Chapter 15: Planting a Tree
Heaven pulled down the curtain of night.
It hit the pause button on the rain.
Those returning home wouldn’t have to face both the darkness and the rain.
For dinner, Mother made wild vegetable soup again—clear and watery, very healthy, without a speck of meat, purely natural, green, and harmless.
There was certainly no need to worry about fatty liver or anything like that, and high blood pressure probably wouldn’t be an issue either.
But it was likely they would suffer from anemia and possibly a calcium deficiency.
However, it felt like Mother’s genes were quite strong.
Mother, older brother Jiang Feng, and even older sister Jiang Yu were actually quite strong and sturdy compared to the people of this time.
Older sister Jiang Yu didn’t have that frail, willow-in-the-wind posture like Jiang Wan today.
Only Father was slightly thin.
After all, Father and Mother were the only ones in the family without a blood relation?? (100 points for logic).
By night, the sound of coughing would drift over from time to time.
Yet Father couldn’t be very old; he was certainly under thirty. People married early in this era, so he was likely in his twenties.
It sounded like Father had caught a cold when he was young that never fully healed, leaving behind this lingering ailment.
His lungs must have some issues, more or less.
It was fortunate that Father was so handsome; otherwise, someone who was extremely thin and constantly coughing would easily look hunched and sickly.
Older brother finished speaking.
The sound of older sister crying came from inside the room.
A gust of wind in the courtyard carried away the sound of Father’s coughing.
Jiang Mianmian, held in Father’s arms, felt his chest vibrating violently.
He wanted to hold back the cough, but that only made him cough more severely.
Father turned his face to the side, trying his best to avoid her.
Then, Father quickly placed Jiang Mianmian into older brother’s arms.
She saw Father sitting to the side, coughing uncontrollably for a while.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough…”
Then, his pale face flushed red.
With his long black hair draped over his shoulders, his fair face slightly flushed, and his eyes moist with tears from the coughing, he sat on a small stool looking like a painting, possessing a certain elegance.
Jiang Mianmian was somewhat dumbstruck by the sight.
Then she was interrupted by a bundle thrown out by older sister.
Jiang Yu was angry, anxious, and extremely heartbroken.
She was angry at herself for being short-sighted.
She was anxious that their family had truly been accused of theft.
She was heartbroken that older brother was injured and sad about why Jiang Wan acted that way.
The bundle was thrown onto the ground.
It scattered open.
Beautiful embroidered shoes, stained with fresh blood.
Faded clothes, colorful and patterned.
A fragrance wafted from them.
Jiang Yu was so angry that her nose turned red from crying.
Jiang Feng was holding his younger sister on a recliner.
Jiang Mianmian was being held, staring blankly at the clothes on the ground, not daring to make a sound; it wasn’t her place to voice an opinion right now.
Mother Qin Luoxia walked out and raised her hand, her palm cutting through the wind.
Jiang Yu thought Mother was going to hit her, so she stubbornly closed her eyes, not running away, waiting to be struck.
Although she had never been hit before, older brother had definitely been beaten by Mother.
Qin Luoxia raised her hand, picked up the bundle, and took it to the side to brush it off.
Jiang Feng scoffed and said to his younger sister Jiang Yu, “Jiang Xiaoyu, are you stupid? Once she sent it, it became our property. Tossing it around like that, what a waste if it gets ruined. That fabric… those ladies love it the most and would pay quite a bit. Since I’m injured, we could buy some good food to nourish ourselves. Otherwise, I would have taken that beating for nothing.”
Jiang Yu hadn’t been hit, but she cried even louder.
When eating, she kept her head down, shrugging her shoulders from time to time.
She was truly very sad; those shoes were so pretty, but she had only worn them once and her feet bled.
She should have worn them a bit longer this afternoon; the bleeding had been in vain.
The medicinal paste on Jiang Feng’s head had dried a bit, so he tied it up with a piece of cloth.
Jiang Mianmian estimated… it was still her diaper.
Wuwu, a diaper was gone; she didn’t know if they would be able to wash and change in time.
She didn’t want to be bare-bottomed.
The whole family sat neatly at the dining table again to eat.
It was really nice.
Although older brother had blood on his head and older sister had blood on her feet.
Jiang Mianmian wanted to give her family some spiritual spring water, but as an infant, her physical abilities were limited, and Mother wouldn’t carry her to the pot, probably worried she might accidentally fall in.
The family finished eating.
There were no leftovers.
Washing the dishes was very simple.
Just rinsing them with water was enough.
After everyone finished, it was Jiang Mianmian’s turn.
Jiang Mianmian hugged Mother, devouring her milk—she was hungry.
Mother had been out for most of the day, and she was a bit scared of hunger; without her “rice bowl” nearby, she felt extremely insecure.
After feeding the baby, Qin Luoxia prepared to plant the tree she had dragged back.
Jiang Mianmian fell into older brother’s arms.
Perhaps because older brother was a casualty today and didn’t have to work, he was assigned the easy task of holding the baby.
Older sister Jiang Yu, who had been crying, was unusually silent and hadn’t made a peep the whole time.
At this moment, she was obediently helping Mother pass the tools.
Older brother was holding her with one hand while unable to resist picking the red fruits from the tree with the other.
He plucked one and put it in his mouth.
Jiang Mianmian saw older brother eating and wanted some too.
She reached out, shouting “Yi-ya-ya-ya.”
She opened her mouth, wanting to eat.
As a result, she saw older brother chew, chew, chew, then frown and spit, spit, spit!
He couldn’t spit it out fast enough.
It was so bitter and astringent, with a sour taste.
What was this?
Jiang Changtian looked at his eldest son and couldn’t help but shake his head.
“A-Yu, come over and help pick the red fruits off, leave the green ones.”
Father called her to work, and she was very efficient.
She felt guilty, thinking that it was because she had accepted Jiang Wan’s things that she had caused trouble, leading to older brother getting injured.
On this side, a small basin of red fruits had been picked, and Mother had finished digging the hole.
Jiang Mianmian liked watching Mother dig holes; it was very stress-relieving.
Mother was a natural at digging holes, quick and efficient, and the holes she dug were big and round.
After digging the hole, Mother carried the big tree over and placed the roots into the hole.
Father helped fill it with soil.
Older sister Jiang Yu also worked together, filling the soil and stomping it down.
Older brother also held her and helped stomp.
The family filled the soil extremely efficiently, fast, well, and firm, looking as if they had collaborated many times… (#Big Mistake).
This
Jiang Mianmian shouted “Yi-ya-ya,” indicating she wanted to participate.
The tree was planted by the whole family, and she wanted to participate too.
However, no one understood what she meant.
Hearing her shout, older brother first felt her bottom, found it wasn’t wet, and then turned to look at Mother.
“She just ate, she shouldn’t be hungry yet,” Qin Luoxia said.
Jiang Mianmian excitedly gestured with “Yi-ya-ya.”
In the end, it was actually Father who understood what she meant.
He took her over and crouched on the ground while holding her.
Jiang Mianmian grabbed a handful of soil from the side. Her little fist was leaky, so while it was called a handful, it was actually just a pinch of soil.
But she still swung it hard. Whether the soil landed on the tree roots, she didn’t know, but her hand accidentally hit Father’s face.
Mud splatters smeared onto Father’s fair face.
Jiang Changtian didn’t get angry; instead, he kissed his daughter.
“My little girl is the best!”
Jiang Changtian picked up his daughter and lifted her high.
Jiang Mianmian was lifted above Father’s head, with the tree the family had just planted overhead; the tree was large, like a big umbrella.
She giggled.
