Hiding beside Zhou Lan, Jiang Xia suppressed her emotions and looked at the culprit who had caused all this.
Previously, Jiang Xia was a pitiful little girl. Due to the long-term oppression, she had hardly seen the faces of the two elders of the Jiang family and only had a vague impression of them.
However, Jiang Xia's mouth twitched when she saw them. She finally understood why the two of them favored their eldest son. Jiang Gui had perfectly inherited the genes of the two. Jiang Fu's distinctive square face and Wang Fen's dark triangular-shaped eyes.
Jiang Xia took a deep breath and looked at his father to cleanse her eyes. She didn't quite understand how the two of them had given birth to the kind-hearted third brother.
Although their third brother, Jiang Chuan, had a weak personality, he was very good-looking. Otherwise, how could Jiang Chuan marry such a beautiful woman like Zhou Lan and give birth to three beautiful daughters with the treatment he gets from the Jiang family?
"Thank you, Chief! You helped us find Jiang Chuan and even specially brought him back." Jiang Fu smiled at the village chief.
The moment Jiang Xia saw Jiang Fu's smile, she immediately thought of a square piece of dried orange peel, which was full of wrinkles.
"You're welcome, brother Jiang. This is what I should do." Facing the hypocritical Jiang Fu, the village chief had no choice but to be polite.
The village chief knew more about the Jiang family compared to the rumors spread by the villagers. The village chief knew that the rumors the villagers were unsure of were true, and this made his impression of the Jiang family even worse.
After Jiang Fu thanked the village chief, he started to criticize Jiang Chuan, "It doesn't matter if you want to fool around, but you didn't have to implicate the villagers. Do you know how long we've been searching for you? Villagers like you who don't follow the rules and regulations would have been left alone long ago if this was any other village. You're lucky our village chief is responsible. Otherwise, nobody would even care if you died. Make sure you remember our village chief's kindness in the future."
Jiang Xia rolled his eyes at Jiang Fu's long-winded speech. His face really didn't suit the speech he was trying to make. He didn't mention at all that he was going to sell her, and completely dissociated himself from the matter. Then, he used them as an excuse to please the chief.
The village leader glanced at Jiang Chuan but didn't expose Jiang Fu. He smiled and said, "Jiang Chuan was lucky to have escaped this time. In the future, try not to go up the mountain. If you really can't feed your family, you can come to me and we can think of a solution together."
The village chief especially emphasized the words "can't feed your family," and looked at Jiang Fu with a meaningful look.
Jiang Chuan's parents were already in their sixties yet they looked more energetic than the young people in the village. How could they not have enough food?
Jiang Fu felt a chill run down his spine from the village chief's gaze, and he hurriedly smiled apologetically."Okay, okay, thank you, chief. I understand."
The village chief was about to leave when he saw Jiang Xia holding Zhou Lan's hand from the corner of his eye. The village chief reached out his hand and touched Jiang Xia's head. With a kind expression, he said, "I think this little girl is not bad. Take good care of her!"
Jiang Chuan's eyes lit up when he heard the chief mentioned Jiang Xia. He suddenly knelt down in front of Jiang Fu and Wang Fen.
Everyone was shocked by his sudden action. They heard Jiang Chuan, who was usually not good with words, say, "Father, mother, I'm sorry that I can't bring any food back. Please don't sell my daughter. I know that I'll be a burden if I bring my wife and daughter home. In order not to be a burden to my parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law, I'll leave the Jiang family with Zhou Lan and our daughter! Please forgive me for being unfilial."
Jiang Chuan's words were sincere and they came from the bottom of his heart. It made people feel sad and at the same time, they couldn't help but sigh at Jiang Chuan's filial piety.
In this era where men were more valued than women, having three daughters was indeed a burden in many eyes. But what they didn't know was that in the past, Jiang Chuan and his wife not only had to work every day to earn food, but they also had to dig wild vegetables and pick wild fruits when they had free time. Just the workload from the two of them was equivalent to four or five other families.
Jiang Chuan's three daughters were really sensible. After they finished their work at home, they would go and help others sew and patch in exchange for some food. As for the other members of the Jiang family, other than working during the day, they basically spend the rest of the day resting at home.
Jiang Chuan's words and actions shocked the Jiang family for a long time. The village chief was the first to react as his eyes fell on Jiang Chuan, who was kneeling straight with his head lowered.