Chapter Seven: You Must Take Responsibility for Us Orphans and Widows!

“Then I’ll go to the village chief tomorrow to get it notarized. But what about this rice…”

After hearing Xie Changzhi’s words, Mrs. Jiang looked at her two children and finally bit her lip and nodded.

Well, let’s try this once. If these people turn out to be a mistake, she could always swallow her pride and beg her in-laws again.

“Miss Jiang, Mo Fei and I knocked the people unconscious and brought them back,” Mo Bai said, pulling out a bundle from his怀抱 and handing it over.

The others leaned in to take a look and found a jar of salt and a small bucket of oil! And the amount was more than what Mrs. Jiang had—it was clear they had brought some from the others as well.

Jiang Yuan’s surprised gaze fell on him, and Mo Bai hurriedly added, “No one saw the two of us. Miss Jiang, you can rest assured.”

No one saw? Jiang Yuan smiled faintly and waved her hand. “Mother, go hide these somewhere safe so no one can find them again.”

Mrs. Jiang caught the implication in her words and couldn’t help but ask what she intended to do.

“Something brilliant!” Jiang Yuan’s mind clicked as she figured out the next plan, her spirits lifting and her brows raising slightly.

“Mother, let me help you.”

Xie Changzhi put down the axe. Mrs. Jiang couldn’t refuse him, so he carried the bundle and the sack of rice on his back, jumping lightly on the spot.

“Not heavy at all, Mother!”

“Thank you for your hard work, Changzhi.”

He looked obedient, his voice gentle. When Jiang Yuan glanced at him, he froze for a moment, then blushed and turned his head, following Mrs. Jiang’s pace.

“There! It’s all taken care of!”

Xie Changzhi’s back was blocked by a rabbit shedding its blood-stained fur. Xie Yanzhi held up the rabbit from afar, pinching his nose with a frown.

“Look carefully. When it’s time to divide the meat, you can’t say that neither I nor Father did any work!”

The boy shouted, drawing Jiang Yuan’s attention.

“Thanks for your hard work,” Jiang Yuan said without making things difficult for him.

Xie Yanzhi had been ready to argue but stopped when Jiang Yuan smiled at him. He snorted softly and wiped his hands with a small handkerchief he had pulled out from somewhere.

…

In the kitchen, only Jiang Yuan and Xie Changzhi remained.

The fire in the stove burned red-hot. She poured a small amount of oil that Mrs. Jiang had specially set aside into the pot. The oil began to bubble finely. Skillfully, Jiang Yuan slid the cut pieces of rabbit meat gently into the oil. Instantly, a sizzling sound rang out as the hot oil met the fresh meat, releasing an enticing aroma that quickly filled the entire kitchen.

Jiang Yuan swiftly closed the front and back doors, but much of the fragrance still escaped.

Fortunately, their house was near the end of the village, with no neighbors on either side, so the aroma likely dissipated in the icy cold outdoors.

---

“Father, I’m hungry.”

“Thunk!”

A small piece of wood was chopped apart. Xie Yanzhi pouted, lazily raising his axe and chopping at the firewood slowly.

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