Chapter 190: Departure
It was too early, and by the time the two arrived at Little Pearl Village carrying large and small bags of things, the four Jiang siblings had obviously just gotten up not long ago.
The few who were originally still bleary-eyed were jolted completely awake by her huge display.
“Goodness gracious, little brother, did your sister empty out all the supply and marketing cooperatives in our county town?”
This must cost how many money and ration coupons!
Subconsciously swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Jiang Xiaoyuan tugged at his arm and sneaked a glance at their older brother and sister: Suddenly he also really wanted to be her younger brother, cough, just… just a tiny bit.
“Ning Ning, what are you doing this for?”
“Yeah, Ning Ning, you two, come in first with Brother Zhang, come inside and talk!”
Although they lived a bit remotely, there were still several households around. If people saw them later, especially the notoriously gossipy Ma Big Mouth, the family probably wouldn’t have peace until the end of the year.
Welcoming the two into the room, Jiang Xiaoman quickly tidied up the earthen kang again and then hurriedly went to the kitchen to boil hot water.
They had only been separated for one night since recognizing each other, and seeing her again made Jiang Xiaotong’s eyes inexplicably sour. “Sister.”
“Good boy.”
Setting down the things in her hands, Su Ning returned his gentle smile, pulled him over, and sat down casually by the kang edge without much fuss.
“Older Brother Jiang, these things are just a little kindness from me. Please don’t refuse, or I’ll feel bad.”
“This…”
“If you really consider me family like you said yesterday, then don’t stand on ceremony. These are not a burden for me.”
Jiang Xiaojun, who wasn’t quick with words, was completely blocked by her two sentences. Seeing that she had put it this way, refusing further would look bad, so he rubbed his hands and nodded hesitantly.
“Then, just this once. Ning Ning, no more of this next time.”
“Hehe, alright, everything as Older Brother Jiang says.”
After chatting idly for a few sentences, Jiang Xiaojun took his youngest brother to the kitchen to help, and Zhang Ze tactfully left the space for the two and went outside.
……
The walls of the thatched hut were plastered with yellow mud and gravel, the ground was tamped solid but not very even, and after years of trampling, it appeared very smooth.
On the kang cabinet against the wall by the earthen kang, there were stacks of quilts that looked hard even from a glance, and nothing else was visible on the surface.
This home, which could be described as dirt poor, had only one eye-catching point: the wind chime hanging by the window, made from withered branches, thin hemp rope, seashells, and such.
Retracting her appraising gaze, although Su Ning hadn’t experienced it, she could easily imagine how the young Jiang siblings had grown up back then.
“Sis, last night I discussed it with big brother and them. I want to change back to the Su surname.”
Seeing the watery light in her eyes and her face full of heartache, Jiang Xiaotong gently held her hand and timely changed the subject. “Grandpa and Mom are both gone. Sister, why don’t you help me pick a name.”
“Alright.”
Sure enough, mentioning this immediately focused Su Ning’s attention on the major matter of naming her younger brother.
What would be a good name?
Frowning and thinking carefully, after pondering for a moment, a light flashed in her eyes, and her red lips parted lightly.
“Wei, meaning thought.”
“Su Wei, how about that?”
“Su Wei, Su Wei, great! Then that’s what I’ll be called from now on!”
Although he didn’t understand what that sentence from his sister meant, he could tell from the light in her eyes that she really liked this character, so Jiang—oh no, now he should be called Su Wei—unconditionally liked it too.
“Good. As for Little Copper Coin, since Uncle Jiang gave it to you, we can keep using it as your nickname.”
At this, she couldn’t help lifting the slightly long hair on her forehead that covered that scar.
“Sister has a scar removal medicine…”
“No need, sis. I want to keep this scar.”
Grinning and touching the scar, Su Wei shook his head indifferently in refusal. He was a boy, so being disfigured wasn’t a big deal. Besides, this was proof left from Mom protecting him with her life; he wasn’t willing to remove it.
With the name matter settled, next up was the key issue of staying or going.
“Sister, I want to stay here temporarily for now. Wait until big brother marries a wife and big sister gets married, then I’ll go to Xiangnan to be with you forever, okay?”
Jiang Xiaojun was already twenty-one this year, and Jiang Xiaoman was nineteen too. Both were considered late-marrying older youths, all because he and his little brother had held them back.
