Chapter 165 165

There are so many things to do during the Chinese New Year. There are endless ingredients to prepare, and they are busy all day long.

Jiang Song is not at home, and he does not sneak out to play, leaving his two younger brothers and sisters to work. The Jiang family seems to be much more harmonious, because everyone is working, and no one will complain about who does more and who does less.

In terms of work, Jiang Xi is indeed not as quick as Jiang Ma and Jiang Bai, but she is efficient. She always does things in a very organized and planned way, just like the coordination method she learned in elementary school. In her mind, she always instinctively uses the fastest and most appropriate method to do the most things, but she is clumsy in a single thing.

Jiang Ma can't see her speed in overall things, she only counts her hand speed in a single thing, and keeps muttering that she is so incompetent at work, what will she do when she goes to her husband's house in the future.

Jiang Xi was a little annoyed by her nagging, so he put down his work, went to wash his hands, took the quilt that was exposed to the sun outside, and put it on the bed.

Seeing that she was not idle, Jiang's mother did not say anything. Jiang's mother

bought new sheets from Shenzhen. She was a very hardworking woman. She got up early in the morning and rinsed the new sheets. After drying them in a spin dryer, they were now dried in the sun.

She washed two sheets, one for their bedroom and one for Jiang Song.

Seeing Jiang Xi making the bed, he naturally said to her: "The red bed is for your eldest brother, you make it for him, maybe he will come back in the evening?"

The reason why they bought red sheets and quilt covers for Jiang Song was mainly because Jiang Song was 22 years old, and boys of this age in the countryside should get married. Even if he didn't bring a partner back for the New Year, his family would introduce him to someone. If he brought a partner back, they would prepare new sheets and quilt covers for the new couple to show their respect.

As for Jiang Bai and Jiang Xi, there was an unwritten rule in their countryside that if the eldest brother was not married, the younger brothers and sisters could not get married, otherwise it would affect the eldest brother's marriage.

So when Jiang Ma washed the new sheets, she didn't consider Jiang Bo and Jiang Xi at all. Anyway, they were not in a hurry to find a partner, so why would they need new sheets?

Jiang Bo's current school sheets are all blue plaid, issued by the school.

When he was in the old house, he slept in the same bed with Jiang Song. From childhood to adulthood, the two of them never had a complete sheet. With more brothers and sisters, it is inevitable to fight. He and Jiang Song also fought from childhood to adulthood, especially when Jiang Bo grew up and became more sensible, he knew how to resist. The two fought over meals and sleep, and even when Jiang Ma bought something, Jiang Bo would fight with Jiang Song for the same thing, and then be beaten by Jiang Ma.

The bed for the two of them was 1.5 meters long. Jiang Song was a very active person. When they met on the bed, you kicked me and I kicked you. The first thing to be damaged was not themselves, but the bed sheet underneath.

If it weren't for the school issuing uniform new bed sheets after Jiang Bai moved in, you would have seen that Jiang Bai's bed sheet was a patchwork of patches, with a big patch here and a thick patch there, all of which were kicked out by the brothers in the quilt.

Jiang Bai would feel sorry for the bed sheet and would keep it, but Jiang Song would not. He didn't have the idea of ​​feeling sorry for things, and he didn't care at all whether he would kick his clothes to pieces or break the bed sheet. He didn't care.

Jiang Xi opened Jiang Bai's bed sheet. There was a huge patch in the middle, and there were many small patches of different sizes in the middle, just like a patchwork quilt.

But it was washed very clean by Jiang's mother's milk, and it became white and hard. Some of the edges were so thin that they were transparent, and there was a smell of sunshine.

Grandpa Jiang would sleep with Jiang Bai at night. Jiang Xi made Jiang Bai's bed, filled the bottle with hot water, and put on socks, so that when Grandpa Jiang entered the quilt, the quilt would be warm.

Jiang Xi did not have her own bed sheet. Any good and complete bed sheet in the house would be taken by Jiang Song to his bed, and then it would become a torn bed sheet. Jiang Xi's bed sheet was the one that no one wanted, and it was hers.

Jiang Xi no longer reacted to Jiang Ma's partiality. He directly spread the new quilt for Jiang Song on his bed and went to pick up Grandpa Jiang at Uncle Jiang's house.

