Chapter 7979
Jiang Ning watched as Jiang's father helped Jiang's grandfather home. She stood on the waterproof platform in front of the small shop at the entrance of the village.
If possible, Jiang Ning would never come back.
But she couldn't do that in her previous life.
The situation of girls in rural areas is already difficult. In her previous life, she went to college and worked in the system, and was considered a well-known promising person in the village. If she passes the exam and never comes back, the situation of the girls in the village will become even more difficult.
They didn't want their daughter to go to school in the first place. With her being a bad example of never returning home, others would use her as an example to teach other people in the village: "What's the point of sending girls to school? Look at the daughter of the big guy's family, who worked so hard to study for her and get into college, but after she passed, she never came back!"
Families who were originally willing to send their daughters to school because of their good academic performance would also give up the hope of other girls in the village to study because of her bad precedent.
So even if she didn't want to come back here, sometimes during the Chinese New Year, she would still come back to this small mountain village politely and with a smile on her face, greet everyone in the village warmly, show concern for their farming and harvest, talk to them about the country's policies that benefit farmers, care about the academic performance and learning situation of the girls in the village, encourage them to study hard, talk about the importance of reading for girls, and tell the villagers that she was too busy with work and had to work in the countryside during the Chinese New Year and had no time to come back on weekdays, so she asked them to help take care of her parents and so on.
In fact, why would she need them to take care of her parents? But they were just polite words, but when she said such polite words and came back to stay for two or three days every year, it would give people the impression that she had not forgotten their small mountain village and was still thinking about the image of her parents in her heart, and it could also save her a lot of trouble.
Because she was unwilling to spend money and effort to help Jiang Song, her mother wanted to go to her unit to make a scene, but was stopped by Jiang's father.
Jiang Ning is the pride of Jiang's father.
Later on, Jiang's father's favorite thing to do was to take Jiang Ning to visit relatives.
Because of his promising daughter, Jiang's father, who had always failed in life, suddenly became the center of attention. Everyone praised him. Whenever there was a banquet at home, he would be invited. When there were important guests coming from outside, he would also be invited as a village elder.
Jiang's mother is an illiterate rural woman who suffers from motion sickness. If she is not pushed into a corner, and unless Jiang's father is watching and persuading her, she will not go to her unit to make trouble. After all, without Jiang's father accompanying her, she doesn't even know where her unit is. She doesn't even dare to complain in the village that her daughter was born in vain.
Father Jiang didn't let her speak because it would affect her career.
The only expectation that Jiang's father had for her was that she could help Jiang Song more.
After Jiang Song failed in business again and again and owed a lot of debts.
Many people have helped Jiang Song, except her and Jiang Bai.
Under the natural oppression of having a parent's identity, Jiang Ning did not want to confront Jiang Ma head-on, as that would not be good for her. If Jiang Ma made her unhappy, she would go to Jiang Song. If Jiang Song did not deal with Jiang Ma, she would deal with Jiang Song.
Jiang Song always has a way to coax Jiang Ma into obedience.
When they got home, Jiang's mother noticed the nice clothes and shoes on Grandpa Jiang, and said to Jiang's father sarcastically, "If you have money, buy yourself nice clothes and shoes. If you don't have money, give it to your family."
As Jiang's mother spoke, she began to cry, feeling very aggrieved.
Everyone said she was powerful and that she controlled the Jiang family very tightly. Grandma Jiang, who did not get along with her, was assigned to her uncle's house, Grandpa Jiang, who received a salary, was assigned to her own family, and Dad Jiang also listened to her. But only she knew how wronged she was.
It is true that she is the one in charge of the household, and all the money Jiang's father earned was given to her to manage. However, all the money he earned over the years was used to pay off debts, and not a penny was left. Now that they have finally paid off their debts and can save some money, the old man will not give them any salary because he sees that they have paid off their debts.
How can an elder behave like this? Which elders don’t devote themselves wholeheartedly to their children? Only she met such a selfish father-in-law who would rather keep the money for herself to buy new clothes and shoes than give it to them.
