Chapter 80 80

Father Jiang thought he had misheard: "What first?"

Jiang Bai ate lotus root balls: "First in the whole county."

"Who is first in the whole county?" Father Jiang's chopsticks were frozen in his hand, his eyes widened.

"Xingxing got first in the whole county." Jiang Bai still looked calm.

"What did Xingxing get?" Father Jiang thought he had drunk too much and his ears were out of place. He only drank two glasses of rice wine, not two bottles!

Jiang Bai was annoyed with him. He looked up at him and said in a louder voice: "Xingxing got the first place in the county!"

Jiang's father looked at Jiang Bai, then at Jiang Xing, then at Grandpa Jiang, and turned to ask Jiang's mother: "I just seemed to hear Baizi say that our Xingxing got the first place in the county?" He stroked his forehead and said, "Maybe I heard it wrong. Baizi said first in the school, and I heard first in the county."

He didn't even dare to think about getting first in the school, let alone first in the county.

When Jiang Song had the best grades, he never got first in the school.

He picked up the wine glass, looked at it, and smelled the wine in the glass: "The wine brewed this year has a strong aftertaste."

He just started drinking and drank a little too much.

Jiang Bai poured himself a cup of hot water and said, "You heard me right, I got first in the whole county. The whole! County! County! Not the school!"

Jiang's father had just taken a sip of wine when he choked and kept coughing. Jiang's mother was shocked and immediately stood up and patted Jiang Bai on the back: "So you got first place, why did you talk so loudly? Look how you choked your dad!" She patted Jiang's father on the back and complained, "Really? You can even choke when drinking. What's the point of a girl getting first place? Can she still be the top scorer?" "

Even if I become the top scorer, I will be someone else's top scorer. Why are you so excited?" She said indifferently.

She had heard from Jiang's father that if a boy's grades in junior high school were not good, he would just have to work hard in high school, and if a girl's grades in junior high school were good, she would lose them in high school. She also believed this, so she didn't think it was a big deal that Jiang Xiao got first place in the exam.

"What do you mean by someone else's first place? This is our own first place!" Jiang's father coughed at the side, his face flushed, and after a while he turned around and asked the other three people at the table in disbelief: "Did Xiao Xiao really get first place in the county? What exam did she get first place in the county? What exam did she take?"

Jiang Bai had already covered the pot on the table with a pot lid when Jiang's father was scolding him.

The pot was a small red clay stove that could only hold one coal briquette. Because there was a charcoal mountain here, every household had a coal stove. The coal briquette was made by pulling coal from the charcoal mountain and using a coal briquette machine to push the coal into the machine one by one and press it out.

The New Year's Eve meal was very particular. For example, the fish on the table could not be touched and had to be kept until the third day of the New Year, which meant that there would be surplus every year.

When eating at someone else's house, the fish on the table could not be touched, as it would violate the taboo of the family, especially not turning the fish over, which was a taboo that could not be touched.

They were particularly superstitious here, believing that turning the fish over meant capsizing.

Jiang Bai didn't care about the fish at all, and only paid attention to protecting the two dishes in front of him, a braised pork with fried tofu and a pork head.

He was thankful that there was a small stove on the table, otherwise the two dishes in front of him would not be preserved.

Jiang Wei always ate very quickly. If she didn't eat quickly, there would be nothing left to eat later. So when she was told that it was time to eat the New Year's Eve dinner, she scooped a bowl of lotus root meatball soup and ate it with boiled coriander.

The coriander was grown by Jiang's mother herself. Their coriander was not used as a spice for side dishes like green onions, but as a main dish. The fragrance of coriander in this season was very strong.

Everyone at the table was very calm, and the only one who was not calm was Jiang's father.

Seeing that Jiang's father finally stopped coughing, Jiang Bai lifted the lid on the pot and said while boiling coriander in it: "It's a joint exam. No. 1 Middle School, Wu Middle School, No. 2 Middle School, and seven or eight other schools took the joint exam. My sister got the first place in the county."

Jiang's father exclaimed: "Wu Middle School also participated?" He looked at his daughter in disbelief: "There are so many schools taking the joint exam, and you beat Wu Middle School and got the first place in the county?"

