Chapter 165

There is so much to do during the Chinese New Year, with endless ingredients to prepare, and we are busy all day long.

Jiang Song was not at home, and he did not go out to play lazily, leaving his two younger brothers and sisters to work. The Jiang family seemed to be much more harmonious, because everyone was working, and no one would complain about who did more and who did less.

When it comes to work, Jiang Ning is indeed not as quick as Jiang Ma and Jiang Bo, but she is efficient. She always does things in an organized and planned manner, just like the coordination method she learned in elementary school. In her mind, she always instinctively uses the fastest and most appropriate method to get the most things done, but when it comes to a single thing, she seems clumsy.

Mother Jiang couldn't see how fast she was at handling the overall matter, and only paid attention to her hand speed in handling a single thing. She kept muttering to her that she was so incompetent at work, and what would she do when she went to her husband's house in the future.

Jiang Ning was getting a little annoyed by her nagging, so he put down the work in his hands, went to wash his hands, took the bedding that was exposed to the sun outside, and put it on the bed.

Seeing that she was not idle, Jiang Ma didn't say anything.

Mother Jiang bought new bed sheets from Shenzhen. She was a very hardworking woman. She got up early in the morning and rinsed the new sheets. After drying them in a spin dryer, they have now been hung out to dry.

She washed two sheets, one for their own bedroom and one for Jiang Song.

Seeing Jiang Ning making the bed, he said to her naturally: "The red bed is for your elder brother. You can make it for him. Maybe he will be back in the evening."

The family bought Jiang Song red sheets and quilt covers, mainly because Jiang Song is 22 years old, and boys of this age in rural areas should get married. Even if he did not bring a partner back for the New Year this year, his family would introduce him to someone. If he brought a partner back, they would prepare new sheets and quilt covers for the newlyweds to show their respect.

As for Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning, there is an unwritten rule in their rural area that if the eldest child is not married, the younger brothers and sisters cannot get married, otherwise it will affect the eldest child's marriage.

So when Jiang Ma was washing the new bed sheets, she didn't consider Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning at all. Anyway, they were not in a hurry to find a partner, so why did they need new bed sheets?

Jiang Bai’s bed sheets at school now are all blue plaid, issued by the school.

When he was in the old house, he slept in the same bed with Jiang Song. From childhood to adulthood, the two of them had never had a complete bed sheet. With many brothers and sisters, fights are inevitable. He and Jiang Song also fought from childhood to adulthood, especially after Jiang Bai grew up and became sensible, he knew how to resist. The two of them fought while eating and sleeping, and even when Jiang Ma bought something, Jiang Bai would fight with Jiang Song for it, and then be beaten by Jiang Ma.

The bed for two people was 1.5 meters long, and Jiang Song was a very active person. When the two of them met on the bed, you kicked me and I kicked you. The first thing to be broken was not themselves, but the sheets underneath.

If the school had not issued Jiang Bai new uniform bed sheets after he moved to the campus, you would have seen that Jiang Bai's bed sheets were a patchwork of patches, with a big patch here and a thick patch there, all of which were kicked out by the two brothers in the quilt.

Jiang Bai would feel sorry for the sheets and would keep them, but Jiang Song would not. He did not have the idea of ​​feeling sorry for things and did not care at all whether he would kick his clothes to pieces or tear the sheets. He did not care.

Jiang Ning opened Jiang Bai's bed sheet. There was a huge patch in the middle, and many small patches of different sizes, just like a patchwork quilt.

But it was washed very clean by Jiang Ma's starch, becoming white and hard, and some of the edges were so thin that they were transparent, and there was a smell of sunshine.

Grandpa Jiang would sleep with Jiang Bai at night. Jiang Ning would make Jiang Bai's bed, fill the IV bottle with hot water, and put on socks, so that when Grandpa Jiang got into bed, the quilt would be warm.

Jiang Ning didn't have her own bed sheets. Any good and complete sheets in the house would be taken by Jiang Song to his bed, and then they would become torn sheets. Jiang Ning's sheets would be the ones that no one wanted.

Jiang Ning no longer reacted to Jiang Ma's favoritism. She directly spread the new quilt given to Jiang Song on her own bed, and then went to Uncle Jiang's house to pick up Grandpa Jiang.

