Chapter 110: Prophetic Tongue
The first day of the Lunar New Year.
The heavens were not kind.
It was pouring rain.
The children, dressed in their new clothes, had no way to go out and show them off.
The rain was too heavy; it would soak their new clothes. Fine clothing in this era couldn’t withstand much washing and would fade after a few times.
That was why wealthy families often had to make new clothes for every season and festival; old clothes faded so badly that the difference was obvious at a glance.
On this day, it rained heavily.
An exceptionally heavy rain.
Mother looked at the heavy rain, her brows slightly furrowed.
If the weather was bad on the first day of the year, the whole year would not go well.
Because of the downpour, no one came to visit, and Father did not go out.
However, it could not stop Elder Brother; boys of his age couldn’t even be stopped by hail.
The rain poured down with a clatter, as if an immortal in the heavens was holding a basin and dumping water down.
On rainy days, Young Master Zi was exceptionally restless.
He did not like heavy rain.
He did not like the sight of raindrops hitting the ground and splashing up muddy flowers.
He did not like the countless curtains of rain.
Jiang Mianmian had also rarely seen such heavy rain.
But in this heavy rain, she liked Father holding her while they watched it.
She reached out her hand to catch some rain; it hit her palm, causing a slight, tingling pain.
After catching it for a while, her hand was grabbed back by Father.
Father wiped her little hand clean with his clothes and then used his face to warm her hand.
Winter rain was especially cold.
Her little hand was very red and frozen.
Father was different from Mother; he would let Mianmian experience these things.
If Mother saw her reaching her hand out, she would likely first give her a light slap to keep her from courting disaster.
Some of Father’s habits were also a tiny bit different; for example, he didn’t care much about brand-new clothes and would just wipe his daughter’s hands with them.
This was probably the trace of a person’s growth.
Jiang Yu and Jiang Feng had already suffered through hardships, so they couldn’t change, but he hoped his little daughter could be a bit more uninhibited.
Jiang Changtian held his little daughter while watching the rain, and incidentally looked at the little bean-sprout standing beside him, Young Master Zi.
Jiang Changtian had also inquired about this person; he never dared to underestimate anyone.
Even if it was just a child.
Young Master Zi spoke prophetic words, and his remarks often became reality; it was said that people around him rarely dared to speak to him voluntarily.
Brother Yehang said that was nonsense, claiming his student was just exceptionally intelligent and that “the wise are slow to speak,” which led to those rumors.
Jiang Changtian was a person who found it hard to open up to others; he found it difficult to like or trust anyone.
He also did not like this Young Master Zi.
Young Master Zi’s eyes were too clear, as if they could see right through him at a glance.
He did not understand why this child wanted to stay at his home, and he always felt he would have his most secret thoughts seen through.
He rarely spoke with Young Master Zi, and Young Master Zi rarely spoke to him.
Fortunately, Sister Xia was sincere and enthusiastic, and treated people with great reliability.
Jiang Changtian didn’t have much contact with Young Master Zi every day, but he felt at ease having him in his home.
Today was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and with the torrential rain, they were forced to stay together.
Under the same eaves.
Jiang Changtian still didn’t want to say anything to him.
Young Master Zi didn’t want to either.
He only watched as he pressed Little Turtle’s frozen red hands against his face, smiling in a somewhat moving way.
Suddenly, he felt a bit of envy.
Although Mr. Jiang was ill, and quite seriously so, he had medicine.
He did not.
Young Master Zi looked at the curtain of rain, his expression gradually becoming lonely.
Jiang Yu saw Father and Young Master Zi standing together, both looking very serious as if they had something to say, so she thoughtfully carried her sister away.
“Let’s go, come cook with Sister. On the first day of the New Year, Sister will show you my culinary skills; I guarantee everyone will think it’s delicious,” Jiang Yu said confidently.
Jiang Mianmian looked at Sister, who was holding her with one hand and carrying a bag of dried mushrooms with the other…
Was Sister planning to send everyone away on the first day of the New Year?
In the kitchen, Jiang Yu thoughtfully chased Mother away.
“Mother, it’s the New Year today, so you should rest well. I’ll handle it.”
Qin Luoxia wanted to take the little daughter away.
But the little daughter also spoke up: “Mianmian will accompany Sister, and we’ll do it together.”
She was worried the whole family would end up in coffins, so she still had to supervise Sister.
Jiang Yu was very efficient in her work; cutting vegetables and such were all done quickly.
