I originally wanted to write a female protagonist story, yes, just like my previous pig-raising novel. But there was a problem with the setup. The protagonist is an abandoned baby who was adopted and lives in the mountains with his adoptive father. If it were a girl, well, you know, it would always cause controversy… So in the end, I changed the protagonist to a boy o(╥﹏╥)o
The main reason is that I saw a video online saying that women who are divorced with daughters should be very careful about remarrying! It warned against testing the ugliness and limits of human nature, and it really scared me. Later, I searched online and found that there are indeed many such horrific things, even cases of some monsters adopting girls specifically for thrills…
I hope everyone can understand the changes made to the setting of this article. I always hoped that this book would bring you joy, not any psychological discomfort. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 21:00:54 on November 5, 2021 and 10:08:56 on November 6, 2021!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Yahan (1 landmine);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Xiao (68 bottles); Daiyu's Love (50 bottles); Piao (40 bottles); Wu Wu, Ya Han, 24216451, Liang (20 bottles); Mommy Says I'm Fat Every Day, Qinlan, 40073750, Da Ni Qiang, Fei Nong Mo (10 bottles); Zizai Wuxiang (5 bottles); Lili, Tao (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 3
Qu Jingjiang looked up at him, a mocking smile playing on his lips, picked up the set square and textbook, and went to class with his thermos tucked under his arm.
He knew that now was not the right time to resign, nor should he leave, but before he had even left, Jiang Baichuan had already impatiently found a new person to replace him. This was somewhat embarrassing, and the young man, being proud, inevitably felt a little ashamed.
Jiang Xiaoman was completely bewildered by his domineering CEO-style mocking smile. However, before he could figure it out, Jiang Caiyun, who was sitting inside, stood up with a smile and greeted him.
"Xiaoman, the May Day holiday is over, why aren't you back at school yet? You guys should be getting your diplomas and graduating this year, right?" Jiang Caiyun looked at Jiang Xiaoman with envy. If her family hadn't had that accident back then, she might be a college student now.
"I asked the school for leave. Anyway, there's not much to do in my senior year. I've finished my graduation thesis. Uncle Baichuan is like this now, he'll definitely need to rest for a month or so. I was worried you guys wouldn't be able to handle it, so I came to lend a hand. Don't look down on my cooking skills, okay? I only know how to cook a few dishes." Jiang Xiaoman filled her thermos with water and urged her to go to class first.
"Alright, I won't stand on ceremony. I'll have your Uncle Baichuan catch you a rabbit to eat later~ Pfft!" Jiang Caiyun and Jiang Xiaoman both thought of the wild rabbit that caused Jiang Baichuan to fall flat on his face, and couldn't help but laugh.
These injuries are nothing to the mountain people. Every year when they go into the mountains to collect herbs, harvest rock honey, or pick walnuts, who doesn't fall a few times? If the fall isn't serious, they're too lazy to go to the clinic; they just apply some gentian violet themselves.
Both teachers went to class, so Jiang Xiaoman took a walk around the school.
There are not many students left at Langshan Township Primary School now, but the place is still very large. The cement walls built in the early years have exposed red bricks in some places. The school was built early, and there was no plastic track back then. The whole school playground was just a large flat area in front of the teaching building. There was a flagpole on the east side, where the national flag was raised and the national anthem was sung every Monday morning. On the west side, there was a dilapidated basketball hoop and a cement ping-pong table.
Facing south is a three-story teaching building. The cement handrails have been worn smooth by countless hands, a testament to the school's former prosperity.
But now, the entire school only has about thirty students left, from five grades, which fills the first floor, saving the students from having to climb the stairs.
The original classrooms on the second floor, the three on the east side were converted into dormitories. Jiang Baichuan and Qu Jingjiang lived here year-round, while Jiang Caiyun would bring the children to rest at school for a while at noon and go home to sleep at night.
The classrooms on the right side of the second floor are all empty, except for the words "Boys" and "Girls" written in large chalk on the doors. It's estimated that students who live far away stay here when it's windy or rainy and the mountain roads are difficult to walk on.
Jiang Xiaoman peeked inside and saw that there were two empty classrooms, without even beds. The original desks were neatly arranged to the side, and some bedding tied with hemp rope was scattered on the desks. These were probably brought by the students, who probably just slept on the floor here while temporarily staying at school.
