Chapter 2: The Widow Takes and Eats

This greeting, filled with terror, pierced the dawn of Da Jiang Cun. Even though Widow Wang's house was located at the southernmost part of the village, Jiang Jinshi couldn't guarantee if anyone had heard it.

Hiss! He wouldn't be put in a pig cage, would he?

Jiang Jinshi immediately frowned and pushed open the door, pretending to be coming from outside.

With an expression of dissatisfaction, he said to Widow Wang: "What are you shouting about? You didn't even close the door. I thought something happened to you?"

Widow Wang was stunned for a moment, and only after seeing Jiang Jinshi's face did she put on a shy appearance.

"Jinshi, why are you here?" While speaking, Widow Wang pulled the quilt up on herself, but inadvertently exposed her shoulders.

Secretly cursing this hateful bitch in his heart, Jiang Jinshi said impatiently: "Didn't you say you wanted to exchange your three mu of land for twenty catties of grain? I brought the grain. Let's go to the Village Chief now and write a contract."

Hearing this, Widow Wang was stunned for a moment, even doubting if she hadn't woken up yet.

Seeing that the other party didn't speak, Jiang Jinshi widened his eyes: "Didn't you say you had no strength and couldn't farm, and there was no grain in the fields? And that you could give the land to me to farm, and you only wanted twenty catties of grain to survive?"

Widow Wang was confused. She had indeed said that, but she hadn't said she wanted to exchange the land for grain!

But thinking that Jiang Jinshi had come with grain today, she showed a gentle posture again.

"Jinshi, I am indeed in great difficulty now. You know my cheap husband died early, and I am alone..." At this point, Widow Wang choked up, reached out to wipe away non-existent tears from the corner of her eyes.

Jiang Jinshi waved his hand and said impatiently: "What does your difficulty have to do with me? I came to exchange for land."

Now Widow Wang couldn't hold her face either. How could three mu of land only be worth twenty catties of grain? She didn't know if Jiang Jinshi was playing dumb, or if she hadn't made her meaning clear enough?

Jiang Jinshi opened his mouth wide, putting on an exaggerated expression: "Are you trying to get a free ride?"

Widow Wang heard the term "free ride" for the first time, but she knew that "eating for free" meant taking advantage of others. Combined with "ride," she thought Jiang Jinshi had finally understood her idea.

So Widow Wang put on a coy posture, pretending to be struggling internally, and finally bit her lip and said: "That's right, it's just as you thought. As long as you give me the twenty catties of grain, I can accompany you once."

"What? I give you twenty catties of grain, and I still have to accompany you once? Both eating and taking? Ptooey!" Jiang Jinshi spat with disgust and scolded Widow Wang: "You shameless bitch."

After scolding, he didn't care what Widow Wang thought, grabbed the grain bag, and ran away.

This scolding left Widow Wang stunned for a long time, and only then did she react, her face looking very ugly.

Carrying the grain bag and walking in the village, many diligent villagers had already woken up.

Jiang Jinshi wasn't afraid of being seen by others and just walked openly.

Passing by a mud-walled house, an old woman suddenly rushed out from the door and asked Jiang Jinshi: "Little Ten, where are you coming from so early?"

From his memory, he knew that this person was Old Lady Li, the village's famous gossip, a permanent guest under the big apricot tree, and a well-informed person for ten miles around.

So Jiang Jinshi rolled his eyes and greeted Old Lady Li: "Good morning, Grandma Li! I just came from Aunt Wang Gui's place!"

Wang Gui was Widow Wang's real name, and she had married into Da Jiang Cun from outside.

Although there was no blood relationship between the two, within ten miles, everyone was somewhat related, not to mention fellow villagers. If one had to be specific, this "Aunt" could be called.

These words immediately aroused Old Lady Li's soul of gossip, and she immediately pursued: "Yo! Little Ten, what are you doing at Widow... Wang Gui's place?"

Jiang Jinshi wasn't in a hurry to leave and started chatting with Old Lady Li across the fence.

"Aunt Wang Gui said she couldn't farm and said she would give the land to me to farm, but she wanted twenty catties of grain. I thought, how could such a good thing happen to me? I was so happy I didn't sleep all night and went to Aunt Wang Gui early in the morning to exchange for land." After finishing, Jiang Jinshi patted the cloth bag on his shoulder.

Seeing the heavy cloth bag, Old Lady Li subconsciously believed what Jiang Jinshi said. Moreover, Jiang Jinshi didn't show any guilty look.

"Then did the land exchange happen?"

Jiang Jinshi looked helpless: "If it had been exchanged, this grain wouldn't be on my shoulder. We agreed well yesterday, but today she went back on her word and said she wouldn't exchange it no matter what."

Hearing this, Old Lady Li had already imagined the cause and effect. How could Widow Wang want grain in exchange for land? She was afraid there were some dirty ideas involved, and this Little Ten was just simple enough to take it seriously.

Jiang Jinshi did this to disgust Widow Wang, so she wouldn't keep thinking about his limited grain all day. After all, he wasn't the idiot the original owner was.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Jiang Jinshi didn't dawdle, said goodbye to Old Lady Li, and walked toward the direction of his home in his memory.

Old Lady Li watched Jiang Jinshi leave, feeling that he was a bit different today. Usually, he was the most annoyed by interacting with her, with a scholar's air.

But this wasn't important right now, because she had a more important piece of information to convey.

So she grabbed the small stool in her house and walked toward the big apricot tree in a hurry.

Jiang Jinshi followed his memory to his front door, a fence surrounding a small courtyard, in which sat dilapidated mud walls and a thatched roof.

Pushing open the fence and walking into the courtyard, looking at this broken wooden board that could no longer be called a door, Jiang Jinshi suddenly stopped.

He had no family, so he didn't know how to play the role of a son or a brother. In his impression, the predecessor wasn't a qualified son either.

Having studied for two years, he didn't know many characters, his mouth was full of classical jargon, and he didn't know how to work hard despite his poor family background, only knowing how to complain about heaven and others.

He threw all the farm work to his mother and young sister, and later became addicted to gambling, like a parasite constantly sucking the blood of his family.

His mother had injured her foot due to years of hard labor and was now bedridden. The whole family relied on his eleven-year-old sister to maintain it.

"Why are you back? There is no grain at home! There is nothing left!"

Jiang Jinshi, who was standing at the door lost in thought, was suddenly awakened by a roar.

It turned out that the door had been opened at some point, and a little girl with knotted and split hair and a dark complexion was glaring at him with red eyes.

The previous roar also came from her. This person was the original owner's sister, Jiang Li.

Seeing that Jiang Jinshi didn't speak, Jiang Li was even angrier and kicked Jiang Jinshi directly.

Thinking of the stupid things the original owner had done, Jiang Jinshi didn't dodge.

How much strength could a little girl have?

It wouldn't hurt!

"Ouch! Are you trying to kick me to death?"

Jiang Jinshi leaned against the mud wall, holding his thighs with both hands. If this position had been slightly off, he would have been left without descendants.

As soon as he finished speaking, a weak voice came from inside the room.

"Is that Little Ten back?" ===== CHAPTER 3 =====