang Xu alone inside.
She sat on the bed, listening to the rain falling steadily outside, and slowly closed her eyes.
However calm Jiang Xu appeared, the sudden arrival decades into the future was still a shock she needed time to process.
At the same time, she had to figure out how to pull the Jiang family out of the penniless mire they were currently stuck in.
Although Jiang Xu had gone up the mountain with her master as a child and cultivated there, she had never suffered in her daily life.
The Taoist temple where her master lived might not have had many people, but its conditions were excellent.
On top of that, her several older brothers and sisters-in-law doted on her, sending people up the mountain every few days with loads of supplies.
All she had to endure was the hardship of cultivation itself.
In daily life, just as when she was at home, she was a young lady of the Jiang family who never had to worry about food or clothing.
An accident had brought her here, and not only had she failed to bring along the things from her Daoist temple, she now had to face a family that was dirt poor…
It had all happened so suddenly. Her Storage Pavilion contained only yellow paper, cinnabar, red string, and various ritual implements used for practicing Daoist arts.
There was no gold, silver, or jewels stored away, nor any daily necessities.
When Jiang Xu thought of her Daoist temple, she couldn’t help feeling it was a pity.
As she dwelled on these thoughts, she gradually drifted off to sleep.
She slept deeply.
By the time she regained consciousness, she could hear waves of noisy commotion coming from outside.