The second and third sons couldn't find Qu Jingjiang and her son, and the house had been rented out. They were so worried that they didn't care whether their mother lived or died.
But what if I die?
Now that his grandmother has passed away, shouldn't Qu Jingjiang, the eldest grandson, come back for the funeral?
With some ulterior motives, the second and third sons simply went to town to work as laborers and never came back.
Her own son doesn't care about his mother, and her two daughters-in-law care even less.
What goes around comes around!
When Old Lady Qu knocked her eldest son to the ground and killed him without regard for his life, she probably never imagined that retribution would come so quickly…
However, Mr. Qu landed on the back of his head and died quickly, so he didn't actually suffer much.
But Old Lady Qu was different. She lay in bed, suffering from lack of food and water for more than two months. When she breathed her last, her whole body reeked of a foul odor. When the villagers came to the Qu family to help with the funeral arrangements, they saw that one of Old Lady Qu's legs was rotten and infested with maggots...
On the day of Old Lady Qu's funeral, Qu Jingjiang, her eldest grandson, did not return.
After arriving in Langshan, he cancelled all the cell phone numbers he and his mother had used before and changed to local numbers. At first, Qu's mother was worried that relatives back home wouldn't be able to reach them if they needed anything after changing the numbers. Qu Jingjiang reassured her that he had already contacted his uncle and aunt back home, and they would call him if needed.
My uncle did call Qu Jingjiang, but why did he have to go back for the funeral?
Qu's mother was simple-minded, but Qu Jingjiang was not stupid.
Although he couldn't provide evidence that his father's death was related to Grandma Qu, in fact, according to his mother, it was because Grandma Qu brought her second and third uncles to make trouble at home that day that his father fell in the backyard.
When Qu Jingjiang heard his mother say that, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
He used to think his mother was kind and healing, but when she used that kindness on her father's killer, the "healing" turned into "depressing"!
Since you suspect that your grandmother, second uncle, and third uncle might be the murderers who killed your father, why don't you call the police immediately?
To avoid making him worry on the way, he deliberately lied and said that his father had just fallen seriously ill.
After dawdling for several days, by the time he arrived, not only was his father gone, but even the blood-stained patch of ground in the backyard had been washed clean!
Many rural households don't have security cameras installed. This family runs a business, and to prevent theft, their backyard wall is higher than other people's, so even if the neighbors wanted to peek, they couldn't see them, and there were no eyewitnesses to be found...
Qu Jingjiang was furious.
Thankfully, God had mercy!
The old woman brought this upon herself.
You want him to go back for his father's funeral? To wear mourning clothes for his father's killer?
Screw you! Hurry up and get down there. His dad shouldn't be far. When mother and son meet again, they'll surely be able to judge right and wrong before the King of Hell...
While the Qu family was making a scene with tears and sobs during the funeral, Qu's sister-in-law had no idea what was going on.
She's already entangled with a bunch of little brats, experiencing both pain and pleasure.
Some people are born disliking children, but Sister Qu is the kind of person who is born to love taking care of cubs.
She has a gentle personality and is easily taken advantage of when interacting with adults, but this personality makes her very popular with children. Not long after she started working, the children of the industrial park employees fell in love with this new auntie and talked about "Auntie Qu" all the time.
Sister-in-law Qu also loves this job. Although the contract states that the working hours are from 4 pm to 9 pm every day, sometimes when some factories in the industrial park have night shifts and there is no one to take care of the children, she is willing to continue to accompany them at the after-school care center.
Anyway, her son often works overtime and doesn't come home until very late, so she gets bored by herself. It's a bit more lively with a few kids chattering around her.
After this back and forth, the employees started to feel guilty.
They can't say much about the salary standards set by the company, but they can at least provide some financial support in their daily lives.
As a result, almost every day, fresh vegetables, as well as free-range eggs, ham, and salted duck eggs, could be delivered to the door of the dormitory where Qu Jingjiang and his sister-in-law lived.
Sister-in-law Qu used to be bullied and taken advantage of often in her hometown. Unexpectedly, after moving to a different place, she experienced a kind of simple and honest rural warmth that she had never felt before in her life.
Seeing the increasing smiles on his mother's face, Qu Jingjiang didn't say anything, but he worked even harder.
Since his mother likes it here, he must try his best to stay!
Chapter 276
Another Mid-Autumn Festival has arrived. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival is more lively than in previous years, especially in Langshan Village. Almost every household stayed at home this year. Except for a few people who have stable jobs in the city and whose children are studying in big cities, the rest of the villagers all stayed in their hometown.
