"Brother Xia, cook more! We still need to scald these two pheasants." Jiang Xiaoman ran in carrying two pheasants, looked around, and found that Jiang Xia's kitchen was truly "bare-bones"!
Even in his dilapidated kitchen, there were still over a dozen strips of cured meat hanging from the ceiling, and the pickle jars in the corner were always full. In contrast, Jiangxia's kitchen was truly "all potatoes in sight"—
A few potatoes were sparsely piled up in the corner, and a few uneaten boiled potatoes sat in a large bowl on the stove. Even the only dish was stir-fried potato slices with chili peppers...
Jiang Xia slowly tended the fire under the stove, and before she knew it, the kitchen had become Jiang Xiaoman's domain—
"Brother Jiangxia, I've washed this pot clean too. Could you boil some water for me and use it to clean the pheasant?"
"Brother Jiangxia, where's your rice and flour container? Shall we start cooking the rice first?"
"Jiang Xia, where are your dried chilies and garlic? Is your vegetable garden nearby? What vegetables do you have? I'll ask my dad to go and cut some for us to eat..."
Jiang Xia was completely at his mercy. By the time he realized what was happening, Jiang Xiaoman had even found out how much corn his family had harvested last year.
"No, Brother Xia, you only grow this little bit of corn, is that enough to eat?" Jiang Xiaoman was speechless when she heard Jiang Xia say that his family had run out of cornmeal.
“How can farming alone provide enough to eat? I edit videos of my idol and post them online, earning several thousand yuan a month,” Jiang Xia boasted proudly.
"What?!" Jiang Youliang, who came in to refill the water, stumbled and almost fell to the ground.
The world is going to the dogs! The shaman who once controlled the fate of the entire tribe is now spending his time editing videos for celebrities down in the mountains just to make money?
Jiang Youliang felt dizzy and his vision blurred. He thought that although the old priest he respected had not died without an heir, it seemed to him that it was no different from dying without an heir...
Chapter 17
The Jiang family's house looked bare, mainly because Jiang Xia, a single man, had bad living habits. He could earn money online and often went to markets to buy daily necessities, but he would just throw them away after buying them. Over time, he didn't even know what else he had left in the house.
Hearing that Jiang Xiaoman was asking him for rice and flour to cook, Jiang Xia got up and led him to an empty room on the west side. "I don't know where I put it. Look for it yourself. If you really can't find it, just boil a pot of potatoes."
Looking at the room, which resembled a garbage dump, Jiang Xiaoman almost fainted. How did this person survive until now?
Time was of the essence, and Jiang Xiaoman was too lazy to complain about him anymore. She quickly called her cousin Shan Tang over, and the three of them frantically searched the place. Finally, next to a pile of sprouted sweet potatoes, they found half a bag of flour. Shan Rong also found two bags of noodles, but the noodles were already infested with worms...
"No, Brother Xia, you buy so much stuff and just leave it uneaten, and you eat potatoes every day?" Jiang Xiaoman couldn't believe that there were people in Langshan who wasted food like this.
How come this person hasn't been struck by lightning yet?
"Ugh! I didn't realize how much trouble it would be to cook when I bought it. Boiling potatoes is so much easier." Jiang Xia waved her hand dismissively, then pulled out a bag of unopened, sealed rice from a pile of trash. "Hey! I found the rice! I remember now, it was a free gift with my phone credit top-up last time!"
"Give it to me!" Jiang Xiaoman resignedly picked up the bag of surviving rice, opened it, thought for a moment, and scooped out only three bowls. She then took out half a basin of sprouted sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped them, and planned to cook a pot of sweet potato rice.
This time, he tried a different method: he cut the sweet potatoes in half and placed one side close to the wood-fired pot. This way, the sweet potatoes were roasted until one side was golden brown, and they tasted almost like roasted sweet potatoes, which was especially delicious.
The sprouted sweet potatoes looked a bit shriveled, but they actually tasted sweeter than freshly dug ones. Jiang Xiaoman didn't throw away the sprouted sweet potato leaves either; she washed them and set them aside, waiting to use them as a side dish later.
The pheasant had been prepared. Shantang helped cut it into pieces. Jiang Xiaoman couldn't find any ginger, so she peeled a few sprouted garlic cloves and went to the door to pick a handful of fresh Sichuan pepper leaves. She managed to make the stir-fried pheasant with mushrooms. Although she didn't have old ginger to remove the fishy smell, the Sichuan pepper leaves actually worked quite well.