I'm already old and I don't know how many years I can live. What's the point of wearing such nice clothes and shoes? Wouldn't it just be burned down by then?
How many years has it been since she bought a new piece of clothing?
Dad Jiang didn't understand why she suddenly started crying when she was fine.
After he helped Grandpa Jiang back home, he pulled Mother Jiang back into the room and asked her, "It's New Year's Day, why are you crying?"
Jiang Ma sat on the edge of the bed, choking with sobs, "It's your father. Seeing that we have paid off our debts, he took the money and won't give it to us. Doesn't he want us to take care of it in his old age? Our lives are better this year, but there are so many places to spend money. We also have to build a house for Songzi. He will be 20 years old next year. In two years, won't he get married? It will cost money to get married by then. Your father knew that we were in such a difficult situation, but he still quit his job and went to Wucheng, saying that he was going to accompany us to study. He would rather buy new clothes with the money than give it to us. He is too selfish."
When Jiang's mother gets angry, she's like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but when she cries, her voice is choked with sobs, which is completely different from her usual angry look, especially since she has been overworked in recent years and has lost a lot of weight.
She was also good-looking when she was young, otherwise she would not have given birth to Jiang Song, Jiang Bai and other good-looking children. Even though she is almost forty years old now, and has never taken care of her appearance except for clam oil and facial cream, she is still good-looking at forty. When she cries, her tears fall one by one, like pear blossoms in the rain.
She wasn't pretending to be weak and crying like this, but she really felt wronged.
Although she had never been to school, she was the daughter of Captain Tanshan's family. Her father had risen from a small captain in the village to a large captain, and was still the captain after arriving in Tanshan. If she hadn't had so many brothers and sisters, she should have had a good life given her father's position.
At that time, she was 167 cm tall and weighed 120 to 130 kg. She was a sturdy, slightly plump girl and very popular. If she had not been attracted by Jiang's father's face and his status as a high school student, she would not have married into Jiangjia Village.
On the contrary, after following Father Jiang, he suffered a lot and now he only weighs a little over 100 pounds.
Father Jiang held her now rough and dark hand, sighed and said, "If father doesn't want to give us money, then don't give us money. He has given us all his salary for so many years, and only this year he didn't give us money. I haven't bought anything for father in these years. If he wants to wear nice clothes, then let him wear them."
Jiang Ma cried, "You make it sound so easy, but he doesn't even think about how hard life is at home. The elders don't know how to take care of the younger generation, and he doesn't understand our difficulties at all."
Like her father, all his salary was used to subsidize her brothers.
Father Jiang was speechless for a moment, and after a while he said, "He wanted to keep it for Ningning to study."
"He just wants to watch us die and doesn't want to help us." Jiang Ma cried and said, "It sounds nice to say that he wants to let Ningning study, but what he wears is new? He's an old man, but he still wears big leather shoes. You don't even have a pair of decent leather shoes!"
Father Jiang was silent for a while, then he patted her hands and said, "Dad just came back, I'll go make him some noodles."
Mother Jiang cried silently in the room without making any sound.
After a long while, she wiped her tears and walked into the main room.
Grandpa Jiang was sitting in the main room, and Jiang Ning returned to his room.
When Jiang's mother first found out that Jiang Ning didn't go to work at the kiln factory, she was very angry and wanted to beat her. After so much time had passed, her anger had subsided, but she was still angry with Grandpa Jiang. She didn't even look at Grandpa Jiang. Seeing that Jiang Ning's door was closed, she deliberately knocked on Jiang Ning's door with force, and her hands hurt. But there was no movement from inside. Jiang's mother was so angry that she shouted, "Jiang Ning! Jiang Ning, come out! Don't think you can just pretend to be dead in there, unless you really die in there and don't come out!"
When Jiang's father heard her cooking noodles for Grandpa Jiang, he couldn't help but say, "It's New Year's Day, can you stop talking about death? Can't you say something nice?"
He was really impressed by Jiang Ma's words.