They are no longer the farmers who toiled in the fields.
The village has an industrial park, and there are agricultural cooperatives under the industrial park. As long as people are not lazy, they can find work in the village.
Some of the more resourceful ones, seeing that others had made money building houses, decided to take advantage of the fact that the cooperative hadn't yet expanded outwards and went to the neighboring towns to contract mountain land to plant tea trees, mushrooms, and raise native bees...
Although they haven't made a lot of money yet, I heard that Jiang Xiaoman and his team are already in talks with other towns and villages about cooperation. Once the two sides start cooperating, these industries will be golden goose eggs in the future!
When ordinary people have money in their hands and hope in their hearts, won't their lives become more and more prosperous?
Even before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the town's market was bustling with activity. Even the butchers, who used to only slaughter one pig per market and still not be able to sell it all, now dare to slaughter three pigs!
Everyone in the town was busy going to the market to buy things in preparation for the festival. Only Principal Jiang Baichuan and a few teachers at the school had no chance to go shopping.
The people of Langshan no longer just respect Principal Jiang, but admire and revere him.
The simple mountain people never say the words "respect teachers and value their teachings," but they practice them.
With about ten days to go before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the school's reception room was already piled high with gifts from students' parents.
They knew that Principal Jiang would definitely not accept a single delivery, so they took advantage of the chaos at the school gate when dropping off their children to drop them off, threw their belongings into the guardhouse, and ran away faster than rabbits!
The poor security guard was all alone and had to stand at the door watching the students. He couldn't keep an eye on the security room at all. By the time he finished maintaining order and came back, the security room would definitely be full of bags and packages.
Homemade smoked fish and cured meat, salted eggs and smoked tofu, etc.
Homemade dried mushrooms, dried wild vegetables, and wild fruits picked from the mountains.
Someone even gave us homemade tofu, maltose, and fermented black beans...
Now that the school cafeteria receives government subsidies and the school's official account earns extra money from making videos, Principal Jiang no longer has to worry about the children's daily food expenses. He doesn't know who gave these things or who to return them to, so he simply uses them as a Mid-Autumn Festival benefit to distribute to the teachers.
He also received some. After the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Jiang Baichuan put the things in two baskets, carried them on a shoulder pole, and went up the mountain.
The industrial park is closed today too. Jiang Xiaoman and her team run an e-commerce business. Usually, they sell out their gift boxes in advance during holidays, so they simply give everyone a day off.
Anyway, money can never be earned enough. Her father is so old, and every holiday is one less one to spend with him. Jiang Xiaoman would rather earn less money than give up the opportunity to spend the holiday with her father.
Half a day in advance, Jiang Xiaoman distributed Mid-Autumn Festival benefits to the employees of the industrial park, arranged for duty personnel, and finally inspected the park's security with the management team. Jiang Xiaoman also carried the festive items he had prepared up the mountain.
When he got home, he discovered that Jiang Baichuan had actually returned earlier than him!
The family of three tacitly began preparing for the holiday.
Here, every household makes a lot of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) for the Mid-Autumn Festival, not only for their own consumption but also for guests who come to visit.
Jiang Xiaoman called his father yesterday and asked Jiang Youliang to soak the glutinous rice and mixed grains and beans for making zongzi cakes in advance.
Jiang Baichuan went inside and changed into an old T-shirt and old man shorts. He and Jiang Youliang squatted in the yard, washing the mixed grains and beans that had been soaked overnight. They poured them onto a bamboo sieve, picked out and discarded some of the worm-eaten beans, and the rest could be used to make cakes.
Jiang Xiaoman also changed into an old set of clothes, went to the kitchen to get a piece of cured meat, roasted it, washed off the surface dust, and cut it into diced pieces with alternating layers of fat and lean meat for later use.
Jiang Baichuan brought in the selected grains and beans, saw the herbal tea that Jiang Youliang had brewed in advance on the table, poured himself a cup, gulped down half of it in one go, and then breathed a sigh of relief before sitting down to watch Jiang Xiaoman mix the filling.
The zongzi-wrapped cakes they eat for the Mid-Autumn Festival here come in two flavors: savory ones are usually filled with cured pork and carrots, while sweet ones are made by adding mixed grains and beans to glutinous rice and mixing in a certain proportion of white sugar.
