Chapter 5
The past
Jiang Xia was only disappointed for a short while and ended up not caring much about it. After all, both her parents had new powers, and she just had to rely on them to protect her.
The three of them figured that this car could not be driven out, and its biggest function now was to store things.
They tested it out and found that if they placed an object outside the car, it would not disappear with the vehicle. The three of them devised a plan to put the items in the car separately so they could find them whenever they needed them.
“Xiao Xia, why did you leave your necklace here? You wear it all the time,” Zhou Lan, who was packing up in the front seat, said to Jiang Xia with a necklace in her hand.
Jiang Xia looked up and saw a piece of jade in her mother’s hand. The jade was carved into the shape of a small bamboo joint and was tied to an ordinary red rope.
Jiang Xia recalled what happened last night and laughed. “I don’t know if Jades has spirits,” Jiang Xia said with a smile, “But I put it in my bag last night when I felt it getting hot while I was sleeping. I didn’t expect something like this to happen today.”
“Jade can give off heat?” Zhou Lan exclaimed in surprise.
“I don’t know! Maybe I was just confused in my sleep.” After saying that, Jiang Xia took the necklace and continued, “Maybe all these happened because I took it off.”
“Then you try wearing it!” Jiang Chuan, who was taking things out of the trunk, said.
Jiang Xia laughed it off, placed the jade in her pocket, and continued packing. After the three of them finished packing, Jiang Chuan was the first to mention the ‘new’ family, and it caused the three of them to fall silent.
Jiang Chuan’s family in this world was pitiful; his family did not like him since he was born. He did the most work and ate the least. In the past, before everyone got married, he was bullied by her brothers and sisters. After they married, he was bullied by his sister-in-law, nephews, and nieces.
Also, Jiang Chuan’s wife had not had a good day since she married him. Even the house previously allocated to them had been snatched away by his nephews. The family of five could only hide in the thatched hut for the rest of their days. Next to them was a pigsty, and the smell was simply indescribable.
Suddenly, Zhou Lan recalled Jiang Chuan’s mother’s face when she said she would sell Jiang Xia in exchange for food. A hint of murderous intent emerged in her eyes.
“Why do you keep that money-losing thing all day? All she does all day is eat, eat, eat! Our family doesn’t have the food to keep worthless goods. Hurry up and give her to me. Our neighbor is still waiting!” Jiang Chuan’s mother’s shrill voice echoed in Zhou Lan’s mind, making her want to return with a vegetable knife immediately and cut that old thing.
Jiang Xia didn’t know why her mother was so angry suddenly, so she gave her father a quick look.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Although Jiang Chuan was also puzzled, he could make some guesses from his years of understanding as husband and wife.
“I remember what that old hag said about selling Jiang Xia,” Zhou Lan said.
Jiang Chuan’s face darkened upon hearing this. Jiang Chuan knew what his wife was talking about from the memory he had also gained.
Jiang Chuan’s mother said those words with only Jiang Chuan and Zhou Lan around; Jiang Xia was not present; therefore, she was not sure what they were talking about.
Jiang Chuan and his wife from this world were soft-spoken and did not dare to talk back to their parents. They could only convince them they would find food and should not sell Jiang Xia.
“When we get back, we’ll part with them.”
Jiang Xia looked at her parents with a dumbfounded expression on her face. What exactly did her grandmother in this world say to make her parents so angry?’
“If I could, I don’t want to go back there. Just thinking about those people’s faces makes me sick.” Zhou Lan retracted her killing intent and sighed in sadness.
“We have to go back. Otherwise, everyone will think we’re dead, and our household register will be canceled. If that happens, it will not be convenient for us to go anywhere. Moreover, there is still a third daughter there. We can’t just leave her in a tiger’s den, can we?”
No matter what era it was, a household register was a big deal. Without a household register, one could not even enter the city.
When her father mentioned the third daughter, Jiang Xia was reminded of the little girl who was even skinnier than she was.
Although the three girls were thin and small, they had good looks and were beautiful. Otherwise, the eldest daughter wouldn’t have been able to be sold for so many things.
The three sisters had a good relationship. The two sisters cried for several days when the eldest daughter got married. Only when old lady Jiang used a broom to beat the two of them did they stop crying.
As she thought about it, Jiang Xia, who was usually calm and collected, began to bear a grudge against old lady Jiang and the Jiang family.