Chapter 8181

Jiang Hehua's home was also a newly built two-story building with a large courtyard in front of it. Many guests were sitting outside Jiang Hehua's home, eating melon seeds and chatting. When they heard what Jiang's mother said, they asked in surprise, "Ah? Your Ningning got the first place in the county?"

"Your Ning Ning's grades are so good?"

Now, those who hadn't heard it all heard what Jiang Ma said, "Jiang Ning got the first place in the county," and they all looked over to Jiang Ma.

"What exam did you take to get first place in the county? What grade is your little daughter in?"

"I've only heard that your Jiang Song has good grades, but I didn't expect your little daughter to also have such good grades!"

"No. 1 in the county, that university is a sure thing!"

They had also never heard of how good Jiang Ning's grades were. The only girl in the village who was famous for having good grades was He Hua, the secretary of the brigade.

Jiang Ma originally asked Jiang Hehua in a low voice, but she didn't know that these people had such sensitive ears that they heard it immediately, which made her look a little unhappy.

If these people knew that Jiang Ning ranked first in the county and she still didn't want her daughter to go to school, she would inevitably be criticized.

They all looked at Jiang Hehua: "Hey, Hehua, did Jiang Ning really get first place in the county?"

Jiang Hehua's face turned black.

If Lotus's mother hadn't known that Jiang's mother was a person who favored boys over girls, and if she hadn't asked Jiang Hehua in a low voice just now, she would have really thought that she came to her house to show off.

There is one thing that Lotus's mother cares about very much. When she was young, the family of the brigade secretary asked a matchmaker to go to Jiang's mother's house to propose marriage. It was only because Jiang's mother and Jiang's father fell in love with each other that it was her turn to marry the current brigade secretary.

She only found out about this later when her mother-in-law mentioned it to her.

She knew that it was her mother-in-law who made her unhappy, but she still felt annoyed and kept comparing herself with Jiang's mother in her heart.

She had never doubted that there was something going on between Jiang Ma and the brigade secretary. After all, compared with Jiang Dad's face, anyone would fall for Jiang Dad instead of the brigade secretary.

Especially during those years when Jiang's father ran a chicken farm, he was really full of energy and ambition, the only one of his kind in the whole village.

It was not until a chicken plague caused the Jiang family chicken farm to go bankrupt and be heavily in debt that Jiang's father faded into obscurity. Especially in recent years, Jiang's mother had aged a lot due to overwork, but her life was getting more and more comfortable, and her two children were also doing well, which made Lotus' mother feel a little better.

However, Jiang Ma didn't know about her secret comparison with her. When she was young, many people came to her house to propose marriage. It was really a case of a family with a daughter being sought after by hundreds of families. Otherwise, she would not have come to Lotus Mama to help with her tuition.

At this time she was still waiting for Jiang Hehua.

Jiang Hehua really wanted to ask Jiang Ma whether Jiang Ning on the No. 1 Middle School's academic ranking list was the Jiang Ning she knew. She was also mentally prepared that the two might be the same person, but she didn't expect to be asked by Jiang Ma in front of so many people, especially with everyone looking at her.

Jiang Hehua glanced at the people at the door of her house. Her snow-white face looked even paler against the backdrop of the snow that had not yet melted on the ground.

She frowned slightly: "Jiang Ning and I are not in the same school, how can I know her grades?" She added: "I am in Wuzhong and she is in No. 1 Middle School."

This sentence is to remind everyone that she is in Wuzhong, where her grades are better and her requirements are higher, while Jiang Ning is only in No. 1 Middle School.

Although these people are only village cadres, they are not without their high emotional intelligence. They smiled and praised Jiang Hehua to the brigade secretary: "Your Hehua is really amazing. If my son's grades can be as good as Hehua's, I will have less worries!"

"Hehua has always had good grades since she was young. Look at the awards posted on the wall."

