Chapter 746

The ferryman quickly picked up the cigarette butt and tossed it into the trash.” But he didn’t respond to Jiang Song’s comment about his uncle.

At the Linhe Brigade, if ten people were asked, eleven would claim to be relatives of Jiang Guotai, Jiang Ning, or Jiang Guoding!

After all, it was one big brigade. Everyone’s got to be related somehow!

Jiang Song had always been confident and full of swagger. Back in the village, wherever he went, he was always surrounded by people, the atmosphere lively and bustling. This time, when he said he was Jiang Guotai’s nephew, no one believed him.

He smiled, patted the ferryman’s shoulder, and carried his little daughter up onto the embankment.

He was very familiar with Jiang Village. Although the embankment road had been upgraded from dirt to concrete, with wild peach and willow trees planted on both sides, the embankment itself hadn’t changed—it was still the same structure. Jiang Song carried his youngest child in his arms, with his eldest following beside him, walking toward Jiang Village.

Along the way, he noticed wild goji berries protected by bamboo frames on both sides of the embankment.

It was the season when wild goji berries were bearing fruit—clusters of bright red berries hung densely from the vines like tiny chili peppers, fresh and vibrant.” someone quietly plucked one when no one was looking and popped it in their mouth.”

Goji berries weren’t very sweet. The fresh fruit taste could not be compared to the high sugar content of other fruits, but this stuff was packed with nutrients. People didn’t eat goji berries for sweetness—they might as well just buy fruit. They ate these wild ones for nutrition!

“Back in the day, wild goji berries in Jiang Village were free to pick. Later, as more tourists came, people started grabbing berries everywhere, breaking branches. Now, tourists aren’t allowed to pick freely anymore.”

—

Father Jiang gave Jiang Song and Jiang Bai houses right next to each other. The land was originally two acres joined together, and when they built the houses, Father Jiang planned for the brothers to each have one acre.

When he built Jiang Song’s house, it was already the biggest house in the whole village. Even at this time, the house Father Jiang built for Jiang Song remained one of the finest in the village.

Later, when building houses on the wasteland, Jiang Ning hired designers from Shanghai, and gradually the village began to imitate the villa style Jiang Ning built on the wasteland. When Father Jiang built Jiang Bai’s house, he also considered that Jiang Bai might want to use the upstairs as a guesthouse, so he built it bigger and added an extra floor.

Of course, Father Jiang also worried about whether Jiang Song would be unhappy when he came back in the future. But Jiang Song hadn’t been back for so many years that when building the houses, Father Jiang even quietly hoped that if Jiang Song really came back to cause a fuss, he would prefer that to having no news at all.

When Jiang Song approached the house, he realized it was really well built. Before he even got close, he shouted loudly, “Mom!”

Though the two houses stood side by side, the kitchens of Jiang Bai’s house and Jiang Song’s house were located at opposite ends.

Jiang Bai’s house was truly large, nearly three hundred square meters.

Mother Jiang was in the backyard of Jiang Song’s house, picking eggplants and cucumbers. On the cucumber trellis in the backyard, a swarm of bees had somehow built a hive, buzzing around the vegetable and flower beds all day long, making Mother Jiang quite annoyed. She was thinking about removing the hive. Wearing leather gloves and a protective apron, she was about to grab a scoop to take away the hive when she suddenly heard her eldest son’s shout.

She had heard that voice countless times in her dreams, but whenever she woke, her eldest son was nowhere to be found.

“Mom!” Like every young person returning home, Jiang Song strode with long legs, carrying his daughter in one arm and holding his son’s hand with the other. Three steps felt like two as he crossed the steps and went up to the waterproofed second floor.

Compared to when he just graduated high school and was going through his voice change—his rough, duck-like voice—his tone was now much deeper. But Mother Jiang wouldn’t mistake it; that was her eldest son’s voice.

She hurriedly dropped the scoop and ran upstairs, opening the kitchen door behind and running toward the front yard. “Songzi!”

She reached the porch at Jiang Song’s house but found no one at the door.

Just as she was about to feel disappointed, she suddenly saw a suitcase placed at Jiang Bai’s house door.

An unprecedented wave of hope flooded her. Although it could have been a tourist’s suitcase, at this moment, for some reason, she just felt it was Jiang Song’s.

But she was afraid—afraid this was just another dream she was having. Carefully, she descended from the waterproofed floor of Jiang Song’s house and went downstairs.

Down below was a large plot of land. Father Jiang had hauled yellow earth down from the mountain, compacted and leveled it. Near the edge of the ditch, vegetables were planted, and the rest was filled with young osmanthus saplings. Father Jiang planned to sell the saplings for some extra money once they grew up.

Mother Jiang was nearly fifty years old. Her posture lacked the strength and agility of her youth. The hard labor over the years had left some hidden injuries, causing her to walk with a slight outward toe.

Step by step, she walked toward Jiang Bai’s house, climbed up onto the waterproofed floor, and as soon as she entered, she saw Jiang Song coming out from the living room holding his daughter. He had just looked around the backyard and found no one.

“Mom, where did you go?”

They spoke in Mandarin.

Jiang Minghao had grown up on construction sites with Jiang Song. The workers all doted on him, which made him fearless and bold.”

But at this moment, Mother Jiang’s eyes saw no grandchildren. Her eyes reddened immediately. She walked over and gave Jiang Song a hard slap on the back. “Where have you been all these years?”

Jiang Song immediately acted as if the slap hurt, crying out, “Ouch!”

Mother Jiang was startled, thinking she had hurt him, and worriedly asked, “Did I hurt you?”

Jiang Song grinned cheekily and said, “Can a few slaps from Mom hurt me?” His words made Mother Jiang slap him twice more, this time pretending to hit hard but actually barely using any force.

Jiang Song then handed his one-year-old daughter to Mother Jiang. “Mom, this is my daughter, Yueyue.”

The little girl had just started talking, thumb in her mouth. Seeing strangers, she buried her head in Jiang Song’s arms, but when he placed her in Mother Jiang’s arms, she immediately stretched out and opened her arms toward Jiang Song for a hug.

Jiang Song relaxed completely upon returning home. He had been a full-time dad for six years, so finally being able to hand the kids to his mom and take a break, he didn’t want to carry them anymore.”

Mother Jiang was suddenly holding a little baby. Overjoyed, she cuddled her and softly cooed, “Little Yueyue? Grandma’s got you. Oh oh~ Grandma’s got you~~”

Jiang Bai’s living room was even bigger than Jiang Ning’s, about a hundred square meters. Since it also faced the road, Jiang Song’s living room had been turned into a fast-food and braised food store. They thought about making Jiang Bai’s living room bigger, so it would be easier to turn it into a supermarket or something else in the future. Father Jiang even regretted not building Jiang Song’s living room bigger.

Jiang Song sat down in the main hall, stretching out his long legs and looking around.”

Jiang Song had been away for many years. Their first meeting was not filled with crying; it was as if he had never left home, returning naturally.

Mother Jiang felt a bit awkward, holding her little granddaughter who kept reaching toward Jiang Song. “Are you hungry? I’ll make some noodles.”

After resting a bit, Jiang Song went downstairs to get his suitcase, which contained clothes he bought for his parents. He immediately took out a wool sweater and presented it to Mother Jiang like a treasure, saying, “Mom, I bought this wool sweater for you.”