Chiang Xiao tugged at the corner of her mouth and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, you go ahead and cook, I’ll keep Grandpa company."
The implication of keeping Grandpa company was clear: she intended to block any and all schemes from Chiang Songtao. Ge Liutao now also understood the situation. She tapped Chiang Xiao’s forehead with her index finger and said only one sentence, "Don’t stir up any trouble."
Chiang Xiao replied, "Don’t worry, if nobody messes with me, I usually don’t go looking for trouble."
But if someone truly intended to mess with her, they couldn’t blame her for what happened next.
Now reassured, Ge Liutao went to the kitchen to cook.
Today they had brought vegetables and meat back to Siyang Village, but Aunt Juan and the others had sent over quite a few things again, so dinner tonight would probably be quite lavish.
When Chiang Songtao entered the hall, he still habitually sat down in the main seat.
That place was usually Chiang Songhai’s.
But Chiang Songhai would definitely not fuss over such a trivial matter with him, and now, Chiang Xiao wouldn’t either.
She entered the hall and hooked a chair with her foot, sitting down beside him, clearly indicating her intention to listen in.
Chiang Songtao gave her a glance but did not tell her off. He had come prepared, knowing that Chiang Xiao would be listening in on the side.
After sitting down, he let out a heavy sigh.
If it had been before, Chiang Songhai would have already started asking anxiously and worriedly if he was in any trouble, but this time, Chiang Songhai brought out the tea set and asked, "Big brother, will fried tea do? I don’t have any good teas here, and this is just some homemade tea given by others."
The fried tea had been given by Hu Xibing, who originally wanted to give good tea, but Chiang Xiao refused and instead asked him for a pound of the kind that people boil in a big pot to quench their thirst or serve to casual guests, which really wasn’t worth much.
Chiang Songtao paused and said, "Any tea is fine."
To think that someone was even giving Chiang Laoer tea leaves, what kind of person was Chiang Laoer to receive tea leaves!
At this moment, Chiang Songtao felt genuinely bitter inside.
Then he looked at Chiang Songhai, who was wearing clothes that were still mostly new, had all-black hair with fewer wrinkles, and clearly seemed to be living well, which made him look well cared for.
Then he looked at himself, wearing patched clothes, with cloth shoes on the verge of developing holes, recently feeling like he couldn’t straighten his back, and even more white hair.
Despite Chiang Laoer living so well, he had never thought to help him, his own older brother—it was truly heartless and ungrateful!
While thinking all this, Chiang Songtao kept a very gentle expression on his face.
"Laoer, your sister-in-law mentioned it just now, didn’t she? Baohe is getting married at the end of the month. This is our family’s joyous occasion, and you should definitely be happy for Baohe."
Chiang Songhai nodded and responded, "Of course, of course."
But thinking of Teacher Zou, Chiang Songhai still felt it was odd; Zou Xiaoling never seemed like someone who would willingly marry Chiang Baohe in the past.
"Baohe isn’t living at home anymore; he’s staying in town, not far from you all. You know about this, right?"
"I’ve heard about it," Chiang Songhai responded again.
Chiang Xiao sat on the side, listening.
Chiang Songtao continued talking to Chiang Songhai without looking at her, "The house in town was found by Baoguo while he was working at the factory there. He rented it, and then when he moved to the county, the lease had not expired yet, so we let Baohe stay there. But now he’s getting married, and my future daughter-in-law has a condition—she wants to live in town after marriage and also needs a house, so we discussed it and decided to buy that old house."