That night, Jiang Dani did not follow Xiang Qianjin back to the city, but stayed at her parents' home. Niuniu had long been weaned, and every meal she had a small bowl of rice porridge with egg custard, and occasionally some milk and goat milk would be cooked to feed her, but not often.
Xiang Qianjin is used to taking care of children at home. Jiang Dani was just away for one day, so nothing can happen.
"I can't accept the money my grandparents gave to Dabao."
It was late at night and everyone was asleep. After making sure that the old couple of the Jiang family were asleep, the children gathered in Jiang Dahai's room. Jiang Dani spoke to her family in a low voice, fearing that they would wake up the two elderly people next door.
"That's my grandparents' money, and if we really use the money to buy a house together in the capital, there will be even bigger problems later." Jiang Dani is no longer the shy girl she used to be. After working in the factory for so many years, she has become accustomed to the gossips of her colleagues in the workshop, which has given her a deeper insight into life.
"A house has several owners. If one of them wants to sell it, should he sell it or not? One wants to rent it out, and the others want to use it for themselves. Whose decision should they listen to?" Jiang Dani said very realistically. Jiang Yilu only wanted to prevent her sister from having any grudges and help them invest in advance, but she forgot this sensitive issue.
"We sisters should have a conscience. We sisters can go to school because Xiaobao said good things about us in front of grandma. Look at the girls of the same age in our village who got married early and take care of the farm and the housework. Whose life is better than ours now? When you think about the life we sisters lived before Xiaobao was born, no matter how greedy we are, we should be content."
Jiang Dani said this to her sisters and also to her mother: "This money shouldn't have been ours, so I don't think we should take it. Xiaobao, you don't have to feel that you are mistreating us. This is given to you by your grandparents, so just accept it."
"That's right, we can't take this money."
After hearing what Big Sister Jiang said, Erni, Sanni, and Sini all agreed, especially Sanni, who felt a little ashamed. She thought that she was also a college student now, and as soon as she graduated, the job she would be assigned would only be better than Big Sister's, and her future life would definitely not be much worse. Why should she be so short-sighted and stare at her younger brother's money?
To be honest, Jiang Yilu was deeply touched by the elder sister's words. He thought too simply, just wanting to prevent his sisters from feeling uncomfortable. He also didn't really need the 5,000 yuan. Perhaps he felt that the relationship between the sisters in their previous lives was far better than the 5,000 yuan. But he forgot that it was okay to want to help his sisters, but was it the right thing to do to just give the money to them?
For a moment, it seemed fair and just, but in the future, would my sister get used to fairness and want everything to be fair, which would be contrary to Jiang Yilu's original intention.
However, to be fair, Jiang Yilu was still somewhat happy when he saw that his sisters rejected his request to split the money equally. He was not happy that he could keep the money, but he was happy that the feelings between him and his sisters had not changed from the beginning to the end.
In the previous life, most of the money from the antiques sold by the uncle was given to her by the sisters because of Meiling. It was not a small amount, and the second, third and fourth sisters did not live very well at that time. But in the hearts of the sisters, family affection always comes first. This is also the reason why Jiang Yilu wanted to help the sisters in this life.
Jiang Dahai was very pleased that his daughters were so sensible and looked at his wife standing beside him.
"You all don't want it, I'm the only bad guy."
Gu Dongmei knew what she was doing after being scolded by her mother, but she just couldn't bring herself to admit her mistake in front of her children.
"Dongmei, mom is right. I shouldn't have listened to my parents and hidden such important family matters from you. I will change in the future and discuss these important matters with you." Jiang Dahai still has feelings for this daughter-in-law. After all, it was Jiang Dahai's own idea to marry Gu Dongmei.
"But now that the children are grown up and sensible, we as parents should try not to cause trouble for them and stay out of things that we shouldn't be involved in."
Jiang Dahai is not good at speaking, and these are the only simple truths he can say.
Gu Dongmei didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes as she looked at her husband showed some relaxation.
For women of this era, the most terrible thing is divorce. People will not blame men, but will put all the faults on women. Gu Dongmei certainly does not want to put herself in such a situation. And to be honest, except that her parents-in-law do not trust her and her husband is too filial, her life is really no worse than other wives in the village. She is even the envy of the villagers because she has a heroic father-in-law and several college students. Every time she visits other people's homes to chat, she will be surrounded by a group of wives, big and small, asking for advice on parenting.
Call it vanity or not, these are things she doesn't want to lose.
Most importantly, Gu Dongmei looked at her children sitting beside her, especially the son she disliked. To be fair, this son was not very close to her, but he never forgot her. If there was anything good, she would definitely have a share, and he would never be unfilial to her in the future, and he was really nice to the other sisters.
Let’s talk about the eldest daughter who is married. Every New Year when she comes home, in addition to giving money to her parents-in-law, she also never forgets to give her some pocket money. It can be said that no matter whether it is a son or a daughter, none of them is ungrateful and will forget their roots.
