Chapter 346: Someone from the Army

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Someone from the Army

’There’s no need to take a fake husband to my parents’ graves... right?’

While she was still agonizing over it, Guan Shan emerged, basket in hand.

"Let’s go."

Ji Huan’s face was a picture of confusion.

Guan Shan said, "To pay our respects to your parents."

"..." Ji Huan was speechless.

Widow Xie looked gratified and urged them on. "Go on, you two. I’ll watch Dabao."

A good while after they had left the main gate, Ji Huan stopped and turned around.

"Couldn’t we just make an excuse and get out of this? Or tell Aunt Xie we’ll go this afternoon. It’s not like she’d know whether we actually went or not..."

"One must not deceive Heaven and Earth, nor can one deceive one’s parents."

His serious expression and lecturing tone... Ji Huan was momentarily speechless.

"But we’re already deceiving them, aren’t we?"

But Guan Shan had already turned and walked on.

Ji Huan reluctantly dragged her feet to catch up.

Seeing that he was about to take the main path through the village center, Ji Huan hurried ahead and pointed to the road that led toward West River Gully.

"Let’s take the side path instead."

Guan Shan studied her. "What are you so skittish about?"

Ji Huan asked, perplexed, "Aren’t you? In our situation, we should be as low-key as possible. The less of a presence you have, the easier it will be for me to handle things after you’re gone."

There was another reason she didn’t mention.

With Guan Shan’s face completely uncovered, the moment he showed himself, the villagers would surely treat him like a curiosity.

Whispering behind his back was one thing, but the bolder or more gossip-hungry villagers might feign sympathy and pity to try and pry into Guan Shan’s background.

"Oh dear, what happened to your face?" "You poor thing, and at such a young age..." "How did you get injured like this, son? Come and tell Auntie all about it..."

They would be an absolute nuisance.

Ji Huan was long accustomed to rumors and slander, but Guan Shan was different. He shouldn’t have to endure their unwarranted criticism.

Whether Guan Shan guessed at this layer of her concern was unclear, but in any case, he didn’t press the issue. He went along with Ji Huan’s suggestion, and they took the side path.

As they passed West River Gully and were about to turn onto the road to the village entrance, they happened upon Yang feeding chickens at her gate with Daya and Erya.

They were still some distance away, and Ji Huan hadn’t seen them yet, but Daya had sharp eyes. She jumped up and called out, "Auntie!"

Ji Huan turned and waved at her, and the little girl gave a shy smile.

Erya followed suit, also calling out, "Auntie!" Ji Huan waved to her as well, then gave Yang a slight nod and greeted her, "First Aunt."

The moment she saw Guan Shan’s face, Yang went pale as a sheet. Her lips trembled, unable to form words, and she instinctively pulled Daya and Erya a few steps back, stopping just short of retreating into the courtyard.

Ji Huan had originally planned to bring Guan Shan over to say hello, but seeing this, she stopped. "I see you’re busy," she said, before heading toward the village entrance with Guan Shan.

Ji Liansong and Ji Xuelan came out when they heard the noise, but Ji Huan and Guan Shan were already far in the distance.

"Today is the third day. They must be going to visit the graves..." Ji Xuelan said.

Daya tugged on her grandfather’s hand. "Grandpa, why didn’t Auntie come in for a visit?"

Ji Liansong took one look at Yang’s expression and, after a moment’s thought, understood everything.

He asked Yang, "Did you say something to Wuan?"

Yang said frantically, "What could I have said? I didn’t say a thing! If you don’t believe me, ask Daya and Erya. I didn’t say a single word."

Seeing the two girls nod, Ji Liansong’s expression softened slightly.

But then, at the most inopportune moment, Yang started to complain again.

"Why are you so afraid of wronging her? That lumber was supposed to be for Ming Fang’s furniture, but you cut it down and gave it to the woodshop... And Xuelan, Ming Fang, you two took back the money you’d given me. I have no idea what you bought for her, but it took so long to save that little bit..."

Ji Liansong frowned. "I’m Ji Huan’s first uncle, and you’re her first aunt. Even if we don’t attend, we can’t neglect the proper courtesies. It was already inexcusable for you, her first aunt, not to show up for Wuan’s wedding... She has been more than generous. Stop doing such heartless things!"

Yang felt terribly wronged.

"That wasn’t a proper wedding banquet, it was for a man marrying into the family! And she married a beggar! Do you find that glorious? Is that respectable? Even if I had gone, I would’ve just been a laughingstock for everyone."

"What’s not glorious about it? What’s not respectable?!"

"She married a beggar, and I hear his face is covered in scars. He’s as terrifying as they come! The whole village is talking about it, it’s not just me..."

"You... you!" Ji Liansong was genuinely furious now. He pointed at Yang and stomped his foot. "How can you be so dense!"

Ji Xuelan sighed as well. "Mother, you can’t be so petty. Besides, are we not already a laughingstock? If people want to stare, let them. As they say, ’to escape envy is to be mediocre.’ As long as our lives keep improving, there will come a day when they’ll be eating their words!"

