Chapter 166 166

The whole village was really waiting for Jiang Xi. Men and women, old and young, young girls holding children, all stood outside the ancestral hall to watch the excitement.

The ancestral hall of Jiangjia Village is located in the center of Jiangjia Village, not far from the cinema. There is a large open space in the middle. Twenty or thirty years later, this open space was used as an activity center and parking lot for the elderly. Young people who went out to play would drive their cars back and park them in the village even if they were far away. If there was no car at the door of someone's house, it would not be considered a success.

Jiang's father even made Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai wear the long red down jackets that they bought for them in Shenzhen this time. As

soon as Jiang Qing and Jiang Bai arrived outside the ancestral hall, the people in the village who were usually responsible for taking care of the ancestral hall lit firecrackers on both sides of the ancestral hall. The deafening sound of firecrackers seemed to wake up this silent mountain village in the early morning.

Jiang Zhenchang, who might not come back at this time in previous years, the old shop Lao Zhonghua at the entrance of the village opened a brick factory outside and contracted the highway in the neighboring city last year. Jiang's eldest son Jiang Guoan and youngest son Jiang Guoliang, these promising people in the village, all came back on New Year's Eve this year, just because the Jiang family had two college students, one of whom was a college student from Beijing University and won a gold medal internationally.

Previously, the news that Jiang Xi won the international gold medal was broadcasted throughout the province, and the city and the county promoted it vigorously. The old village chief and the old secretary contacted the mayor of Jiang Town at that time, and asked to open an ancestral hall to record this major event in the family tree, so that future generations can know which celebrities their ancestors had and what deeds they had by reading the family tree.

Unfortunately, Jiang Xi did not come back at that time. Many people in the village were working outside and were busy with work, so they did not come back. Today, all of them gathered together.

These people who have been working outside for many years and have hardly returned to Jiangjia Village for many years, looking at Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai walking side by side, they feel that all the aura of this generation of Jiangjia Village is concentrated on the two Jiang brothers and sisters.

The whole village seemed to be meeting the two for the first time. Even the peers who grew up with Jiang Bai in the past looked at Jiang Bai as if they didn't know him anymore.

They couldn't help but attribute this to the fact that college students are different from ordinary people. Not only do they look different, but their temperaments are also different.

But they looked at Jiang Guoan, who rarely came back for the New Year this year, and Jiang Shengzhi and Jiang Guoliang, who were from the brigade secretary's family. They were all college students, but none of them were like the two brothers and sisters of the Jiang family. They were really like golden phoenixes flying out of the mountain nest, with a kind of brilliance that was out of tune with their mountain village.

But their main focus was still on Jiang Xing. Jiang Xing was the protagonist today, and Jiang Bai was just a bystander.

Of course, they didn't know at this time what Jiang Bai, who had always been an invisible person in the past and was now just a bystander, would achieve in the future.

They opened the ancestral hall of Jiangjia Village and offered sacrifices to the ancestors.

This was really a very ordinary scene for Jiang Xi. Accompanied by the village chief and the old secretary, she entered the main entrance of the ancestral hall and went in to burn incense and kowtow to the ancestors.

But when the old secretary and the old village chief handed incense to the two of them, they first handed it to Jiang Xi and then to Jiang Bai. Jiang Xi directly split the incense stick in his hand into two, handed half to Jiang Bai, and then calmly burned incense with a pious face.

She didn't know if there were ghosts or gods in the world, but she could come back again and see her grandfather again. Just this alone was enough for her to thank her ancestors and gods for their blessings. Those

who followed in were all the village chiefs, such as Jiang Town Chief, Jiang Guotai, who later became the richest man in the neighboring city, the respected elders in the village, and the well-known people who served as cadres in the brigade.

Jiangjia Village has four branches and more than 380 households in total. It is one of the largest and most famous villages in the vicinity. Because there are too many people in the village, a part of it was divided out to become Xiaojiangjia Village.

Even the people of Xiaojiangjia Village, who were related to the third branch of the Jiang family, came to the ancestral hall early in the morning. Father Jiang, who had been oppressed by huge debts for more than ten years, had never been so glorious in all these years. Because of his two children, he also stood in the center of the crowd, became the focus of everyone, and was congratulated by all kinds of good words.

Jiang Xi saw Grandpa Jiang standing alone under a small tree with his hands behind his back, looking at this side with a smile.

"Grandpa!" Jiang Xi hurried over, and the crowd naturally made way for her. Jiang Xi helped Grandpa Jiang to the ancestral hall, and they burned incense for the ancestors together. Grandpa Jiang's eyes were red with excitement, and he wiped his tears happily. The wrinkles on his smiling face were a little deeper.

