Chapter 313 - 11: The Cannon Fodder Sister-in-Law in the Group Pampering Novel (11)

The next morning, Jiang Lai and Xie Jian packed their bags and went to the back house.

On the first day of the family separation, Xie Jian didn’t go to the fields, instead, he took a sickle to clear the weeds around the house.

As soon as Jiang Lai came over, she got scratched by the wild grass on her calf, leaving a fresh red mark on her fair and tender leg. Xie Jian threw down the sickle, walked over and looked down, furrowing his thick brows, then immediately found a handful of wild grass, chewed it up and applied it to the wound.

"Stand far away, don’t come over."

Jiang Lai watched him squat beside her, and simply sat on his shoulder while looking at the surrounding wild grassland. Behind them was a small hill, deserted and rarely visited, below the hill a stream flowed, originating from a distant mountain and leading to the river in the village where people washed clothes and irrigated.

"I’m bored doing nothing, there’s a river over there, I’ll go take a look."

Saying this, Jiang Lai stood up, the softness instantly disappeared from Xie Jian’s shoulder, the man touched his shoulder feeling a bit forlorn, and his gaze towards Jiang Lai became darker.

Jiang Lai was perceptive, she could feel a devouring gaze staring at her even with her back turned, she didn’t want to look back, lest she remember the night before last.

The stream was cool, accompanied by the bird chirps from the hill, it had its own charm.

Jiang Lai put her feet in the water and looked around, suddenly something slippery bumped against her instep, she looked down and saw a large black-backed carp leisurely swimming beneath her feet, completely unafraid of people.

Jiang Lai watched for a while, then bent over and pinched it, directly catching the fish.

She weighed it, it was about three or four pounds.

"What’s going on?"

Were the fish in the countryside in the seventies so unpretentious?

Little Buding arrogantly snorted.

"Didn’t I tell you my system has upgraded?"

"Then what?"

"Avoiding surveillance, I can still send you some food. Now I’m the most advanced system in our bureau, but it’s not just because of myself, you also contributed a bit."

Jiang Lai looked at the fish at her feet, not really listening to the other nonsense from Little Buding, only hearing that it could send her food.

"This is not enough, send more."

"Just tell me how much you want!"

The next second, Jiang Lai saw a dark mass of fish rushing over from upstream, then clustering around the water area in front of her.

Jiang Lai enjoyed grabbing the fish, scooping up all the big fish in the river, then ran over to call Xie Jian.

"Hurry and bring a basin from home, I’ve found something good."

Xie Jian thought she saw something novel, but when he arrived at the riverside, he saw a dozen large fish flopping in the grass, a sight he wouldn’t dare to dream about, and now it was really happening in front of him.

"What are you standing there for, pick them up into the basin!"

Xie Jian came to his senses and didn’t ask much, directly stood in front of Jiang Lai and threw the fish into the basin.

"Don’t touch it, the fishy smell is hard to wash off once it’s on your skin."

"What’s the difference between you having it and me having it?"

We both lie in the same bed, no matter what, there’s no escaping it.

Xie Jian, however, unhesitatingly replied.

"You smell nice, don’t touch these."

"Oh, so you’re afraid that if I get the fishy smell on me, you won’t like it, is that right?"

Xie Jian hesitated a bit, neither nodding nor shaking his head.

He liked Jiang Lai’s aroma, even if there was none, he liked her, letting her stand aside was just to keep her from tiring.

But he was tongue-tied, unable to say anything, just lowered his head and continued working silently.

Jiang Lai didn’t argue with him, following behind, watching Xie Jian carry a basin over a hundred pounds back, his bulging muscles looking hard and sturdy, walking with particular ease.

"We’ve got too many fish to eat, should we share some with your parents?"

"Who says we can’t finish them? If you were to fix this house alone, how long would it take? Hire some young men to come help, together we can finish in two or three days, keep these fish to reward them."

Xie Jian found her suggestion reasonable, nodded looking at Jiang Lai.

"You’re still the most thoughtful."

"Of course."

"But it’s busy during the autumn harvest, it’s hard to hire young men to come help."

Jiang Lai raised an eyebrow and pointed to his pocket.

"Don’t you have money? Pay them by the day’s work points, surely someone would be willing to come."

Xie Jian never thought Jiang Lai knew so much, even knowing he secretly saved money.

"I wanted to give you this after things settled down, but since you know now, I’ll give it to you."

With that, Xie Jian directly took the money from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Lai, a stack of bills big and small, with a dozen ten-yuan notes and several five-yuan and a few coins, in total, Xie Jian had nearly three hundred yuan!

Jiang Lai’s eyes lit up.

She knew Xie Jian had secretly saved money, but didn’t expect him to save this much, considering his filial nature, hiding money from Lv Cuiping was already unexpected.

"You sneaky, hiding private money."

"A few years ago the mine recruited workers, I worked there for over a year, the mine paid twenty-five a month, and before I left they gave me an extra hundred for being an exemplary worker.

The bulk went to my mother, what’s left is earned through overtime."

Lv Cuiping knew better than anyone how much the mine paid monthly, so every month, Xie Jian had to send back twenty-five like clockwork, and in this situation he still managed to save over a hundred through his own effort.

Jiang Lai looked at Xie Jian, sighed helplessly, and touched the scar at the corner of his eye, her eyes filled with heartache.

"Was this left by the mine too?"

Xie Jian slightly bent, didn’t require Jiang Lai to stand on tiptoe, allowing her to touch his scar.

"Yes, when the mine shaft collapsed, a rock struck directly on my brow."

He said it casually, but only he knew how dangerous and terrifying the situation was at the time.

The mining accident killed over a dozen people, his big fortune allowed him to push the stone aside and find a crevice, holding on for two days until rescue came.

Jiang Lai looked into his eyes, she had to admit, she quite liked Xie Jian’s nature.

An old ox capable of enduring hardship and toil yet not completely mindless, knowing to save a bit for himself.

Thinking of the old ox, Jiang Lai couldn’t help but recall that night when he tirelessly worked, her heart skipped, the resentment from that night almost forgotten, watching Xie Jian’s sharp brows and deep eyes, her heart felt restless.

This man was surely quite appealing.

"Alright, continue working, I’ll keep this money as the starting capital for our little home."

Xie Jian willingly gave the money, his heart feeling swollen, warm.