The Zheng family watched Jiang Wan eat with relish, their smiles more strained than tears.
Zheng Xiaoshan, seeing Jiang Wan devour two pieces of dried rations, began to cry in distress, "How could you eat so much! You ate our family's dried rations, what will we eat?"
Jiang Wan, while eating, replied, "But you ate ours before. Besides, didn't you invite me to eat yourselves? You weren't just joking, were you? Then what should we do? I've already eaten."
Zheng Dayou quickly said, "Not at all, Wanwan, eat up. There's more if it's not enough."
Jiang Wan waved her hand, "No more. These dried rations scratch my throat, eating too much makes me uncomfortable."
Zheng Dayou: ...If it makes you uncomfortable, why did you eat so much!
Er Lang was so embarrassed he curled his toes, holding the dried rations in his hand, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to disappear into.
What's wrong with Wanwan? She never eats like this at home! Why is she acting so wild when we're out?
Zheng Cuier, suppressing her heartache, sidled up to Er Lang, "Brother Er Lang, why are you eating so little? Have another piece. You're such a big guy, you won't be able to manage with so little."
As she spoke, she broke off half of the biscuit she had taken a few bites of and offered it to Er Lang.
Er Lang was about to refuse when a small, chubby hand suddenly reached out and snatched the half-biscuit away, "I'll eat it for my second brother!"
Zheng Cuier: ...Didn't you just say you couldn't eat anymore?
Jiang Wan watched the Zheng family's expressions, which seemed to be on the verge of bursting, and her heart bloomed with joy.
She had figured it out. The Zheng family had designs on her second brother!
She knew it. The Zheng family, who were so stingy they'd scrape the ground, wouldn't have sent things to her house for no reason! So they were after her second brother!
But her second brother was so young, not even fifteen yet!
The Zheng family was truly black-hearted, harming adolescents!
As for Zheng Cuier, Jiang Wan truly looked down on her. Although Zheng Cuier was decent-looking, her words and actions were always petty, and she liked to take advantage of others. Jiang Wan absolutely refused to have such a girl as her second sister-in-law!
No, she had to protect her second brother and keep Zheng Cuier away from him!
With that thought, Jiang Wan stood up, "Second brother, let's go home. I want to go back."
Er Lang quickly stood up, "Okay, let's go home then."
Jiang Wan reached out, snatched the untouched biscuit from his hand, put it back into the Zheng family's bowl, and then put back the half-biscuit she had just snatched. She grabbed Er Lang and ran.
"Thanks for the hospitality, no need to see us off."
After running a good distance, Jiang Wan stopped and asked Er Lang with a serious expression, "Second brother, did Zheng Cuier bring the firewood today, and you accepted it?"
Er Lang scratched his head, "You weren't here then, and sister-in-law wasn't feeling well, so I just took it."
Jiang Wan looked Er Lang up and down, "Did she touch your hand or anywhere else?"
Er Lang looked at her strangely, "What are you doing? You're just a child, why are you asking such odd questions?"
Jiang Wan put her hands on her hips, "What's wrong with me asking? You're my brother, can't I care about you? Hurry up and tell me, did she sneakily touch you while delivering the firewood!"
Er Lang was speechless, "I'm a grown man, not a girl. Who would sneakily touch me for no reason?"
"Really no?"
Jiang Wan's eyes were like searchlights.
Er Lang, annoyed, flicked her forehead lightly, "Are you done yet? What's in that little head of yours?"
Jiang Wan batted his hand away, "Second brother, remember, good boys don't talk to girls so easily. If Zheng Cuier comes to our house again, you need to avoid her, understand?!"
Er Lang nodded helplessly, "Alright, alright, second brother will listen to you. I'll go around her if I see Zheng Cuier from now on, okay? But why do you dislike her so much?"
Jiang Wan was satisfied, "It's not that I dislike her, I just don't like her. I always feel like everyone in their family has eight hundred schemes in their minds, and I don't want to get involved with them."