Downwind of the west side of the teaching building is the school's toilet, the old-fashioned dry toilet, a few cement pits without a water tank for flushing. Every now and then, someone has to be hired to clean the latrine at the back. Jiang Xiaoman went in for a look and, sure enough, it was just like when they went to school as children.
To the east are two kitchens built with asbestos tiles and red bricks. Outside the kitchens is a row of cement sinks with several faucets installed side by side for washing vegetables and dishes. Inside, there are four stoves of different sizes. Two large pots are for cooking rice, and two small pots are for stir-frying vegetables. The kitchen counter is also very large. Large stainless steel basins are used to hold the food. The bowls and chopsticks are washed and placed upside down on the counter.
Slipping over to the stove, Jiang Xiaoman couldn't help but look up and stare silently at the few strips of cured meat hanging on it for a while. He couldn't help but recall the words Uncle Baichuan had repeatedly told him before he left—
"Xiaoman, the cured meat in the kitchen is only for holidays or after exams. There are only a few pieces, so make it sparingly. Of course, it's best not to make it at all. Isn't there a rabbit? Let's eat that instead."
Putting aside her desire for the cured meat, Jiang Xiaoman picked up the already dead gray rabbit, took a kitchen knife and processed it. The rabbit looked fat, but it was actually just fluffy and bloated. After skinning it, there wasn't much meat left. It wouldn't be enough for each of the teachers and students at the school to have a bite if it were used for cooking.
Jiang Xiaoman thought for a moment, soaked the rabbit meat in water, took the vegetable basket and went to the vegetable garden at the foot of the back mountain.
Uncle Baichuan planted a lot of vegetables here. He set up some thin bamboo poles along the mountainside and planted cowpeas, broad beans, loofah, cucumbers, and the like. These are not yet edible. In the vegetable garden below, he planted mostly easy-to-care-for Swiss chard, cabbage, broad beans, and the like. He also planted potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and the like. It looks like a lot, but actually only a few of them are edible. The others haven't produced any fruit yet.
He cut down a few cabbages and picked a whole basket of Swiss chard. This red-stemmed Swiss chard is particularly hardy. When you eat it, you only need to break off the outer large leaves, and the inner leaves will keep growing. The taste and texture are naturally not as good as the bok choy they eat at home, but it is easy to grow and has a high yield, so Jiang Baichuan grows the most of it. Not only in the vegetable garden, but also in the open space in the backyard, wherever there is a gap, he plants Swiss chard. If people can't finish it, they can feed it to the pigs, so nothing is wasted.
Broad beans are ready to eat this season. Jiang Xiaoman picked a large basket full of plump pods. There were quite a lot of vegetables, so he carried them to the kitchen door in three separate trips. While washing his hands, he glanced at the rabbit meat soaking in the water, sighed slightly, grabbed his keys, ran home, and brought back a chicken.
I boiled a pot of water, killed the chicken and chopped it into pieces. I didn't want to throw away the chicken's internal organs and blood, so I cleaned them and put them into the chicken. Then I added some rabbit meat to make it more palatable. At least everyone was guaranteed a bite of meat.
There was a large pile of potatoes in the corner of the kitchen, probably brought by the students to share the meal. Jiang Xiaoman picked out a basket of potatoes, peeled and cut them into chunks, heated oil in a wok, first added chicken and rabbit meat, then added ginger slices, garlic, onions, and soybean paste to stir-fry until golden brown. Then she added potato chunks, brought it to a boil, added salt, covered the wok, and simmered it. This kind of braised chicken with potatoes is the best for mixing with rice.
"Let's start stewing this meat dish first," Jiang Xiaoman said, glancing at the time before quickly going to cook rice.
Their rice yield is extremely low, and the locals usually eat boiled potatoes or sweet potatoes in porridge. The children study hard, so of course they can't be given porridge. Jiang Baichuan came up with a solution: he mixed soaked dried corn kernels, sweet potatoes, and rice together and cooked them. This made a nutritious staple food.
"The main purpose is to save on the cost of purchasing rice, right?" Jiang Xiaoman muttered to himself, and following Jiang Baichuan's instructions, he started cooking the staple food.
