Jiang Xiaoman was a huge success playing a nouveau riche tyrant for the first time in his life. He believed it was all because the script was well-written!
Yan Liangpeng just wanted to stay far away from this unreliable "wild director".
As a dedicated "film emperor within the system," Officer Yan hates directors like Jiang Xiaoman the most, who suddenly want to change the script midway through filming.
If Li Sanmei and Wang Laoliu weren't so intellectually challenged, and weren't both completely ignorant of the law, they would have ruined their performance today, okay?
"Anyway, as long as the result is good, that's all that matters~ By the way, Aunt, don't worry. When I said that Great-Grandma was too sick to get out of bed, I was just lying to them. Your grandma is in very good health. This time, she asked us to help her, but actually, she wants you to divorce that Wang Laoliu and go back to live with your own family. Are you willing?"
How could I not want to?
Jiang Cuicui covered her face and couldn't help but burst into tears.
When her father sold her to Wang Hui for eight thousand yuan, she thought that women in Langshan had always lived like this. Later, when the town and village repeatedly used loudspeakers to educate people about the law, she finally realized that this was wrong. But Wang Laoliu had beaten her so badly, and her mother-in-law kept a close eye on her. She had no money, so even if she wanted to leave Wang Laoliu, she had no way to do so.
But now, Jiang Xiaoman has easily rescued her from that cage with her own people, and even told her that as long as she is willing, she will never have to go back to that terrible man again. How could she not be willing?
Grandma Jiang never expected that when she entrusted Jiang Xiaoman to bring her eldest granddaughter back, Jiang Xiaoman would bring her back in less than a week.
"Did they make things difficult for you?" Grandma Jiang was only now beginning to feel fear. She grabbed Jiang Xiaoman's arm and looked him up and down, trying to see if he was injured.
I heard that Wang Laoliu used to be a thug in the mine. Xiaoman, who has been using his hands to hold a pen since he was a child, how could he possibly beat Wang Laoliu?
As soon as Jiang Xiaoman left, Grandma Jiang regretted it.
She can see now and has a cell phone for seniors, but no one answers when she calls Xiaoman. Jiang Grandma is so anxious that she runs to the village to find someone to rescue Xiaoman. Fortunately, the village chief Jiang Youtian knows about this and calms Jiang Grandma down.
For most of the day, Grandma Jiang was restless at home. When Jiang Xiaoman finally came back, she grabbed her arm, but suddenly someone grabbed her arm.
"Grandma! Waaaaah~ Grandma, I'm back~" Jiang Cuicui couldn't stop crying the whole way.
It was pouring rain when we were in the car, but when we finally saw our loved ones, our tears flowed like a Category 12 typhoon, accompanied by strong winds and torrential rain. Our heart-wrenching cries attracted the attention of the neighbors.
I heard that Grandma Jiang's eldest granddaughter, who was sold to Caishi Town by her own father, has finally returned. The neighbors couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
Several familiar aunts and sisters-in-law quickly went over and helped Grandma Jiang and Jiang Cuicui into the house, then busied themselves boiling water and making tea.
Their eldest aunt from Langshan Village went back to her parents' home. How could she not even have a cup of hot water to drink?
Rural people are very simple and honest. After their families became better off, they became even more hospitable. There was no other way; before, everyone was dirt poor, and even if they wanted to be hospitable, they couldn't offer anything other than cured meat and eggs.
But things are different now. In the past two years, the villagers have made money by following Jiang Xiaoman and Shan Yan. If it weren't for waiting to exchange their homesteads, many families would have built small villas. Hearing Jiang Cuicui's tearful story, the neighbors felt heartbroken and rushed home to bring her some good food and drinks.
Now we can't not entertain guests.
Fortunately, the village wasn't busy lately. Seeing that everyone else was busy, Jiang Yu quickly drove to town to buy some meat and vegetables, and also bought twenty catties of rice wine. Rural people don't have many formalities when hosting guests for meals. Several neighbors nearby were both guests and helpers in the kitchen. Everyone knew that Grandma Jiang's eyesight prevented her from cooking, so the women from the nearby families came over to help. Soon, several tables of food were prepared.
Jiang Cuicui had vaguely heard in Caishi Town that her family had made a fortune in e-commerce in the past two years. But in her mind, Caishi Town was the richest town in the surrounding area. When she entered the village, she saw that many families still lived in the old mud-brick houses. Why was the feast prepared like it was New Year's?
On the large, square tables, twelve dishes were laid out on each table. Looking around, there was hardly any green vegetable; it was all meat dishes!
There are three pork dishes alone: braised pork belly with fried tofu, braised cured pork with dried bamboo shoots, and stir-fried pork slices with green peppers.
A large stainless steel bowl contains braised chicken and potatoes, and next to it is a plate of oily pickled cabbage and stewed pig's blood.
What surprised Jiang Cuicui even more was that there were two braised crucian carp and a large plate of bright red shrimp on the table!
