“When Jiang Miao was preparing for the imperial exams and lacked travel expenses, Wang Shi thought about arranging a marriage for me. Her first choice was Lai San. He not only drank heavily but also beat people. He had married two wives, both of whom he beat to death. He is not a good person.”
Wu Shi and Zhou Yue both gasped, not expecting that there was such a relationship between the girl and Lai San. Seeing Zhou Shan’s stunned expression, Jiang Chan continued, “So I always had to see what kind of person could satisfy Wang Shi. Now it seems, he is nothing special.”
Zhou Xing was furious, her little face turning red, “This person is too awful! How could they even consider this?”
Jiang Chan sneered, “As long as they are given money, what won’t they do?”
Although Wang Shi truly doted on Jiang Xing, it also depended on the situation. Mainly, Jiang Mu’s family had not yet reached a desperate situation. When Jiang Mu’s family is really in trouble, will Wang Shi still dote on Jiang Xing so much?
Jiang Chan could foresee such a result, but would she say it? Of course not.
Seeing Lai San in his current state, Jiang Chan didn’t plan to take action herself. Tripping up someone like him would only dirty her hands. This kind of person, with both gambling and drinking addictions, would sooner or later destroy himself. She just needed to watch quietly.
During this period, most of the children from the charity hospital had left. After learning cooking skills from Jiang Chan, they all dispersed to other provinces and cities. Jiang Chan received letters from them almost every month.
Some became shop assistants, some became accountants because of their good math skills, and some started small food stalls. Overall, everyone was doing well, which reassured Jiang Chan.
Teaching a person to fish is better than giving them a fish, and this was her original intention. Now it seemed that she had done quite well.
The autumn imperial exams passed quickly. Jiang Miao and Jiang Mu went to the capital to take the exams. They had planned to wait for the results before returning, but living in the capital was not easy. In the end, they had to come back and wait for the news.
Jiang Chan naturally paid attention. She had never tripped up Jiang Mu’s family because Jiang Chan liked to do things upright. Besides, those were the parents of the original host, whose wish was merely to stay away from them, not to take any retaliatory measures.
Jiang Chan believed that the personality of Jiang Mu’s family alone would ruin their relatively okay life.
As Jiang Sen predicted, Jiang Mu and Jiang Miao both failed the exams. When the news reached Jiang Chan, she was painting a picture of rain hitting withered lotuses. Her brush shook lightly, and a drop of ink fell on the paper.
Zhou Xing was extremely happy, her eyes smiling.
Seeing Zhou Xing so happy, Jiang Chan also felt inexplicably cheerful. “Are you that happy?”
Zhou Xing replied excitedly, “Yes! They treated you badly, so they deserve a bad life!”
As she spoke, Zhou Xing nodded earnestly. Jiang Chan rubbed Zhou Xing’s two pigtails, feeling warmed by her protective words.
“Alright, let’s not waste our thoughts on unimportant people. Have you finished the book I gave you last time?”
Zhou Xing nodded immediately, “Yes, miss. There are some parts I don’t understand, could you explain them to me?”
While Jiang Chan was feeling very content, Jiang Mu’s family was shrouded in gloom. Since Jiang Mu and Jiang Miao went to take the exams, Wang Shi and Jiang Xing had been very proud, speaking as if the two were sure to succeed.
The villagers said nothing to their faces, but behind their backs, they were all waiting to see the Jiang family’s failure. As expected, when the news of their failure came, the village was abuzz with talk.
Wang Shi and Jiang Xing were too embarrassed to go out. But laundry had to be done at the small river at the village head, making it a difficult task every day.
In addition to facing outside gossip, the atmosphere at home was extremely tense. The trip to the exams had emptied the family’s savings, and they still owed Jiang Sen twenty taels of silver.
Fortunately, Jiang Miao had passed the preliminary exams and could teach children at a private school, earning some money. Otherwise, the Jiang family would collapse.
Twenty taels of debt, even though it was borrowed from his own brother, still had to be repaid.
After dinner that evening, Jiang Mu took a sip of wine and sighed: “In the end, it’s our own fault for being too ambitious. If we had let Miao’er settle down for another three years, things might have turned out differently. The way things are now, we have only ourselves to blame.”
He looked at the dejected Jiang Miao, “Cheer up. So what if you didn’t pass? Your mother and I can’t afford to support your exams anymore. Tomorrow, you need to find a job and support yourself. We’ll talk about the exams later.”
Jiang Miao nodded. Jiang Mu glanced at Jiang Xing, “Your little sister is already thirteen, it’s time to arrange a marriage for her.”
Wang Shi carefully said, “But even if we find someone, we don’t have money for her dowry…”
Jiang Mu frowned, “How do village girls manage? She’ll do the same. Does she think she’s better than others?”
Jiang Xing lowered her head, her fingernails digging into her palms. She envied Jiang Chan, who had a good life, unlike her. Was she really destined to end up like the other girls in the village?
Wang Shi wasn’t happy either. She had raised Jiang Xing like a young lady and didn’t want her to marry a poor man. “But you and Miao’er are scholars. The people we find for Xing’er shouldn’t be too bad. Our family has two scholars.”
Jiang Mu frowned. He waved his hand, “You handle it yourself. I’m still worried about how to repay the twenty taels to my brother.”
Jiang Xing’s vision darkened. Twenty taels! When their uncle adopted Jiang Chan, he only gave ten taels. Now, just for the exams, they had spent twenty taels. Even selling her wouldn’t fetch that much.
Wang Shi, however, wasn’t worried. She tidied the table, “That’s your brother’s money. He doesn’t lack money. Maybe he won’t ask us to repay. Even if he does, we can repay slowly. It just might make it hard for Miao’er to get married.”
“Fortunately, Miao’er no longer needs to go to the academy. If he can earn money, combined with your teaching income, we can repay in three to five years. But by then, Miao’er will be over twenty and hard to match.”
Jiang Mu glanced at Jiang Xing, “We’ll talk about that later. Debts must be repaid. Miao’er needs to stand on his own. Our family will depend on you in the future.”
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