Fortunately, many of them are married. If an unmarried young woman worked here for a few years, would she still dare to get married?
From that day on, Lang Ying never returned to the village.
She and her two daughters decided to stay near the public toilet close to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
There's a tool shed here, which was originally used by the cleaning lady who cleans the public toilets to store her tools or rest. Lang Ying persuaded her for a while and gave her another two hundred yuan to rent the place for a month.
This place is much better than renting a house. Water and electricity are free, and there's a police station nearby, so we don't have to worry about Jiang Erming causing trouble!
Anyway, she had already made up her mind: if Jiang Erming refused to give her more money, she would go to the police station and have the police arrest him!
Jiang Erming never expected that this woman, who had always been submissive, would be so difficult to deal with during the divorce.
However, he had no other choice. With his "girlfriend's" family promising a house worth millions, he somehow managed to get 20,000 yuan a month later and actually came to Lang Ying with the money to complete the formalities.
Seeing him easily take out 20,000 yuan, Lang Ying smiled sarcastically, recalling how, in the past, when the men from other families in the village went out to work, they would always bring back 10,000 yuan or so for the New Year.
Only her husband either said he didn't make any money this year, or that the contractor ran away and he didn't get the final payment... How can there be so many contractors running away every year?
Now it seems that all the money her husband didn't bring home during their marriage has probably been kept in his own pocket.
She only regretted that she had been too strong-willed over the years. She had asked for money several times, but the man refused. She couldn't bring herself to keep asking him for the money, so she simply gave up.
Why can't we accept it?
She farms and raises pigs back in her hometown, taking care of the family's food, drink, and daily needs. Every month she has to pay for electricity and phone bills, and her two children can't afford formula, but they still need to eat a few eggs, right? Don't all of these things cost money?
She's the opposite; having a man is worse than not having one at all...
However, there's no point in pursuing these questions now.
After completing the divorce procedures, Lang Ying stood on the bustling street of the county town, holding her eldest daughter's hand with one hand and carrying her second daughter on her back. She looked around blankly, not knowing where to go.
"Huh? Sister Yingzi?" A small truck suddenly stopped in front of the mother and her two daughters.
The passenger door opened, and a person jumped out—it was Jiang Xiaoman, a college student from their village.
Jiang Xiaoman never expected that he would run into an acquaintance while picking up a package in the county town. He quickly asked the driver to open the back door so that the mother and her two daughters could get in.
Lang Ying's mind was blank, and she didn't know where they were going. When she heard Jiang Xiaoman mistakenly think they were going back to the village and even carried her eldest daughter on board, she also got on the bus in a daze.
Jiang Xiaoman originally wanted to ask her what she was doing in the county town, but when the car turned a corner and she saw the big sign of the Civil Affairs Bureau at the intersection, she suddenly understood everything.
Recently, the fact that Jiang Erming from their village is making a fuss about divorcing his wife has become common knowledge!
If their village had a trending topics list, this matter would probably stay on the trending topics list for at least three days!
Now, Lang Ying's sister-in-law is standing alone with her child at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau. It seems that she has divorced Jiang Erming.
It's better that we're divorced!
Jiang Yu had complained about this more than once. A man leaves his wife in his hometown to farm, and she even gave birth to two children for him, yet he only gives her three or five hundred yuan a month. Is he treating her like a beggar?
Although Jiang Xiaoman is also a man, he has to say something fair: Jiang Erming, this kind of scumbag, should be expelled from the ranks of men to prevent the reputation of all men from being damaged!
However, the adults divorced so easily. After all, no one can die without someone else in this world. It's just a pity for the two children. Sigh!
Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaoman unzipped her backpack, took out two packs of rice crackers and handed them to Da Niu, and then took out an unopened honey cake and handed it to Lang Ying.
"Sister-in-law, try this cake. The lady at the county express delivery station just gave it to me."
Lang Ying took the cake blankly, perhaps because she was really hungry. She thanked him, tore open the plastic bag, broke off a piece and put it in her mouth, then stared wide-eyed in surprise.
This honey cake is delicious!
It's so fluffy and soft! And it has a sweet, milky aroma!
After taking only one bite, Lang Ying couldn't bear to eat any more. She broke a small piece of honey cake in half, giving one half to her eldest daughter and carefully wrapping the other half in her pocket, intending to give it to her second daughter when she woke up.
Thinking that her two daughters had never tasted such a delicious honey cake before, Lang Ying couldn't help but cover her eyes and burst into tears.
