Chapter 45: Relatives Knocking on the Door

Hearing the villagers calling out, Jiang Li had no choice but to bring the siblings back home.

Before leaving, Jiang Li asked Xue Man, "Xiaoman, is your maternal grandmother's home far from our village?"

She asked Xue Man, but her question was actually more directed at the Zhao family. Jiang Li had never inquired about the mother of Xue Man and A-Ning.

Nor had Jiang Li ever imagined that Xue Man and the others still had such relatives.

Before Xue Man could answer, Granny Zhao spoke up, "Not too far, over in Luowan Village. If you walk at a brisk pace, it takes less than an hour."

With that, she looked at Xue Man and A-Ning, smiling as she asked, "Xiaoman, hasn't it been a while since your grandmother and uncles came to see you?"

Xue Man nodded. It had been far more than just a "while"—it had been a very long time.

They had come when their mother passed away, and once more on their mother's death anniversary, but they hadn't even shown up when their father died.

Jiang Li understood the situation immediately. After saying goodbye to the Zhao family, she led the two little ones back home.

When they returned, they did not see anyone at the courtyard gate. As they got closer, they realized the courtyard gate had already been pushed open.

Strange voices drifted from within the courtyard.

"I thought these two kids and that woman of unknown origin were still living in that collapsed, ruined shack. To think they've built a new house and moved in so quickly! Mother, where do you suppose they got the money?"

The speaker was Lady Liu, Xue Man's maternal aunt. By the sound of her voice, Jiang Li estimated her to be around forty years old.

The question went unanswered, so Lady Liu started another topic, "Just look at this wall, this courtyard—so white."

No one responded to Lady Liu. The old matriarch and Xue Man's maternal uncle, Luo Dayuan, were rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen.

"Mother, the pots and pans in this kitchen are all complete. Weren't we told that the family division only left them four broken bowls? That cooking pot looks quite new."

The old lady picked up the pot and examined it. It was indeed very new, and she said flatly, "Could this have been newly bought?"

"Newly bought? Where on earth would they get that much money?"

Jiang Li had already reached the open courtyard gate. With a single glance, she spotted Lady Liu trying to yank the padlock on the main house door. After pulling on it a few times without success, Lady Liu raised her voice and shouted, "This door is even locked! Look at this brand-new lock—it must have cost a pretty penny."

Unable to break the lock, she turned to push on a window. When it didn't budge, she hammered on it a few times with a loud *thud, thud*.

Anger flared instantly in Jiang Li's chest. Stepping into the courtyard, she asked in a deep voice, "What are you doing?"

At this question, Lady Liu turned back from the window, and the two people inside the kitchen walked out. Jiang Li looked at them: a short, petite old woman and a lean, gaunt middle-aged man.

Ignoring Jiang Li as if she didn't exist, they rushed over to Xue Man and Xue Ning, pulling the two children into their arms and crying out, "Xiaoman! A-Ning!"

Jiang Li stood nearby and watched. This display made it look as though they had traveled across mountains and seas for a rare reunion, meeting only after years apart.

Yet it was less than an hour's walk—how many years had it been since they last came?

Xue Man and A-Ning quickly broke free from the old woman's embrace. Looking at the three people before them with calm expressions, they still greeted them politely, "Grandmother, First Uncle, First Aunt."

The old woman stroked their heads with concerned words, "Grandmother heard a few days ago that your house had collapsed, so she brought your uncle and aunt to check on you. I never expected you to have already built a new house. Xiaoman is truly capable."

Xue Man looked at Jiang Li and said softly, "It's my mother who is capable. She paid for the villagers to build it."

This single word—"Mother"—made the expressions of the three people shift dramatically. Only then did they finally force themselves to look at Jiang Li.

The old woman looked Jiang Li up and down before asking coldly, "You're the woman Xue Chengju bought?"

Her gaze was full of arrogance; in her eyes, Jiang Li was nothing more than a piece of property.

Jiang Li gave her a cold look without a word. These people were complete strangers to her, entirely unworthy of her concern, but she wanted to see what scheme had brought them here.

"Xue Chengju bought you to wait on a man and his children. Now that he's dead, how dare you let these two children call you mother?"

This remark made Jiang Li frown in displeasure. She asked coldly, "What business brings you here today?"

"When the children's father died, I didn't see any of you relatives showing up. I thought Xiaoman and A-Ning's maternal family had completely died out; to think there were still living people. And the children themselves—they never once mentioned you."

"Old lady, is your home really that far away?"

At Jiang Li's words, the old woman trembled with rage.

Hearing this, Luo Dayuan glared fiercely at Jiang Li, "Is that any way to speak to an elder?"

Jiang Li gave him a calm glance, then looked at Lady Liu, who also looked as if she wanted to tear her apart. It was clear these people had impure motives for this visit.

"Xiaoman, A-Ning, I'm going to the foot of the mountain to gather some firewood. You two keep your grandmother, uncle, and aunt company. If you need to make lunch later, come find me for the key."

Xue Man nodded, while A-Ning said, "Mother, I'll go with you."

Jiang Li said, "No need, you stay home with your brother."

With that, she walked out of the courtyard gate.

A-Ning watched the figure disappear at the door, her eyes darkening slightly, feeling somewhat displeased.

"Grandmother, why are you here?"

The old woman said gently, "Naturally, we've missed the two of you. But you never came to visit your grandmother."

Xue Ning smiled. "Didn't we go there two years ago? Did grandmother forget? That was the day my cousin beat up my brother, and my cousin scolded us as wild children without a mother, telling us not to come looking for handouts."

