To my surprise, Jiang Yu actually bought them for her, and they were all the most fashionable items in the village!
"There are also wild fruits and wildflowers, they're all in this plastic bag. You guys eat first! After you finish eating, take them inside to try them on, and if they don't fit, I'll take them to exchange them."
Jiang Yu looked at her three daughters with a happy smile, and the more she looked, the more she felt that her own son was the most handsome!
While Jiang Yu was distributing gifts to the three children, Jiang Xiaoman also went out to deliver gifts, carrying a large basket on her back.
He went to Jiang Cancan's house first.
Grandma Jiang is currently renting a house in the village. Although Jiang Cancan sent a lot of things for the New Year to her family before the New Year, Jiang Xiaoman is still worried.
Actually, he originally wanted Grandma Jiang and Yueyue to spend the New Year at his house, but Grandma Jiang still held the old-fashioned mindset and refused to spend the New Year at someone else's house.
Fortunately, because of Jiang Cancan, the town and village took good care of their family. Before the Lunar New Year, they even organized a volunteer activity to help Grandma Jiang clean her rented house.
Worried that the grandmother and granddaughter might be in danger living alone, they even checked the electrical circuits in the house, filled the gas cylinder, and bought 200 jin of honeycomb briquettes for Grandma Jiang.
In this way, you can use a gas stove for stir-frying and a coal stove for cooking rice and noodles, so you don't need to use that big wood-fired pot.
After all, burning firewood requires chopping wood, and neither Grandma Jiang, who has poor eyesight, nor Jiang Yueyue, who is not yet three years old, look like they could go up the mountain to chop wood on their own.
When Jiang Xiaoman arrived at Grandma Jiang's house, she saw that the yard was clean and tidy. The gas stove and coal stove, which could easily cause safety hazards, had been moved to the next room, where the grandmother and granddaughter now usually eat and warm themselves by the fire.
The bedding in the sleeping room was clean, and even the rice, flour, and oil for cooking were sent by the town and village. In addition, before Jiang Baichuan left, he dug up two whole sacks of radishes, green vegetables, garlic sprouts and other things from the school's vegetable garden. Grandma Jiang's New Year was even more prosperous than when she had her son!
After sorting and putting away the things she brought, Jiang Xiaoman took a video of Grandma Jiang and Jiang Yueyue and sent it to Jiang Cancan via WeChat. Then, she hurriedly took the things to Lang Ying's house.
He hadn't thought things through. Grandma Jiang's eyesight isn't good, and Yueyue is too young. How could we just give them fireworks and firecrackers?
This year, Lang Ying was taking care of the child alone for the Spring Festival, unlike the other housewives in the village who had to cook and entertain relatives every day. Jiang Xiaoman hurriedly called Jiang Cancan, and after communicating and agreeing on the payment, they also hired a temporary caregiver for Grandma Jiang.
“Sister Yingzi, this job isn’t tiring, it just takes up a lot of time. Every day I have to go to Grandma Jiang’s house to help cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are only two people in her family, so the food doesn’t need to be too much, just simple and nutritious. Also, I have to help them clean their house every two days. After the Lantern Festival, the helper we hired can come back.”
When Jiang Xiaoman told Lang Ying about it, how could Lang Ying refuse?
She happens to be free this year because she doesn't have to host any dinner parties during the Lunar New Year, and she's no longer in contact with her family.
Moreover, Jiang Cancan's pay is not low. She can cook three meals a day and occasionally help clean the house. She can earn three thousand yuan in half a month. Why wouldn't she do such a good job?
If it weren't for the fact that she still wanted to work with Jiang Xiaoman and the others after the New Year, and that her family still needed to farm, this job would actually be a good fit for her.
Seeing that she agreed, Jiang Xiaoman breathed a sigh of relief and took out the New Year's gift she had given her.
"Although the custom here is to visit each other and give New Year's gifts after the first day of the Lunar New Year, what kind of relationship do we have? I'll give them to you in advance! They're nothing fancy, just things that you can use at home."
"Oh, right, there are also these fireworks and firecrackers. You and Grandma Jiang each have one. I didn't think this through. Grandma Jiang's eyesight is not good, and Yueyue is too young to set off firecrackers. On New Year's Eve, we'll have to trouble Sister Yingzi to cook New Year's Eve dinner for Grandma Jiang and help them set off the firecrackers."
Jiang Xiaoman kept rambling on and on.
Lang Ying was both touched and amused. She brought him a glass of honey water and let him catch his breath: "Do you think I know our New Year's customs better than you? Alright, I'll definitely make sure Grandma Jiang's family has everything arranged perfectly for New Year's Eve!"
"Oh right, how about I take another video for you and send it to Can Can? She can't come home for the New Year, she's just a kid, she must be so worried, right?"
"Oh dear! We're so worried! This child is so sensible, always worried about causing us trouble, so he doesn't dare to ask me how his grandma and sister are doing at home," Jiang Xiaoman sighed.