Although Jiang Hehua's family built a new house, she still tore down the award certificates she had received since she was a child from the old house and pasted them on the walls of the new house. The wall was really covered with award certificates. Everyone who came to the brigade secretary's house would be dazzled by the wall full of golden awards as soon as they entered the door.

These certificates do not belong to Jiang Hehua alone. Both her brother and sister have excellent grades and receive certificates every year.

Even though I was in high school and my grades were not as top-notch, I still received a certificate of excellence in the class.

Mother Lotus's eyes were on the brigade secretary, wanting to see if he was also looking at Mother Jiang. The brigade secretary was also full of pride and honor for the achievements of his children. When he heard them praising his own children, he laughed happily.

When Mother Lotus saw the brigade secretary's eyes fall on Mother Jiang, she couldn't help but raise a gentle arc at the corner of her lips and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will bring the money to your Jiang Bai for you." As if she remembered something, she asked her again: "By the way, isn't Ningning also studying in No. 1 Middle School? Don't I have to pay Ningning's tuition?"

Seeing Jiang Ma's dark face, she took out another 800 yuan as if cutting meat. Lotus Ma sent Jiang Ma away in a good mood, sat under the eaves of the corridor covered with ice, and chatted with everyone tenderly: "It's really not easy for Ai Lian these years. The big guy owed so much debt, and she helped to pay it back. I just saw her hands, they were so rough that they were cracked."

The hands of rural women are all rough, cracked and covered with frostbite.

Lotus's mother has no hands. At most, she cooks and washes clothes at home. She usually plays mahjong with the aunties in the village. Her life can't be said to be luxurious, but it is very leisurely and comfortable.

She sighed and said, "Did you see Ailian's face? She was so white when she was young, but now she is so tanned. It's probably because she is under too much pressure in life. I heard her quarreling at home a few days ago."

Jiang Ma's facial features are full of heroism, and they are still beautiful even now.

She was not as pretty as Jiang Ma when she was young, but now she is as pretty as Jiang Ma in temperament and skin color.

When the brigade secretary heard what Mother Lotus said, he also thought of Mother Jiang's obviously older appearance and the wrinkles between her brows due to her unhappy life.

After Jiang's mother went out, she came back with a lot of anger.

Seeing that Mom Jiang’s face was gloomy, Dad Jiang asked her what was going on.

Jiang's mother said angrily with a sullen face, "It's Meixiang! I wanted to save a few dollars, so I didn't ask you to deliver the tuition to Jiang Bai. I wanted to ask Meixiang from the brigade secretary's family to bring the tuition to Jiang Bai."

It is the Spring Festival travel period now, and fares are several times higher than usual. A round-trip fare to Wucheng at this time would cost at least fifteen yuan.

"She didn't agree?" Jiang's father asked doubtfully. Logically speaking, they were all from the same village, so it was not possible that she would not agree to such a small matter.

Jiang's mother said angrily, "I don't know what's going on with Meixiang. I paid Jiang Bai's tuition, and she asked me about Ning Ning's tuition. There were so many people watching outside her house, and I couldn't say that I would only pay Jiang Bai's tuition and not Jiang Ning's!"

Especially since those people knew that Jiang Ning had ranked first in the county. Even if she didn't want to pay Jiang Ning's tuition, she couldn't do so with so many people watching.

Father Jiang knew why Mother Jiang was so angry, so he smiled and said, "Just give it to her. Ningning has such good grades. When she passes the college entrance examination and becomes a civil servant, won't it be a great honor for you if you tell others about it?"

Jiang Ma said in disgust, "I am taking advantage of her? She is so angry with me now, and I want her to be filial to me in the future? I don't dare to think about it!"

In the past, she did want Jiang Ning to work hard for a few years to earn some money for the family, so that she could get a lot of dowry when she got married, and she could take care of her in her old age. But seeing Jiang Ning's rebellious look now, she dared not even think about relying on her daughter for support in her old age, and only counted on her two sons.

