Chapter 11 – Rubbing off a layer of mud

“For how many months?” Butcher Jiang started to become angry with Jiang Zhen. This guy was obviously fine. How could he rest for a few more months? He’s dreaming!

“Yes. The second brother strained his waist when he cut rice last year, and he hasn’t gone to the fields anymore. I walked between the juncture of life and death, and I should rest for a few months. Why don’t I rest it for two years?” Jiang Zhen put down the porridge bowl and looked sincerely at Butcher Jiang.

Butcher Jiang was so angry that his face turned black. Jiang Zhen did not stop. He looked at old lady Jiang again. “Mother, I want to eat something good for my health. In the future, you should go to the county town to buy some chicken and meat every day. You don’t have to buy too much. Just give me half a kilo of meat a day.”

You don’t want to work but still want to eat white rice and half a kilo of meat a day? Old Madam Jiang was shocked. Even the son of the landlord’s family could not eat like that.

“You-You . . .” Jiang butchers wanted to fight with Jiang Zhen again, but when he thought of the people who had been knocked unconscious by Jiang Zhen yesterday and looked at the table that had just been mended in front of him, he still didn’t dare to go against Jiang Zhen.

“Forget it. This request was not very suitable. There is no meat to sell here. It is too unkind for you to go to the county town to buy it every day. In the future, just boil two eggs a day for me,” said Jiang Zhen.

“There is only one laying chicken in the house. Where do we get two eggs a day?” Madame Jiang immediately asked that and was distressed at the thought of the chicken that the eldest Jiang had killed and eaten.

“It’s up to you to figure it out. If you don’t give me two eggs a day . . .” Jiang Zhen looked at the overly biased couple in front of him and gave a cold hum.

Jiang Zhen had hands that were stained with blood and had murdered people. He did not know whether he was really murderous, but he knew that, as long as his feeling cooled down, he would not say a word but also give people tremendous pressure.

When he was in the army, people called him Chief Jiang because he was the ruthless and the toughest one in the army . . . He, who had no father or mother, could do things more carelessly than others.

Sure enough, after looking at Jiang Zhen, Butcher Jiang, who had killed a lot of pigs and thought he was a cruel man suddenly gave up and subconsciously moved his eyes away.

After Jiang Zhen explained the matter and had dinner, he picked up the knife and planned to go back to his room to go to bed. But after a few steps, he turned back and said, “By the way, the porridge I just ate will be prepared for me tomorrow morning.” I also want to eat two bowls of rice like this at noon. If I don’t have enough to eat, I can only kill chickens and pigs.”

After dropping such a sentence, Jiang Zhen returned to his room and slammed the door shut.

Jiang Zhen went to bed early as usual. Because he went to bed too early, he woke up in the middle of the night.

He wanted to go back to sleep, but he suddenly smelled a sweaty odor, which came from him . . .

“. . .” Jiang Zhen remembered that he had not bathed after crossing over. He had eaten, slept, and eaten again all day because he was too hungry and tired, and he had not noticed this odor at all.

Jiang Zhen felt embarrassed when he thought of his smell when he went to cultivate feelings with Zhao Jinge yesterday.

It was common for him not to bathe for ten days or even a half months when he was on a mission, but he always wanted to keep the image of cleanliness and tidiness in front of the man he liked.

As a result, Jiang Zhen could not continue sleeping. He rolled out of bed and found a clean set of clothes in third Jiang’s son wardrobe. He took it into the courtyard.

Jiang dug a well in the courtyard, next to it was built a small shed covering an area of no more than two square meters. The Jiang family bathed and wiped themselves in this shed.

Jiang Zhen first lit firewood and boiled hot water for himself on the stove. He flipped through his memory, went back to Jiang third son’s house and found some fat beads that could be used for bathing.

There was no soap on the south side of the Yangtze River. The common people in the countryside basically wash with water while shampooing was picking leaves and then rubbing these on one’s head to wash it. But Jiang third son was very fastidious, and if he had spare money on his hands, he would buy fat beads to use.

When he left, he didn’t take away the remaining fat beads, so it was a good deal for but Jiang Zhen.

When he found the fat beads, Jiang Zhen went to the shed to take a bath.

He did not know what to do with the fat beads. He felt it was difficult to use. He could not help but miss the modern soap.

He used to keep his hair buzzed, so he didn’t need shampoo at all. The bar of soap could wash him clean from beginning to end. But then what? He found Eldest Jiang’s hair difficult to deal with.

But he couldn’t cut his hair yet . . . Although it was all nonsense to him, he still needed to behave within a certain range. If he was too independent, he may get in trouble.

Of course, if he ever got stronger and got a chance, he will be willing to act independently.

Jiang Zhen took a full bath for an hour, washed off several pots of water, and rubbed countless pieces of mud from his body.

