sinovels Chapter 64 wasn't my doing.
Chapter 64 wasn't my doing.
"Young Master, Young Master..."
Seemingly hearing the commotion, Chen An, who had already left, hurriedly ran back.
My gaze involuntarily drifted to the almost completely melted snowmelt and the collapsed wall in the distance.
What exactly happened?
With a hint of panic on his face, Chen An couldn't help but look Jiang Shaoju up and down. He only breathed a sigh of relief after finding that the other party was unharmed.
"Young Master, are you alright?"
"Don't worry, Uncle An, I'm fine." Jiang Shaoju smiled at the other person and said softly, "It's freezing cold, you should go back and rest, don't catch a cold."
"It's good that you're alright, young master. What happened? How could this happen?"
"I don't know!" Jiang Shaoju said casually, head down. "It just collapsed suddenly over there. Maybe the heavy snow weighed it down."
"Can heavy snow really break down a wall?" Chen An ran over to the other side of the wall and looked at it, but he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he looked.
I've only ever heard of heavy snow collapsing thatched huts, never of it collapsing such sturdy walls.
After staying there for a while, Chen An was shivering from the cold wind and couldn't stand it anymore, so he said in a low voice, "Then young master, this old servant will go back first."
"Don't worry, I'll go and try to persuade the master again. You must hold on and not get too cold."
As Chen An left again, Shen Che's voice reappeared in Jiang Shaoan's mind.
"He's been lying to you all along. He's probably in such a hurry to leave now because he's going to tell on you!"
"I know, Uncle An is just a servant, yet his cotton-padded coat is so thick and new. Over the years, to help me, his wages have been deducted and extended for twenty years. Where did he get the money to buy new clothes?"
"Besides, he arrived so quickly; he was clearly nearby. This isn't concern, it's more like surveillance, checking to see if I've collapsed yet!"
"Then why are you helping him?"
"It's not about helping him, it's about helping myself!" He looked at himself with a wry smile at the thin clothes he had worn from summer to winter. Perhaps no one would believe it if he told them that he, the future heir of the Shen family, didn't even have a change of clothes.
"If I don't give it to them, can't they just take it themselves? After all, I don't think I have anything they need to worry about right now!"
"If I didn't cooperate with them like this, I don't know how long I would have had to kneel. By agreeing to what they wanted, I could kneel for less time, and maybe even get a piece of meat to eat."
"Besides, I have to have some weaknesses, otherwise they won't feel at ease."
Looking up at the distant sky, Jiang Shaoju's face showed a hint of bitterness. His maternal grandfather came from a poor family, and the Jiang family clan was simply unable to control his good father. Of course, even if they could, Jiang Shaoju dared not rely on them.
Legally speaking, his father was a son-in-law who married into the family and had no right to inherit. Once he, as the heir, is gone, the Jiang family clan has the right to reclaim all of the family's assets.
Therefore, compared to his adoptive father, the Jiang clan probably hoped he was gone.
He could even picture the scene: a group of impoverished relatives, their eyes red with worry, waiting anxiously.
Looking around, it seemed there wasn't a single person who could lend him a hand; it seemed everyone was hoping he would disappear.
The difference is that the Jiang clan hopes he will disappear immediately, while his good father wants to completely drain him before making him disappear.
"You see things very clearly!"
"It wasn't a sense of clarity, it was a forced situation. Before, I was almost completely cut off from the outside world. Everyone around me was driven away, and I could only be trapped here, suffocating little by little."
"I thought my life would continue to be wasted like this, until I was drained dry by them, or I would choose to fight them to the death."
"Thank you for helping me; it gave me enough confidence."
Looking into the distance, Jiang Shaoju let out a long sigh of relief. He had never felt the sky was so vast and boundless as he had today.
"I've not been completely unprepared all these years. In the past, I might have had no choice but to fight to the death, but now I have a better option. What they took away, I want to take back one by one."
"Second brother, I'm here, second brother!"
Just then, Chen Ye rushed over, interrupting Jiang Shaoju's endless reverie.
