Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  As compared to whatever she had in mind, letting Miao Jing decide on who to marry didn’t mean much anymore. Anyway, Second Auntie Miao had already gotten the best deal.

  Miao Jing was in shock. When had her second auntie ever spoken to her so nicely?

  Second Auntie Miao didn’t give Miao Jing any chance to understand the situation before chasing her away.

  Miao Jing simply thought that she wouldn’t be at a loss since she would be able to decide whom she would marry as long as she stayed away from the Miao family for three days. She could do that. As such, she turned and left.

  Second Auntie Miao heaved a sigh of relief and put on a goose-bumps-inducing smile after sending Miao Jing off.

  Old Zhai lifted his head to look at Second Auntie Miao. “Did someone visit?”

  Second Auntie Miao’s gaze shifted uneasily, not daring to meet Old Zhai’s dark eyes. “Yes, someone returned. It was my daughter, Lanlan. My mom hasn’t been in good health lately, and she misses her granddaughter very much. I handed her her clothes and asked her to go visit her grandma. Chief Zhai, what’s the matter?”

  “Your daughter, Miao Lanlan?”

  “Yes, yes. Chief Zhai, you have such a good memory. I only said it once, but you were able to remember it. Jingjing, what are you doing? Hurry and pour some water for your Uncle Zhai.”

  Miao Lanlan did not respond, and after zoning out for three seconds, she finally realized that the ‘Jingjing’ her mother was calling for was her.

  Miao Lanlan’s movements were a little stiff, but she listened to her mother, poured some water for Old Zhai, and addressed him as ‘Uncle Zhai’.

  Of course, a farmer’s family had no tea to serve, and it was all filled with stalks and old tea leaves.

  But Old Zhai had grown up in such a family too and was thus used to it. “Can you tell me how Brother and Sister-in-law Miao passed away?”

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  Second Uncle Miao, who had remained silent, felt his legs give way. He opened his mouth but couldn’t speak a word, and beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

  Seeing Second Uncle Miao in a fright, Second Auntie Miao was incensed. Why was her husband acting as though he had caused his brother’s death?

  “Chief Zhai, this was what happened. At that time, my sister-in-law was already nine-month pregnant. My elder brother wanted to earn more money to raise his child, so he went into the mountains to get some ginseng but fell to his death. After my sister-in-law heard about it, she went into labor but soon followed my elder brother as well. I’m not trying to say anything, but in the past, no one would have dared to raise a child like Miao Jing. She was like a jinx—no, Chief Zhai, that’s not what I meant. I know. We believe in science. Science.”

  Miao Jing was a jinx, but she believed in science.

  If not for the kindness of their family that they were willing to take Miao Jing in, Miao Jing would have starved to death a long time ago.

  All credit went to their family that Miao Jing was still alive and well today. Now, she was just trying to get some benefits back from Miao Jing. That wasn’t asking for too much, was it?

  To Second Uncle Miao’s family, Old Zhai’s appearance was like gold falling from the sky.

  When Second Auntie Miao had first heard that he was a chief, she had been so frightened that her face had turned pale.

  Then, when she learned that Father Miao had saved him not just once but twice, Second Auntie Miao immediately understood that the chief was living comfortably now and wanted to repay Father Miao.

  If Father Miao had still been alive, Second Uncle Miao’s family would never have been able to be in the spotlight. Nonetheless, they would be able to get some benefits.

  Although Second Auntie Miao had never witnessed personally just how well Father Miao treated Second Uncle Miao, she had heard all about it.

  Unfortunately, Father Miao was no longer around. But the first thing the chief had asked upon learning about it was whether Father Miao’s child was a boy or a girl.

  Second Uncle Miao replied that it was a girl.

  Old Zhai asked, “What’s her name?”

  Second Auntie Miao hurriedly responded before Second Uncle Miao had the chance to do so. “Miao Lanlan!”

  Second Uncle Miao looked at Second Auntie Miao in shock, wanting to ask her what she meant. When had his daughter become his elder brother’s daughter?

  Second Auntie Miao was afraid that Second Uncle Miao would ruin it for her and nudged him, wanting him to keep quiet so that she could continue speaking.

  Second Auntie Miao felt that this was the best thing that had ever happened to their family.

  Initially, she had still been worried about what kind of family to find for her precious daughter so that she would have a blissful life.

  With this chief in front of them, she didn’t even need to worry about that now. If the chief had a son, it was even possible for her to marry her daughter to the chief’s son based on the fact that Father Miao had saved him twice.

  After all, the chief owed the Miao family two lives.

  Old Zhai laughed. “Miao Lanlan? Isn’t she called Miao Jing?”

  Second Auntie Miao felt her heart almost leap out of her chest. Did the chief know Miao Jing? Then, what would she do now that she had lied?

  “I was the one who gave her that name. I made a pact with Brother Miao to name his child Miao An if it was a boy, and Miao Jing if it was a girl. Did he change the name in the end?”

  “No, no. My elder brother’s daughter is named Jingjing. I was so panicked that I called out my own daughter’s name. Don’t misunderstand, chief. Yes, my niece is Miao Jing. So, you were the one who named her. I was wondering how my elder brother managed to come up with such a sophisticated name when he wasn’t educated.”

  He had never met her. That was good.

  As long as no one in the village caught wind of the situation before she sent Lanlan over, her daughter would have a blessed life awaiting her.

  It was all thanks to her as a smart mother that Lanlan could live a good life.

  Of course, if her daughter did well, she couldn’t possibly forget about her parents and younger brothers who were toiling it out in the countryside back home.

  Their whole family would lead comfortable lives with their daughter taking care of them in the future.

  Second Auntie Miao thought that she had succeeded. Of course, if Old Zhai had been taken in by her little lies, there was no way he would have become a chief.

  Old Zhai remembered clearly that Father Miao had been crippled because of him and had even been chased out by his family.

  Old Zhai had always wanted to repay Father Miao for that but had never gotten the chance to visit his family.

  In the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chiang Kai Shek faction that retreated to the other side of the gulf was always trying to return. Not only did Old Zhai have to manage his soldiers, but he also had to go to the frontlines of the war. His wife was exceptionally weak, and that worried Old Zhai as well. Old Zhai didn’t even have the time to take care of his children, let alone visit his benefactor, Father Miao.

  Later on, the tumultuous decade further exhausted the old revolutionary, Old Zhai.

  They had finally toppled the ‘Four Olds’, and political order had finally been restored…… After putting everything in place, Old Zhai finally had the chance to visit the Miao family to see how Father Miao was doing.