When did his daughter's grades get so good? During the summer vacation, he saw her buy a lot of miscellaneous books to read. How could she get the first place in the county?

Why did Jiang's father feel a little dizzy? She was drunk without even drinking?

He asked uncertainly, "Did your sister really get first place in the school in the joint exam?"

Jiang Bai raised his eyes impatiently and rolled his eyes at him, "Yes! You heard it right! Xingxing got first place in the county in the joint exam! The whole county! First place!"

Jiang's father believed the news and sat in his seat in a daze for a while before he became happy after realizing it belatedly.

As an old No. 1 Middle School student, Jiang's father shouted excitedly, "Great! You are worthy of being my daughter, Jiang Guoping! Come on, have a drink with Dad!"

Jiang's father, who had been in a bad mood that night, was so happy that his eyes lit up. He poured a cup of rice wine into the cup, clinked glasses with Jiang Xing twice, and poured wine for Jiang Bai, "You should drink a glass with me too!"

Jiang Bai drank the wine in one gulp just like drinking water, and Jiang Xing did the same.

This wine is brewed with their own grain. They have the custom of brewing wine here. Almost every household will brew some rice wine by themselves. Local people also like to use various things to make wine. Normal ones include mulberry wine, plum wine, ginseng wine, Panax notoginseng wine, etc., and abnormal ones include snake wine, scorpion wine, wolf whip, and bull whip wine. In the past, when there were tigers on their mountain, there were tiger whips and tiger bone wine, but now there are no tigers.

If there is no two jars of wine in the cellar, it is embarrassing to invite guests to their home for dinner during the New Year.

Many children are greedy, and when their parents are not around, they drink secretly. Jiang Song and Jiang Bai often drank the rice wine brewed by Jiang's father when they were young.

Not only Jiang's father likes to drink it, but Jiang's mother also likes to drink it.

It should be said that everyone in the Jiang family, including Jiang's father, Jiang's mother, and Jiang Xi, has a good alcohol tolerance.

Anyway, in Jiang Xi's memory, she has never been drunk, and she is a natural drinker.

She has always been a person who can't drink at work, but when she really drinks, she can drink everyone at the table and she will be fine.

At this time, the brother and sister drank the wine poured by Jiang's father, which was really no different from drinking water.

Jiang's father poured more wine for Jiang's mother and touched Jiang's mother's glass: "Come on, Ai Lian, you also have a drink with me."

Seeing that Jiang's father, who had no energy all night, finally had a happy look, Jiang's mother didn't say anything to spoil the fun, and drank the wine very straightforwardly.

"Oh." While drinking, Jiang's father couldn't help but sigh: "If Songzi were here, it would be great. If he could repeat his studies, maybe he could pass the county exam next year. He has been smart and quick-witted since he was young, but he just didn't focus on studying."

"It's useless to think about these now. Let's find him first." Jiang's mother said, "I don't know what he is doing outside, whether he misses home, or how he eats. It's New Year's Eve, why hasn't he come back yet?"

Jiang's father also sighed: "Who said it wasn't? Whether he makes money or not, he has to come back for the New Year!"

It was New Year's Day, and they didn't dare to say anything unlucky, but he was really worried about his eldest son. He didn't know whether he had enough to eat outside or whether he was warm enough.

He had never left home before, but he didn't come back for the New Year in the first year of his absence, which really broke their hearts.

Rationally speaking, the couple knew that their eldest son would not be bullied.

He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, and he was the leader of the children who had been invincible in all the nearby villages since he was a child. Wherever he went, his physique was there, and if others wanted to make trouble, they would not fight with him.

He was afraid that his son was deceived and detained somewhere and could not get out.

Especially since he and Jiang's mother had worked on construction sites in recent years, they knew how chaotic it was outside. In order to compete for projects, those people would gather together from time to time to fight, and they would really use knives to chop.

He was afraid that Jiang Song was young and arrogant, and would talk about brotherhood and join the society.

Those who use knives to slash people, the swords have no eyes, if he is really stabbed or slashed, no matter how strong his physique is, it will be useless.