Jiang Xiaoman sat in the passenger seat and looked through the rearview mirror at Lang Ying in the back seat, whose hair was disheveled and who looked as old as a middle-aged woman. She felt an indescribable sadness in her heart!
He only recently found out that Lang Ying's sister-in-law was only two years older than him!
A 27-year-old woman living in the city, if she were in a slightly better-off situation, might still be pursuing a master's degree or have just started working. Her biggest daily worry would be her parents pressuring her to get married.
Lang Ying already has two children; the older one hasn't started primary school yet, and the younger one is still being carried on her back.
Jiang Xiaoman was only thankful that Lang Ying hadn't given up completely and had at least fought for herself and her child before the divorce!
In the village, as long as people are hardworking, have a house and land, and do some odd jobs, the mother and her two daughters can still have enough to eat.
Speaking of odd jobs, Jiang Xiaoman suddenly remembered that she could probably find some work for Lang Ying's sister-in-law.
Recently, many people have been asking in the comments section if Jiangyu can make some smoked dried fish to sell to them.
It was quite a coincidence that a few days ago, this lucky guy Jiangyu must have encountered a school of fish. After a few net casts, he actually caught several hundred pounds of big fish!
They couldn't possibly eat all these fish themselves, so they took some to the market to sell. Unexpectedly, there were many fish for sale on the street this year, so they brought more than thirty fish, and they still hadn't sold them all.
Jiang Xiaoman gave him an idea: the two of them slaughtered and cleaned the fish, then marinated and smoked them until they were golden brown. After the video was posted that day, several local restaurant owners contacted them to buy smoked fish.
Jiang Yu is such a clever fellow; his eyes lit up, and he immediately came up with a great business idea—
"Brother Xiaoman, since the weather's been so nice lately, perfect for pickling and drying fish, let's make some extra money, shall we?"
Jiang Yu said that there are many people selling fish at the market this year, and fishing on the river is particularly easy, so it is estimated to be a bumper year for fishing.
In years like these, the price of fresh fish usually drops drastically. Bighead carp that normally sells for eight yuan a pound can be sold for as little as four yuan a pound when the market closes.
Jiang Yu's plan is to greet all the fishermen he knows on the river. He won't interfere with their earnings. They can take the fresh fish they catch each day to the market to sell first. As long as the fish are still alive, he will buy them for four yuan per kilogram.
Of course, if it's dead, it'll be priced differently—after all, even if it's freshly caught that day, if it's dead, it'll definitely have to be sold off at the price of dead fish, and this kind of fish is actually pretty much the same as live fish when it comes to making dried fish.
Jiang Xiaoman considered it in her mind and felt that this business was worth doing, so she was immediately tempted.
I came to the county for two reasons: one, to pick up the things Jiang Cancan sent back, and two, to buy large bags of coarse salt. You have to use this kind of coarse salt to make delicious smoked fish.
Unexpectedly, they ran into Lang Ying, who had come to the county town to go through divorce proceedings.
As the crying in the back row gradually subsided, Jiang Xiaoman turned to Lang Ying and handed her a pack of tissues, asking her if she would like to help them kill fish and make dried fish.
“Brother Xiaoyu also has two children at home. When you come to work, Sister Ying, you can bring Da Niu and Er Niu with you.”
“We are provided with lunch. We start work at nine in the morning, have a one-hour lunch break, and finish work at six in the afternoon. We earn one hundred yuan a day. The work is not difficult; it's just helping to kill, wash, and marinate fish.”
Lang Ying was somewhat tempted after hearing this: "Xiaoman, thank you for finding me a job. I'm willing to do it. I just don't know when it will start? I just got divorced and separated from my spouse. I got an old house, so I'm afraid I'll need to tidy up the old house first, which will take two or three days."
"No rush, go back and tidy up the house first. When you're done, go to Jiang Yu's house to find him. We'll be making this smoked fish for at least a month or two." Jiang Xiaoman smiled and then asked her where the old house was. When she heard it was on the banks of the back river, she immediately laughed!
"Oh my! So this job was arranged for you by God? I was just talking to Brother Xiaoyu yesterday. With so many fish, if we kill them in the yard, the house will smell terrible! Brother Xiaoyu said that we should push the fish to the riverbank to gut them, throw the innards directly into the water, wash them clean, and then take them back to marinate."
Lang Ying never expected such a coincidence.
