Chapter 141
In Jiang's father's heart, he can really be called a good father, and he is also one of the very few people in the village who does not favor boys over girls. Although he, like traditional men, prefers the eldest son, but in daily life, he treats his three children equally. If there is any difference, it is that the eldest has been getting into trouble since he was young, so he has to be watched from time to time, while the two younger ones, maybe because they were taken care of by their grandfather more often, have been obedient and sensible since childhood.
During the double harvest of rice, Jiang Song threw down his sickle and ran away before he had even finished harvesting for ten minutes. But the two younger ones continued to work hard in the fields harvesting rice and planting rice seedlings. Although they were also dissatisfied that their eldest brother had run away and they didn't have to harvest rice or plant rice seedlings, they still felt sorry for their parents and continued to work.
If there is any difference, it is probably that the two younger ones have been beaten more often since they were young, because Jiang Song can run away. Before you hit him, he will run away. He has many friends in the village, and you can't find him no matter which house he goes to. Jiang's father and mother have worked all day and are already exhausted. They can't catch Jiang Song, and when they see Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning, Jiang's mother will catch them and vent her emotions even if they are standing and breathing.
Once or twice, Jiang's father tried to persuade and pull her, but after so many times, it was useless and instead Jiang's mother took out her anger on him. Plus, he was too tired to move after a day of work, so he stopped talking.
Every family is like this anyway. Who didn’t grow up being beaten like this? As the saying goes, a good son is born under the stick... But all these truths, hidden in the deepest part of his heart, seemed to be exposed when he saw his daughter's calm eyes that seemed to see through everything.
Is it really okay? But the slap didn't fall on him. Jiang Ma didn't touch his interests, and it wasn't him who was hit, so he didn't feel any pain.
Now that his daughter has become successful, if he continues to get close to her, he...
Jiang's father is not uneducated, nor is Jiang's mother illiterate. Although he grew up in this small mountain village, he is not ignorant.
But most of the time, he chooses to benefit himself.
Just like the countless sages and emperors in ancient times, didn’t they know how deeply they persecuted women and how severely they exploited women? Even if their mothers and children are among them, why don't they change, why don't they stop it, why do they become a part of it?
Because that is in their interest.
The reason why Jiang's father kept watching Jiang's mother beating and scolding Jiang Ning was the same: the oppression and exploitation of women by women, the exploited women of the previous generation, exploiting and disciplining the next generation of women, did not infringe on their interests, and was even in line with their interests.
It’s just that Jiang’s father, including every person in ancient times who claimed to be a gentleman, all knew it in their hearts, but they just didn’t want to admit it.
Not willing to admit his despicable behavior in exploiting women, he uses the excuse that "hasn't it always been like this since ancient times?"
But as Xun Ge'er said, "It has always been like this, is it right?"
This beautiful little mountain village is still like a poison-making field. Generation after generation of women have been fighting in this field. Some of them do not want to become the poison that persecutes their next generation. After they awaken, they protect their next generation. Some of them have applied this fighting and discipline to their daughters-in-law.
In the past, Jiang Ning was trapped in this situation that "has always been like this". Now, she has walked out of this situation and is unwilling to come back. She is unwilling to enter this situation that once bound her tightly and made her unable to struggle.
Dad Jiang sat there alone with his head down for a long time.
Jiang Ma couldn't stand his behavior and couldn't help but say, "Okay, why are you acting like that? Let's lay the foundation quickly. Let's go to the Shenzhen Market to sell lunch boxes and look for pine nuts."
Jiang's mother has controlled her temper a lot now. Many people have been shot during this year's crackdown, especially in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which was the focus of the crackdown. She was very afraid that Jiang Song was among them, so she was very careful with her words, fearing that she would not be morally upright and that retribution would fall on Jiang Song.
Father Jiang raised his head and smiled at Mother Jiang, "Ailian, come and have a drink with me."
Mother Jiang said with a "Puh" sound: "Drink, drink, drink, all you do is drink!" She didn't say the next sentence "Why don't I drink you to death?", but instead brought rice wine for Father Jiang.
At Wucheng TV Station, the director called Principal Sun of Wucheng No. 1 Middle School and the principal of Wu Middle School early in the morning to ask them whether Jiang Ning and Song Peifeng had returned from the winter camp.
As soon as he heard that the two had returned, he quickly called the reporter who had previously been responsible for interviewing Jiang Ning and Song Peifeng, and asked them to go and interview Jiang Ning as soon as possible.
