RBI1960 Chapter 30 V1

Jiang Yiliu had no idea how long he’d been crouching in the bushes. His legs had gone completely numb before the two finally parted ways—one heading toward the village, the other walking out of it.

He pinched his calves to wake up the prickly numbness, and only after the tingling faded did he quietly follow the figure heading into the village.

“You little rascal, why are you so late getting back today? There’s a mountain of chores waiting at home!”

As soon as Daniu stepped inside, her grandmother’s scolding came at her like a machine gun. That’s when she realized she’d spent too long on the road—it was already past lunchtime. She stood awkwardly at the doorway, clutching a small notebook, nervous and unsure.

Everyone else in the house had already started eating. Because there were more people than usual, two tables had been set up in the main room. The men and elders sat at one table, while Gu Dongmei and the kids sat at another.

“Enough already,” said Jiang Cheng, seeing their old guest present too. Under the table, he nudged Granny Miao gently with his foot, signaling her to ease up so they wouldn’t embarrass themselves in front of others. “Daniu’s running back and forth every day—she’s already doing plenty. She’s just late today, no need to chew her out. Lunch is ready, isn’t it?”

With Old Jiang himself speaking up, what could Granny Miao do? She gave a disgruntled snort but said no more.

“Going back and forth from school to home takes two hours round trip. You should start bringing dry food like Erniu and Sanniu do. We don’t need you to be doing all this extra work,” Jiang Dahai said, watching his parents’ expressions, then glancing over at Uncle Ruan and Uncle Bai. He finally voiced what he’d been meaning to say for days. Truthfully, the family didn’t rely on Daniu’s help with chores. Granny Miao could manage lunch on her own just fine.

“Dad—”

“Stop with that nonsense!” Granny Miao exploded before Daniu could say anything. “Girls need to be hardworking—who’s gonna marry a lazy one? You want your daughter to sit around and rot at home?”

“All the girls in this house go to school—who’s supposed to do the housework? You look around this village and tell me whose daughters are all going to school. Besides us, who else?” Granny Miao slammed her bowl on the table, clearly fed up and holding back for a long time.

Ruan Yuanjiang and Bai Fangqiu looked uncomfortable. This was a family matter, and while they might not agree, it wasn’t their place to interfere. But inwardly, they were very displeased by Granny Miao’s narrow-mindedness.

“Brother Ruan, your place in Haicheng isn’t like ours out here in the countryside,” Granny Miao went on. “You can afford to raise daughters like city ladies—we can’t. You tell me, what good is a girl who can’t do any chores supposed to do when it’s time to marry? You think I’m being cruel, but if I’m not tough, who else will be? Everyone for miles knows our Jiang girls are hardworking. Just wait—a few more years and the matchmakers will be lining up outside our door.”

She didn’t think there was anything wrong with her approach. After all, not every girl could be as lucky as Dazhen—landing a city man and becoming a formal worker. Most girls just ended up right back in the fields after a few years of school.

On the surface, what Granny Miao said sounded reasonable, but it was just irrational nonsense. It’s not like the Jiang girls weren’t pulling their weight. They were up early, cutting pig grass on the mountain and cooking slop with the village women. They weren’t working any less than the others. Jiang Dahai just didn’t want his daughter making that extra daily round trip—cutting back a little wouldn’t suddenly make the family look lazy.

Anyone who thought about it would see the logic. But Jiang Dahai—he was Granny Miao’s most obedient son. The moment she acted all hurt and aggrieved, whatever courage he’d mustered evaporated.

Gu Dongmei, seated at the other table, saw her husband back up so quickly. She glanced at her mother-in-law’s angry expression and swallowed her own words, keeping her head down and mouth shut.

Ruan Yuanjiang sighed inwardly. These girls were unlucky to have a father like this. Jiang Dahai was a good man—honest and kind—but this one flaw made him hard to judge.

“Grandma, I’m back!”

Jiang Yiliu stepped into the yard, clutching two large bundles. His small figure suddenly appeared, interrupting the tension.

“You’re back? Where’s your uncle? He didn’t even walk you home? Don’t tell me he made you come back by yourself!”

At the sight of her grandson, Granny Miao forgot all about scolding Daniu. She rushed out of the house, took the bundles from him, and glanced outside. Seeing no sign of Gu Xiashi, she muttered in dissatisfaction.

“What happened to your clothes? Did you fall? Your knees’s all scraped up!” Seeing how dirty he was and the hole in his pant leg, Granny Miao cried out like the sky was falling. She practically wanted to strip him down to check for injuries.

“I’m fine! It’s nothing,” Jiang Yiliu blushed and quickly stopped her. With so many people watching, he had some pride left.

“Silly boy, shy already? I used to change your diapers, you know!” Seeing that he moved just fine, Granny Miao finally relaxed. She swatted him on the butt and scolded playfully.

“Little Bao, where’s your uncle?” Gu Dongmei asked. She’d just come home from work and had been waiting to catch up with her second brother. But Gu Xiashi hadn’t even shown his face.

“He dropped me off at the gate and left,” Jiang Yiliu said, not telling the full truth. His eyes flicked briefly to his eldest sister’s face—she looked calm, which only deepened his suspicion.

“Didn’t even stay for lunch, huh?” One less mouth to feed. Granny Miao looked quite pleased by that and felt even more fondness for the polite Gu Xiashi.

“All right, let’s eat! What are y’all standing around for?” Old Jiang relaxed once he knew his grandson was safe. He banged on the table to get everyone moving. Daniu let out a breath and sat down beside Gu Dongmei, grabbing a steamed bun.

