Chapter 166
It was true that the entire village was waiting for Jiang Ning alone. Men and women, old and young, people holding children, and young girls were all standing outside the ancestral hall to watch the fun.
The ancestral hall of Jiangjia Village is located in the center of Jiangjia Village, not far from the cinema. There is a large open space in the middle. Twenty or thirty years later, this open space was used as an activity center and parking lot for the elderly. Young people who came back from outside would drive their cars back and park them in the village no matter how far away they were. If anyone did not have a car at the door of his house, he was not considered to have made it.
Dad Jiang also specially asked Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai to wear the long red down jackets they bought for them in Shenzhen.
As soon as Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai arrived outside the ancestral hall, the people in the village who were usually responsible for taking care of the ancestral hall lit firecrackers on both sides of the hall. The deafening sound of firecrackers seemed to wake up this silent mountain village in the early morning.
Mayor Jiang, who might not have come back at this time in previous years, his son Jiang Guotai, who owns the old shop Lao Zhonghua at the entrance of the village and runs a brick factory and contracted the highway in the neighboring city last year, his uncle Jiang's eldest son Jiang Guoan, and his youngest son Jiang Guoliang, all the promising people in the village, came back on New Year's Eve this year, just because the Jiang family had two college students, one of whom was from Beijing University and won a gold medal internationally.
The news that Jiang Ning won the international gold award was broadcast throughout the province, and the city and county promoted it vigorously. The old village chief and the old secretary contacted Mayor Jiang at that time and asked them to open an ancestral hall to record this major event in the family tree. Later generations could know which celebrities their ancestors were and what deeds they did by looking through the family tree.
Unfortunately, Jiang Ning didn't come back at that time. Many people in the village were working outside and were busy with work, so they didn't come back. Today they all gathered together.
These people who have been working outside for many years and have hardly returned to Jiangjia Village for many years, looked at Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai walking side by side, and felt that all the spiritual energy of this generation of Jiangjia Village was gathered on the two Jiang brothers and sisters.
The whole village seemed to be meeting the two of them for the first time. Even the friends of the same age who grew up with Jiang Bai in the past, looking at Jiang Bai today, seemed as if they didn't know him.
They couldn't help but attribute this to the fact that college students are different from ordinary people, not only in appearance but also in temperament.
But then they looked at Jiang Guoan, who rarely came back for the New Year this year, and Jiang Shengzhi and Jiang Guoliang from the brigade secretary's family. They were all college students, but none of them were like the Jiang brothers and sisters. They were truly like golden phoenixes flying out of a mountain cave, with a kind of radiance that was incompatible with their mountain village.
But their main focus was still on Jiang Ning. Jiang Ning was the protagonist today, and Jiang Bai was just a by-product.
Of course, they don’t know at this time what kind of achievements Jiang Bai, who has been a transparent person in the past and is now just a by-product, will make in the future.
They opened the ancestral hall of Jiangjia Village and offered sacrifices to their ancestors.
To Jiang Ning, this was just a very ordinary little scene. Supported by the village chief and the old secretary, she entered through the main gate of the ancestral hall, burned incense and kowtowed to the ancestors.
But when the old secretary and the old village chief passed the incense to the two men, they passed it to Jiang Ning first and then to Jiang Bai. Jiang Ning directly split the incense stick in his hand into two, passed half to Jiang Bai, and then lit the incense calmly with a pious look on his face.
She didn't know whether there were ghosts and gods in the world, but she could start over again and see her grandfather again. These alone were enough for her to thank her ancestors and the gods for their blessings.
Those who followed him in were all village leaders such as Mayor Jiang, Jiang Guotai, who later became the richest man in the neighboring city, respected elders in the village, and prominent people who held cadre positions in the brigade.
Jiangjia Village has four branches and more than 380 households in total. It is one of the largest villages in the vicinity. Because there are too many people in the village, a part of it was divided out to become Xiaojiangjia Village.
Even the people from Xiaojiangjia Village, who were related to the third branch of the Jiang family, came to the outside of the ancestral hall early in the morning. Jiang's father, who had been oppressed by huge debts for the past decade, had not been so glorious in all these years. Because of his two children, he also stood in the center of the crowd, became the focus of everyone, and was congratulated with all kinds of nice words.
Jiang Ning saw Grandpa Jiang standing alone outside the crowd, under a small tree, with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face, looking over here.
"Grandpa!" Jiang Ning ran over quickly, and the crowd naturally made way for her. Jiang Ning helped Grandpa Jiang to the ancestral hall, and together they burned incense to their ancestors. Grandpa Jiang's eyes were red with excitement, and he wiped his tears with joy. The wrinkles on his face deepened when he smiled.
