The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Jiang Erlang managed to gather himself, seeing his elderly mother’s tear-streaked face and trembling lips, he apologized, “Mother, I’ve caused you worry…”

Jiang Liu was crying so hard she was choking. Clutching her son tightly, she kept stroking his chest, “I don’t mind the worry, as long as you’re okay…My son, you must try to come to terms with this, sob sob sob…”

Jiang Erlang closed his eyes, it took a while before he said, “Mother, since the Leng Family wants the divorce, let it be. But it’s impossible for me to give them thirty taels of silver.”

He paused for a moment and said, “The Lengs are well aware of our situation, our brothers have already divided up the family property. There’s no reason for me to ask my parents and brothers to pay for my divorce.”

The way his wife acted during his illness had thoroughly chilled Jiang Erlang’s heart.

He had put up with her tantrums, but she took advantage of his illness to take all the money from the house and ran to her mother’s home.

This morning he was thinking, once he got better, he would go to the Yue Family to bring his wife back.

After all, they had been married for over a decade. Couples argue and bicker.

He thought, as long as he apologized and did some coaxing, considering their child, their home, and the bond of so many years of marriage, she would come back to him, and they could live a good life.

But what he would never have expected was today her mother, brother, and sister-in-law came knocking at the door to demand a divorce.

No matter how his parents explained or how others counseled, the Lengs insisted on the divorce. They even claimed that Leng had been suffering in misery in the Jiang Family and couldn’t bear to live there any longer.

Not only did they want a divorce, they also asked for thirty taels of silver as compensation.

Jiang Erlang didn’t believe that this idea of a divorce came from Leng.

Although his health had been weak, he did all the heavy work at home, and Leng never had to do the hard work in the fields if she didn’t want to. He tried his best to make her happy.

Therefore, before they divorced, he had to ask her personally whether she really couldn’t continue to live with him.

If she really had had enough, he wouldn’t find it hard to let go. After all, he already had a son and a daughter from his second wife. Even if he ended up without a wife for the rest of his life, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

When Jiang Liu heard her son agreeing to the divorce, she hurriedly advised, “Son, a divorce is no small matter. You must think it over clearly. Leng…perhaps she only said it out of anger. As long as we show courtesy and apologize to them…”

“No…cough, cough, cough…” Jiang Erlang was so agitated that he started coughing, and he felt pain in his chest again.

After catching his breath, he said, “Mother, we did nothing wrong. Before we got married, I was perfectly healthy and had never suffered any serious illness. ”

The disease he had now was caused by catching a cold when he was doing hard labor duties two years after they got married. Back then, they hadn’t yet divided the family property, and his parents and brothers felt very guilty, using all the family’s money to treat his illness.

He guessed that Leng had been planning for divorce since that time, secretly stashing away ginseng slices from the medicine bag, and bundling all the valuables and money in the house into a package and hiding it under the bed.

If his mother hadn’t accidentally discovered the package and opened it to check, noticing something wrong and questioning her, Leng might have abandoned the child in her womb and absconded with the package, never to return.

Today, the Yue Family suddenly demanded a divorce for their daughter who had been married out for over a decade. Presumably, they had already planned their next move.

Their goal was nothing more than to get a second betrothal gift for their daughter.

But his wife had always seemed bewitched, unable to see her parents’ and brothers’ greed, unwilling to heed his advice, and bent on helping her own family.

Over these years, it seemed he hadn’t wronged his wife or the Yue Family in any way.

He had sent all the customary gifts without fail and spent all the necessary money.

Two years ago, when her younger brother got married, at his wife’s request, he went hunting in the mountains with his two brothers to provide a generous gift. They endured bitter cold and didn’t return home for several days.

Back then he had just recovered from an illness less than a year ago and had managed not to collapse despite his condition.

When he got home, Leng hadn’t asked after him once, but had kept urging him to bring back all the game.

In the end, neither of his brothers took any of the game they had caught. They gave it all to him.

Even so, Leng wasn’t satisfied. She had insisted that he borrow a coin from his parents and take it back to her family.

He still hadn’t repaid that coin to his parents till this day. Of course, his parents had never asked for it back.

So, if Leng were really insistent on a divorce, let her have it. He didn’t owe her or the Leng Family anything.

