Chapter 89 Grandpa and Grandma

Shi Luo saw Jiang Hao sitting down, as if he was going to tell a story, so he quickly pulled the table over and grabbed a handful of melon seeds, intending to eat them while listening.

Jiang Hao saw Shi Luo blinking his big eyes and staring at him. He shook his head helplessly and then lowered his voice and said,

"My grandfather lived in the city in his early years, but the machinery factory in Beijing hired him back to be a master chef and train apprentices. My grandfather felt that our place was not as convenient as Beijing, and there was nothing to eat in the restaurant, and the supply was also limited. It was really annoying, so he took my grandmother to Beijing.

Oh, by the way, my uncle Jiang Jianshe also happened to be working in the transport team of the Beijing Machinery Factory after he retired. My dad thought that my grandfather would have someone to take care of him there, so he agreed to let him go."

Shi Luo felt a little strange, "When it comes to eating out, aren't people their age very frugal?"

Jiang Hao shook his head, and seeing that the doors and windows were all closed, he lowered his voice and continued, "My grandfather is different. When I was a child, he told me that my family used to be in business and had several shops in our city.

My family was quite wealthy at the time. We couldn’t say we had luxurious clothes and delicious food every day, but we definitely had everything we wanted. We could buy whatever we wanted, so my grandfather was very particular about food, clothing, and daily necessities from a young age.”

Shi Luo scratched his head, very puzzled. "Then your family shouldn't be poor peasants, right?"

Jiang Hao's mouth curled up slightly, "If it had always been like that, of course it wouldn't be a poor peasant, but my great-grandfather is smart.

Was the situation here too chaotic at that time? It was really not peaceful here. Foreigners or minor officials and hooligans would often come to our house to plunder.

My great-grandfather felt that if he continued like this, all the money he earned would go to others, which was a huge loss. So he gritted his teeth, secretly sold his property in the city, and returned to the village with his family in tattered clothes.

After returning to the village, my great-grandfather built a few adobe houses and bought three acres of land. He then worked as a farmer and spread the word that the family business had been taken over by others. He was left with no other options and had to return to the village to farm.

But in the village, my grandfather had never suffered. After all, my great-grandfather had only my grandfather as his son, and he was not short of money. Although he pretended to be poor on the surface, and his clothes and housing were not very good, but in private, my grandfather had never suffered any hardship when he was a child, and he had a special kitchen and other things.

Later, my grandfather grew up and had finished his studies. Although it was a little more peaceful here, it was still very chaotic. My great-grandfather didn't want my grandfather to go to study in other places. The local universities often had some unnecessary things, and my great-grandfather was also afraid that something would happen to my grandfather.

So they simply stopped him from continuing his studies and found a way to spend money to get my grandfather into a gold shop to learn the craft from a master. My grandfather was smart and nimble, so he learned very well and soon became a master.

The gold shop was a lucrative place. Grandpa could earn quite a bit of money every month, but he didn't like saving money and lived a frugal life. Therefore, he never had much left over from his monthly earnings. Later, my grandfather married his master's daughter, who is my grandmother.

My grandmother was the only child in her family and she was very precious to her. So my grandmother was very lavish in spending money. The couple couldn't save any money together.

My great-grandfather had plenty of money, and life was not peaceful at that time. People in the countryside had to keep a low profile, otherwise they would be easily robbed by others or some non-human beings. It was better to eat, drink and enjoy themselves, so my great-grandfather did not ask my grandfather to save money.

As for the two old people in my grandmother's family, they would not ask the young couple to save money, because they were not short of money and often gave money to my grandpa and grandma.

After liberation, my great-grandfather saw that there had been peace for two years and that there should be no more war. He was just planning to buy some property when the class classification started again, such as the landlord fight. My great-grandfather suppressed his thoughts and worked hard in the village. My grandfather's income in the city was barely enough to spend, so he didn't buy any property. So my great-grandfather and my grandfather were both classified as poor peasants.

Actually, my ancestors were very rich. My grandfather said that my family had been doing business for generations. But the world was in chaos at that time and everyone in the palace was short of money.

At that time, several well-known imperial merchants, high-ranking officials, wealthy landlords, and their properties were confiscated. My ancestor saw that the situation was not right, so he sold everything he could, abandoned his property, and ran away with his family. That’s when he came here to settle down.

After settling here, my ancestors were too timid to show off, and their daily lives were only slightly better off than those of ordinary people. It wasn't until my great-grandfather grew up and married, and after my great-grandfather passed away, that our family used the money to open a few shops and planned to slowly expand. Who would have thought that before they could expand, the world would become even more chaotic, and my great-grandfather quickly sold his property and returned to the countryside to live.

Shi Luo was stunned. "Then your family is quite lucky. Oh, that's not right. Your great-grandfather was a farmer at home and we didn't have much land. It's no problem for him to be classified as a poor peasant. But your grandfather was a master chef in a gold shop in the city. How could he be classified as a poor peasant?"

Jiang Hao also admired his family's luck. "Although my grandfather was a chef in the city, he was also working, and his household registration has always been in the village. He followed my great-grandfather's class background, so naturally he was a poor peasant."

Shi Luo scratched his head. "But your grandmother doesn't have a rural household registration, right? Isn't your great-grandfather, your grandmother's father, also a master goldsmith?"

Jiang Hao: "My grandmother's parents, that is, my great-grandparents, died before liberation. Although my grandmother was their only daughter, she was their daughter who came late in life. My great-grandfather was much older than my great-grandfather. They died before they could even see the classification of their social status.

My grandmother didn't have a job, so she stayed at home to take care of the children. Although my grandparents left her a lot of money, it was not stable at that time, so they didn't put the money in the bank.

So no one else knows how much money their family has. They spend money lavishly. The neighbors always think they are squandering their money. But everyone knows about their yard in the city. But don’t people in the city all have yards? It’s just a matter of size.

I remember my grandfather saying that when the class status was being determined, my grandmother had no other relatives, and our family didn't have much property. They spent some money and asked for favors, so our class status followed my grandfather's, and we were also classified as poor peasants."