Jiang Muyan walked into the main hall, where an old square table stood—the very spot where the family gathered for meals.
Seated at the head of the table was a man, the original host’s father—or rather, her adoptive father—Jiang Yucheng.
Jiang Yucheng glanced at Jiang Muyan as she entered, pausing briefly. His gaze swept over the prominent scab on her forehead, and his eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, but in the end, he said nothing.
In his eyes, girls were raised only to be married off to other families someday, so there was no need to invest much thought in them.
Moreover, Jiang Muyan was timid and withdrawn, always appearing as if she had suffered some great injustice, unlike his younger daughter, Jiang Muqian, who was charming and knew how to act coquettishly. Jiang Muyan’s demeanor simply annoyed him.
Jiang Muyan paid no attention to Jiang Yucheng’s gaze. From his Physiognomy, she had already discerned that this body shared no blood relation with this father.
This suited her just fine—she could leave this suffocating family without any reservations.
She glanced at the food on the table: a few hard, coarse-grain steamed buns and a bowl of lightly stir-fried vegetables, with scarcely a trace of oil to be seen.
In the original host’s memories, the last time she had eaten meat was during the Lunar New Year. However, Jiang Muyan wasn’t craving meat at the moment. This body hadn’t eaten for two or three days and was already ravenous. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating without any hesitation.
In the original host’s memories, she rarely ate meat. Of course, the other members of the Jiang family were not the same. After all, both Jiang Yucheng and Liu Fangmei had jobs. Although Liu Fangmei wasn’t a permanent employee, compared to other families, the Jiang family’s financial situation was relatively decent.
However, whenever there was an opportunity to improve their meals, Liu Fangmei would either send the original host out to work or wait until late at night when she was sound asleep, and the family would secretly enjoy the food without her.
The original host was well aware of this, but having been beaten, scolded, and suppressed by Liu Fangmei since childhood, her spirit had long been worn down into timidity. Even when filled with grievances, she only dared to hide under her blanket and cry silently, never uttering a single word of defiance.
Jiang Yucheng watched as Jiang Muyan began eating without waiting for everyone to sit down. He frowned slightly. Why did it feel like this daughter was different from before?
It seemed she had lost her previous submissive demeanor and instead carried an indescribable air of resilience, even sitting straighter than usual.
What struck him as even more peculiar was that Liu Fangmei didn’t scold Jiang Muyan as she usually would but instead allowed her to act so “impolitely.”
However, he had never concerned himself with household trivialities. Besides, this daughter was about to marry Director Zhang. For Director Zhang’s sake, he reluctantly suppressed his displeasure.
Jiang Yucheng looked up at Liu Fangmei, who had just taken her seat, and asked, “Where’s Tianci? Isn’t he coming home for dinner today?”
Liu Fangmei picked up her chopsticks after settling into her seat and replied nonchalantly, “Before I went to work this morning, he asked me for a few yuan, saying he was going out to play with his classmates.”
“What kind of outing with classmates costs a few yuan!” Jiang Yucheng’s expression darkened, his tone tinged with dissatisfaction. His monthly salary was only a little over thirty yuan, and aside from supporting the family, he also had to send money to his parents in the countryside. Every cent had to be spent carefully.
Sensing her husband’s displeasure, Liu Fangmei quickly tried to placate him:
“He’s about to start working soon anyway. Once he gets a job, what’s a few yuan here and there?”
Liu Fangmei felt life was becoming more hopeful. Her eldest son would soon find a job, and once Jiang Muyan married Director Zhang, she would receive a large sum of bride price money.
Her biological daughter in the capital city had also promised to give her another sum of money once the matter was settled. By then, why would she still need to work that temporary job? Doing the hardest work for only half the wages of a regular employee—if it weren’t for saving money for her son, she would have quit long ago.
Hearing his wife say this, Jiang Yucheng fell silent. He only had this one son, so naturally, he cherished him. Although his son wasn’t academically successful, he was usually obedient, and Jiang Yucheng couldn’t bring himself to be too harsh on him.
Jiang Muqian sat across from Jiang Muyan, glaring at her with eyes full of resentment.
In the past, whenever she wore this expression, Jiang Muyan would have long since lowered her head in fear, not daring to make a sound. But today, after only a short while of glaring, she saw Jiang Muyan lift her gaze to meet hers, a faint, almost imperceptible smile in her eyes, as if mocking her childishness.
“Jiang Muyan, why are you looking at me!” Jiang Muqian angrily slammed her chopsticks down, accidentally knocking over the bowl of vegetables on the table, spilling them all over the surface.
Jiang Yucheng, who had been about to pick up some food, frowned even more deeply at the sight and scolded sternly, “Jiang Muqian!”
“Dad, Jiang Muyan looked at me first!” Afraid of her father’s anger, Jiang Muqian quickly defended herself with a pitiful tone.
“That’s no reason to throw your chopsticks like that!” Jiang Yucheng said, then turned a dissatisfied gaze toward Jiang Muyan:
“Just eat your meal properly. Why are you looking at her?”
Jiang Muyan calmly met Jiang Yucheng’s gaze, her tone indifferent:
“Why don’t you ask me why I was looking at her?”
Seeing Liu Fangmei scooping the spilled vegetables back into the bowl from the table, Jiang Muyan lost all desire to continue eating. She might as well go back to her room and have some snacks instead!
With that thought, Jiang Muyan had no patience left to deal with this family. She set down her chopsticks and walked straight toward the storage room.
“Mom, look at her!” Seeing Jiang Muyan leave just like that, Jiang Muqian felt even more aggrieved. She tugged at Liu Fangmei’s arm, whining and complaining.
Liu Fangmei was also holding back her anger, but thinking of her plan, she patiently advised, “Alright, Qianqian, just endure it for a few more days. Once she’s married into the Zhang family, things will be fine.”
Hearing his wife’s words, Jiang Yucheng understood why she had been so lenient with Jiang Muyan today.
After a moment of thought, he said gravely:
“After all, we owe her something. In the next few days, make her some good food and treat her better. Oh, and get some red fabric to make her a wedding dress! We can’t let her marry in patched clothes.”
It was only when mentioning the wedding dress that Jiang Yucheng remembered—Jiang Muyan’s everyday clothes always seemed to have patches, and many of them were hand-me-downs from Jiang Muqian.
Liu Fangmei was reluctant:
“Why make a new one? Qianqian has several unpatched outfits. Just give her one!”
“Mom! Why should I give her my clothes!” Hearing that her clothes were to be given to Jiang Muyan, Jiang Muqian immediately protested. But then, reconsidering, she didn’t want her mother to actually make new clothes for Jiang Muyan either—someone like Jiang Muyan only deserved to wear her cast-offs.
Thinking of this, she deliberately put on an obedient tone and said, “Alright then, I’ll give her one set.” After all, once Jiang Muyan was married off, Mother would surely make new clothes for her again.
Liu Fangmei patted her younger daughter’s hand with some relief.
“Don’t worry, once that girl marries Director Zhang, I’ll make you a new autumn outfit!”
“Really? That’s wonderful!” Jiang Muqian instantly beamed with joy, picking up her chopsticks to continue eating. The earlier grievances had long been tossed to the far ends of the earth.
Seeing that his wife had already placated their younger daughter, Jiang Yucheng said nothing more. In any case, Director Zhang wanted Jiang Muyan herself; as for what she wore when she married him, he likely wouldn’t care.