Jiang Mianmian discovered that the food at home was either a hodgepodge stewed in one pot or steamed dishes.
She suddenly realized there were no stir-fried dishes at all.
She had thought that as a transmigrator, she could just shout “Come on!” to the sky.
And stir-frying would be born.
But it turned out there was no iron wok.
There was no iron wok at home, and stir-frying without an iron wok lacked soul.
So she would have to forge iron first, then make a wok~~
Jiang Mianmian thought about it, and the difficulty was too high.
Abandoned.
Pretend she didn’t say anything.
Not everyone was an engineering student; she was just daydreaming.
Before transmigrating, she had to memorize the periodic table for a week.
After transmigrating, she was expected to forge iron, make woks, and build steamships by hand.
Let’s wait for others to come; let those who know how to do things do them first.
Jiang Mianmian thought about it and felt at ease.
She sat there obediently watching Sister cook.
It felt like Sister actually had a talent for cooking.
Her cooking looked decent.
Sister was very clear about the nuances of various flavors.
Mother’s cooking was just at a normal level. Adding some wild onions or something made it fragrant and enhanced the flavor.
Sister’s cooking seemed a tiny bit different.
The smoke in the kitchen was filled with fragrance.
Outside under the eaves, Mr. Jiang and Young Master Zi, who had been standing together until their legs were a bit numb, finally had someone break the silence.
Today was the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Mr. Jiang thought of the child’s prophetic constitution.
He suddenly asked, “Do you think your Father will win?”
Zi Congheng was silent for a moment, then said, “He won’t.”
After saying it, he was stunned himself.
Mr. Jiang was also stunned.
In fact, he had just felt the atmosphere was too awkward at first.
It was the first time he had absolutely nothing to say to another person.
It was as if something inside him was warning him not to speak casually.
Yet he had suddenly spoken, and actually received such an answer.
Heita, standing behind, was also stunned. He looked at the rain outside—it was so heavy that he couldn’t even see where the doorway was; it was all a vast whiteness.
Zi Congheng watched the heavy rain; in that very instant, he had seen many dead people.
Father had also died.
It was also heavy rain, very heavy rain.
Father’s eyes were staring straight in the direction of the capital.
He had not been able to return, until his death.
Zi Congheng suddenly felt very cold.
Especially cold.
His bones were trembling.
He shouldn’t have spoken casually, especially today.
He kept his mouth tightly shut.
He felt some regret.
Raindrops splashed onto his face; he seemed to be crying.
Mr. Jiang patted the child on the shoulder; if Great Marshal Zi’s rebellion failed, his own fate as a clear supporter of the rebels would not be any better.
But in this world, he had never been given a choice from the beginning.
He just wanted his family to be well-fed and warmly clothed.
He hadn’t thought that much.
“Someone will win, right?”
Mr. Jiang’s hand rested on the child’s shoulder.
He was actually not good at touching people, especially outsiders.
Zi Congheng was silent.
Suddenly, he looked up at the man beside him.
Seeing his long hair, white clothes, and the fake smile he was wearing for him.
In his mind, a man wearing yellow robes appeared, also smiling with that same fake smile.
He was stunned.
Suddenly, he was scooped up by a large arm, his body suspended in the air, and all images vanished.
He heard a scolding voice in his ear: “You can’t stay in the rain, you’ll get sick. Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo! Our Little Bug must be free of disasters and illness, and live for a hundred years.”
He had been lifted up by Aunt Qin.
Aunt Qin carried him into the kitchen under her arm.
She placed him beside Little Turtle.
The two of them sat side by side in front of the stove fire.
Jiang Mianmian noticed that the little brat’s eyes seemed red after not seeing him for a moment; was he crying?
Missing his family during the New Year?
She dug into her pocket, pulled out a piece of preserved fruit candy, and stuffed it directly into his mouth, saying, “It’s very sweet, you eat it.”
Zi Congheng was caught off guard and had his mouth stuffed; his tears instantly burst forth. Little Turtle was too dirty; her hands had just grabbed firewood from the ground, and the preserved fruit had been placed directly in her pocket, which also had small ants in it, o(╥﹏╥)o.
The preserved fruit was sweet, but it was so dirty!!
The young cub Jiang Mianmian shook her head; sure enough, no child could escape the law of sweet candy. One piece of candy settled it. Don’t cry; when you grow up, there will be more candy, though by then you won’t even want to eat it.
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