Grandpa Jiang had dinner at Uncle Jiang's house in the evening. Uncle Jiang came back with Jiang Hongjun and the other two. The dinner was very sumptuous. When Aunt Jiang's wife saw Jiang Ning coming, she hurriedly asked Jiang Ning to sit down and eat. The three cousins ​​also asked Jiang Ning in a very kind manner about her situation at school.

Uncle Jiang was now very friendly to Jiang Ning. He no longer made sarcastic remarks to her from time to time as he did when Jiang Ning came to his house for dinner when she was a child. He smiled and said to her, "You are successful now. Remember to help your brothers more in the future, okay? Only when your mother's family and your brothers are doing well, can they become your backers. When you go to your husband's family in the future, they won't dare to bully you."

Jiang Ning took the dinner handed over by Aunt Jiang, thanked Aunt Jiang sweetly, and then looked at Uncle Jiang with a smile: "Who said that women must go to their husband's house? Uncle, you are backward in thinking. Now the country encourages family planning. Every family has only one child, especially the cadres' families in the city. If they only have one daughter, what do you think they will do? Marry their only daughter to someone else's family, leaving their own family empty?"

Uncle Jiang had never really thought about this problem, but if he put himself in his own shoes, how could he let his only daughter, who was born to two cadres, get married?

He asked doubtfully, "What will I do if I don't get married?"

Jiang Ning continued to smile: "Of course, we will marry her and give her the child her surname. When the couple retires, they can just hug their grandchildren. Don't you think so?"

Being a son-in-law who lives with the wife's family is not a rare thing in Jiangjia Village. The second branch of the family already has one, and he is the eldest son in the family. He went to the city to be a son-in-law, and no one said anything about him. Instead, they were very envious. After all, there are many sons born in rural areas. For example, Uncle Jiang's family has three sons alone. They don't care whether there is one more son or one less son, as long as the sons live well.

In their area, there are families with several sons. They would take the initiative to ask around in the city to see which family needs a live-in son-in-law, and then offer to be that son-in-law.

Uncle Jiang frowned: "You have two brothers at home, why do you need a live-in son-in-law?"

Jiang Ning smiled again, "Look, you're overthinking, aren't you? That's all I said. Besides, as long as I have the ability, who can bully me?" She smiled and picked up the wine glass on the table, clinking it with Uncle Jiang's glass. She smiled with curved eyebrows and gentle tone: "If I pay attention to them, who are they? If I don't pay attention to them, who do you think they are? Uncle, think about it, isn't this the truth?"

When she wasn't smiling, she seemed to have a cold and distant aura that kept people at a distance. At this moment, she looked at Uncle Jiang with a smile, which made Uncle Jiang stand there for a moment, unable to say a word. Even the three Jiang Hongjun brothers were silent for a moment, not daring to speak. It was Jiang Hongjun who was the most active, who quickly tried to smooth things over and said, "Yes, yes, Ningning has so many brothers around us, who dares to bully her? Why don't we go and smash his house!"

The third brother Jiang Jun also said: "Yes, yes, who dares to bully our Ningning? Are we brothers vegetarians?" Then he quickly stood up and poured wine for Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning put down the wine glass with a friendly smile, stood up and smiled at Aunt Jiang. Her smile finally became real, and her voice was soft and sticky: "Aunt Jiang, I toast you a glass, and wish you good health, peace and happiness."

This is her most sincere blessing to all the elderly. For the elderly, peace, health and happiness are the best.

So what she said was particularly sincere.

The neighboring county where Aunt Jiang lives does not have the habit of brewing wine, but after living in Jiangjia Village for most of her life, she has learned to drink some homemade rice wine. Aunt Jiang happily accepted Jiang Ning's blessing, smiled with some moisture in her eyes and said, "Okay, okay, I also wish our Ning Ning success in her studies and work."

Jiang Ning nodded vigorously: "Yes."

She should have toasted Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang first, but she was talking to Uncle Jiang just now, so she toasted Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang first. Fortunately, they were all family here, and no one would find fault with Jiang Ning. Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang were not in good health and could not drink alcohol, so Jiang Ning poured plain water for Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang, and said to them: "Grandpa, Grandma, I also wish you two good fortunes as vast as the East Sea, and longevity as great as the Southern Mountains, and a long life of a hundred years!"

A famous actor once said that when you are successful, you will be surrounded by good people.

