Chapter 136
Jiang's father and mother didn't know what had happened and why none of their three children came back.
If he hadn't seen Jiang Bai selling clothes in Shuibu Town before, he would have really thought that something had happened to them.
He thought that even if he didn't come back on the 29th, he would come back on the 30th, because the 30th was the day to worship the ancestors. It was the busiest day in the village. All the boys from the surrounding area would go to the mountain together. Various firecrackers and sixteen bangs would completely break the silence of the mountains and forests. This bustle would continue until the third day of the New Year.
In the past, he and Uncle Jiang would go together every year, along with his uncles Jia Guoliang and Jiang Song. Sometimes, he would also call Jiang Ning.
He is one of the few parents in the village who is willing to take his daughter to worship their ancestors. Generally, female members are not allowed to participate in the sacrificial activities in the village, unless they are newly married daughters-in-law.
During the first year of ancestor worship, young men and women will bring their new brides to show their ancestors, saying, "Ancestors, look, you have successors now." In the second year, the wives will be busy at home preparing New Year's affairs and various New Year dishes. Although it is just household chores, it is not easy.
From cleaning the whole house to dusting, from making Kitchen God cakes to boiling syrup, making rice candy and rice flour, from making various kinds of pounded meat to rolling various radish balls, lotus root balls and meatballs, preparing all kinds of dishes to be eaten during the New Year, it is really quite a project.
The men are responsible for writing and pasting couplets, and carrying a load of rice to the next village to make rice cakes using machines.
Even when he returned home and didn't see his children around him, he was still actively preparing. But on New Year's Eve this year, Uncle Jiang came to call him, and Father Jiang said again and again: "Wait a moment, maybe Songzi and Baizi will be back soon."
The more deserted the Jiang family was, the happier Uncle Jiang was. His three sons, a daughter-in-law, and a little granddaughter were all at home. He was so happy that it was almost noon. Uncle Jiang took the fragrant leek oil dumplings made by Aunt Jiang and asked Father Jiang: "Are you still waiting for pine nuts, cypress nuts, and lemons?"
“Look at the point of reading to them. They’re just like Guoan and Guoliang. They won’t come back after they’ve learned something.” The aroma of the leek dumplings in his hand was very rich. The outside was fried golden brown and tasted delicious.
He squatted on the stone pier of his courtyard wall, looked at Jiang's father, and said with a smile: "Why don't you come to my house to celebrate the New Year, so that you two don't have to cook a table of food at home, and it's lonely."
Father Jiang looked towards the ferry stubbornly: "Matsuko and Bozi must have been delayed by something."
Uncle Jiang said with a smile: "Forget about Songzi and Baizi. After all, they are boys. They are not afraid of being taken advantage of outside. Even Ningning didn't come back. Maybe the other person ran away with someone else?"
This sentence made Jiang's father even blackmailed him, and he angrily scolded: "Ningning is in school. She is already a sophomore. In which winter vacation did No. 1 Middle School not detain students in school for classes?"
He was really angry, mad at Uncle Jiang for speaking incoherently.
Uncle Jiang saw that Father Jiang was really angry, so he didn't dare to say anything to Jiang Ning. Instead, he looked up at the ferry with worry and said, "Why hasn't the old man come back yet? Did something happen?"
In their minds, the only reason why Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning had not returned home on New Year's Eve was probably that something had happened to the old man, which prevented the two of them from returning home in time for the New Year.
Father Jiang had obviously thought about this as well. His original depression over his children not coming home on New Year's Eve suddenly turned into worry about Grandpa Jiang.
He went to the brigade headquarters and wanted to borrow a phone to call No. 1 Middle School to ask, but unexpectedly, the brigade headquarters refused and said, "The brigade headquarters phone is a public phone. We are cracking down hard this year. We can't let you call privately in the future. Otherwise, if you get caught, we will all be in trouble."
All the cadres of the brigade went home to celebrate the New Year and worship their ancestors. Only one person was left. He had no position but lived in the brigade headquarters all year round and was responsible for cooking, cleaning and guarding.
Father Jiang did not suspect anything and went back anxiously.
Uncle Jiang couldn't wait any longer and said, "Oh, hurry up, everyone else will be done soon, and we'll be the only ones left. Songzi and Baizi didn't come back, so they didn't come back. The same goes for the Red Army and the Red Soldiers. Our ancestors saw the Red Army and the Red Soldiers ...
Starting from Jiang's father's generation, they no longer named their children according to generation, but according to the characteristics of that era. For example, Jiang's father's generation all took names with the character "Guo", such as Daguo, Guoping, Guoan, and Guoliang. People of their peers, such as the "fourth brother" behind the house, were named Jiang Weiguo.
The sons of Uncle Jiang also took names that were very characteristic of the time, "Red Army, Red Soldiers, Jiang Army".
They had indeed been waiting for a long time. Dad Jiang looked back in the direction of the ferry, hoping that his sons would appear soon, while carrying a basket to look for Jiang Guoliang.
