But wild rabbits are different.
Camellia has read science books and knows that if adult rabbits are raised well, they can have a litter every two or three months!
If her family could raise a litter of rabbits, with the adult rabbits giving birth to baby rabbits, they could earn a lot of money every year just from selling rabbits!
"Jiang Xiaoman, you're something else! Trading a worthless wild rabbit for my turtle?" Jiang Yu jokingly pushed him.
"Hehe~ So you want to raise those three sisters into little white rabbits, so they'll get fooled by other men later? Or do you want them to learn their lesson by suffering a loss here first?" Jiang Xiaoman chuckled.
This is an "educational philosophy" that he learned on the spot from Uncle Baichuan.
Many people say that city kids are naive and easily deceived.
In fact, because children in the countryside have less exposure to the world from a young age, they are more likely to be deceived.
Haven't you seen many young rural girls who go out to work in cities being foolishly tricked into going home by a few sweet words from a young man in the factory, and then taken out for a couple of spicy hot pot meals and a few cups of milk tea?
“You’re right! Kids won’t learn their lesson unless they suffer a little!” Jiang Yu was startled after hearing Jiang Xiaoman’s words.
For some reason, at this moment, the image of Lang Ying's sister-in-law suddenly appeared in his mind.
If in the future, his camellias or wild fruits are tricked into coming home and becoming slaves by a scumbag like Jiang Erming with just a cup of milk tea, he would be furious!
...
Jiang Yu felt like his brain might have been blessed; he had just thought of Lang Ying's sister-in-law when, early the next morning, he overheard a shocking piece of gossip from Grandma Guiping next door—
"What a tragedy! I heard that Jiang Erming from our village is dating a girl from the city! He's got her pregnant, and now he's demanding a divorce from Yingzi! He doesn't even want their two daughters anymore!"
"What?!"
The river fish woke up instantly in fright.
Someone like Jiang Erming, who looks like a bean sprout, with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, is lazy and loves to eat. The key is that his family is so poor that no city girl would want to be with him.
Are you so eager to become his wife?
Is he blind?
The shrewd old village chief had already vaguely sensed the conspiracy involved.
Anyone with a clear head and decent eyesight would look at themselves in a mirror and check their bank account balance; they'd probably be much more cautious then.
However, Jiang Erming's parents were blinded by elation and greed. The "favorite son filter" even gave them a certain illusion that their son had finally made a name for himself after so many years in the city!
Lang Ying, an uneducated mountain woman who only knew how to farm and raise pigs, was no longer a good match for her "promising" son.
Why wait to leave already?
As for the two granddaughters?
Aunt Lang snorted and arrogantly boasted to the villagers—
“My in-laws in the city said that their son is in poor health and they like my son Erming because he is hardworking and reliable. They want to find a capable son-in-law to help them manage their business.”
"They said that once Erming gets married to their daughter, they'll buy him a big house in the city outright. Do you know what 'outright payment' means? It means my family won't have to pay a single penny; we'll get a multi-million dollar house in the city for free!"
"Erming said that after he and Tingting get married and the new house is renovated, he will take me and his dad to the city to enjoy a better life. We won't be coming back to the village anymore!"
...
Aunt Lang thought the villagers were ignorant.
The villagers just thought she was blinded by greed!
She's the daughter of a wealthy family in the city!
She's still a virgin who's never been married!
Are they crazy or stupid? Why would they spend millions to find a divorced man from the countryside?
Unless this girl is pregnant with an illegitimate child and no one else is willing to acknowledge it, and she's looking for someone to take her in temporarily?
It's just a pity for such a good woman as Lang Ying.
Since marrying Jiang Erming, she hasn't had a single good day. She had two children in three years, not to mention giving birth to two babies for the Jiang family.
Jiang Erming can't earn money outside, so doesn't she have to rely on her to farm, raise pigs, and do odd jobs at home to support her family of several people?
Speaking of which, Jiang Hongyi and his wife, Lang Liugu, are really awful!
Lang Ying has been married into their family for so many years. Even if she hasn't done anything great, she has certainly put in a lot of hard work. Now that their son wants to divorce his wife, instead of trying to persuade her, they seem eager to kick her out. Isn't that a bit too disgusting?
Lang Ying was a fool.
The man is having an affair and is threatening to divorce her. Instead of going to her family for support, she actually agreed to the divorce.
What the villagers didn't know was that the reason Lang Ying didn't go back to her parents' home for help was because she knew that even if her family was willing to support her, they would definitely not let her take her two daughters back to her parents' home if Jiang Erming was determined to divorce her.
The worst-case scenario is that she'll be taken back by her family, and after a while, her parents will find another family, demand a hefty dowry, and marry her off again...
A mother's love is strong. For the sake of her two daughters, Lang Ying would never be foolish enough to let her family marry her off again!
Therefore, agreeing to Jiang Erming's request for a divorce was not because she was stupid or weak, nor because she had no family members.
Rather, she knew that her family would not be a reliable support for her and her daughters.
However, although she promised Jiang Erming to go through the divorce proceedings as soon as possible, Lang Ying still tried her best to fight for her two daughters.
She herself could leave with nothing and not take a penny, but her two daughters were surnamed Jiang after all, so Jiang Erming, their biological father, couldn't possibly not give them a single penny in alimony, could he?