They don't have the habit of letting daughters take care of their elderly parents, but generally speaking, when the elderly are old and can't move in bed, it is usually the daughters who come back to take care of their excrement and urine. There are also daughters-in-law who take care of them, but how can the care provided by daughters-in-law be as careful and considerate as that provided by daughters-in-law?

This was what Jiang Ma had planned before.

Father Jiang smiled and said, "Okay, don't be angry. Meixiang is just asking kindly. You've already given it all. What's the point of being angry?" He stood behind Mother Jiang, put his hands on her shoulders, and half-pushed her home: "Even if you don't want to think about Ningning, you should also think about Songzi. If Ningning is fine, will she not help Songzi in the future? They are biological siblings. Even if they are broken bones, they are still connected."

Jiang Ma's expression softened a little, and she said, "Does Songzi still need her help?"

Father Jiang thought of his youth and his present situation, and sighed, "Who could have predicted the circumstances of life?"

His fourth brother, who used to be in the same class with him, is now the mayor of the town, but he went to the construction site to carry bricks.

Thinking of the construction site, he couldn't help but think of going to Shenzhen. No one was working on the land at home: "Dad is not at home this year, and no one is tending the fields, so we can't grow rice."

Although they worked outside before, they had to wait until the rice seeds were grown before going out. When the rice transplanting season came, they would come back and plant the rice for a few days.

Nowadays, more and more young people are unwilling to stay in the village and go out to work. Many fields have been contracted out to others, and they are given several hundred kilograms of grain per acre every year.

They don't farm their own land, so they go to the south to help others plant rice and harvest rice, and they are paid a certain amount of money for each acre of rice.

"I'll go down and ask big brother if he's willing to plant. If he's willing, I'll let him plant. I'll just give him some food when I come back for the New Year."

Mother Jiang glared at him and said, "I'll go and talk to you about this. Don't go there and give them the seeds for nothing!"

In this regard, Jiang's father and Jiang Song have the same problem, that is, they are very concerned about their reputation and are very lenient. If others say a few nice words to them or compliment them, they will agree to anything they say. If Jiang's father were really asked to do it, he might just come back without asking for anything.

Jiang's mother hated this about him. Otherwise, during the years when she ran the chicken farm, no matter how bad the chicken plague was, she would always have some spare money. But she didn't. People came to her house every day to eat and drink. He entertained everyone and lent money to everyone who came to borrow money.

At that time, the Jiang family was prosperous. She had just been married for less than two years and was not familiar with the family yet. The financial power of the family was not in her hands. It was later that the chicken farm went bankrupt due to chicken plague and owed a lot of money. Now she had control over the family's money. She had to have control over it. With the way Jiang's father spent money, it would take a lifetime to pay off the debts. So she played the bad guy and went to those who owed her money to collect the debts one by one.

She got back all the money from those who borrowed money and didn't pay it back.

Jiang's father probably felt that he had lost face in front of those brothers, so he worked outside for many years and no longer associated with those people.

Uncle Jiang, like Mama Jiang's eldest brother, also stayed in the village all year round and never went out. They built houses for people in the nearby villages. The family's land was used to grow crops. When he heard his younger brother say that he wanted to give all the land to him to grow crops, Uncle Jiang felt relieved and said, "Don't worry, I will take good care of the land for you and will not let your land go to waste. At the end of the year, I will give you 300 kilograms of grain per acre."

Three hundred kilograms of grain is already a lot, and at this time, a yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu is already a lot. Only hybrid rice can have such a yield per mu. The yield of local grain varieties cannot reach 1,000 kilograms per mu at all.

Now that life is good and we no longer have to worry about going hungry, many people complain that hybrid rice does not taste as good as local rice, so they plant hybrid rice and local rice together. When they hand over grain every year, they hand over the hybrid rice and keep the local grain for their own consumption.

Uncle Jiang said that he would give Dad Jiang 300 kilograms of rice per acre of land, and he was referring to hybrid rice.

For Jiang's father, as long as he has food to eat when he returns at the end of the year, he doesn't care how much.