Her second brother was clearly not yet enlightened about matters of romance, so she couldn't be too blunt. If she made him enlightened, he might even become interested in Zheng Cuier, which would be disastrous.
Er Lang also felt that the Zheng family was not good, so he didn't take it to heart.
When the siblings returned home, Jiang Wan pulled Chen Yuezhi and Su Shi into the carriage and shared her suspicions.
Su Shi was startled, "Does the Zheng family really have such intentions?"
Chen Yuezhi's expression also turned a bit grim, "I think what Wanwan said is probably true. That whole family only acts if there's a benefit. If they didn't have an ulterior motive, why would they suddenly be so eager to curry favor?"
"Zheng Cuier and Er Lang are of similar age. Even if their family doesn't have such intentions, we still need to be careful and keep our distance from them. Otherwise, if some unpleasant rumors spread later, it will be difficult to handle."
Jiang Wan nodded, "I've already warned second brother to stay away from the Zheng family from now on."
Su Shi was a little confused, "Why is the Zheng family so ambitious? In this situation, when they can barely survive, they still have the mind to think about these things?"
Chen Yuezhi sneered, "Precisely because they can barely survive, they've come up with such ideas."
Their family had indeed attracted some attention recently. It was likely that not just the Zheng family had such ideas, but the Zheng family was the first to act.
Thinking of this, Chen Yuezhi felt a headache coming on.
In good years, if her son was coveted by so many families, it would certainly be a good thing.
But in the current precarious situation, she truly had no intention of adding more people to the family.
Moreover, this wasn't just about adding one person. It was likely that those who pounced at this time had very big appetites.
"No, we must have a good talk with Er Lang. His mind is so simple. If some bold girl throws herself at him later, he won't be able to clear his name even if he jumps into the Yellow River!"
Jiang Wan and Su Shi strongly agreed with this.
Er Lang was a very enthusiastic and simple child, full of a sense of justice. If someone were to exploit this and use a little trick to tie his family's reputation to Er Lang, then no matter how unwilling they were, they would have to accept it.
Chen Yuezhi grew increasingly restless, so she quickly called Er Lang into another carriage and lectured him earnestly.
Poor Er Lang was inexplicably given a lecture on ideology and even received a few slaps from his mother, feeling very wronged.
However, the effect was quite noticeable. This silly child took the words to heart. From that day on, whenever he saw girls in the village who were similar to him, he would quickly go around them, afraid of getting too close and being seen by his family, which would lead to another beating.
This greatly distressed the Zheng Dayou family. The Jiang family had told them not to send firewood anymore, and they couldn't shamelessly send it again.
If they wanted Zheng Cuier to take Zheng Xiaoshan to intercept Er Lang, but that child now stayed by their family's carriage whenever he had time, and occasionally went out, he was always accompanied by others. Zheng Cuier had no opportunity at all.
Jiang Wan, through the daily reports from her little subordinate, enjoyed the spectacle immensely and couldn't stop laughing.
Meanwhile, Jiang Pan had been leading the village men around the mountains every evening for the past few days.
Jiang Wan was tired of following Jiang Pan's actions and wanted to avoid those people to go into the mountains herself to get some fruits and wild vegetables, as she was getting a heat rash from eating dried rations and dried snake meat for several days.
So she persuaded San Lang to go up the mountain with her.
San Lang hesitated, "If Dad and Mom find out we're sneaking up the mountain, won't we be beaten to death? No, won't *I* be beaten to death?"
Mom and Dad doted on Wanwan so much, how could they bear to hit her?
So he would be the one to get beaten, and he would have to take Wanwan's share as well.
Jiang Wan continued to persuade him, "With me here, how could I let you get beaten! Don't worry, Mom and Dad won't hit you, they'll even praise you for being diligent! What if we go down the mountain before Mom and Dad come back? Then they won't know!"