"Where's the child?" Jiang Yu was much more anxious than Jiang Xiaoman.
Everyone says that girls in the countryside are worthless, pshaw! They just want a well-behaved and cute little girl.
"Who is this?" Jiang Baichuan looked at the young man who rushed in with a puzzled expression.
“Uncle, this is the Jiang Yu I told you about. I bought rock honey from his house before. This is his sworn brother Shan Yan.” Jiang Xiaoman used the traditional way of speaking in Langshan, and Jiang Baichuan understood it immediately.
Actually, it wasn't that no one in the village had tried to persuade him in the past two years, especially some of the older folks. They all advised him that even if he couldn't afford to get married, he should at least find a sworn brother while he was still young, so that he would have someone to keep him company when he got old...
He had always known about the custom of sworn brothers in Langshan, but that didn't mean he wanted to find a sworn brother.
He really wanted to explain to the villagers that some people don't get married not because they don't have money or can't find a marriage partner, but simply because they feel that they are fine living alone.
With so many students at school, it's always bustling and chaotic, so it's not lonely at all, okay?
As for his old age, he'll be a tenured teacher, and his retirement salary will be higher than it is now.
Honestly, in rural areas, a monthly pension of seven or eight thousand yuan is more than enough for a very comfortable retirement.
To put it bluntly, even those with sons and daughters might not receive seven or eight thousand yuan a month from their children.
After figuring out the relationship between the two, Jiang Baichuan felt relieved.
If this were an ordinary couple, and they adopted a child because they couldn't have one themselves, the adopted child would be in an awkward position if they later had their own biological child. Their future life might not be any better than if the child stayed at home.
But the situation is different for the Shan Yan couple. The sworn brothers are unable to have children, so if they adopt a child, they will raise it as their own—after all, they will have to rely on the child to support them in their old age.
Moreover, the preference for sons over daughters is particularly strong in Langshan. For sworn brothers like Shanyan, it's basically impossible to adopt a boy—no family would be willing to give their son to someone else to raise!
Daughters are different, especially in families with several girls. Sometimes, if the family can't afford to raise them themselves, they'll give them to other families to raise.
After all, it's rare to see someone as cruel as Shan Qiaoqiao's husband, who sold his own daughter to human traffickers.
However, these three children belong to other people, and Jiang Baichuan wasn't sure whether the Shan Yan couple would be willing to adopt them.
“If she really doesn’t want to, we won’t force her. But, I heard she has three sisters, right? Her family must be quite poor, right? If she’s willing to let us adopt one of them, it would be right for us to give her some money for her old age.” Jiang Yu openly shared her and Shan Yan’s plans.
This is a common situation here. Some families have several daughters in a row in order to have a son, and when they can no longer afford to raise them, they will give one or two children up for adoption. Usually, families who adopt children will give the adoptive parents some financial compensation.
This doesn't count as buying a child.
After all, she carried the baby for ten months, raised the child with great care until weaning, and spent a lot of money.
Moreover, after adoption, the child belongs to another family and, according to custom, will be responsible for supporting the adoptive parents in their old age. They will have no relation to the biological parents. Therefore, providing appropriate financial compensation is something that both parties agree to.
"Give me a damn thing! You don't need to give me a single penny!" Jiang Baichuan unexpectedly flew into a rage upon hearing this.
Jiang Yu was startled, then remembered that the three Camellia sisters had almost been kidnapped by human traffickers because their father wanted to sell them, so she immediately apologized.
"Uncle, don't blame Brother Xiaoyu. He's just missing his child terribly, he didn't mean anything by it," Jiang Xiaoman said, offering a few words of explanation.
“I’m not blaming him. I was thinking about Grandma Shancha. Please don’t say what you just said again! Especially don’t say it in front of that old hag. That old thing only has money in her eyes. If she hears you say that, she’ll definitely try to extort a lot of money from you!” Jiang Baichuan was almost furious when he mentioned this.
The old woman knew all about this, and it's even very likely that she instigated her son to sell his granddaughter. And what happened?
Her son was arrested, but she did it. When the police came to question her, she clutched her chest and slumped to the ground, clearly trying to play dead. What could they do? They couldn't very well cause someone's death, could they?
That heartless old bastard managed to escape!