Aunt Jiang also came out with a smile and said, "If you trust me, leave the keys to the house with me. I will plant vegetables on the two plots of land in the yard for you. When you come back at the end of the year, you will have vegetables to eat at home."

Mother Jiang and Grandma Jiang didn't get along well, but she had a very good relationship with her sister-in-law, who was both kind and gentle. She didn't disagree and said quickly, "Sister-in-law, you can plant whatever you want. We're not at home, so you can plant some for yourself. It will be fine if you come back at the end of the year."

The whole Jiang family is a fan of coriander and eats it as a main dish.

Of course, Aunt Jiang would not just grow some coriander for her.

After Jiang's father and mother passed away, Uncle Jiang said to Aunt Jiang: "You are just kind-hearted. You can't even grow enough crops on your own land, but you still grow vegetables for them. Why bother with this god? They will come back at the end of the year to eat vegetables. Why don't you just order some for them?"

Aunt Jiang smiled and said, "It's right in front of our house. It's a very convenient thing. If we can't finish eating the vegetables we grow, we can send them to Xiaofeng to sell."

Aunt Jiang usually sells fruits and New Year's goods. These things sell well at the end of the year, but few people buy them at other times. Sometimes, when Aunt Jiang's wife can't finish growing vegetables, she sends them to Aunt Jiang, and Aunt Jiang helps her sell them.

Jiang Bai and Tong Jingang sold goods in Shuibu Town for two days, and Jiang Ningjin's winter clothes were almost sold out, with only a few pieces left. They reluctantly returned to Wucheng and continued to go to class, as they would have to take the college entrance examination in a while.

Grandpa Jiang also opened a store, and on the street in front of No. 1 Middle School, the familiar voice of "son of a bastard Director He, son of a bastard Director He" was heard again.

This gossip is probably known to everyone in Wucheng. Now it has no effect in stimulating consumption. People have already bought the clothes they want to buy before the New Year. The two most popular days after the New Year are the second and third days when people go back to their parents' homes. After that, no matter how much people shout, the clothes will not sell.

Occasionally, there are sporadic customers who come to the store. They are all senior high school students who have returned to school from No. 1 Middle School and Wu Middle School. They didn't have money to buy clothes before, but now they have New Year's money after the New Year and living expenses given by their families at the beginning of the school year. If they pool their money together, they can buy a new piece of clothing.

After finishing all the household affairs, Jiang's father also began to prepare to go to Shenzhen.

Working like this all the time is not a solution. Now that the debt has been paid off and there is no longer the pressure of debt, Dad Jiang wants to do something new.

He thought for a long time and discussed with Jiang's mother about setting up a snack stand to sell snail meat sauce, pickled fish and the like. It would be much better than doing hard labor on a construction site. If he set up a snack stand, he could also ride his bike around and it would be convenient to find Jiang Song.

Jiang's mother didn't have much objection to things that didn't require much money, but she just couldn't be asked to spend money.

But setting up a snack stand also requires a tricycle... She said, "I think selling lunch boxes on construction sites is also a good business. If it doesn't work, we can sell lunch boxes there. You make them at home every day and I'll sell them on the construction site!"

When they were working on the construction site before, there was someone selling boxed lunches on their site. The dishes there were not as delicious as those made by Jiang's father, but they were still sold for one yuan per box.

Father Jiang nodded and said, "We still need to buy a tricycle. We can't stay in one place forever. How can we find pine nuts? I'll go to the riverbank to find more snails these days. I'll make some snail meat sauce to take out. By then, we'll just start selling lunch boxes, so I guess not many people will come. I'll give some snail meat sauce to the people on the construction site, and business will probably be better."

Jiang's mother, who originally didn't want to spend money, agreed to buy the tricycle when she heard Jiang's father say he wanted to find Jiang Song.

At this time, Wu Gongan and his team, who had been undercover on the construction site for several days, finally found an opportunity and dug out the bodies that had been buried under the trees in the flower bed for more than a year.