Jiang's mother stopped knocking on the door and said angrily, "Look at how you've spoiled her. She didn't even call mom or dad when she got home, and she locked herself in her room as soon as she got home. Did she think she was a guest? It's not even her turn to be a guest! Even if she's married, a girl still has to work when she returns to her parents' home!"
When she goes back to her parents' home, she does all the housework inside and outside.
She called out to Jiang Ning again: "Ning Ning, come out and work. There are so many things to do at home. You are so old, why don't you come out and help?"
What makes Jiang's mother most angry is that her daughter is so dull and stupid, just like the old yellow donkey, who only moves when whipped. If you don't remind her, the ground is dirty with melon seed shells, and she won't even sweep it with a broom. Now that the river water has receded, the river bank is full of wild lotus roots. Other girls know to go to the river to dig lotus roots without their parents telling them, but her daughter wouldn't go even if you called her.
"What are you doing in your room? Are you embroidering in the embroidery building? You just hide in your room and be lazy as soon as you come back. Why don't you come out quickly! There are lotus roots all over the river bank. Why don't you dig some and sell them?"
At this time, there was a pile of lotus roots covered with river mud in Jiang Ning's room. They were all dug by Jiang's father at the riverbank a few days ago. He sold a lot of them, and Jiang's mother also gave a lot of them to her brothers and sisters from her natal family. The rest were kept for their own consumption.
Since they were free anyway, Jiang's mother wanted Jiang Ning to go to the river bank to dig some lotus roots so that they could sell them in town before the New Year.
All vegetables are expensive at the end of the year, and lotus roots are two or three times more expensive than usual, so they sell very well.
"Your father's big boots are there, but he's not asking you to go into the water, so why don't you go and dig? Many people don't even wear shoes, but they're digging lotus roots in the river, aren't they?"
If there weren't a lot of things to do at the end of the year, Jiang Ma would have gone to dig lotus roots herself.
The water level in the river has receded, and there is little water on the riverbank except silt, making it easy to dig lotus roots.
Grandpa Jiang was walking back from the riverbank of Wangjia Village. The road was muddy and hard to walk on. He was so tired that he sat down in the main hall to rest. Hearing this, he said angrily, "Ningning just came back and her butt hasn't even warmed up yet, and you asked her to go dig lotus roots. She's a girl. Why should she dig lotus roots in such a cold weather?"
Mother Jiang then turned to Grandpa Jiang and said in a sarcastic tone, "When did Songzi and Jiangbai come back from winter vacation and not go digging lotus roots? Her two brothers can dig them, but she can't? Is she the only one who is precious?"
Grandpa Jiang was so angry that his hands were shaking, but he had nowhere to go. It turned out that he didn't want to hear his son and daughter-in-law quarreling, so he just stayed in the mountain and didn't come down. Now that the forest ranger's hut was no longer habitable, he could only stay at his youngest son and daughter-in-law's house.
Jiang Ning hid the passbook, opened the door, looked up with a smile, and called out to Jiang's mother, "Mom."
Jiang Ma turned around and smiled, saying, "Oh, you're not embroidering in your room, so you're willing to come out?"
She looked at Jiang Ning's fair face and her obviously grown height, and suddenly realized that this girl had grown up so much and was still so beautiful.
It is indeed impossible to fight.
She didn't hit Jiang Ning again, but softened her tone and said, "If you don't want to go dig lotus roots, you know how to do things at home, right? Get some lotus roots, wash them, and come and make meatballs with me."
Every year, Jiang Ning is responsible for making the meatballs.
During the Chinese New Year here, every household makes meatballs, which symbolize reunion. This is a must-have dish on the Chinese New Year dinner table. Every household makes a lot of meatballs before the New Year and freezes them outside. No matter whether it is the New Year’s Eve dinner or when guests come to the house, there must be a meatball soup.
In the past, people were poor and every household could only make meatballs with lotus root and sweet potato flour. Now that life is better, people have started to add some meat to the lotus root to make lotus root meatballs. They roll them into small meatballs, fry them in oil, and they taste delicious.
The three brothers and sisters of the Jiang family all like to eat lotus root balls.
Jiang's mother was not always mean to Jiang Ning. She could also be gentle at times, like when she was frying lotus root balls.
