Jiang Hexi hadn't been home for over half a month, and Jiang Wenjing called to check on her.
"Little sister, what have you been up to lately? When are you planning to come back?"
Jiang Hexi borrowed a staff member's computer and was creating a tourist guide for Canglang Village. She put her phone on speakerphone and said:
"I'm busy making money, second brother, don't bother me if you don't have anything to do."
"Tsk, now you're starting to look down on your second brother. Since you're busy, your second brother will come to find you."
"It's too late for you to come find me now."
Jiang Hexi stared at the computer screen, typing away on the keyboard with a loud "tap tap tap" sound:
"During the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, all the seats for the Thousand Family Banquet were sold out, and the Shallow Beach Camping Base was fully booked. If you drive here, there isn't even a place to park."
"Little sister, as one of the investors, can't you make an exception for your second brother?"
"No, you have to pay to cut in line, that's the rule in the underworld."
Jiang Wenjing remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone, so long that Jiang Hexi thought he had gone offline and was about to hang up when he suddenly burst out laughing:
"Luckily, I booked a campsite at Shallow Beach in advance, otherwise, if I were to rely on you, I wouldn't even have a place to stay."
"Second Brother, are you really coming?"
Jiang Hexi wanted to ask something more, but Jiang Wenjing hung up the phone directly.
She glanced at her phone in surprise. Ms. Zhou was right; men shouldn't be spoiled. This had only spoiled Jiang Wenjing and given him a bad temper.
He dared to hang up his phone before her; once he got here, she'd give him a piece of her mind.
The day before the short holiday.
Jiang Hexi was going to buy ingredients when Grandma Xiang's grandson came to find her, insisting that she go to the camphor tree at the entrance of the village.
Seeing how anxious the child was, she was afraid that something might have happened to the grandmothers, so she got on her electric bike and rushed to the village entrance.
Upon arriving there, they saw Cui Atai scolding Granny Xiang under a tree.
Jiang Hexi stopped the car, pulled out a small stool, and sat behind Granny Xiang, deliberately eavesdropping:
“Ah Xiang, you’re too ashamed to ask for the money yourself, so you drag your old girlfriends along with you. That’s really not very kind of you.”
Grandma Xiang blushed with humiliation after being scolded by Cui Atai, and obediently admitted defeat:
"What can I do? I've extorted money for all the old folks in the village. I can return the hundred yuan, but what if the others don't?"
"You ask me, but I don't know either."
Cui Atai picked up the palm-leaf fan shakily and pointed behind her, "That clever girl is hiding behind you. If you want to ask her, go ask her."
Grandma Xiang turned around and saw Jiang Hexi. Her old face, which had been wrinkled like a bitter gourd, immediately broke into a smile:
"Xi-mei, how can you still laugh? Aren't you going to tell me what to do about this?"
"What to do? Money falling from the sky is free, why not take it?"
After making a joke, Jiang Hexi became serious and said:
"Grandma, this isn't Grandma Xiang's fault. Even if she hadn't taken the other grandmas with her, other old men and women would have done the same. We'd still have to pay the money, wouldn't we?"
"We can't let bad people keep getting all this benefits, or who will want to be the good guy in the future?"
Cui Atai shook her head firmly, "You've put on such a big village feast, have you bought the ingredients?"
Jiang Hexi: "I was just about to go buy it when my mother-in-law called me here."
"That's just in time."
Cui Atai tapped Granny Xiang with her palm-leaf fan and said, "Hurry up and go to the field to see what vegetables you can pick and take them to these young people."
“Grandma, I delivered vegetables over, and I have to deliver them to all the old men and women in the village too. There’s no reason for me to take their money for nothing.”
Grandma Xiang stood up proudly from the low stool and greeted the group of old ladies:
“Let’s split up and go to each household, and have those old folks deliver vegetables to Xi’s sister. I want to see who has such a thick skin that they won’t even part with a single scallion.”
The old women each went back to their own homes.
Jiang Hexi reached out to stop Granny Xiang, saying, "There's no need for that. We really have vegetables."
“Your mother-in-law is giving you this as a token of her affection. Just accept it. When you come back, bring a tricycle and your mother-in-law will take you to the village to harvest vegetables.”
Grandma Xiang pushed her hand away and nimbly went to the vegetable garden.
Jiang Hexi, caught in a dilemma, said, "Grandma, how should this be resolved?"
Cui Atai laughed, revealing a mouthful of teeth, and said to her, "Why not take advantage of a bargain that falls from the sky?"
Jiang Hexi was rebuffed by their exact words, so she had no choice but to accept all of her mothers-in-law's good intentions.
When Yan Jie returned from the campsite, he saw that the yard was piled high with fruits and vegetables.
Loofah, green beans, eggplant, bitter melon, pumpkin vines, water spinach and other seasonal vegetables have grown into small hills, occupying half of the yard.
Chai Fei was watering the vegetables with a watering can.
Yan Jie asked her, "Why didn't you put the vegetables you bought in the village committee square?"
"These are not vegetables we bought."
Chai Fei put down the watering can and said, "These vegetables were brought to Xi Mei by the elderly folks in the village."
"What happened?"
“Didn’t Ximei say last time that she would give 100 yuan to the villagers over 60 years old for their labor?”
Chai Fei said with a laugh, "Those old ladies who were on good terms with Xi Mei felt bad about it, so they took the lead in sending her several baskets of vegetables. They also spread the word about it, and as soon as one family sent vegetables, a hundred families sent vegetables. Now the vegetables for the thousand-family banquet are piled up like a mountain."
Yan Jie found this amusing.
Where is Xi Mei?
"She and Chu Yang went to the village to collect vegetables from house to house."
No sooner had Chai Fei finished speaking than Jiang Hexi drove his electric tricycle uphill and into the yard.
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