Today is New Year's Eve. The scale is completely different from the time when the principal of No. 1 Middle School came to Jiangjia Village to give Jiang Xi a scholarship in the middle of last year. All the people working outside the village have returned. Today, they are going to worship their ancestors. Everyone is standing outside the ancestral hall.

The old village chief asked Jiang Xi to say a few words.

What can Jiang Xi say? Just let the children in the village study hard, the world is big and wonderful, encourage the children in the village to go out, and especially emphasize the issue of letting girls go to school: "No matter whether it is a boy or a girl, if one person passes the exam, the whole family will be honored!"

Jiang Xi knows that it is useless to talk to the villagers about the great principles of gender equality. Only by combining the benefits of girls studying and going to college with their own interests, more families will be willing to support girls to study.

After all, she is the role model here.

We will go to the mountain to visit the graves soon. These few days are rare sunny weather after the heavy snow. We must pay special attention to forest fire prevention. Jiang Wu also emphasized that after burning the paper money, we must bury the fire with soil before leaving.

Later, Mayor Jiang also came out to emphasize this point.

This person of weight speaks differently. The young people in the village, old and young, must listen to Mayor Jiang. Even if the young people don't care, their fathers will pay special attention to it because they have listened to Jiang Wu and Mayor Jiang, and will carefully extinguish all the sparks before leaving.

Later, the uncle who opened the cinema also said that in order to congratulate Jiang Xi for being admitted to Beijing University and winning the gold medal in the International Olympic Games, the cinema would show movies for free tonight. The crowd cheered!

The girls looked at Jiang Xi standing in the middle of the crowd with envy. Jiang Gangqin was also looking at Jiang Xi, waving to him excitedly. Seeing that Jiang Xi also smiled and responded to her, her chest was a little high, and she was very proud.

The scene of Jiang Xi being surrounded by the respected elders in the village planted the seeds of wanting to study hard and be valued by the village like Jiang Xi in the future, and to be as brilliant as him.

I don't know whether Jiang Xi was originally very dazzling, or the aura of a genius student made her a filter in the hearts of all the girls in Jiangjia Village. At this moment, Jiang Xi was shining like a star in the sky, far away and close to them.

Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted: "Xi Xi! Come and hold your niece!" The one

who spoke was Jiang Xi's eldest cousin's wife. When she married to Jiangjia Village three years ago, she was still a beautiful girl. Three years later, her face has more traces of rural labor.

Jiang Xi smiled and took the little girl from the eldest cousin's wife's arms. He made the eldest cousin's wife smile happily, just like when worshiping ancestors and asking the ancestors to bless their children and grandchildren. He said piously: "Lingling, you should be like your aunt in the future. Go to college, eat government food, and get a rice bowl. Hug your aunt, touch your aunt, and get some of your aunt's literary spirit."

Yes, the eldest cousin's wife's eldest daughter is called Jiang Ling, which is somewhat similar to Jiang Xi's name. This is a name that the eldest cousin and the eldest cousin's wife chose on purpose, hoping that similar names can also bring their children some of Jiang Xi's luck in the exam, and they can be as successful as her in the future.

It is not obvious now, but after Jiang Xi enters the system, the children of this generation, girls are generally named Jiang Mouling, and boys are generally named Jiang Moulin.

Many women holding their own children came over with their children and said, "Come, ask your aunt to hug you too."

Some people even dragged their children's arms over here and said, "Come here, let your sister touch you."

Some children were shy and would never come over, while others came over obediently but shyly, looking up at Jiang Xi in adoration, waiting for her to touch their heads. Those who were dragged over were basically boys, and Jiang Xi always treated them all equally with a smile, regardless of whether they were boys or girls. One by one, they touched the children affectionately, patted their heads and encouraged them: "Study hard, get into university in the future, and serve the motherland!"

The children whose heads were touched all looked at Jiang Xiao with sparkling eyes and nodded vigorously. The brave ones even said to Jiang Xiao: "Sister Xiao Xiao, when I grow up, I want to get into Jingcheng University like you!"

Jiang Xiao smiled and raised her thumbs up: "You have ambition! I will wait for you at Jingcheng University and look forward to you becoming my junior."

"I want to apply to Tsinghua University!"

"I want to apply to Peking University!"

The encouraged children shouted excitedly, and their parents were so happy that they were grinning from ear to ear. Some brave girls also shouted out their ideals: "I want to apply to Peking University like Auntie Liu Liu!"

Jiang Liu gently helped her straighten her collar and touched her little face: "You are great, I believe you can do it, keep working hard, I will be waiting for you at Peking University too." The

encouraged girls were very excited, and they all raised their hands and shouted: "Me too! Me too!"