He really said this.

However, Jiang Song was not stabbed, but he really helped his buddies to fight, leading the way and rushing to the front.

He has been used to fighting since he was a child. As soon as he could walk, he dared to follow the adults in the village to catch fish on the river beach, almost scaring Jiang's mother to death. He

started fighting since he could walk. First, he beat down all the boys of the same age or one or two years older than him in the third room, and then led the boys of the third room to fight with the boys of the first, second and fourth rooms. After beating them, he took them to fight with the little boys in Xujia Village.

Jiangjia Village and Xujia Village were the largest and wildest villages in the area. The little boys from the two villages would fight on the lawn of the embankment every day after school. The older and younger children would gather around to watch the fun.

The lawn of the embankment was a trapezoidal slope with a two-meter-wide flat ground below. Often, the little boys would hug each other and roll down the slope to the paddy field below, where they would continue fighting until they were covered in mud.

At that time, Jiang's father still ran a chicken farm. It was the best time for the Jiang family. Jiang Song had a lot of pocket money and was very generous. He would share spicy strips, Tang Monk meat, fruit candies, etc. with his friends. He beat all the little boys from the surrounding villages until they recognized him as the boss.

Jiang Bo and Jiang Xi never understood where Jiang Song's vigorous energy came from. He was like a wild and untrainable husky, rushing and fighting outside every day.

Jiang's father and mother followed Jiang Song every day to apologize to others for him.

Whether he lost or won, Jiang Bo and Jiang Xi would be beaten up. If

Jiang Song lost, Jiang's mother would say, "Your brother was fighting with others outside, and you didn't help him!" Jiang Bo was beaten up.

If Jiang Song won, Jiang's mother would say, "Your brother was fighting with others outside, and you didn't even stop him and persuade him?" Jiang Xi was beaten up.

So Jiang Xi was often beaten when he was young. The reason for being beaten was that he didn't take good care of his brother and let him run out to fight again.

It can be said that from childhood to adulthood, except for the three years when he was locked up in No. 1 Middle School, Jiang Song was either fighting or on the way to fight.

Later, Jiang's father and mother had no choice but to go out to work and take Jiang Song with them to separate Jiang Song from those people. But whenever they went home for the New Year, the group of little boys who grew up with Jiang Song would gather at Jiang's house to play with him.

Jiang Song was also amazing. He never had an inferiority complex. The houses of the people around him were all taller, newer, and bigger than his, but he never minded. He would bring his good friends, good classmates, and good brothers home from time to time, and Jiang's father and mother would be responsible for entertaining them with good wine and food.

Until he went to high school, No. 1 Middle School locked him up in the campus every day and he couldn't go out. He couldn't vent his energy, so he played ball, basketball, football, running, long jump. The whole playground was full of his figure. He was always calling friends and everywhere was his good friends and brothers. After finally graduating from high school, he was like a husky that was untied and released. He ran into the ocean of freedom and helped his good brothers fight for construction sites and projects in Shenzhen. He had a lot of fun. How could he think about his two old parents who were worried about him in his hometown?

There was no news about Jiang Song, so Jiang's father was worried at home.

With Jiang Song's temper, he was really afraid that he would fight with others outside again.

Jiang's father sighed at the dinner table. Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai finished their meal and went to wash up.

It was cold in winter, and these two days happened to be sunny. Jiang Xi dried all the quilts and replaced the straw under the bed with new ones. The original straw was thrown into the kitchen and burned.

Jiang Xi poured water for Grandpa Jiang to wash his face, and went to help Grandpa Jiang wash his face.

Grandpa Jiang directly shook Jiang Xi's hand away: "You don't need to help me~ I'm not old and can't move. You don't need to pour the water for washing my face. I know how to do it myself."

He was used to staying alone in the mountains and doing everything by himself. He was not used to being served by his granddaughter in this way. He felt like a useless person who couldn't move.

Grandpa Jiang waved his hand impatiently to urge her: "Go and do your own thing. Do I need you to watch me wash my feet? I can do it myself. You don't need to be here. Go back to your room and read."