The same is true for Jiang Ning. Although she cannot be considered successful yet, after she was admitted to Peking University, she was surrounded by good people.

Grandma Jiang smiled like Maitreya Buddha at this time, kind and gentle, "Hey, hey, our Ningning should also study hard in college and come out to eat the government's food!"

Grandpa Jiang just smiled and said nothing. Every wrinkle on his face showed his good mood. Even though he didn't drink any alcohol, he looked a little tipsy.

After dinner, Jiang Ning supported Grandpa Jiang, who was smiling with satisfaction, and was supported by his little granddaughter, and they slowly strolled towards the new house.

He felt that he had never been as satisfied and happy as he was now in his life. All the hardships he had experienced in his youth and middle age seemed to have gone away from him, and all that was left was his happy life in his old age.

This was truly a beautiful day that he had never dared to dream of.

He looked at the dim and bright lights in the darkness, one by one, and one of them was the home of his youngest son.

The Jiang family’s house can be said to be at the bottom of the village, about sixty or seventy meters away from pianist Jiang.

It is cold in winter. At dusk, almost every household closes their doors, leaving only dim lights shining through the cracks in the wooden doors, leaving an orange-yellow glow.

Jiang Qinqi's brother bought a stereo, and the song playing on her stereo is: "The scenery of life is like the wind surging in the sea, sometimes strong, sometimes calm..."

In such a cold and silent night, Jiang Ning listened to the vague lyrics, and her mood seemed to follow Grandpa Jiang's good mood and suddenly calmed down. She began to enjoy the tranquility of the moment, the cold night breeze in the dark, and the moist and crisp air of winter.

She suddenly thought of Song Peifeng, and at this moment, she missed him inexplicably.

She missed the past six months when he had always been by her side, providing her with a warm and carefree company.

With him, she didn't have to force herself to do anything she didn't want to do, she just had to be herself.

It is said that there are two stages in life.

The first stage is to study hard and become a better self.

The second stage is to study hard and become a better person.

What is a better self? It is to be yourself.

It is not the way others put you into the mold, but the way you really are.

In the past, she worked tirelessly to control her desires and emotions, striving to become a better version of herself, rather than falling into this vicious circle and becoming the person she hated the most.

Now, she has finally thrown off some of the shackles imposed on her and is seeking what her heart wants, her true self.

When she was with Song Peifeng, at least she was completely relaxed and was completely herself.

As for what the future will be like and whether it can last long, who cares?

As long as the present moment is pleasant, that is enough.

When Jiang Ning was having dinner at Uncle Jiang's house, Jiang Bai had already prepared the meal. Jiang's father had also returned and bought a lot of New Year's goods, including fruits and vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, and meat dishes that were rarely seen on the Jiang family's dinner table in the past, but this year Jiang's father had prepared them all.

Because they have a new house this year and have two children who have been admitted to university, Jiang's father is particularly motivated. After dinner in the evening, Jiang's mother called Jiang Ning to the kitchen to help her fry peanuts and melon seeds and make rice candy, while Jiang's father asked Jiang Ning to write Spring Festival couplets.

Jiang's mother was dissatisfied: "It's not enough for you and Jiang Bo to write, but you also dragged Ning Ning to join in. I'm so busy with kitchen work!"

Father Jiang was very stubborn, "What do you know? Ningning is a top student at the Capital University. In ancient times, that was called the Imperial College or Imperial College. Those who graduated were definitely going to be officials. There hasn't been a single student from the Capital University in our area. Ningning is definitely a literary talent. The Spring Festival couplets she writes can protect the house and the family!"

The older he gets, the more superstitious Jiang's father becomes.

He cut pieces of red paper, spread them on the table in the fourth room, poured out ink, and asked Jiang Ning to write.

The ink and brushes were both brand new. When he went to buy brushes and ink, people from other shops were also buying them.

Seeing that she couldn't call Jiang Ning anymore, Jiang's mother worked in the kitchen with Jiang Bai in a depressed mood.

Fortunately, her youngest son is much more capable and stronger than her youngest daughter. She feels much more comfortable as long as she is not the only one working in the kitchen.

Not long after Jiang Ning started writing, someone came to the Jiang family with a roll of red paper, also to ask Jiang Ning to write Spring Festival couplets.

