Chapter 81 81

Jiang Hehua’s house is also a newly built two-story building with a large courtyard at the door. Many guests were sitting at the door of Jiang Hehua’s house, eating melon seeds and chatting. When they heard what Jiang Ma said, they asked in surprise: "Ah? Your child Xiao Xiao got the first place in the county?"

"Your child Xiao Xiao’s grades are so good?"

Now, those who didn’t hear it all heard what Jiang Ma said, 'Jiang Xiao Xiao got the first place in the county', and they all looked at Jiang Ma.

"What exam did she take to get first place in the county? What grade is your little daughter in?"

"I only heard that your son Jiang Song had good grades, but I didn't expect your little daughter's grades were so good!"

"First in the county, so she's got into college!"

They had never heard of Jiang Qing's good grades. The only girl in the village who was famous for good grades was Hehua from the brigade secretary's family.

Jiang's mother originally asked Jiang Hehua in a low voice, but she didn't know that these people had such sharp ears and heard it all at once, which made her look a little unhappy.

If these people knew that Jiang Qing's grades were first in the county, and she didn't want her daughter to go to school, she would inevitably be criticized.

They all looked at Jiang Hehua: "Hehua, did Jiang Hehua really get the first place in the county?"

Jiang Hehua's face turned black.

If Hehua's mother hadn't known that Jiang's mother favored boys over girls, she would have thought that she came to her house to show off because she didn't speak loudly when she asked Jiang Hehua.

Hehua's mother had something that she cared about. When she was young, the family of the brigade secretary asked a matchmaker to go to Jiang's mother's house to propose marriage. It was only because Jiang's mother and Jiang's father fell in love that she got married to the current brigade secretary.

She didn't know about this until she heard her mother-in-law mention it later.

She knew that her mother-in-law made her unhappy, but she was still annoyed and secretly compared herself with Jiang's mother in her heart.

She had never suspected that there was something going on between Jiang's mother and the brigade secretary. After all, with Jiang's father's face in comparison, anyone would be attracted to Jiang's father, not the brigade secretary.

Especially during the years when Jiang's father opened the chicken farm, he was really high-spirited and unique in the village. It

was not until a chicken plague later that the Jiang family chicken farm went bankrupt and was heavily in debt that Jiang's father became obscure. In particular, Jiang's mother had aged a lot due to overwork in recent years, but her life was getting more and more comfortable, and her two children were also doing well, which made Hehua's mother feel a little more comfortable.

However, Jiang's mother didn't know that she was secretly comparing herself with Jiang's mother. When she was young, many people came to her house to propose marriage. It was really a family with a daughter who was sought after by hundreds of families. Otherwise, she would not have come to Hehua's mother to help her with the tuition.

At this time, she was still waiting for Jiang Hehua.

Jiang Hehua really wanted to ask Jiang's mother if the Jiang Xi on the No. 1 Middle School's academic ranking list was the Jiang Xi she knew. She was also mentally prepared that the two people would be the same person, but she didn't expect to be asked by Jiang's mother in front of so many people, especially when everyone was still looking at her.

Jiang Hehua glanced at the people at the door of her house, and her snow-white face looked even whiter against the background of the white snow that had not yet melted on the ground.

She frowned slightly: "Jiang Xi and I are not in the same school, how do I know her grades?" She added: "I'm in Wu Middle School and she's in No. 1 Middle School."

This sentence reminds everyone that she is in Wu Middle School, which has better grades and higher requirements, while Jiang Xi is only in No. 1 Middle School.

Although these people are only village cadres, they are not without their high emotional intelligence. They smiled and praised Jiang Hehua to the brigade secretary: "Your daughter Hehua is really amazing. If my son's grades can be as good as Hehua's, I will have less worries!"

"Hehua's grades have been good since she was young. Look at the awards posted on the wall."