The remaining two dishes are simple. Wash and chop the Swiss chard, heat oil in a pan, add some garlic and chili and stir-fry, then add water and simmer for a while. This will make the Swiss chard tender and sweet. Chop the cabbage. Jiang Xiaoman brought a small jar of pork cracklings from home, so stir-frying the cabbage with pork cracklings makes it at least half a meat dish.
Jiang Xiaoman finished cooking the meal on time, and remembering that Sister Caiyun's daughter was still in the office, she quickly grabbed two bowls, filled them with some food, and took them to the office. When she entered, she saw that the little girl was probably hungry, as she had taken a raw sweet potato and was eating it.
"Big Girl, come and eat!" Jiang Xiaoman quickly took the food over and asked her if she could eat by herself. Big Girl nodded and couldn't wait to pick up her spoon.
Seeing her so small, standing on the chair back, scooping potato chunks into her mouth with a spoon, Jiang Xiaoman felt both amused and heartbroken. She quickly moved the chair forward for her. Seeing that she was quite adept at eating by herself, Jiang Xiaoman stopped paying attention to her and hurried back to the kitchen to put all the cooked food into a large bowl and place it on the cutting board.
The school doesn't have a proper cafeteria. Students and teachers alike get their own meals, take them to the classroom to eat, wash their own dishes, and then return them to the kitchen. Children in rural areas usually start doing housework very early, and Jiang Xiaoman noticed that the dishes were all washed quite clean. Although there was no sterilizer, this was the best they could do given the current conditions.
The bell rang, and the last class of the morning was over. The children got hungry easily, and as soon as they heard the bell, they rushed to the kitchen like starving piglets. Many of them lived far away and didn't know that the principal had been injured the night before. When they got to the kitchen and saw that the person serving the food was not the principal, they became a little reserved.
"Your principal's father is going to be hospitalized for the next few days. This is the principal's nephew. You can call him Brother Xiaoman." After class, Jiang Caiyun went back to her office first. She saw that her daughter had almost finished eating and knew that Jiang Xiaoman had brought her food in advance. Her heart warmed instantly. Just as she was about to come over to thank him, she saw that he was surrounded by a group of little ones. She quickly smiled and stepped forward to help him out.
"Is Principal Daddy sick?"
"It's not illness, my grandpa said it was rolling down the mountain!"
"I heard you broke your arms catching rabbits... It's all your fault! You're always asking for meat. Principal Dad fell down the mountain because you were catching rabbits for him!"
Upon hearing that the principal was injured, the children refused to eat and immediately erupted into chaos. Jiang Caiyun promptly snatched the large iron ladle from Jiang Xiaoman's hands and slammed it against the stainless steel basin several times, silencing the rebellious kids.
"Stop arguing! Your principal dad will be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days. If you keep arguing, I'll call him and complain! Come and eat!"
Jiang Xiaoman stood to the side, her ears almost deafened by Jiang Caiyun's loud voice. She secretly admired her. No wonder people say that teachers of lower elementary grades have to develop a loud voice. If her voice were softer, she wouldn't be able to control these little brats at all.
The little ones were ruthlessly suppressed and listlessly went to the cutting board to get large bowls to eat.
The children in the village don't eat as elaborately as those in the city. Each of them has a big bowl, and they first scoop out two spoonfuls of mixed grain rice, then a few spoonfuls of vegetables. It looks messy, but it tastes really good. The mixed grain rice soaked in vegetable broth is much tastier than the roasted potatoes they eat at home.
"Brother Xiaoman's cooking is so delicious!" The little ones were a bit unfamiliar with this temporary substitute chef before, but after eating the meal, they really liked it and kept showering him with compliments. Jiang Xiaoman was quite proud to hear this.
Jiang Caiyun listened and laughed. Actually, it wasn't that Jiang Xiaoman's cooking was delicious; it was that he was generous with the amount of oil he used!
Jiang Baichuan is used to being frugal. He usually just puts a little soybean oil in the pan when stir-frying vegetables, which is almost like boiling vegetables. Unlike Jiang Xiaoman, who actually uses pork cracklings to stir-fry cabbage. No wonder it tastes bad!