Her mother was right, she might really think that her life was too comfortable and always wanted to create some trouble.
"The money your grandparents gave to Xiaobao also includes your share for me and your father. Even if we only save fifty a year, we have saved at least one thousand in the past twenty years. Not counting other money, the one thousand should be divided equally among the five siblings, two hundred each."
Gu Dongmei glanced at her youngest son. "When your eldest sister got married, your grandparents withheld all the betrothal gifts and didn't give her much of a dowry. Luckily Qianjin was attracted to your eldest sister and didn't care about these things. All the money your father and I earned over the years is in your grandmother's hands. One of us is filial and the other is timid, so we didn't dare to fight for anything for your eldest sister. Consider this two hundred as compensation for your loss to your eldest sister. The same goes for your second, third, and fourth sisters. I guess your grandmother won't give any dowry either. Consider this money as an advance payment."
Gu Dongmei's words were well-founded. Indeed, she and Jiang Dahai could earn one or two hundred yuan from the team every year, and two or three hundred yuan when the harvest was good. They ate all the food distributed by the team, so the money left over every year was definitely more than fifty yuan, not less.
"Your mother is right."
Jiang Dahai nodded and looked at his daughters. To him, sons were the most important, but daughters were also his children. He might not be able to pay as much attention to them as he did to his sons. However, he was still willing to give the dowry. Excluding the 800 yuan for the four daughters, the remaining 4,200 yuan would be enough for his son to buy a small courtyard in the capital.
Compared with the previous equal division, two hundred yuan was easier for the sisters to accept, and after seeing their brother nod, they all agreed.
"Don't give the money yet, Xiaobao. We don't know how much a house in the capital costs right now. Let Xiaobao keep it, just in case it's not enough. As for the two hundred yuan, wait until Xiaobao starts working and earning money, and then pay it back slowly."
Jiang Erni spoke up. In fact, she was thinking that as time went by, everyone might forget about this matter. As an older sister, she was still willing to help her brother, just like he had helped them.
"That's right, I'm still a long way from getting married, so let Xiaobao go to the capital to buy a bigger yard, and we can talk about the money later." Si Ni seconded.
Jiang Dahai saw the harmonious atmosphere between the siblings and felt happy in his heart.
"In the future, I will interfere less in your affairs." Gu Dongmei was relieved to see that no one had any objection to her suggestion. When she said this, she paid special attention to her son's expression.
"Mom, you don't have to be like this. We are a family. From now on, we can talk about everything openly. We will listen to what is right and change what is wrong. Grandma is right. If you keep some things in your heart, it will only cause trouble."
Jiang Dani looked at her mother and said, "We are all family, there is no overnight hatred."
"A family." Gu Dongmei murmured to herself, as if she had figured it out, yet also seemed a little confused.
*******
Overall, the heart-to-heart talk that night seemed to have started the situation moving in a positive direction. Gu Dongmei might still feel some resentment and grievance in her heart, but she was much better than before the conversation. It all depended on whether she could think things through completely in the coming days.
The next morning, Jiang Dani and several of her sisters got up early to help Old Lady Miao light a fire and cook. Jiang Dahai and Gu Dongmei were no longer as depressed as they were when they came back last night. They finished their breakfast early and went to the fields as if nothing had happened.
"Big sister, let me go to the city with you today. I want to see how you and your brother-in-law buy a house. When we go to the capital, I will have some experience when choosing a house with Grandpa Bai."
Jiang Yilu said these words privately to Jiang Dani. After all, in the minds of the old couple of the Jiang family, no one knew about the matter of buying a house.
"Okay!" Jiang Dani agreed without thinking, "It's just right that you stay in the county for a few days. Your cousin is in the closed training at the military academy and hasn't come back yet. Your aunt's family is bored."
The final outcome was that Jiang Yilu and Jiang Erni followed their eldest sister to the county town. As for Sini, she had already gone there several times when her sisters and brothers were not at home. During these busy farming days, she had to stay to help Old Lady Miao with housework. As Sanni was the sister closest to Sini, she was naturally dragged back by her.
When Dani and the others arrived in the city, Xiang Qianjin had already gone to work in the factory. He left a note saying that he had left the child at Aunt Jiang's house to be taken care of by her mother-in-law.
Because the couple were both workers, Niu Niu was often entrusted to Qu Ying to take care of after she was weaned. Niu Niu was so cute that Qu Ying almost regarded her as her own great-granddaughter. Jiang Dani knew that it would be too much trouble for Old Lady Qu, but Old Lady Qu didn't want money, so she compromised and made a new set of clothes for the old lady every now and then, or a delicate little wallet, shoes, socks and other things as a thank you gift.
When Jiang Yilu followed her elder sister into the room, she saw a half-made cheongsam.
"Why are there so many cloths at home?" Jiang Yilu pointed at the thick piles of cloths next to the sewing machine and asked. The eldest sister's family alone would not need so much cloth.