Jiang Song and Jiang Bai will do the work outside, but the housework is basically done by Jiang Ning. Jiang Bai is more sensible and will help out. Jiang Song is rarely seen at this time of year. He is always outside playing with his friends.
Jiang Bai sometimes goes with Jiang Song, and sometimes stays at home to help.
Jiang Ning was rubbing the dough while Jiang Ma was frying it.
When Jiang Song was not around, after Jiang Ma fried the meatballs, she would let Jiang Ning taste a few to see how salty they were.
At this time in her previous life, Jiang Ning wanted to please Jiang Ma very much. She thought that if she was more obedient, her mother would love her. She was greedy for the little warmth her mother showed at this moment. She ate the lotus root meatballs fried by Jiang Ma and nodded vigorously, saying, "It's delicious."
At this time, Jiang's mother would also be in a good mood and smile at her: "If it tastes good, eat more. There will be more later."
Wild lotus roots are free. Every year Jiang Song and Jiang Bai would go with the whole village to dig a lot of lotus roots. The Jiang family would fry a lot of lotus root balls every year.
Today, Jiang Ning no longer craves for that little bit of warmth, but she still doesn't want to confront Jiang's mother head-on.
Under the natural oppression of having parents, she would never get away with it if she confronted Jiang's mother head-on. Moreover, she worked in the system in her previous life, so she could not afford a bad reputation in this regard.
She took the vegetable basket and picked up a few whole lotus roots to wash them.
In order to keep the lotus roots fresh longer, all the lotus roots dug out from the river mud are not washed and are taken home wrapped in the mud. At this time, the mud on the lotus roots is half dry and very difficult to wash. You have to tear some straw and use it as a brush to clean the mud on the lotus roots.
The water was very cold, so Jiang Ning wrapped some straw into a brush, dipped one end in the water, and held the lotus root in the other hand, without touching the water, and continued to wash.
The Jiang family had just slaughtered a pig a few days ago. In addition to giving some of the pork and lotus roots to her brothers and sister from her mother's side, there were ten pounds of pork left for New Year's Eve. Mother Jiang cut the meat and chopped it on the table.
Father Jiang cooked noodles and brought one bowl to Grandpa Jiang and one to Jiang Ning. He placed them on the table. When he couldn't find Jiang Ning, he looked outside the door and saw Jiang Ning washing lotus roots by the pond. He hurried over to take the lotus roots from Jiang Ning's hand and said, "Let me wash them. The noodles are ready. Go and eat them."
Dad Jiang washed the lotus roots very quickly. Unlike Jiang Ning, he didn't get his hands wet. He directly soaked the lotus roots in water and brushed them with straw a few times. He then washed the lotus roots clean and went home carrying a large basket of lotus roots.
Seeing Jiang Ma chopping meat, he took the knife from her hand and said, "You go and take a rest. I'll do it here."
Jiang's mother rolled her eyes at Jiang's father and said, "I don't know how much work there will be at the end of the year. Rest? Where can I rest?" She called Jiang Ning and said, "After you finish your noodles, come here and pluck all the hair off the pig's head for me!"
The hair on the pig's head had been burned by Jiang's father, and the hair was almost burnt, but there were still a lot of tiny hairs and hairs in the cracks of the skin that had not been cleaned up, and someone had to carefully pluck them one by one with tweezers.
Mother Jiang was most impatient to do such delicate work, so she gave the job of cleaning the pig's head to Jiang Ning and went to do other things.
Jiang Ning sat at his seat and ate noodles.
Jiang's mother got angry when she saw that Jiang Ning couldn't even fart after being beaten with three sticks.
All day long, she said a hundred things to her, but she didn't say a single word. She was so angry that she scolded Jiang Ning: "Even a mute can make two sounds, and you are worse than a mute!"
Jiang Ning was actually still able to laugh, and looked up and smiled at Jiang Ma.
For some reason, when Jiang's mother saw her daughter smiling at her, she couldn't vent her anger and scolded her, "What's the point of just smiling? If you were half as smart as Xiangqin, I wouldn't be so worried."