Today is New Year's Eve. The scale of the event is completely different from the time when the principal of No. 1 Middle School came to Jiangjia Village to present Jiang Ning with a scholarship in the middle of last year. All the villagers who were working outside the village have returned to worship their ancestors today, and everyone is standing outside the ancestral hall.
The old village chief asked Jiang Ning to say a few words.
What can Jiang Ning say? It is to let the children in the village study hard, the world is big and wonderful, and encourage the children in the village to go out, especially emphasizing the issue of letting girls study: "No matter whether it is a boy or a girl, if one person passes the exam, the whole family will be honored!"
Jiang Ning knew that it was useless to talk about the great principles of gender equality with the villagers. Only by combining the benefits of girls studying and going to college with their own interests would more families be willing to support their girls' education.
After all, she is the role model here.
We will go to the mountain to visit the graves soon. These few days have been a rare sunny day after the heavy snow, so we must pay special attention to forest fire prevention. Jiang Ning also emphasized that after burning paper money, we must bury the fire with soil before leaving.
Later, Mayor Jiang also came out to emphasize this point.
The way this important person speaks is different. All the young people in the village, young and old, have to listen to Mayor Jiang. Even if the young people don't care, their parents will pay extra attention because they have listened to Jiang Ning and Mayor Jiang's words, and will carefully extinguish all sparks before leaving.
Later, the uncle who owns the cinema also said that in order to congratulate Jiang Ning on being admitted to Peking University and winning the gold medal in the International Olympiad Competition, the cinema will show movies for free tonight, and the crowd cheered!
The girls all looked at Jiang Ning with envy as she stood in the center of the crowd in such glory. Jiang Qin was also looking at Jiang Ning and waved to her excitedly. Seeing that Jiang Ning responded with a smile, her chest puffed up a few centimeters and she looked very proud.
The sight of Jiang Ning surrounded by the respected elders in the village planted the seeds in the hearts of many girls in the village to study hard and want to be valued by the village like Jiang Ning in the future and to shine as brightly as she was.
I don’t know if Jiang Ning was originally very dazzling, or if the aura of being a genius student has created a filter in the hearts of all the girls in Jiangjia Village. At this moment, Jiang Ning is shining like a star in the sky, both far and near from them.
Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted, "Ning Ning! Come and hold your niece!"
The person who was speaking was Jiang Ning's eldest cousin's wife. When she married into Jiangjia Village three years ago, she was still a pretty little girl. In those three years, her face had already shown some traces of rural labor.
Jiang Ning took the little girl from her eldest cousin's wife's arms with a smile, and made her smile so happily that her teeth were exposed, just like when worshipping ancestors and asking them to bless their children and grandchildren. She said devoutly: "Lingling, you must be like your aunt in the future. Go to college, eat government food, and have a stable job. Hug your aunt, touch your aunt, and get some of her literary aura."
Yes, my eldest cousin’s wife’s eldest daughter is named Jiang Ling, which is somewhat similar to Jiang Ning’s name. This was deliberately chosen by my eldest cousin and his wife, hoping that a similar name would bring their own children some of Jiang Ning’s luck in exams, so that they could be as successful as her in the future.
It is not obvious now, but after Jiang Ning enters the system, the children of this generation, girls are generally named Jiang Mouling, and boys are generally named Jiang Moulin.
Many women holding their own children came over with their children and said, "Hurry, ask your aunt to hold you too."
Some people even dragged their children's arms over here and said, "Come here, let your sister touch you."
Some children were shy and refused to come over, while others came over obediently and shyly, looking up at Jiang Ning in admiration, waiting for her to touch their heads. Those who were pulled over were basically boys, and Jiang Ning smiled and treated them all equally, regardless of whether they were boys or girls. She touched their heads and encouraged them, "Study hard, get into college in the future, and serve the country!"
The children whose heads were touched all looked at Jiang Ning with sparkling eyes and nodded vigorously. The brave ones even said to Jiang Ning, "Sister Ningning, when I grow up, I want to apply to Beijing University just like you!"
Jiang Ning smiled and gave a thumbs up: "You have great ambition! I'll be waiting for you at Jingcheng University, and I hope you'll become my junior."
“I want to get into Tsinghua University!”
"I want to apply to Kyoto University!"
The encouraged children were all shouting excitedly, and their parents were so happy that their teeth were showing. Some brave girls also shouted out their dreams: "I want to be admitted to Peking University like Aunt Ningning!"
Jiang Ning gently helped her adjust her collar and touched her face: "You are awesome, I believe you can do it, keep working hard, I will wait for you at Beijing University too."
The girls were so excited after being encouraged that they all raised their hands and shouted, "Me too! Me too!"
