Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 201

Mother Jiang despised this trait. Otherwise, during the years when Father Jiang ran the chicken farm, he would have had some spare money, even amid the chicken plague. But he didn’t. People came to her home daily, eating and drinking freely while he loaned money without hesitation.

At that time, the Jiang family enjoyed prosperity. Mother Jiang had only been married for two years and was still unfamiliar with handling finances. After the chicken farm collapsed and debts piled up, she took control. She realized that without strict management, debts would never be paid off. Given Father Jiang’s spending habits, those debts would linger indefinitely. She set aside her pride and went to collect money from those who owed them.

She managed to retrieve all the money lent out that hadn’t been repaid.

Father Jiang likely felt embarrassed in front of those brothers. After many years of working outside, he had stopped interacting with them.

Uncle Jiang was similar to Mother Jiang’s eldest brother.

They remained in the countryside, building houses for others nearby. Their own land was used for crops. When his brother mentioned planting all the fields, Uncle Jiang reassured him, “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of the fields and ensure your land isn’t wasted. I’ll give you three hundred kilograms of grain per acre at the end of the year.”

Three hundred kilograms was significant. Back then, a thousand kilograms per acre was already impressive, and only hybrid rice could achieve such yields. Local grain varieties couldn’t match that.

With life improving, they no longer had to worry about hunger. Many believed hybrid rice didn’t taste as good as local rice, so they mixed both. Each year, hybrid rice was handed over while local rice was kept for home use.

Uncle Jiang’s offer of three hundred kilograms of rice per acre referred to hybrid rice. For Father Jiang, having food at the year’s end was more important than the quantity.

Father Jiang’s elder brother’s wife also came out smiling and said, “If you trust me, leave the house key. I’ll plant some vegetables in the yard for you. When you come back at the end of the year, there’ll be vegetables to eat at home.”

Mother Jiang and Grandma Jiang didn’t get along, but she shared a good relationship with her sister-in-law, who was honest and gentle. When Mother Jiang heard Aunt Jiang, she quickly replied, “Sister-in-law, you can do whatever you like. When we’re not home, feel free to grow plants for yourself. Just grow some coriander for us when we come back at the end of the year.”

The whole Jiang family loved coriander and ate it frequently. Of course, Aunt Jiang wouldn’t just plant coriander.

After Father Jiang and Mother Jiang left, Uncle Jiang remarked, “You’re so generous, but why grow vegetables on land that isn’t yours? It’s unnecessary. Just give them some food when they return at the end of the year.”

Aunt Jiang smiled. “It’s right at our doorstep; it’s convenient. If we can’t finish the vegetables, we can send some to Xiao Feng to sell.”

Aunt Jiang (his sister) sold fruits and New Year’s goods every day. These items sold well at year-end, though few bought them at other times. Uncle Jiang sometimes grew vegetables they couldn’t finish, so he sent them to her to help sell.

Jiang Bai and Tong Jingang spent two days selling in Shuibu Town. Most of Jiang Ning’s winter clothes were sold out, with only a few pieces left. They reluctantly returned to Wucheng to continue classes, as exams were approaching soon.

Grandpa Jiang also opened the store, and the familiar voice of the shaming the factory director sounded again on the street in front of No. 1 High School.

That gossip had probably reached everyone in Wucheng. It hadn’t stimulated consumption. The clothes people wanted to buy had already been purchased.

The two days after the New Year were the busiest, as people returned to their parents’ homes on the second and third days of the holiday. After that, no matter how loudly they advertised, the clothes didn’t sell.

Occasionally, sporadic customers appeared. They were senior high school students from No. 1 High School and Wuzhong High School returning to school. Having lacked funds before, they now had New Year’s money and living expenses to buy new outfits.

With everything settled at home, Father Jiang began preparing to go to Shenzhen City.

Continuing to work as before wasn’t sustainable. The debt had been cleared, lifting the financial pressure, so Father Jiang wanted to pursue something new.

He contemplated for a long time and then discussed with Mother Jiang, “What about starting a food stall to sell snail meat sauce, pickled fish, etc.? It would be much better than laboring on a construction site. Plus, if we set up a food stall, we can use a cart to move around and easily find Jiang Song.”

Mother Jiang didn’t mind ideas that required little capital, but she couldn’t manage it alone.

However, a food stall still required purchasing a tricycle. She suggested, “I think selling lunch boxes on construction sites is also a good business. If it doesn’t work, we can sell lunch boxes instead. You can prepare them at home, and I’ll go to the construction site to sell them.”

While working at the construction site before, someone had sold lunch boxes there. The food wasn’t as tasty as Father Jiang’s, but it only cost one yuan per serving.

Father Jiang nodded in agreement, saying, “We still need to buy a tricycle. We can’t stay in one place. How can we find Songzi? In the coming days, I’ll go to the riverbank to collect more snails and return to make snail meat sauce. I’ll take it out to sell. I don’t think many people will come here for lunch boxes. I’ll offer some snail meat sauce to those at the construction site; the business should improve.”

Initially reluctant to spend money, Mother Jiang agreed to buy a tricycle when Father Jiang expressed his desire to find Jiang Song.

At this moment, after several days of undercover work at the construction site, Officer Wu and his team finally found the opportunity to dig up the corpse that had been buried under the flower bed for over a year.

Earlier that year, due to the New Year, a large group of workers had left the construction site, leaving only a few behind. However, the construction site always needed someone present to watch over the materials and other things. Seeing that Officer Wu and his team chose not to go home for the holiday, preferring to stay for an extra two yuan in wages and planning to leave only after the Lantern Festival on the 15th, the person in charge kept them and went home for the New Year after making sure Officer Wu and his team were looking after things.

Those who stayed behind had no idea about the murders the supervisors had committed. They assumed their job was simply to keep an eye on the others and prevent theft, so they readily agreed.

Once the others left, there were fewer people around the site.