"These are the cloths that others asked me to make clothes for." Jiang Dani pursed her lips, looking a little proud: "At the end of last year, our factory had a year-end performance, and I made a dress for a little girl in our workshop who was going to perform. Everyone thought that my clothes were well cut and the patterns on them were exquisite, so they asked me to make clothes for them."
While Sister Jiang was talking, Jiang Yilu was carefully examining the half-finished cheongsam by Sister Jiang. The stitches were fine and dense, and the flowers in full bloom before his eyes were so gorgeous that they completely overwhelmed the slightly rough peonies embroidered by Sister Jiang that he had seen a few years ago.
The embroidery skills are not inferior to those of the cheongsams sold in the big shopping malls in the capital, which cost hundreds of dollars.
"Sister, how much money can you make by making a piece of clothing like this for others?" Jiang Yilu asked curiously. Making this kind of embroidered cheongsam is time-consuming and laborious, so one should be able to make a lot of money.
"Making money!" Jiang Dani seemed to have heard a funny joke: "We are all friends, how can I accept money from them? Usually people just give me some extra cloth, and the remaining cloth after making clothes is used as a thank you gift. But if the quantity is large, the cloth is enough for a family of three for a year, and sometimes I can even make clothes for my grandparents and parents."
People nowadays are simple and honest. They have never thought of making money from making clothes. Moreover, if they really make money from this, they may be accused of cutting off the tail of capitalism and may even lose their jobs.
Jiang Dani is very satisfied that she can earn money from fabric and improve her skills.
"Big sister, this dress is so beautiful. When you are free, make one for me." Jiang Erni's focus was different from Jiang Yilu's. She couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful dress. In her opinion, the dress made by her big sister was no worse than the dresses in the mall that were said to be shipped from Hong Kong.
"How could yours be missing?"
Sister Jiang tapped her sister's nose, turned and went into the house, and took out several skirts of different colors.
"It's a bragi." Jiang Erni cheered excitedly. Bragi is a women's dress that became popular in Russia. Bragi is the transliteration of the Russian word for dress. This kind of dress was popular throughout China as early as the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, due to political reasons, this style of dress that was popular among girls was gradually pushed into the bottom of the box. However, in the past two years, it has begun to show signs of a comeback. At least in the county town, many women have appeared wearing bragi again.
The weather is hot now, it's the right time to wear braids.
Jiang Erni liked a red and white plaid dress with a round neck, a row of buttons on the chest, puff sleeves with ruffled details on the cuffs, a waist-hugging design, and two straps on the back that could be tied into a bow, further highlighting the girl's curves.
From the perspective of later generations, it may seem a little old-fashioned, but to people today, this skirt is extremely fashionable.
"You are so beautiful, sis. I love you so much."
Jiang Erni couldn't wait to go into the house to change into the new clothes she had chosen. Jiang Dani was very happy to see that the clothes she made were so popular with her sister.
"Xiaobao, this dress is made for you."
She made a relatively ordinary suit for her brother, with a white short-sleeved shirt on top and black trousers on the bottom. It was perfect for summer wear, with a smooth cut and fine and straight stitches. Jiang Dani also embroidered Jiang Yilu's name on the inside of the shirt collar near the neck, which made the shirt look different.
Jiang Yilu thought that this might be the most direct form of personal customization, with even his name engraved on it.
"Sister, how long does it take you to make a piece of clothing like this?" Jiang Yilu thought that he might have found a way to help his sister make money.
"This thing is quick to make. Now that I'm good at it, it only takes a day or two. But this cheongsam is not so easy to make. Embroidery is very troublesome and it will take at least one or two months." Jiang Dani thought for a moment and replied.
"Sister, could you please make a cheongsam for me, and make it according to Grandma Qu's body size? It will be of great use to me." Jiang Yilu thought about it carefully. Although braids can be made quickly, they are not rare. Only mass production can make money. But cheongsam is different. If you build a good reputation, the profit of one cheongsam is enough to make up for the profit of hundreds of braids.
"Is it urgent?" Jiang Dani naturally would not refuse her brother's request, nor did she care what he wanted to do.
"It's best to finish it before I go back to the capital to go to school." Jiang Yilu thought about it and there was still a month and a half left, so it should be in time.
When Jiang Dani heard that time was tight, she looked at the half-finished cheongsam in her hands and said, "How about this one? It was originally made for Grandma Qu. I wanted to thank her for helping to take care of Niuniu. If you need it urgently, you can use this one first."
Jiang Dani thought that she could first make a set of cool and comfortable clothes for Grandma Qu to wear in the summer, and then make the cheongsam for Grandma Qu after she finished making the one for her brother.
Jiang Yiliu was a little embarrassed, but thinking that it would be troublesome to ship the cheongsam once he left, he agreed shamelessly. This cheongsam was moon-white, embroidered with pink and white peonies and green branches and leaves, and looked gentle and graceful. Jiang Yiliu thought about it and felt that it was in line with Grandma Bai's temperament.
Whether I can help my elder sister to open up the situation depends on this cheongsam.
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