Chapter 214 [There is a Jiang Song Jiang mother complex, send red envelopes]
Jiang Guotai used his cell phone to call his father Jiang, or the old landline. The other end of the line picked up, but he couldn't understand what was being said.
This is also the reason why he is reluctant to call Jiang's father, even though the people on both ends try their best to communicate in Mandarin, but Jiang Guotai's Mandarin is really the Mandarin of Shuibu Town. He feels that he is speaking Mandarin, but in fact he is speaking dialect mixed with non-standard idioms.
The same thing happened on the other end of the phone. The owner of the convenience store was a native of Shenzhen and spoke Shenzhen Mandarin. It was tiring for both parties to listen to him, but at least they could understand him shouting "Jiang Guoping" to answer the phone.
Every time Jiang Guoping made or received a phone call, it was always in their convenience store. Jiang's father was also a good person. From time to time, he would send some homemade braised duck heads, duck feet and other braised dishes to the boss and his wife. It wasn't much, but over time, he felt that Jiang's father and mother were honest people, and the food they cooked was clean and delicious. When the convenience store's wife didn't want to cook, she would buy lunch boxes from Jiang's father and mother. Jiang's father and mother would always send them an extra duck foot or an orchid or something, and he got along very well with them.
Jiang's father was not at home, and the boss's wife ran to the train station to call him: "Someone from your hometown called you!" Then she handed him a phone number she had copied from the phone: "This is the number. Call me back when you have time. I'm leaving now!"
Dad Jiang hurriedly picked up a few duck heads and took them back to the proprietress.
The proprietress happily took the duck head handed over by Jiang's father and hurried back to the store to look after it.
Father Jiang took off his apron and said to Mother Jiang, "It's Cathay Pacific calling. You stay here and watch. I'll go call back and ask what's going on."
Jiang Guotai is a very busy man. Generally speaking, no one would call him unless it was something extremely important.
Not long after Jiang Guotai hung up the phone, Jiang's father called back.
Jiang Guotai said: "You earn a lot every year now, but you have to go to the store every time to make phone calls, and you can't understand what the people on the other end say. Can't you just buy a cell phone?"
Others may not know how much Jiang Guoping earns in a year, but Jiang Guotai knows.
Making money but not showing off is like walking in fine clothes at night.
When Jiang's father showed off to others, he was afraid that they would borrow money from him or steal his money, but he didn't have such concerns when he showed off to Jiang Guotai.
Not to mention that the sand factory he contracted started to make a fortune after the flood receded, even the money he earned from his brick factory in a month was more than what Jiang's father earned in a year.
The meaning of Jiang's father and Jiang Guotai's bragging is very obvious. They are saying, brother, although I am down and out now, compared with those people in the village, they are still making money quietly and earning a lot.
Jiang Guotai knew about his little thoughts but was not annoyed. Instead, he was very happy that he was cheering up again. He just reminded him to be nicer to his son and daughter at home. Every time he called, he would emphasize to him that his daughter was special and they might depend on him in the future.
Jiang Guoping listened to Jiang Guotai the most. He used to always forget to send living expenses to his two children on a regular basis. After all, the children were so easy to take care of and never called to ask for money, so they always assumed that they didn't need it.
But now, no matter whether Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning need it or not, Jiang's father regularly gives Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning living expenses every month. It is not a small amount in this era. Three hundred yuan per person per month, two hundred of which are open accounts, and the other one hundred is a secret account transferred from his own private money.
Every time he sent money for living expenses, Jiang's mother, who was used to being stingy, couldn't help but complain, "They both earn their own money, and we don't ask for their money. Instead, we send them money every time. Who raises them so young? Isn't that paying money to the family?"
Father Jiang glared at him and said, "How can they be the same? They are going to work, while Baizi and Ningning are going to study. They will not be from the same world in the future. Don't compare those useless people with Baizi and Ningning!"
Jiang's mother disagreed and said, "Guo'an and Guoliang are also college students. How many times do they go home in a year?" She didn't say, "Those who are righteous are often butchers, and those who study are often ungrateful," but she wanted to express this meaning, saying, "You can't even wait for them during the New Year. When they get married, will you still be able to enjoy their blessings?"
As long as she saw the examples of Jiang Guoan and Jiang Guoliang, Jiang's mother had no intention of enjoying the good life with Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning when they became successful. She always felt that they were unreliable and that she could only rely on her eldest son in the future.
In a way, she was right.
However, the eldest son she was chasing after was also unreliable.