Jiang Song was not at home. He was going to sleep with Jiang Bai at night.

The Jiang family had only two rooms. The middle was the main room, and the two sides were the main rooms. The main room on the left was where Jiang's father and mother slept. The room on the right was divided into three rooms. The south-facing half was the room for Jiang Song and Jiang Bai. The middle was the rice warehouse. The northernmost room was the room where Jiang Xi lived. There was a one-meter-wide high bed and a desk. At the end of the bed was a rice jar and a large water jar. The water jar contained this year's newly made rice cakes. There was also an entrance to the cellar under the bed, which was piled with sweet potatoes harvested this year and rice wine brewed by Jiang's father.

It can be said that it was packed full.

Every time Jiang Xi took a bath, she had to push the bench under the table so that she could fit a bathtub. She had to be very careful, otherwise the water would spill outside and onto the bed.

Grandpa Jiang wanted to do it himself, and Jiang Xi didn't force him, so she went to do her own thing.

In the entire Jiang family, there was only one wash basin, one foot basin, and one bath basin. When Grandpa Jiang washed his face, Jiang Bai took a bath. After Grandpa Jiang washed his face, he put the towel on the towel rack, took the hot water kettle on the coal stove, and went to pour water to soak his feet.

All the basins and towels in the house are shared by the whole family, which makes her very uncomfortable.

Even though she grew up in such an environment, she is still not used to it when she returns to such an environment.

Especially the dry toilets in the countryside.

Some families who are particular, such as Uncle Jiang's family, have built dry toilets very well, and the walls and floors are plastered with cement, and an L-shaped wooden board is covered on top to prevent insects from crawling all over the floor.

For a family like the Jiang family, the dry toilet is really leaking from all sides, and the wind makes the eggs cold, especially now it is winter.

Every time Jiang Xi comes back, going to the toilet is a torment, and every time he goes to the toilet, he has to run to his uncle's mother's house.

It's a good thing that they are close. If it's far away, it will be inconvenient to go to the toilet.

Jiang Xi remembered that every time she came back in her previous life, she always liked to go to her aunt's house, but she never wanted to use their toilet.

From luxury to frugality.

Even though Jiang Xi's life in her previous life was not luxurious, she enjoyed the convenient life in the new era. It was not easy to adapt to this era where conditions in all aspects were relatively backward.

She just wanted the winter vacation to end quickly and she had to go back to Wucheng.

She didn't know how the house in Shanghai was renovated and when it would be completed. Say goodbye to the old

and welcome the new.

On New Year's Eve, everyone has to wash from head to toe to welcome the first day of the new year.

In the morning, Jiang Bai and his family went to worship their ancestors. Jiang Ma and Jiang Xi didn't have to go. Jiang Xi had washed her hair at home in the morning and had to take a bath in the evening. Jiang Bai

was using the bathtub, so she went to brush her teeth first.

They didn't have the habit of brushing teeth at night, only in the morning.

Jiang Ma saw that Jiang Xi had to brush her teeth in the evening and wasted toothpaste. She stared at her coldly and rolled her eyes at her, trying to make her understand what she meant, but Jiang Xi didn't even look at her.

Because it was New Year's Eve, she couldn't curse, but she couldn't bear to see Jiang Xi wasting toothpaste, and she couldn't help but say, "You're still brushing your teeth late at night, isn't that toothpaste free?"

Jiang Xi always thought that her mood was very stable, as stable as a person without temper, but for some reason, Jiang's mother could always easily stir up her negative emotions, even just a word, could stir up her calm heart.

This feeling of being easily controlled by others made her very uncomfortable.

She tried to completely ignore Jiang's mother, brushed her teeth, boiled the wash basin with hot water, and took soap to wash the wash basin and foot basin. Jiang's mother saw her wasting hot water and soap, but she endured it again and again, so she didn't explode on New Year's Eve. She simply turned a blind eye and looked at the dishes on the table, eating without any appetite, and then saw Jiang Xi took out a towel.

The towel was not new, it had been used in school for a semester, but Jiang's mother still put down her chopsticks and asked her: "Where did you get the towel? Where did you get the money to buy a new towel?" She asked Jiang's father: "Did you give her money?"

