Chapter 266: Chapter 262: People die, goods are discarded_1

Translator: 549690339

Today is the fourteenth of August, tomorrow is Mid-Autumn.

Yuanbao and Jiang Jie were on break and were brought back home by Jiang Quan to play with Jiang Wu, Huzi and a few other children at the martial arts field.

On the village path of Dongchen Village, suddenly, two horse carriages appeared.

Several horsemen were following behind the carriages for protection.

“Huzi! Yuanbao! Jiang Jie Jiang Wu!”

Wei Zhan poked his head out of the carriage, waving his arm from a distance and shouting: “I’m back!”

Xiao Chengyu also popped his head out and shouted: “I’m back!”

Huzi and a few boys rushed over when they heard the shouts, “Wei Zhan! Wei Zhan!”

Wei Zhan jumped off the carriage before it stopped, surprising everyone.

Chui Zhaochen was worried that Xiao Chengyu might jump off too, so he quickly asked the carriage to halt.

“Hahaha! I came back to see you!” Seeing all his young friends there, Wei Zhan was jubilant, hugging them with laughter and jumping around.

Xiao Chengyu was similarly excited, hugging this one, embracing that one, having a wonderful time.

Huzi asked, “Is he your younger brother?”

Wei Zhan rubbed Xiao Chengyu’s round head and laughed, “He is my little cousin, he also wanted to come play with you guys.”

So each person in the group touched Xiao Chengyu’s round head as a way of greeting him.

Xiao Chengyu had a tripartite hairstyle, two wisps of hair on either side were braided with red silk incorporated, and a tuft on the top formed a peach-shaped knot. It was amusing to look at.

However, he was very good-looking, with large eyes and fair skin, he looked like the chubby children in New Year paintings, which gave a festive impression.

Noticing that Wei Zhan was familiar with these children, Chui Zhaochen left some bodyguards to guard them and took the carriage straight to the Jiang Family.

After explaining his purpose to the third brother Jiang, he had six large boxes and a medicine chest, along with a wax-making tool, unloaded.

He handed over the inventory list and said, “The previous boxes were accidentally dropped into the river. My young master felt guilty about it and purchased the same things again. I hope you will not find it odd, Village Head Jiang.”

Jiang Sanlang chuckled softly, simply said, “We appreciate it.”

His daughters had told him that Xiao Chengjun had purposely left them behind and taken away their boxes.

What happened now was just because the girls had written letters to the capital.

“Not at all. Village Head Jiang, please check the inventory to see if the number is correct. If anything is missing, just let me know.”

As per the eldest young master’s instructions, Chui Zhaochen tried his utmost to be humble.

Jiang Sanlang didn’t stand on ceremony. He took out the list given by his daughters and started to check the items.

Once the check was complete, he asked his nephew, Jiang Quan, to move the boxes into his daughter’s room.

These items were all her earnings, hence they belonged to her and would be part of her dowry.

After Yingbao returned from Chen Zhu’s house, Chui Zhaochen’s party had already been invited by Old Man Jiang for tea at Uncle Jiang’s house.

Everyone in the village was busy collecting cotton nowadays, and Jiang Sanlang was the busiest of all, leaving the task of hosting the guests to Old Man Jiang.

As all the guests were men, Old Man Jiang didn’t ask his daughter-in-law or granddaughter for help. He cooked a big pot of rice to serve the guests with his wife.

He also boiled a few pickled duck eggs, mashed some garlic cucumbers, cut a plate of cantaloupe, and made a plate of steamed fish, managing to put together a modest feast.

Chui Zhaochen didn’t mind the simple dishes and enjoyed the meal. He hinted through his words that he and his entourage planned to stay for a few days.

Left with no other choice, Old Man Jiang had to arrange accommodation for them.

However, their numbers were too large to stay in one house, so Old Man Jiang had to lodge these guards in an empty bamboo shed.

They brought in a few more bamboo beds and gathered some bedding. It was just enough for the guards and servants to get some sleep at night.

