However, he was too lazy to have his children accompany him, complaining that they "did not respect the shaman enough."
Because her father was going to visit her newly adopted cousin, Shantang drove out the family's Wuling Rongguang mini-truck after dinner. The truck had two rows of seats in the front that could seat five people, and the cargo bed in the back could carry a lot of goods, which made Jiang Xiaoman very envious.
He was about to say that he would buy one when he made money, but then he thought, oh, it's no use buying one, the mountain roads around Langshan are too dangerous to drive on. He couldn't help but feel sorry for himself and wanted to hug himself...
Shantang drove to the town's home appliance store first. Shuangwan Town has developed very rapidly in recent years. With more tourists, various industries have also developed, and large supermarkets and home appliance stores have opened in the town.
"These days, everyone's buying these big double-door refrigerators..." The sales assistant's eyes lit up when she saw Shantang. "They're from Banligou! They're rich!" she exclaimed. She immediately and enthusiastically led the group to the store's best-selling brand-name refrigerator. "We're having a promotion now, only 3999..."
"No need, miss. There are only two people in my family. Do you have any older models on sale?" Jiang Xiaoman quickly stopped the saleswoman from having unrealistic fantasies. They were the ones who wanted to buy the refrigerator, not her cousin Shantang, who was a tycoon.
The sales assistant was initially a little disappointed when she heard this, but when she saw Jiang Xiaoman's face, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was so beautiful, yet she wanted to buy the old model that was on sale. Her family must be struggling financially.
"By the way, we happen to have two older models in our warehouse, but they're in very good quality and from a well-established brand," the sales assistant immediately said, mentioning a brand name. Jiang Xiaoman was also taken aback, "This factory hasn't gone out of business yet?"
This is an awkward situation. Everyone knows that several long-established companies in this province went bankrupt because their products were of such high quality—a fan could last for decades without breaking down—that the repurchase rate was too low. The same goes for this refrigerator brand. Jiang Xiaoman's family is still using their TV, which has been used for almost twenty years!
Upon hearing that it was an established brand, and that the sales assistant had asked the store manager and said they could get a discounted price of 400 yuan per unit, Jiang Xiaoman immediately scanned the code and paid.
While paying, Jiang Xiaoman noticed that the sales assistant was engrossed in filling out the form, and the manager next to her was secretly glancing at her several times with a gentle expression. Suddenly struck by a sudden inspiration, she casually complimented, "Young man, you're so young and already a store manager? And so handsome! Whoever marries you will be so lucky! I've seen girls online say that when looking for a boyfriend, either looks or money must meet one of the standards, and you've seriously exceeded both!"
"Haha~ Not at all, this shopping mall is actually owned by my dad."
"Wow, you're a rich kid! You must have a lot of girls chasing after you, right?"
"No, no! Actually, I have a girl I like, but she hasn't agreed yet..." The manager deliberately lowered his voice, but the girl next to him heard it and her fair ears immediately turned red.
Jiang Xiaoman saved several hundred yuan on the refrigerator. When she saw that the store even sold mobile phones, she thought she should buy a smartphone for her dad. Her dad was still using one of those old-fashioned button phones. Even the old village chief of Shanrong was using an iPhone. These days, it's really inconvenient not to have a smartphone.
Taking advantage of the manager's good mood, Jiang Xiaoman asked him shyly if the store had any cheaper contract phones that could access the internet and video chat, so he could also get a plan for his dad.
“We have a lot of contract phones here, including some on sale. Go to that counter over there and choose one. I’ll give you a discount once you’ve made your choice.” The manager was in a good mood and then secretly reminded him, “Buying a discounted phone separately isn’t cost-effective. Let me tell you, you should get your dad the 68 yuan plan. If you sign a two-year contract, you can get a free 5G contract phone. It’s a great deal. I don’t usually tell this to just anyone.”
For the sake of Jiang Xiaoman's help in expressing his feelings to his sweetheart from afar, he didn't even want the profit from this phone.
"Hehe~ Thanks, bro!" Jiang Xiaoman did the math and realized that this package was the most cost-effective. Anyway, she had to pay the phone bill every month, so it was like getting the phone for free.