Jiang's father immediately protested: "I gave you all the money I earned!" He persuaded Jiang's mother: "Maybe Dad bought it for her. She is studying outside, doesn't she definitely need a face towel?" ?”

Jiang’s mother couldn’t stand seeing others wasting it, and said, “We have so much mourning cloth at home that we can’t use it all, can’t we use it as a towel?”

When an old person in the village dies, white linen will be given as mourning cloth to everyone who comes to kowtow. This kind of mourning cloth will not be thrown away after use, but will be kept at home as a face towel, bath towel, or foot towel. The Jiang family is large, so they give a lot of mourning cloth, and there are still several sheets of mourning cloth in the cabinet that have not been used up.

When Jiang’s father heard her mention mourning cloth on New Year’s Day, he suddenly felt unlucky, put down his chopsticks and frowned: “On New Year’s Day, can’t you say something nice with your mouth?”

Jiang’s mother also realized that she had just said something bad, and was afraid of affecting Jiang Song who had not returned, so she quickly shut up.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Jiang Xi saw that the foot basin and bath basin were being used by Jiang Bai and Grandpa Jiang. He had nothing to do, so he went to the kitchen shelf and took a large glass bottle used for IV drips in the hospital. After boiling it, he poured hot water into it, took two socks that had been worn to the toes and heels and were completely torn to the point of being unwearable, put them on the outside of the IV bottle, stuffed one into Grandpa Jiang's hand who was soaking his feet in hot water, and stuffed one into his own quilt.

Seeing this, Jiang's mother couldn't help but complain to Jiang's father, "Look, look, can you blame me for scolding her? She put one in her grandfather's hand when she was packing hand warmers, and she put one in our quilt when she didn't know how to do it. Can you blame me for scolding her all the time? Her brain is as stupid as a piece of wood. With this, how can she get the first place in the county? I think she can only eat!"

Jiang Qing got the first place in the county? Why doesn't she believe it? If she said Songzi got the first place in the county, she would believe it. Songzi has been smart and clever since he was a child. If he can study as hard as his brothers and sisters, then the first place in the county can be easily obtained, right?

Thinking of Jiang Song, Jiang's mother didn't care about Jiang Xi anymore, and she felt very unhappy.

Jiang's father cooked the New Year's Eve dinner. Jiang's father always cooked very seriously, especially tonight was New Year's Eve. He was thinking that Jiang Song would come back in the evening. The dishes he cooked were very delicious, but Jiang's mother ate them tasted a little bland.

Seeing Jiang Xi taking clothes to take a bath, she suddenly remembered that when she sent meat and lotus roots to her mother's house two days ago, her sister-in-law gave her an old dress that her niece didn't want anymore and asked her to bring it back for Jiang Xi to wear.

Jiang's mother got up and went back to her room. She took out an old cotton quilt and handed it to Jiang Xiao, saying, "Here, your new clothes for the New Year." Jiang's mother added, "Your second brother didn't have any new clothes for the New Year, but you did. You still complained that we were partial to you."

The second cousin was skillful, and she embroidered flowers on the torn parts of the quilt to cover them up.

Their generation grew up with three years of new, three years of old, and three years of tattered clothes. The friends around them were all like this. She didn't think it was a big deal to wear old clothes. But Jiang's mother, who was obviously an old dress with several patches and washed to a pale color, always told her that it was a new dress, treating her like a fool, and didn't put any effort into it. She really didn't know what to say.

She had this dress in her previous life, and she wore it until she went to college.

She looked at Jiang's mother and said as a matter of course that she was partial to her. For some reason, she found it a little funny.

Maybe she still treated her as a three-year-old child and coaxed her. Just because she said to her, "I am partial to you," she really thought that she was partial to herself.

Look, even the second brother doesn't have new clothes, but she does!

She took the "new clothes" back to the room.

At this time, Jiang Bai also came out of the bath and poured water outside with a large wooden basin.

