New Year’s Eve.
The Jiang Family’s ancestral ho in Xinxiang.
Jiang Miao and his parents had returned to their ancestral ho in Xinxiang a few days ago.
Lin Shuya didn’t return to Yangcheng either. She didn’t want to see her two older brothers, so she ca back with Jiang Miao to celebrate the New Year at his family ho.
Jiang Miao’s parents had co back even earlier to clean the old house until it looked brand new.
Bright red couplets had been pasted on either side of the main gate.
Shuya and his mother were bustling about in the kitchen. They had braised a large goose and so pig’s trotters, and they also used a pressure cooker to make two salt-baked chickens.
"Ah Miao, co get the bowls and chopsticks."
"Okay!"
Soon, the table was laden with a feast of dishes.
Shuya filled a bowl of rice for each of the two elders and poured them so orange juice. "Here, Dad, Mom, try the honey-glazed char siu I made."
"Shuya, you eat too. Look how thin you’ve gotten." His mother placed a large piece of pig’s trotter into Shuya’s bowl.
Jiang Miao smiled without saying a word.
After the reunion dinner.
In the middle of the night, his father set off firecrackers to welco the new year.
CRACKLE... POP... POP...
The sound of firecrackers rang out, seeing off the old year.
Before they knew it, the first day of the Lunar New Year had arrived.
Jiang Miao held Shuya in his arms. The two of them listened to the sporadic sound of firecrackers from the village, whispering and chatting about the past.
"Shuya, let’s get married next year!"
Shuya pressed her head against his chest, feeling his warmth, and said casually, "We can just register the marriage. I don’t really have any relatives on my side, and I’ve lost touch with my old university and high school classmates. I’d probably just invite a few of my close girlfriends for a al. I think planning a wedding is too much trouble. Just thinking about it gives a headache."
"If you don’t like big events, we can keep it small. We could just hold a reception in the cafeteria at company headquarters. I’ll invite a few close relatives, plus the company employees."
Lin Shuya looked up into his eyes and said with a smile, "Whatever you say."
Jiang Miao brushed a lock of her hair aside and placed a gentle kiss on Shuya’s forehead. "But we definitely have to do wedding photos and get a wedding dress. One Chinese-style, one Western-style. You can pick whichever one you like."
"Mm-hmm." Shuya leaned against his shoulder again.
Outside the window, the sound of firecrackers gradually faded.
In the dead of night, Jiang Miao enjoyed a rare chance to sleep in.
He didn’t get up until ten o’clock the next morning.
On the first day of the New Year, there wasn’t much for the young people in the rural village to do. Ancestor worship and similar duties were typically handled by the older generation at the ancestral hall.
Jiang Miao and Shuya just drank a carton of milk each before preparing to drive the pickup truck to the breeding farm.
They had just stepped out the door and hadn’t gone more than a few steps when they saw Auntie Eight, still heavily pregnant, walking past nearby with her grandson in tow.
Jiang Miao glanced over, and an appraisal panel showing her condition imdiately appeared. He shook his head. ’Good advice is wasted on those determined to die.’ He patted Shuya on the back. "Let’s go!"
"Ah Miao! Gotten so rich you don’t even recognize your own family anymore?" Auntie Eight’s sharp tongue was at it again.
"Ah Jie has been earning good money these past few years, hasn’t he? I heard he bought a house in Jinting Bay. Why aren’t you living there, Auntie Eight?" Jiang Miao asked with a chuckle.
"Isn’t it being renovated? Ah Miao, you and Ah Jie are good friends. Could you..."
Jiang Miao said with a smile, "Auntie Eight, I know a friend who works at a bank handling loans. If Ah Jie needs one, he could go to him..."
Auntie Eight waved her hands dismissively. "Uh... no, no! I was hoping to borrow a little from you. We’re family, after all..."
"You misunderstand, Auntie Eight. I had to take out tens of millions in bank loans to start my company. I see Ah Jie has been making a lot of money these past few years. How about he lends a few hundred thousand to help with my cash flow?" Jiang Miao imdiately turned the tables on her.
"Uh!" Auntie Eight was struck speechless for a mont, then started chattering again. "Ah Miao! It’s not easy doing business these days. You have to be careful. Don’t go losing your father’s life savings..."
"Thanks for your concern, Auntie Eight. We’ll be going now."
With that, he pulled Shuya into the truck and drove off.
In the truck, Shuya asked what he had been talking about, and Jiang Miao explained it to her concisely.
After hearing his explanation, Shuya shook her head with a smile. "You really can predict things with divine accuracy."