He is the son of the old brigade secretary.

Father Jiang hurried over and asked in surprise, "Ai Min? Why are you here?"

Jiang Aimin took out a roll of red paper and said with a smile, "Aren't you going to write Spring Festival couplets? I know your college student is back, so I came to ask Ningning to write a couplet for you to get some of her literary talent."

Father Jiang knew that his mouth was stretched to the back of his ears. "Oh, she is just a child, how can she be elegant? Everyone knows that you are the best calligrapher in the village."

Jiang Aimin smiled and said, "That's different. Ningning is the literary star of our village. Who in the whole team doesn't want a piece of her calligraphy? It's just that I took advantage of the close relationship between our two families and came here uninvited."

Jiang Aimin, like his father, was also a high school student from the third grade. He was determined to go to college, but failed after three years of taking the exams. He was too proud to be a teacher in the primary school in his hometown. When he was young, he was very arrogant and looked down on anyone who introduced him to a date. Now, his father's children are in their early twenties, but Jiang Aimin is still single.

When he was young, the villagers valued this son of the old secretary very much. However, because he was nearly 40 years old and still unmarried, the whole village regarded him as a negative example, saying that he had become stupid because of reading too much, and educated their children and grandchildren, telling them that they must never become like Jiang Aimin and remain single when they are old.

Jiang Aimin, who is unmarried, has become the thing that all the parents in the village are most afraid that their children and grandchildren will become - a bachelor!

When Jiang Ning saw him come in, she also greeted him with a smile: "Second brother is here."

Although Jiang Aimin is about the same age as Jiang's father, he is of the same generation as Jiang Ning. According to seniority, Jiang Ning has to call him brother.

He also walked behind Jiang Ning with a smile and looked at Jiang Ning's calligraphy.

Upon seeing this, all the reluctance to accept and slight arrogance in his heart disappeared at once.

This is indeed Jiang Ning's handwriting. The writing is really sharp where the tip of the brush is hidden, and reserved where the tip of the brush is exposed. It is a rare and good handwriting with a combination of hardness and softness.

People of Jiang Ning's generation have been learning calligraphy since childhood. In elementary school, they had classes on writing big characters and practiced writing big characters every day when they got home.

Her calligraphy and penmanship are both very good, and she has been doing well since she was a child. Later, because she often needed to write in certain occasions, she practiced it specifically.

In particular, every year when she returned to her hometown, a group of people would come to the Jiang family with red paper and ask for a piece of her calligraphy.

We are all from the same village, so she will naturally satisfy such a small request.

The more you practice calligraphy, the more you enjoy it and the more addicted you become. After going to the capital, Jiang Ning picked up again the Sanda and boxing he had practiced in his previous life, and also did special strength training. Now, when he writes, his strokes are steady and penetrating, which makes Jiang Aimin's eyes sparkle and he applauds.

"You are worthy of being the literary star of our village." He looked at Jiang Ning with burning eyes: "Ningning is only eighteen this year, right? Even some old people who have been writing for decades can't compare to your handwriting. You have already captured the true charm of it!"

Father Jiang said modestly: "She is just a little girl, how can she know calligraphy? She just wrote for fun."

Jiang Aimin said: "I have been writing for more than 30 years, but my handwriting cannot compare to hers."

Jiang's father was so flattered that he smiled and said to Jiang Ning, "Ning Ning, write two words for your second brother!"

When others arrived at the Jiang family, they saw a group of people surrounding Jiang Ning, waiting in line for her to write. Jiang's father and Jiang Aimin, one spread the paper for her, and the other added ink for her.

The people who came to the Jiang family were all people who claimed to have some reputation in the brigade. They were either cadres of the brigade, teachers in the school, or had a high seniority, or had close relationships like Uncle Jiang's family.

Mother Jiang was in the kitchen, looking at the people in the village who wanted to get close to her, all of whom had to greet her with smiles and a bit of flattery, surrounding Jiang Ning, who was constantly praising her with all kinds of nice words. At this moment, she really felt in her heart that her daughter was different from the past. She was like an eagle whose feathers had finally grown, with sharp claws, and began to spread its wings and fly away from her.

If she wasn't her daughter, she would probably never be able to reach such a person in her entire life.

She was in a very complicated mood and huddled behind the stove, silent.