Jiang Song didn't come back, so Jiang's mother forgot about buying new clothes for Jiang Bai for the New Year. When she saw him coming out with the basin, she pretended not to know about buying new clothes for Jiang Bai and continued to eat.

Jiang Yu wanted to take a bath, so she took soap to wash the bathtub. After washing it once, she took boiling water to boil it.

Mother Jiang ate while watching Jiang Xi carry hot water in the wash basin and gourd ladle into the room. She wanted to know why she went into the room with so many tricks.

Jiang Xi was indeed standing in the bathtub, holding the gourd ladle, pouring water on herself one ladle at a time, taking a combat bath.

She stared at the door. She knew that today was New Year's Eve and Mother Jiang would not rush in to beat anyone, but she was still afraid.

She tilted her ears to listen to the movement outside. Father Jiang and Mother Jiang were still drinking. They were both worried about Jiang Song and were talking about him.

"He said before that he went to Shenzhen, but we don't know where he is in Shenzhen?" Father Jiang sighed and said, "No, we will go to Shenzhen this year to see if we can find him."

After all, working anywhere is working.

Originally, he didn't want to go out to work anymore. He wanted to get some machinery and open a quarry, but this required Jiang's mother's support. Without Jiang's mother's support, he couldn't do anything.

Now that his eldest son didn't come back for the New Year, he wanted to go to Shenzhen to find him.

Jiang's mother said, "It's okay to go to Shenzhen. I wonder if there are any acquaintances there."

They had all worked in the south, not far from home, and had never been to a place as far away as Shenzhen. Jiang's mother was a little uneasy because she was unfamiliar with the place.

But she was used to being with Jiang's father. She was used to Jiang's father arranging everything after she went out. She only needed to follow Jiang's father and help when work was needed. She didn't have to worry about the rest.

So when Jiang's father said to go to Shenzhen, she followed him to Shenzhen, without too much fear or hesitation. The only worry was that the two of them went to a strange place without a place to stay. If they had acquaintances, they would be able to find a job quickly and settle down with the help of acquaintances at the beginning.

Jiang's father said: "Xiaofeng will come back on the second day of the New Year. I will ask her if she knows anyone in Shenzhen in the town. You can also go home and ask your elder brother and younger sister if they know anyone in Shenzhen." Xiaofeng

is Aunt Jiang's nickname. Her full name is Jiang Guofeng. On the second day of the New Year, married girls here have to go back to their parents' home.

The New Year is the busiest time of the year for Aunt Jiang. It is estimated that she will not have time to stay in the Jiang family for a long time, and she will go back after putting down her things.

Although Jiang's father had been a captain in Tanshan, her mother's family was not in Tanshan, but in the next town.

On New Year's Eve, people had to stay up at night. In previous years, Jiang Song and Jiang Bai stayed up. Girls didn't have to stay up and went to bed early.

They slept until twelve o'clock in the evening. The clock in the main hall rang twelve times, and the sound of firecrackers rang outside.

Every New Year's Day, Jiang's father would take Jiang Song, Jiang Bai and Jiang Xing to Jiang Dabo's house to celebrate the New Year. At this time, Jiang's grandfather and Jiang's grandmother would also sit at the main table. They would eat at Jiang Dabo's house at noon on New Year's Day and at Jiang's father's house at night.

But this year, Jiang Song didn't come back, and Jiang's father didn't even have the interest to go to Jiang Dabo's house for the reunion dinner. He got up in the morning and ate big bone noodles, and didn't want to go to Jiang Dabo's house for a long time.

Seeing that it was already ten o'clock and Father Jiang had not come yet, Uncle Jiang could not help but come out and said with a smile: "Why haven't you come yet? Do you need me to urge you?" Then he smiled and stabbed Father Jiang in the heart: "Where is Songzi? Why haven't you seen Songzi come back? Songzi is not coming back this year, right?"

Uncle Jiang's three sons have all come back. The end of the year is the busiest time for each family to build a house. His three sons are busy outside every day and will not come back until New Year's Eve.

After working for a few more years, he can build the house for his third son.

He asked Grandpa Jiang: "Dad, is there any place to stay at Guoping's house? If not, you can come live at my house."