At this moment, in his eyes, Jiang Cancan was not his aunt from the same clan, but just a child who was forced to work to support her family while still in elementary school.
It was already past 2 p.m. when Jiang Xiaoman left Lang Ying's house. He quickly went to Jiang Yu's house, sorted the New Year's goods he had bought into waterproof plastic bags, and tied them tightly. Shan Yan took a carrying pole and helped him carry the goods up the mountain.
Shan Yan and his family didn't grow any vegetables this year, so Jiang Xiaoman asked him to come and help, hoping he could pick some fresh vegetables from their own garden to take back and eat.
"No wonder you asked me to buy green peppers and lettuce. Okay! Then I won't be polite!" Shan Yan didn't expect Jiang Xiaoman to have thought of this for them.
"Hehe~ Save where you can, spend where you should! Come on, I don't know what vegetables the kids like to eat, come with me to the vegetable garden and pick out some that the kids like to eat."
Jiang Xiaoman took two baskets, a small hoe, and a machete, and led Shan Yan to her own vegetable garden.
After his family built a new house, they moved their vegetable garden here, to the southeast corner of the house. This year, because his son is home, Jiang Youliang planted a lot of vegetables. There are only two mouths to feed, how could they possibly eat them all? It's good to dig up some extra to give away.
He first cut six large cabbages and placed them at the bottom of his basket, deliberately leaving the outer old leaves intact so that the edible leaves inside wouldn't be crushed.
"We have white radishes, green radishes, and carrots. Do you want to take a little of each, or just dig out the ones the children like to eat?" Jiang Xiaoman pointed to several radish patches in the vegetable garden.
"Give us more green radishes and carrots. The green radishes are delicious this year, they're even sweet when eaten raw. I've heard that carrots are good for children's eyes," Shan Yan said after thinking for a moment.
"It just so happens that you bought a lot of beef too. Stewed beef with carrots is good for children to grow taller." Jiang Xiaoman helped him pick several bunches of carrots, tied them together with the carrot greens.
The carrots are covered in mud; we'll have to take them back later, wash them clean, and then have Shanyan pack them up.
The green radishes were large, and I only dug up about thirty. The rest were garlic sprouts, scallions, cilantro, spinach, and red cabbage hearts, all of which I dug up quite a bit of. I put them in plastic bags, roots and all, so they can be stored for several days without wilting.
When they got home, Jiang Youliang heard that they hadn't planted any vegetables this year, so he gave them some dried green beans that he had sun-dried himself, and also packed a few large freshly dug winter bamboo shoots.
Shan Yan carried the load up the mountain and then carried it down the mountain, returning fully loaded, which startled even the river fish!
Upon hearing that these dishes were a gift from Xiaoman, Jiang Yu immediately said with a smug look, "See what I told you? When we first met, I knew Xiaoman was a person I could get along with, right?"
“Yes! You’ve always had a good eye.” Shan Yan smiled as well.
Therefore, good and bad are determined by comparison.
Compared to the women in Jiang Yu's comment section who constantly call him "husband" in a saccharine way, Jiang Xiaoman is truly a good brother in China.
He didn't call his Jiangyu "husband"!
After laughing, the couple started to worry again.
Jiang Yu's mother has called several times, telling him to bring Shan Yan and the three girls home for the New Year.
Jiang Yu had no desire to go home for the Chinese New Year. Not to mention that his mother had even dreamed of pairing Shan Guo with his older brother's son. Just thinking about that made him even less inclined to go home for the New Year.
Perhaps even God is on their side.
That evening, a sudden heavy snowfall began to fall on Langshan Mountain, turning the entire mountain white overnight. Due to the deep snow, the mountain road was also closed.
Now that's bad, there's no going back even if we wanted to.
Jiang Yu pretended to call his mother, saying that the heavy snow had blocked the roads and he couldn't go back. He then transferred two thousand yuan to his father via mobile phone, as a gift from him and Shan Yan to the two elders.
As for the New Year's money for my eldest nephew?
I'm sorry, I'll give it to you when I come over to pay my New Year's visit.
Besides, his brother's family only has one child, while his side has three! No matter how you look at it, he's not losing out.
His brother and sister-in-law wanted to take advantage of them, and at one point even wanted his eldest nephew to "play both sides" and support him and Shanyan in their old age? Bah!
Who doesn't know what they're up to?
He's perfectly capable, yet instead of going out to work and earn money, he just stays at home sponging off his parents!
Now that his parents have taken enough from him, do they still want to take advantage of their own brother? Dream on!
The roads down the mountain are closed, so the snow on the mountain is only getting thicker.
Fortunately, after Jiang Xiaoman helped Shan Yan dig up vegetables yesterday, she also dug up her own vegetables from the past two days of the Lunar New Year to save time. It's lucky she dug them up yesterday; any later, and today the garden would be covered in snow, making it impossible to find any vegetables.
The family has prepared rice, grains, meat, and vegetables. With the heavy snow blocking the mountain passes, they can finally have a few days of rest.
Jiang Youliang is truly enjoying a good year!
