Chapter 675: Miss Jiao
When she heard the question, Aunt Huang looked at Chen Jiao with clear displeasure.
With the attitude of someone half a master, she scolded her: “Miss Jiao, this is the general’s business. Anything concerning the general is a national secret. How could servants like us casually ask about such things? It is only because this is the apocalypse. If this were before, if I helped you ask something like that, I might very well be accused of being a spy.”
Chen Jiao, scolded in front of the vegetables, pushed the pile aside with irritation. She pursed her lips and fired back: “You’re really dramatic. Aren’t you just a kitchen helper my grandfather keeps around? What are you putting on airs for? If something ever happened, do you think my grandfather would protect our Chen family or protect a servant like you?”
Was she bullying her for being a woman now without parents?
Chen Jiao had been spoiled from childhood. Her personality had been raised to the point where she submitted to no one. As far as she was concerned, Aunt Huang had only been a servant for a couple of decades. With her great-uncle’s tendency to value blood ties above all and shield his own people fiercely, Chen Jiao had every reason to talk back without fear.
Aunt Huang’s expression stiffened. She was used to being respected by the younger Chen family members, and in front of Chen Jiao she had fallen into the habit of acting like half a master.
Remembering, however, that Chen Jiao was deeply favored by the old general, she thought better of stirring trouble and changed her tone.
She pursed her lips and said earnestly: “Miss Jiao, it’s not that I want to preach. But decisions like when to head south are matters for the elders. Your worrying won’t change anything. You lived through the South yourself and escaped with your life, so you should know better than anyone how things are there. Hardly anyone survives from the South. Worrying won’t help.”
Everyone in the Chen family knew that Chen Jiao’s son had been lost in the South. She had been hoping all year that the old general would march south, hoping to search for him.
But over the past year, everyone in the family had been advising her that the survival rate in the South was too low. Entire cities had become zombie zones.
On the surface, Chen Jiao acted indifferent, but in her heart she still wished she could find Doll.
As they were talking, Chen Chao-xi, the younger uncle, and Chen Chao-gong, the elder uncle, walked into the kitchen chatting.
Aunt Huang immediately set down the vegetables and hurried to greet them.
Chen Jiao stayed where she was, half-heartedly fiddling with the leaves.
“Jiao, if you tear up all the vegetables, what are we going to eat for dinner tonight?” Chen Chao-xi opened a can of beer from the refrigerator and teased her.
Chen Jiao shot him a glare. “Second Uncle, I’m in a bad mood. Can’t I tear a few vegetables to vent?”
“What’s there to be in a bad mood about?”
Chen Chao-gong sat down on the counter beside her. Compared to his younger brother, he was far more composed, perhaps because of age—being well into his fifties.
He looked at Chen Jiao steadily. His eyes carried unspoken sternness. “You’re living well here in Jinmen Base, eating well, staying warm. Nobody has ever scolded you. What is there to be upset about?”
“I…” Chen Jiao choked on her words. She feared this serious elder uncle.
As a member of the Chen family, she knew his wife, son, and grandson had all died in the South. So among the Chen family, Chen Chao-gong was the one bearing the heaviest weight in his heart.
She didn’t dare argue with him.