Because the festival was the next day, every household needed to prepare fish and meat for offerings.

The villagers planned together, and came to Jiang Sanlang to ask for fishing bait.

Because only the Jiang family’s bait could lure the fish, the ones others made were no good.

“Brother San, can you give us some fishing bait?”

Chen Yin caught Jiang Sanlang’s sleeve and laughed with a thick skin, “Just a little bit, we can fish in the river to celebrate the festival.”

Jiang Sanlang was hassled by them so he had to go back, mix a large plate of fish bait with mushroom ear crumbs and wheat bran for them.

Chen Yin cheered, hugging the fishing bait and running far away with a group of villagers.

People in West Village have recently been frequenting the East Village, and they are very envious when they see this.

But they didn’t dare to scrape the bait from others like a few times before, fearing that it would ruin the friendship they had worked so hard to establish.

Just as they saw their village’s Chen Changsheng coming from the school, they surrounded him and complained:

“Uncle Changsheng, look at the head of their village, he’s done a great job. Not only does he lead the villagers to get rich, but we can also get fishing bait during the holidays. What benefit do we get from following you in West Village?”

Upon hearing this, Chen Changsheng was furious, “You brats! If you don’t want to stay in West Village, then leave! No one is stopping you!”

Ouch, you won’t even let us speak.”

Another villager complained, “Isn’t it? Look at Dongchen Village. Every family has a big tiled house, and the roads under your feet are flat. Even the vegetable gardens are like tofu blocks. Look at our village again, it’s ragged and looks like a refugee camp.”

Chen Changsheng stood with his hands on his waist, pointed at the few people before him and said, “What, you’re disgusted with your own refugee camp? Then don’t live here! If you are capable, let Jiang Sanlang take you in! All of you get away from me!”

With that, he angrily rushed home.

In fact, their Western village was already pretty good, far superior to other villages. However, their village was right next to Dongchen village. In comparison, even their own five-room tile house seemed inferior.

Chen Changsheng went home all the way, sat grumpily on the bamboo chair under the porch.

The five-year-old grandson and six-year-old granddaughter came running over, called him grandpa and then ran back into the courtyard to play when they saw their grandpa ignored them.

The little grandson was holding a small whip, playing with a spinning top with all his might, while the little granddaughter was watching him while wiping her snot.

Chen Changsheng squinted at his two dirty grandchildren, then thought of the children of the Jiang family, especially that Little Yingbao, and felt a sourness in his heart.

Why are their children so capable?

Not only are they capable, they also look good and dress neatly and cleanly, making people feel comfortable when they look at them.

Then look at what kind of things his family has given birth to?

It’s not like they don’t have enough to eat or wear; having such a messy look can really piss people off.

It really is that comparing oneself to others will only make one feel frustrated.

Chen Changsheng looked at his grandchildren more and more with disdain. He was angry but had nowhere to vent, when he saw his daughter-in-law come out wearing wooden clogs, her dress crumpled and her face covered with dust, looking like she had just climbed out of bed.

“Dad, did you talk to Scholar about it? When can our stone start going to school?” His daughter-in-law Qian Shi asked.

“Talk about what!” Chen Changsheng became angry when he heard this, pointed at his daughter-in-law and said angrily, “I told you to send the children for enlightenment early on, but you insisted that they are still small and playful, and it’s not too late to wait until they are older! Now you want to send them to the Scholar, are you dreaming? The Scholar only takes children who have matured, and doesn’t accept those who don’t know anything!”

In fact, Li Xu was also worried about affecting the master next door, so he had this agreement.

Only those children who have learned the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Names and Thousand Character Essay would he accept. He did not take in any that hadn’t been enlightened.

This is equivalent to the fact that the old master’s school is the primary enlightenment class, and Scholar’s side is the advanced learning class, so that there won’t be any conflicts between the two.

Qian Shi was shouted at by Chen Changsheng and stood there dazed, then covered her face and ran crying to the kitchen.