Although Jiang Hehua's family built a new building, she still tore off the awards she had received since she was a child from the old house and posted them on the walls of the new house. The walls are really full of awards. Everyone who comes to the brigade secretary's house will be dazzled by the golden awards on the wall when they enter the door.

These awards are not just for Jiang Hehua. Both her brother and sister have good grades and receive awards every year.

Even though they were not at the top of the class in high school, they still had the certificate of excellence in the class.

Lotus mother's eyes were on the brigade secretary, wanting to see if he was also looking at Jiang mother. The brigade secretary was also full of pride and pride in his children's grades. Hearing them praising his own children, he laughed happily.

When Lotus mother saw the brigade secretary's eyes fall on Jiang mother, a gentle arc appeared at the corners of her lips. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will bring this money to your Jiang Bai." As if she remembered something, she asked her again, "By the way, isn't Xiaoxiao also studying in No. 1 Middle School? Don't we have to pay tuition for Xiaoxiao?"

Seeing Jiang mother's dark face, she took out eight more pieces of silver as if cutting meat. After paying 100 yuan, Lotus Mother sent Jiang Mother away in a good mood. She sat under the eaves covered with ice willows and chatted with everyone in a gentle voice: "It has not been easy for Ai Lian these years. The big guy owed so much debt, and she helped him pay it back. I just saw her hands, they were so rough that they were cracked."

Whose hands are not rough and cracked, full of frostbite?

Lotus Mother's hands are not like that. At most, she cooks and washes clothes at home. Usually, she plays cards with the ladies in the village. Although her life is not pampered, it is also very leisurely and comfortable.

She sighed and said, "You saw Ailian's face, didn't you? She was so white when she was young, but now she is so dark from the sun. Maybe she is under too much pressure in life. I heard her quarreling at home a few days ago."

Jiang's mother's facial features are heroic, and even now, she is still beautiful.

She was not as beautiful as Jiang's mother when she was young, but now she is not inferior to Jiang's mother in temperament or complexion.

When the brigade secretary heard what Hehua's mother said, he also thought of Jiang's mother's obviously aged appearance and the wrinkles between her eyebrows because she was unhappy.

Jiang's mother went out for a while and came back with a lot of anger.

Jiang's father saw that Jiang's mother's face was dark and asked her what was wrong.

Jiang's mother frowned and said angrily, "It's Meixiang! I wanted to save a few dollars, so I didn't ask you to send the tuition to Jiang Bai. I thought I'd ask Meixiang from the brigade secretary's house to bring the tuition to Jiang Bai."

It's the Spring Festival travel period now, and the fares are several times higher than usual. Going to Wucheng at this time, the round trip fare is at least 15 yuan.

"She didn't agree?" Jiang's father asked in confusion. Logically, they are all from the same village, so she wouldn't refuse such a small matter.

Jiang's mother said angrily, "I don't know what's wrong with Meixiang. I paid Jiang Bai's tuition, and she asked me about Ling Ling's tuition. There were so many people watching at her doorstep, and I couldn't say that I would only pay Jiang Bai's tuition and not Jiang Ling's!"

Especially since those people knew that Jiang Ling got the first place in the county. Even if she didn't want to pay Jiang Ling's tuition, she couldn't do that with so many people watching.

Father Jiang knew why mother Jiang was so angry, but he smiled and said, "Just give it to her. Qingqing has such good grades. She can get into university and become a civil servant in the future. Wouldn't you be proud if you tell others about it?"

Mother Jiang pouted and said, "Am I relying on her? She is so angry with me now, and I want her to be filial to me in the future? I don't dare to think about it!"

In the past, she did want Jiang Qing to work hard for a few years to earn some money for the family, and then get a lot of dowry when she gets married, and let her take care of her in her old age. But seeing how rebellious Jiang Qing is now, she dared not even think about relying on her daughters to support her in her old age. She only counted on her two sons.

