Chapter 223
Jiang Guotai kept talking to Jiang Ning for a long time. His two children were listening. Jiang's father was also listening silently at the side, feeling proud and complicated.
Through their conversation, he also understood how big the gap was between him and them. Once upon a time, he was also full of ambition and wanted to change his hometown and revitalize its economy.
At that time, the government encouraged the opening of factories, and he was the first person to respond and take action. However, he lacked some luck. His well-established factory encountered a natural disaster like chicken plague, and he suddenly owed a lot of money, which almost crushed him.
Father Jiang looked at them and thought sadly that the tea mountains in his hometown would surely make a lot of money in the future. It was a pity that the eldest son did not come back. If he could come back with his wife and children and get three acres of tea fields, he would not have to do anything in the future and could make money just by sitting at home or lying down.
Thinking of his eldest son, Jiang's father's originally happy mood changed. He walked silently to the kitchen to help cook.
Only Jiang Ma and Shen Hongyun were in the kitchen now. Seeing him coming down, Shen Hongyun asked him with a smile on her face: "Why did you come down? Are they done talking? You don't need to come to the kitchen, Ailian and I are enough here."
She was wearing an apron. Jiang's mother was not very good at cooking, and it was obvious that she planned to do it herself.
Father Jiang took the apron from Mother Jiang and said, "How can I let you cook? You finally came back, go watch some TV. Ailian, you can also watch TV with Hongyun, leave this to me!"
It seems that Jiang's father's confidence in recent years has been fully demonstrated in his cooking skills in the kitchen.
Shen Hongyun is not someone who insists on doing things herself. In fact, she is very good at being lazy. When she is at home, as long as Jiang Guotai is not busy, she will let Jiang Guotai cook. But outside, she behaves very virtuous and is a good wife, praising Jiang Guotai to the sky. Jiang Guotai knows what kind of person his wife is at home, but he is still willing to roll up his sleeves and cook.
But Shen Hongyun didn't always let Jiang Guotai do it. When Jiang Guotai was really busy with work, she would keep the house in order so that Jiang Guotai didn't have to worry about the family at all.
She smiled and said, "Can you really be alone in the kitchen?"
Jiang Guoping said, "It's just a small job, do you really need me? Go outside and take a rest. Today I will show you my skills."
Unlike Shen Hongyun who likes to slack off on her daily life, Jiang's mother is a very diligent and capable person. From the education she received since childhood, the kitchen is not for men to enter. If her cooking is not really delicious and Jiang's father really can't stand her cooking, Jiang's father would not cook for the Jiang family.
She wanted to stay in the kitchen to help, but Shen Hongyun pulled her aside and said, "Come on, let's go out and chat. Since the big guy said he's good at it, we just need to wait and eat!"
Mother Jiang was still hesitant with the food in her hand: "So I really leave?"
"Go ahead, chat with each other. Take out the melon seeds, tangerines, and raisins, and make a pot of tea. You can eat while you chat." Father Jiang pushed them out of the kitchen with a smile.
Shen Hongyun came out of the kitchen and said to Jiang Ma with a smile: "You said your big man hasn't changed after all these years, and he's still willing to go to the kitchen to cook. How great! He loves you, so you should take more rest. You're so tired, don't strain yourself to the point of hurting yourself."
Jiang Ma was really strong when she was young. As a teenage girl, she could lift seven or eight centimeters on the river embankment, which was better than some men.
Working on the construction site during those years, most men could not endure such hardship, but Mother Jiang followed Father Jiang and worked there for many years.
Jiang Ma sighed and said, "I am destined to be a hard worker."
Shen Hongyun smiled and said, "Fortunately, your big man still knows how to care for you."
Jiang Ma smiled and said, "Otherwise my life would be worthless."
If she doesn't even have this, why has she worked so hard all these years?
If it weren't for the fact that Jiang's father had been good to her over the years, who could have survived the huge debt and the hopeless life that seemed to have no end?
Women are very silly. Sometimes they just want the little kindness a man shows them.
Her brothers from her natal family had advised her to remarry. At that time, she was still young, good-looking, and had a strong and healthy body. She had three children, two sons and one daughter. She and Jiang's father didn't even have a marriage certificate. If she wanted to run away and not come back, it would be easy for her to find another man, as there were many men willing to marry her.
