Chapter 727

Originally, this had nothing to do with the girls on the barren mountain, but since Jiang Ning, Jiang Yanyan, and Jiang Miao led a group of girls living there, all the village girls gained the same rights as boys that day—to enter the ancestral hall and be recorded in the clan genealogy.

After all, Jiang Guoding only had one daughter, Jiang Yanyan. Having become deputy county chief, and possibly rising higher in the future, he certainly couldn’t leave the genealogy blank for his descendants.

Since Jiang Yanyan could be recorded and enter the ancestral hall, other girls naturally should be allowed too.

Besides, Jiang Ning herself had entered the ancestral hall countless times before, with the village elders even begging her to be recorded in the genealogy and to enter the hall.

One exception after another, and gradually the village’s bottom line lowered.

Jiang Guoding said bluntly, “Nowadays, boys and girls are the same. Daughters are also heirs. What boys or girls?”

The village chief and elders looked at Jiang Guoding, then Jiang Guotai, then Jiang Ning and the girls Jiang Yanyan and Jiang Miao beside them. They put down the genealogy book and agreed, “Alright, I’m old now. This will eventually be passed to your hands.”

Sigh, times have changed!

“Village Chief, does that mean we can also go up the mountain to honor our ancestors?” A bold and outspoken young girl shouted with a laugh upon learning that they, too, could enter the ancestral hall and be added to the genealogy.

Many girls didn’t really care whether they could enter the ancestral hall or be added to the genealogy, or even whether they could go up the mountain to participate in the ancestral rites—after all, it’s not like it earned them an extra dime.

But just being able to enjoy the same rights and treatment as the boys in the village made them feel thrilled and happy.

The village chief, who had grown up influenced by the ideals of New China, laughed and said, “Go, go! You all can go.”

Now that they could even be allotted housing plots, if they stayed in the village, how were they any different from the boys? They could burn incense and honor ancestors just the same, and also take care of their parents in old age and see them off.

Many girls who had never gone up the mountain for ancestral rites before cheered. For many, it was their very first time, and that made it fresh and exciting.

Some girls were still a bit clueless—mainly just happy that they didn’t have to stay home doing chores, and could go play on the mountain. This time of year, they could still find winter bramble berries up there.

Those who knew how to look for winter bamboo shoots even brought iron spades with them, planning to dig some up to make New Year’s dishes.

That part wasn’t something Uncle Jiang could really stop—because the iron spades weren’t just for digging bamboo shoots, they were also used to clear around graves, and to bury ashes from fire pits.

This year had been a warm winter, with no snow on the mountain, sunny skies, and dry grass everywhere—fire risks were very high.

Since he had to patrol the mountain himself, Granduncle Jiang also arranged for his youngest son, Jiang Guoliang, who had come back for the New Year, to guard the entrance to the mountain.

This time, Jiang Guoliang came back specially with a big loudspeaker. He stood at the mountain’s entrance, shouting through it, “No digging for bamboo shoots allowed! Don’t go around digging all over the place! There’s no snow this year, the weather’s dry—if you light a fire, make sure it’s completely out before you leave!”

Jiang Guoliang yelled to scare them a bit, “In the past, it was all forest here. If that burned, it was government property. But now the whole mountain’s covered in tea trees.”

At first, people hadn’t been that serious about fire prevention—laughing and joking around—but once they realized a fire could wipe out their tea fields, they immediately got anxious. Not only were they extra careful with their own offerings, they started policing others too. If they passed a smoldering fire pit, they’d run over with a couple of shovel-fulls of dirt and bury it, muttering and scolding anyone who left it unattended.

That tea field brought in ten or twenty thousand a year! For many families who didn’t go out to work and just farmed at home, the tea fields were their main source of income. If those burned, it was like burning up their lifeline.

Father Jiang was also very proactive in encouraging Jiang Ning to go up the mountain and join in the ancestral rites.

He was considered one of the more progressive elders in the village. Even when Jiang Ning was little, she followed along for the ancestral rites. Take her childhood playmates, for example—besides Jiang Yanyan and Jiang Gangqin, there weren’t many girls she ever saw going up the mountain for the ceremony. Even when they did, it was usually newly married women brought back for the first time. Girls mostly stayed home to help prepare the New Year’s dinner.

This year, there still weren’t many girls who went up, even though the village chief had said they could enter the ancestral hall, be listed in the genealogy, and honor the ancestors. But in real life, the old customs still lingered—women were expected to stay home and cook, do the chores.

Same with the Jiang family. Uncle Jiang’s wife led Mother Jiang and her two daughters-in-law in preparing the New Year’s Eve feast at Jiang Ning’s place. There were more people that year, so more things needed to be prepared.

Mother Jiang wasn’t great at cooking, so Uncle Jiang’s wife told her to rest, “I heard from Guoping that you two sell boxed meals outside—getting up before dawn every day to wash and cook, working yourself to death.”

Though she also ran a small eatery, Uncle Jiang’s wife kept breakfast simple: porridge, boiled eggs, chive pancakes—nothing tourists could fuss over. For lunch and dinner, she cooked what she felt like, and the tourists ate what she served. Her meals depended on seasonal veggies, and she had daughters-in-law helping—not like Mother Jiang and Father Jiang, who had only each other.

Mother Jiang had often thought: If only both sons had married, they’d have helped with all this scrubbing and washing. I wouldn’t be so tired all the time.

On the outside, she always acted tough. But with the kind-hearted, easygoing Uncle Jiang’s wife, she was different. Many things she wouldn’t say to others, she’d confide in her.

“I’ve been working outside ever since I was young. Never learned to do housework. In the city, it’s Guoping who does the cooking—I just wash the vegetables every day. Don’t underestimate all the washing and scrubbing. It may not seem heavy like construction work, but it wears you out. When I was on the job site, I didn’t even feel it like this. But now, after all that washing, my wrists and finger joints ache whenever it’s damp out.” She pounded her lower back; her fingers were already thickened at the joints.

This was part of why she felt so wronged.

She had worked so hard, so tirelessly—and yet neither her sons nor daughter ever seemed to care about her suffering. She never understood why all her hard work didn’t bring Jiang Ning any benefit, and yet it was Jiang Ning who took the brunt of her younger years’ anger and violence. Still, she expected Jiang Ning to care for her?

But all the abuse and torment Jiang Ning suffered growing up—who had ever cared for her?

Uncle Jiang’s wife understood and sighed, “You’ve worked with water all year—of course it hurts. We live by the river, it’s always damp. Look at us river folks—who doesn’t end up sick in old age?”

Uncle Jiang’s wife tried to persuade her, “You and Guoping aren’t that old yet. Now you’ve got tea fields, your house is big, and if you opened a store, you could earn tens of thousands a year.”

But Mother Jiang fell silent.

Then Uncle Jiang’s wife said, “You shouldn’t be touching water anymore.”

Mother Jiang silently went to feed the stove.

Of course, she knew the tea fields made money. But now that she wasn’t home, the fields were left to Jiang Guotai, Uncle Jiang’s wife, and Granduncle and grandaunt Jiang to take care of.