Chapter 17: Unquestioning Filial Piety 17
Author: 打字机N号
T /N: This is MTL work. I tried to edit as best as I could, any mistake plz do put your comment and I will edit it ASAP. This is my first attempt on Chinese novel so please cheer me up! I hope you will find this novel as interesting as I do.
Five years later.
“Dad, I want to eat tiger eggs. [T/N: Fried boiled egg. I mean, you boiled the egg first, and then removed the shell and fried it in oil, can add hot sauce as its gravy.]”
On the sidewalk at the Taifeng Provincial town, a tall and lean man in his early thirties held a chubby boy on his left arm and a snow-white girl on his right as they walked slowly.
“Where are we going to find you a tiger egg during daytime? I see the newly opened fruit pancake [T/N: A bit similar to crepes] shop is quite good. The pancake is also fragrant. With the fritter and sausage being wrapped inside pancake and then being smeared with their homemade sauce, father guarantee that it will definitely be good.”
The man replied to the chubby boy. Upon hearing his father’s description, that boy started to lick his lip as he thought on how to compromise.
“Then I will have fruit pancake this morning. But I want to have two sausages with it.”
That little chubby boy finally agreed as he made a gesture using his finger as he pouted.
Jiang Liu felt funny in his heart. That boy really didn’t think of his own small stomach. He definitely would not be able to finish that pancake and two sausages. At that time, when everyone will be eating delicious lunch, he still needs to finish off his leftover breakfast which will be reheated especially for him.
Obviously the family is not going to starve him ah! Why is that that he could not even remember about his next meal?
However, Jiang Liu did not think too much about it. Since this stupid son of his really do not have a long term memory, therefore it was all left to him to teach this chubby boy a few lessons for a couple of time.
“Xingxing want to drink sweet eight-treasure porridge, but Xingxing doesn’t want to drink the whole bowl. Xingxing will share half of it with father.”
Compared to this stupid chubby son of his, the daughter in his arm was more thoughtful. Jiang Liu could not help but listen to her. Her milky like voice made his heart softened.
“I also want to eat eight-treasure porridge. Xingxing, I will share it with you. I can also let you eat my fruit pancake.”
Jiang Yang who was held by Jiang Liu recalled the soft and sweet taste of the eight-treasure porridge. He really wanted to eat it. His little brain couldn’t make a choice between the fruit pancake and the eight-treasure porridge.
“But Xingxing don’t want to eat fruit pancakes.”Jiang Xing shook her head as she disagreed with the trade-off. However, she is a good girl who is gentle and kind. When she saw her sulky brother, she generously agreed to his plea. Although she didn’t like the fruit pancake, but she did not prevent her brother from eating her eight-treasure porridge.
With that satisfactory promise, Jiang Yang finally became happy again. The father and children ate the breakfast happily, and then they brought breakfast back for Xu Xiuxiu. The three of them walked back towards the direction of their home.
The thatch business of the production team had gradually moved on the right track. From the beginning of the year, Jiang Liu no longer intervened with this matter. Fortunately, he had trained a few capable young people who will be responsible for connecting the villagers with the outside contractor.
It’s just that the thatch weaving could not be considered as a high-tech job. The weaving methods handed down by Jiang Liu was soon being cracked down by other people. This had caused the thatch market to become congested. The income of people on the team also had decreased a lot.
Yet, since they were the pioneer, they had managed to save quite a bit. In addition to that, two years ago, the commune had also been dissolved. The fields were then distributed to the members according to the number of people in the family. Everyone planted the demanded thatch on the field. Therefore, their life could be considered very moist and prosperous.
The original Red Star Commune was later renamed to Qinghe Village. Their village could be considered to be the most affluent village in the surrounding area. Almost every household had their residence to be rebuilt to become a relatively small mansion. Every household had the standard of bicycles and small TVs. As for the young woman and man in this village, they had become the most sought after as a marriage partner.
The life of the villagers was finally reaching its peak and Jiang Liu by no means was inferior.
After the birth of the twins, Jiang Liu felt that he should be a responsible father. He bought two houses in Beijing and Shanghai. Of course, he did not forget to buy the house deep inside the city where the property price is yet to rise up.”
As for the rest of the money, he used it to buy shops in town where he currently lived. Now there were more and more people doing business. Just in their small town, the rent for a shop in a bustling area can reach up to sixty to seventy yuan per month, similar to the average salary for a normal worker.
Jiang Liu was clear with the direction that he wanted to go. With the rapid economic growth of China in the late 1980s as well as the rapid rise in prices, the rents for these shops can be increased by several times.
Therefore he bought thirteen similar shop with eleven of them being rented out. He used the remaining two to run his own small business.
Different from the stunning performances of those space traveller in other novels, Jiang Liu’s ways of dealing with the property business could be considered as mediocre. But Jiang Liu was a self-aware person. After all, he was only a small person who was just a little bit smarter. This was the case in his last life. It was also the case for now. The knowledge that he had for now only enough for him to make a small ripple in the economic growth of the country. If the 001 system really wants him to make big waves, he afraid that he might be pushed down by other people who were definitely smarter than him.
He was a slightly savvy person who wanders at the bottom starta of the community. He only grasped things that he was sure to be his. He was never a person who eyeing for something that could not be kept.
