Chapter 4: Gathering Information
The next day.
Before dawn, the insects were still sleeping, and the dew had not yet formed.
Jiang Mianmian’s Father, the second son of the Jiang Family, Jiang Changtian, went to work.
Jiang Mianmian was bundled up like a little dumpling, looking at her Father with dazed eyes.
Although it was pitch black, she could see clearly.
This proved that the spiritual spring water was not a hallucination; even though she was still drowsy, her vision had improved.
It no longer felt like being covered in a layer of eye gunk, making everything look blurry.
It was too early.
She opened her mouth to yawn, and then her cheek was pinched.
“Mianmian, Father is going to work. I’ll bring you something delicious when I get back.”
Jiang Mianmian gave a clever “iya-ya” in response.
Jiang Changtian was very surprised. This daughter was too smart. He couldn’t help but pinch her cheek again.
Jiang Mianmian:…
Although you are good-looking, pinching people’s faces is wrong.
After sending Father off, she was fed by Mother, had her diaper changed, and fell asleep again.
When she woke up again, it was broad daylight.
She was lying in her familiar wooden basin, which was placed under the eaves, and Mother was chopping firewood.
She could clearly see Mother holding an axe, splitting a huge wooden stump in half, then in half again, until it was the thickness of an arm, placing the pieces down one by one. It was very satisfying to watch.
Originally, at just over a month old, she shouldn’t have any stress, but thinking about that old woman yesterday cursing her not to grow up…
This family was too poor.
She was so young; not only could she not do anything, she couldn’t even speak. However, if she were to speak now, it would be very frightening.
She could only lie in the wooden basin and watch Mother swing the axe to chop wood. After watching for a while, she fell asleep again.
Just like that, drinking milk, sleeping, peeing and pooping involuntarily, and watching Mother work, it was dark again.
Her older brother, Jiang Feng, returned first.
Then came her older sister, Jiang Yu, and finally Father.
Her older brother, Jiang Feng, didn’t have a proper job and had been bumming around all day.
Her older sister, Jiang Yu, had gone to help cook at Landlord Liu’s house, and today she snuck back a small piece of meat…
Father actually managed to get a small jar of goat milk for her…
Her older brother didn’t come back empty-handed either; he brought back three red strings. One for Mother, one for her older sister, and one was actually for her, which he placed on her swaddle.
Jiang Mianmian saw the red string and reached out her little hand to grab it. Unfortunately, her hands were like Doraemon’s hands; it was hard to grasp anything when she opened them, and when she tried to grasp and then open, the string would drop. She struggled with the red string, having a great time.
Seeing his younger sister liked it, Jiang Feng said happily, “I went to the market today to help someone with work, and this was a gift of gratitude.”
Father, Jiang Changtian, snorted and scolded, “Did you go to help the girls at the Lichun Brothel cheat customers again!”
Jiang Mianmian had finally managed to grab the red string, but upon hearing this, she didn’t know whether to let go or keep holding it, feeling a bit bewildered.
The business dealings of my thick-browed, big-eyed older brother were more or less beyond my comprehension.
Jiang Feng didn’t joke around as he usually did.
Instead, he said seriously:
“Last time Mother beat me so hard I could barely get out of bed, so I naturally haven’t gone back. This time it was truly serious. Sixth Auntie never does anything without a profit and looks down on us. Yet this time, she actually set her sights on Sister Yu. I had to go find out what was going on, so I went to the Lichun Brothel again; that place has the best information.”
Mother, who was holding the axe, put it down.
Jiang Yu also looked at her older brother curiously.
“There is a foolish son of Master Wu in Prefecture City. He is usually fine, but once he has an episode, he can’t control his strength and beat the previous maid to death. That’s why they came to our remote, poor area to buy a maid, saying they wanted someone good-looking, and they are offering fifty taels of silver.”
“Bang!” Jiang Yu slammed the wooden mallet she used for washing clothes down hard, making a loud sound.
“That old hag dares to scam the money from selling a person? They are giving fifty taels! Ahhh! Next time I see her, I will tear her apart.”
Jiang Changtian looked at his eldest daughter speechlessly. This daughter’s brain was a bit hopeless. Was money the point? The point was that if she were tricked into going, she would lose her life.
Jiang Yu angrily pounded the mallet several times, then suddenly stood up. “Today, A-Cui bragged to me that she was going to Prefecture City to enjoy a good life. Although she is selfish and annoying, she shouldn’t be tricked like this. I’m going to tell her!”
She got up and was about to walk out.
“Clang!” Qin Luoxia’s large axe split a large piece of firewood, and wood chips flew everywhere.
Her forehead was covered in sweat, her round face was flushed, but there were bloodshot streaks in her eyes.
She didn’t yell, nor did she curse as she usually did, but said calmly, “Eat first. Don’t go. If you go, she will think you are jealous of her good fortune. Don’t get involved in this matter.”
Then, the whole family actually obediently tidied up and ate dinner.
Jiang Mianmian felt that one shouldn’t judge her Mother by her appearance. She had usually thought that her handsome Father was the one in charge of the family, but she hadn’t expected it to be her plain-looking Mother.
Dinner was not as good as yesterday’s. It was a pot of vegetables with a piece of meat floating in it. No one ate it, and in the end, it fell into Mother’s bowl.
Jiang Mianmian had the spiritual spring water as a foundation now, so she felt a bit more energetic.
However, she felt that the spiritual spring water still couldn’t replace milk; she couldn’t get full.
The family’s conditions were too average, and Mother’s milk was clearly not enough.
She felt so hungry.
In order to have a healthy and sufficient milk supply, Jiang Mianmian planned to secretly do some small movements while sleeping at night, but she ended up falling asleep first.
The next morning, she was woken up when Father got out of bed. She stared with wide eyes, watching round-faced Mother sleeping soundly and snoring softly. She reached out her hand to Mother’s lips, imagining the spiritual spring water flowing out. Sure enough, she saw a tiny bit of spiritual spring water flow into Mother’s mouth, and Mother swallowed unconsciously.
Then she suddenly felt a wave of warmth in her body… Damn it, she had wet the bed while imagining the spiritual spring water flowing.
Her whole body, from her bottom to her legs and back, was warm…
She was soaking in her own fresh urine!!
Jiang Mianmian wailed at the top of her lungs: “Aww, aww, aww, aww…”
