With the help of the villagers, Jiang Axiu's father was laid to rest.
Since it was late summer, the weather was still hot.
For fear of spreading the plague, a few brave villagers put the squashed bodies into sacks and pushed them to the foot of a distant mountain for burial.
Jiang Fuzi is the head of this village and Jiang Axiu's great-uncle.
He had taught private school in the county town in his early years, so he was respectfully called "Master Jiang". When he was old, he returned to the countryside to settle down and was elected as the village chief.
He invited Zhu Renxia to his home with a heavy heart, firstly to thank him for his generous helping hand, and secondly to seek help from him.
Sixteen-year-old Jiang Axiu put away her sorrow and was busy cooking together with her aunt Xu.
Smoke rose from the courtyard.
Not long after, dinner was ready.
A bowl of cabbage stewed with tofu, a bowl of salted wild vegetables, and a plate of fried peanuts.
In addition, there is also a plate of fried river delicacies.
It turned out that Jiang Axiu's younger brother Jiang Xiaoyu had just caught it from the river.
When Jiang's father was killed by Fatty Tian, this naughty thirteen-year-old boy was catching fish in the river, so he escaped.
Because there were few dishes, only Master Jiang and Zhu Renxia drank together.
Not to mention the Jiang Axiu siblings, even the village chief's son Jiang Erhu could only sit aside and watch.
Master Jiang took out a jar of liquor that had been stored for many years from under the bed and filled it up for Zhu Renxia himself.
"Thank you for your generous help, young master. We are in a remote and remote area and cannot entertain guests. Please don't be offended by the small meal!"
"Thank you, village chief, for your hospitality."
Zhu Renxia was already hungry, so he didn't hesitate to drink it all in one gulp.
"If I had known that Dali would suffer such a disaster, I should have married Axiu to the Zhang family in the neighboring village during the Chinese New Year."
Master Jiang sighed, raised his cup, raised his head and drank.
Jiang Axiu held the wine jar and poured wine: "Uncle, I am going to the county government to file a complaint. Even if I break my leg, I will seek justice for my father."
"Nonsense!"
Master Jiang glared at his niece, "This evil young man claims to be the son of Liping Prefect Tian Zongren. Do you think our Jinping County magistrate is brave?"
There were tears in Jiang Axiu's eyes: "I don't believe it. There is no king's law in this world! If Jinping County doesn't dare to take care of it, I will sue Guizhou Ancha Division! If Yingcha Division doesn't dare to take care of it, I will sue Yingtian Mansion!"
Zhu Renxia raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp. He looked at Jiang Axiu with admiration, "I didn't expect Axiu to have such courage. She is quite similar to me, Zhu Renxia."
Jiang Xiaoyu, who was thirteen years old and slightly thin, gritted his teeth and said, "Why bother? I'll find the Tian family with a dagger and stab him to death while he's not paying attention."
"Shut up, everyone!"
Master Jiang was furious and slapped the table and scolded the two siblings, "Dali is already dead, and I can't let you siblings die. No one is allowed to mention revenge in the future."
Jiang Erhu's wife, Mrs. Xu, sighed quietly: "Let alone revenge, I'm afraid that Mr. Tian will come back to seek revenge, and the whole Jiangjiazhuang may suffer."
Jiang Erhu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly knelt down in front of Zhu Renxia: "I know that you are good at magic, sir. Please stay and protect our village."
Mrs. Xu also knelt down and kowtowed: "Please save Jiangjia Village, sir. We don't want to leave our hometown."
"I don't know magic, why do you and your wife say this?"
Zhu Renxia looked surprised. Could it be that they couldn't see the gods in the sky?
"Everyone kneel down."
Master Jiang scolded Jiang Axiu and his sister, and he also knelt down and begged.
"Young master said a few words to the sky, and those evil slaves turned into a puddle of flesh. I think you can summon gods even if you don't know magic. I hope you will be merciful and protect our Jiangjia Village from this catastrophe. .”
Zhu Renxia hurriedly helped Jiang's family up.
"That's when my patron saint appeared. Didn't you see the god in the sky? He looks exactly like me?"