As Chen Ye handed him the document, he said hurriedly, "Second brother, you have no idea how much I had to talk to calm Father down. It was only with great difficulty that I finally got him to agree to let you go back to your room."
"Come on, once you sign this document, you can go back! Hurry up and sign it!"
Seeing his older brother's anxious look, Jiang Shaoju smiled, a smile that was quite relaxed and content.
It's obvious that his older brother was in a hurry; he must have gotten it secretly again.
Both father and son wanted his property, and perhaps only at times like these would his good older brother give him a second glance.
Seeing that Jiang Shaoju was not writing anything for a long time, Chen Ye was getting a little impatient.
He felt that his second brother seemed different, and seeing the other's current expression, he suddenly had an urge to slap him twice.
But the thought of having to beg people to sign documents forced me to suppress that feeling, and I had to put on a smile.
"What's wrong, second brother? Is there a problem with the documents?"
"There's nothing wrong with the documents, it's just that I suddenly don't want to sign them anymore!"
"What did you say? You don't want to sign anymore? You think you can just say you don't want to? Are you kidding me?"
Seeing that he was rejected, Chen Ye couldn't help but feel angry. He was already a little impatient, and his temper was completely ignited.
"Well, Young Master Jiang, you really think you're a young master now. You're quite something!"
"Come on, drag that old bastard Chen An over here."
He roared angrily at the servant beside him, then looked at his good younger brother with great interest, hoping to see fear in his eyes and that he would beg him for mercy.
Chen Ye had already thought out his own conditions. In addition to the two manors, he also needed to add the hundred acres of fertile land in the east of the city. Otherwise, he would not be able to soothe his wounded heart.
However, things didn't go as he expected. Even after Chen An was dragged over, Jiang Shaoju remained silent, not even offering a concerned glance.
Something's not right. Twelve out of ten things are not right.
Before Chen An could even stand properly after being dragged over, Chen Ye kicked him to the ground, while simultaneously glaring menacingly at Jiang Shaoju.
"Second brother, I advise you to sign quickly and compensate me with a hundred acres of fertile land in the east of the city, otherwise, don't blame your older brother for being ruthless!"
After waiting for a while and still not getting the other party to back down, Chen Ye couldn't take it anymore. He stomped hard on Chen An, who hadn't gotten up yet, causing him to stumble.
"You old bastard, how dare you steal the master's meat! Guards, give him a good beating!"
"Young Master, the Master has already punished me; he deducted half a year's wages."
"Shut up! We docked your wages because you used lard to make the whole lamb feast, but now we're saying you're dishonest. You stole, fine, but you even stole from my good second brother! Do you know he's being punished? You have some nerve!"
As he spoke, he kept glancing in Jiang Shaoju's direction. Seeing that Jiang Shaoju remained unmoved, Chen Ye raised his voice considerably.
"Beat them! Beat them hard right here!"
Several servants obeyed the order and immediately restrained Chen An, who was still completely dazed at this point.
This isn't like in the script. Why did they actually pin him down? They can't really fight him now, can they?
Before he could even realize the gravity of the situation, the stick had already struck him. Each blow landed squarely on his flesh, drawing blood.
"Slap, slap..."
"You're really hitting me, ah..." The sharp pain in his back made Chen An cry out. The sticks were bloody, and they were really beating him like a thief.
"Uncle An!" Jiang Shaoju looked heartbroken at Chen An's current state, yet he remained remarkably strong.
"Uncle An, you've suffered so much. You kept urging me to protect my mother's things, saying you'd die happy for it. I'll remember that!"
"Uncle An, don't worry, I will definitely protect it. This time I will not be weak again, and I will not give up my mother's things again!"
"So it's you, you old codger!" Upon hearing this, Chen Ye's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. They say it's hard to guard against a thief within the family, and that's certainly true.
"No, young master, I didn't say that. I didn't say that."
"Didn't you say so? How could he change his mind if you didn't say so? You traitor! Beat him to death!"
"Your older brother, is there something wrong with your head? He's nowhere near as good as you."
Shen Che's voice echoed in Jiang Shaoju's mind again, tinged with schadenfreude.
To be fair, given his older brother's brain circuits, he's practically mentally challenged.