"What's this? Tomorrow, your brother will go to the market and buy you meat!" Jiang Xiaoman was flattered by the compliments and couldn't help but pat her chest and promise a big meal for tomorrow.
"You're still in college, where did you get the money to buy meat? Didn't Uncle Baichuan give you money to buy vegetables?" Jiang Caiyun couldn't help but ask him after the meal.
"Don't worry, Sister Caiyun. If you ask me to buy a house or a car, I definitely can't afford it, but I can still afford to buy meat." Jiang Xiaoman winked at her. "Actually, as long as you are diligent and observant, you can still save a lot of money while in college."
Jiang Caiyun immediately became interested.
Chapter 4
Seeing that Jiang Caiyun was interested, Jiang Xiaoman briefly told her about his "way to make money" during his university years.
In fact, with Jiang Xiaoman's grades back then, he could have easily gotten into a top university by stretching his feet. However, firstly, those universities were too far away, and the round-trip travel expenses would have been a huge sum of money. Secondly, the tuition fees were not cheap either. Jiang Youliang didn't understand any of this, so he left it entirely to his son to decide. Jiang Xiaoman carefully inquired with his teachers and finally chose a first-tier normal university in the neighboring province.
Teacher training colleges receive government subsidies, with tuition fees of just over 4,000 yuan per year, dormitory fees of 600 yuan per semester, and even food expenses are subsidized by the government. Breakfast costs only 2 yuan for a bowl of porridge and two large steamed buns, and lunch costs only a few yuan to fill you up.
However, Jiang Xiaoman even saved that money, because—
“I found out that the school cafeteria throws away the uneaten food every day, so I told the kitchen lady that I would help her take out the trash every day and that she would save some of the food they hadn’t sold for me.”
"Our school uses a unified meal card system. The money saved on meals can be used to buy daily necessities and school supplies at the supermarket, thus reducing living expenses."
"Wait! Why doesn't she take out the trash herself? Isn't that something she can do easily?" Jiang Caiyun looked over in surprise.
"Sigh! The city started implementing garbage sorting a few years ago. You can't just throw away canteen garbage anywhere; you have to sort it. Auntie is getting old and can't remember all the categories. If she throws the garbage in the wrong place, she'll be fined. I'm young, and I remember all the categories, so I can help her sort it." Jiang Xiaoman chuckled.
“That’s true. I’ve seen it on TV. They even asked us to teach classes on garbage sorting. But nobody cares here. Everyone dumps their garbage in front of their own door to compost, right?” Jiang Caiyun said a little awkwardly. She had taught garbage sorting classes to her students before, but they didn’t have that habit in the mountains. Teaching the class was just a teaching task.
“When I was a freshman, I applied for a work-study position for students from impoverished families. The teachers in the Youth League Committee took care of me and assigned me to the library. I would help organize the bookshelves in the evenings or on weekends, and I would receive a subsidy of 500 yuan per month.”
"That's nothing. Actually, the main source of income from working at the library is selling recyclables," Jiang Xiaoman said, her eyes widening as she talked about making money, like a squirrel busy saving food in autumn. "Many of the teachers at our school library have children at home, so I let them go home first and I'm the last one to leave. Before locking up, I clean out all the trash cans in the library. I can save quite a bit of money every month just by selling beverage bottles and waste paper."
"I'll stay on campus during the summer to work, and I'll also go to the big market to buy instant noodles and snacks wholesale and sell them in my dorm. That way, I basically won't have to ask my dad for living expenses every month, and I can even save a few hundred yuan, hehe~"
"Also, the top five students in our class can basically apply for scholarships, plus my financial aid and tuition reduction, which together are enough for me to pay my tuition."
"Wow~ So you went to university for four years without your family spending a single penny, and you even made a profit?" Jiang Caiyun couldn't help but feel envious, but after that, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
If she had known that college didn't actually cost that much, she really should have gritted her teeth and persevered back then...
"Hehe~ Anyway, I've saved up some money, so don't worry, I can still afford to treat everyone to two meat meals." Jiang Xiaoman wasn't the type to show off, and the reason she told Jiang Caiyun this was because she was afraid that Jiang Caiyun wouldn't let her spend money recklessly.