"Sister Liu Liu, I will also apply to Peking University!"

Jiang Liu patiently and gently gave affirmative encouragement to each of them, and the adults outside the crowd watched with smiles, especially the old people in the village. Although they couldn't say anything, they felt that the little girl from the tall family was extraordinary.

Mayor Jiang also brought his daughter, who was only one day older than Jiang Xi, and walked up to Jiang Xi and said, "Xixi, Yanyan, do you remember? You two were born on the same day. She was born in the evening and you were born in the morning. Although she is said to be one day older than you, in fact, she is only a few hours older. In fact, you and Yanyan were born on the same day of the same month of the same year."

Jiang Xi smiled and took Jiang Yanyan's hand, and said with a smile, "Uncle, what you said is true. Yanyan and I were best friends when we were little. We grew up together. How could I not know Yanyan?" What

Jiang Xi said was complete nonsense. She grew up in the mountains with Grandpa Jiang when she was a child. Jiang Yanyan followed Mayor Jiang to go to school in the countryside before she was old enough to understand. How could they grow up together?

But Mayor Jiang was very happy to hear that, and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, you two sisters are the closest in blood relationship in your generation, and your father and I are brothers who grew up together. You can come to your fourth uncle's house after the New Year. I have been busy all these years, and your generation has never been to my house."

Mayor Jiang was originally the head of a township, and later he was transferred to the town closest to Wucheng as the head of the town. If he was promoted further, he would go directly to the county.

Jiang Yanyan knew Jiang Xi, but she was really not familiar with him. At this time, Jiang Xi held her hand affectionately, and she really thought that the two played together when they were children. After all, her old house and Jiang's old house were neighbors, one in front and one behind, less than one meter apart.

In fact, children like to play with older children. When Jiang Yanyan was a child, she was Jiang Song's little tail. When Jiang Song caught fish with a small net, she would follow him happily with a small plastic bucket.

She was a little shy, with a rosy white face and some baby fat, very cute. Her hands were also chubby and soft. When you pinched them in your hands, it felt like pulling a ball of soft and delicate cotton.

Jiang Xi was talking to the prominent people in the village. The people in the village who couldn't catch up with Jiang Xi surrounded Grandpa Jiang and said congratulations, saying that the old man had finally made it.

"It was so hard and difficult back then, but now we have finally made it through. Both grandchildren have been admitted to universities, and they are just waiting to enjoy the good life in the future!"

Grandpa Jiang put his hands behind his back, listened with a smile, and said nothing.

How could they know that he had been enjoying the good life with his eldest granddaughter two years ago!

Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner, Dad Jiang and Uncle Jiang's family spent it together. Although Jiang Song was not there, the New Year's Eve was not lonely at all. Jiang Hongjun and the youngest son Jiang Jun from Uncle Jiang's family were both very good at warming up the atmosphere. Dad Jiang was very excited and talked a lot at the dinner table, talking about the childhood of Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai.

He had a more vivid memory of his only daughter, Jiang Xi, who was very smart when she was young, but he really didn't have a deep memory of Jiang Bai, mainly because the years when Jiang Bai was born were when he was the busiest and most high-spirited in running the chicken farm, so how could he have the heart to think about his children? So there was really nothing good to say about Jiang Bai, so a group of people gathered together to praise Jiang Xi. The

eldest cousin's wife was the most supportive one, and she supported him sincerely.

The New Year's Eve dinner was prepared by Jiang's father and Jiang Bai. Jiang's mother had a rare chance to be free and wanted to help, but Jiang's father had nowhere to vent his excitement, so he just wanted to show off his cooking skills and prepare a table of dishes for the whole family to taste.

Jiang's mother was idle, so she listened to the whole family cracking melon seeds and praising Jiang Wu. They praised Jiang Wu to the heavens and the earth from childhood to adulthood, saying that there was no child in the world smarter, more obedient, and more lovely than Jiang Wu when he was a child.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, many people came to the Jiang family again. Mayor Jiang and a group of grown men gathered together, reminiscing about the past, looking forward to the future, and talking about national affairs.

Jiang Wu sat beside them and listened quietly until they threw the topic to Jiang Wu and asked her opinion. Jiang Wu smiled and talked about how to build her hometown.

Mayor Jiang and his people actually always treated Jiang Xiao as a promising young man in the clan, and coaxed him like a child. But when they heard what Jiang Xiao said about how to develop the rural economy and how to create income for rural villagers, from one village to one township, then to one town and one county,

Mayor Jiang and Jiang Guotai, who were originally still talking, unconsciously became quiet and looked at the young Jiang Xiao sitting between them.