"Never saw it."
Jiang Erhu and his wife shook their heads together, "Please Master, please stay and protect our village."
Zhu Renxia said in embarrassment: "I don't know when the god will show up next time. He may not be used to the misdeeds of Tian, so he punished him."
Master Jiang suddenly changed the subject: "I think the young master is in his early twenties, right?"
"twenty-three."
"Have you ever married a wife?"
"I haven't received a salary in three years. I borrow rice from the palace to eat. How can I find a wife?"
Master Jiang stroked his beard and nodded: "Axiu is sixteen years old this year and has not been betrothed to anyone yet. How about I act as a matchmaker and betrothed to the young master?"
"Grandpa uncle."
Jiang Axiu blushed immediately, "My father has just been buried, why are you discussing my marriage?"
Master Jiang drank another cup: "Only by marrying you off can I save your life."
Zhu Renxia glanced at Jiang Axiu.
I saw that she had an upright appearance and a tall figure. She had no flaws except that her skin was slightly tanned by years of hard work.
Not to mention in this remote country, she is considered a beauty even in the city of Guilin.
As a declining royal family who couldn't afford to eat, it was a blessing to be able to marry such a daughter-in-law.
"It's okay to be born late."
Zhu Renxia said frankly, "But now I am so poor that I can't even afford the betrothal gift."
"You saved Xiu'er's life. Our Jiang family doesn't want betrothal gifts."
"Although I am doing business secretly now, I have not been expelled from my citizenship. If I marry, I must report it to the court."
"It doesn't matter, Xiu'er can wait."
Zhu Renxia stood up and saluted: "If Miss Jiang doesn't dislike me for being poor, Wan Sheng will naturally agree to this marriage."
Master Jiang showed a happy smile: "That's great. Xiu'er has married into the clan. I think Fatty Tian will not dare to cause trouble again."
Jiang Axiu blushed and said: "Young Master has no way to repay you for saving your life. How can Xiu'er despise you for being poor? Even if you follow the Young Master and eat chaffy vegetables, it will still be my blessing."
"Since we are a family from now on, let's stop seeing each other and come and have a meal together."
Zhu Renxia invited sister and brother Jiang Axiu and Jiang Erhu to have a meal together.
———————
Ever since he discovered that the salesman's pick had grown bigger, Zhu Changan had been restless, circling around the coffee table like ants on a hot pot.
I wish that the little shopkeeper's pick could instantly become a normal size so that I could take it to the antique market and inquire about the market price.
"Even if they can't be used as cultural relics, these silver hairpins, bracelets, Buddhist beads, etc., can still be sold for a thousand or eight hundred yuan, right? It's not like they're just selling for two hundred yuan, they're a rip-off!"
"It's a pity that Jiangjiacun is too poor and doesn't have anything valuable. Otherwise, it shouldn't be difficult to collect hundreds of thousands of yuan for the surgery."
Before I knew it, it was already ten o'clock in the evening in reality.
Zhu Changan took out a box of frozen dumplings from the refrigerator and threw them into the pot to cook. After eating, he rummaged through the box and found a magnifying glass. He sat on a chair and continued to observe the world in the box.
The small mountain village was dark and the sky was filled with stars.
Zhu Changan saw the slightly drunk Zhu Renxia and Jiang Axiu walking out of the village chief's house and returning to the thatched hut next door.
The lights in the room didn't turn on, and then there was no movement.
"We're living together like this. Did we get a wife for nothing? This guy is very lucky!"
At this moment, Zhu Changan was a little envious of Zhu Renxia in the box.
He thought of his girlfriend Yang Nan, who broke up with him not long ago. Because she did not satisfy her wish to buy a diamond ring worth 38,888 yuan as a birthday gift, she broke up without hesitation.
In this age of materialistic desires, the chances of finding a woman who lives in poverty are about the same as winning the lottery.
"Ah wu..."
Zhu Changan yawned and was about to go to bed, when he suddenly saw his name appearing on the LCD thermometer of the fish tank.
[Zhu Changan: Health value 32, +1 today]
Zhu Changan frowned: "Health value 32? What does this mean?"
