Chapter 730

The entire New Year’s Eve dinner was especially lively. Because there were so many people, one table wasn’t enough, so several tables normally used to serve guests were pushed together side by side, and a large glass lazy Susan was placed on top.

This was the kind typically used when people in the village held banquets and came to Uncle Jiang’s wife to reserve tables. When there were too many guests, it was inconvenient to reach for dishes, so Jiang Hongjun went into town to buy a large glass lazy Susan. Placed in the center of a round or square table, the dishes went on the turntable, and people could just spin it to get what they wanted.

Now it was finally coming in handy.

The whole table was busy praising Jiang Guoding, while Jiang Guoding was busy praising Jiang Ning. And so it became a circle of mutual compliments—he praised Jiang Ning, someone else praised Jiang Yanyan, another mentioned how Father Jiang and Mother Jiang worked hard to earn money outside, someone else chimed in that Jiang Guoding was now a county magistrate, a true local official, with a bright future ahead.

Father Jiang kept a smile on his face the entire time, joining in with kind words, but he always felt like an outsider watching from the sidelines—a bystander with a sense of disillusionment. He quietly observed the crowd showering Jiang Guoding with praise, then turned his gaze to Jiang Ning with admiration and satisfaction, occasionally sipping his drink.

Mother Jiang was also drinking, occasionally clinking glasses with Uncle Jiang’s wife and Yanyan’s mom, who were seated beside her.

Jinag Ning’s eldest cousin-in-law knew how hard Mother Jiang had worked all these years—toiling like an ox. Now that she was older, her children had grown distant, and even her eldest son was still missing.”

Mother Jiang wasn’t good at using flowery blessing phrases. What she said was always simple and honest. But for rural folks, that was exactly what mattered. Nothing else was that important.

The eldest cousin’s wife noticed that Jiang Ning had been quietly eating without toasting anyone and encouraged her, “Ning Ning, you’re the guest of honor today. Say a few words!”

Everyone knew what she meant. She was trying to give Jiang Ning an excuse to toast Father Jiang and Mother Jiang as well, say a few kind words, and make peace.

For rural women who were already mothers, they naturally stood on Father Jiang and Mother Jiang’s side, and they knew how tough life had been for them in their youth. No matter what had happened, Jiang Ning ought to understand her parents and shouldn’t keep holding grudges.

As for beating children in the countryside—who didn’t hit their kids?

Jiang Ning stood up with a smile, picked up her glass, and toasted Grandpa Jiang, “Grandpa, I wish you good health and a long life! Thank you for raising me all these years. Without you, there would be no me today!”

She beamed brightly and downed the entire glass in one go.

Her words silenced the entire table. Everyone knew exactly what Jiang Ning was implying.

Other than giving birth to her, Father Jiang and Mother Jiang hadn’t raised her at all. Everything Jiang Ning had today came from her grandfather—and her own efforts. At most, Father Jiang had insisted on letting her stay in school as a girl. As for Mother Jiang, Jiang Ning understood how hard her younger years were, but none of that hardship was for Jiang Ning’s sake—nor was it caused by her. The harm she caused, Jiang Ning would never be able to forgive.

Grandpa Jiang, ever sentimental, blinked back tears and smiled, “What’s all this talk for?”

He couldn’t drink, so his cup only had warm water.

Next, Jiang Ning turned to toast Grandma Jiang, “Grandma, I wish you good health and a long life.”

She said it with a smile.

Perhaps it was because the family had split early on, with Grandma Jiang going to live with Uncle Jiang’s family and Grandpa Jiang with Father Jiang’s. In Jiang Ning’s memory, she had never been cared for by Grandma. Whenever Grandma had something good to eat, it was always secretly given to her three older cousins. Even Jiang Song and Jiang Bai hadn’t received much affection from her.

And as Jiang Ning said, Grandma Jiang’s health really was great—she lived a long life, had a hearty appetite, and was easygoing in her later years. Perhaps because she had no mental burdens, her body stayed strong and she lived to the age of ninety.

In that generation, Grandma Jiang could be considered the most blessed elder. Though she never got along with her younger daughter-in-law and never spoke again after falling out, she had a kind and dutiful eldest daughter-in-law. In her later years, she got deeply into Christianity and didn’t care about family affairs anymore. She smiled at every grandchild and great-grandchild. When they gave her money, she kept it carefully. When she wanted to eat something, she bought it. If she wanted clothes, her children bought them. The people she cared about also lived long lives like her.

While other elderly folks in the village became left-behind elders, Grandma Jiang never had to be alone. Since Uncle Jiang’s family stayed in the village all along, someone was always there to care for her. Even at the end, she didn’t suffer much, still had strong teeth.

Grandma Jiang didn’t mind Jiang Ning’s indifference at all. In fact, Jiang Ning’s blessing had an extra sentence compared to Grandpa Jiang’s, and that made Grandma beam with joy, replying kindly, “Ayy, good, good.”

Then came the others’ turns.

To Uncle Jiang, Jiang Ning had little to say—just a routine blessing. But when it came to his  wife, Jiang Ning’s tone softened by three degrees. She smiled and said to everyone,n“You might not know this, but I have a good memory—I remember things from when I was two or three years old. Back then, when I wasn’t up in the mountains with Grandpa, I was always being held by Auntie. I was so young I thought she was my real mom—I even called her ‘Mama’ once.”

Her words brought tears to Uncle Jiang’s wife’s eyes, “How could I not remember?”

Uncle Jiang’s wife had always wanted a daughter. This soft, pretty little girl clinging to her leg calling her mama—she loved her to bits! She wished she could hold Jiang Ning forever. Back then, the family was already doing well financially, and Uncle Jiang’s wife was especially good at growing fruits. She loved giving treats to little Jiang Ning, who would always come running down the mountain straight to her house. Even well into her thirties in her past life, Jiang Ning would go straight to her house whenever she came home, asking for food.

Anyone who didn’t know better might’ve thought that Uncle Jiang’s wife was her real mom.”

Back then, Jiang Ning was too young to understand, but Uncle Jiang, like Mother Jiang, never filtered what he said around children—assuming they didn’t understand. Jiang Ning didn’t back then, but she had a great memory.

She said it all in a light, joking tone, but it still left Uncle Jiang and her cousins and their wives visibly awkward.

They had assumed Jiang Ning was close to their father—only to realize she was close to their mother.

And from this, they realized something else—Jiang Ning remembered everything. If you treated her well, she would always be grateful. But if you didn’t, she also had a clear sense of it.

Jiang Ning raised her glass to Uncle Jiang’s wife, saying, “Thank you, Auntie, for all the treats you gave me when I was little. Thank you for taking care of me.”

Although the toast was to both Uncle Jiang and his wife, Jiang Ning’s smile and words were directed only at his wife, with Uncle Jiang simply included as an afterthought—leaving him clearly embarrassed, though Jiang Ning didn’t care.

Jiang Guoding quickly smoothed things over, “Yes, we should thank her. She really did treat you like her own daughter when you were little.”

In Jiang Village, whenever people talked about Jiang Ning, they always mentioned her filial piety.

And that filial piety? It was entirely directed at Grandpa Jiang.

She called him on time every day. Everything Grandpa Jiang wore now, from head to toe, was brand new. During the years she studied outside, she even brought him along to take care of him. His health had only improved since.

It made the elderly folks in the village green with envy, and they sang nothing but praise for her.