Chapter 60: Seeing is Believing
A fragrant aroma wafted from the small courtyard.
Perhaps they had been waiting for a long time.
Perhaps lunch had been too refined and not enough.
Both young men with their fine horses felt hungry.
At the same time, they felt the aroma was a bit too rich.
They were curious about what the food was.
The dining table was moved to the middle of the courtyard.
It was not a grand, carved round table, but one pieced together from mottled wooden planks.
The table legs had also been repaired; one had broken off and been patched up later.
There were no carved backchairs either, just bamboo chairs, wooden stumps, and benches.
They had seen these things before.
But actually sitting on them, eating around such a table, with no servants to wait on them, no candles or lanterns, relying only on the starlight, moonlight, firelight, and the illumination of fireflies, was a unique experience.
From the eyes of Jiang Yu, which shone brighter than the stars, one could tell that tonight’s meal was surely far superior to the standard of their usual fare.
Meng Shaoxia and Young Master He Chen were both a bit silent.
Jiang Feng had not agreed to anyone; he said he needed to consider it for a night.
Jiang Mianmian clung to her Elder Brother’s arms.
She had understood that these two young men with their fine horses wanted to invite her brother to go with them.
But her brother had not agreed directly.
Jiang Mianmian frowned slightly; although her brother rubbed her head every day and she worried about going bald, she was sure she wouldn’t be used to it if he stopped one day.
Looking at the way the two carried themselves, they seemed at least to be good people with decent personalities. If her brother followed them, it would certainly be better than drifting through life on the streets.
Even Jiang Mianmian hesitated.
In ancient times, carriages and horses were slow, and travel was inconvenient. If her Elder Brother really left, who knew when he would return, or when they would meet again?
So she stayed obediently in her Elder Brother’s arms, looking entirely lost in thought.
It was as if the two young men were inviting her, not her brother.
For such a young age, she was already full of worries.
Of course, in the eyes of the adults, it was not like that; in their eyes, she was just a very beautiful infant in a daze.
She looked more and more like her Father, Jiang Changtian, and was becoming increasingly beautiful, as if she were glowing.
The family suspected nothing, because their Father was very handsome himself.
Qin Luoxia secretly favored the youngest one more, because she most resembled her husband.
She felt that she herself was not good-looking.
It was better for the child to look like her husband.
There were not enough bowls and dishes on the table; some had been borrowed by Jiang Yu from the village down the mountain.
In the middle was an earthenware pot, which belonged to Mianmian’s family.
The family did not start eating, as they were waiting for their Father.
Even though Jiang Yu swallowed her saliva many times, she did not touch anything on the table, waiting obediently for their Father.
Meng Shaoxia and Young Master He Chen waited along with them.
They had politely said they would wait, but it turned out the family was really waiting.
It was a novel experience.
Waiting for someone to eat.
Waiting for the head of the household, a very important person.
It felt like this family was truly extremely poor; this table of food, which made Jiang Feng’s sister drool, was actually not lavish at all.
Each person had a bowl of rice, not pure white rice, but mixed with millet and some coarse grains, though it was mostly fine grain.
Meng Shaoxia and Young Master He Chen would not have noticed this detail, only discovering it because they saw the rice was somewhat colorful.
And in the center was a large earthenware pot that smelled delicious; it was the main dish of the evening, stewed hawk with gastrodia and wild vegetables, which was quite rare—they had never eaten it before.
Beside it was a dish of wild scallions, a dish of pickles, and a dish of dried meat (the same dried meat that had almost knocked out Young Master He Chen’s teeth), and that was it.
Even their guards probably ate better than this.
The servants in their households certainly ate better than this.
Families like theirs would never dream of skimping on their servants’ meals.
Yet, faced with such a poor table of food, Jiang Feng’s family was as excited as if they had encountered delicacies from land and sea.
Even Jiang Yu served the rice with reverence.
It was as if she were counting every single grain of rice.
Even so, they were all very polite and well-bred.
They did not sneak bites, waiting earnestly.
Waiting for the head of the household to return.
Jiang Changtian, who worked far away for little pay and much labor, finally returned home draped in starlight.
Upon arriving at the door, he was stunned to find guests in the courtyard.
Qin Luoxia walked to the door and helped brush the dust from him, saying as she did so, “Husband, Feng’er’s friends have arrived. Since they rarely visit, I asked them to stay for a meal, and they are all waiting for you.”
Jiang Changtian walked in, cupped his hands, and said, “Excuse me, please wait a moment.”
He needed to go wash up.
Meng Shaoxia and Young Master He Chen finally saw the Father of Jiang Feng, Jiang Yu, and the youngest child, Jiang Mianmian, who was in her arms.
They had expected him to be like their Mother, a strong woman who was somewhat shy and seemed afraid to look at them when speaking.
That was the type of person they usually encountered, so they were used to it.
They had not expected a tall, thin young man to walk in.
Because the courtyard was not very bright, they could not see his appearance clearly; they only felt that his hair was very long, his clothes very wide, and he was quite thin, not as strong as Aunt Qin.
Jiang Changtian returned to his room to wash up.
After hesitating for a moment, he washed off the makeup he had painted on his face.
He retied his hair.
When his Father was alive, he too had been a young master accustomed to fine clothes and food, the youngest son of a great family; he knew what people like them preferred.
He slowly dried the water from his hands.
He turned and stepped out of the room.
“Creeeeak.”
The door was old and in disrepair, so it was always noisy.
Jiang Changtian walked out, a warm smile on his face.
“Apologies, I am late and have kept you waiting.”
“Father, you are not late, not late at all! We haven’t waited long, just a little while,” Jiang Yu said excitedly.
Jiang Mianmian also waved her arms: “Yi ya ya ya ya” (Father hold, Father hold!)
Qin Luoxia’s eyes were full of pride: This is my husband, he speaks so pleasantly.
Jiang Feng was also a bit proud: This was his Father, a Father who didn’t need to bow and scrape.
The whole family was very lively.
Yet Young Master He Chen and Meng Shaoxia finally began to feel uneasy.
The two were even so flustered that they stood up.
Feeling that it was impolite to remain seated.
“Please, sit, please take the seat of honor,” Meng Shaoxia said, pushing his small bamboo chair forward.
Young Master He Chen even accidentally kicked over the small stool he had been sitting on.