She had only ever seen these kinds of prawns during Chinese New Year or when other people were getting married in Caishi Town. And they weren't available all the time. A plate would have about ten prawns, and each person wouldn't get even one. They would be snatched up as soon as they were put on the table.
But now, every table has a big bowl of braised prawns!
The crucian carp is also first deep-fried in oil and then braised, it smells delicious!
...
Is her hometown village now richer than Caishi Town?
Jiang Xiaoman dazedly ate a meal with Grandma Jiang, then closed the door and returned the brand-new bank card to Grandma Jiang.
By the way, Officer Yan explained to Grandma Jiang and Jiang Cuicui that a marital relationship like that between Jiang Cuicui and Wang Laoliu is not protected by law.
In other words, Jiang Cuicui can return to her parents' home anytime she wants, and it doesn't matter if she never goes back to the Wang family. The two of them have neither a marriage certificate nor any children. At most, they are just cohabiting. I've never heard of anyone who cohabits having to live together for the rest of their lives.
Many fashionable young people nowadays worry about meeting the wrong person, so they try living together for a while to observe each other before officially getting married.
If cohabitation between a man and a woman is considered marriage, wouldn't the whole country be in chaos?
Especially those scumbags with questionable personal conduct, who change boyfriends and girlfriends more often than they change clothes, and have slept with so many, who is the real husband or wife?
"Great-Grandma, listen, Officer Yan is from the county public security bureau. He said so, so Aunt Cui Cui can stay at home without worry. If you don't want to go back, then don't go back. We'll figure out a way to transfer your household registration later... Wait! Aunt, when you left with that Wang Laoliu, did you transfer your household registration?"
"Huh? What kind of household registration?" Jiang Cuicui was also stunned.
Yan Liangpeng couldn't help but rub his forehead.
Rural legal education is a long and arduous task!
It seems he has to go back and report to his superiors what those old men in the propaganda department are doing all day long.
Without a marriage certificate and without transferring his household registration, Wang Laoliu, who is ignorant of the law, has essentially bought this wife for nothing.
Jiang Xiaoman's decision to keep the eight thousand yuan wasn't just about saving money for her grandmother.
He was also wary that if Wang Laoliu insisted on harassing him, he wouldn't be able to take the person back. However, he could return the eight thousand yuan to him, and have him write a note and put his fingerprint on it. Once the money was settled, he would stop bothering Jiang Cuicui.
Jiang Xiaoman explained her plans to Jiang Cuicui in detail, just in case she was worried that Jiang Cuicui would be anxious while living at home.
"Don't worry, Auntie. Come on, let's add each other as friends. If that Wang Laoliu comes bothering you again, call me right now! I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him!"
Jiang Cuicui's face turned bright red.
"I...I don't have a cell phone..."
Wang Laoliu and his mother were very wary of her, not even giving her a penny in cash, let alone buying her a cell phone. Jiang Cuicui was still young when she married into the family and had never used a cell phone at home. Back then, her family didn't even have a landline.
After marrying into Caishi Town, she saw other people using mobile phones, but upon hearing that a mobile phone costs several thousand yuan, she didn't dare to touch it, let alone "add friends".
Jiang Xiaoman was speechless.
However, how could such a small matter be difficult for Brother Xiaoman?
With a quick glance and a few questions for Jiang Cuicui, Jiang Xiaoman found her a job—
"Aunt Cui Cui, it's like this, I just opened a traditional embroidery workshop last year, and I'm hiring people to embroider for me. Don't you also know how to embroider? Why don't you come and work at my workshop!"
"Tomorrow I'll take you to see the master craftsman for an assessment. Our workshop pays wages based on skills. Even if your skills aren't great, as an apprentice, you get lunch and a monthly living allowance of 1,500 yuan."
“Aunt, you’re still quite young. There are master craftsmen in the workshop who can teach you the craft. If you learn for two years and pass the first-level embroidery exam, you can earn six or seven thousand yuan a month with your base salary plus performance bonus.”
Jiang Xiaoman deliberately downplayed the amount, afraid that it would raise Jiang Cuicui's expectations too high, and she might feel uncomfortable if she didn't receive that much.
In fact, some of the most skilled embroiderers in the workshop are now working with master craftsmen on high-end custom-made products. Their base salary is only 2,800 yuan per month, but their performance bonus is several times that amount. There are already three embroiderers who earn more than 10,000 yuan per month.
These top-tier embroiderers, after a few more years of training under master craftsmen, will be able to graduate and take on apprentices. At that time, the apprentices will follow them to take orders, the apprentices will get the soup, and the embroiderers will get the meat. It's quite normal for them to earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a month.
To put it bluntly, in their rural areas, a girl can earn two or three hundred thousand yuan a year. So what if she doesn't get married? With such a high-paying job, her family should take good care of her, okay?