Jiang Liu felt that this way of living in a new environment with a new identity was quite good. He could grow up his ability slowly. Perhaps one day he will proudly tell the world of his wisdom, strategy, and ambition is comparable to those talented and blessed people. It was by no means was it stupid. Taking advantage of the little memory that he had in regard to the future, he did not know how much weight he needs to use to pull this off.
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Jiang Liu’s house in the province town was a self-built house with a large courtyard. Compared to the tubular building that people nowadays had been relentlessly pursued, Jiang Liu preferred a house with spacious space. [T/N: Tubular building is kind of like a small 4-storey apartment but with a closed-off layout similar to a dormitory.]
As he entered the yard, the little dog he bought last month started to wiggle his tail as it greeted him.
The Jiang family’s food was very good. The little milk dog which initially the size of a small pin ball had grown considerably. Its fur also appeared to be fluffy white. Jiang Yang and Jiang Xing, who initially held by Jiang Liu, could not help but wanted to come down to play with it.
“You are not allowed to give your half eaten fruit pancake to the dog. If you do it, you will be punished with a porridge for lunch.”
Jiang Liu noticed that this stupid son of him wanted to feed the leftover half-eaten pancake to that small dog. Jiang Liu decided to warn him as he spoke coldly at the side.
That chubby boy Jiang Yang disliked even more the tasteless and bland porridge. When he heard the threat in his father’s voice, he quickly took back the hand that was secretly aiming for the dog before he turned to his father with a grin on his face.
Looking at that silly and sweet boy, Jiang Liu could not become angry with him. He could only comfort himself. This was his son after all. Even his stupidity also came from his own gene.
“You finally come back. Juan xiao-mei came over. It seemed that there was something urgent, but when I asked, she didn’t say anything in the end. She said that she will wait until you came home before she opened her mouth.”
Xu Xiuxiu heard the sound from outside and took the breakfast Jiang Liu had specially bought for her. She also didn’t forget to take the remaining half-eaten pancake from her tearful son. She will keep it for now and later reheat it as her son’s lunch.
As for their afternoon lunch, she decided to make a sweet and sour pork and steamed tenderloin pork. These two dishes were the most favourite food of her son. When he realized that he could not eat it, then will he know that wasting food was wrong. The fat boy still didn’t realize the sinister intentions of his mother. When he was teasing the chubby dog, he still did not forget to look up and gave his mother a sweet and bright smile.
“You go and have the breakfast first. I will go and see her. Since she can say it like that, it means that this matter was not that important.”
Jiang Liu patted his wife’s shoulder and walked toward the living room.
“Big brother, you finally come back. Did you know that dad had an accident? Have you forgotten your responsibility as their child? If you have a parent, you still need to be kind to them no matter what conflict you had with them. If you do not have any conscience, in the future, there will definitely be a retribution.”
When Jiang Liu entered the room, the woman who had been sitting on the sofa suddenly stood up and rushed towards him intended to slap his face as if trying to teach him a lesson.
“What happened to Dad? Your brother and I do not know anything about it, ah. For a younger sister to come and throw that kind of accusation to her big brother, is the world is already coming to an end?”
Xu Xiuxiu who was originally preparing the breakfast at the dining room heard the loud movement coming from the living room. She left the breakfast on the table as she rushed over. Like an old hen guarding their small chick, Xu Xiuxiu push Jiang Liu to stand behind her as she faced that little sister-in-law of her.
There is son and daughter in her house. Coupled with the good economic condition, Xu Xiuxiu’s waist and back had become upright. Not to mention the attitude that this couple had over the Jiang’s old family. She did not feel that it will be too excessive to give this girl a little bit of lesson.
“Dad is currently sick. The second brother had sent him to the hospital for examination. The result finally came out. It is lung cancer. The doctor said that it will take a lot of money to cure this disease. My family and I are only normal people. The children also need money to study. Where do we have extra money to let dad see the doctor ah?”
Xu Xiuxiu’s tough attitude deterred Jiang Juan’s momentum. But her voice was still loud as if she wanted to let the outsider know of such matter.
“Big brother, you have so much money. If you have any conscience, just go to the hospital to see Dad. If you can’t bear to let go of the money, then just pretend as if I haven’t been here today.”
After that, Jiang Juan turned and left.
Her words were really heart-warming. She even told them that they will not regard Jiang Liu as being heartless if he refused to pay the medical expenses while at the same time branding him as a white-eyed wolf who let his close relatives died. As for these two people who had always been showered with love by the Jiang’s old lady, they acted as if their life was full of troubled therefore unable to contribute even a bit to it.
Jiang Liu was now placed directly on fire because the people in the village knew that he had a lots of money. If he refused to take out the money, Jiang Hai and others can finally take the old man back from the hospital after faking few tears lamenting their difficulties. At that time, even with thousand excuses, others will still blame Jiang Liu for not being filial. When a person dies, all his mistakes will be forgotten. At that time, who will still remembers the grievances that Jiang Liu had faced in the past. They will only remember him as a person who forgotten his family after accumulating his own riches.
Xu Xiuxiu quickly realized their small trick and was very angry with the sinister intentions of both Jiang Hai and Jiang Juan.
But what can be done? That pair of brother and sister had refused to pay the medical expenses. Therefore, the couple had no other choice but to be responsible for it. After all, they cannot simply watched and let the old man die.
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Ah the woes of the rich