Xiangqin is the daughter of the second house opposite their lotus pond. She is four or five years older than Jiang Ning, but she is Jiang Ning's elementary school classmate. She stopped studying after graduating from elementary school and went to work in a factory. She is very quick with her hands and gets the same salary as experienced workers in the factory. She is also very shrewd and has a bit of a petty theft habit.
Jiang Song liked to plant flowers and grass very much. She went to the mountain to dig up a few honeysuckle and azaleas and planted them at her doorstep, but she stole them all and took them home.
At first Jiang Song didn't notice it. After all, Xiangqin was a girl, and Jiang Song didn't like to go to girls' homes. It was not until Jiang Ning saw them when he went to her home and told Jiang Song about it when he came back that Jiang Song went to Xiangqin's yard and saw that they were indeed the flowers he had dug up.
Jiang Song went to ask her for it, and she said that she dug it up on the mountain. Anyway, there was no name written on the flowers and grass, and it was everywhere on the mountain.
Jiang Song was so angry that he ran to her house at night and pulled out and threw away all the flowers and plants in her yard.
Whenever she sees tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and the like growing in other people’s fields, she will pick them and put them into her own basket. She is really smart.
Jiang's mother felt that a girl like Xiangqin, who knew how to get all the good things for herself, would not suffer any loss when she went out, and was a truly smart girl. An honest girl like Jiang Ning would only be bullied.
Perhaps thinking of Jiang Song, Jiang's mother looked a little listless for a moment. She seemed to be full of fighting spirit just now, but now she had drooped her shoulders and looked listless.
Jiang Ning and Grandpa Jiang were eating noodles, Dad Jiang was chopping meat, and Mom Jiang was frying melon seeds and peanuts.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the Jiang family seemed very harmonious.
I hadn't been to Wucheng before, so I didn't know how Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai were doing at school. Now that Jiang Ning was back, Jiang's father finally had someone to ask, "How's your second brother? It's the 28th today, and he hasn't come back yet? Isn't the school closed for the holidays?"
Because of Jiang Song, a former senior student, Jiang's father knew that seniors had to continue classes during the winter break. But last year, even though Jiang Song attended classes during the winter break, he was off on the 28th. Why hasn't Jiang Bai come back yet?
This question made Jiang Ning and Grandpa Jiang silent.
Grandpa Jiang is just quiet, but he is not stupid. If he was really a silly old man who knows nothing, he wouldn't be the rare old man in the village who has a job and gets paid.
It is so difficult to have a job with a stable salary in the countryside, not to mention that he trained his eldest son to be a bricklayer and his second son to graduate from high school.
Even though Father Jiang's life is difficult now, before the chicken farm was infected with fowl plague, he was the only director of a chicken farm in the village. He lived a prosperous life and was considered a top figure in the village. Who would have thought that there would be a fowl plague? There is nothing Jiang's father can do about things that are beyond human control.
The youngest daughter also married in the town. It can be said that Aunt Jiang is the girl who lives the happiest life in the whole village.
So at this time Grandpa Jiang didn't say anything, got up, sent the bowl to the kitchen, and went out to brag with his old friends.
Jiang Ning finished his noodles and sent the bowl to the kitchen without washing it. He returned to the main room, took the lotus root, and started to cut it. Then he answered Jiang's father, "Didn't you say that our family is in financial difficulty? My second brother is working in Wucheng, right?"
Jiang's father was shocked. "He is already in his third year of high school. Why is he working if he doesn't study hard? How many days of vacation does he have? How much money can he earn?"
He really didn't expect that his second son would not go home during the holiday, but would stay in Wucheng to work. He thought he was studying at school.
Jiang's father was so angry that he wanted to drag Jiang Bo back home to study immediately.
He asked Jiang Ning: "Do you know where your second brother works?"
Jiang Ning shook his head. Dad Jiang was originally anxious, but when he thought about it, today was the 28th, tomorrow was the 29th, the day after tomorrow was the 30th, and the day after tomorrow was New Year's Eve. His second son had to come back no matter what.