The small heated kang bed that Jiang Xiaoman had made during the renovation, which usually takes up a lot of space, has finally come in handy!
As people get older, they become especially sensitive to the cold. After getting up early in the morning and having breakfast, Jiang Youliang lit the small kang (heated brick bed) under the living room window. Sure enough, once you sat on it, your whole body warmed up in no time.
In the past, they would have wrapped themselves up in their old sheepskin coats in the winter. But these past few days, Jiang Youliang and Jiang Baichuan have been sitting on this small heated kang, so hot that they can't even wear their coats. They just take off the down jackets that Jiang Xiaoman bought for them and hang them aside, wearing only sweaters and long johns.
Jiang Youliang was listening to the opera on a small radio, thoroughly enjoying himself. Jiang Baichuan moved a small table over and sat on the kang (heated brick bed) to write down the teaching plan for the next semester.
Jiang Xiaoman edited the video he shot yesterday. During the Spring Festival, there was no so-called peak traffic period as usual. Everyone was on holiday at home and almost always on their phones, so he didn't care about the time. After editing it, he reviewed it himself to make sure it did not violate the platform's rules, and then uploaded it directly.
Although he doesn't sell many products through live streaming now, his video income is already quite considerable, especially since January, when he's been earning one or two thousand yuan almost every day. That works out to a monthly salary of nearly 20,000 yuan, almost matching the salary of the top official in their town!
In addition to the profits from selling local honey, old honeycomb, and smoked dried fish, he earned more than 60,000 yuan in January.
This was almost his father's savings from ten years of farming.
Jiang Xiaoman isn't greedy or insatiable. In fact, he feels that even without selling products or taking on advertisements, just by making videos and selling some local specialties online, he has already fulfilled his dream of returning to his hometown.
He earns enough each month to support himself and his father, rebuilds a big house for his family, and saves up some money for his father's retirement.
It seems that the first two dreams have already come true, and now it's time to save money.
His father's health has always been poor, and now with the addition of Uncle Baichuan, it's easy for people to get sick as they get older. Once he gets sick and goes to the hospital, if he gets a serious illness, it's a bottomless pit.
So he plans to do two things at once. The first thing he has already started is to improve the quality of life so that his father and uncle can get enough nutrition, stay warm, and eat well, which will naturally reduce their chances of getting sick.
The second thing is to continue saving for retirement. There's no specific goal for this, but fortunately, the current national policies are good, and the reimbursement rate for serious illnesses is high. His current plan is to save 500,000 yuan for each of his father and uncle. He won't touch this money casually; he'll keep it in a fixed-term bank account.
That way, if you need the money urgently, you can withdraw it temporarily and at most lose some interest. Unlike some current financial products... He even saw a joke in the class group a while ago: a rich kid in his class ambitiously withdrew all his New Year's money from childhood to adulthood, probably more than 500,000 yuan, and put it all into funds.
Unexpectedly, the fund that was previously performing so well suddenly plummeted. I invested 500,000 yuan, and now only a little over 100,000 yuan is left…
Jiang Xiaoman was very self-aware. He was neither a rich second-generation nor had anyone cultivated any "financial intelligence" for him since childhood. He decided to just honestly put his money in a fixed deposit account.
What's that saying online again? You wanted to raise a golden goose to lay golden eggs for you, but it ended up taking even the feathers...
Chapter 136
On the afternoon of the 29th of the lunar year, Jiang Xiaoman began preparing for the upcoming New Year's Eve dinner.
Their old custom was that on the 29th of the lunar year, all the meat and dishes needed for hosting guests throughout the first month of the lunar calendar would be prepared.
In one day, you need to stew two large pig heads, about ten pounds of cured meat, a large pig leg, plus several salted chickens and salted fish.
After everything is cooked, it needs to be cut into pieces and arranged on a plate, then placed in the cupboard. When guests arrive, the meat and vegetables are placed on the steamer to heat up, and two pots of cornbread are heated up. For a more elaborate meal, two stir-fried vegetable dishes are also prepared, and a table of food for entertaining guests is ready.
Doesn't that sound convenient?
Jiang Xiaoman can use his painful lesson to tell readers that behind every convenience lies the suffering of the homeowner!
Before he took over his own kitchen, Jiang Youliang would "follow the old ways" every year for the Spring Festival, making a huge batch of dishes on the 29th of the lunar year!
Then, for the entire first month of the lunar year, the two of them accompanied the guests who came to pay their respects, eating leftovers again and again...
Jiang Xiaoman's deepest impression was that one year when Jiang Youliang was steaming salted fish, he was a little dizzy and actually added salt to the salted fish again!
That year, the salted fish at his house was so salty it could kill you!
A plate of salted fish was served. After the first customer was overwhelmed by the saltiness, no one touched it anymore. For the second meal, his father would reheat the salted fish and serve it again, looking for the next customer to suffer...
In short, that plate of steamed salted fish successfully completed its "fifteen-day tour" on his family's dining table, and even his cat refused to eat it!
In the end, it had to be poured away.