But she just didn't want to.
Shen Hongyun patted her hands, which were as rough as old tree bark, and said, "Fortunately, we made it through."
Mother Jiang looked at Shen Hongyun's hands, which were still white and tender even though she was over 40 years old. Her fingers shrank suddenly, and she pulled them back. She put her hands behind her back and hid them. She smiled and said, "Yes, we have made it through. Now I am waiting for the eldest and second sons to get married and have two grandchildren. Then I will marry the youngest one and help them take care of their grandchildren at home."
Her hands were big and rough when she was a girl. Over the years, she worked on construction sites, sold lunch boxes and did the washing, and her hands became more and more unsightly.
Speaking of Jiang Song, the eldest brother of the Jiang family, Shen Hongyun couldn't help but ask curiously: "Is there no news about your eldest brother yet?"
Speaking of Jiang Song, Jiang's mother couldn't help but bow her head, tears streaming down her face. She choked and said, "He didn't listen. I begged him to come back and repeat his studies. His grades were so good. He would definitely be admitted to university if he repeated his studies for another year. But he didn't listen and just didn't come back. He listened to his classmates and ran to Shenzhen. We went to Shenzhen right after to look for him, but where could we find him? There was no news. We didn't know where he went. It was so cold, and we didn't know where he was suffering."
Whenever Jiang's mother thought about her eldest son being arrested and sent to jail, her heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife.
Shen Hongyun felt that Jiang Song was ignorant, but she comforted Jiang's mother, saying, "Don't worry, Songzi is too big to be lost. He is nearly 1.9 meters tall and has a strong physique. It is probably because the child is too playful to remember to come back after playing outside!"
She also talked to Jiang Guotai privately about Jiang Song's situation, and she also thought that he must have been arrested during the crackdown two years ago.
She was right. Jiang Song's mind was now completely on his girlfriend. He did not come back to celebrate the New Year, but went to his girlfriend's house to run around. The more his girlfriend's mother looked at him, the more she liked him. She treated him like her own son. Jiang Song was the same. He was sweet-mouthed, good at dealing with people, and could cook delicious dishes.
He originally planned to come back, but the entanglement of another girl almost made him and his girlfriend break up. During this period of time, he has been busy coaxing his girlfriend. He went back with his girlfriend during the New Year, and finally he managed to coax his girlfriend into smiling a little.
Jiang Song is not stupid. Between a girl born in the countryside who works in a dance hall and a college student from a well-off family, doesn't he know who to choose? Besides, he didn't like that woman. He liked his girlfriend and thought she was petite and cute.
Of course he also thought that his parents would worry, but he felt that it was okay for him. Would his parents be unhappy if he brought a college student wife back home?
His girlfriend's mother looked at him busy in the kitchen in an apron and became more and more satisfied. She could already imagine that her daughter's life would be easy after she got married, with all the scenes of her son-in-law cooking.
They were particularly satisfied with Jiang Song's tall stature and handsome looks.
Jiang Song’s previous girlfriend was 1.81 meters tall, but his current girlfriend is only 1.58 meters tall, a full 30 centimeters difference in height. When they stand together, everyone says they have the cutest height difference.
His girlfriend herself likes this about him.
In fact, the fact that the Jiang family members will not go home once they get married is really a basic practice for the men in the Jiang family. From Jiang Guoan who was said to be a live-in son-in-law and did not return to the village all year round, to Jiang Song, it was really too normal.
Jiang Ning was just unlucky in her previous life and met a marriage scammer. Otherwise, if she had really met someone who treated her well, she would probably be similar to Jiang Guoan and Jiang Song, who were also obsessed with love and would come back once a year.
However, this time Jiang Hongbing got married, and Jiang Guoan, who had rarely returned to the village, came back with his wife and son. He just came back in the morning, and as soon as he came back, he asked whether Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai had returned.
They were not welcomed in the village until the evening, when Jiang Ning had been away for an afternoon. Then they heard that Jiang Ning had returned, so they hurriedly took Jiang Guoan and his son, carrying their things to Jiang's house.
When he arrived, there was no one in the main room. Jiang Guoan poked his head into the kitchen and called out, "Second Brother!"
