Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 4

Jiang Ning’s style definitely got ugly. Half of her hair was long, and half of it was cut off along the roots of her scalp. The style looked very funny, like a comical villain in martial arts dramas. But Mother Jiang couldn’t laugh.

She was stunned by Jiang Ning’s sudden action. She never expected that her daughter, who was usually silent and obedient, would suddenly explode and become so violent.

If things went worse, her ears and scalp may have been cut off.

At the same time, a surge of anger rose in her heart… for her daughter’s resistance.

She held Jiang Ning’s hair in her hand and pointed at her nose, saying, “Cut it, you cut it again. I’ll see how many hairs you have. You want to scare me to death. Why don’t you cut off your own head?”

She threw away the hair in her hand and was so angry that she wanted to rush up and beat her. “Cut your head off if you can.”

Because Jiang Ning had a sickle in her hand, she didn’t dare to come forward and hit her again.

“You think you can scare me to death with a sickle, but you dare to talk back to me.” Mother Jiang was tall and strong. She looked at the thin Jiang Ning with disdain and continued to say, “I’ll spare you today. If you dare to talk back to me next time, I will peel off your skin.”

After saying so, she scolded again, “Why are you still standing there stupidly? Why don’t you hurry up and make the meal? You want to wait for me to serve you, right?”

Mother Jiang went to fetch water to wash her face. The heavy farm work made her even more irritable, and she threw the washbasin on the washstand, which made a clang sound. “A girl of this age doesn’t know how to be sensible and filial to her mother. She doesn’t know how to work hard. Look at any girl in the village, they go to work in a factory at the age of twelve or thirteen. You are the only one who is fifteen years old and still wants to study so much. What’s the use of studying so many books? You are as stupid as a goose yet still want to go to college?”

Mother Jiang had scolded her for being stupid since she was a child, which gave her a psychological assumption as to whether she was really stupid.

Until later, when she had become an unattainable big shot in the eyes of many people, she still felt that she was stupid.

Because the higher she climbed, the more smart and outstanding people she met. She felt from the bottom of her heart that she was really not smart, so she became more humble, practical, sincere, and down-to-earth in her work. There was no need to be evil-minded or petty, because there were too many smart people around her.

But the more it happened, the more her leader trusted her.

She just followed her leader and rose through the ranks.

As her position rose higher, some people who once thought she was stupid said that she was too wise, while others said that she was lucky.

Jiang Ning also thought that she was lucky.

Mother Jiang’s voice was still ringing in her ears, “Why don’t you come out to cook? You think you are a lady and stay in the room doing embroidery?” The more she spoke, the angrier she became, thinking about how she had been frightened by her daughter and how her daughter actually dared to talk back to her and run away. The anger in her heart suddenly burst out. She cursed loudly, “I don’t know what sin I did in my previous life to give birth to such a debt collector. Not only not helping us cut rice, but she also does not cook. She sleeps at home and waits for me to come home to serve her. I hit her twice and she used the sickle to scare me.”

The more she talked, the angrier she became. Tears of anger were about to fall. She yelled towards Jiang Ning’s room, “You still want to kill me?”

“How old are you now? If you dare to hold a sickle, will you dare to kill people in the future?”

“It’s so difficult at home. Your older brothers are studying. Your eldest brother will have to re-appear in the second half of the year. Jiang Yuquein is only twelve years old. She went out to work, and now her family built a house.”

“You don’t even make a penny, but you still spend it outside.”

“Which little girl has studied as much as you? You studied until you ended up reading it in the dog’s belly?”

(Miao: Dog belly: idiom is a metaphor for narrow-mindedness and a vicious heart)

Jiang Ning had heard it a lot since she was a child, saying that other girls went out to work early, and her family also educated her, telling her to be sensible, to remember gratitude, to be good to them, to be filial, and to be kind to them when they grow up, be good to her two brothers.

Constantly being brainwashed.

Like PUA in the family.

(PUA is from the American English phrase “pick-up artist”. In Chinese internet slang, the acronym’s meaning is much broader: to be “brainwashed” or “deceived”)

Although at that time, Jiang Ning didn’t know what PUA was.

But these things had been deeply engraved in Jiang Ning’s bones and became her subconscious reaction.

Even if she later realized that she had to fight against it, this instinct that was engraved in her soul, and constantly redeemed herself in the process of growing up. Some things had penetrated deep into her soul and became a part of her character. Even if she resisted, it was difficult to peel off.

Inferior self-esteem, people-pleasing personality, and avoidant personality made people feel that she was not worthy of being treated well by others. If others showed a little kindness, she would be flattered and wish they could be grateful.

But how could she not be worthy?

She was so nice.

If it had been in the past, Jiang Ning would have been so ashamed after hearing Mother Jiang’s words. She would have been grateful and sensible and took the initiative to do housework and share the burden for the family.

But at the time, Jiang Ning sat on the bed in the room, silent as if she didn’t hear anything.

Mother Jiang became angrier. She stood in front of Jiang Ning’s room and shouted loudly, “It’s so late and you don’t even know how to come out to help before the food is cooked. We have been busy outside all day but we have to cook for you when we come back, isn’t it to serve a young lady like you?”

Even though Jiang Ning’s heart had already healed itself well enough, hearing Mother Jiang’s scolding still instinctively made her feel frightened, making her want to obey involuntarily.

She suppressed the thoughts in her heart, put down the sickle, found a pair of scissors, and cut off the other half of her hair, trimming it into a half-inch haircut like a boy.

Looking at her boy-like self in the mirror, she thought that she looked very good-looking.

She was so beautiful. Even if her skin was tanned, her eyebrows messy and her hair cut like a doghouse, she still had a primitive, simple and messy beauty.

She had learned to appreciate her own beauty.

Everyone in the Jiang family was very good-looking, especially Father Jiang.