"Xiaoman, go pick out a new phone. Just give me your old one. I don't know how to make video calls." Jiang Youliang felt a pang of heartache when he heard that he would have to pay 68 yuan a month for phone calls.
How many potatoes would he have to sell to earn 68 yuan?
Shan Rong felt a pang of sadness as he listened. He suddenly remembered his father's dying words: he, as the cousin, had failed to take good care of his relatives. His family had become wealthy, yet his cousin couldn't even afford a discounted cell phone.
"Oh, I just remembered!" Shantang couldn't bear to see his father upset, so he immediately said loudly, "Dad, I got a call from the store last time saying that if we upgrade our broadband, we can get a free new phone. I'm coming over today, so I'll go upgrade the broadband and get a new phone for my uncle, right?"
Without waiting for Jiang Youliang and his son to refuse, he immediately went to fill out the form to upgrade the broadband. Anyway, it wouldn't cost much more each month, and the guests would be happier if the internet speed in the guest rooms was better, right?
Seeing that the two families received two new mobile phones for free without spending a penny, the manager was speechless. However, he knew that the Shan family in Banligou were now wealthy, so he was happy to make a good connection. He even gave Jiang Xiaoman a bag of rice and a barrel of oil, saying it was a gift for handling business.
Jiang Youliang felt a bit embarrassed to have received a new cell phone for free. Just then, Shan Rong was coming to visit, so Jiang Youliang urged his son to buy some good food in town to take back with him. Otherwise, all they had at home was cured meat and potatoes. What would they use to entertain their cousin?
Author's Note:
Speaking of which, old-brand appliances are really sturdy! My family has a Yangzi brand electric fan, bought for my mom's wedding. It's older than me! Aside from the occasional electrical leak, it still oscillates and has a strong airflow. Looking at the appliances these days... sigh! Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2021-11-16 11:48:03 and 2021-11-17 11:19:05!
Thank you to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Lala (5 bottles); Yao (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 14
Shan Rong knew that it wasn't easy for the mountain people to come down the mountain, so he simply had his son drive them to the biggest supermarket in town, which had everything from chicken and duck to fish and meat, and he also had a membership card that gave him a discount.
"Then I'll borrow Uncle's membership card. We're missing a lot of things at home, and my cousin has a car, so he can bring them back for us on his way." Jiang Xiaoman smiled and accepted Shan Rong's membership card.
"You child, why are you being so polite with your uncle? Just buy whatever you want! If you don't have enough money, ask your uncle!" Shan Rong saw that he spoke generously and was not at all like a boy his age who was so fussy and afraid of hurting his pride. He liked him even more and wished that he was his own son.
Sure enough, the uncle found his nephew increasingly endearing.
Jiang Xiaoman used to work as a sales promoter in supermarkets during winter and summer vacations, so he was very familiar with the tricks of supermarket promotions. He first ran to the checkout and got a supermarket promotional flyer. He looked at today's special vegetables and daily necessities on sale. Without any hesitation, he ordered his newly adopted cousin Shantang to help him push a shopping cart. The two of them started shopping from the promotion area. After one round, both shopping carts were full.
"Xiaoman, this white-feathered duck isn't very tasty. If you want to eat duck, I'll go to Shangtang Village and buy you a few local mallard ducks; those are delicious." Shantang's lips twitched as she saw Jiang Xiaoman put four slaughtered, chilled, feed-fed ducks into the shopping cart.
"Hehe~ My dad loves this kind of smoked duck. It usually sells for more than eight yuan a pound on the street, but today the supermarket is having a sale, so it's only four yuan ninety a pound. I'll buy a few more, marinate them at home, and eat them slowly."
Jiang Xiaoman quickly placed the items on the cashier's counter, swiped the membership card her uncle had given her, and even got a discount of more than twenty yuan!
Besides the frozen duck, he also bought two factory-farmed chickens, ten pounds of lard at a special price of five yuan per pound, more than twenty fresh chicken legs, and a lot of discounted laundry detergent, soap, soybean oil, and even several bags of napkins. Shan Tang felt that with so much stuff, he might really have to ask the factory for half a day off to help his cousin carry the things up the mountain first.