After Jiang Bai finished selling clothes for the day, he and Tong Jingang returned to Wucheng.
The two of them were exhausted after a whole day, but they didn't feel tired. They sat on the bed and counted money, smiling so hard that their teeth were showing.
Jiang Bai was still able to restrain himself. Tong Jingang counted the money and was so happy that he was about to fly. "Our sister said she would give us a big red envelope. How big is it? Is there a hundred yuan?"
His father's monthly salary is only over 180 yuan. How could he earn 100 yuan in three days?
It was so delicious that he almost flew up with joy just thinking about it.
Jiang Bai was more thoughtful than him and said, "My sister gave us ten yuan a day before, so three days is thirty yuan. Add the commission from the clothes we sold, and I estimate it is at least one hundred and fifty yuan."
One hundred and fifty dollars!
It’s almost as much as his father’s monthly salary.
Tong Jingang laughed loudly.
They didn't intend to embezzle Jiang Ning's money. Firstly, they were not too old at that time. Tong Jingang's family had two working parents and he was the only child in the family, so he had never lacked money. Secondly, Jiang Bai was still alive, and he would never embezzle his good brother and sister's money. Besides, Jiang Ning had never treated them unfairly and had promised to give them a big red envelope.
Thinking that he will get a big red envelope soon, he wants to go somewhere to play, and asks Jiang Bai: "Do you want to go to the ice rink during the New Year?"
The ice skating rink is the most lively and fashionable place for Chinese New Year celebrations here. Young men, women and children all like to go there to skate.
Jiang Bai, who was already immersed in making money, counted the money and refused without even looking up: "No."
After hearing Jiang Bai's refusal, Tong Jingang lost interest in going to the skating rink and asked him again: "Then do you want to play basketball?"
Jiang Bai then looked up and thought about it. There probably wouldn't be many people on the street on New Year's Day, so he nodded and said, "Let's go on New Year's Day."
Until the 30th, Jiang Bai and Jiang Song were still nowhere to be seen. Jiang's father and mother stood at the door every day looking out, but there was no sign of the two people.
Jiang Bai returned on the night of January 30th. There were no boats available, so he took a tricycle to Tanshan, crossed the ferry, and walked back. It was dark when he got home.
Jiang Bai was very excited, his face full of joy of making a lot of money. He couldn't wait to take credit for it with Jiang Ning. Seeing how much money he made for her in the past three days, she wouldn't have to worry about tuition fees for the next two years!
There's still money left over to go to college!
When Jiang's father saw Jiang Bai coming back, he was still looking behind him. When he saw that he didn't see the person he missed the most, he said to Jiang Bai anxiously, "Why did you come back just now? Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, why did you come back today? Your sister said that you stayed in Wucheng to work. Why are you still working in your third year of high school?"
Jiang Bai was stunned for a moment. When he was about to answer this question, he suddenly heard Jiang's father ask, "Have you seen your elder brother?" He walked past Jiang Bai, took a few steps towards the ferry, and stood on tiptoe to continue looking towards the ferry.
It's already dark now, what can I see? There is only an inky night.
Jiang Bai's joy and enthusiasm were suddenly extinguished.
He looked at Jiang's father and didn't want to say anything. He went straight back to the house to find Jiang Ning.
It was not until he saw his sister that his excitement returned. The two of them closed the door and secretly counted money in the room.
Jiang Ning really couldn't imagine that Jiang Bai and Tong Jingang made so much money in just three days.
Jiang Bai squatted under Jiang Ning's high bed, smiling at Jiang Ning with his big white teeth showing, like a big dog squatting on the ground to seek credit from his owner.
Jiang Ning found it funny and made a 'hush' gesture to Jiang Bo, whispering, "Don't tell our parents about how we make money."
Jiang Bai was silent for a moment and nodded.
Speaking of which, Jiang Bai is also a very contradictory person. In his previous life, Jiang Song and Jiang Ning were not with Jiang's father and mother, and were far away from them. However, Jiang Bai was willing to stay in Wucheng and live there. He would go back to his hometown to accompany Jiang's father and mother during the holidays. He also often said that when he got old, he would return to the village to retire and was unwilling to stay outside.