The person they mainly wanted to interview was, of course, Secretary Song, but Secretary Song refused to be interviewed. They could interview Song Peifeng, but it could only be a simple interview on the Wuzhong campus. Whether it was the Education Bureau, the county government, or the TV station, they all wanted to do an exclusive interview for good publicity.
Jiang Ning received a call in the store. When Grandpa Jiang heard that someone from a TV station was coming to interview him, he hurriedly pulled his clothes again and again to make sure they were neat and tidy and did not embarrass his granddaughter. Then he happily sat in the rocking chair and waited for the reporter to come.
The last time a reporter came to interview him, he praised his granddaughter a lot. She stayed in front of the TV every day and didn't even watch the reruns of his favorite show "Justice Bao". She watched their county TV station every day, but she didn't see it for half a month.
Their county TV station is a small, shabby 18th-tier TV station that not many people watch. It only shows news and sex, and has no other programs. Who would want to watch such a TV station? They usually watch the provincial TV station and a few TV stations that broadcast popular dramas. For that interview, he stayed at the county TV station to watch the news and sex for most of a month.
Because of an interview, Jiang Ning and Song Peifeng, who hadn't seen each other for a few days, got together again.
When reporters and photographers saw them, their eyes immediately lit up. These two students from key high schools not only had good grades, but also had good looks. It must be said that this was also a big attraction for their show. Who wouldn't want to see young handsome men and beautiful women?
There were two people, one from Wuzhong and the other from No. 1 Middle School. When the two people were interviewing each other, it would not be right to use Wuzhong as the background, nor was it right to use No. 1 Middle School as the background. Song Peifeng simply walked to Jiang Ning's shop and interviewed with Jiang Ning's shop as the background.
The reporter looked back at Grandpa Jiang who was basking in the sun at the door behind the store and asked the two people to introduce themselves first.
She held the microphone to Song Peifeng's mouth and looked at him with bright eyes.
She is a young female reporter with a round face. In order to look good on camera, she put on makeup, painting her face very white, but not her neck and hands. It was a very obvious photogenic makeup.
She was followed by a male photographer carrying a camera.
Song Peifeng simply introduced himself and said, "My name is Song Peifeng, and I am a student in Class 10, Grade 2 of Wucheng Senior High School."
She handed the microphone to Jiang Ning again, and looked at the tall, thin, fair-skinned girl in front of her with envy, and blinked her eyes.
Jiang Ning had a smile on her face, a warm and friendly smile: "My name is Jiang Ning, and I'm a student in Class 3, Grade 2 of Wucheng No. 1 High School."
The female reporter asked with a smile: "I heard that one of you was admitted to Tsinghua University in advance, and the other was admitted to Peking University. Is it true? How did you get admitted in advance? Can you share it with us in detail? It will also help our students behind us to learn from the two geniuses of our class and aim to be admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University in the future!"
She stood beside Song Peifeng, so naturally she let Song Peifeng speak first.
They all knew Song Peifeng's family background, and they all involuntarily focused their attention on Song Peifeng. This was human nature. Jiang Ning knew it clearly, but she didn't care. In front of the camera, she smiled gently and easy-going, and she looked very graceful.
Unfortunately, Song Peifeng didn't seem to be very cooperative. He simply nodded and said, "It's true." He pointed to the banner on the opposite side of the Wuzhong Gate Building and said, "It's all written on it."
The female reporter choked: …
The female reporter smiled and said, "Yes, but as far as I know, you are both in your second year of high school, right? You were admitted to Tsinghua University in advance when you were still in your second year of high school. Do you have any study tips?"
Song Peifeng glanced at her again and said, "We won the gold medal in the National Olympic Competition and were recruited in advance by the admissions teachers of Tsinghua University and Peking University during the winter camp."
Seeing that Song Peifeng was not cooperating with her at all, the female reporter smiled and nodded and said, "Then how did you get on the road of competition? How do you balance competition and school grades in school? I saw on the bulletin board of Wuzhong before that Song not only won the gold medal in the National Olympiad, but also ranked first in the county in the high school entrance examination and was admitted to Wuzhong, right?"
Seeing that she was only interviewing him and not paying any attention to Jiang Ning beside him, Song Peifeng smiled and turned around, slightly sideways to face Jiang Ning and said, "I am no longer the number one in the county. I have been surpassed by her a long time ago."
When he smiled, he was full of youthfulness. He was wearing Wuzhong's school uniform, which was navy blue and white. It was not a very good-looking uniform, but on him, he looked as tall and straight as a young poplar.
The female reporter was slightly startled, and then passed the microphone to Jiang Ning's mouth: "So this is our Wucheng's new county champion. No wonder he was admitted to Beijing University in advance when he was in the second year of high school, just like classmate Song. How did you get on the road of competition?"