"The three Camellia sisters are currently living with their aunt, Aunt Chen from Jiangwan Village. Her family isn't well-off either. I reckon the two younger ones will eventually have to be adopted. Camellia is a bit older, so I'll try to find a way for her to get a scholarship for junior high school so she can board at school and avoid being sold off by that old woman again." Jiang Baichuan told them to take a break and he would go to Aunt Chen's house to ask later.
That said, it really takes Chen's family and their relatives to step in and make a scene with Camellia's grandmother to win custody of the three children, so that the children will have no further connection with her.
Jiang Baichuan has seen too many bizarre things in the village over the years. He thinks deeply about it. Shancha will be in the first year of junior high school next year, and she will be able to get married in a few years. If he really lets her stay at home, that old man only cares about money. Who knows, he might marry Shancha off to someone else's family in order to get more dowry money.
Rather than being passive later, it's better to cut ties with them now. He's not exactly short of money right now; he can just be more frugal and still support Camellia through high school.
Even if we send her out to work, it's still better than leaving her at home and letting her grandma sell her.
Aunt Chen brought her three nieces home, and the whole family became worried.
Her house wasn't very big to begin with, and the three little ones would take up at least one room, so her son would have to sleep with them for the time being.
When Jiang Baichuan mentioned that someone wanted to adopt his niece, Aunt Chen felt a pang of sadness, but ultimately agreed to meet and discuss it.
Anyway, she absolutely refuses to send her niece back to that house now.
The two families live quite a distance apart. If someone secretly sells her niece, how can she face her deceased sister?
Jiang Yu and Shan Yan had wanted to adopt a child for a long time, but their family's financial situation was just average. They lived in an old mountain valley and had to walk a long way to school.
Simply put, those who are better off than them are unwilling to send their children to suffer in the mountains.
Most of those less fortunate than them weren't as heartless as Camellia's father. Even if they had no choice but to give their child away to be raised by someone else, they would still try their best to find a family with decent conditions for the child.
Therefore, this idea is still just an idea.
However, seeing Shan Yan and Jiang Yu, two tall and strong men, Chen Sao was secretly satisfied. The old mountain valley was even further away from here, and these two looked strong and powerful. Even if Shan Cha's father got out of prison and wanted to take his two daughters back, he would have to be able to beat them.
However, while she wanted to help her three nieces escape their predicament, some things needed to be clarified face-to-face.
"Grandma Camellia is counting on her three granddaughters to raise money for her son to get married and have grandchildren, so she probably won't easily agree to let others raise the children."
"Ha~ She's a human trafficker suspected of abducting children, what right does she have to disagree?" Jiang Baichuan stepped forward at this moment.
“I’ve been thinking about it, and we can’t do this so directly. Xiaoyu, you guys wait a bit and don’t let a word get out. Let’s try to get the court to award custody of the three girls to Aunt Chen first. After all, Aunt Chen is the three girls’ aunt, so she has the advantage in terms of blood ties.”
"That's right! And if custody is transferred, as long as Cha and the others are still minors, the Shan family has to pay them child support! If they dare not pay, we'll make a scene! We'll make sure their family can't find a new daughter-in-law! At that point, they'll be eager to get rid of these three children, so why would they care who you adopt them to?"
People are selfish. If three granddaughters can be sold for money, of course they won't let go!
But if these three girls affect his son's chances of getting married and having grandchildren, then things will be different!
Then it will really be a hot potato, and you'll want to get rid of this burden as soon as possible, regardless of who you give it to.
It's best to send them far away and never let them come back to ask for child support.
"Fine! You all leave this to yourselves. I'll go and argue with this old hag! If she insists on making trouble and taking these three girls back, I'll just move in with my whole family! I'll stay until the three sisters grow up! How can I, as their aunt, face my deceased sister if I don't watch them grow up?" Aunt Chen rolled up her sleeves.
Her family doesn't have enough space, but what about her in-laws?
Alright, you can't bear to part with your three granddaughters, right? Then keep them all at home!
However, since your family has a history of selling their granddaughter, we, as her family members, are not at ease.
If they won't let us interfere, can't we at least go over and keep an eye on things? Let's see who can outlast whom!
Huh? Could this be the legendary "using magic to defeat magic"?
Jiang Xiaoman chuckled and chimed in, "Right, right, right! We'll ruin their family so they can't find wives and the old lady can't hold her grandson! They'll be the ones who'll be anxious then!"