After washing, he even had a feeling that he had lost a few pounds of weight and felt very comfortable.

Changing into clean clothes left by third Jiang, Jiang Zhen felt that he must have become a lot more handsome and could not help whistling again.

Combing his wet hair to the back of his head, Jiang Zhen left the shed where he took a bath, and as soon as he went out, he met old Madam Jiang, who got up early in the morning.

At that time, it was still dark, and lady Jiang could not see clearly, so when she first saw Jiang Zhen in Jiang Chengxiang’s clothes, she thought that her third son was back, but soon she remembered that her obnoxious eldest son was living in the third son’s house at the moment.

Old Madam Jiang never looked closely at her eldest son. She hated the man since he was a child. She felt sick after one glance, and she always felt that her eldest son was very ugly, but at the moment . . .

It suddenly dawned on her that her eldest son looked good.

He no longer hunchback his all day. He looked tall and straight. His originally sad face was covered with a smile that makes him look bright.

This man is really her eldest son?

The old lady muttered a little in her heart, but the idea disappeared after only one turn in her mind.

The beaten up and scolded people one day suddenly could not bear the anger from such a thing. There was still a precedent to find. In the past, in their village, there had been beaten and scolded wife. One day, she suddenly killed her own man with a knife.

When she thought of that, the old lady Jiang who wanted to scold Jiang Zhen for wasting firewood shut her mouth and did not dare to say anything.

Jiang Zhen was too lazy to talk to old lady Jiang and returned to Jiang third son’s rooms.

He wiped his hair with a cloth towel, and when his hair was not so wet, Jiang Zhen spread his hair and went outdoors.

It was very rude for a scholar at that time to spread his hair, but in the countryside, no one would think about it.

When Jiang Zhen left the door, he went to the thatched cottage of the Jiang family. When he got to that place, he found the three eggs he had hidden the day before yesterday.

Boiled eggs could be kept for a few days, but it was not good to keep them for too long. Jiang Zhen was waiting near Zhao’s house with eggs, and when Zhao Jin came out, he stopped Zhao Jinge.

“Jiang . . . Jiang Zhen?” As soon as Zhao Jinge went out, he saw Jiang Zhen and his face showed surprise.

“Jinge.” Jiang Zhen smiled at Zhao Jinge.

“What are you doing here?” Zhao Jinge looked at Jiang Zhen and suddenly found that Jiang Zhen was a little different again today. A few days ago, although Jiang Zhen looked a lot different, he was still a dirty countryman, but today’s Jiang Zhen was almost like the people living in the city and even made him feel a little ashamed of himself.

“To see you.”

When Zhao Jinge heard Jiang Zhen’s words, he could not help but be a little happy, but soon felt that it was not so good.

“Did you eat?” asked Jiang Zhen.

“I ate porridge,” Zhao Jinge said that because Zhao Dahu’s family did not give rice, so his mother usually cooked an extra bowl of porridge the night before. He drank that bowl of porridge in the morning before going out.

“Eat porridge, take a few pees, and it’s gone. Here, have an egg,” Jiang Zhen said, taking out an egg, and started peeling it off.

“No!” Zhao Jinge is about to leave immediately. He just ate the chicken given by Jiang Zhen yesterday. He couldn’t eat Jiang Zhen’s eggs again today.

“If you go any further, I’ll shout.”

Brother Zhao Jinge stopped and looked seriously at Jiang Zhen. “Jiang Zhen, it’s not very good of you to do so.”

“I just want you to have an egg. What’s wrong with it?” said Jiang Zhen while putting the egg directly into Zhao Jinge’s mouth.

Zhao Jin’s mouth was stuffed with an egg. He couldn’t say what he wanted to say, but he frowned tightly, or because he had dug out the cinnabar mole in the center of his eyebrow, he looked as if he were frowning.

When he dug out the cinnabar, it should’ve hurt, right? Jiang Zhen reached out and touched the center of Zhao Jinge’s eyebrows.

Zhao Jinge’s face showed a look of panic. He glanced at Jiang Zhen, subconsciously stepping back a few steps, and then he turned and strode forward.

After walking for a long time, Zhao Jinge calmed down.

Jiang Zhen’s behavior made him feel strange, but he did not hate it. Jiang Zhen. Is he going to make do with me in the future?

Zhao Jinge had self-awareness, and didn’t think that Jiang Zhen would like him, but if Jiang Zhen wanted to make do with him, it was still possible.

Jiang Zhen did not please his parents. After separation, he was estimated to be given nothing. In the future, he could never marry a good wife, so he could only find a defective woman or simply find a widow, if they wanted to be with him.

He could work although the work of his family was not good. He could make a do. For Jiang Zhen, it was already must be pretty good, and their Zhao family, although there was no land, they at least had a good house.