Jiang Guoan never comes back every year. He spends the New Year at his father-in-law's house, so there is no need to wait for him.
This was the first time in all those years that Father Jiang went up the mountain to worship his ancestors without his two sons or even his youngest daughter.
Although Jiang Song was not at home last year, at least Jiang Bai was there.
This made Jiang's father silent throughout the whole process. During the journey, many people said to him, "Big guy, I heard that your son was admitted to Shanghai University?"
"Your family is really good at producing literary talent!"
"I heard that your little daughter is amazing too. She won the first prize in the province. The news spread all over Wucheng. Even my son heard about it. Come back and tell me about it!"
There was envy in everyone's eyes.
I asked him again how his year was going outside. He should have been very proud, as he had made a lot of money, more than these people might not make in two years. But he didn't even have the desire to speak, and he felt listless.
When I returned to the village in the afternoon, Jiang Song and Jiang Bai still hadn't come back, and Grandpa Jiang and Jiang Ning hadn't come back either.
Both Jiang's father and mother were not motivated to do anything. If they had not returned in previous years, Jiang's mother would have probably scolded them, saying, "Unless you die out there!"
But this year she didn't dare to say it. She didn't dare to say anything unlucky during the New Year, especially since Jiang Song hadn't been home for two New Years. She was afraid that what she said casually would come true.
So the couple were both silent.
Mother Jiang was making small lotus root balls with meat and lotus root, while Father Jiang kept looking outside.
Their children are not at home, so they don’t even have the motivation to work. But they are still busy. What if their children come back when it’s time for the New Year’s Eve dinner?
Other families are bustling with activity, but theirs is deserted and lonely.
Jiang's father and mother continued drinking silently until the food was cold in the evening.
As they drank, Jiang's mother started to cry and choked up, saying, "What's the point of sending sons and daughters to school? They all graduate and never come back. Guoan and Guoliang are like this, as are Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning. If I had known, I would not have sent them to school. The Red Army soldiers in my sister-in-law's family are now working as bricklayers at home. Who knows how good it is? Maybe this year we can find a spouse for Songzi, and next year we can bring our daughter-in-law back home. In two years, we can all have grandchildren."
Jiang's mother cried and complained to Jiang's father again: "You are the one who made them study and said that you would let them take the college entrance examination. Jiang Bai was admitted, but what's the use? He hasn't even grown up yet, he uses the tuition we paid for and the living expenses we gave him, and it's only the first year, and he doesn't come back." Thinking of Jiang Guoan who didn't come back to the village all year round, she cried sadly: "I guess he will be like Guoan in the future, a son raised by others. What's the point of me giving birth to him in the first place?"
Thinking back to the time when she gave birth to the two little ones, she was worried all day long, afraid that they would be caught by the Family Planning Commission and have the abortions done. She hid from place to place in the mountains, not even daring to live in a small mountain house, but living in a shack in the tea mountains. For the sake of the two little ones, she hid in the mountains every day, not daring to go home, until she gave birth, all in the mountains.
But she was trembling with fear all day long, thinking that it would be better if she had not given birth to two children.
Father Jiang ate a fried meatball, drank a sip of wine, and said, "We saw Baizi selling clothes in town that day. If there was nothing special, he would come back. None of the three of them came back. I was afraid that something happened to the old man and the two children couldn't leave."
Jiang Ma hadn't thought of this before, but now that she heard it, it was really possible: "Then you have to come back for the New Year, right? You don't know how harsh the villagers' words are."
Father Jiang said, "After the New Year, I will settle the issue of the homestead and go to Wucheng to see what happened."
Jiang Bai had the money from selling clothes during the New Year, so he wasn't too worried about not having money. He was just worried about the old man's health.
Grandpa Jiang has never had such a comfortable New Year. He now knows that this is not a dream at all, but the heating is on in the whole house.
Grandpa Jiang is not from the north. There are neither kangs nor heating in their place. In the words of many people in later generations, the cold winter here is a magical attack, especially where they live, with mountains behind and water in front. In the summer, the temperature is generally two or three degrees lower than other places, which is still comfortable. But in winter, the temperature is also two or three degrees lower than other places. Although it is only two or three degrees, the temperature difference makes Grandpa Jiang feel like there is a difference of many degrees in the mountains. Every winter is the most difficult time for him.
But he still had to patrol the mountains. No matter it was the dew in the morning and evening, or the frost in autumn and winter, Grandpa Jiang walked in it. His upper body was fine, but his lower legs were often frozen to the point of almost numbness.
In fact, he was not a strong man. He was even a little weak and crybaby. But he was his father's eldest son and the oldest brother. He had to carry the family on his thin and tender shoulders. No one ever asked him if he was tired or in pain. He was always cheerful and never complained that he was tired or in pain. He thought that no one would ever know that he was tired or in pain.
But now he knows that there are people who care about him.
It seemed like all the suffering he had endured over the past few decades had now been soothed by his granddaughter.
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