Grandpa Jiang had dinner at Uncle Jiang's house. Uncle Jiang came back with Jiang Hongjun and the other two. The dinner was very rich. When Aunt Jiang saw Jiang Xi coming, she hurriedly asked Jiang Xi to sit down and eat. The three cousins ​​also asked Jiang Xi about his situation in school in a friendly manner.

Uncle Jiang is now so kind to Jiang Ning. There is no longer the incident when Jiang Ning came to his house for dinner when Jiang Ning was a child, and he would make some sarcastic remarks from time to time. He said to her with a smile: "You are successful now, remember to help her more in the future." Do your brothers know that only when your parents' family is well and your brothers are well, they will be your backers, and no one will dare to bully you when you get to your husband's family?"

Jiang Ning took the dinner from Mother Jiang and said sweetly to Mother Jiang. After thanking him, he looked at Uncle Jiang with a smile: "Who said that a woman must go to her husband's family? Uncle, you are backward in thinking. Now the country encourages family planning, and every family has only one child, especially the cadres' families in the city. If they only have one daughter, what do you think they will do? Marry their only daughter to someone else, leaving their own family empty?"

Uncle Jiang had never thought about this problem, but as long as he put himself in his own shoes, how could he let two cadres in his family marry off their only daughter?

He asked doubtfully, "What will you do if you don't marry her?"

Jiang Xi continued with a smile, "Of course you can marry her home. The child will take the woman's surname. When the couple retires, they can just hug their grandchildren. Don't you think so?"

Being a live-in son-in-law is not uncommon in Jiangjia Village. The second wife has one, and he is the eldest son in the family. He went to the city to be a live-in son-in-law. No one said anything about him. Instead, they were very envious. After all, there are many sons born in rural areas. For example, Uncle Jiang's family has three sons. One more son, one less son, as long as the sons live well, they really don't care.

In their place, there are families with several sons. They take the initiative to ask in the city which family needs a live-in son-in-law, and take the initiative to be a live-in son-in-law.

Uncle Jiang frowned: "You have two brothers at home, why do you need a live-in son-in-law?"

Jiang Xi smiled again, "Look, you're overthinking, aren't you? That's what I said. Besides, as long as I have the ability, who can bully me?" She smiled and picked up the wine glass on the table, clinked it on Uncle Jiang's glass, smiling with curved eyebrows and gentle tone: "If I pay attention to them, who are they? If I don't pay attention to them, who do you think they are? Uncle, think about it, isn't this the truth?"

When she didn't smile, she seemed to have a kind of repulsiveness that kept people at a distance. The feeling of coldness and aloofness, and the look of smiling at Uncle Jiang at this time, made Uncle Jiang stunned for a moment and couldn't say a word. Even the three Jiang Hongjun brothers were silent for a moment and didn't dare to speak. It was Jiang Hongjun, who was the most lively, who quickly tried to smooth things over and said, "Yes, yes, Xiao Xiao has so many brothers like us, who dares to bully her? Let's go and smash her house!"

The third brother Jiang Jun also said, "Yes, yes, who dares to bully our Xiao Xiao? Are we brothers vegetarians?" Then he quickly got up and poured wine for Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xi put down his glass with a friendly smile, stood up and finally smiled at Aunt Jiang, his voice soft and sticky: "Aunt Jiang, I toast you a glass, and wish you good health, peace and happiness."

This is her most sincere blessing to all the elderly. For the elderly, peace, health and happiness are the best.

So what she said was particularly sincere.

The neighboring county where Aunt Jiang lives does not have the habit of brewing wine, but after living in Jiangjia Village for most of her life, she has also learned to drink some home-brewed rice wine. Aunt Jiang happily accepted Jiang Xing's blessing, and said with a smile with some moisture in her eyes: "Okay, okay, I also wish our Xing Xing success in his studies and smooth work."

Jiang Xing nodded vigorously: "I will."

She should have toasted Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang first, but she just chatted with Uncle Jiang and said When they got there, they toasted Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang first. Fortunately, we were all family here, and no one would find fault with Jiang Xi. Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang were not in good health and could not drink much, so Jiang Xi poured white water for them and said to them, "Grandpa and Grandma, I also wish you two good fortunes as vast as the East Sea and longevity as great as the South Mountain, and a long life of a hundred years!"