Seeing her youngest son vigorously stirring the syrup and cooked rice in the pot with a spatula, Jiang's mother couldn't help but say, "Aren't you also a college student? Why don't you go write?"

Jiang Bai shook his head and said with a smile, "My handwriting is as bad as a dog's. How can it compare with my sister's? Besides, my sister is a student at Jingcheng University, and my school is just average. They might as well ask Shengzhi to write for them instead of me."

Jiang Shengzhi is the son of the brigade secretary. In previous years, in order to please the brigade secretary, the villagers asked Jiang Aimin to write the petition when the old secretary was in office. Now that the current brigade secretary has taken office, they ask Jiang Shengzhi, the brigade secretary's son, to write it.

Now that Jiang Ning had been admitted to Beijing University and the Jiang family was about to rise, they all came to Jiang Ning to write.

In previous years, the brigade secretary's home was always bustling at this time of year, but this year it was extremely deserted. All the brigade cadres went to Jiang's father's home.

After the New Year, the election for the new brigade secretary will be held.

The crackdown has ended, and the brigade secretary, while he is still the secretary, has used many connections to try to get his daughter out early. Mayor Jiang has seen that Jiang Hehua has suffered a lot over the past year and thinks that it is enough, so he agrees to help find some connections to see if he can get Jiang Hehua out early.

However, the crackdown period has just passed, and they don’t know whether the crackdown will continue in the future. They have to wait at least another half a year to see the situation. If the situation is still as tense as before, Jiang Hehua will still have to be imprisoned for the full three years. If the situation is not so tense anymore, he will have to be imprisoned for at least two years.

For the brigade secretary, being able to be released a year earlier was a blessing in disguise.

The brigade secretary himself doesn't really want to run in the election after the new year. His eldest son is now in college, and he has secretly made some money over the years. After his daughter comes out, he wants to take Mother Hehua and his eldest son to live in the city where his eldest son's university is. Jiang Hehua is still young and will definitely not be able to survive in the village, so they want to find a place where no one knows them and start over.

He did not dare to blame Jiang Ning. Jiang Ning was a promising student of Peking University. No one provoked her, but she made up such dirty rumors behind her back. It was also because the daughter of a big man had a strong psychological quality. If she had a weaker psychological quality, let alone Peking University, let alone IMO gold medal, her whole person would probably be ruined. It was normal for her not to forgive He Hua. If his daughter was treated like this by someone, he would be surprised if he did not kill the person secretly.

Besides, Jiang Hehua went to jail because she was stupid and it happened during a crackdown, otherwise how could the situation be so serious?

Since the couple made this decision, Hehua's mother has hardly stayed in Jiangjia Village and has come back less than twice a year. She was afraid that Jiang Hehua's matter would spread. They had already prepared for the Jiang family to spread the matter, but who would have thought that the Jiang family members would not return to the village all year round, and did not even tell anyone when they came back.

While Mother Lotus and the brigade secretary breathed a sigh of relief, their feelings towards Jiang Ning became more complicated.

But they don't want to see Jiang Ning either.

The next day, New Year's Eve, the first thing the families who received the couplets written by Jiang Ning did when they got up was to happily stick the couplets written by Jiang Ning on their doors. They also repeatedly warned the children at home not to tear up the couplets on the door. After the Spring Festival, they would tear down the couplets on the door and keep them, perhaps as heirlooms in the future.

This was what Jiang Aimin planned. He was even reluctant to post the couplet written by Jiang Ning on the door.

After pasting the couplets, we go up the mountain to worship our ancestors and visit their graves.

In the past, daughters and daughters-in-law in the village did not need to go up the mountain to worship their ancestors. Ancestor worship was the job of boys. After all, how could girls come back to worship their ancestors after they got married?

But this year, early in the morning, Jiang's father knocked on Jiang Ning's door: "Ning Ning! Ning Ning! Get up quickly! We are going up the mountain to worship our ancestors!"

Jiang Ning was sleeping soundly in the warm bed. When Jiang's father woke her up, she opened her hazy eyes and said, "Didn't they say that girls don't have to offer sacrifices to their ancestors?"

"How can we not worship our ancestors? You got into Beijing University, which is such a big deal. It brings honor to our family! How can we not worship our ancestors? The village ancestral hall has been opened specially for you. The whole village is waiting for you! How can we not do it?"