When Jiang Cuicui heard that even apprentices could earn 1,500 yuan a month, she realized that she had never received so much cash in her life. She panicked for a moment and couldn't help but look at Grandma Jiang.
Grandma Jiang is no longer the half-blind old woman she used to be.
Lang Ying had stayed at Grandma Jiang's house for a while with her two children. The children from both families got along very well and were like family. After Grandma Jiang's eyes were healed, Lang Ying found her a job: sitting next to a large scale and stamping the seals for villagers who came to the cooperative to sell mushrooms.
Now the wild mushroom cultivation cooperative in the village has more than 100 contracted growers. During the peak season, people come and go at the entrance of the cooperative's warehouse every day, and the electric tricycles queuing up to sell mushrooms form a long line!
The cooperative arranged piece-rate workers and weighers, working in two shifts every day, morning and evening, to weigh the mushrooms sold by the growers. First, they put the mushrooms on the scale, then they counted them to make sure everything was correct, and finally, they took the counting book to Grandma Jiang to get it stamped. At the end of the month, each household would use the stamped book to settle their payment for the month's mushroom sales with the cooperative.
Stamping may seem like an easy job, but it's actually quite stressful. If the stamper is bribed and anyone just writes down a number and stamps it, the cooperative's losses could be unpredictable. So, the person who can handle this job isn't necessarily the most capable, but they must be someone Lang Ying trusts the most.
The cooperative has two stampers: Grandma Jiang and Qingshan's mother.
Lang Ying really liked her mother-in-law. She had a strong sense of right and wrong, and never abused her position in the cooperative. Lang Ying thought that the reason her sister-in-law and Qingshan were so well-behaved had little to do with her father-in-law, whom she had never met, but was because her mother had taught them by example!
That said, Grandma Jiang now works at the cooperative, and if she attends all her shifts perfectly, she earns 2,800 yuan a month, plus a free lunch. All she has to do every day is sit and wait for her documents to be stamped.
Grandma Jiang herself has taken up a "paid" job, so naturally she hopes her eldest granddaughter can find a stable job in the village.
Grandma Jiang is not bragging, but if it were a few decades earlier, when she was young, she would definitely have been rated as a first-class embroidery worker!
Her second granddaughter, Jiang Cancan, was too young to learn much embroidery skills, but her eldest granddaughter, Cuicui, was taught by her personally. As long as Jiang Cuicui's hand wasn't broken and she couldn't get a first-level embroidery rating, she should be able to get a second-level rating without any problem.
However, to the surprise of both Jiang Cuicui and Jiang Xiaoman, after Jiang Cuicui took the exam at the embroidery workshop, both master craftsmen gave her a first-class embroidery skill rating!
Could it be that they deliberately gave him the first-class embroidery skill because of his reputation?
If that's the case, then Boss Jiang will need to reassess whether the two master chefs are suitable for their current positions.
Upon hearing Jiang Xiaoman question their professionalism, the two master chefs became furious and dragged him aside to personally examine the "exam paper" submitted by Jiang Cuicui.
"President Jiang, look at this for yourself. Is it any better than a first-class embroidery artist?"
"Exactly! I think Jiang Cuicui's skills have become a bit rusty because she hasn't done it for a long time. Otherwise, with her embroidery skills, she could become a master and take on apprentices after two years of experience."
Although Jiang Xiaoman is straight, he still has basic aesthetic sense.
Upon picking up Jiang Cuicui's "exam paper," he realized he had wronged his two masters.
Jiang Cuicui's embroidery wasn't of traditional flowers, birds, insects, or fish, but rather of ancient totems from the old mountain valley. The mysterious and intricate deep black and indigo lines intertwined to form patterns. The more Jiang Xiaoman looked at them, the more familiar they seemed. He felt like he had seen these patterns somewhere before... Wait a minute!
"Aunt Cui, do you know Jiang Xia?"
Jiang Cuicui paused for a moment, searched her memory carefully, and slowly shook her head.
“These are all things my grandmother taught me.”
Jiang Xiaoman was stunned, her heart aching so much she could hardly breathe!
So, Grandma Jiang was the legendary queen? If Grandma Jiang hadn't ruined her eyesight, with her skills and experience, she would have been the living symbol of Langshan embroidery!
It's all that damned Jiang Erchun's fault!!
Now, Jiang Xiaoman is really looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble Wang Laoliu will cause.
Then we'll send them both to prison to eat for free. I bet Wang Laoliu, who has lost both his money and his wife, will have a lot to talk about with his cheap father-in-law, Jiang Erchun.
In Caishi Town, Wang Laoliu, finally coming to his senses, really wanted to stir up some trouble...
Chapter 262
"That's not right~ In Langshan, there are many couples who never get a marriage certificate in their entire lives. Does that mean they're not considered husband and wife?"
Wang Laoliu finally realized that he had been completely fooled by Jiang Xiaoman, a cunning young man.
No way! He has to get that woman Jiang Cuicui back!