Father Jiang turned around and said in surprise, "Guoan is back?"
Jiang Guoan raised a faint smile on his fair face: "Well, I will definitely come back when Hong Bing gets married."
Her wife also came in and said, "My second brother is cooking. Where's my sister-in-law?" She rolled up her sleeves and asked, "Do you need my help?"
Father Jiang looked at her white and clean hands that looked like they couldn't do any work, and said with a smile, "No, no, go watch TV with your sister-in-law."
Then she shouted loudly: "Ailian! Ailian! Guoan is here!"
When Jiang's mother heard the shouting, she came out of the fire barrel, opened the door, and saw Jiang Guoan and his wife with their child.
His wife no longer had the condescending expression that she used to have when she looked down on the rural people. Instead, she smiled and said, "Where are Ningning and Baizi? Why don't I see them? Jiahua wants to play with his brother and sister!"
Jiang Guoan's son was named after his wife's generation. Uncle Grandpa Jiang and Auntie Jiang disagreed at first, but Jiang Guoan followed Jiang Song and Jiang Bai and took the last character, which was "Birch" with the character "Mu" on the side. This appeased Uncle Grandpa Jiang and Auntie Jiang. This also made the old couple completely disgusted with his wife and they were even more unwilling to come back.
Jiang Ma smiled and said, "Ningning and Guotai are talking about something upstairs."
Jiang Guoan's wife smiled and said, "Then wait until they are done talking and then go play with my brothers and sisters."
Jiang Guoan's son is very different from Jiang Ning and the others. He looks like a little kid now. He is a little shy and doesn't want to be dragged down by his parents to build relationships with his older brothers and sisters. He feels awkward and his face doesn't look very happy.
Mother Jiang quickly brought some oranges and melon seeds and asked him to eat them, but he hid behind his mother and was unwilling to come out.
The reason why Jiang Guoan and his wife came back was entirely because the Jiang family had two promising figures, Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning. Although she had no plans to live in the village in the future, she was happy to interact with Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai. Maybe her son could benefit from these two brothers and sisters, Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning, in the future! Jiang Bai is now on TV. When her son grows up, maybe he can do the same as Jiang Bai and let Jiang Bai take him to film a movie!
Jiang Guoan and his wife were not very willing to live in the old house of the Jiang family. It was a good opportunity for them to come to the Jiang family for a meal, and it would be best if they could stay there at night.
Isn’t the Jiang family’s big house much more comfortable to live in than the old house? She even saw a mouse running past the bed during the day, which scared her to death!
If it weren't for Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai in the Jiang family, she really wouldn't want to come.
She politely asked for help in the kitchen, but Jiang Ma politely told her not to. She then quickly went back to her room and ate melon seeds, watched TV, and chatted about gossip with Jiang Ma and Shen Hongyun.
Jiang Guoan went upstairs to find Jiang Ning and Jiang Guotai. Just then, they had finished their conversation upstairs. When Jiang Guotai saw Jiang Guoan coming up, he also greeted him with a smile.
It was not until Jiang's father finished cooking and called Jiang Ning, Jiang Guotai and the others to come down to eat that Jiang Guoan finally remembered to go back. Jiang's father stopped him and said, "We've already eaten, why are you leaving? Eat here!"
Jiang Guoan stayed there.
Jiang Guotai smiled but said nothing.
Jiang Guoan, like other members of the Jiang family, could drink a lot without getting drunk. This allowed him to thrive in the city. After a drinking party, when others were drunk and talking nonsense, he was still sitting there steadily, wearing his gold-rimmed glasses, with a smile on his lips.
His wife loved him the most. Her parents did not agree with her marrying a rural boy, but she insisted on marrying him. She dragged her whole family to pave the way for Jiang Guoan and transferred him from a primary school teacher in a small town to a middle school in the city.
Jiang Guoan was also humble at the dinner table and stood up to toast Jiang Guotai and Jiang Guoping, but he was naturally cold by nature and could not say overly flattering words, as long as the meaning was conveyed.