At this time, Jiang Guotai mentioned the matter of buying a mobile phone. Is it possible that Jiang's father doesn't want to do this? He had long wanted to buy a cell phone to show off, but every time he brought it up, Jiang Ma scolded him: "I think your good life will be over in a few days! Do you believe that as soon as you buy a cell phone, those pickpockets will steal it? Maybe even the house we live in will be targeted by thieves!"
In this day and age, mobile phones are still considered a luxury item and not everyone can afford one.
Probably because they knew the crackdown was over, since the second half of the year, there have been more pickpockets, thieves and motorcycle gangs in the entire Shenzhen Railway Station. Many of the gangs do not steal but rob. After snatching your bag, they dive into the crowd. There are a lot of people coming and going in the railway station. Several gangs will deliberately squeeze towards you, making it impossible for you to go out to find someone. By the time you get out of the crowd, the gang has already run away and even thrown your ID away.
The residents nearby were also often visited by these thieves and pickpockets, causing Jiang's father and mother to wear tattered clothes every time they went out. They dared not wear any good clothes for fear of being targeted by these people.
Jiang's father and mother had seen this kind of thing many times near the train station. At first, when they saw those people having their things robbed, they would look for people everywhere crying for help, and they would feel sorry for them and give them a box lunch.
After this happened many times, Jiang's father and mother discovered that some people would pretend to be victims whose money had been stolen and who were left penniless, and would ask for help from passers-by, asking for five or ten yuan.
No one else can give more, but quite a few people do give three or five dollars. There are indeed many kind people in this world.
You thought that after you gave them the travel expenses, they would take the bus home. In fact, they have been asking for money here not only today, but also when you come here ten days later, they will still be asking for money here. The money they earn in one day is more than what they earn from buying lunch boxes.
Jiang's mother, who had been unhappy about Jiang's father giving them lunch boxes and had been watching them coldly, had another big quarrel with Jiang's father after discovering these people's tricks. She tightened her grip on the family's financial power and not only did she not let Jiang's father touch it at all, but they had to deposit the money they earned in the bank every week. Only by keeping it in the bank could they feel at ease. And every time she went, Jiang's mother made Jiang's father wear their tattered clothes from three years ago, and put the money in several layers of snakeskin bags, for fear that the thieves would cut the outer bag with a blade and they would not know when the money inside would disappear.
Those thieves usually target those who are dressed decently, but few people target them.
Thanks to Jiang's mother's caution, they have never been robbed. If it were just Jiang's father, who knows how many times they would have been robbed.
In addition, after staying here for three years, they basically know all the thieves in the train station. Thieves often come to Jiang's lunch stand to buy lunch boxes, just because the lunch boxes at Jiang's dad and Jiang's lunch stand are the most delicious.
Every time they came, Jiang's father pretended not to know and entertained them with a smile. He didn't dare to provoke them. Sometimes he even tried to get close to them by giving them an extra egg or spiced tofu. In addition, Jiang's father was tall and strong, and Jiang's mother was also strong. One of them looked like a smiling good guy, and the other was fierce and aggressive, so no one bothered Jiang's father and mother.
So even though Jiang's dad was crazy about buying a mobile phone and showing it off at home, he would always be scolded by Jiang's mom and give up the idea.
He smiled and said to Jiang Guotai: "You know your sister-in-law's temper. If I dare to buy a mobile phone, she will fight with me!"
Jiang Guotai laughed on the other end of the phone and told about the division of the tea mountain in his hometown: "I have already told the village chief about Ningning's land. I reserved the best for her. As for the pine nuts..." He asked: "Haven't you found them yet?"
These words made Jiang's father silent.
Jiang Guotai said, "Okay, since Songzi is not here, let's wait for him to come back next time to divide the land. It's such a big piece of land, there's still room for division. This time it's mainly our second and third rooms. There are not many families who follow the first and fourth rooms to grow tea. When there is real income, those people will definitely ask for a share of the land. We can divide it then. If Songzi gets married and has children, he can get more."
He was really busy, so he hung up the phone after a few words and didn't stay in Jiangjia Village for long. He left in his motorboat. Before leaving, he made an agreement with the village chief that the best plots of land in the tea mountain would not be drawn and would be left to Jiang Ning and Jiang Yanyan. He said, "You don't have to give up my tea land, but Fourth Brother has been running around so busy to develop the economy of our hometown. The village can't treat him unfairly. He only has one girl like Yanyan. Isn't it too much to leave her a piece of land with the best sunlight?"
"As for Ningning," Jiang Guotai said in a serious tone, "We can tell from the fact that she came back to help with disaster relief during the summer vacation that we may have to rely on her in the future. We reserved the best piece of land for her, but we are not giving her more land. She should be treated the same as everyone else."