They don’t have the habit of letting their daughters take care of them in their old age. But generally speaking, when the elderly are old and can’t move in bed, it is the daughters who take care of them. There are also daughters-in-law who take care of them, but how can the daughters-in-law’s care be as careful and considerate as the daughters’?

This was Jiang’s mother’s plan before.

Father Jiang smiled and said, "Okay, don't be angry. Meixiang is just asking kindly. You've given it all, so what's the point of getting angry?" He stood behind Mother Jiang, put his hands on her shoulders, and half pushed her home: "Even if you don't want to talk, you should think about Songzi. Just talk. Will you not help Songzi in the future? They are biological siblings. They are connected even if their bones are broken." Mother

Jiang's expression eased a little and said, "Does Songzi still need her help?"

Father Jiang thought of his youth and his current situation. He sighed and said, "Who could have predicted the encounters in life?"

His fourth brother, who used to be in the same class with him, is now the mayor of the town, but he went to the construction site to move bricks.

Thinking of the construction site, he couldn't help but think of going to Shenzhen. No one was planting the land at home: "Dad is not at home this year, and no one is tending the fields, so we can't plant rice."

Although they worked outside before, they had to wait until the rice was planted before going out. When the rice planting season came, they would come back to plant the rice seedlings for a few days.

Nowadays, more and more young people are unwilling to stay in the village and go out to work. Many fields have been contracted out, and they are paid several hundred kilograms of grain per mu of land every year.

Those who don't farm their own land go to the south to help others plant rice seedlings and harvest rice, and they are paid a certain amount of money for each mu of rice.

"I'll go and ask big brother if he's willing to plant. If his family is willing, let them plant. Just give them some food when they come back for the New Year."

Jiang's mother glared at him and said, "I'll go and talk about this, otherwise you'll go and let them plant for nothing!"

In this regard, Jiang's father and Jiang Song have the same problem, that is, they care about face and are very generous. If others say a few good words to him, they will agree to anything they say. If Jiang's father really goes to talk, he might really come back without asking for anything.

Jiang's mother hated this point of him. Otherwise, during the years when she opened the chicken farm, no matter how bad the chicken plague was, she would always have some extra money in her hands. But she didn't. People came to her house every day to eat and drink. He entertained everyone who came and lent money to everyone who came.

At that time, the Jiang family was prosperous. She had just married into the family for less than two years and was not familiar with the family. She did not have control over the family finances. Later, the chicken farm collapsed due to chicken plague and owed a lot of money. She was in control of the family money. She had to control it. With the way Jiang's father spent money, the debts would take a lifetime to pay off. She played the bad guy and went to the families who owed her money to collect the debts one by one.

She got back all the money from those who borrowed money and did not pay it back.

Jiang's father probably felt that he had lost face in front of those brothers. He worked outside for many years and did not associate with those people.

Uncle Jiang, like Mama Jiang's eldest brother from her mother's side, also stays in the village all year round and never goes out. They build houses for people in the nearby villages and use the land at home to grow grain. When he heard his younger brother say that he wanted to give all the land to him to farm, Uncle Jiang felt relieved and said, "Don't worry, I will take care of the fields for you and will not let your land go to waste. At the end of the year, I will give you 300 kilograms of grain per mu."

300 kilograms of grain was already a lot. At this time, a yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu was already a lot. Only hybrid rice could produce such a yield. The yield of local grain crops could not reach 1,000 kilograms per mu.

Now that life is good and we don't have to worry about hunger, many people think that hybrid rice is not as good as local rice, so they plant hybrid rice and local rice together. Every year when they hand in grain, they plant hybrid rice and keep the local grain for themselves.

Uncle Jiang said he would give Dad Jiang 300 kilograms of rice per mu of land, which refers to hybrid rice.

For Dad Jiang, as long as he has food to eat at the end of the year, he doesn't care how much.