Jiang Erming, who was usually stingy with his wife, probably felt that he was about to marry into a wealthy family. This time, he was generous and promised to continue to give his two daughters 500 yuan a month in child support.
"No way! A stepmother is like a stepfather. Who knows if you'll still care about Da Niu and Er Niu after you marry that woman?" Lang Ying was unusually firm and insisted on settling the debt in one go.
How could Jiang Erming possibly come up with such a large sum of money?
Lang Ying knew, of course, that he couldn't come up with that much money at once.
Two more days later, Jiang Erming's "girlfriend" called to urge him.
Seeing that the Jiang family was getting restless, Lang Ying finally relented.
"It's okay if you can't come up with that much cash, but I want your old house in Hougou, along with the land, transferred to my account!"
"There's also a half-acre vegetable garden by the mountain, a piece of mountain land, which we, mother and daughter, will also cultivate."
After saying that, Lang Ying twitched the corner of her mouth, glanced at Jiang Erming, and said calmly, "If you can't bear to part with this house and land, and don't give it to me, that's fine too!"
"Anyway, I won't be able to get married in the future with my two daughters. If we're so poor that we have nothing to eat, I'll come to the city to find you!"
“If you’re not afraid of losing face in front of your wealthy in-laws who are business owners, and if you’re not afraid of me suing you in court, then don’t give it to me.”
Chapter 128
The Jiang family was stunned by Lang Ying's sudden change of heart.
"Erming, we can't give her the old house! That's the ancestral property your grandfather left you!"
Jiang Hongyi had never left the mountains in his entire life. In his view, the most valuable things in his family were the house and land passed down from his ancestors. He was a little reluctant to give the old house to his daughter-in-law.
"What if she really takes the two children to the city to find us?" Aunt Lang retorted.
Aunt Lang has now identified herself as a "wealthy old lady in the city".
I imagined myself living in a big house in the city, and my ex-daughter-in-law from my hometown coming to them with two money-losing kids to ask for money. What if my wealthy new daughter-in-law in the city gets angry?
Aunt Lang never cared whether Lang Ying would be angry or not. Anyway, this woman was very easy to coax. A few kind words and a few tears were enough to coax her to continue working like a slave for the family.
But city daughters-in-law are definitely not as easy to talk to as Lang Ying...
Jiang Erming thought about it all night and gritted his teeth to agree to Lang Ying's request.
However, this guy was truly ruthless. He actually demanded that Lang Ying go with him to the village chief, where both parties would sign a document certifying that he had paid the full child support for his two daughters. From then on, they would go their separate ways, and he would completely sever ties with the two girls, never contacting them again during holidays...
The old village chief was practically dying of anger.
Forcing an old man like him to force an orphan and widow to sign such a severing of ties is a recipe for misfortune!
He insisted on refusing.
Jiang Erming is stingy with his own daughter, but he's very willing to spend money on social interactions and networking.
He actually spent several hundred yuan to buy two bottles of good wine, two cases of milk, and ten catties of pork, and delivered them to the old village chief's house that night.
Three days later, Jiang Erming took Lang Ying to the county civil affairs bureau to complete the divorce procedures.
However, neither of them expected that there would be a "cooling-off period" for divorce!
The civil affairs bureau told them that even if both parties were willing to divorce, they had to first register the application, and only after thirty days, if neither party withdrew the divorce application, could they officially proceed with the divorce procedures.
"We've calmed down completely, sir. My girlfriend is pregnant. If I don't divorce my wife right away, what will happen to my son's household registration?"
Jiang Erming leaned over the service window, yelling and refusing to leave.
We absolutely must get the divorce certificate today!
The clerk gave him a strange look, then glanced at Lang Ying, who was dressed plainly and shabbily beside him. She couldn't help but frown and remind her, "Madam, your husband is having an affair and has a child with another woman. This actually constitutes bigamy. If you don't want a divorce, you can sue him in court..."
The clerk meant well, worried that Lang Ying, this "wife who had shared hardship," would be abandoned by her husband.
Jiang Erming's expression changed. He was completely ignorant of the law; how could he know that it was a crime for a married man to have a girlfriend?
However, the clerks at the Civil Affairs Bureau are all government employees, so they definitely know more about the law than he does.
Fearing that Lang Ying might actually sue him, he dared not linger at the window any longer and sheepishly dragged Lang Ying away.
"Then let's register today, and I'll come back next month to pick you up to complete the divorce procedures." As they walked out of the service hall, Jiang Erming said to Lang Ying with a displeased expression.
"So bigamy can lead to jail time..." Lang Ying smiled, glanced at Jiang Erming, "I suddenly don't want a divorce anymore."
"Jiang Erming, you want to marry your mistress and register the child in her belly, right?"
"Fine, give me another 20,000 yuan, and I'll divorce you."
"Otherwise, I'll sue you for bigamy!"
"You?!" Jiang Erming was furious and raised his arm to slap her twice.
"What are you doing? Beating your wife right here? I bet you want to go to jail for a few days?" The security guard at the entrance of the service hall stopped Jiang Erming with practiced ease.
They encounter this kind of thing every day at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau's service hall.
It's all too common at the entrance of the service hall when one party wants a divorce, the other refuses, or when they can't agree on terms and end up arguing and then fighting! The security guards are practically numb from trying to break up these fights every day…