"Hmph! Holding a grandson? That'll have to wait until her son is out of prison! Human trafficking is a serious crime!" Jiang Baichuan sneered from the side. "Besides, even if he's out, what girl would want to marry a convict? Nobody wants a second marriage!"
Chapter 103
Because Chen Sao, a member of her family, needed to negotiate the custody of the three children with Grandma Shancha's family, Shanyan and Jiangyu returned empty-handed once again.
Jiang Yu was still very happy because Aunt Chen had promised him that once the custody issue of the three children was resolved, he could take Shan Cha and the other two to Laoshan Aozi for a couple of days.
If the children like the place and their two adoptive fathers, then we can talk about adoption.
Many people who adopt children privately here don't go through the proper procedures because most of them can't get them done.
There's nothing we can do about it. Take Shanyan and Jiangyu for example; their marriage wouldn't even be legally recognized, let alone their adoption eligibility...
But if it were up to Aunt Chen to choose, she would rather let Jiang Yu and his wife take her niece.
The reason is simple: in Langshan, although sworn brothers like these are not protected by law, they are protected by local customs!
Even for many people in the mountains who have a weak sense of law, sometimes old customs and traditions are much more effective than the law.
Moreover, children adopted by godbrothers sometimes have better security than children adopted by ordinary couples.
After all, traditional couples, even if they have difficulty conceiving for a while, can still have children as long as they have not lost their fertility.
When the adoptive parents have their own biological children, who would still want to adopt?
Rural families are not well-off. Rather than spending money to raise other people's children, they would rather use their limited funds to raise their own.
They've encountered this situation quite often: someone suddenly becomes capable of having children and then returns the adopted child.
The Keqi brothers are truly unable to have children of their own, so they usually treat their adopted children exceptionally well, no different from their biological children.
However, to Jiang Xiaoman's surprise, this time, public opinion in the village overwhelmingly supported Chen Sao in getting custody of her three nieces!
The reason is simple: Camellia's greedy and vicious grandmother actually tried to snatch the child from the school.
She really didn't want to raise the two younger ones, but Camellia was already so old that she could find a family to marry her off first, so she could receive a dowry to support herself.
When Camellia's father heard that he would be sentenced to at least several years in prison this time, he would definitely not be able to earn money for the family. The old lady thought that she would have no one to support her, which would not do!
However, even if the son is in jail, doesn't he still have a granddaughter?
For a girl, studying until the sixth grade is enough; there's no need to go through junior high. Just come back and get engaged!
Jiang Baichuan was so angry that he called the police.
During the struggle, Jiang Baichuan, worried about accidentally hurting a student, turned his back to Grandma Shancha in an attempt to protect her. Unexpectedly, Grandma Shancha hit him hard on the back of the head with a brick!
Warm blood flowed down Jiang Baichuan's neck, dripping onto Shancha's forehead.
Camellia was stunned for a moment, then her eyes instantly reddened, and she immediately lunged forward to fight her grandmother to the death.
Fortunately, the school was in the village. Hearing the noise and the children's screams, the villagers who lived nearby rushed over. When Grandma Camellia saw that the child was bleeding, she had already run away.
The younger students surrounded Jiang Baichuan, crying their hearts out. Shancha held Jiang Baichuan's head tightly. The other older students were more sensible and quickly went to the office to get a towel for Jiang Baichuan to cover his wound and stop the bleeding.
A group of people hurriedly took Jiang Baichuan to the township health center.
When Jiang Xiaoman arrived at the health center after hearing the news, Jiang Baichuan's head had been shaved bald by the doctor and was wrapped in gauze. He was lying face down on the hospital bed, and from a distance, only half of his gray hair was visible, which was particularly heartbreaking to see.
Jiang Xiaoman's eyes immediately reddened: "Who injured your principal?"
Camellia burst into tears: "Brother Xiaoman! I'm sorry! It was my grandma who hit me! She hit Principal Dad on the head with a brick! Principal Dad bled a lot!"
Wow! First they sold children, and now they even dare to hit the principal?
Jiang Xiaoman, with a cold face, was about to call the police.
Unexpectedly, the police officers from the local police station had already arrived at the hospital, panting heavily.
"Is Principal Jiang alright?" The police station chief actually came over personally with his men.
"He had five stitches in his head, a mild concussion. He was just given anesthesia and is still unconscious. You call that nothing serious?" The doctor from the health center came over with a cold face.