Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 192

The lotus roots were not washed, so they were brought home wrapped in river mud. At this time, the mud on the lotus roots was half dry and very difficult to clean. They had to pull some straw and use it as a brush to clean the mud off the lotus roots.

The water was very cold, so Jiang Ning wrapped straw in the shape of a grass brush, dipped one end in the water, and held the lotus root in the other hand without touching the water, washing it this way.

The Jiang family had just killed a pig a few days ago. In addition to giving some to Mother Jiang’s brothers and sisters along with lotus roots, the remaining ten kilograms of pork were reserved for the New Year. Mother Jiang cut the meat and chopped it on the table.

Father Jiang came out after making noodles. He gave one bowl to Grandpa Jiang and another bowl to Jiang Ning, placing them on the table. When he didn’t see Jiang Ning there, he went to look outside the door and saw her washing lotus roots by the pond. He hurriedly went to pick them up, taking the lotus root from Jiang Ning’s hand and saying, “I’ll wash it. The noodles are cooked. Go and eat.”

Father Jiang washed the lotus roots very quickly. Unlike Jiang Ning, who didn’t touch the water with her hands, he directly soaked the lotus roots in the water, brushed them with straw a few times, then washed them clean and carried a large basket of lotus roots home.

Seeing Mother Jiang chopping meat, he took the knife from her hand and said, “You go and have a rest. I’ll do it here.”

Mother Jiang rolled her eyes at Father Jiang. “I don’t know how much work has to be done at the end of the year. Where can I go to rest?” Then she called Jiang Ning, “After you finish eating, come here and pluck the hair off the pig’s head.”

The hair on the pig’s head had been burned off by Father Jiang. While most of it was gone, many small pig hairs remained in the skin gaps that needed to be cleaned. One had to pluck the hairs carefully, one by one, with tweezers.

Mother Jiang was the most impatient to do such meticulous work, so she left the job of cleaning the pig’s head to Jiang Ning and went to do other things herself.

Jiang Ning sat at her seat and ate noodles.

Mother Jiang got angry when she saw that she couldn’t beat her.

All day long, she said a hundred words to her, but Jiang Ning didn’t reply. She was so angry that she scolded Jiang Ning, “Even a mute knows, ‘Ah, ah, ah’, you are worse than a mute.’”

Jiang Ning was still able to smile; she raised her head and smiled at Mother Jiang.

For some reason, when Mother Jiang saw her daughter smiling at her, she was so angry she couldn’t let it out. She scolded her, “What’s the use of just being able to smile? If you were half as smart as Xiangqin, I wouldn’t worry so much.”

Xiangqin was the daughter of the second family opposite the lotus pond. She was four or five years older than Jiang Ning but was Jiang Ning’s elementary school classmate. She stopped studying after graduating from elementary school and went to work in a factory. Her hands were very quick; her salary was the same as that of a seasoned veteran. She was also very shrewd and had a bit of a penchant for petty theft.

Jiang Song didn’t notice it at first. After all, Xiangqin was a girl, and Jiang Song didn’t like to go to girls’ homes. Jiang Ning visited her house once and saw her, then came back and told Jiang Song. Afterward, Jiang Song went to Xiangqin’s house, looked at the yard, and found that they were indeed the flowers he had dug up.

Jiang Song went to ask her about it, and she said she dug it on the mountain. “Anyway, your name isn’t written on the flowers and grass; they are everywhere on the mountain.”

Angry, Jiang Song ran to her house at night, pulled out all the flowers and plants in her yard, and threw them away.

Usually, when she saw tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, etc., growing in other people’s fields, she would pick them and put them in her own basket. She was indeed smart.

Mother Jiang felt that a girl like Xiangqin, who knew how to pick all the good things from her house, would not suffer a loss when she went out; she was a truly clever girl. An honest girl like Jiang Ning would only be bullied.

Thinking of Jiang Song made Mother Jiang feel a bit lethargic for a moment. She looked powerful but with slumped shoulders, unable to lift her energy.

Jiang Ning and Grandpa Jiang were eating noodles, Father Jiang was chopping meat, and Mother Jiang was frying melon seeds and peanuts. For a moment, the atmosphere in the Jiang family seemed harmonious.

They hadn’t been to Wucheng before, so they didn’t know what Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai were doing at school. Since Jiang Ning was back, Father Jiang finally had someone to ask, “What’s going on with your second brother? It’s the 28th today, and he hasn’t come back yet. Isn’t school on holiday?”

Because Jiang Song, a former high school senior, failed, Father Jiang knew that he would continue to take classes during the winter break of his senior year. But last year, even if Jiang Song had classes during the winter break, he still had a holiday on the 28th. Why hadn’t Jiang Bai come back?

Jiang Ning and Grandpa Jiang were silent.

Grandpa Jiang just didn’t like to talk, but he was not stupid. If he were really a foolish old man who didn’t understand anything, he wouldn’t be a rare older man in the village with a job and a salary.

How difficult it was to have a job with a fixed salary in rural areas, not to mention that he also trained his eldest son to be a mason and his second son graduated from high school.

Although Father Jiang was having a difficult life, before the chicken farm got chicken plague, he was the only chicken factory director in the village. He lived a high-spirited life and was considered the number one person in the village. Who would have thought there would be a chicken plague? That kind of thing, which was beyond human control, was something that Father Jiang couldn’t do anything about.

The youngest daughter was also married in town. It could be said that Aunt Jiang was the girl who lived the most comfortable life in the village. So Grandpa Jiang didn’t say anything at the time; he got up, took the bowl to the kitchen, and went out to brag to his old friends.

After Jiang Ning finished eating the noodles, she sent the bowl to the kitchen without washing it, then went back to the main room, took the lotus roots, and cut them. Then she replied to Father Jiang, “Didn’t you say that the family is in a bad situation? My second brother stayed in Wucheng to work.”

Father Jiang was shocked. His son was already in his third year of high school and didn’t study hard. How much money could he earn with only a few days off? He really didn’t expect his second son to stay in Wucheng to work instead of going home during the holidays. He thought he was studying in school. Father Jiang was so angry that he wished he could drag Jiang Bai home to study right away.

He asked Jiang Ning, “Do you know where your second brother works?”

Jiang Ning shook her head. Father Jiang was originally anxious, but it was the 28th, and the day after was New Year’s Eve. His second son would have to come back no matter what.

After Jiang Bai sold out all the clothes for the day, he and Tong Jingang returned to Wucheng. The two of them were tired after a long day, but they didn’t feel it. They sat on the bed and counted money, smiling so hard they couldn’t see their teeth.