The village chief smiled and touched his graying hair, saying, "Don't worry, I know everything!"
The village chief has been the head of Jiangjia Village for so many years. He is highly respected and admired in the village. How could he not know the tricks involved? The village chief not only planned to give the best piece of land to Jiang Yanyan and Jiang Ning, but also to Jiang Guotai's daughter Jiang Miao, his own grandson, and some of the main members' families.
The mountainous area in Chaoyang is very large. As for the remaining land with good orientation, they will be drawn by lot in a fair, just and open manner. Whoever draws the land will get it. If people who are not core members of them also draw the land with good orientation, no one will say anything. It is all just luck.
So if you say they are selfish and partial, not every household got the best land, only one acre. If you say they are not partial, they are indeed partial.
If someone in the family of these core members gets lucky and draws a tea field with a good orientation, then that is fair, just and open luck and should be given to them.
After Jiang Guotai showed up here and expressed his stance, all matters here were handed over to Mayor Jiang and Village Chief Jiang.
Mayor Jiang attaches great importance to Jiang Ning's plan to develop the economy of his hometown.
Because of the flood this year, he originally wanted to plant lotus roots, water chestnuts, and water caltrops in Yaoba Town, which he currently governs, and mobilize the villagers to raise crayfish and pearls. However, a flood caused all his plans for this year to fail. Fortunately, he didn't have time to do it this year, otherwise a flood alone would have caused all his aquatic plans to go bankrupt.
During the flood, he could not do anything except disaster relief and flood control, so he devoted all his efforts to promoting the tea planting plan in his hometown. Now he has finally planted various tea varieties suitable for their "Huolu Mountain" soil and water. He has also contacted experts and professors at the Provincial Agricultural College and the Agricultural Bureau about the planting of wolfberries, persimmons, chestnuts, hawthorns and other varieties, and will wait until the beginning of next spring to launch these plans.
Fortunately, according to the rules of the Shahe River here, there will be peace for ten years or so after a flood. In the next ten years or so, there is no need to worry about such a serious flood. He can concentrate on aquaculture in Yaoba Town, which is under his jurisdiction, and Jiangjia Village.
He looked at the endless shallows that were still submerged in water. He was born and raised here in the past and was accustomed to everything that grew on this land. He never knew that the things they were used to seeing in their daily lives might be treasures that others could not find if they were placed outside. They could bring prosperity to his hometown and boost the economy of his hometown.
Because it was a major matter of land division, Jiang's father did not dare to delay. After Jiang Guotai left, Jiang's father immediately called Village Chief Jiang to confirm the land division. Because he was not at home, all land division matters in his hometown were handed over to his eldest brother, Uncle Jiang, to handle.
"I'll transfer the money to you tomorrow," said Jiang's father.
Village Chief Jiang then asked, "Have you found your eldest son? Logically, when your eldest son comes back, you should give him some land. If he gets married and has children, he should get three parts. But there has been no news about your eldest son for almost three years..."
Jiang Guotai had already told him this before, but even though he understood it, Jiang's father still felt uncomfortable.
There has been no news for almost three years. Generally speaking, as long as nothing happened, even if he didn't come back, he would call his hometown, but there was no news at all from Jiang Song.
Everyone in the village was wondering, doesn’t Jiang Song like fighting? I'm afraid he was caught and shot during the crackdown two years ago.
Jiang's father didn't want to believe this, but his heart couldn't help sinking. He only hoped that his son would be arrested and imprisoned for a few years rather than being shot. They became more and more afraid to leave Shenzhen, and just kept looking for Jiang Song. At first they only focused on the train station, but now they occasionally went to Shenzhen and even the surrounding prisons to inquire if there was a person named Jiang Song.
The village chief probably knew that he was upset, and said, "This is only the first land division. The tea trees are growing well. If there is any profit in the future, the first and fourth families will definitely scramble for a share of the land. By then, your family will probably have heard about Songzi, and it will be the same if we divide the land again. If we have grandchildren, we can get three or four shares together."
Having said that, the land with good orientation will definitely be divided up by the first group of people this time. For those who want to join later, there are of course tea lands on the tea mountain, but they may be located in the valley, at the foot of the mountain, or in the west-facing, shady areas with poor light.
The tea grown in these places is also called "Wugong Tea", just like the tea grown around the entire city of Hangzhou is called Longjing Tea. However, the taste of the tea grown in different locations is different, and the price they are sold at is also very different.
It is not obvious now, but this gap will become more and more obvious in the future.
In the evening, Jiang's father and mother asked for the passbook because they were going to remit money to the village chief tomorrow.