Grandpa Jiang also knew that his eldest son was dissatisfied with him for giving all his salary to his second son's family in recent years, and said: "I can't stay at home for two days, I will leave in two days."

He also wanted to take advantage of the New Year's Day to see if he could sell a few clothes and a few pairs of shoes.

The store rent is there, and the rent must be paid every day. How can he not open the door?

He didn't want to stay with his son and be bullied by those people.

Uncle Jiang and Jiang's father really didn't expect that Grandpa Jiang would actually say that he would leave in two days, and asked him where he was going and what he was doing.

"What? Begging for food?" Grandpa Jiang sat at the top of the main seat, holding a teacup in his hand: "I am so old, what else can I do besides begging for food and picking up rags?"

But Uncle Jiang and Father Jiang really didn't see that Grandpa Jiang, wearing new clothes and new leather shoes, didn't look like a rag picker.

But knowing that Grandpa Jiang was living well outside and would not starve to death or freeze to death, the two of them were relieved.

They all knew that Grandpa Jiang had a thousand yuan in his hand. This thousand yuan, apart from the tuition fees for Jiang Qing, how much money he had earned in the past six months, they didn't know, and they didn't want Grandpa Jiang's money.

In the past six months, Jiang's father has made a lot of money by selling lobsters, snail meat sauce, and eels every day. Uncle Jiang is even more so. He takes his three sons out every day to build houses for people. He doesn't care about the little money that Grandpa Jiang has. He just feels unhappy when he sees that the old man's money is all used to support his younger brother. On

the second day of the Chinese New Year, Aunt Jiang returned to Jiangjia Village early in the morning, bringing clothes and food bought for Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang. Before she had even sat for three minutes, she hurried back to the town.

Mother Jiang and Aunt Jiang both understand that business is better during the Chinese New Year, so of course they are busy making money. If they want to come back to see Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang at other times, when can they not come back? Why do they have to wait until the Chinese New Year?

When Dad Jiang sent Aunt Jiang back, he asked her if she knew anyone in Shenzhen.

Aunt Jiang didn't know what to do and said, "Aren't you doing well in Nanshi? Why did you want to go to Shenzhen? It's so far away and you don't know anyone there. Why would you go there?" Dad Jiang

was silent for a while and said, "Songzi didn't come back for the New Year. He said he went to Shenzhen with someone. I went there to see what was going on. Anyway, working is the same no matter where you are."

Aunt Jiang nodded and said, "I'll go back and ask for you." There were a lot of people coming and going in the town, so she could also ask around for Dad Jiang.

Aunt Jiang left in a hurry and didn't tell Dad Jiang that Jiang Bo was selling clothes in the town.

Yes, Jiang Bai went to the town to continue selling clothes early in the morning on the second day of the Chinese New Year. Tong Jingang took a bag of clothes and got on the bus to Shuibu Town.

When Tong Jingang got the New Year red envelope Jiang Bai gave him, he saw that there was a full three hundred yuan in it. Tong Jingang couldn't believe his eyes.

He had never received so much money in his life! He

earned it himself!

In just three days, he earned three hundred yuan!

"Oh my god! Our sister is so generous, isn't she? She gave us so much money, why did she earn it herself? Didn't all the money she earned go to the two of us?"

Jiang Bai calculated the money they earned for Jiang Qing in those three days, and said, "Then let's sell more in the next two days!"

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, many people wanted to go back to their parents' homes and buy some things to take back to their parents' homes. The streets were so crowded that Jiang Bai and Tong Jingang turned on the loud speaker and shouted: "39, 49, all 39, 49 on sale!"

This word was really too penetrating. They had heard that before the New Year, the director of the Jiangnan Garment Factory took his sister-in-law and ran away with the money. The factory closed down and could not pay the wages. Someone took the clothes back to sell. They thought the clothes had been sold out. Unexpectedly, they met them on the street today. They all ran over and soon surrounded Aunt Jiang's shop.

Seeing that the clothes were really cheap, they quickly bought one. They happened to go back to their parents' home and gave it to their parents to wear. They also had face.