A famous actor once said that when you succeed, you will be surrounded by good people.

The same is true for Jiang Xi. Although she cannot be called successful, after she was admitted to Beijing University, she was surrounded by good people.

At this time, Grandma Jiang smiled like Maitreya Buddha, kind and gentle, "Hey, hey, our Xiaoxiao should also study hard in college and come out to eat the state meal!"

Grandpa Jiang just smiled and said nothing. Every wrinkle on his face showed his good mood. He seemed to be tipsy even without drinking.

After dinner, Jiang Xiao supported Grandpa Jiang, who was smiling with satisfaction, and was supported by his granddaughter, and walked slowly to the new house.

He felt that he had never been so satisfied and happy in his life. All the hardships he experienced in his youth and middle-aged and old age seemed to be far away from him, and what was left was his happy life in his old age.

This was really a beautiful day that he had never dared to dream of.

He looked at the dim and bright lights in the dark night. One of them was his youngest son's house.

The Jiang family's house was at the bottom of the village, about 60 to 70 meters away from Jiang Gangqin's house.

It was cold in winter. In the evening, almost every household closed their doors, leaving only the dim lights, which came through the cracks in the wooden doors, leaving an orange-yellow light.

Jiang Gangqin's brother bought a stereo, and her stereo was playing: "The scenery of life is like the storm on the sea, sometimes fierce, sometimes calm..."

In such a cold and silent night, Jiang Xi listened to the vague lyrics, and her mood seemed to follow Grandpa Jiang's good mood and suddenly calmed down. She began to enjoy the tranquility of this moment, the cold night breeze in the dark night, and the moist and crisp air in winter.

She suddenly thought of Song Peifeng, and at this moment, she missed him inexplicably. She missed him

for more than half a year, when he had been by her side and accompanied her like a spring breeze.

With him, she didn't have to force herself to do anything she didn't want to do, she just had to be herself.

It is said that there are two stages in life.

The first stage is to study hard and become a better self.

The second stage is to study hard and become a better self.

What is a better self? It is to become yourself.

It's not the shape that others put you into, but the shape that you really are.

In the past, she worked tirelessly to restrain her desires and emotions, and pursued to be a better self, instead of falling into this vicious circle and becoming the person she hated the most.

Now, she has finally thrown away some of the shackles imposed on her, and is looking for what she really wants, her true self.

When she is with Song Peifeng, at least she is completely relaxed and completely herself.

As for the future, whether it can last long, who cares?

As long as it is pleasant at the moment, that's enough.

When Jiang Xi was having dinner at Uncle Jiang's house, Jiang Bo had already prepared the meal. Jiang's father also came back and bought a lot of New Year's goods, including fruits and vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, and pickled vegetables that were rarely seen on the Jiang family's table in the past. Jiang's father prepared all of them this year.

Because he had a new house this year and two children who were admitted to college, Jiang's father was particularly energetic. After dinner in the evening, Jiang's mother called Jiang Xi to the kitchen to help her fry peanuts and melon seeds and make rice candy, but Jiang's father pulled Jiang Xi to write Spring Festival couplets.

Jiang's mother was dissatisfied: "It's not enough for you and Jiang Bai to write, but you have to drag Xiaoxiao to join me. I'm so busy with the kitchen!"

Jiang's father was very stubborn: "What do you know? Xiaoxiao is a top student of Beijing University. In ancient times, that was the Imperial College and Imperial College students. When they graduated, they would definitely be officials. There has never been a student of Beijing University in our area. Xiaoxiao is definitely a literary star. The spring couplets she writes can protect the house and the family!"

The older Jiang's father got, the more superstitious he became.

He cut pieces of red paper, spread them on the table in the fourth room, poured out ink, and asked Jiang Xiaoxiao to write.

The ink and brush were brand new. When he went to buy brushes and ink, people from other families were also buying.

Seeing that she couldn't get Jiang Xi to come, Jiang's mother was depressed and busy in the kitchen with Jiang Bo.

Fortunately, her youngest son was much more capable and strong than her youngest daughter. As long as she wasn't working alone in the kitchen, she felt much more comfortable.

Not long after Jiang Xi started writing, someone came to the Jiang family with a roll of red paper, also to ask Jiang Xi to write Spring Festival couplets.