Jiang Ning was very cooperative and said with a smile: "The school needs me, Wucheng needs me, so I signed up."
The female reporter's eyes lit up slightly. She had just been frustrated in the interview with Song Peifeng. Now that she was with Jiang Ning, her rhythm was finally normal. She asked hurriedly, "How did you balance the competition and the school exam results? I saw your name on the bulletin board of No. 1 Middle School before. I heard that your grades were not good when you first entered No. 1 Middle School. How did you manage to surpass Song next to you in less than two years and become the first in the county? And you can also win the gold medal in such a prestigious competition as the National Olympiad?"
The bulletin board had been photographed when I came to No. 1 Middle School for an interview, so I can just cut it when the time comes.
Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Persist! Work hard! Persevere in your efforts!" After a pause, she continued, "At the same time, I also received help from many teachers in No. 1 Middle School, including my head teacher Mr. Wang Shengpeng, Director Zhang from the Academic Affairs Office, Mr. Ji Jianwei, and Ms. Xia Yunzhi. They are all very serious and responsible mentors who have given me a lot of help. Among them, Ms. Xia Yunzhi is not my subject teacher. She once lent me a hand when I was in great difficulty. For me, if it weren't for her, I might not be who I am today. Ms. Xia may not remember me. After all, a gentle and good teacher like Ms. Xia may have helped many students inadvertently, but I still want to say to Ms. Xia: Ms. Xia, thank you!"
She bowed seriously to the camera.
She and Teacher Xia have no contact in this life, but she can't forget her mentor.
The photographer's lens did not miss the gleam of water in Jiang Ning's eyes.
Finally, the reporter asked them if they had anything to say to their juniors. Jiang Ning thought for a moment and said, "For people born in rural areas, studying may not be the only way, but it is the way for many girls to change their destiny. On this road, no matter what difficulties you encounter, stick to it!"
Believe me, I will show you!
Afterwards, the reporter took Song Peifeng alone to take photos at the gate of Wuzhong School for a while, and took Jiang Ning to the gate of No. 1 Middle School to take photos for a while. They also went to the campus to take photos of their respective classes.
The previous interviews with the school, whether with teachers or students, had already been filmed and there was no need to film again. What remained was to complete the interviews with Jiang Ning's family.
This is also the reason why they still received calls from TV station leaders urging them during the New Year holidays.
Before, Jiang Ning and Song Peifeng wanted to go to Jiangjia Village for an interview, but there was no boat available. They learned from a teacher at Wucheng No. 1 Middle School that Jiang Ning's parents were working in another place and might not be back until the end of the year.
They had a holiday at the end of the year and hadn’t started work yet, but their leader urged them to go to Jiangjia Village for an interview: “After the holiday, everyone will be gone!”
Nowadays, people who go out to work usually go to work on the sixth day of the New Year, and pack their luggage and go out on the fifth day. The fourth day of the New Year is their last chance. By the fifth day, Jiang's father and mother may have left again, and we won't be able to interview them again.
The school leaders of No. 1 Middle School had been waiting for Jiang's father and mother to come back and go to Jiang Ning's home to announce the good news. However, they had learned from the phone call that Jiang's father made to the teachers of No. 1 Middle School that they would not be back until the end of the year. Secondly, Jiang Ning was still in winter camp and had not returned yet. In addition, the admissions teacher from Peking University had not contacted the school to find out the specific situation. Now that Jiang's father and mother and Jiang Ning are back, after the two reporters finished their interviews, the school went to Jiang Ning's store with a bunch of things they had prepared, including big red flowers, certificates, scholarships, etc., and invited Jiang Ning and Grandpa Jiang to go to Jiangjia Village with the reporters.
Grandpa Jiang has wanted to go back for a long time. He really has a lot of things to say that he wants to show off, but he can't go back. It's really like walking in the night in gorgeous clothes. He is really feeling very depressed!
This time I can actually go back with the TV reporters and school leaders. It’s a great return home!
Grandpa Jiang seemed extremely happy, but he still looked at Jiang Ning.
What Jiang Ning couldn't stand the most was his grandfather's cautious attitude. He had been so cautious all his life.
She immediately packed her backpack, held Grandpa Jiang’s arm, and got into the small van contracted by No. 1 Middle School and headed for Shuibu Town.
But this made the school leaders of Wuzhong very jealous.
Wu Zhong faced the same problem as the reporters, that is, they could publicize Song Peifeng the student but not his father. So Wu Zhong could not do anything like offering scholarships with great fanfare.