Jiang's mother also brought pig's feet and salted fish, and bought brown sugar, longan, peach cakes and other things back to her parents' home.

Her parents' home is in the next township, and she doesn't pass through Shuibu Town.

She sent meat to her parents' home before the New Year, but she doesn't need to send meat after the New Year. She mainly came to ask her brothers and sisters-in

-law if they know anyone in Shenzhen. Jiang's eldest uncle is three years older than Jiang's mother. He is already 43 years old. He has been working on the farm with his eldest aunt in the old home. His two daughters are older and work outside. The eldest niece

has been engaged. The boy who stayed behind in the village as an old educated youth can be said to have grown up with the eldest niece and knows her inside out.

The second daughter is not engaged yet, but is dating someone. When they heard Jiang's mother asking about Shenzhen, they were curious and asked her, "Why did Songzi go to Shenzhen?"

The uncle's family values ​​the eldest son, and Jiang Song is lively. He has a very good relationship with his cousins. Every year on the second day of the Chinese New Year, Jiang Song would follow Jiang's mother to visit his uncle's house. Only this year did he not come. They felt that the house was not lively enough without Jiang Song.

Jiang's mother didn't want to tell her family about Jiang Song's bad behavior. She just said, "You all know his character. He probably feels embarrassed to come back because he didn't make any money this year." She sighed, "His father and I can still work. Why should we ask him to make money? But he saw the situation at home and wanted to share the burden with me and his father."

She felt from the bottom of her heart that Jiang Song thought so. He has always been so considerate and sensible. After

hearing what Jiang's mother said, the people in his uncle's family also felt that Jiang Song was really sensible. Seeing that the family was in such a difficult situation and Jiang's father and mother were so hard-working, he didn't want to study anymore and went out to work to help the family.

Jiang's mother asked around at her parents' home, and Jiang's father asked around in the village and people who had returned to the village, but they didn't find anyone they knew in Shenzhen. Few locals who work in the north go to work, and most of them are concentrated in Nanshi, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and other places.

After two days of asking around, they returned home and found that the house was deserted, with no one there. They

asked Jiang's aunt next door, and she was even more surprised than Jiang's father and mother: "Don't you know? Xixi and Baizi will go back to school on the third day of the New Year!" Jiang's mother then

remembered that she hadn't paid Jiang Bai the tuition!

Jiang Song had studied in the third year of high school at No. 1 Middle School, and she knew that the third-year high school students had to go back to school after the third day of the New Year. She had been busy asking about Shenzhen these days, so she didn't think about paying Jiang Bai the tuition.

She didn't want to deduct Jiang Bai's tuition. He had been in school for two and a half years, and there was only one semester left. If he couldn't get a high school diploma because he didn't pay the tuition, that would be a loss.

She was angry that several people didn't tell her when they returned to school. So she took out 800 yuan and went to Jiang Hehua's house: "Is Hehua home?"

Jiang Hehua waited at home for many days, but couldn't see Jiang Xu. She went to her grandparents' house with her mother on the second day of the Chinese New Year. She just came back and didn't have time to look for Jiang Xu before she saw Jiang's mother. There

were also many guests at Jiang Hehua's house. When Hehua's mother saw Jiang's mother suddenly come to the door, she was a little confused. After hearing that Jiang Bai had returned to school and didn't bring his tuition, she wanted to ask her if she had to send Jiang Hehua to pay the tuition at the beginning of the school year, and if she could help bring Jiang Bai's tuition to Wucheng to give to Jiang Bai.

It was not a big deal, so Hehua's mother agreed and said, "As long as you are not afraid that I will lose your money!"

Many people were sitting at the door of the brigade secretary's house, and many of them were cadres of the brigade. Jiang's mother counted out 800 yuan on the spot and handed it to Hehua's mother. She was not afraid that Hehua's mother would embezzle her money.

But before leaving, she suddenly remembered that she did not really believe what Jiang Bai said before, that Jiang Qing got the first place in the county.

When she saw Jiang Hehua at this time, she could not help but want to ask her, and asked her: "Hehua, I heard from my son Baizi that Qing got the first place in the county in some exam. Is this true?"