Chapter 37: Jiang Xiaxia, Put Down That Head

Jiang Xiaxia, who had been dragging Han Dahong by the feet and trudging forward, gave a startled shiver at the shout. She quickly dropped the woman and looked at Uncle Dalin, whose face had turned pale, with a look of bewilderment: "W-what's wrong?"

Jiang Dalin hurried over to her in a few strides, his expression severe: "You can't do this! If she hits her head on a rock along the way, she could die, do you understand?"

Dalin felt deeply troubled. The little girl was so reckless, and with Zhuguo and Hua not intervening, what would become of this child?

Xiaxia did not know what he was thinking; she simply nodded obediently at his words.

Dalin’s anxiety dissipated instantly, and he thought to himself: *At least the girl is obedient. I suppose she won't cause any trouble in the village!*

Jiang Zhuguo and Jiang Hua, who had just been about to step in, let out a silent sigh of relief upon seeing the little girl set Han Dahong down. They exchanged a glance, both seeing the lingering fear in each other's eyes.

Zhuguo leaned in toward Hua and whispered, "How does this child have so much strength? Is she the only one in our family who inherited your monstrous power?"

Hua shot him a sidelong glance. She knew the little girl had sharp ears and that some things were best not explained there, so she said nothing more.

However, Xiaxia, having overheard Zhuguo, felt encouraged.

As Dalin began shooing away the onlookers and ordering his youngest son to fetch Han Dahong’s husband, Jiang Tie, Xiaxia trotted over on her short legs to where Han Dahong’s head lay.

Then, under Dalin’s horrified gaze, she grabbed a handful of Han Dahong’s hair, lifted her head clean off the ground, and began trudging forward again.

"Let go of that head!"

This time, Dalin didn't dare yell at the top of his lungs, fearing that the sudden shock would cause the girl to release her grip, which would surely prove fatal for Han Dahong.

"Xiaxia, let go!"

Jiang Jing stepped forward quickly, catching Han Dahong’s head with his hands: "You can't drag someone by their head like that!"

Xiaxia looked at her uncle’s stern expression and withdrew her small hand. Turning to look at her grandmother, she caught sight of the three children behind her staring in shock. She immediately brushed the stray hairs of Han Dahong from her palm onto the ground and gave them a stomp.

"Falling hair, her own!"

Xiaxia hid her hands behind her back, offering a thin, unconvincing explanation.

"Let me handle this!"

Liu Jinhua had been watching from the sidelines; she had gone from stunned silence to a state of calm. She stepped up and patted Dalin on the shoulder, looking at him as if he were quite ignorant: "Look at you! When your Auntie Hua was about this girl's age, she could carry a woodcutter’s axe up the mountain to hunt wild boars! This Han Dahong character—can she even compare to a wild boar?"

Jiang Hua looked resigned, secretly lamenting: *How many years ago was that?*

Why did this woman insist on bringing that up every time? True, she had gone up the mountain with an axe, but she certainly hadn't hunted any wild boars! In those days, people could barely fill their bellies; if she had actually encountered a boar, she wouldn't have been hunting it—she would have been the boar's meal.

The Jiang family watched as Liu Jinhua performed a swift, fluid motion, hoisting Han Dahong up like a sack of sand and striding away.

Once she was gone, Jiang Hua’s expression turned icy. Her gaze swept over the family like frost. Without a word, she firmly picked up Xiaxia and walked into the house.

Jiang Zhuguo’s face burned with embarrassment. He glanced sideways at Dalin and invited, "Dalin, why don't you come in and sit for a bit?"

"No, no, no, I've got things to do at home, I'm heading back!" Dalin shook his head like a rattle, feeling a genuine sense of dread. The older woman could hunt boars with a blade in her youth, and the little one could effortlessly lift an adult—if he went in there now, there was no guarantee Auntie Hua wouldn't send him to meet his ancestors. Thinking this, he waved his hand and scurried away as if his feet were greased.

Jiang Jing leaned in toward his father and whispered with a gloating smirk, "Dad, you scared him off. Now there’s no one left to save you!"

Zhuguo glared at his mischievous youngest son with disdain. He frowned and walked a few steps outside, looking suspicious: "What is that girl’s background, anyway? Why does your mother like her so much? Could it be that you, you rascal, have been out there..."

"Dad, what are you saying! Am I that kind of person?" Jiang Jing looked at his father, speechless and exasperated, and quickly gave a rough account of how he had found her while injured and been saved by her.

Because the mission details were classified, Jiang Jing had to be vague: "Our commander said that when this girl was abducted, she might have seen things she shouldn't have, without realizing it herself! I saw that she was all alone with nowhere to go, and since she saved my life, so..."

Before he could finish, Zhuguo kicked him, scolding with disdain: "Too much nonsense!"

The latter part of his story was clearly a rambling excuse. Back when he and his wife were involved in intelligence, this boy wasn't even born; did he really think he could feed him lies? He only needed to know if the girl was related to the Jiang family.

Now that he knew she wasn't, Zhuguo felt a strange sense of emptiness. He clasped his hands behind his back, sighed, and turned to walk into the house.

The smirk on Jiang Jing’s face vanished the moment his father sighed. He, too, had hoped the girl was related to them, but since Xiaxia had parents—even if they were no longer around—she couldn't possibly be his older brother's child.

Father and son followed each other into the house.

Seeing that everyone had gathered, Jiang Hua said calmly, "Speak."

"It’s my fault!" Lin Ya stepped forward, looking exhausted and filled with guilt, her sallow face marked by self-reproach. "It was about my family, and Jiang Tie’s household found out, and they..."

"Grandma, it’s not Mother’s fault!" Jiang Zhiming said anxiously, stepping up to defend her. "They heard about Uncle’s situation and found out from the county that there would be a pension after the incident. They set their sights on that money! Since Grandpa and Grandma wouldn't let them in, they turned their schemes toward Father!"

Zhiming glanced at his expressionless grandmother and continued: "The educated youth in the brigade brought word that some university professors were being sent to the countryside for ideological reform! Han Dahong knew about my mother’s family background, so she told Mother about it, planning to send Mother back to the city, and then they..."

Xiaxia listened, feeling completely bewildered. Her head buzzed as she tried to make sense of it all. Finally, she looked up at her grandmother with wide, innocent eyes: "Want to trade, Second Aunt?"