Jiang's mother reluctantly took out the passbook and threw it at Jiang's father, saying, "I have never seen a family where the eldest son did not get any land, but gave it to his younger brothers and sisters! You follow whatever Guotai does, and you think his fart smells good. You also built so many tea mountains. I see so much tea, who are you going to sell it to when the time comes!"
They haven't heard from Jiang Song for a long time. In the beginning, they were anxiously looking for him all over the world, and they looked out at the train station every day eager to see their son. In the end, they gradually became disappointed and got used to not seeing their eldest son or hearing from him.
Jiang's father and mother had already prepared for the worst, and they estimated that their son had been affected by the crackdown.
But the couple tacitly agreed not to think of the worst possible scenario and just continued to look for their son quietly.
Jiang's father explained, "It's been more than two years since we last heard from Songzi. We were afraid that he might get married and have kids outside. It wouldn't be appropriate to give him too much land, nor would it be appropriate to give him too little. We're just waiting for him to come back and we'll give him the land next time. There's still a lot of land left for the first and fourth wives."
Jiang Ma didn't say anything then.
In fact, she didn't value the tea mountain land at all, not to mention that she had to spend money on it. She was not satisfied only because she felt that her eldest son Jiang Song didn't get any land, but the two younger ones got it instead. Not to mention that Jiang Ning was a girl, so she felt a little unfair for Jiang Song.
After hearing Jiang's father say that they could still divide the money together later, they stopped talking and prayed in their hearts, hoping that Jiang Song was really like they thought, and was not arrested, but had a wife and children outside.
But they couldn't imagine why their son would get married and have children outside and not come home for almost three years, and not give them any news, leaving them anxious until their hair turned white without him coming home.
They knew that Jiang Song was most likely locked up and it was impossible for him to marry and have children outside.
It’s no wonder that although Jiang Song is not married outside, he does have a child. However, the child has not been born yet, so he doesn’t know about it.
Why didn't he call his hometown after the Chinese New Year? He couldn't even remember his hometown at all. He was really overwhelmed by the woman he brought back for the Chinese New Year.
After his girlfriend came back from school, he asked the girl who worked in the dance hall to leave, but she refused to leave. She begged him in various ways, lowered herself to the dust, washed his clothes and cooked for him, and clung to him day and night. Which man could withstand such persistence?
But reason told him that he couldn't do that, and he was afraid that the girl would go to find his girlfriend. He was exhausted and worried every day between the two women.
But he is exactly the same as those romantic men in movies and TV dramas. He is soft-hearted and will not tolerate toughness. As long as others humble themselves and pester him, even if he knows it is wrong, he still can't help but feel pity for this girl who only relies on him and clings to him day and night, and he softens his heart again and again.
After more than half a year, his girlfriend finally realized something was wrong.
Having such a person around you and not having such a person around you will make you treat your girlfriend very differently.
Jiang Song is not a fool. He knows who his real girlfriend is. After being almost discovered by his girlfriend, he hardened his heart, gave her 5,000 yuan and asked her to leave.
The girl touched her belly, looked at him deeply, took the money he gave her, went back to the girl's university, found out all the information about the girl, then turned around and disappeared in the crowd.
Jiang Song was really relieved that the girl left.
At this moment, he had no idea what he had missed during those years of carefree and happy life outside.
The people in Jiangjia Village couldn't contact Jiang Ning, but they had Jiang Bai's contact information, so they called Jiang Bai's store.
The current store is no longer the store they rented at the school gate, but Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning’s own store.
After the shop was renovated and ventilated, Grandpa Jiang now watches the shop downstairs during the day and goes to sleep in the house bought by Jiang Ning at the back at night. The floor heating is on and it is very warm.
Grandpa Jiang answered the phone. He was very happy to receive the call from his hometown. Even though he had his hometown's phone number and the people in his hometown also had his phone number, they were worried about the phone bills and still rarely called. When he received the call from the old village chief, he couldn't stop smiling and shouted loudly: "Hello!"
The old village chief also shouted loudly: "Hey!"
The two people called "Hello" several times before the old village chief was sure that there was no problem with the signal over there. He told Grandpa Jiang that his hometown had planted a large tea mountain under the leadership of Jiang Ning, Jiang Guotai and Mayor Jiang. He also said that in the spring of next year, he would invite some experts and people from the Agricultural Bureau to come and guide them in planting crops such as wolfberries, persimmons, and chestnuts.
He shouted loudly: "This year's wild lotus roots have all been drowned! According to Lao Si and Guotai's plan, lotus roots, water chestnuts, and water caltrops will be planted later. Those who are willing to plant crayfish on the large piece of land near the Shahe River beach can raise crayfish!"
