The 1970s: Military Family Beauty

Grandma Jiang simply said, "Your mother is fine," and sat down to prepare dinner for the children as usual.

Jiang Furong, however, sensed something unusual from Grandma Jiang's occasional absent-minded look. She knew that this "it's okay" was definitely not okay, and it might even be a trivial matter.

However, since Grandma Jiang didn't say anything, it meant that they couldn't ask during the meal. After all, the children were afraid that something might have happened to the adults, so as long as Grandma said nothing was wrong, they could eat without worries.

Jiang Guoqing's wish of eating steamed buns dipped in malted milk granules was fulfilled. He showed off after taking a bite, shouting "fragrant" and "sweet" from time to time. He completely forgot that he was pretending to have a sore hand just now. He also generously asked Xiao Baoying if he wanted to lick it. Jiang Furong refused on Xiao Baoying's behalf.

Jiang Zhaohui watched quietly for a while before he started eating with peace of mind. As long as his mother was really asleep, he didn't have to prepare to put down his chopsticks at any time during the meal.

After finally finishing the meal, Jiang Furong asked Jiang Zhaohui to take Jiang Guoqing and Xiao Baoying to play the 24-6-24 card game in the living room, and she took Grandma Jiang to the kitchen to talk in private.

"Grandma," Jiang Furong nodded towards Hu Xiuqing's bedroom and asked quietly, "What did you see?"

Grandma Jiang asked back, "What did you see?"

Jiang Furong said, "The tooth fell out. It must have been knocked out in a fight, and she lost the fight. That's all I can tell. I can't guess anything else."

Grandma Jiang was very surprised: "You can still tell that she lost?"

"If she loses the fight, she will take it out on me and Zhaohui when she comes back, either beating or scolding us. Today she didn't even look at us and refused to eat." Jiang Furong was still worried that Hu Xiuqing would throw pots and pans, so she was cautious at first and didn't bring out the food immediately.

Grandma Jiang sighed, but still gave Jiang Furong a thumbs up: "Your guess should be about right! I haven't seen your mother fighting with anyone, but I see your grandma arguing and fighting with others every year."

For a single work point, one could go to the scorekeeper's house and curse him for three generations; if someone stole a few dried radishes and vegetables drying on the roof, one could curse for three days and three nights at the village entrance; if a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarreled, the mother-in-law would come to the house and fight; if one teased a young widow in the village for stealing a man, someone would chase her to the pond with a hoe and threaten to kill her together...

"There's so much to say about your grandma. You were young before, so you don't remember some things." Grandma Jiang felt that she couldn't speak ill of her mother-in-law behind her back. After all, they were still relatives. So she picked a quarrel scene that was well-known in the surrounding area and told Jiang Furong:

"The summer before last, your grandma was renovating her house and took bricks from her neighbor, Luo Daming's family, thinking she was using them at home. No one outside could see and she refused to admit that she took them. But it turned out that Luo Daming had marked the bricks when he made them himself and even asked the production team leader to testify. Guess what, your grandma blamed Luo Daming for not keeping the bricks properly and leaving them outside on purpose. She thought no one wanted them and took them home.

Luo Daming said your grandma was stealing things, and your grandma said Luo Daming was stealing people. Anyway, they kept arguing, and no one knew who started it first, but Luo Daming and your grandma got into a fight, and he knocked out two of your grandma's teeth.

"So having your teeth knocked out is hereditary." Jiang Furong was confused. "The captain didn't try to stop the fight? Or did he accidentally injure the captain as well?"

Grandma Jiang shook her head. "Alas, your grandma usually offends a lot of people. She was just watching the fun and making a fuss. No one tried to stop the fight, and she even dragged the captain away."

This was the first time Jiang Furong had heard of these things. She found she had no sympathy for the person she called Grandma, and she felt that anyone who had such a neighbor was unlucky. "Taking things from others is wrong in the first place. Everyone must be wary of her after this, right?"

Grandma Jiang said, "Who wouldn't be on guard? Luo Daming's family has been at odds with your grandma's family ever since! They've been quarreling every three days, and every five days, there's never a moment of peace."

Jiang Furong's scalp went numb after hearing this.

There was no commercial housing in the 1970s, especially in rural areas. Your land was allocated wherever it was, and your house was built wherever it was. If you had an unlucky neighbor, you would have more troubles than others.

Grandma Jiang went on to say, "Now that the two families have become enemies, the unlucky one is your cousin. Xiaohua, do you remember her? She's two years older than you. Last year, someone introduced her to a man, and your cousin liked him. She was very happy, but the man's family rejected the letter and didn't agree.

Do you know why they disagree? It was Luo Daming's family who sent someone to the man's house to say bad things about your grandmother's family, saying that all the women in your grandmother's family love to fight and curse, and none of them are good people."

Jiang Furong nodded: "There are still good people."

Grandma Jiang was very surprised and thought she had misheard: "You, what did you say?"

"I said that Luo Daming's family did a good thing! He was not wrong. My grandma, my mom, my aunt, and my aunt, which one of them doesn't curse people and fight when they disagree?" Jiang Furong talked about the matter at hand.

Grandma Jiang was silent for a moment, then had to admit that her granddaughter was right: "When Xiaohua heard the letter had been returned, she was so angry she burst into tears. She felt ashamed and tried to commit suicide. She ran away several times but was eventually found. Your grandma took your uncle and aunt to the matchmaker's house and scolded him."

Jiang Furong laughed when she heard this: "If Luo Daming's family had reminded you earlier, my dad's life would have been different."

These words touched Grandma Jiang's heart, and she sighed deeply: "There is no medicine for regret in this world! What else can I do?"

There was another key sentence. Grandma Jiang went through a lot of trouble to say it in a more tactful way, but she found that she still couldn't say it.

Jiang Furong smiled: "Grandma, there is no regret medicine in this world, but there is a solution!"

Grandma Jiang perked up when she heard this: "What's the solution?"

Jiang Furong held up two fingers: "There are two most effective methods. One is to stay away from such people and not be their neighbors."

Grandma Jiang said, "The countryside is different from the city. How can it be so easy to move? If your father wasn't in the army, I wouldn't have the opportunity to travel far."

"There's another way, which is to be even more powerful and ruthless than her. Doing what Luo Daming did is the right thing. Grandma, what do you think?"

This is also Jiang Furong’s choice - if you can’t stay away, use magic to defeat magic.

Grandma Jiang still shook her head. "Why bother fighting like this all the time? It's harming the child. Luo Daming's family sometimes sees Xiaohua at home and deliberately says how well off the man who broke the letter is, saying he has all the three big things and that he's registered the woman and arranged a job. Anyway, Xiaohua is a bit dazed now."