The aroma alone made Jiangxia's mouth water.
"Is it ready to eat?" Jiang Xia stared at the stir-fried pheasant and mushrooms and swallowed hard.
"Wait a little longer, I'll just cook two dishes."
As she spoke, Jiang Xiaoman poured the chopped pork belly into the oil and stir-fried it. She added garlic slices and stir-fried until the pork fat was rendered. Then she poured in a large handful of chopped dried chilies, and the spicy and pungent aroma immediately came out. After stir-frying the chilies, she poured in the sliced potatoes. Since there were many people, Jiang Xiaoman chopped half a bowl of potato slices, poured them in, and stir-fried them vigorously. While cooking, she did not forget to complain that Jiang Xia was too rough on living expenses, and that she could not even find rice vinegar, light soy sauce, or dark soy sauce at home.
"Hehe, I forgot to buy it. Next time you come, call ahead and I'll go down the mountain to buy whatever you need."
"You want me to come to your house to cook for you again next time? Dream on! There won't be a next time!" Jiang Xiaoman glared at him.
If he had known Jiang Xia's family was in this situation, he would have come up with a hundred excuses to persuade his father to stay, right? Survival of the fittest is the law of nature; lazy people like Jiang Xia should have been eliminated by the river of history long ago...
The stir-fried potatoes with pork were ready. Jiang Xiaoman took a large stainless steel bowl and ladled it out. He washed the wood-fired pot and then made a vegetable and egg soup. The eggs were a gift they brought, and the vegetables were ones he found by the sink when he went out to wash vegetables. They were probably some seeds that someone had left behind when planting vegetables, and they had grown on their own. The leaves were quite thick, so they were perfect for making soup.
With just two dishes and a soup, five grown men managed to devour a whole pot of sweet potato rice, not even leaving a crumb at the bottom.
"Hiccup~ Xiaoman! It's such a waste that you don't open a restaurant with your skills!" Cousin Shantang sighed, rubbing his full stomach.
"When our house is renovated, cousin, can you introduce some guests to us? If you bring them, I'll cover their food and lodging!" Jiang Xiaoman said with a smile, trying to trick him.
Unexpectedly, Shantang didn't fall for it.
"I'm afraid it won't work for you. The mountain is too high. You yourself went to university in the city. With the physical strength of city people, who would want to climb such a high mountain to play?"
Jiang Xiaoman: "..." That hurts!
Is selling pancakes at a stall in Banligou really the only option?
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Jiang Youliang explained the purpose of their visit to Jiang Xia. Shan Rong added that many experts and professors from their province, as well as several intellectuals, had come, and everyone was quite interested in the traditional sacrificial culture of the mountain people. However, the shamanistic culture in the Shan family's area had been broken off more than ten years ago, so—
“Our Jiang, Lang, and Shan families all descended from the mountain people of this area. I thought that since our ancestors were all from the same family, our shamanistic culture should be similar.”
"We'd like to borrow some ancient books from you to see if we can get an expert from the province to help us explore them. If this works out, it would be good for the people of Langshan, since tracing our roots could boost tourism in the area."
"Forget it! Your son said it himself, there aren't even roads around here, what kind of tourism can we develop? We're more suited for wilderness survival!" Jiang Xia couldn't help but roll her eyes, glancing sideways at Jiang Xiaoman sitting to the side. Remembering that this old man was her newly adopted uncle, she forced a smile—
"We don't have any ancient books! But we've collected quite a few of the old man's manuscripts. If you want them, just come and copy them, or take some photos. There's only one original copy, and we can't lend it out!"
Even a handwritten note would be fine! Shan Rong quickly thanked him and asked his son to go with him to get the items and take photos, making sure to photograph every page clearly.
Jiang Xia stood up and went to the small room at the back to get them the notes.
"Brother Xia, can I come along and take a look? I heard that my name was given to me by an old shaman who consulted the gods. I've never seen how the older generation does divination before." Jiang Xiaoman was quite interested in these things.
"Come on, come on!" Jiang Xia impatiently shook the key.
The houses here are all stone houses, and very few are two stories high. So each household is a miniature complex of several single-story stone houses pieced together. Jiangxia's house is like that. The two front rooms are for living, entertaining guests, and storage. There are three more rooms in the back. The two main rooms are bedrooms, and the other room is where relics from past rituals and shamans are kept...
