“With such a person in his jurisdiction, do you think the military won’t be held accountable?” Jiang Shaozhen said, putting his arm around her shoulder and whispering, “I also talked to the mayor about the sales methods you helped Ren’an develop last year. In the past six months, I’ve bought a set of every new product you’ve developed for him to see.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingzhi looked him over seriously. "So you had planned everything all along?"
"Alright, let's rest." Jiang Shaozhen didn't want to talk about the Song family.
It's still Chinese New Year, why bring up such unpleasant things?
"If only Song Huiquan were universally hated," Shen Mingzhi murmured, rolling into his arms.
Jiang Shaozhen smiled without saying a word.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Jiang Qing and Wang Sao made glutinous rice balls early in the morning.
Niannian was originally playing in the winnowing basket in the yard, which was covered with a little cotton-padded jacket, but she reached out her hand and held onto the chair next to her, trying to stand up.
Seeing this, Shen Mingzhi quickly went over and picked her up, saying, "Your brother sleeps all day, where do you get all that energy?"
Niannian can already say some simple words.
“Mom…” she called out, reaching out to grab Shen Mingzhi’s collar.
"Mmm~ Mom's here~" Shen Mingzhi's voice was gentle and doting.
Jiang Shaozhen came out of the room and walked towards the cradle, where Jiang Zhou was still fast asleep.
"That's strange. They were born in the same litter, but he came out first. Why isn't he lively at all?" Although Jiang Zhou could say some simple words, he rarely spoke them.
“If both of them are mischievous, you’ll have a lot of headaches,” Aunt Wang said to Jiang Shaozhen while kneading the dough.
"Is it just glutinous rice balls today? I want to eat round dumplings filled with vegetables, you know? They're made with glutinous rice flour." Shen Mingzhi said to Wang Sao and Jiang Qing while holding Niannian.
"Oh dear, we've never heard of that before. Tell me how to do it," Aunt Wang asked Shen Mingzhi, wiping her hands.
"Then forget it, sticky rice balls are hard to make." Shen Mingzhi remembered that when she used to help her mother make them at home, they always ended up in broken pieces.
Either it's broken here, or it's leaking there.
"Tell me about it, and I'll give it a try," Jiang Shaozhen said to her.
"Sticky rice is made by grinding rice into flour, and then filling it with ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, dried tofu, chopped lotus root, pork belly, and vermicelli. It has to be spicy," Shen Mingzhi told him.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shaozhen immediately said, "I've eaten this before, in a small village in Ezhou. They love to make this for festivals, and it's quite delicious. I'll give it a try."
"You've eaten it?" Shen Mingzhi's eyes lit up.
That was food from her hometown, something you couldn't find anywhere else. She ate a lot of it when she was young, but after growing up, she got busy with work and lived away from home for a long time, so she never ate it again.
At this wonderful time of year, the festive atmosphere at the Jiang family's home is so strong that she can't help but miss the taste of her hometown.
Jiang Shaozhen acted immediately, buying glutinous rice and filling ingredients, and mobilized the whole family to work together.
Shen Mingzhi originally wanted to participate, but he made her sit aside.
The Jiang family did all the chopping and washing of the vegetables. Once the filling was ready, Jiang Shao-chen started a fire and heated the pot.
"It's not ready yet, why are you starting the fire?" Jiang Qing was mixing the incredibly fragrant filling and couldn't resist taking a bite.
"You don't know, you have to stir-fry the glutinous rice flour in a pan for two minutes first, and then add water and knead the dough while it's still hot. That way, the glutinous rice balls will have a fragrant and chewy skin, and they'll taste delicious," Jiang Shaozhen explained to Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing couldn't help but lick her lips.
Just then, Jiang Guofu asked, "I remember you're a local from Beijing, how do you know about the food in Ezhou Village?"
Shen Mingzhi's heart skipped a beat... She had only asked casually, little did she know it was something only found in her village.
“With so many people in her factory, there must be some from Ezhou. It’s normal that they know this,” Jiang Shaozhen immediately tried to smooth things over for Shen Mingzhi.
Shen Mingzhi glanced at him.
Jiang Shaozhen probably knew something was wrong a long time ago... The regulations for going abroad are so detailed, it's already absurd that she found out about them six months in advance.
“That’s true.” Jiang Guofu dismissed his doubts.
Just as the family was busily making sticky rice balls, a crying sound suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.
"Who's the unlucky one, crying at our doorstep so early in the morning!" Jiang Qing cursed almost immediately.
She put down her spoon and went outside to look.
Shen Mingzhi, carrying the child, had just arrived at the door when she saw Zhang Ping's mother, Gao Xiulian, and his sister, Zhang Hua.
Upon seeing Shen Mingzhi, Gao Xiulian knelt down, crying, "I heard you've made money! Why don't you care about Zhang Ping's family? Zhizhi, Zhang Ping is still your ex-husband—"
Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Shaozhen, who came out of the house, grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up. "When did Zhang Ping become her ex-husband? You know that Zhang Ping lied to her back then, saying he would apply to marry her, but he never said a word!"
Gao Xiulian was violently lifted up by him, and her body trembled in fright.
"You even colluded with Song Huiquan to report me to the police station, saying that I committed adultery with my wife. I really find this strange. We got married normally, got our marriage certificate, and had a wedding banquet. All the neighbors saw it. How could it be adultery? I was actually looking for you guys, but you've delivered yourself right to my doorstep. Come in with me!" Jiang Shaozhen's voice was firm and resolute.
The neighbors who had gathered around all got together and started talking about it.
"I'm not going in! They're hitting people! They're hitting people!" Gao Xiulian shouted, gripping the door frame.
Zhang Hua was so frightened that he unconsciously took several steps back.
She was by nature timid and cowardly, and Jiang Shao Chen's angry expression was truly frightening.
"You made a false report, shouldn't I have hit you?!" Jiang Shaozhen asked her.
Gao Xiulian shouted, "How did I file a false report? Didn't Shen Mingzhi arrange a marriage between my Zhang Ping and me before? You're just interfering—"
"Your Zhang Ping can arrange marriages? Fine, you want to smear us, huh? Then I'll tell you what kind of person your Zhang Ping is! Zhang Ping sleeps with men in the army, do you know that?" Jiang Shao Chen's tone didn't soften.
These words immediately caused a stir among the residents of the courtyard house neighborhood.
Even Shen Mingzhi was extremely shocked.
Is Zhang Ping gay?
"Sleeping with a man? How can you sleep with a man? He's not normal!"
How does a man sleep?
"This is too exciting."
People were discussing it animatedly.
Gao Xiulian felt utterly humiliated. Grabbing the door, she shouted, "You're lying! You're lying! My son couldn't possibly be like that..."
“How is it impossible? The whole unit knows. I didn’t want to say it. He’s already passed away, and we should leave him some dignity. But you conspired with Song Huiquan to harm my wife and me. Why should I cover for him?” Jiang Shaozhen said.
“I didn’t mean to harm you. It was…it was District Chief Song. District Chief Song sent someone to my house and said that if I did what he said, he would give me a thousand yuan, so I came!” Gao Xiulian shouted. “My son isn’t like this, he’s not like this, is he?!”
As she spoke, Gao Xiulian's voice trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes.
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