Since big brother and the others were reluctant to leave, Su Wei could only try to think of a win-win solution.
Participate in big brother and big sister’s major life events, witness their happiness, and then he could leave for Xiangnan with peace of mind.
“Okay, no matter what decision you make, sister supports you.”
This outcome was also the best arrangement for now.
……
She stayed in Little Pearl Village with Su Wei for two days, cultivating the sibling bond between them.
She was also conveniently waiting for the verdict on the three men, Zhou Wei and others, who were detained at the station.
Because Jiang Fumin had feared that saving people would lead to deadly trouble implicating the family, he had quietly destroyed the rope and sack used to bind Su Jinglei.
Even when rescuing the mother and son, he hadn’t mentioned the specific circumstances to his best brother, Jiang Dahai.
If not for Zhou Wei and the other two, scared out of their wits at the station, confessing and pleading guilty one after another, without key physical evidence or witnesses, let alone the ringleader Xu Zixin, even they would be hard to convict heavily.
After the plainclothes police came to the village to examine the corpse, found Jiang Dahai to understand the situation, plus the confessions from Zhou Wei and the other two, the matter was more or less settled on the surface.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Wei, who had acted extremely cowardly, manned up before death. Learning he couldn’t escape being executed, he took all the blame, claiming his wife was coerced and innocent.
The final result: Zhou Wei and his brother-in-law were executed, while Zhou Wei’s wife survived by the skin of her teeth and was sentenced to fifteen years of reform through labor.
As for the mysterious benefactor surnamed Qu who had saved the people, there was still no news at all.
She figured finding someone wouldn’t happen overnight. She also needed to visit Yan Ziyu’s family, and the return trip would take time, so Su Ning decided to head to the Reclaimed Land Farm.
……
On the day of departure, Su Wei and the three Jiang siblings saw them off outside the village but were reluctant to leave for a long time.
Watching her turn to go, Su Wei couldn’t hold back anymore, his eyes red as he quickly stepped forward and hugged her.
“Sister, wait for me. Once big brother and big sister’s matters are done, I’ll come find you. I’ll stay with you forever after that.”
“Good, I’ll wait for my Little Copper Coin. Don’t cry. When sister has time, she can come back again. If you miss sister, you can come early too, stay for a month or two, okay?”
“I got it, sis.”
“Keep the address I gave you safe. The telephone number on it can reach me anytime. Tell sister if anything happens.”
“Before leaving earlier, I left some things under the pillow where you sleep. Look when you get back.”
Hearing the earnest instructions one after another by his ear warmed Su Wei’s heart and completely heated his eyes.
Burying his head in her shoulder until the mist in his eyes dissipated, Su Wei forced a smile and repeatedly agreed.
They all knew this parting today was for better, longer togetherness in the future.
Until the two figures completely disappeared into the distance, Jiang Xiaojun stepped forward and patted his back. “Little brother.”
“Let’s go, big brother. Let’s head home first.”
Seeing he had composed himself and didn’t look too sad, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and nodded. “Good, let’s go home.”
Back home, Su Wei quickly went to the kang and lifted his pillow. Below was a large leather bag and an envelope.
The leather bag was filled with big black ten bills. By the look, there were at least several thousand dollars, not to mention those rare coupons—even the ration coupons were the most valuable nationwide ones.
The envelope contained four identically sized, flat ink jade pendants.
“This! Quick, Little Copper, hurry and chase after them, see if you can still catch up!”
Where had he seen such a large sum of money? Jiang Xiaojun’s mind was filled with only one thought: chase, hurry and get her back.
If they lost this, even working a lifetime, they might not save it up!
Not just the stunned Jiang Xiaojun—even Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Xiaoyuan couldn’t help breathing rapidly, unable to recover for a long time.
“Sister said these are her kindness, and she gave them when leaving just because she’s afraid you’ll refuse.”
To be honest, Su Wei had thought his sister was rich, but he hadn’t had much concept of the Su family inheritance from grandpa that she mentioned.
Seeing so much money and ration coupons for the first time, he was also dumbfounded, his hand holding the leather bag trembling slightly.
“Big brother, just accept it. Let’s build a big house properly for our family. You should also marry a good eldest brother’s wife for us.”
“But this…”