Upon opening the door, a musty smell hit her. Jiang Xiaoman sneezed and strained to open her eyes. Jiang Xia turned on the energy-saving light in the room, which was crammed full. Three wooden shelves on the walls were filled with various stones, old books, tortoise shells, and the like. Even the edges of the shelves were nailed with wood, with some herbal-like items hanging on them. A long table was also full of old-fashioned inkstones, pen holders, brushes, and bamboo paper, all covered in dust, clearly indicating that no one had used them for a long time.
"Everyone uses their phones for memos now. Forget about calligraphy brushes, even ballpoint pens are almost obsolete," Jiang Xia complained. Too lazy to clean the table, she walked to the shelf next to her and casually picked up a few booklets bound with twine.
"Let's go take pictures up ahead. This place is all dusty, I'm too lazy to wipe it off."
Jiang Xiaoman and Shantang exchanged a glance; the two cousins could practically see the black lines hanging down each other's foreheads.
How lazy can he be? There are only a few rooms in the house, and this one is where his father's belongings are kept. Not to mention cleaning it regularly and burning incense to worship him... Wait a minute! Where is the old shaman's memorial tablet? Could Jiang Xia really have broken with feudal superstitions and even removed the old man's memorial tablet?
Jiang Xiaoman was incredibly frustrated, but he also knew that setting up memorial tablets for deceased ancestors was rarely practiced in modern society. In the city, people usually just cremate them, bury them in a cemetery, and send a bouquet of flowers during holidays.
I've heard that some children who live far away and can't easily come back ask errand runners to help them pay respects. But who knows whose ancestors are lying there? If someone else is paying respects on their behalf, whose ancestors are they?
Anyway, Jiang Xiaoman had already made up his mind. If his father, Jiang Youliang, were to pass away one day, he would definitely bring his ashes back and bury them in the Jiang family ancestral graveyard. This would make it convenient for him to visit from time to time and bring the old man some wine and meat.
That's human nature. When it doesn't concern them, they always proclaim that atheism is the right path. But once the person they're about to part from becomes the most important person in their lives, they suddenly wish that reincarnation existed.
The group returned to the front yard. Jiang Xia tossed the old books to Shan Tang to take pictures, while Shan Tang brewed a pot of tea and leisurely squatted on the threshold, scrolling through his phone.
There's no broadband in this village yet, so Jiang Xia must have bought a Wi-Fi card online. Jiang Xiaoman, bored, secretly peeked over and found him doing data manipulation for Jiang Yuan. She was speechless: "Brother Xia, isn't Jiang Yuan already a three-time Golden Horse Award winner? Does such a talented actor need fans to do data manipulation for him?"
Jiang Xiaoman was obsessed with making money. If it were any other popular star, he might not even recognize him. But who was Jiang Yuan? He'd been famous for over twenty years! When Jiang Yuan entered the industry, Jiang Xiaoman was probably just born. He started his career at a high level, acting in an art film by a famous director. He won the Best Newcomer Award for his first role, and for his second film, he was aiming for the Best Actor award... For over twenty years, the name "Jiang Yuan" was a guarantee of box office success! It was said that countless big investors were lining up to invest in Jiang Yuan's films.
Jiang Yuan, the true secret to wealth!
What's most enviable and infuriating is that if you ask online who Jiang Yuan's fans are, you'll hardly get any answers, yet every time one of his movies is released, even casual viewers can't resist buying a ticket. How can those pseudo-blockbusters that throw money at the box office possibly compete?
Before Jiang Xiaoman could speak, Jiang Xia immediately put down his phone and solemnly explained to her the importance of data analysis.
"Can you believe it? Just two years ago, someone actually posted online asking netizens what kind of background Jiang Yuan had. He's clearly not famous at all, yet every time his movies are box office hits, they lead the pack. Do you even understand what they're saying? Jiang Yuan isn't famous?!"
"Pah! When our brother Jiang Yuan won the Best Newcomer Award, this little brat who asked the question was probably still a tadpole!"
"Background?" Jiang Xia sneered. "Our brother Jiang Yuan's biggest background is our 50 million gingerbread!"
Gingerbread, the nickname of actor Jiang Yuan's fans. It is said that for this year's birthday party, fans even built a life-size gingerbread house. It has to be said that the actor has a lot of wealthy fans!
"Hey bro, I didn't mean anything by it, it's just that I heard a lot of young male celebrities have tens of millions of fans these days. Your movie star only has over 50 million fans, so it doesn't seem like he has much of an advantage." Jiang Xiaoman hoped he would calm down.