"Ah! If only we had a zipline, we could carry this little bit of stuff up in two trips." Looking at the high mountain peak, Shan Rong and his son both sighed.
It wasn't that they were afraid of being tired; it was just that they remembered living the same kind of life a few years ago. Now that their lives were better, they never expected that their relatives were still struggling like this.
"Why do we need to make several trips? You guys wait, I'll go to the village to call for help!" Jiang Xiaoman told her cousin to park the car and then ran to the village chief's house to call for help.
He bought so many vegetables not just to entertain the old village chief of Shanrong. He had already thought about it when he was planning to buy the refrigerator. He would definitely need to find someone from the foot of the mountain to carry the refrigerator up the mountain. That's the custom in the countryside. When you ask someone for help, you have to treat them to a meal with plenty of meat and vegetables. Otherwise, why would he buy so much meat?
Shan Tang really admired her cousin Jiang Xiaoman; he was such a thrifty person!
To be honest, if you were to buy this many chickens, ducks and fish in the village, it would cost at least 300 yuan. But if you buy them on sale at the supermarket, it would only cost a little over 100 yuan, and you'd get more meat!
That's right. While people in Banligou have started to learn to eat local dishes like city dwellers, the villagers in Langshan still prefer to eat chickens and ducks with thick meat and lots of oil...
On the way up the mountain, Jiang Xiaoman checked the time and called Jiang Baichuan. She had originally intended to invite him over for dinner, since he was on his way home with the kids. However, considering Jiang Baichuan's temperament, she immediately changed her story when the call connected—
"Uncle Baichuan, come to my house for dinner tonight! My dad found some relatives on my great-aunt's side! My uncle and cousin are having dinner at my house tonight, you have to come!"
Upon hearing this, how could Jiang Baichuan not come? Jiang Youliang's family consisted of only him and his son. If he didn't go to help make a scene, people would think that the Jiang family had no one left.
Speaking of which, Jiang Youliang's relatives are also considered his family's relatives.
"Brother, this son of yours is something else!" Hearing Jiang Xiaoman manage to coax his uncle into coming to eat with just a few words, Shan Rong couldn't help but give Jiang Youliang a thumbs up.
His son is steady and reliable, but he's a bit dull, unlike Jiang Xiaoman, who exudes a clever and quick-witted energy.
I heard that Jiang Youliang has found his relatives in Banligou, and the village chief Jiang Youtian came along with him. Also coming to help were two relatives called by the village chief, one named Jiang Tao and the other named Jiang Feng. They were both in their forties, but they looked like old people in their fifties or sixties. Moreover, both of them had some disabilities. Jiang Tao was blind in one eye, and Jiang Feng had no arm below the elbow on his left arm.
Despite their disabilities, the two of them were able to work without any difficulty. In the city, people with disabilities of this age can probably still live on subsidies, but in the mountains, as long as they have a breath left, they have to rely on their strength to make a living.
Jiang Tao and Jiang Youliang took turns carrying the refrigerator up the hill, while the others carried large baskets, about half a person's height, to help carry the rice, flour, meat, vegetables, and other groceries that Jiang Xiaoman had bought up.
A few years ago, the government helped build cement roads to the village, but it was impossible to build roads further into the mountains. The area is vast and sparsely populated, and in many places, you can only see one house after several mountain peaks. Cement roads simply cannot be built there. Jiang Xiaoman's family used to have a donkey that could carry things, but two years ago, their area suffered a severe drought. Wild animals in the mountains couldn't find food, so they dragged away and ate all of their donkeys. When Jiang Youliang and his men found them, all that was left were two bloody gray donkey hooves...
Raising donkeys is laborious and consumes a lot of grain, and they can only carry things a few times a year. Later, Jiang Youliang simply stopped raising them. If the family needed anything, he would carry the small items himself, and for the larger items, like today, he would ask a few people to help carry them up.
When they got home, it was already dark. The pigs in the pen were so hungry they were about to jump out. Jiang Youliang put down his things and quickly went to the kitchen to scoop up pig feed to feed the pigs. He also fed the chickens. Jiang Xiaoman was busy boiling water to make tea for them.
