CHAPTER 12: CHAPTER 9: THE SWALLOW RETURNS 9

Jiang Mingyue immediately started walking forward cheerfully.

"Sis, why didn’t you call me when you woke up? Where’s Mom and the boys? Come eat something."

Seeing Jiang Mingyue all of a sudden, Jiang Zhenmei was clearly surprised for a moment, and then put down the hoe, "Ming Yue, how did you find us here?"

Before she could answer, more people gathered around them, and it turned out to be Mrs. Jiang and the two brothers.

"Yeah, Ming Yue, why are you over here? Your leg is still hurt, right? Let Mom take a look."

Jiang Mingyue quickly avoided her, "It’s nothing now. I came to bring you buns to eat, sit down quickly, one for each of you."

Jiang Mingyue unceremoniously pulled everyone down to sit and stuffed buns into their hands one by one.

"Eat quickly, they’re delicious. I’ve already eaten mine, so hurry up and eat yours before they get cold."

Mrs. Jiang was about to split hers in half for Jiang Mingyue, but Mingyue stopped her in time.

Seeing Mingyue insist, the brothers and sisters then happily started eating.

Actually, they really wanted to eat too; such white buns with a meaty aroma, they never had tasted them before, envying others. Now, thanks to their little sister, they were able to have a taste.

In the book, Big Brother is twenty-two this year, and Second Brother is twenty-one, which is considered mature in rural areas and they should have long been married.

But in poor Qingshan Village, the girls from nearby villages were unwilling to marry into the village. The local girls, due to poverty, thought of marrying out of the village. Gradually, the number of mature bachelors in Qingshan Village increased, especially in families as impoverished as the Old Jiang Family, really, no one showed interest.

Jiang Mingyue sighed inwardly: A man should provide clothes and food, but both brothers could hardly feed themselves, why would any girl want to marry them?

Once they finished eating, Jiang Mingyue handed out peanut brittles, but the whole family refused.

Big Brother: "I say, little sister, how can you let a grown man like me have such good stuff? Keep it for yourself to enjoy."

Second Brother: "Moon, if there’s any good stuff like this in the future, you should hide it, don’t show it to anyone, eat it secretly, we won’t blame you."

...

Jiang Mingyue: "..." It was truly amusing yet moving.

Finally, Ming Yue only parted with two pieces, one to Mrs. Jiang and one to the third sister.

"Ming Yue, the sun is too bright, hurry back, we’ll finish planting the corn and then head home."

Under the persuasion of the whole family, Jiang Mingyue had no choice but to carry her basket back ahead.

It looked like Mrs. Jiang and the rest were planting corn, in designated plots, unlike the bustling harvest season that required everyone to gather and rush the harvest.

Back home, Jiang Mingyue thought to learn to do some work herself and rolled up her sleeves to make lunch for the whole family.

She took a quick look around and found only half a basket of potatoes and sweet potatoes, along with half a vat of coarse grains, which she did not fancy, so she headed out again and ran into the same lady she’d asked for directions from earlier.

"Jiang Family’s Xiao Mingyue, what’s the matter?"

"Auntie, I want to make a meal for my brothers, but there’s no rice or flour at home, could you lend me some?"

Auntie suddenly burst into laughter, "You’re better than your mom, she’s so stubborn, would rather starve than ask for help. You’re willing to borrow grain for your family, it shows a good heart that impresses this old lady."

"You’ve found the right person, come in."

As a result, Jiang Mingyue borrowed half a bag of wheat flour, about ten kilograms, from the old lady.

"Thank you, Auntie, once it’s ready I’ll bring you a bowl."

The original owner couldn’t cook, but she could.

Jiang Mingyue busied herself for a while, estimated the time, and made hand-pulled noodles for the family. Though there was no meat, she managed to find some dried mushrooms, soaked them in hot water, and took some chives and lettuce from the backyard, washed them clean, and stir-fried them with the remaining sesame oil, seasoned it, and served a big bowl to each before heading out with a bowl.

"Auntie, come quickly and try the noodles I made."

But without waiting for her arrival, Jiang Mingyue didn’t linger, left the bowl, and went away.

Returning home, she found everyone was back, but the yard was strangely quiet.

It felt eerily unusual.

Just as Jiang Mingyue was about to speak, Jiang Zhenmei pulled her aside, "Little sister, did you borrow grain from Granny Shi?"

The news traveled so fast?

"Yes, we have no grain, I..."

Jiang Zhenmei was impatient and stomped, "Little sister, we can’t repay. We’re barely eating enough coarse grain to be half-full now, we still manage two meals a day, but during the idle farming season, we’ll only manage one meal a day. We have no surplus grain ever to pay her back."

"Oh, why scare her? Borrowed it, now it’s borrowed. Send your brothers to hunt up the mountain later, pay back with meat then."

Compared to her third sister, Mrs. Jiang was exceptionally calm.

Even Jiang Mingyue was calm: Once she got seeds, her three-football-field-sized farm space would be more grain than they could consume.

Big Brother, Second Brother: "Yes, tonight we’ll head up the mountain hunting, promise to bring back a wild boar to Granny Shi."

"Big Brother, Second Brother, can you take me along while hunting?"

Jiang Jianjun initially intended to refuse, but seeing the new sister’s eyes sparkle like stars, agreed kindly with a nod.

"Okay."

"I’ve made lunch, you all should sit down to eat."

The whole family then turned their attention to the noodle soup on the table.

The enticing aroma wafted out, unbelievably fragrant, the two brothers couldn’t resist and started devouring it first.

Just one bite, and the brothers were so amazed they almost couldn’t speak: It’s unbelievably delicious! Didn’t Ning Yan say this sister was someone never touching spring water?

But looking at this culinary skill, they’d never seen cooking this fragrant.

Mrs. Jiang also kept complimenting, "Our Ming Yue’s cooking skills are truly excellent, far better than any cook I’ve seen."

"As long as you like it."

Jiang Zhenmei paused for a moment: Still the sister wouldn’t call Mom directly, feeling somehow sad.

After lunch, the two brothers voluntarily tidied up to wash dishes, which surprised Jiang Mingyue more than anything.

Wasn’t it said that rural men are very chauvinistic, not to mention washing dishes, they wouldn’t even enter the kitchen?

But Jiang Family brothers were clearly different.

Jiang Mingyue didn’t like washing dishes, so she wouldn’t compete for the task.

In her free time, Jiang Mingyue pulled Jiang Zhenmei aside, "Third Sister, there’s a packet of brown sugar in the cabinet, you and Mom should drink more brown sugar water, especially during that time, it’s good for women’s health."

Jiang Zhenmei was surprised for a moment, her face then flushed, "Thank you Ming Yue, but that stuff is expensive, you should keep it for yourself."

"How could I drink it all alone? Rest assured, your sister is bringing prosperity with her, with me here, our family’s days will surely get better and better."

"Hmm. By the way, Ming Yue, do you have anything you want to ask me?"

"Yes!" Like in the book it said she and Jiang Zhenzhu were swapped intentionally by Mrs. Jiang to allow her rural daughter to live a better life in the city.

But after meeting Mrs. Jiang, Jiang Mingyue couldn’t believe it, that book seemed to fabricate nonsense again.