Actually, the cost of living in the countryside is not high. When going to the market, if you arrive a little late and arrive just before it ends, it's not impossible to negotiate a price for all the pork. You can then take the unsold bones home to make soup. Just buy a couple of white radishes, cut them up, and put them in to make an extra soup. The meat that is left over is actually fresh meat from the slaughtered meat that day. It's just that the location is not good. They are not picky. As long as there is meat to eat, they don't care about the location.
After a busy day at school, and since elementary school lets out early in the afternoon, and Jiang Baichuan wasn't there, Jiang Caiyun was pregnant, and Qu Jingjiang, being from out of town, wasn't familiar with the local situation, Jiang Xiaoman thought for a moment and decided to take on the task of taking the children home.
"I'm going home anyway, so it's on my way!"
Actually, it wasn't exactly on the way. Jiang Xiaoman asked the people who lived far away, and the furthest one had to cross a mountain and walk for half an hour to get home. Fortunately, the people in the mountains were used to walking mountain paths, and the mountains near the village weren't particularly high.
Jiang Xiaoman took the school's flashlight and machete, and also brought Jiang Baichuan's basket, which contained some loose firecrackers and snake medicine. The firecrackers were used to scare away wild boars, and the snake medicine was something that everyone in their area carried when going into the mountains. It was said that this area used to be a place of exile for the imperial court, and some officials even hanged themselves when they heard they were to be exiled here... One can imagine how terrifying this "land of miasma" was.
However, Jiang Xiaoman was not afraid at all. When he was a child, his father had even gone up the mountain to catch poisonous snakes to save money for his tuition. Poisonous snakes could be sold for money, which was more profitable than selling ordinary herbs.
When school was over, Jiang Xiaoman was followed by several little kids. The villagers found it quite strange and asked him why he wasn't going back to school. When they heard that he didn't have classes in his senior year, the villagers immediately felt sorry for him.
"You still have to pay tuition even if you don't attend classes in your senior year? Isn't that just ripping off students? A year of university costs several thousand yuan, right? Is it even possible to get that money back?"
Jiang Xiaoman was taken aback for a moment, then explained to everyone with a wry smile that he had completed all his credits ahead of schedule, so he basically had no classes in his senior year. If he hadn't completed all his credits, he would have had to continue attending classes in his senior year. His plan was to complete all his credits before his junior year, so that he would have a whole year to look for a job in his senior year.
Unlike his classmates, he had no connections or resources at home to help him. Apart from job fairs and recruitment information on websites, he had no other channels to find a suitable job. So, he actually had a pretty "fulfilling" life over the past three years, focusing on accumulating credits.
But who could have imagined that he would complete his credits ahead of schedule, and the entire industry would suddenly collapse?
What can graduates do if companies aren't hiring?
However, Jiang Xiaoman has always been a person who refuses to admit defeat. If one path doesn't work, then she'll try another.
A while ago at school, he was also thinking about this issue. That night, on his way back from the library, he happened to come across their senior students' flea market. The long street was lined with stalls under the streetlights, selling everything imaginable: secondhand books, clothes, bags, and even professional notes. Seeing the crowd, Jiang Xiaoman instinctively wanted to see if there were any beverage bottles or something nearby to pick up. Unexpectedly, he ended up spending money on a set of equipment for his live stream.
These things were probably hard to move, so the price that classmate offered was practically free. The selfie stick, backdrop, fill light, microphone, and the like, all for only 100 yuan, so Jiang Xiaoman immediately squatted down and started bargaining.
With the female classmate looking on incredulously, Jiang ended up spending eighty yuan to buy all the items.
Jiang Xiaoman brought this pile of second-hand equipment back with him when he went home this time, but he hasn't decided what to do with it yet. Also, he needs a computer to edit videos, and his second-hand desktop computer is still in the dormitory. For now, he can only shoot some short videos on his phone, edit them haphazardly, and upload them.
The number of clicks is also quite low, often only single digits...
Jiang Xiaoman felt that making money through self-media was not realistic for the time being, so he decided to see if he could catch a few snakes on his way back.
Before they even saw the snake, the students, with their sharp eyes, spotted something even better—
"Brother Xiaoman, look! There are so many wild bees over there! There must be a honeycomb nest there!"
"Shall we go get some wild honey? We can take it back for Principal Dad to help him recover!"