The next day,

Jiang Erlang confronted the Lengs himself, agreeing to the divorce on the condition that Leng return with their son Huzi so they could discuss the divorce face to face.

And so, Leng came back home that afternoon with Huzi in tow. The couple sat across from each other at the table.

“Are you sure you want a divorce?” Jiang Erlang asked quietly, stifling his sadness.

Leng, her face veiled, nodded her head.

Jiang Erlang closed his eyes and asked, “Why?”

Madam Leng remained silent.

“Is it because of my illness? But I’m now fully recovered, Doctor Li said so,” Jiang Erlang restrained his heartache, trying to salvage the situation.

Leng still kept her head down, without speaking a word.

Jiang Erlang couldn’t help but weep, quickly turning his head and wiping away the tears with his sleeve.

After a long silence, Jiang Erlang asked again, “Is there something troubling you? Let’s discuss it together.”

Leng finally raised her head and said calmly, “Erlang, my trouble is that I married you. I’ve had enough of poverty over the years.”

She paused, then continued, “Let me go, let’s get a divorce.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Erlang felt completely disheartened. Standing up, he said, “Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, I will let you go. I hope you have a peaceful life in the future.”

As he left the room, Jiang Erlang personally went to ask the village head for advice and then sent his eldest nephew to West Village to fetch the matchmaker who arranged their wedding years ago.

Since they were parting, they had to part completely.

So, Chen Sanyou, the village head, and the matchmaker both witnessed the divorce between Jiang Erlang and Madam Leng.

The Leng family also invited several elders of the Leng family to show their support.

After long negotiations, both families agreed that the children, Erni and Huzi, would be cared for by Jiang Erlang, and the Jiang family would pay Madam Leng fifteen taels of silver as a settlement fee and they would have no future dealings.

Chen Cunzheng, the village head, made two copies of the divorce paper. Both families signed and confirmed the divorce, and the elders guaranteed it. The same-day matchmaker also provided a fingerprint as evidence.

From then on, Jiang Erlang and the Madam Leng were formally divorced.

Yingbao didn’t know the five or six hundred coins she had received had caused such a rift in her second uncle’s family.

But even if she did know, she would not feel guilty.

Because Madam Leng was never a suitable match for her second uncle, her six hundred coins were just the fuse.

It was just too bad for Erni and Huzi, they were so young but had already lost their mother.

In her previous life, Madam Leng abandoned her young children early to live her own life after her second uncle’s death.

In this life, Erni and Huzi at least had their biological father to take care of them.

“Yingbao, hurry up, Daddy is leaving.” Jiang Sanlang pretended not to wait for his little girl anymore and started to step out.

Yingbao became anxious, put on her tiger hat and ran after him, blocking her father’s way and reaching out to be hugged.

Jiang Sanlang hoisted his little girl onto the back carrier and went to the front yard to call out his elder and second nephew to go to town together.

Today was the last big market before the New Year. The street was busy with people buying provisions for the New Year.

Yingbao stood in the back carrier, watching the hawkers on both sides of the road from a higher perspective.

There were sellers of chickens, ducks, old geese, eggs, vegetables, wild game, and children’s toys. There were also vendors selling silk and floral headpieces. Most of all, there were New Year pictures of door gods and lucky lanterns, hanging on the wooden racks in bright red, bringing a touch of warmth to the dreary winter.

Yingbao watched with great interest, frequently asking her father to get closer and ask the vendors about their wares.

One hawker displayed children’s clay toys on the ground — small clay pigs, bulls, chickens, ducks, dolls, as well as clay tigers and clay whistles. They all had appropriate colours painted on them, making them look particularly attractive.

“Which one do you want?” Jiang Sanlang asked.

Yingbao shook her head, “I don’t want any.”

She had lost interest in these a long time ago and was just curious to take a look.

The four of them squeezed among the crowd, each going their own way to look for interesting things.

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Quan quickly disappeared from sight, which made Jiang Sanlang shout out, “You two, don’t go too far! I’ll wait outside for you both to go home together!”

“Alright, Uncle San!” Jiang Cheng replied from within the crowd.

Yingbao, who was standing high, could see her two elder cousins still hanging around the juggling stall.

“Daddy, let’s go over there to look at the floral headpieces.” Yingbao pointed to the roadside.

“Alright.”

So, father and daughter began strolling around the roadside stalls..