Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 10

Mother Jiang had a bad temper, and Jiang Ning’s mood was so stable that she even hated how emotionally steady she was. So stable that she didn’t know how to lose her temper.

Of course, later she learned to lose her temper and even had a temper.

But for her, losing her temper felt like a forced act. When others crossed her bottom line, there was a calm voice inside her urging her to stand up for herself. It was time to assert that her boundaries could not be ignored or violated.

Mother Jiang loved to complain and nag, but Jiang Ning remained silent. Any secrets confided in her would never escape her lips. Whenever she spoke, it was with encouragement and praise.

These traits developed unconsciously. Later, when she took the civil service exam, her boyfriend asked her, “Why are you so good at flattering? Why do you praise everyone you meet?”

She was taken aback for a moment. 

It wasn’t flattery. 

Because every word of praise she uttered was sincere.

Her eyes naturally gravitated toward others’ strengths.

She delegated tasks according to people’s strengths and abilities.

But these behaviors were all subconscious on her part, and she didn’t realize it at all. Her habit of warmly smiling and saying kind things to everyone was perceived as flattery by others.

She restrained herself from it, becoming even more silent.

Just like her low self-esteem, caused by years of oppressive and critical upbringing, was ingrained in her bones. From a very young age, she subconsciously vowed not to be like her mother, and she had been moving in the completely opposite direction. The character formed during her upbringing was also deeply ingrained and couldn’t be changed at all.

But the boss liked her, and so did her colleagues, which only made her more silent. In the eyes of her superiors, she became seen as steady and reliable.

As a result, both leaders and colleagues grew to like her even more.

Who wouldn’t appreciate someone who sincerely praises, affirms abilities, sees strengths, and recognizes hard work and efforts?

Yet, in reality, she wasn’t as exceptional as others perceived. She didn’t consider herself particularly smart or stable.

Her silence stemmed from a fear of saying the wrong thing.

Little did they know, she was actually a lively, out-of-the-box personality and a born optimist.

It was the environment in which she was raised that molded her into the silent, introverted, steady, and reliable figure perceived by others.

Jiang Ning returned to her room, found the high school math book, and began to read.

She would be entering her first year of high school after summer vacation, but she had already forgotten her high school knowledge, especially in mathematics. She once believed she would never forget this knowledge, but time acted as a memory eraser, gradually fading the once-familiar and clear concepts.

Fortunately, her brother’s high school textbooks remained, so reviewing wasn’t difficult. It felt like brushing off the dust from her memories.

Time passed unnoticed until the room’s door was roughly pushed open again.

Mother Jiang held a sickle in her hand. Spotting her daughter reading, she shot her a sharp look and shouted, “Why aren’t you out cutting the rice yet? You’ve been resting all morning. If you want to relax, you’ll tire us out, won’t you?” 

Mother Jiang muttered to herself, “You’re utterly senseless. I’ve never seen such laziness. You don’t know how to appreciate your parents’ efforts. I’ve raised you for nothing. This is what you’ve become. How can I rely on you in the future?”

“I only care about studying, studying, studying every day. What’s the point of burying yourself in so many books? They’ll just end up being wasted,” Uncle Jiang’s words resonated deeply with Mother Jiang. To her, no matter how many books a girl read, it only benefited other people’s families.

Her daughter would finish high school at eighteen, then spend four years in college, marrying at twenty-two. All that time spent studying would only benefit someone else. So, she couldn’t fathom why Father Jiang insisted on their daughter’s education.

But she couldn’t defy Father Jiang’s decisions.

Despite managing the family most of the time, if Father Jiang insisted on something, her objections were futile. She could only try to persuade Jiang Ning to give up her studies.

Seeing that Jiang Ning didn’t get up, she shouted again, “Why aren’t you busy embroidering there?”

Jiang Ning closed her book, wore her straw hat and long-sleeved shirt, and headed to the fields.

People cutting rice typically wore long sleeves or protective sleeves to shield themselves from the constant irritation of rice ears hitting their arms, causing itchiness and discomfort.

Despite not having cut rice in many years, Jiang Ning still retained the skill after all this time. She could effortlessly bend down and extend her hand to grasp a large swath of rice.

In rural areas, only girls who exhibited hard work, efficiency, and a willingness to selflessly contribute to the family garnered praise. Those who couldn’t keep up with work were subject to criticism.

“Laziness won’t get you a husband in the future.”

“If you’re this slow, what will you do when you marry into another family?”

“People like you, who don’t know how to work, will deserve any harsh treatment from their in-laws.”

These were harsh words, but they were considered the norm in their minds.

This was the indoctrination Jiang Ning received from childhood to adulthood.

While her father and grandfather advocated for her education, they never challenged the validity of these beliefs or the cruelty of these words.

Everyone lived within the confines of such a distorted environment. They didn’t perceive these words as wrong; their understanding of right and wrong was simplistic: study hard, get into college, secure a stable government job.

Jiang Ning was somewhat luckier than other girls in her village because both her grandfather and father still loved her.

Despite her efforts to carve out a correct and wholesome personality, battling against the ingrained instincts taught during her upbringing, she couldn’t blame or resent them. Even Mother Jiang, they were all victims of that twisted environment.