Aunt Jiang also came out with a smile and said, "If you trust me, you can leave the keys to the house. I will plant vegetables on the two plots of land in the yard for you. When you come back at the end of the year, you will have vegetables to eat at home."

Aunt Jiang and Grandma Jiang did not get along well, but they had a very good relationship with the sisters-in-law, who were both very kind and gentle. When they heard this, they did not disagree at all and quickly said, "Sister-in-law, you can plant whatever you want. When we are not at home, you can plant it for yourself. When you come back at the end of the year, it will be fine as long as there is some coriander."

The whole family of the Jiang family loves coriander and eats coriander as a main dish.

Aunt Jiang would naturally not only plant some coriander for her.

After Jiang's father and mother passed away, Uncle Jiang said to Aunt Jiang: "You are just kind-hearted. You can't even grow vegetables on your own land, but you still grow vegetables for them. Why bother with all this? They will need to eat vegetables when they come back at the end of the year, so why don't you just order some for them?"

Aunt Jiang smiled and said: "It's right next to our house, so it's a convenient thing. If you can't finish the vegetables you grow, you can send them to Xiaofeng to sell."

Aunt Jiang usually sells fruits and New Year's goods. These things are easy to sell at the end of the year, but few people buy them at other times. Occasionally, when Uncle Jiang can't finish the vegetables she grows, she sends them to Aunt Jiang, and Aunt Jiang helps her sell them.

Jiang Bai and Tong Jingang sold in Shuibu Town for two days. Jiang Xijin's winter clothes were almost sold out. There were only a few left. He reluctantly returned to Wucheng and continued to go to class. They would have to take the exam in a while.

Grandpa Jiang also opened a store. The street in front of No. 1 Middle School was filled with the familiar voice of "congratulations to the factory director, congratulations to the factory director."

This gossip was probably heard by everyone in Wucheng. Now it no longer has the effect of stimulating consumption. People bought clothes before the New Year. The two most popular days after the New Year are the two days when they go back to their mother's house on the second and third days of the New Year. After that, no matter how much they shouted, clothes would not sell.

Occasionally, there were customers who came to the house. They were all seniors from No. 1 Middle School and Wu Middle School who had returned to school. They had no money to buy clothes before, but now they had the New Year's money and the living expenses given by their families at the beginning of the new school year. They could buy a new dress by putting together the money.

After all the household affairs were dealt with, Jiang's father also started to prepare to go to Shenzhen.

It was not a good idea to keep working like this. Now that the debt was paid off and there was no pressure from the debt, Jiang's father wanted to do something else.

He thought for a long time and discussed with Jiang's mother. Why not open a snack stand and sell some snail meat sauce, pickled fish, etc. It would be much better than doing hard labor on the construction site. If they set up a snack stand, they could ride their bikes everywhere, which would also be convenient for finding Jiang Song.

Jiang's mother didn't have many opinions on things that didn't require much capital, because she couldn't spend money anyway.

But to set up a snack stand, they had to buy a tricycle... She said, "I think selling lunch boxes on the construction site is also a good business. If it doesn't work, we can sell lunch boxes. You make them at home every day, and I'll sell them on the construction site!"

When they were working on the construction site before, someone sold lunch boxes on their site. The dishes they cooked were not as delicious as Jiang's father's, but they sold them for one yuan each.

Father Jiang nodded and said, "We still have to buy a tricycle. We can't stay in one place. How can we find pine nuts? I'll go to the river beach these days to catch more snails and bring them back. I'll make more snail meat sauce to take out. When we just start selling lunch boxes, I estimate that not many people will come. I'll give some snail meat sauce to the people on the construction site, and business should be better."

Mother Jiang, who originally didn't want to spend money, agreed to buy a tricycle when she heard Father Jiang say he wanted to find Jiang Song.

At this time, Wu Gongan and his team, who had been undercover on the construction site for many days, finally found an opportunity to dig out the corpses that had been buried under the tree in the flowerbed for more than a year.