RBI1960 Chapter 15

These days, life at Jiang Dachuan’s house was anything but easy.

Back when the old folks of the Jiang family were helping out, they never even imagined they’d go hungry one day. Most of the coarse grains in the house had either been traded for refined ones or taken by Fan Xiaojuan to her parents’ place. Now, they were left with just a bit of cornmeal.

Fan Xiaojuan couldn’t bring herself to ask her family for food, so the four of them had to survive on cornmeal mixed with rice husks.

Forget Jiang Aiguo and Jiang Aidang—those two spoiled kids had never known hardship—even Jiang Dachuan and Fan Xiaojuan, the adults, couldn’t stomach the coarse, gritty cornbread. They held their noses and forced it down without chewing.

Sure, they’d experienced tough times before, but after years of comfort, they’d completely forgotten what struggle felt like. Their pampered stomachs couldn’t handle such rough food. It had been days since they’d gone to the bathroom, and their bellies were hard to the touch.

Jiang Aiguo and his younger brother didn’t understand what was happening. They couldn’t figure out why the family’s food had suddenly become so awful. They cried and screamed, refusing to eat the terrible cornbread—only when they were starving did they sniffle and choke it down.

Jiang Aiguo glanced at Jiang Yiliu, who was being held in their aunt’s arms, and a flash of malice far beyond his years appeared in his eyes.

His mother was right—it was all because of that little bastard. If it weren’t for him, he’d still be eating white steamed buns and enjoying everyone’s admiration. And that aunt of his—she’d already had four useless girls. Why couldn’t she just have one more? They were all just a bunch of worthless thieves stealing from his family.

Jiang Aidang wasn’t as scheming as his brother. He was drooling as he stared at the chicken wing in San-ni’s hand and the half-eaten drumstick Meng Xiangxue was gnawing on. Suddenly, he rushed over, yanked the chicken wing from San-ni’s hand, and stuffed it into his mouth, even trying to snatch the drumstick from Meng Xiangxue.

“WAAAHHHH!”

Jiang Aidang had pulled hard. His nails hadn’t been trimmed in who knows how long, and he scratched a deep cut across San-ni’s hand.

Her hand hurt, but her heart hurt more. She hadn’t even dared eat the wing right away, nibbling it slowly, savoring each bite. And now, Jiang Aidang had devoured it in two or three bites and tossed the bone on the ground.

San-ni knew her grandma wouldn’t let her have another piece of meat. Tears welled up as she jumped off the chair, squatted down, and picked up the bone. A few scraps of meat still clung to it. She brought it to her mouth and tried to gnaw off what was left.

Fan Xiaojuan sat nearby, crying into her hands, making no move to stop any of it. Jiang Erni clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. Her gaze toward that family was full of murderous rage.

“Give me that drumstick, you worthless little brat. Why should you get to eat our food?” Jiang Aidang wasn’t done yet. He leapt toward Meng Xiangxue, trying to snatch the rest of his chicken.

“Worthless brat! Bastard child!” Jiang Dazhen’s voice was trembling with fury. Even Meng Pingchuan’s face had gone dark—if Jiang Aidang was a bastard, what did that make him?

Jiang Dachuan knew the moment his son opened his mouth that trouble had come. He shot Fan Xiaojuan a furious glare, stormed forward, yanked Jiang Aidang up, pulled his pants down, and gave him a harsh beating.

“You little punk! Stealing from your cousins, bringing that filthy street talk into this house—I’ll beat you to death!” Jiang Dachuan cursed as he hit him, each blow harder than the last. Aidang’s butt turned red and swollen in no time.

Fan Xiaojuan’s heart ached as her son wailed, but when she met Jiang Dachuan’s eyes, she didn’t dare say a word.

Jiang Dahai had been furious when he saw his nephew snatch the chicken wing from his daughter, but now, watching his brother beat the boy so viciously, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity.

Jiang Yiliu was livid. Those four people he hated most in his past life were right here in front of him, bullying his sister again—and his spineless father still had a soft heart? Was he seriously planning to be a “good uncle” again? Sell his daughter just to buy his nephews a house and a wife?

The brief warmth of the past few days vanished in an instant. If Jiang Dahai knew that his moment of pity would make his beloved son resent him even more, he’d regret it until his guts turned green.

