Liu Shi had no intention of arguing with a shrew and fool like Zhou Shi. She glanced at Jiang Lao San, then picked up the child and moved to sit on the other side, her eyes filled with disappointment. How had she not realized her husband was such a foolish person who couldn't tell right from wrong?
Since fleeing with the Jiang family, she had noticed that Jiang Wen had changed a lot. He had become paranoid, irritable, selfish, and stingy, a perfect replica of Old Madam Jiang!
Perhaps this was Jiang Wen's true nature. His previous gentle and refined demeanor was merely a pretense to achieve fame and win her affection!
Now, with the court in disarray and the future uncertain, her family had completely fallen into decline, so Jiang Wen no longer bothered to pretend, revealing the sordidness hidden in his bones.
Take his recent serious injury, for instance. It was clearly his elder brother's family who, putting aside past grievances, had brought out medicine to save his life. Not only was he ungrateful, but afterward, he blamed his elder brother's family for deliberately setting him up, claiming they had the means to treat him but deliberately delayed, causing his injuries to worsen and nearly cost him his life. And to top it all off, he had the audacity to accept payment for the consultation!
She had told him many times that the reason his sister-in-law hadn't treated him promptly was their own fault, hers and Old Madam Jiang's, and that his sister-in-law was not to blame. But Jiang Wen wouldn't listen; he was convinced that the eldest branch intended to harm him.
Liu Shi found his thinking utterly unreasonable, and the rest of the Jiang family made her feel suffocated.
She truly didn't know how much longer she would have to endure this life. She deeply regretted marrying such a man!
While Liu Shi sat regretting and suffering alone, Old Man Jiang's face grew long after listening to the instigation and complaints of Jiang Lao Er and his wife.
"You don't need to worry about anything else. If he dares to retaliate, I'll skin him alive! No matter what, I'm still his father!"
Jiang Lao Er said, "That's right, Father. Our family can't let him control us!"
Old Madam Jiang then said, "Old man, don't let your judgment be clouded by greed. Don't think that just because he's become the village chief, he's achieved something great, and try to mend your relationship with him. I'm telling you, that ungrateful wretch is heartless. If you humble yourself and try to get close to him, he'll likely seize the opportunity to trample all over you."
She was quite worried that Old Man Jiang might turn around and try to please Jiang Pan's family, so she quickly tried to sow discord, urging Old Man Jiang not to be foolish.
Old Man Jiang pulled a long face and said, "I know what I'm doing!"
Jiang Pan paid no mind to what Old Man Jiang was muttering. In his eyes, they were already irrelevant people. As long as they didn't cause trouble, he would act as if they didn't exist.
Although Jiang Pan wasn't particularly eager to become the village chief, now that he had been appointed, he naturally intended to shoulder the responsibility.
A new official often makes significant changes, and Jiang Pan quickly made arrangements for the areas he believed needed improvement.
For example, he made serious adjustments to matters such as night patrols and security, as well as issues encountered during travel.
The villagers were also very cooperative, so he didn't have to expend too much effort to rectify the previous loopholes.
Following the incident with the bandits, the people of the small mountain village were united as never before, and their morale had changed. Especially the men, who all carried a hint of wildness, making other traveling groups intimidated and unwilling to provoke them.
One month after their departure, the small mountain village's convoy had traversed half of Tongzhou Prefecture.
Winter, as expected, arrived.
As soon as winter set in, the temperature dropped sharply, making people shiver.
The old village chief, whose injuries had greatly improved, huddled in the carriage, warming his hands by blowing on them. He said to Jiang Pan in the carriage beside him, "This Tongzhou Prefecture is further south than our Jianzhou. Logically, winter here should be warmer than in Jianzhou. Why is it so cold?"
Jiang Pan was also freezing. "I don't know. This cold is quite abnormal. It's only just entered winter, and it's already as cold as the peak of winter. Uncle, do you think this winter will be colder than usual? The sky looks like it's about to snow."
The old village chief looked up at the heavily overcast sky, his expression somewhat solemn. "I hope heaven takes pity and doesn't let it snow at a time like this."
Jiang Pan glanced back at the convoy behind them. The villagers had all put on their padded jackets, with the elderly and children wrapped up so that only their eyes were visible.
Yet, even so, they all still felt the cold.
Jiang Wan emerged from the carriage, holding a long scarf and a pair of gloves. "Dad, quickly put on the scarf and gloves."
Jiang Pan looked at the two items, his face full of confusion. "What are these?"
Jiang Wan couldn't explain in detail, so she simply took the initiative to wrap the scarf around her father's neck and then had him extend his hands so she could put on the gloves.
Jiang Pan felt that the cold wind that had been blowing into his neck was instantly blocked, and a warmth began to spread through his body. Although the gloves were a bit cumbersome, they truly warmed his hands.
Jiang Wan said with a smile, "How is it? Warm, isn't it? Mother and Aunt specially made these for you. Big brother and the others have them too."
Jiang Pan looked at the gloves and then reached out to touch the scarf, feeling incredibly touched.
When they stopped for the night, Jiang Pan quickly told the villagers about the scarf and gloves, encouraging them to do the same.
The village women promptly retrieved needles, thread, and old clothes, while the men went to chop wood to prepare for the fire.
Before long, fires were lit, children gathered around the fire to warm themselves, the women busied themselves with needlework, and the men seized the opportunity to prepare their sleeping arrangements for the night.
Jiang Wan, wearing her rabbit fur jacket, nestled by the fire, too lazy to move. Little Ma Zai also seemed a bit listless, resting with its eyes closed on her shoulder.
As she was warming herself, Jiang Wan suddenly felt something cold and heavy hit her head, startling her.
Looking up, she saw raindrops falling from the sky.
It was raining?
The villagers were also hit by the raindrops and looked up at the sky in disbelief.
It had been so long since it last rained that they had almost forgotten about it.
"Oh, it's raining!"
"Heaven, you've finally opened your eyes."
"Why is it raining in such cold weather? I hope it doesn't rain heavily, or we won't have anywhere to shelter!"
Someone suddenly said this, jolting everyone else back to reality.
That's right, what would they do if it rained heavily?
During the brief moment they were stunned, the raindrops began to fall more densely. The villagers frantically rummaged through their belongings to find anything that could shield them from the rain and began covering their carts.
Those were their livelihoods!
Jiang Pan felt that the situation was not good and quickly went to discuss a solution with the old village chief.
"Uncle, I'm afraid this rain is going to get heavy. Many families in the village don't even have straw raincoats. If they get wet, it could cause serious problems."
The old village chief looked at the bare trees in the mountains and was also very anxious. "Even if we let everyone chop trees to build shelters now, there's nothing to cover the top. What should we do?"
Jiang Pan had no good solutions either. All he could do now was to quickly take out all the oilcloth he had at home and distribute it to the families without straw raincoats.
However, he only had a few pieces of oilcloth at home, which wouldn't make much of a difference.
Seeing the rain intensify, the villagers began to panic. In such cold weather, if they got wet, they would surely fall ill.
Jiang Wan quickly let Little Ma Zai out, asking it to go into the mountains to see if there was a suitable place to shelter from the rain.
Little Ma Zai returned after a trip into the mountains, saying it had found a cave that was quite large.
Jiang Wan quickly told Jiang Pan. Jiang Pan said, "When I went into the mountains to chop wood earlier, I saw what seemed to be a cave over there. Why don't we go to that cave to shelter from the rain?"