A reporter and a photographer carried their equipment and went to Linhe Brigade for an interview together with Principal Sun of No. 1 Middle School and Directors Wang and Wang.
I don't know if Principal Sun got inspiration from Director Zhang, but he was determined to keep a high profile. He even wanted to tie a big red flower in front of Jiang Ning and let her go back, but Jiang Ning repeatedly refused.
Principal Sun was not angry when he was rejected. When he arrived at Shuibu Town, he asked Teacher Wang to buy some fireworks and firecrackers, put them in a big red bag, and carried them into the car.
They went around the charcoal mountain, around the weighing scale, and around the township where Aunt Jiang lived, making a big circle. They then walked along a very rugged and bumpy mountain road, which took them nearly three hours. There was a mountain stream in the middle with gurgling water, and everyone could only wade through it.
In this cold winter, we still have to wade through water.
The female reporter asked Jiang Ning: "It's so cold, are you planning to wade through the water?"
Jiang Ning said calmly: "I'm used to it."
She wanted to carry Grandpa Jiang on her back, but Grandpa wouldn't let her and insisted on wading through the water by herself. Jiang Ning, who was already over 1.6 meters tall, carried her on his back, holding Grandpa Jiang's thin thighs, and waded through the clear, yet icy cold mountain stream, little by little.
Others who had never waded through water in winter were dumbfounded, especially the female reporter. She really didn't expect that the village where Jiang Ning lived was so remote.
Jiang Ning explained: "This is because the road has not been opened. When the road is built to our brigade in the future, it will be much easier to travel. Now people in our brigade basically travel by boat. And it is winter, the water level has receded and the rocks are exposed. The water in the mountain stream is shallow. Normally, the water is much deeper than this, about waist-high."
It is easy for them to take a boat, but they have no car or boat to go back. With so many people, they can't rest in Jiangjia Village!
This is also the reason why they chose to contract a van to come to Jiangjia Village.
A passerby saw them facing the mountain stream and was afraid to come over. He took a shovel from home and called two people to help dig sand. He said, "Is this your first time here? You are inexperienced. Why don't you put a shovel in the car, find a place with shallow water, throw a few stones in, and dig some sand? Wouldn't the water level be a little higher?"
He dug for a while, and when he saw that it was almost done, he directed the van driver: "Okay, drive over here."
The van driver looked at the water in the mountain stream, then looked at his own wheels. He was very cautious, fearing that his car would be soaked and unable to start. In the end, he drove past.
Jiang Ning calmly used the towel in her bag to wipe the water off her feet and legs, put on her warm shoes on the boat, and continued to get on the bus.
From beginning to end, the photographer kept the camera on.
The people who were helping to fill the gravel saw that they were carrying cameras and holding microphones, and that the female reporter had even painted herself a white face. They all came over curiously and asked them where they were going.
When the female reporter saw these people asking, the male photographer carrying the camera also turned on the camera tacitly. The female reporter asked them: "Excuse me, do you know that there are two top students from Tsinghua University and Peking University in Wucheng?"
Many people here have never left Shuibu Town in their lives, so how would they know about Wucheng?
Hearing this, they all shook their heads: "I don't know."
There were also people who did not want to be interviewed. They turned around and waved their hands in front of the camera: "I don't know, I don't know."
There were young people who came over after hearing the excitement. They had just come back from working in other places. When they saw the reporters, they stuck their heads in front of the camera and asked the reporters in their broken Mandarin: "Are you from our Shanjian Township?"
His Mandarin was laughed at by many of his companions on the ship, making his face turn red with laughter.
The locals have a very strange attitude. They don't speak Mandarin, and they look down on and even laugh at all outsiders who are not from Shuibu Town. Anyone who has a different accent from them and tries to speak Mandarin will be described by the locals using a local dialect, similar to the adjective "Southern barbarians and Northern 侉". For example, "Tsk, you're still trying to learn 侉!"
"Chizi!"
For people like Uncle Xiaojiang's grandmother who could never get rid of her original accent, many people in the village would call her "Caizi" when they call Uncle Xiaojiang's grandmother. Sometimes when they call Uncle Xiaojiang's grandfather, they would directly say, "Where is your wife, Caizi?"
In the eyes of local people, "辉子, 辉子" is a very derogatory word. As a result, many people in rural areas who want to learn and speak Mandarin dare not open their mouths in their hometowns for fear of being laughed at by others. On the contrary, when they go to work in other places, no one will laugh at them no matter how they speak Mandarin.
Of course, if they don’t learn to speak Mandarin, they won’t be able to communicate with people when they are away from home.
The female reporter smiled and said, "It's from Shuibu Town."