Ji Mingfang, who was holding a stack of papers and about to head out to Ji Huan’s place, also turned cold upon hearing Yang’s tirade.

"Mother, since you think Ji Huan marrying Guan Shan is a joke and you’re afraid of being dragged down by association, then let’s just cut ties completely. We shouldn’t take advantage of her either. From now on, my sister and I won’t go to work at the workshop, and I won’t go to practice my letters with Dabao. We can just hole up here in West River Gully, lock our doors, and eke out a miserable existence. Once the villagers forget we exist, no one will laugh at us anymore."

Yang was dumbstruck. "Absolutely not! How can you not go to work? It’s such a good job with such high wages! Where would you find another if you quit? Ming Fang, don’t you dare be so foolish."

’Whether Ming Fang learned to read or not wasn’t important; it didn’t earn money and was just a waste of ink and paper. But he absolutely had to keep that job. In the future, the family’s survival might depend on the income he and Xuelan earned from the Spice Workshop.’

But Ji Mingfang retorted, "How is this foolish? I’m just listening to you, Mother. We can’t just run and hide when we’re afraid of being laughed at, only to come crawling back when there’s something to gain, can we? I don’t want people pointing at me and calling me shameless!"

"I... I wasn’t..." Yang’s face was a mask of misery. "It’s all my fault. I was wrong. I’ll never do it again."

Watching from the side, Ji Xuelan shook her head.

’Their mother had been dense her entire life; she was never going to change in any significant way. No matter how much sense you tried to talk into her, it would just go in one ear and out the other.’

’Ming Fang had the right idea. The only way to make her see sense was to threaten her vested interests directly.’

’Still, having to resort to this every time was emotionally draining.’

Ji Huan and Guan Shan didn’t stay long on the burial hill. They burned the offerings, stood in silence for a while, and then headed back.

Another pair had also come to visit the graves that day—Tian Jiao and Jiang Wu.

It wasn’t a festival, and they were long past their honeymoon phase, so what could they possibly be visiting a grave for?

Ultimately, it all came down to Tian Jiao’s belly—she was finally pregnant!

The last time she’d gone to tattle to Mrs. Meng, she had returned home and started vomiting uncontrollably that very night. She’d thought it was karmic retribution for ruining someone’s marriage prospects and spent the entire night a paranoid mess.

The next day, her symptoms grew worse. She was vomiting so much she couldn’t get out of bed. Jiang Wu forgot all about being angry with her and called for a traveling doctor. After checking her pulse, the doctor announced she was over a month pregnant.

Talk about a blessing from the heavens!

Tian Jiao never imagined that after struggling for over half a year, just when she was about to give up, she would get pregnant!

Her life had been absolutely blissful since then.

Jiang Wu doted on her endlessly, and even Mrs. Mao no longer dared to give her a hard time. If Tian Jiao wanted to eat chicken, Mrs. Mao might curse under her breath, but for the sake of her precious future grandchild, she would grit her teeth and slaughter the fattest bird.

And best of all was Ji Huan’s situation—her engagement to Song Jing had fallen through, and she had ended up marrying a beggar into her family.

Although her pregnancy had prevented her from going to see the spectacle in person, she’d heard all about it. The beggar’s arms and legs were fine, but his face was said to be utterly terrifying.

Hearing this, Tian Jiao was indescribably smug. ’Now that Ji Huan has married a man like that, she’ll never be able to catch up to me in this lifetime!’

However, her days weren’t entirely carefree.

This pregnancy was proving to be a difficult one. She couldn’t eat or sleep well, suffered from terrible heartburn, and often lay awake all night until dawn. In just a month, she had become noticeably thinner.

To make matters worse, she had experienced some spotting the day before yesterday.

She had been terrified, thinking she was losing the baby, but fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm.

Mrs. Mao was so worried that she ignored the custom forbidding pregnant women from visiting graves. She had Jiang Wu bring Tian Jiao to pray to their ancestors, begging for their blessing to protect her precious grandchild.

And so it was that on their way down the mountain, they happened to spot Ji Huan and Guan Shan, though only their retreating figures from a distance.

Tian Jiao stroked her still-flat stomach and snorted in the direction the couple had gone.

"She wanted to be a Scholar’s wife but ended up with an ugly husband. Serves her right."

Jiang Wu was growing increasingly uncomfortable with her sharp tongue. "Jiaojiao, just stop picking on her. Let’s just focus on our own lives..."

Tian Jiao just smiled. "Brother Wu, Ji Huan doesn’t need me to deal with her. A big, tall man like hers could probably take half her life with a single slap. Just you wait and see."

If Ji Huan knew just how many people were eagerly waiting for her to get beaten, she would be rendered utterly speechless.

It was considered perfectly normal for a man to beat his wife, and some women even looked forward to other women being beaten, taking pleasure in the thought. Such painstaking concern, such earnest expectations.

Just as she and Guan Shan reached their front door, they ran into Hu Ximei, who was panting as she ran toward them.

"Sister Wan, some... someone from the army barracks... they’re here..."