"I remember grandmother was there, and so was aunt."

At Xue Ning's words, both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law burned with embarrassment. Lady Liu chided, "You child, why are you still holding onto those things? Your cousins aren't much older than you; you're all just kids, isn't bickering normal?"

Xue Ning looked at Lady Liu with a smile on her lips, but ice in her eyes.

"Indeed, kids bicker all the time, and if we remembered every single instance, we couldn't keep track. Take Dawu from my second uncle's family, for instance—we've lost count of how many times we've fought. Thinking about it now, I really don't remember the reasons for many of those fights."

"Do you know why I remember this so clearly, Aunt?"

Neither Lady Liu nor the old woman spoke. Xue Ning continued, "Because I passed out on the way back, and my brother carried me the whole way. He fell several times, banged his head so hard it bled, and the scar is still there. He thought I was dying and carried me to Granny Zhao in the village. Granny Zhao said I had fainted from hunger, and she gave me honey water to drink before I came around."

If Xue Ning hadn't brought it up, Xue Man would have forgotten all about it.

Yet not only did A-Ning remember, but she still held a grudge in her heart.

The old woman was almost dying of embarrassment. She said in a heavy voice, "When you came to our house that time and didn't eat, why didn't you say anything? You just got angry over a minor squabble and stormed off, and you've been holding a grudge for years."

Xue Ning thought to herself that if they hadn't met Jiang Li, she might never have known that the difference between genuine affection and false pretense could be so vast.

She had felt heartbroken for a long time after returning that day, making up her mind never to go back.

Yet she had made countless excuses for them in her heart—until her father died and they didn't even come to check on her and her brother. Only then did she give up completely.

Later on, when Jiang Li took them in and built a life with them, she stopped thinking about these so-called relatives altogether.

"Grandmother and Aunt didn't ask either. Does grandmother know why we suddenly went there that time? It was because Xue Dawu's mother brought him back to her own mother's house. When he came back, he bragged that his grandmother had boiled eggs for him to eat. My brother and I were so envious, and we stubbornly said we had a grandmother too, so we went. But unlike him, I came back half-dead from hunger and was mocked by him for a long time."

At this, the old woman was completely rendered speechless. Xue Man pulled A-Ning back and said, "A-Ning, stop talking. That's all in the past."

Lady Liu chimed in, "That's right, that's right. A-Ning, these past years your grandmother has been thinking of you both. We came this time precisely to take you to live with us for a few days."

Xue Ning didn't want to go anywhere right now.

She smiled faintly, "True, it's all in the past. Grandmother, Uncle, and Aunt don't need to worry. That woman who just went out—though my father bought her, it was all made official through the village head. There was no wedding banquet, but she is his wife. Before my father died, he took both our hands and entrusted us to her. She didn't give birth to us, but she treats us very well, no different from a real mother."

"There's no need for you to treat her with such hostility; she hasn't offended you."

Lady Liu and the old woman exchanged glances, and Lady Liu muttered sourly, "It seems this person really knows how to win people over. A-Ning, have you forgotten your own birth mother already? If she knew this down in the underworld, how heartbroken she'd be, seeing the children she raised with such hardship eagerly calling someone else mother."

Xue Man had been trying to persuade A-Ning to drop the subject, thinking they could just exchange a few perfunctory words and send them on their way.

But since A-Ning had already said this much, and these women were still trying to stir up trouble, what were they trying to do? Did they just enjoy seeing these two orphans as pitiable? Shouldn't they be happy that someone was treating the siblings well?

"Does Aunt think that when my cousins scolded us as wild children without a mother, and when A-Ning nearly starved to death, my mother would have been heartbroken down below?"

Lady Liu fell silent.

Seeing that the two children were as unyielding as a solid wall of iron, the old woman said, "Fine, let's say no more. As long as you're doing well, grandmother is happy. Where is your grain? Grandmother will cook a meal for you before we head back."

Xue Man looked at the locked door, thought of Jiang Li who had left, and said flatly, "The grain is inside the house, but Mother took the key and went out."

Lady Liu pounced on this as if she had caught them in a fault, hopping up and down as she said, "They even hide the food! And you still claim she treats you well?"

Xue Man took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, "No need to cook. Grandmother, you should head back."

"You made her unhappy, and seeing her unhappy makes us siblings unhappy. Please go back."

The three of them had nothing more to say. They hadn't even been offered a cup of water, let alone a meal, before they were forced to leave.

Many people in the surrounding fields were turning the soil. Watching the three people enter the courtyard and then emerge again—with Jiang Li still halfway up the mountain and no lunch being prepared—it was clear they were leaving without having eaten a single bite.

When they reached the village entrance, a villager who recognized the old woman called out loudly, "Luo family elder, heading back?"

The old woman replied, "Yes, checked on the two kids to see they're doing well, so we're heading back."

"Aren't you staying for lunch before leaving?"

"We ate before we came."

With that, the old woman stopped in her tracks, thought for a moment, and walked over to the villager.

"Dear niece, let me ask you about something."

"What is it?"

"That woman—how does she treat Xiaoman and A-Ning? You folks in the village live close by, but we live far away and can only hear rumors; without seeing it with our own eyes, we can't set our minds at ease."

As soon as she asked, the woman grew animated and smiled, "Elder sister, your Xue Man and A-Ning are truly blessed! That Sister Jiang can hunt—she's extraordinarily capable!"

"Can hunt?"

"Yes! Have you seen that newly built house? She hired a dozen people from the village and treats them to good meat and dishes every single day. They eat so well!"