Chiang Xiao had never known that her grandparents had such things!
She was simply stunned.
Meng Xinian too hadn’t recovered for a long while.
His thick eyebrows slightly furrowed, he said, "Give these things back to your grandparents." He hadn’t expected Chiang Songhai and his wife to give him something so valuable.
Just then, Chiang Songhai happened to come in, saw what he was holding in his hands, glanced back, and hurriedly said to Meng Xinian, "Xinian, keep it, you keep it. Little, come here, your grandfather wants to talk to you about something."
Chiang Xiao glanced at Meng Xinian, signaling him to put the things away so they wouldn’t be seen by others. She then followed her grandfather into his room.
"Little, close the door."
Chiang Xiao paused for a moment, then obediently closed the door.
She saw Chiang Songhai move a chair to step on, reach behind the black gauze mosquito net hanging on the wall, and after a short while, he retrieved a small wooden box.
Chiang Xiao helped him down.
Chiang Songhai sat on the edge of the bed and opened the flat wooden box.
Seven or eight silver dollars, a gold filigree bracelet, and a white jade peace buckle lay quietly inside the box, catching Chiang Xiao’s eyes.
Her pupils contracted.
They actually still had these things!
Chiang Songhai sighed and spoke in a low voice, "These things, I acquired when I was eighteen years old; rest assured, their origins are legitimate. I did not steal or rob; they came to me unintentionally. There were originally some silver and gold bars too, and the gold bracelet used to have a pair, but when your mother left, she took them with her. What’s left, your grandmother and I decided no matter how hard life got, we wouldn’t use them. Should the time come when you grow up and others look down on your background, unable to find a family to marry into, then these things could be sold for money to find a young man willing to marry into the family."
He picked up the gold bracelet, his gaze a little distant. He was silent for a moment before continuing, "I don’t know if your mother was safe carrying all those things when she left."
At this moment, Chiang Xiao had no good feelings for her mother, whom she had no recollection of.
First, it was foolishness; to have gotten pregnant before marriage in that era, and not even the parents knew who the man was. Then there was the fact that she wasn’t resilient enough, just abandoning her parents and daughter, walking away.
So many years had passed without a word.
If she had died out there, that would be one thing; if she was still alive, could she at least have written a letter back home?
With nothing, didn’t she worry about her elderly parents and her daughter at all?
Moreover, knowing full well how poor the family was, she had taken most of the wealth with her!
"Your grandmother and I had never anticipated that a Meng Xinian would appear. Now looking at him, the boy really seems quite good, and he’s good to you, appears decent. The engagement happened so quickly, we almost couldn’t react. But once engaged, it’s like being part of the family. Little, listen to your grandfather, from now on he’s your man, your support, you must be good to him, understand? The Meng Family won’t be of low status, just look at what Xinian brought, costing a hundred or so dollars, right? Although the Chiang Family is from a poor area, your grandfather doesn’t want others to say we were eyeing the Meng Family’s wealth. Therefore, we gave Xinian that red envelope for the change of address, consisting of the ring and four silver dollars."
Chiang Songhai said, "Just with that ring, in the future, no one can accuse you of being vain, of trying to marry above your station, or that me and your grandmother were taken by Xinian’s outward conditions, eager to sell off our granddaughter. I tell you this because I hope you won’t feel sorry for those things. You absolutely can’t ask Xinian for them back. Understand? They must be given to him."