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墨書 Inktalez
Awakened by the noise outside, Jiang Yizhou got up from bed and glanced at the watch on the bedside: it was seven-thirty.
With some reluctance, he got up to brush his teeth and wash his face, complaining about how early visitors were already coming to pay New Year’s greetings.
Unlike the future, the festive atmosphere of the New Year was still quite strong now. Besides playing cards and gambling, there wasn't much else to do. The rules weren't strict; everyone had a casual attitude since they were all relatives and friends. Losing was just like giving out red envelopes.
Every New Year, one had to spend quite a bit, which was Jiang Yizhou's understanding of the holiday. Regardless of whether others accepted your good intentions, whether it was giving gifts or preparing a lavish meal for guests coming to pay their respects, one could not appear shabby. As the saying goes, "Even if you're poor, you must maintain face," unless one was truly in dire straits that everyone knew about.
In front of Jiang Yizhou's family's adobe house, not far away was a large pond, about sixty to seventy meters in diameter. Their area was built around this pond, with abundant underground water.
Jiang Yizhou was held back by his father and chatted with several elders for a full ten minutes before he finally took his toothbrush to the edge of the pond to brush his teeth.
Having too many relatives living nearby wasn’t something Jiang Yizhou considered particularly good. He remembered his father telling him that the Jiang family had been here for over two hundred years and that there was a family tree, although it wasn't kept here but in a ancestral hall in a neighboring county. Their branch traced back to Grandfather Jiang Yizhou's grandfather, with each generation having at least two or three children. Although many branches did not survive due to early deaths, there were still quite a few.
The two people his father had him call "uncle" were related to him through a great-uncle. With so many connections, he didn't want to delve into how he should address them anymore; it was almost five generations removed. Fortunately, they lived in the same village and could still maintain their relationships.
After sending off wave after wave of visitors who came simply to pay their respects, the snacks on the table were replaced with new ones. His mother called everyone to have a simple breakfast: sweet potato porridge accompanied by homemade pickled vegetables and salted duck eggs before they set off for Uncle's House.
After all, Grandparents were at Uncle's House, so naturally, they would first pay respects to their parents. In recent years on New Year's Day, his father and several brothers would take their families to Uncle's House. The money spent on honoring their parents could not be lacking; since the elders' health wasn't great, as children they couldn't neglect them.
However, his mother often complained—specifically last night she had argued with Jiang Yizhou and his father about how much money should be given. Aunt always took money given by other brothers for their parents to subsidize her own family. Cousin had already started building a house; who knew how that money was being deducted?
At least the elders were still doing well; they just didn’t have much food on their plates and their clothes were a bit old, but they changed them frequently. So his mother only complained; with just a few adobe houses, she couldn't provide enough for both elders to live comfortably.
When they arrived at Uncle's House on the other side of the village, both Second Uncle and Third Uncle's families were already there. All three families lived together in that area, while Jiang Maoqiang's family had moved to this side. Two sisters had married and moved Outside, so they probably wouldn't come to pay New Year visits until the second day.
"Youngest, you finally made it! We thought you wouldn't be able to come! Hahaha!" Second Uncle, Jiang Maofen, boomed as he patted their father's shoulder.
With the arrival of Jiang Maoqiang's family of four, Uncle's House felt a bit crowded. Fortunately, several children had gathered a bunch of candies and snacks and took their toys to play in the Outside yard, while the women went to the kitchen to help out.
Even so, with two adults from Uncle's House, one adult from Second Uncle's family, and Third Uncle still single and unmarried, plus Jiang Yizhou, there were a total of ten people crammed into the main room. This was just three generations of one family; if Great-Uncle were still alive, every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, sons and grandsons would come to pay their respects. They would probably need to set up ten tables for a feast to accommodate everyone.
Several elders were chatting while Jiang Yizhou stood in a circle with his two cousins and an unmarried cousin sister.
He listened to the conversations around him, constantly comparing them with memories in his mind, familiarizing himself with this life before awakening his past life memories.
"Yizhou, where did you buy that outfit? It's so nice! How much was it? I want to buy one too!" Cousin Jiang Dehong tugged at Jiang Yizhou's sleeve, pulling him into the conversation.
Their generation belonged to the De character generation. However, since there were too many peers around them, some people didn't follow the naming conventions based on seniority. Jiang Yizhou and Jiang Xiaoya were examples of this. But if they were recorded in the family tree, their names would be written as Jiang Dezhou.
Jiang Yizhou paused for a moment before telling him the truth. "I bought this in Beijing; it was over two hundred yuan. I forgot the exact amount!"
Ding Zhengnan had accompanied him shopping for this outfit. For both a wealthy young lady and Jiang Yizhou who now had money in hand, it was quite an expense.
The three peers found it hard to believe; that was about a month's wages. Would he really spend that much? They thought he was just boasting and assumed he must have gotten it from a street vendor. It looked decent on the outside but who knew how poor the quality was inside!
However, they didn't press him further to embarrass him; relatives valued face above all else. If someone wanted to show off by building a house or becoming a big boss and drove back in a car, that would be more effective than anything else. They treated his boasting as just a joke.
"I can see that you don't want me to show off, right? Why are you so angry!" Jiang Dehong said, and the four of them took the rare opportunity to chat.
Jiang Dehong was doing some business in the county, while Jiang Yizhou was working in the capital. Their second brother, Jiang Delin, was working in the south with his wife, and their cousin, Jiang Yunyun, was at home helping with matchmaking. She mentioned that she had gone on three blind dates, one of which she found quite interesting. However, after inquiring about the situation through someone else, she learned that the reputation wasn't great, so it fell through.
The lunch was quite good, mainly because Jiang Yizhou finally looked like a proper working adult. He had a job and had changed into a decent outfit, sitting at the main table instead of just constantly serving dishes.
Their father didn't reveal Jiang Yizhou's income either. Besides the fact that he eventually gave their father a red envelope with a thousand yuan as a gesture of filial piety, which surprised the other three brothers a bit. Uncle accepted it after some hesitation, knowing it was Jiang Yizhou's intention. He praised him profusely and was curious about how he earned so much money.
On the way back, Jiang Yizhou suddenly blurted out, "Dad, we should really hurry up and build the house!"
He also felt a bit of vanity; this feeling of being constrained wasn't pleasant at all. Clearly, he wasn't short on money, but what others saw were tangible things—having a house and a car, having a television—people naturally accepted that.
It really was boring; Jiang Yizhou found himself missing the days when all he needed to do was work hard at the company.
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