If Jiang Yu and his family really are cleaning fish at the old house, then she won't have to take the children to Jiang Yu's house in the mornings anymore. She can let her eldest daughter and second daughter play at home while she helps clean fish at the doorstep, and she can take care of the children nearby.
If that's the case, she's willing to keep doing this job!
One hundred yuan a day, that's three thousand a month, and six thousand in two months!
With six thousand yuan, the mother and her two children can have a good New Year this year...
This finally put her mind at ease, which had been adrift since her divorce.
At that moment, Lang Ying suddenly had the courage and confidence to start over.
Chapter 129
Jiang Xiaoman went to the county town, loaded a truck full of goods and brought it back to the village. She also picked up Lang Ying, who had just finished her divorce proceedings, along the way!
For a moment, the villagers were unsure whether to go and see the things Jiang Xiaoman had brought back first, or to inquire about Lang Ying and Jiang Erming's divorce.
Unexpectedly, Lang Ying actually followed Jiang Xiaoman into Jiang Yu's house!
Great, now we can look at two pieces of gossip at the same time.
Ever since Jiang Yu and Shan Yan moved down the mountain, their house has become Jiang Xiaoman's transit point for goods. Anything that is inconvenient to bring up the mountain has to be stored here with Jiang Yu first, and then his father can come down the mountain to help carry it home when he has time.
However, what we brought back from the county town today did not belong to Jiang Xiaoman.
Instead, Jiang Cancan had saved up for a long time and sent it all back to her hometown in one go.
Among these items were down jackets, cotton shoes, and cotton pants for her grandmother and sister to wear during the winter, as well as nutritional supplements, a down jacket, two sets of thermal underwear, and two pairs of waterproof snow boots for Jiang Baichuan.
There were also several large boxes of chocolates from a certain brand, which were supposedly given to Jiang Cancan by a sponsor who particularly liked her after filming the advertisement.
Jiang Cancan is now under strict management by her agent. Her three meals a day and snacks are strictly proportioned by a nutritionist, so she can't possibly eat this much. Therefore, she simply sent it all back to her family and classmates at school.
There were even two separate packages inside, specially for him and Jiang Xia. Jiang Cancan said it was a secret, so we don't know what's inside. It was a rather heavy cardboard box. Compared to his huge box, Jiang Xia's was quite meager—just a small package weighing less than ten pounds. Hehe~~
However, there were too many people in the yard, and Jiang Xiaoman was worried that it would cause trouble for Grandma Jiang, so he didn't demolish it. When villagers asked, he said it was donated to the school by a kind-hearted person.
This is the safest explanation.
Firstly, everyone in the village respected Uncle Baichuan. Hearing that the money was donated to the school, even the villagers who loved to take advantage of others dared not touch or rummage through it.
Secondly, he didn't dare let the villagers know that Jiang Cancan was earning money outside. Otherwise, what if some opportunistic person shamelessly went to Grandma Jiang to borrow money?
...
Upon hearing that Jiang Xiaoman had made a trip to the county town to collect supplies donated to the school by kind-hearted people, the villagers immediately lost interest in the things in the yard and instead became enthusiastic about Lang Ying's divorce.
The villagers may not have meant any harm, but since the couple just got divorced today, a bunch of people came to watch the spectacle. If it were Jiang Xiaoman, she would probably be quite annoyed too.
Unexpectedly, Lang Ying herself readily admitted it, saying that she would continue to live in the village and did not plan to remarry, only wanting to raise her two daughters peacefully.
Her words effectively shut down several men who were eager to arrange marriages for her.
These days, it's so hard for a man in the mountains to find a wife!
Let alone first-time brides, even divorced women are still in high demand.
There have even been cases here where the bride price for a second marriage is higher than that for a first marriage.
But thinking about it carefully, it's normal. After all, if an unmarried young woman is in a free-love relationship, she might run off with the boy she likes "because of love" and not ask for a single penny of dowry.
Almost all women who remarry have experienced the hardships of marriage and are all too aware of the importance of a solid economic foundation for a marriage!
A married woman who has no money, whose husband doesn't give her living expenses, and who is unemployed, could really be driven to the point of jumping into a river or drinking pesticide with her child...
Therefore, when they learned that Lang Ying had really divorced Jiang Erming, the villagers who liked to act as matchmakers were overjoyed. Some of their relatives who couldn't find wives were also eager to arrange for Lang Ying to meet the young men they had chosen!
What? You mean Lang Ying brought two maids with him?