"I'm so angry! Did you really have to make me say those hurtful things to my fellow fans?" Jiang Xia stood up, her face flushed. "Our Jiang Yuan has been famous for over twenty years! A three-time Golden Horse Award winner! Do you know how many people across the country grew up watching his shows?"
"Okay, okay, I get it, bro. It must be that many of the movie star's fans are quite old, so they don't go online much. You know, older people go to bed early, so they can't stay up all night doing data like young people. I understand!" Jiang Xiaoman pleaded for forgiveness.
After all, back in college, he had pretended to be a fan to pick up celebrities at the airport a few times in order to earn money. He could earn 200 yuan by standing for two hours, holding up a support sign and shouting a few times. If this opportunity were open to everyone, Jiang Xiaoman could go bankrupt picking up celebrities at the airport.
However, when it comes to idol worship, young people have more energy. Many of Jiang Yingdi's fans are probably middle-aged, with elderly parents and young children to care for. They don't have the time to stay up late like young people to support their idols and boost their rankings.
"Hmph! There's nothing in this world that money can't solve. If there is, it's just that you haven't spent enough money." With that, Jiang Xia proudly waved her new phone. "See? My new phone and Wi-Fi card were bought by my wealthy fans as a token of their support, specifically for the data team!"
"Dare to think our fans are all forty years old and don't have time to do data analysis? They may not have time, but they have money!"
"Let me tell you, we've already divided the work. From now on, those with money will contribute money, and those with strength will contribute strength. By the end of this year at the latest, we will definitely make our data so high that even the top players will be left in the dust!"
“Not only did we get new phones and Wi-Fi cards, our data team also developed a performance appraisal system. We get bonuses every month based on performance. Last month I received more than 5,000 yuan in bonuses alone.”
Jiang Xiaoman was dumbfounded.
He'd only ever heard of people spending money chasing celebrities, this was the first time he'd ever seen someone actually make money chasing celebrities, wow, our little priestess is amazing!
Author's Note:
This chapter is purely fictional; please do not take it personally.
Regarding the article grouping, I saw a reader ask yesterday why this book is in the "Pure Romance" group. I'm not sure myself; it might be a website rule. Pure romance, no-romance, yuri, and derivative works are all in one category. It's also possible that writing no-romance is too niche, with few readers, so the website doesn't feel the need for a separate category. I swear, I didn't fill it in wrong! I carefully filled in the genre before starting the story. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2021-11-20 12:31:48 and 2021-11-21 11:35:14!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Qingjie 290 bottles; Shi Miaomiao Na 40 bottles; Senior Diver, Jing 20 bottles; Qingwu 10 bottles; Yun Simo, LRY 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 18
Shan Tang spent the whole night taking pictures of all the old books Jiang Xia had given him. His phone almost ran out of memory. Jiang Xiaoman saw that he was so busy taking pictures of the books that she couldn't help but remind him that in addition to the books, he should also take pictures of the tortoise shells and animal bones used for divination.
Shan Rong nodded repeatedly from the side. Seeing that Jiang Xia seemed somewhat reluctant, complaining that their running around was delaying his data collection for his idol, he immediately began to offer incentives—
"Brother Xia, it must be tough working on data late into the night, right? I'll make you something delicious later!"
"Alright, here's the key. Go open the door and take the picture yourself! And let me tell you, don't touch the stones on the shelf!"
"Is it some kind of family heirloom?" Shan Tang's eyes lit up, and Shan Rong couldn't help but sit up straight and look over.
"You're overthinking it." Jiang Xia ruthlessly shattered everyone's mysterious illusions about the shamanistic culture. "They're just ordinary stones. My dad picked them up and collected them. He loved playing with stones. They're his belongings. Just don't touch them."
Shantang walked away with a look of disappointment.
Jiang Xia successfully completed the equivalent exchange and began urging Jiang Xiaoman to hurry up and make him a midnight snack.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely make sure you have a midnight snack." There's almost no internet at the Jiang family's place, and he was too embarrassed to use Jiang Xia's Wi-Fi and delay his work on his idol's data, so he went to the "storage room" next door and tidied up Jiang Xia's storage room for him. He put the toiletries aside, the inedible junk aside, the edible rice, flour, and cooking oil aside, and cleaned out the rotten fruit, insect-infested grains, and scrap metal and threw them out the door, to be thrown into the trash heap at dawn.
After this renovation, Jiangxia, who was originally destitute, suddenly became wealthy.