It was the son of the old brigade secretary.

Father Jiang hurried over and said in surprise: "Ai Min? Why are you here?"

Jiang Ai Min took out a roll of red paper and said with a smile: "Aren't you going to write Spring Festival couplets? I heard that your college student is back, so I came to ask Qingqing to write a couplet for me to get some of her literary talent."

Father Jiang's mouth was grinning when he heard this: "Oh, she is just a child, how can she have any literary talent? Everyone knows that you are the best calligrapher in the village?"

Jiang Ai Min smiled and said: "That's different, Qingqing is our The literary star of the village, who in the whole brigade doesn't want a piece of her calligraphy? It's just that I took advantage of the close relationship between our two families, so I came uninvited. "

Jiang Aimin, like Jiang's father, is also a high school student of the third grade. He is determined to go to college, but he failed for three consecutive years. He is also self-righteous and unwilling to be a teacher in the primary school in his hometown. When

he was young, he was very arrogant and looked down on anyone who introduced him to a partner. Now Jiang's father's children are in their early twenties, but Jiang Aimin is still single. When he was young, the villagers valued this son of the old secretary so much, but because he was nearly 40 and still not married, the whole village regarded him as a negative example, saying that he was stupid because of studying too much, and the children and grandchildren of educators must not become people like Jiang Aimin in the future and be single when they are old.

Jiang Aimin, who is unmarried, has become the person that all parents in the village are most afraid of their children and grandchildren becoming - a bachelor!

When Jiang Xi saw him coming in, he also greeted him with a smile: "Second brother is here."

Although Jiang Aimin is about the same age as Jiang's father, he is of the same generation as Jiang Xi. According to the generation, Jiang Xi has to call him brother.

He also walked behind Jiang Xi with a smile to look at Jiang Xi's calligraphy.

After seeing this, the little bit of dissatisfaction and slight arrogance in his heart disappeared at once.

It is really Jiang Xi's handwriting. The writing is really sharp in places where it is hidden, and it is also implicit in places where it is exposed. It is a rare good handwriting with a combination of hardness and softness.

Jiang Xi's generation has been learning calligraphy since childhood. In elementary school, there are classes for writing big characters, and they practice writing big characters every day when they go home.

Her calligraphy, like her pen calligraphy, was good from a young age. Later, because she often needed to write in some occasions, she practiced it specially.

In particular, every year when she returned to her hometown, a group of people would bring red paper to the Jiang family to ask for a copy of her calligraphy.

They were all from the same village, so she would naturally meet such a small request.

The more you practice calligraphy, the more you enjoy it, and the more you practice, the more addicted you become. After going to the capital, Jiang Xi picked up the Sanda and boxing she had practiced in her previous life, and also did special strength training. Now when she writes, her strokes are steady and penetrating, which makes Jiang Aimin's eyes full of surprise and applaud.

"She is worthy of being the literary star of our village." He looked at Jiang Xiao with burning eyes: "Xing Xiao is only eighteen this year, right? Her handwriting is so good that even some old people who have been writing for decades can't compare with it. She has already got the true charm!"

Jiang's father said modestly: "She is just a child, how can she know calligraphy? She just writes for fun."

Jiang Aimin said: "I have been writing for more than 30 years, but my handwriting can't compare with hers."

Jiang's father smiled happily and said modestly to Jiang Xiao: "Xing Xiao, write two pieces of calligraphy for your second brother!"

When others came to the Jiang's house, they saw a group of people surrounding Jiang Xiao, queuing up to wait for her to write. Jiang's father and Jiang Aimin, one spread the paper for her and the other added ink for her.

The people who came to the Jiang family were all people who claimed to have some face in the brigade. They were either cadres of the brigade, teachers of the school, or seniors, or close relatives like Uncle Jiang's family.

In the kitchen, Jiang's mother looked at the people in the village who wanted to get close to her and greeted her with a smile and a bit of flattery. They surrounded Jiang Xi and praised her with all kinds of good words. At this moment, she really felt that her daughter was different from the past. She was like an eagle whose feathers had finally grown up, with sharp claws, and began to fly high, farther and farther away from her.

If she was not her daughter, she would probably never meet such a person in her life.

She was in a very complicated mood, hiding behind the stove, silent.