He never felt a sense of belonging to the city outside.
He is the only one among the three siblings who can understand and sympathize with Jiang's father and mother, understand their difficulties, and is willing to live with them and provide for them in their old age.
Jiang Ning has always been willing to provide money but not manpower, and Jiang Song will never be able to find anyone else. Only Jiang Bai provides both money and manpower to Jiang's father and mother.
But if you say that he is foolishly filial, he is not like that. He has his own opinions and temper, and he doesn't listen to Jiang's father and mother. He is even unwilling to get married and have children, which is the most unfilial thing in the eyes of Jiang's father and mother.
So, even though Jiang Song is not seen all year round, he is married and has a child. Although the child is six or seven years old and has never seen his grandparents, in the eyes of Jiang's father and mother, Jiang Song is still a filial son.
After Jiang Ning counted the money, he asked Jiang Bai to go out and bring in a piece of red paper.
Every year, the Jiang family's couplets are written by Jiang's father himself, who buys red paper. There is a lot of red paper in the main room. Jiang Baile goes out happily and soon comes back with a piece of red paper.
Jiang Ning split the red paper in half, folded it into red paper packets, put three hundred yuan in each red packet, and handed them to Jiang Bai, "Red packets for you and Tong Jingang!"
Jiang Baile was so happy that a huge smile appeared on his face immediately. He tightly grasped the red paper packet in his hand. He was so happy that he wanted to give the red packet to Tong Jingang immediately and share his joy of getting the big red packet with Tong Jingang.
He still had a smile on his face until he walked out of Jiang Ning's room.
The next day, when offering sacrifices to the ancestors, Jiang Bai was still smiling from ear to ear, unable to hide it. Many people who did not know the reason saw it and teased Jiang's father: "Your son is smiling so happily when he is visiting the graves of his ancestors!"
Jiang Bai immediately turned cold and retorted: "What does it have to do with you?"
Because his eldest son didn't come back, Jiang's father couldn't get motivated. He had been expecting Jiang Song to come back on New Year's Eve, but it was already dark, the Jiang family's New Year's Eve dinner was all ready, the dishes were all cold, but Jiang Song still hadn't come back.
When Jiang's father looked at the time, it was already eight o'clock. Other families had already finished their New Year's Eve dinner and were sitting in front of the TV watching the Spring Festival Gala. Jiang's father then said to Jiang Bo, "Let's go out and set off firecrackers."
The custom here is to set off firecrackers before eating the New Year’s Eve dinner.
The New Year's Eve dinner was very quiet and no one spoke.
Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai are not active people. In previous years, when Jiang Song was at home, New Year's Eve was filled with laughter between him and Jiang's father. Jiang Song always had a big smile on his face. He would toast everyone in the family and say all kinds of auspicious words, making the whole family laugh from ear to ear.
But this year Jiang Song was not at home, and there was silence at the dinner table. Jiang's father and mother had no interest in eating the New Year's Eve dinner.
Dad Jiang drank two glasses of rice wine and looked at his two children in silence. Then he remembered to ask Jiang Ning about her studies in school.
He put down his wine glass, a gentle smile appeared on his face, and asked Jiang Ning: "How was high school? Can you keep up with the studies?"
His daughter's grades in junior high school were not very good, and she performed exceptionally well in the high school entrance exam to be admitted to No. 1 Middle School. He was worried that his daughter would not be able to keep up with the high school curriculum and her grades would get worse and worse.
"Is there anything you don't know? Your second brother is at home, you can ask him, or you can come and ask me." Dad Jiang was very confident in his high school knowledge. Even when he was in his sixties, he could still recite "The Road to Shu" and "Pipa Song" by heart.
He just can't speak Mandarin, and other people can't understand the poems he recites in the Shuibu Town dialect.
The dishes were cold. Jiang Bai was boiling lotus root meatballs in the pot. When he heard what Jiang's father said, he looked up at him and said, "How could my sister not be able to keep up? She even ranked first in the county in the last joint exam."
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