In fact, the female reporter's Mandarin was not standard either. She used Wucheng Mandarin, but with a Wucheng accent.
People from Wucheng generally speak Wucheng dialect. When these people saw them speaking Wucheng Mandarin, they thought they were from the city and asked them if they were from the city and where they were going.
Soon, everyone in Shanjian Township knew that there was a girl in Linhe Brigade who was the top scorer in Wucheng County this year. She won the gold medal in the national competition and was admitted to Beijing University in advance.
Shanjian Township is located deeper in the mountains, and unlike Linhe Brigade, it does not have a river nearby, so it can be connected to the outside world by boat.
Because of its geographical location and other reasons, the people in this village are more feudal, closed, and patriarchal than people outside.
As far as Jiang Ning knew, this really existed. There were several cases of newborn baby girls being placed in wooden basins and washed directly down by the current in the mountain stream. When they were young, they often heard that someone's family was picked up by her mother from a wooden basin in the mountain stream.
Later, everyone joked that you were a gift from me when they toppled my phone bill. It was just a joke.
If they say it was picked up from a mountain stream, then it really was picked up.
The names given to girls are also very simple and crude, such as Zhaodi, Daidi, Pandi, Laidi, Yindi and Youdi.
When Jiang Ning was in elementary school, she had never seen such names in her class. However, after entering junior high school, she not only heard these names everywhere in the class, but also had the same names as others.
And the families she met in your junior high school class are all very good to girls. Most of the girls here have not even completed nine years of compulsory education. Many of them only studied in the first or second grade and then went home to take care of their younger brothers and sisters.
family planning? Once they hid in the mountains, not only the family planning office, but even Jiang Ning, who grew up in the mountains, couldn't find them.
When people in this township heard about this, their first reaction was: "Impossible! Did you hear it wrong? It was a boy who got into college, but you heard it was a girl? How can a girl get into college?"
"That's right! Why would a girl go to college? She'll be in her twenties when she passes, how can she get married? If she's still unmarried in her twenties, how can she get married in the future?"
Jiang Ning and his friends had already driven away, and the teachers in the car were all silent.
Suddenly, Principal Sun said to Jiang Ning, "Jiang Ning, when we get to your team later, you will be wearing a red flower, and we will light firecrackers behind you and escort you back home, right?"
Principal Sun originally thought that Jiang Ning would refuse, but when he saw Jiang Ning's eyes curved, he readily agreed: "Okay!"
The car hadn't even reached Jiangjia Village yet, but had already reached the area of Linhe Brigade when Jiang Ning and his group got off.
The female reporter and Teacher Wang carefully put the big red flower on Jiang Ning and tied it on her chest with red satin. The photographer was also taking pictures. After the big red flower was tied, the photographer hurriedly trotted to the front and turned on the camera.
Jiang Ning supported Grandpa Jiang and walked in the front, followed by Principal Sun, Director Wang, Director Wang, the female reporter, and the van driver, who ran to the roadside to light fireworks.
From Dingjia Village, passing through Shijia Village, we finally arrived at the big house in Jiangjia Village.
On the road, people were attracted by the sound of fireworks and stood by the roadside to watch the excitement. They looked at a girl wearing a red flower, walking in the front, and two men behind her were holding a huge banner: [Congratulations to Jiang Ning from Jiangjia Village, Linhe Brigade, for being admitted to Beijing University]
Many young people who had gone home for the New Year and had nothing to do gathered at the gambling table, heard the noise and came out to see what was happening.
So everyone who came to watch the fun saw this banner.
They didn't have enough fireworks on the way, so when they came across a small shop in Shijia Village, Principal Sun took a long step and bought a bag of firecrackers. He set off firecrackers and fireworks as if they were free, as he walked along the way.
They walked all the way to the brigade headquarters below Jiangjia Village. Behind them, there was already a large group of adults and children following them to watch the fun.
Many people from Jiangjia Village ran down to watch the excitement. The brigade secretary and others in the brigade office also came out and saw a girl wearing a red silk dress with big flowers, surrounded by a large number of people in the center of the crowd, with a banner held by two directors behind her.
When Principal Sun saw them coming out of the brigade headquarters, he walked up to the brigade secretary with his long legs, shook hands with him and said, "Hello, are you cadres from the Linhe Brigade? I am the principal of Wucheng No. 1 Middle School, my last name is Sun, and we are here to congratulate our student Jiang Ning on being admitted to Beijing University. By the way."
He let go of the brigade secretary's hand and turned to introduce the female reporter to him: "This is reporter Wu who is here to interview the Linhe Brigade and Jiang Ning's family."
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