Ho Laidi was crying so hard, her face a mess of tears and snot. It was a pitiful sight to behold.
Upon hearing this from inside the room, Chiang Baohe instantly slapped the bed board and erupted in anger, "That little wretch actually dared to hit you? I’ll kill her!"
He swiftly stood up, forgetting that his leg was severely injured, and immediately collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash.
"Brother! Come help me! That damned woman, that demoness, if I find her, I swear I’ll kill her! My leg!" Chiang Baohe wailed miserably once again.
No matter how much he cursed, he couldn’t find that woman he was convinced looked like a demoness.
By now, that woman had become an enigma in Chiang Baohe’s mind—he neither understood why she would harm him nor could he find her anywhere.
The misery and chaos of the Chiang Family, now separated by the high courtyard walls, were completely unable to affect Chiang Xiao.
They slept very well that night as usual.
The next morning, Chiang Xiao once again followed Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang up the mountain.
Having given it some thought the previous night, Chiang Songhai got up early, locked the door securely, and took Ge Liutao on a bullock cart back to town.
After hearing Chiang Xiao’s plan yesterday, Chiang Songhai felt his mind expand and his thoughts reach farther.
If their lives were intertwined with Chiang Xiao’s, it only made sense that where she went, they would follow. They couldn’t rest easy just letting her go out into the world alone.
So, it would be better to take the opportunity to look around town whenever they had the time—if they found a suitable house, they would rent it.
To move out of Siyang Village, they would need more money, and Chiang Xiao would need a lot for school and learning to paint. So, from now on, the entire family would have to pull together to work hard at making money and living a good life; they could no longer allow the Old Chiang Family to exploit them.
That way, if the Old Chiang Family decided to cause more trouble, they would be able to avoid it.
Last night’s conversation with Chiang Songtao had also been an eye-opener for Chiang Songhai.
As Chiang Xiao had said, if he couldn’t stand up straight and face them, then avoiding them was the best move, making life easier for everyone.
And indeed, their lives would be much easier that way.
Chiang Xiao had said something harsh to Chiang Songhai yesterday.
Chiang Xiao said, "Grandpa, instead of being grateful to Great-grandpa for saving your life, you should thank the tiger that spared you back then. If it had caught up with you, would you still be alive?"
Yes, what sort of life-saving grace was that? Even if there was a smidgen of it, he had repaid it over the years.
Chiang Songhai didn’t want Chiang Xiao to always be called a wretch. He had thought it was just Ho Laidi and Chiang Baohe thoughtlessly slinging a couple of insults, but only yesterday had he realized that even his eldest brother saw his only grandchild in blood that way.
Chiang Xiao fully supported their decision to search for a house in town. Besides, she figured she wouldn’t have much time to look for one herself, so it was for the best that her grandparents were starting the search.
So they all left home early together. By the time Ho Laidi got up and opened the door, the neighboring house was already securely locked up.
Chiang Songtao had a terrible night fueled by anger and didn’t sleep well, leaving him with a pounding headache today.
Upon hearing that the neighbors had left, Chiang Baohe threw things around, cursing vehemently, threatening to take a hoe and tear down the wall.
But how could he move now? After the fall yesterday, his foot hurt so much he couldn’t even stand on one leg for fear of falling again.
Chiang Songtao couldn’t afford to fume at this wall all day—there was work to be done in the fields. Chiang Baohe used to be quite adept at farm work, but now with his injured leg, he could no longer work there, leaving all the fieldwork for Chiang Songtao to handle.