"Sister Ningning, I want to apply to Peking University too!"
Jiang Ning patiently and gently gave affirmation and encouragement to each of them, while the adults outside the crowd watched with smiles, especially the old people in the village. Although they couldn't say anything, they just felt that the little girl of the tall guy was extraordinary.
Mayor Jiang also brought his daughter, who was only one day older than Jiang Ning, to Jiang Ning and said, "Ningning, Yanyan, do you remember? You two were born on the same day. She was born in the evening and you were born in the morning. She is said to be one day older than you, but in fact, she is only a few hours older. So, you and Yanyan were born on the same day of the same month of the same year."
Jiang Ning smiled and took Jiang Yanyan's hand, saying, "Fourth uncle, what are you saying? Yanyan and I were best friends when we were little. We grew up together, so how could I not know Yanyan?"
What Jiang Ning said was complete nonsense. She grew up in the mountains with Grandpa Jiang when she was little. Jiang Yanyan followed Mayor Jiang to go to school in the countryside before she was old enough to understand. How could they have grown up together?
Mayor Jiang was very happy to hear this and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, you two sisters are the closest blood relatives in your generation. Your father and I are brothers who grew up together. You can come to your fourth uncle's house after the New Year. I have been busy all these years and your generation has never been to my house."
Mayor Jiang was originally the mayor of a township, and later he was transferred to the largest town closest to Wucheng as the mayor. If he was promoted further, he would go directly to the county.
Jiang Yanyan knew Jiang Ning, but she was not really familiar with him. When Jiang Ning held her hand affectionately at this moment, she really thought that they played together when they were children. After all, her old house and Jiang's old house were neighbors, one in front and one behind, less than one meter apart.
In fact, children all like to play with older children. When Jiang Yanyan was a child, she was Jiang Song’s little follower. When Jiang Song used a small net to catch fish, she would follow him happily carrying a small plastic bucket.
She was a little shy, her fair and tender little face was rosy and had some baby fat, which made her very cute. Her hands were also chubby and soft, and when they were pinched in her hands, it felt like pulling a ball of soft and delicate cotton.
Jiang Ning was talking to some important people in the village. Those in the village who couldn't catch up with Jiang Ning surrounded Grandpa Jiang and congratulated him, saying that the old man had finally made it.
"It was so hard back then, but now I've finally made it through. Both of my grandchildren have been admitted to university, and I can only look forward to enjoying life from now on!"
Grandpa Jiang just put his hands behind his back, listened with a smile, and didn't say anything.
How could they know that he had been enjoying the good life with his eldest granddaughter two years ago!
Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner was spent together by Jiang's father and Uncle Jiang's family. Although Jiang Song was not at home, the New Year's Eve was not lonely at all. Jiang Hongjun and the younger son Jiang Jun from Uncle Jiang's family were both very good at livening up the atmosphere. Jiang's father was also extremely excited and talked a lot at the dinner table, talking about Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai's childhood stories.
He had a more vivid memory of his only daughter, Jiang Ning. He remembered that Jiang Ning was very smart when she was a child. But he really didn't have a very clear memory of Jiang Bai. The main reason was that the years when Jiang Bai was born were when he was the busiest and most ambitious in running the chicken farm. How could he have the time to think about his child? So there was really nothing much to say about Jiang Bai, so a group of people gathered together to praise Jiang Ning.
The eldest sister-in-law was the most supportive one, and she supported him wholeheartedly.
The New Year's Eve dinner was prepared by Jiang's father and Jiang Bo. Jiang's mother had some free time and wanted to help, but Jiang's father was so excited that he had no place to vent. He just wanted to show off his cooking skills and prepare a table of delicious dishes for the whole family to taste.
When Jiang's mother had nothing to do, she would listen to the whole family cracking melon seeds and praising Jiang Ning. They praised Jiang Ning to the heavens and the earth from childhood to adulthood, saying that there was no child in the world smarter, more well-behaved, and cuter than Jiang Ning when he was a child.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, many people came to the Jiang family again. Mayor Jiang and a group of other grown men gathered together, reminiscing about the past, looking forward to the future, and discussing national affairs.
Jiang Ning sat beside them and listened quietly until they brought the topic to Jiang Ning and asked for her opinion. Jiang Ning then smiled and talked about how to build her hometown.
Mayor Jiang and his people had actually always treated Jiang Ning as a promising younger generation in the clan and coaxed him like a child. But after they heard what Jiang Ning said about how to develop the rural economy and how to generate income for the villagers, from one village to a township, then to a town, and finally to a county.
Mayor Jiang and Jiang Guotai, who were originally talking animatedly, suddenly became silent and looked at the young Jiang Ning who was sitting between them.
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