Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 19
“Okay, okay, it’s my fault,” Father Jiang conceded, attempting to diffuse the tension. “It’s dad’s fault. Don’t be angry, Ning Ning. I’m also concerned about your grades. High school and junior high school are like a turning point. Why not start studying now? Preparing for high school textbooks should be your focus. Hard work is the key to success in education, and there’s no end to learning.”
Stupid birds needed to start early. (笨鸟先飞 (bèn niǎo xiān fēi) – less-skilled people needed to put more effort in to succeed)
They had ingrained in her the belief that she was unintelligent, as foolish as a goose, and as dense as a donkey. Their constant chanting and insults echoed in her ears day and night, year-round.
This relentless belittlement left her feeling genuinely dim-witted, despite being seen as promising by others.
As she watched Father Jiang earnestly lecturing her, she smiled helplessly, her eyes betraying a profound sadness.
A person could either persist in their negative traits, earning others’ disdain, or strive to improve and win their affection.
What she feared most was becoming like Father Jiang— someone who claims to love equally while favoring others. He bestowed his time, money, energy, and praise upon her siblings, yet insisted he loved her.
It was so funny; there were such ridiculous things in the world.
But there were so many ridiculous things in the world.
Such a ridiculous thing actually happened to her, and she experienced it personally.
She also had to thank them and be grateful to them because, compared to the girls in the village who were drowned at birth, made to drop out of elementary school to work, and were married off early in exchange for betrothal gifts, she was luckier. Thousands of times luckier, because she had a father who was willing to support her education no matter what, as long as she was willing to continue studying.
Many people on the Internet say that it was the money the parents earned, and they could give it to whomever they wanted.
Yes, so it was difficult to change others; people could only change themselves and tell themselves not to be parents like them.
But many people, in fact, became just like their parents again.
The pump pumped continuously for several days and nights, drawing the shoal of the river out of the water. People from several nearby villages all ran to the river to fish.
In the mud of the river, there were not only various fish but also river mussels, snails, and wild lotus roots. It was just not the season to eat lotus roots, but the lotus root pods and lotus root strips were also good.
Wild lotus roots were so widespread that they grew directly into people’s rice fields. By standing on the ridge of the field, one could reach out and pick the lotus pods.
There were also ditches used to irrigate farmland near the riverbank, and they were full of wild lotus roots, wild water chestnuts, and wild gorgon seeds.
Father Jiang and Mother Jiang also brought their own basins to catch fish in the mud of the river, including all kinds of big black fish, grass carp, silver carp, crucian carp, and king spiny fish. When Father Jiang and Mother Jiang caught them, they would put them in the basin.
Jiang Ning took the big wooden basin she used for the shower and collected the river clams and snails that others didn’t want. There were plenty of snails in the nearby fields, and snails stewed with chicken feet were very fragrant.
Many people didn’t eat snails at all because they couldn’t distinguish between water snails and land snails. She only ate them when her grandfather cooked them for her when she had nothing else to eat.
As for river mussels, the locals didn’t eat them either because they thought they were fishy, old, and full of mud.
During the great famine, the mussels on the riverbank were almost eaten to extinction by the local people, who nearly vomited after consuming them.
Jiang Ning picked up river mussels and snails because she wanted to go back and make mussel sauce and snail sauce to bring to school as a dish. Although it wasn’t real meat, it was better than eating pickles and salted radish every day.
When she came across fish, she would also pick them up, and unknowingly fished a large basinful.
She pushed the wooden basin to the shore with great effort, poured all the snails and river mussels onto the ridge of the field on the bank, caught the fish back into the wooden basin, and went down to pick more river mussels.
If she put the fish on the shore, others would take them. River mussels and snails wouldn’t even be looked at. There were many sharp-billed clams, short-billed clams, and various clams on the river beach, but no one wanted them.
When Mother Jiang saw that Jiang Ning was not fishing properly and was actually gathering river clams, she was so angry that she picked up muddy clumps and threw them at Jiang Ning. “I asked you to fish, what are you doing with that piece of crap? Pour it out!”
Mother Jiang was speechless. Other girls were better at small jobs and were so good at fishing. Only her daughter, as she often said, was as stupid as a donkey. How could someone be so stupid? How could she have given birth to such a stupid daughter?
She really wished she could stuff Jiang Ning back into her stomach and raise her from scratch.
Jiang Ning deliberately stayed far away from Father Jiang and Mother Jiang. They were distant enough that Mother Jiang couldn’t hit her with the mud. Instead, it hit the people next to her, who couldn’t help shouting, “Ai Lian, what are you doing? You threw mud on my head and face.”
Although everyone fishing on the river beach was already covered in mud, being hit by mud like that was still very uncomfortable.
Mother Jiang couldn’t help complaining about Jiang Ning, saying, “Look at my fate, why did I give birth to such a stupid girl? Everyone is fishing, but she is picking up river clams.”
The people next to her laughed.
“Maybe your Ning Ning likes to eat river clams.”
“That’s right. No one is snatching up the river clams yet. It’s a good idea to let your family pick them up.”
Father Jiang said to Mother Jiang, “Just the two of us are enough to fish. Let Ning Ning pick whatever she wants.”
Mother Jiang’s anger immediately found a new target, “You spoil her with everything. Do you think this is for her own good? You are causing her to be unable to lift her shoulders at home. She will be helpless at her husband’s house in the future. She deserves to be beaten to death.”
Father Jiang’s face suddenly darkened, saying,”What nonsense are you talking about? Ning Ning is young. She will go to college and get a government job. What’s wrong with her not doing physical labor?”
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Suddenly the father is believing Ning’er can get a government job? Or, does he just take the opposite side of anything Mother Jiang says?