"There are good people in the village, but there are also petty people, and even sinister and cunning ones. My dad is just too honest. If I don’t give him a ’vaccination’ ahead of ti, there’s no telling how much money he’ll end up lending out."
"Lending money once or twice for an ergency isn’t a big deal. The problem is that so people will take a mile if you give them an inch. They think it’s their god-given right for you to lend them money, and that not paying it back is a sign of their own cleverness."
Jiang Miao gently turned the steering wheel.
"So, in a village, you can’t be too nice to people, especially all the busybody relatives and so-called ’good friends.’ If you’re good to them, sotis they won’t be grateful. Instead, they’ll just think you’re a pushover."
"Ah Miao, is that Auntie Eight’s condition really that serious? But her son should be pretty well-off, right? Why isn’t she getting treatnt?" Lin Shuya asked with a frown.
Jiang Miao shook his head. "That Ah Jie has been a good-for-nothing since he was a kid. He’s a degenerate gambler. The money for that house in Jinting Bay probably ca from Auntie Eight and her husband. All the money he’s earned over the years, he’s squandered it with his degenerate friends."
"I see."
...
「anwhile.」
His mother, Huang Qiuyue, was also riding her bicycle to the ancestral hall to prepare for the ancestor worship ceremony.
Along the way, everyone she t—whether they had been on good terms or bad terms with her in the past—greeted her with a wide smile.
Soone chuckled and probed indirectly, "Qiuyue, your son is making big money now. It’s ti for you to sit back and enjoy life."
Although Huang Qiuyue wasn’t formally educated, she possessed the characteristic shrewdness of a middle-aged village woman and understood the situation perfectly. She imdiately began reciting the script her son had prepared for her:
"Xiu Zhu, where did you hear that? It’d be great if my son were really making money. His company took out tens of millions in loans. Dahai and I are worried sick."
"For real?"
Soone else said sourly, "Third Aunt, your family struck it rich and didn’t even co back ho. This year, for the public hall’s opera performance, you have to get Ah Miao to sponsor a play!"
"Sponsoring a play is not sothing a woman like can decide!"
Another person started promoting her own daughter: "Nanny Qiuyue, Ah Miao and my daughter are old classmates. After the New Year, how about we set a ti for the two young people to go out for tea together?"
Huang Qiuyue shook her head. "Ah Hua, my son already has a girlfriend."
anwhile, at the ho of his eldest paternal uncle, who knew a little about the Jiang family’s situation, his cousin Jiang Yao had already warned his parents not to gossip around the village.
Jiang Yao’s mother was on decent terms with Huang Qiuyue. Furthermore, her son now depended on Jiang Miao’s family for his livelihood, so of course she wouldn’t speak recklessly. Instead, she chid in to support her.
Although the crowd suspected Jiang Miao had earned a lot of money, they had no real proof. They could only guess he had probably made a few million.
Coupled with the tens of millions in loans Huang Qiuyue ntioned, their envy subsided a little.
...
As for his father, Jiang Dahai, he was also encountering all sorts of "good friends" and "good neighbors."
Jiang Dahai, keeping his son’s reminder firmly in mind, didn’t let the crowd’s flattery go to his head. On the contrary, he beca even more composed.
One of the village elders (similar to a clan elder), smoking a water pipe, asked with a grin, "Dahai! How many plays are you thinking of sponsoring this year? After all, your family is making money now. Sponsoring a play is a way to bring honor to your ancestors. You can’t let people look down on you."
Jiang Dahai knew this was unavoidable, so he nodded. "Although Ah Miao hasn’t earned that much, we can’t bring sha to the Jiang family. I’ll pay to sponsor one play!"
"Dahai, that’s not very generous of you, is it?" another elder teased. "How is one play enough?"
"Third Grand-uncle, please give a break! I was planning to save this little bit of money for my son in case of an ergency," Jiang Dahai said with a wry smile, waving his hands.
Another elder, a short man, asked tentatively, "By the way, Dahai, is your eel farm still hiring? My second brother’s son, Li Yan, used to work in logistics at the Guotai Cold Storage Factory. He has experience in that area."
Jiang Dahai shook his head. "The eel farm isn’t short on logistics staff, but we are looking for a few people to feed the fish."
"Feed the fish?" The short elder was instantly disappointed. Clearly, he had no intention of letting his nephew do a fish-feeding job.
After chatting for over half an hour and seeing they couldn’t get much out of Jiang Dahai, the n stopped trying.
After all, they were all fellow villagers. There were so lines you couldn’t cross.
All of this was within Jiang Miao’s expectations.
Before coming back for the New Year, he had told his parents his thoughts in advance, warning them to be careful with the villagers to avoid suffering a major loss.
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