At eleven o'clock in the morning, Jiang Jing finally arrived home.
Knowing that her daughter was coming back today, Jiang's mother took a day off specifically. Her daughter's one month's salary was equivalent to her two months' salary, so it would be better to settle down as soon as possible.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Compared with before the college entrance examination, Jiang Jing has gained a lot of weight, and there is fat on her face. Her appearance, which could only be rated as a six-point originally, is now at least a seven-point.
Jiang's father quickly waved to his daughter: "Xiao Jing, come here quickly and let daddy take a look!"
Jiang Jing put down her backpack and walked into her parents' bedroom with the bread crumbs. Benefiting from the improvement of family conditions, Jiang's father's mental state was much better, and he was no longer as lifeless as before.
"Dad, are you hungry? Do you want some bread crumbs?"
The bread crumbs were saved in the past two days and weighed about a pound. She ate the rest.
Throughout August, she took a total of twelve kilograms of grain from the food card, which greatly reduced the family's burden.
"Your mother is making lunch, don't waste it."
Father Jiang shook his head.
"Try the taste. The factory has produced several new types of bread, and some of them taste quite good."
Jiang Jing grabbed a handful of bread crumbs from the bag and slowly fed them to her father.
Father Jiang was eating bread crumbs and chatting with his daughter.
"Xiaojing, you worked overtime again last night? Why do you have such big dark circles?" Father Jiang asked with concern.
Jiang Jing nodded and responded casually: "The factory has been facing heavy production tasks recently."
"How much is your salary this month?"
"Twenty thousand."
"So much? You have to work a lot of overtime, right?"
Father Jiang looked at his daughter with a tired face, and suddenly felt very distressed.
"It's not bad. In fact, it'll be fine once you get used to it." Seeing her father's bad expression, Jiang Jing quickly changed the topic:
"Dad, where is my little brother?"
"He went to pick up scraps on the street and wanted to save money to buy a new schoolbag." Father Jiang replied.
As for Dadi Jiang, he reported to the technical school in July. Technical schools only have a two-year schooling system, no summer vacation, and classes usually start early.
"Oh, didn't I promise to buy him a schoolbag?"
Jiang's father looked pleased: "Your brother is sensible now. He knows that it is not easy for you to make money, and I want to lighten your burden a little."
As soon as he finished speaking, Brother Jiang came back dragging a large bag of bottles and cans. He hadn't seen him for more than a month and he was quite tanned.
"Sister, are you back?"
Jiang Jing wiped her brother's sweat with a towel and asked with a smile: "Have you got all the money to buy the schoolbag?"
"It should be almost done." Little Brother Jiang nodded.
"If it's close, tell my eldest sister and she'll give it to you."
"Well, thank you sister!"
"Are you hungry? The eldest sister brought bread crumbs back, so you can fill your stomach first!" Jiang Jing handed the bag of bread crumbs to the younger brother.
Little Brother Jiang was so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back. When he saw the bread crumbs, he couldn't bear it any longer. He put the bag to his mouth and took several bites, wishing he had an extra mouth.
"Eat slowly, don't choke."
In less than five minutes, more than a kilogram of bread crumbs was dried up by Jiang Jing. Jiang Jing did not stop him. Today is a happy day when wages are paid, so let him have a full meal!
When Jiang's mother wanted to stop it, it was already too late.
I could only catch my daughter and scold her: "Your brother is a child and is ignorant, are you a child too? So many crumbs are enough for him to eat for three meals, but the result is good, he finished it in one meal."
Little brother Jiang hid behind his eldest sister in fear.
"Mom, I saved the bread crumbs. I can give them to whoever I want. You have no control over them." Jiang Jing retorted.
Jiang's mother held back her anger and said, "What are you doing here? It's time to eat."
After lunch, Jiang Jing handed over 10,000 yuan to her mother, and the remaining 2,000 yuan was temporarily used as living expenses for her and her eldest brother.
As for college tuition, you can apply for interest-free loans, and their family also meets the conditions, so you can't miss it in vain.
…
September 1st, Sunday.
Early in the morning, Ma Lingling waited for Jiang Jing at the entrance of the subway station. The two made an appointment yesterday to set off together today.
Xu Ting and Ma Jie did not send their daughter to report.
First, Ma Lingling insists on it. In addition, Ma Xu also starts school today, so there are many things to do;
Second, Xu's mother had said hello in advance and would ask Xu Dong to accompany her eldest niece to school, so that the couple did not have to worry.
After arriving in Yanjing, the two separated at the subway station. After all, they were not in the same school.
Because she had a lot of luggage, Ma Lingling took a taxi directly and went to her brother-in-law's house.
"I've been waiting for you all morning."
Xu's mother wanted to step forward to take over her granddaughter's luggage, but Ma Lingling dodged it.
"Grandma, your legs haven't healed yet, so I'll do it myself!"
"Nonsense, grandma's leg has already healed."
"I can carry it myself." Ma Lingling insisted.
Xu Ma smiled and shook her head: "Okay, grandma, that's all. The room was cleaned yesterday. You can go up by yourself. It's still the same room you lived in before."
This is a state of emergency. According to regulations, Ma Lingling must live on campus, but this does not prevent her from taking a nap or staying for a few days during the holidays.
"Thank you grandma, grandma, you are so kind!"
Ma Lingling's room was on the second floor, next to her cousins' bedrooms. It took less than ten minutes to tidy up the room.
Xu's mother was preparing lunch, and Ma Lingling ran over to help.
"Grandma, where are my uncle and aunt?"
"Take Keke and the others to school to register. They should be back soon." Xu's mother replied.
Today happens to be Sunday, so the third child is rarely free.
"Is grandpa still working today?"
Xu's mother complained: "Your grandpa is now focused on the company and wishes he could live in the office every day, so he only has two days off during the New Year and the holidays."
"I didn't expect grandpa to work so hard!" Ma Lingling sighed with emotion.
"Why are you working hard? You are busy all day long."
Xu Ma complained.
"Hehe, grandpa is now the chairman, so he must be in charge of a lot of things."
Xu Ma curled her lips: "Your grandma is also the general manager. Look at the three meals a day at home. Which meal is missing?"
The palms and backs of the hands are full of flesh, so it’s not easy to say this.
Ma Lingling immediately changed the subject: "Grandma, what is cooking in the pot? Why does it smell so fragrant?"
"It's a fried rooster. It was just killed in the morning. It weighs three kilograms!" Xu Ma opened the lid of the pot and turned the chicken over with a spatula.
"Why did you kill the chicken again?"
Ma Lingling was a little embarrassed. She had just killed a chicken just the day before yesterday. If she continued to kill it at this rate, she wouldn't be able to eat it for the New Year.
"School starts today. Going to school is very tiring, so I'll give you a good supplement." Xu's mother explained.
There are currently a total of forty-five chickens in the family. Apart from the twenty-five hens, there are twenty roosters. We can kill one or two every month.
“It smells so good!”
Ma Lingling couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
Xu's mother smiled and joked: "Why are you still as greedy as when you were a child? It will be cooked in a while and you can eat it to your heart's content."