Seeing her youngest son struggling to stir the syrup and cooked rice in the pot with a spatula, Jiang's mother couldn't help but say, "Aren't you also a college student? Why don't you write?"

Jiang Bai shook his head and smiled honestly, saying, "My handwriting is as bad as a dog's. How can it compare with my sister's? Besides, my sister is a student at a university in Beijing, and my school is just average. They ask Shengzhi to write for them instead of me."

Jiang Shengzhi is the son of the brigade secretary. In the past, in order to please the brigade secretary, the villagers asked Jiang Aimin to write for them when the old secretary was the secretary. Now that the current brigade secretary is the secretary, they ask Jiang Shengzhi, the son of the brigade secretary, to write for them.

Now that Jiang Xi has been admitted to Beijing University, and seeing that the Jiang family is about to rise, they all came to Jiang Xi to write.

In previous years, the brigade secretary's home was always bustling at this time, but this year the home was extremely deserted, and all the brigade cadres went to Jiang's father's home.

After the New Year, the new brigade secretary election will be held.

The crackdown has ended, and the brigade secretary took advantage of his position to find many connections to get his daughter out early. Seeing that Jiang Hehua had suffered a lot in the past year, Jiang Zhenzhang felt that it was about time, so he agreed to help find connections to see if Jiang Hehua could be brought out early.

The crackdown period has just passed, and they don't know if it will continue in the future. They have to wait at least another half a year to see the situation. If the rumors are still as intense as before, Jiang Hehua will still have to be imprisoned for three years. If the rumors are not so intense, she will have to be imprisoned for at least two years.

For the brigade secretary, being able to get out a year early is already a blessing in disguise. The brigade secretary

himself doesn't want to get involved in the election after the New Year. Now his eldest son is in college, and he has quietly saved some money over the years. After his daughter is released, he wants to take Hehua's mother and eldest son to live in the city where his eldest son is studying. Jiang Hehua is still young and will definitely not survive in the village. They want to find a place where no one knows them and start over.

He did not dare to blame Jiang Xi. Jiang Xi was a promising student at Peking University. She did not provoke him, but she was making up such rumors behind his back. She was a daughter of a big man and had a strong psychological quality. If she had a weaker psychological quality, she would not be able to get into Peking University or get an IMO gold medal. She would probably be ruined. It was normal for her not to forgive He Hua. If his daughter was treated like this, he would have killed the person secretly.

Besides, Jiang He Hua was in jail because she was stupid enough to be severely beaten. Otherwise, how could it be so serious?

After the couple made this decision, Hehua's mother rarely stayed in Jiangjia Village. She came back less than twice a year, because she was afraid that Jiang Hehua's affairs would be spread. They had already prepared for the Jiang family to spread the matter. Who knew that the Jiang family would not come back to the village all year round, and did not tell anyone when they came back.

Hehua's mother and the brigade secretary were relieved, and their feelings towards Jiang Liu became more complicated.

But they didn't want to see Jiang Liu.

On the second day, New Year's Eve, the first thing the families who received the couplets written by Jiang Xi did when they woke up was to happily post the couplets written by Jiang Xi on their doors. They repeatedly warned the children in the family not to tear the couplets on the doors randomly. After the Spring Festival, they should tear down the couplets on the doors and keep them. They might become heirlooms in the future.

Jiang Aimin planned to do so. He was even reluctant to post the couplets written by Jiang Xi on the door.

After posting the couplets, they went to the mountains to worship their ancestors.

In the past, daughters and daughters-in-law in the village did not need to go to the mountains to worship their ancestors. It was the boys' job to worship their ancestors. After all, how could girls go back to worship their ancestors after they got married?

But this year, early in the morning, Jiang's father knocked on Jiang Xiao's door: "Xingxiao! Xingxiao! Get up quickly! Go to the mountain to worship the ancestors and visit the graves!"

Jiang Xiao was sleeping soundly in the warm quilt. After being woken up by Jiang's father, she opened her hazy eyes: "Didn't they say that girls don't have to worship the ancestors?"

"How can I not worship the ancestors? It's such a big deal for you to be admitted to Peking University. It's an honor for the family! How can I not worship the ancestors? The village ancestral hall has been opened specially for you. The whole village is waiting for you! How can you not come?"