"How is Xiao Qu settling in with you?" Jiang Baichuan asked, feeling bored and realizing he hadn't seen Qu Jingjiang in a while.
Jiang Baichuan actually admired Qu Jingjiang quite a bit. This young man was truly capable, with a solid professional foundation, a willingness to learn, and a dedication to his students. His only shortcoming was probably his low emotional intelligence, unlike his nephew who was so likable.
"Teacher Qu? He's doing great. He's so happy he doesn't want to leave. He often works overtime until he forgets to eat and sleep. Even the night shift security guards in our park can't outlast him..."
"Ahem! Jiang Xiaoman, that's enough. Don't bully her like that." Jiang Baichuan glared at him warningly. "Don't think I don't know. You're taking advantage of Xiao Qu's knowledge of a little bit of everything, making her do the work of three people, and even fix your computers..."
"Injustice! Uncle, who told you that? I was clearly giving Director Qu a chance to train himself!" Jiang Xiaoman protested.
You really can't blame Jiang Xiaoman for exploiting Qu Jingjiang.
The industrial park is really lacking in professional and technical talents like him.
After Qu Jingjiang arrived, he single-handedly took on the technical support for the entire e-commerce incubation center. However, in the early stages of the company, the division of labor among departments was not as clear as that of large internet companies. Several times when the company's computers broke down, we called the county town to find someone to repair them. Not only were the waiting lists several days long, but they also charged extra to come to the countryside to repair the computers.
Qu Jingjiang minored in computer technology in college. Because of poverty, he assembled computers himself and knew how to do some simple repairs. Thinking that it would take several days to get the order from the county, he simply asked the office to help him buy some spare parts and fixed the computer himself.
So what if Director Qu is capable and therefore does more work?
Jiang Xiaoman is already preparing to give him a raise, okay?
He's not some heartless capitalist who exploits his employees because they're talented.
"I didn't expect that Xiao Qu would become such a good technical talent instead of a teacher." Jiang Baichuan was just chatting with his nephew out of boredom. When Jiang Xiaoman told him that Qu Jingjiang was performing well and would get a raise after the New Year, he nodded and didn't say anything more.
Jiang Xiaoman specially soaked extra glutinous rice and beans, and made a lot of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) with bamboo leaves. When relatives came to give festival gifts, she also asked someone to send some to Qu Jingjiang and his mother.
Qu Jingjiang and his mother did not return to their hometown for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Originally, Qu's mother was a little hesitant. Although her husband was gone, her mother-in-law was still alive. She was afraid that her relatives in her hometown would gossip if she didn't go back for the holidays.
She had no idea that her mother-in-law had already gone to the underworld to reunite with her eldest son, whom she had murdered...
Qu Jingjiang finally managed to get his mother out of that cannibalistic hellhole in her hometown, how could he possibly let her go back?
However, he has learned from Jiang Xiaoman and is no longer as straightforward as before in rejecting his mother. Instead, he has been working overtime in the industrial park until late for several days in a row, and finally made himself "sick".
The town doctor prescribed him three days of intravenous nutrition and told him to go for two hours of IV drips each day. He also sternly told him to stay in bed and rest for a few days, otherwise he might suddenly die.
The moment the words "sudden death" were uttered, Qu's mother turned pale with fright.
Even if Old Lady Qu came to invite her in person, she wouldn't take her son back to her hometown now.
She has lost her husband, and her son is the closest person to her in this world. To be frank, even if her mother-in-law were critically ill today, lying in bed wanting to see her eldest grandson one last time, she would pretend she didn't receive the news.
After all, her mother-in-law has two biological sons serving her, while her son only has her as his family.
Jiang Xiaoman asked someone to bring Qu Jingjiang a basket of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) wrapped in bamboo leaves. That evening, she heard from the relative who brought the gift that "Director Qu got sick from working overtime all night."
Under Jiang Baichuan's accusing gaze, Jiang Xiaoman quickly defended herself: "The park has a holiday for everyone during the Mid-Autumn Festival! Even I, the general manager, am taking a break. How could he, a technical department director, possibly stay up all night to work overtime?"
When Jiang Xiaoman called Qu Jingjiang, he said that he had made himself "sick" so that his mother wouldn't have to go back to her hometown for the holiday. Jiang Xiaoman was both amused and exasperated.
"What did I tell you? I didn't make him work overtime at all!"
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Xiaoman explained the whole story, leaving Jiang Baichuan speechless.
I never expected Xiao Qu to have such a side.
This was something he had never seen before.