Jiang Xin, on the other hand, was a lively person and was the one responsible for livening up the atmosphere at the dinner table. He and Jiang Miao unknowingly placed Jiang Ning in the position of a core member. He took good care of Jiang Ning at the dinner table and always paid attention to Jiang Ning's needs. The tea in Jiang Ning's cup was never empty. After Jiang Ning had taken a few sips of the tea, Jiang Xin was very tactful and refilled her cup, and the same went for the white wine.
Jiang Guotai is also a good drinker. Whether he is discussing business in a neighboring city or accompanying his boss to dinner, he can drink a lot.
He felt that the rice wine was not strong enough, so he took the wine he brought back and drank it with Jiang Ning.
This wine was brought back by Jiang Xin at the request of his future in-laws. Normally, he would not use such good wine to entertain guests.
Jiang Ning doesn't like wine, but she doesn't refuse it. If there is good wine, she is willing to drink it.
It can be said that except for Shen Hongyun, Jiang Miao, and Jiang Guoan's wife, everyone at the table can drink a lot.
The next day was the day when Jiang Hongbing got married. Jiang Guotai came back this time just for Jiang Ning. After meeting Jiang Ning, he came to Jiang Dabo's house early in the morning, gave Jiang Hongbing a big red envelope, left Shen Hongyun there, and left with his two children and several young people from the village who worked for him, also known as a motorboat.
At the end of the year, both his sand factory and brick factory are the busiest, with the largest shipments. He also has to settle the issues of contracting the river beach and the mountain streams and hilltops in Shijian Township before the arrival of spring, and then he can start hiring people to plant red lotus.
If he asks people to plant lotus roots without completing all the contracting procedures, he would be simply working for others. Jiang Guotai would not do such a stupid thing.
And this has to be done quickly, otherwise the government workers will have holidays soon. After the spring, the best time for them to plant lotus roots is in February and March. It is already February now, and after the Spring Festival, it will be March soon. So this matter has to be done as soon as possible. At the same time, the issue of lotus root seeds must be resolved. So many lotus root seeds need to be reserved in advance, otherwise who can find so many red lotus root seeds for you at the last minute?
Jiang Hongbing's wedding was an unusually lively event.
Mr. and Mrs. Jiang got up early in the morning and went to Uncle Jiang's house to help.
Jiang Ning was also dragged along, and she was quite happy to go to Uncle Jiang's mother's house.
Father Jiang felt sorry: "Hongbing's marriage is such a big event, why didn't Baizi come back? He should have come back!"
Without his youngest son coming back, he has one less person to show off to.
Jiang Ning replied: "He is filming a drama for CCTV."
Father Jiang immediately shut up. Of course, his son's future was more important. "It's the same if you go."
As soon as Jiang Ning arrived at Uncle Jiang's mother's house, she was pulled upstairs by Uncle Jiang and Jiang Hongbing.
Jiang Hongbing was probably in high spirits today because he was celebrating a happy occasion. He was also born with fair skin. Although he had been working as a bricklayer outside with Jiang Dabo and Jiang Hongjun over the years, he did not get tanned, but red. Even before the bride came, his face turned red. He called Jiang Ning, "Ning Ning, come up and roll around."
Jiang Ning, who had never been asked in this way before, looked at Jiang Hongbing's 1.8-meter-tall red bed and was stunned for a moment: "Me?"
"Yes, yes, yes, roll faster, roll two more times."
"No, aren't they all looking for kids to roll around in bed with?"
Jiang Hongbing's face flushed with laughter, and he pulled her enthusiastically: "Aren't you also a child? Come on, come on, roll around for me a few more times, and pray that I will give birth to a daughter like you!"
Influenced by Aunt Jiang, Jiang Hongbing wanted to have a younger sister since he was a child. He was extremely envious of Jiang Ning. Unfortunately, Jiang Ning was taken to the mountains by Grandpa Jiang every day and was rarely allowed to come down the mountain. Since he couldn't see Jiang Ning, he wanted to give birth to a daughter who was as fair, beautiful and smart as Jiang Ning.
The people watching the fun were laughing so hard that they couldn't stop. Chen Hongyun cracked melon seeds and said to Jiang Ning with a smile: "Your cousin told you to go away, so just go away. He likes girls. Let her give birth to a girl. Let alone her. Who among us doesn't want to give birth to a girl as smart and beautiful as you?"
"That's right! Ningning, roll, roll up quickly, roll a few more times, and tell him to give birth to a few more fat daughters!"
