"You, what gift! You still expect a gift! I’m not wasting my words on you, a little girl. Where are my Second Uncle and Second Aunt? Call them out," Chiang Qingshui said as he looked around the room.
The house was very old, but it had been kept quite clean, and there were many quirky details to be found, like a few pots of flowers in a corner of the courtyard, blooming Ledebouria, a large pot of Houttuynia cordata, delicate five-petaled plums, and common lantern plants.
Next to those pots of flowers, there was also a small square table with a bamboo armchair on each side.
That was where Chiang Songhai and Ge Dejun would roll tobacco or play chess when they had nothing else to do.
At the other end of the courtyard, there was also a long stone trough, which Ge Dejun had somehow brought back. They said it was a pig feeding trough, discarded by someone who probably decided not to raise pigs anymore.
After it was brought back, Chiang Xiao filled it with soil and sprinkled a small pack of coriander and green onion seeds she had bought from the market. Now, it was densely packed with the lush greenery of coriander and green onions.
Liu Pei and Ge Liutao liked this a lot and always praised Chiang Xiao for being thoughtful and knowing how to live well. Now if they ever needed some herbs, they didn’t have to go out to buy them; they could just snip what they needed on the spot.
Even Chiang Xiao’s door stood out as a pop of color in the house.
For the Chiang Family to live in such a house was really like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.
Chiang Qingshui was quite envious.
And no matter what, this was a house in the town, not in some mountain village.
Peace Town and Siyang Village were worlds apart, okay?
"My grandparents are sleeping right now. If you had any manners, you could keep your voice down..."
Chiang Xiao hadn’t finished speaking when Chiang Qingshui started shouting loudly, "It’s past two o’clock and they’re still sleeping? Get them up!"
"...Of course, I think you probably don’t know what manners are," Chiang Xiao continued, finishing the sentence she had started earlier.
"What did you say?" Chiang Qingshui walked toward several closed doors, not knowing which one to choose. She rapidly began banging on each one forcefully. "I’ll call them myself! Second Uncle! Second Aunt! Come out quickly! I don’t believe you can still sleep through this!"
Xu Linjiang was sitting behind the door listening when, suddenly, the door shook from the banging.
He immediately got annoyed, stood up, opened the door, and berated her, "What crazy woman is this!"
Since Little had said there was no need to be polite, of course, he took Little’s word for it.
Chiang Qingshui had not expected that her knocking would be answered by a young man who was quite handsome, which made her pause for a moment.
But as soon as she heard what he said, and remembering what her mother had told her, her eyes narrowed in anger, "Ptui! You must be that nephew-in-law from my Second Aunt’s family, right? Have you no shame? You don’t even share the Chiang or Ge surname, yet you have the gall to live in a house rented by my Second Uncle!"
Chiang Xiao hadn’t anticipated this move and failed to stop Chiang Qingshui in time. Hearing her now insulting Xu Linjiang, Chiang Xiao’s expression turned cold, and she stepped forward, "He is my uncle by marriage. What’s wrong with living in their own rented house? Is it any of your business?"
"Oh, uncle by marriage?" Chiang Qingshui immediately scoffed, her eyes piercing Chiang Xiao, "I say, can’t you distinguish between insiders and outsiders? Uncle by marriage? Your real uncle by marriage is over there. Da Zhi, what are you waiting for? Come over here! Explain to Chiang Xiao, which uncle by marriage is closer!"