“Grandma, this bundle’s meat buns Uncle bought. We’ll steam them later and share. This one’s snacks—Uncle got them for me. I’ll take them to my room.”

Jiang Yiliu snatched one of the packages back from Granny Miao and ran inside.

“Hey! Wait up—what is it? Let Grandma hide it for you. You’ve got mice in your room, remember?” Granny Miao wasn’t worried about mice. She was worried Daniu and the other girls would get a share.

Her grandson was soft-hearted and always wanted to share with his sisters. But she wasn’t so foolish. The girls would all marry out someday—no need to waste good food on them. Spoil them now, and they’ll end up picky. People would talk.

That’s exactly why Jiang Yiliu didn’t want to give her the candy. If she got hold of it, he’d be lucky to get one or two pieces a day, and his sisters? They wouldn’t even see the wrappers.

By the time she stepped inside, he had already hidden the stash. Granny Miao riffled through the bedding but found nothing.

“Where’d you hide it? Grandma loves you the most—why would I take your treats?” she coaxed like a wolf in a fairy tale.

Jiang Yiliu turned his head and clutched his belly. “Grandma, I’m hungry.”

“Hungry? You’re holding a whole bundle of buns and you’re not eating? What’s the matter with you? The porridge’s still hot—I’ll go get you a bowl!”

No point arguing now. She’d dig through the room after dinner. That candy couldn’t have gone far.

Unfortunately for her, the candy was tucked safely inside Jiang Yiliu’s space. She wasn’t going to find anything.

While Granny Miao went to the kitchen, Jiang Yiliu stepped outside and winked at the girls’ table. That was enough—Sini and the others knew he’d hidden the stash. They giggled with their hands over their mouths. Come nighttime, they’d get their share.

Even Ruanruan, new as she was to the household, had already figured out how skilled Jiang Yiliu was at playing this cat-and-mouse game with their grandma. She giggled too.

Yiliu sat at the men’s table, just angled enough to watch the girls’ side. Daniu sat diagonally across from him. As he drank the porridge Grandma had served, he studied his big sister.

She was fourteen, still growing. Her dry, yellowish hair was tied into two braids hanging over her chest. She had a slender face, long single-lidded eyes, a round nose, and full, red lips. But her slightly yellow skin dulled her looks. She wore a dark gray padded jacket today that made her look even duller. Her chest was flat, and the bulky layers made her seem heavyset.

Daniu noticed him looking and smiled softly, warm with a touch of innocence.

Yiliu poked at his porridge with a sigh. She’s still so young. There’s no way she’s already seeing someone… is there?

In this village, people got married early. Fifteen or sixteen, they’d start meeting potential matches. By seventeen or eighteen, most were wed. The marriage was done first, the certificate came later—that was just how things worked.

Divorce? That wasn’t a thing. Once a couple held the wedding banquet, they were considered family.

But Jiang Yiliu, reborn with memories from the future, couldn’t accept his sisters getting married this young. The world was changing fast, and he wanted his sisters to have the chance to see more, live more, not get tied down to this tiny mountain village.

That’s why the idea of Daniu being involved with someone already didn’t sit right with him.

He didn’t even know who the man was, how old he was, or where he lived. Daniu was so trusting—what if she was being tricked? She was still too young to even know what real feelings were.

This wasn’t some modern world where dating was free and easy. In this place, if a girl had even one boyfriend, everyone knew. Having a second? That would ruin her reputation and the family’s honor.

It wasn’t that Jiang Yiliu had old-fashioned thinking. It was just that in this era, being the one to challenge tradition was nearly impossible, and Daniu wasn’t strong enough to be that person.

He quietly sipped his porridge. It was too early to make assumptions. He’d wait until Erniu and the others got back tonight and try to probe through them. Asking Daniu directly might scare her off. But her sisters probably knew something.

Later that night

“Third Sister, when Uncle and I passed your school today, we saw a guy in a gray wool coat, wearing glasses, with his hair slicked back—looked just like one of those photos in the magazines. Who was that guy?”

Jiang Yiliu was lying on the heated brick bed with Sanniu. His eldest and second sisters were still outside helping with chores, while Sini and Ruanruan had been dragged off by Gu Dongmei for baths. It was just the two of them in the room.

Sanniu, now nine, was still the same little glutton she’d always been—sucking on a candy, holding a fruit leather in her hand, and already starting to wonder who her brother might be talking about.

If it were their sharper second sister, she might have already started to suspect something. After all, the road to the county didn’t even pass through Hongqi Village—how could Jiang Yiliu have possibly run into someone from their school?

But Sanni was more naive, which was exactly why Jiang Yiliu had deliberately avoided talking to anyone else and only asked her.

“I know who you’re talking about,” Sanni said happily, taking a bite of the hawthorn leather in her hand. Her voice was muffled with her mouth full. “You’re talking about the Chinese teacher from Big Sister’s class, right? All the girls at our school like him. He’s good-looking, teaches well—everyone’s jealous that Big Sister’s class gets to have Teacher Rong.”

“Teacher Rong, your class’s Chinese teacher? Is he from Hongqi Village?” Jiang Yiliu asked, feigning curiosity. His palm clenched tighter. A teacher-student relationship? That would be scandalous. One slip, and it could turn into a huge mess.

“Teacher Rong’s a zhiqing from Haicheng. He lives in the zhiqing dorms in Hongqi Village. He’s just really well-educated, so everyone let him teach at the school,” Sanni explained without holding back—this was all common knowledge.