There were only two grown men at home, and they didn't have any snacks. Luckily, Jiang Xiaoman remembered that she was going to entertain guests when she went to the supermarket in the afternoon, so she bought some peanuts, melon seeds, peach crisps, rice candy, and the like. Now, she tore open the packaging and put them on the table. With some hot tea, everyone filled their stomachs first.
"Uncle, Cousin A-Tang, please sit and have some tea. I'll go cook." Jiang Xiaoman picked up her basket and hurried to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
"Still eating? Hurry up and go help your cousin! How dare you call yourself his older brother!" Shan Rong glared at his son. Shan Tang quickly stuffed the remaining half of the peach shortbread into his mouth and slunk off to the kitchen to help.
That's true, there's no one in the family to help with cooking, poor Xiaoman.
Jiang Xiaoman didn't feel sorry for himself at all; he just enjoyed the thrill of having control over the entire kitchen.
It was too late to cook too many dishes. Looking at the meat and vegetables she'd bought from the supermarket, Jiang Xiaoman quickly made a decision—
First, open a package of frozen corn, peas and mixed vegetables, chop a bowl of pork belly into small cubes, mince some garlic, chop a handful of dried chili peppers, render the fat from the pork belly, add the mixed vegetables, add salt and stir-fry until cooked, then remove and set aside.
Today, Jiang Xiaoman is having guests over at home, and she plans to splurge a little. Instead of making mixed grain rice, she'll cook a big pot of white rice and add the stir-fried mixed vegetables and pork belly. This way, the rice and vegetables will taste especially delicious.
Chop the factory-farmed chicken into pieces, cut half a bowl of potato chunks, heat oil in a pan, add ginger slices and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until the chicken fat is rendered. Add light soy sauce and dark soy sauce and stir-fry until the chicken turns a golden brown color. Add the potatoes and stir-fry, then add water and simmer until cooked through.
Because the road is quite far, I didn't buy any fish today. However, I still have some rotten fish that I pickled last year. I took out two of them. You don't need to add anything to this kind of pickled fish. When you pickle it, you already put ginger, chili, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and other spices in. Just take it out, put some soybean oil in the bottom of the pan and slowly fry it until cooked. It smells stinky, but it tastes amazing with rice!
The remaining dishes are all relatively easy to make. Take a bowl of pickled chilies from your own garden, chop them into sections, and slice a plate of pork belly. Stir-fry some pickled chili pork belly—it's a great dish to eat with rice. Grate some potatoes, chop two green peppers, and stir-fry some hot and sour potato shreds. Pick a bowl of Swiss chard leaves from the doorway, chop them up, stir-fry them in oil, and sprinkle with some pork cracklings—it's incredibly fragrant…
In less than two hours, he prepared a whole table of dishes. Shan Rong was stunned by his culinary skills.
He already knew that Jiang Xiaoman was not Jiang Youliang's biological son. This cousin's parents had passed away early, and the family was so poor that they couldn't afford to marry a wife. So they picked up this child at the market and raised him as their own. There wasn't even a woman in the family, so it was easy to imagine that the father and son did all the laundry and cooking themselves.
But Jiang Xiaoman's cooking skills are just too amazing! Even his wife, who has been cooking for decades, sometimes has to go to the village restaurant to buy a few dishes when guests suddenly come over and there isn't enough time to cook meat dishes.
Looking at the dishes on the table—not exactly fancy, but certainly substantial enough for a rural family—Old Village Chief Shanrong finally believed that the differences between people were truly undeniable! For example, his son could only sit up and eat, while other people's sons could whip up a whole table of delicious food in the blink of an eye…
"Come! Try my homemade monkey wine. This recipe was taught to us by the old shaman back then, and not many people know it now." Jiang Youliang specially moved a ladder to the cellar and brought out a jar of his homemade fruit wine to entertain his guests.
He usually wouldn't bring out this wine.
“Speaking of this wine, there’s a story about a monkey repaying a debt of gratitude.” Jiang Youliang patted the mouth of the jar, and Shan Rong immediately showed an interested expression. As for the village chiefs Jiang Youtian and Jiang Tao, they were speechless.
They've heard this story since they were little, they're practically tired of it.