Grandpa Jiang listened with a smile as the village chief talked about the changes in his hometown on the phone. He didn't know yet that Jiang Ning had suggested to Jiang's father that they should start raising crayfish while no one in their hometown was raising them yet.
After only two minutes of chatting, the old village chief's loud voice came roaring over the phone: "You're calling to ask for money! I won't tell you! You'll know when you come back! I'm calling to talk to you about the division of the tea mountain. Your grandson and granddaughter have land, and you have too!"
The old people in his hometown had no idea that Grandpa Jiang’s household registration had also been moved away. They all assumed that Grandpa Jiang’s household registration was still in the village. When they drew lots, they asked Uncle Jiang to draw the tea land for them as well.
Uncle Jiang's family was lucky, as they were able to get two acres of land with good sunlight. However, the location of Uncle Jiang's tea field was not so good. Except for one acre facing the sun, the rest were in the shade.
But because he had to patrol an extra acre of tea mountain this year, Grandpa Jiang's salary as a forest ranger was increased by 50 yuan from the previous 100 yuan a month to 150 yuan a month, which was paid directly by the village committee. Starting this month, his salary will be 150 yuan a month.
Uncle Jiang's grandfather didn't mind the difference in land he had drawn, and he smiled and said to Uncle Jiang's grandmother: "There is also the tea land of Guoliang's wife. Guoliang is married, and our mission is also completed."
Except for being sad about their two sons not being around, the old couple was satisfied with everything else, especially Uncle Jiang and Grandma.
She didn't want her two sons to go back to the village, and would rather they go to the city and become city dwellers. Even though she was not with them, they were still in good health and had work as forest rangers. They had food and drink and a salary, so what else could they be dissatisfied with?
You know, in his previous life, Grandpa Jiang’s salary was still 100 yuan a month until he died in an accidental fall five years later, and it never increased after that.
Jiang Bai was both surprised and delighted that he was allocated an acre of tea land.
He and Jiang Ning have always been different, and the education they received since childhood was also different.
He is a boy, and every year when he goes up the mountain to worship his ancestors, Jiang's father always says to him and his elder brother: "This is the grave of our big-foot ancestor, this is the grave of our bound-foot ancestor, this is the grave of our great-great-grandfather, and this is the grave of our great-great-grandmother!"
Father Jiang always taught his two sons to remember the locations of these ancestral graves and who was buried in them. These matters would be handed over to them in the future, and they would be the ones to teach the next generation.
But Jiang Ning had always heard people around her say that girls belonged to other families and were raised by other families. In that case, how could two people have the same feelings and sense of belonging to their hometown?
He had always felt that his hometown was missing a sense of being born in that land but having no roots. This made him feel that his roots were planted in Shanghai after he bought a house and a shop there, and he also developed a sense of belonging to this unfamiliar city.
From now on, he will take root in this city.
But the Shanghai market was always unfamiliar to him, with unfamiliar people, unfamiliar language, and unfamiliar environment.
He was like an outsider who had strayed into this place. In his world, apart from his school, his mentor, his good friends Tong Jingang and Grandpa Jiang, he rarely even had contact with his classmates.
This made him feel a little confused after he calmed down alone.
Thanks to his teachers' constant attention and care for him, the existence of Tong Jingang and Grandpa Jiang, his studies, filming, shop, and busy life, he never had the time to feel this strangeness and loneliness.
He always has a deep affection for the land where he was born and raised. This nostalgia, along with this acre of tea field, reconnects him with his hometown.
It was like owning this acre of land, and he had roots to settle down in his hometown.
He works hard in the city, but his hometown is where he comes from, and perhaps, where he returns.
Jiang Bai happily called Jiang Ning and told her the good news.
He knew that his sister felt the same as he did. She always had a sense of sadness about her hometown, as she was trying hard to put down roots but there was no place for them to settle down there.
He wanted to tell his sister that she had been allocated an acre of tea land in her hometown, which belonged only to her.
He talked incessantly on the phone. It was rare for him to be so talkative. Most of the time, he was silent, reserved, and subtle. It was rare for him to be so excited. Maybe he was really happy for her.
Jiang Ning just listened with a smile, and responded from time to time, "Yeah, I understand."
"Yes, I am very happy too, and I am happy for the elders in my hometown."
"Yes, life in my hometown will get better and better."
As Jiang Bai spoke, his originally excited voice suddenly calmed down.
He seemed to have noticed something. He was silent for two seconds and asked Jiang Ning: "Ning Ning, are you not going back to your hometown?"
Even if you have land, you won’t go back?
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