Jiang Hongbing laughed and said, "How can we have more children? We have family planning regulations! Just two is enough."
Here, if the first child is a girl, they can have a second child after five years, but if the first child is a boy, they cannot have another child.
But there are still many families who give birth secretly, such as Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning, who were secretly born out of wedlock. There are very few families with only one child.
This was the first time in Jiang Ning's past and present lives that someone asked her to have sex with him.
Uncle Jiang said: "One roll is enough, don't roll more than that, it's best to have a boy and a girl, a complete pair of sons and daughters."
Jiang Hongbing said excitedly: "It's okay, Ningning, just roll a few more times. I like my daughter. Roll from this end to that end, and then help me roll from this side to this side!"
More and more people gathered outside, all watching the excitement in the corridor, and the room was also packed with people.
Someone else laughed and said, "Hongbing, don't just want a daughter, what if your wife wants a son?"
Jiang Hongbing smiled and said, "It's all good, all good, as long as they are my biological children."
So everyone urged Jiang Ning to get out of bed quickly.
Jiang Ning really sat on it, and then he rolled over on the bed. After thinking for a while, he said as he rolled over, "Rolling on the bed, two mandarin ducks, first a daughter, then a daughter!"
Jiang Hongbing was so happy that he clapped his hands and laughed: "This is good! This is good! Read it twice more!"
Uncle Jiang said quickly: "Don't read it anymore, change to something else!"
Jiang Ning also smiled and said, "Rolling on the bed, full of joy, rolling around, rolling out good luck!"
Uncle Jiang was holding his eldest granddaughter and was anxious: "Hurry up and say give birth to a son!"
Jiang Ning refused to say anything, which made Uncle Jiang very angry.
The eldest son in his family gave birth to a girl, and the second child can only be born after the eldest granddaughter is five years old. After a lot of effort, the second son got married, and he was thinking that he would have a grandson. But it turned out that his second son didn’t like boys and wanted girls, or two girls at that. Wouldn’t that mean he would have three granddaughters? It makes him worried!
His eyes fell on his third son Jiang Jun, who was watching Jiang Ning rolling around on the bed excitedly. When Jiang Ning finished, he said excitedly, "Ning Ning, there's still me. When the time comes, I'll let you roll around on the bed, too!"
It made everyone around me laugh, they were so happy.
Mother Jiang was helping in the kitchen. She heard the laughter outside and couldn't help but look up, wanting to see what was making everyone laugh so happily. Someone kept shouting "Ning ning ning ning."
She knew that the person calling must be her daughter Jiang Ning.
In the whole village, she is the only one named Ning.
When all the girls in the village were named this Hua and that Hua, Jiang's father insisted on letting his daughter follow the names of her older brothers. The eldest son was named Jiang Song, and the second son was named Jiang Bai by Grandpa Jiang. The name Jiang Ning was decided by Jiang's father himself, and it was called Jiang Ning.
When Jiang Ning was born, her father loved her very much as the only girl of this generation.
Father Jiang and Aunt Jiang were both outside entertaining guests. They had invited an auntie from the village who was good at cooking to do the cooking. Mother Jiang was helping out nearby. The cooking auntie heard the noise outside and said to Mother Jiang enviously, "You are so lucky. You have three children. Each one is as promising as the other and looks so handsome!"
Everyone in the village envied Jiang Ma for her good fortune in giving birth to these three great babies.
Not to mention the eldest brother, who could have imagined that the second and third brothers would become so successful?
They all said the same thing to Jiang Ma: "You have finally come to an end after all the hardships. You will have plenty of happiness in the future!"
Jiang Ma herself was quite calm. While putting firewood into the kitchen stove, she said calmly, "What kind of happiness is this? You still have to work until you die."
"Wait until your two children graduate and start working, and then you'll be tired for just a few years."
Jiang Ma said coldly: "I can't enjoy their blessings, and I don't expect them."
She was not a fool, so how could she not feel the indifference of her younger son and daughter?
Especially Jiang Ning, who rarely even called her "Mom" after coming back. When facing her, the smile on his face was like wearing a mask.
Jiang Ma had never been to school, so she couldn't express that feeling in words, but she could feel it.
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