Only Shan Rong, this newly recognized relative, found it rare.
Chapter 15
However, the story of this "Monkey Intoxication" is indeed a legend from the Jiang family's ancestors.
Legend has it that the previous generation of the old shaman once rescued a little monkey with golden fur while gathering herbs in the mountains. One day, when he went into the mountains to gather herbs again, he encountered the little monkey, who had grown up. The little monkey actually recognized him. Not only that, but seeing that he was thirsty and hungry while gathering herbs, it squeaked and led the old shaman to a stone cave, where it offered him fruit wine that it had secretly made.
Jiang Xiaoman guessed that this fruit wine was probably the monkeys' "happy water for couch potatoes." After drinking it, they would get drunk and feel like they were in heaven.
The old shaman drank the monkey's gratitude wine, then retrieved the remaining fruit pits and peels from the bottom of the stone jar. He guessed what wild fruit was needed to brew the wine, and tried brewing some himself. After several failures, he finally figured it out and named it "Monkey's Intoxication."
However, this wine has a low alcohol content, and the mountain people prefer to drink strong liquor, so not many people are willing to learn the recipe. The main reason Jiang Youliang asked for the recipe to brew wine is because Jiang Xiaoman loves to drink it.
However, a father's love is always restrained. Even though Jiang Xiaoman is an adult, Jiang Youliang still refuses to let him drink freely. He believes that men who drink excessively are useless. If a man's mind is clouded by alcohol, what good can you expect him to do? So every year, he brews a few jars of alcohol and lets him have a treat during festivals.
"Dad, let me open a bottle of sorghum wine for Uncle Youtian and the others. You can try this Monkey's Intoxication with Uncle." Jiang Xiaoman knew that Jiang Youtian and the others loved to drink strong liquor, and seeing their pained expressions as they looked at the Monkey's Intoxication, she secretly chuckled.
Before his father could react, he ran to the next room where things were stored and grabbed a bottle of locally produced sorghum liquor. It was a simple glass bottle that initially sold for 2 yuan a bottle, but has now gradually risen to 7 yuan a bottle, but it is still the lowest price in the liquor industry.
Perhaps due to the old shaman's fan filter, the old village chief of Shanrong Village highly praised this Monkey Wine and suggested that his cousin Jiang Youliang could brew more. "There are many homestays in our Banligou area. City people like to try new things. I think your Monkey Wine is quite good. Get me some bottles to fill up, and I'll take some back for some bosses to try. If they're willing to buy it, you can earn more money selling wine every year."
"This is great! Anyway, these wild fruits are free, so even if the wine is ruined, we won't lose money." Jiang Youtian exclaimed loudly, and then, emboldened by the alcohol, asked the old village chief Shanrong if his family could also make this "monkey wine" and sell it together.
“Why not?” Shan Rong proudly showed off. “This is what we call common prosperity! If you don’t believe me, look at our Banligou. The whole village grows shiitake mushrooms together and runs homestays together. In the beginning, some people were secretly waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves, saying that if the whole village did the same thing, they would definitely fight over customers.”
"And then what happened? With so many people doing it together, didn't a fight break out?"
"What's there to fight about? We're so busy with customers we can't keep up! With all the bookings during the holidays, we've had to turn some back to other villages." Shan Rong patted Jiang Xiaoman's shoulder proudly, praising him with admiration. "Speaking of which, your Xiaoman is really quick-witted, knowing to seek advice from Boss Tang. Let me tell you, that Boss Tang in our town is a reincarnation of the God of Wealth! Her head is full of money-making ideas. If Xiaoman can learn the real secrets from her, will you still be afraid of not making money in the future?"
"Really? Does Boss Tang often visit your village?" Jiang Youtian was filled with envy. Everyone was a village chief, so why was Shan Rong so lucky?
"Xiao Tang is busy. She has so many businesses under her control, how could she have time to come over often?"
“However, she comes to check the previous month’s financial statements at the beginning of each month and also holds a meeting with management. I’ll ask her what day she’s coming this month. Xiaoman, you can come to my house a day in advance and stay there. After her meeting, I’ll take you to meet her.” Shan Rong genuinely wanted to help his newly adopted cousin’s family.