“Stop!”

Jiang Cheng suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shouted, the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes deepening as he stared meaningfully at his youngest son.

Jiang Dachuan froze under his father’s gaze, his raised hand stuck in mid-air, unsure whether to let it fall.

“Aidang, come here to Grandpa.”

Jiang Cheng beckoned his second grandson with a kind smile.

Forgiven so easily? Jiang Yiliu, held in Gu Dongmei’s arms, felt a burst of irritation. Was he supposed to watch this family prance around in front of him for decades?

They say evil will be punished and good will be rewarded. But in his past life, right up to the moment he was reborn, Jiang Dachuan’s family lived in luxury, with his cowardly parents working themselves to the bone to support them. When the old house was demolished, those two idiots even handed over their dozen new apartments to their nephews. In the end, they died sick and penniless, dumped back into the care of the daughters they’d treated like burdens.

They spent their lives giving everything to their sons and nephews, only to end up relying on the granddaughters they’d always seen as money-losers. It was pathetic.

But now he was reborn. He’d never know whether they’d regretted it before they died.

“Aidang, Grandpa wants to ask you something. If you answer truthfully, you can have this drumstick.” Jiang Cheng picked up the drumstick from his bowl, still smiling kindly.

Drooling, Jiang Aidang lunged for it, yelling, “Drumstick! I want the drumstick!”

Jiang Cheng didn’t waver. “Tell Grandpa—who told you those things you just said? Who told you that everything in this house belongs to you?”

Fan Xiaojuan panicked and rushed forward, trying to cover her son’s mouth, but Jiang Dazhen stepped in with a mocking grin.

“What’s the rush, Second Sister-in-law? Dad’s talking to Aidang, not you.”

“Dad, come on, what’s the point of asking that? He’s just a kid who heard some nonsense from the gossipy women outside.” Fan Xiaojuan ignored her sister-in-law, forcing a laugh and frantically signaling her son with her eyes.

But Jiang Aidang’s eyes were locked on that drumstick. He didn’t notice a thing.

“It was my dad and mom! They said the Jiang family only has me and my brother as boys, so everything will be ours! They said those worthless girls will just steal from us. Grandpa, I told you—now give me the drumstick!”

Jiang Cheng’s gaze swept coldly over his son and daughter-in-law, his disappointment palpable. For the first time, he began to wonder if his past decisions had all been wrong.

“Dad, you can’t blame me. Weren’t you the one who always said we should pass my son over to Big Brother since he had no sons of his own?” Jiang Dachuan tried to argue.

“Well, now your brother has a son. There’s no need to pass yours over anymore. When we split the household, everything was written clearly in the agreement. I gave you what you were owed—don’t even think about anything else from now on,” Jiang Cheng said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

“Grandpa, I want more meat! Give me that chicken!” Jiang Aidang had finished the drumstick in a few bites and was now tugging on Jiang Cheng’s shorts, screaming and whining.

“This chicken isn’t yours. If you want some, go ask your mom to kill a chicken and cook it for you.”

Jiang Cheng’s voice was sharp and cold. He was genuinely heartbroken by his son and grandsons. After all he’d done, not only had it come to nothing, but he was being blamed for it. How foolish he’d been.

“Give it to me! GIVE IT TO ME!” Jiang Aidang shrieked, his voice high-pitched and piercing. He opened his mouth wide and screamed, “This is all ours! My mom said that little bastard won’t live long anyway, and one day everything in the Jiang family will still belong to me and my brother!”

As those words rang out, Jiang Dachuan and Fan Xiaojuan’s faces turned as white as paper. They wished they could stuff their stupid son back into the womb.

Jiang Dahai felt utterly chilled. He had poured his heart out for his brother’s family, and this was how they repaid him—cursing his son, wishing him dead. They hoped he’d have no heirs at all.

Everyone in the room looked furious. The way they stared at Jiang Dachuan and Fan Xiaojuan was full of disappointment and disgust.

Jiang Cheng let out a bitter laugh through gritted teeth. “Don’t worry. Even if I have to marry my granddaughter to a man who takes her last name, I will never pass anything down to your ‘precious’ sons again.”