Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 2
The air seemed distorted by the scorching summer sun.
Jiang Ning’s bare feet were covered in mud, and the ground was hot under the scorching sun.
She probably had heatstroke. Her head felt heavy, and there were red sand grains trickling out from the crooks of her arms.
That was their local way of dealing with heatstroke. If anyone suffered from heatstroke, they would scrape the sand on the neck, between the eyebrows, and the crook of the arms.
Jiang Ning didn’t know if it was a dream or reality. She only knew that if she didn’t rest, she would faint on the road.
She sat down in the shade of a tree by the pond to wash her feet and rest.
The leeches on her legs were firmly stuck, as if trying to burrow into her flesh. They couldn’t be pulled off without drawing blood.
As she finally managed to remove one, she saw it bleeding.
In the pond, leeches swam enchantingly while crayfish waved their claws in the cracks between the stones.
With nothing else to do, Jiang Ning touched a snail, crushed it, tied the meat with straw, and began fishing for crayfish by the pond.
Passersby on the roadside saw her, a young woman, leisurely fishing for crayfish instead of helping her parents with work. They shook their heads in disapproval.
“You’re really ignorant. You’re such a big girl, yet you don’t even know how to help. Your parents are working hard, and here you are, fishing for crayfish. It’s no good to let a girl study.”
“Isn’t it a waste of money to educate a girl?”
“What can we do if her father is willing to let her study? That big man has a block in his brain, wanting to produce three college students,”Â
The women washing by the pond gossiped and laughed.
The big man was Father Jiang’s nickname, standing at 1.84 meters tall, the tallest in the village.
Rural people didn’t hold back speaking ill of others behind their backs. They aired their thoughts directly. They believed that the louder the sarcasm, the louder the laughter, and the more who agreed, the happier they would be.
This was their common behavior.
Jiang Ning remembered that among the girls her age, there were only three college students: the daughter of the brigade secretary, an old woman in the family, and herself.
She had dropped out of school and re-enrolled, eventually being admitted to university again.
Seeing that Jiang Ning didn’t speak, the aunt who was doing laundry scolded her, calling her “Xiao Ning, your parents worked hard for you to study, but now they’re harvesting rice in the fields, and you don’t even help them.”
Another aunt who was washing vegetables chimed in, “My girl has been able to harvest two acres of rice since she was twelve years old. She does a better job than her brother. If my girl were as lazy as you, I would have broken her legs long ago.”
“If a girl is lazy, no one will marry her in the future.”
“She’d be beaten to death by her in-laws.”
Then, a group of women began discussing other families’ situations, such as a woman who was lazy and was beaten by her husband’s family after marriage.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ning continued fishing for crayfish.
No one ate crayfish back then, and they could be found everywhere. If someone went to a ditch and picked them up, they could gather a basketful. These crayfish were also very naive; they could easily be caught with snail meat.
After a while, Jiang Ning caught a small pile, picked two large lotus leaves from the lotus pond, wrapped them up, and took them home.
The home appeared brighter than the dusty memory she held. It had a cement floor, a newly constructed rice barn, and on the white plaster walls, someone had inscribed with a calligraphy brush the words “Prevent Fire Accidents”. The message emphasized the importance of forest conservation and fire prevention, highlighting the collective responsibility of everyone. Jiang Ning recalled practicing calligraphy as a child, writing those words, only to be scolded and beaten by her mother for marking the wall.
Besides the ceiling fan in the living room, there was also a desktop fan present. Its metal frame had worn away, leaving the fan blades exposed.
As she turned on the fan and observed the familiar surroundings, Jiang Ning could discern every detail clearly. The home mirrored her memories precisely, as if it were not a dream at all.
On the coffee table in the main hall of the living room, an old-fashioned pendulum clock was ticking and swaying, indicating that it was already past ten in the morning. Adjacent to the clock, a palm-sized calendar hung on the wall. Jiang Ning walked closer to inspect it. The date written on it was July 20, 1995.
It was 1995. That year, Jiang Ning’s brother had just completed the college entrance examination, but his results were unsatisfactory, and he chose not to return home. Instead, he opted to work in the city. Despite her father’s desire for him to repeat his studies, he was unwilling and went to get a job working directly.
In the latter half of the year, Jiang Ning’s second brother would enter his senior year of high school, without coming back for the summer vacation. He had completed his high school entrance examination and also decided to drop out of school to pursue work opportunities.
Jiang Ning’s mother made considerable efforts to persuade her to join the workforce, resorting to various methods such as using sticks and red dates, singing, chanting, and even resorting to physical discipline.
Mother Jiang knew she couldn’t sway Father Jiang and Grandpa Jiang, so she incessantly reminded Jiang Ning of their family’s hardships. She emphasized the sacrifices made by herself, Father Jiang, and Grandpa Jiang to ensure their children received an education. Their efforts drained them, both emotionally and financially. Mother Jiang praised Jiang Ning’s capabilities and emphasized how much she could contribute to the family’s finances. Despite her harsh words and occasional physical punishment, Mother Jiang resorted to emotional manipulation, lamenting, “If our family were better off, why would I ever allow you to work?”
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Adequate2025
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Suddenly she’s about to have heatstroke, and she’s covered in leeches.
Also, when I transmigrate I must avoid anything to do with rural Chinese. Just in case it turns out that these stories accurately portray the way the society works in these places