Chapter 179: No Culture

Chapter 179: No Culture

Chapter 179: No Culture

We set off at eight in the morning, drove on the highway for nine hours, and got off the highway at Jicheng West.

I walked and saw a lot along the way.

The topography here is very different from that of Bei'an. There are mountains and hills everywhere, with gullies, ridges and hills crisscrossing, and bays, flats, rivers and beaches crisscrossing. Many farmlands are located along the gullies, and houses are built on the slopes like terraces.

There are also some villages that have developed quite well, and they are all located in areas with flat terrain.

Judging from the surface, Jicheng's rural development is better than Bei'an.

Most of the rural areas in Bei'an are deserted.

We followed the navigation into the city and arrived in front of a hotel.

There were more than a dozen people waiting here, including old, middle-aged and young people. The oldest one looked to be over 80 years old and had someone supporting him. Except for Jiang Quanxing, whom he had met before, he didn't know the others. He came to greet them as soon as the car stopped.

My third uncle and aunt are not young anymore.

After sitting in the car for such a long time, Third Uncle almost couldn’t get up.

The uncle was the first to get off the car and shook hands and exchanged words with the people who came to the car.

My second uncle and two cousins ​​had helped my third grandfather and third grandmother get out of the car.

Jiang Quanxing gave a brief introduction.

The first one looked to be an old man in his eighties, and there was an older one behind him who looked to be in his eighties. They were trembling and seemed to be about to kneel down: "Little Grandfather, I will kowtow to you!"

The third grandfather and grandmother spoke politely and wanted to help.

However, due to old age and frailty, my hands and feet cannot keep up with my ideas.

The two cousins ​​rushed forward and supported the old man.

Although they are of high generation, they are already in their seventies or eighties, probably older than my third uncle and third grandmother. They even need someone to support them when they walk. It is a rare opportunity for them to come and greet us, so how could they accept such a great gift?

The uncle introduced his family members, starting with Jiang Lei when introducing the younger generation: "This is Jiang Lei, the eldest of Youren's family, and also the eldest of the next generation of Jiang's family. This is Jiang Yong of Youyi's family, this is my son Jiang Ze, this is Jiang Wei of the second brother's family, this is Jiang Hua, the eldest of the third brother's family, and this is Jiang Ning, the second of the third brother's family, and the youngest of their generation..."

Jiang Quanxing was also introducing the Jiang family of Jicheng.

The first old man, Jiang Yingtian, is 78 years old and the oldest in the Jicheng Jiang family. He is of the same generation as Jiang Ning and is also the closest relative to the Jicheng Jiang family. It is said that Jiang Ning's great-grandfather's grandfather and the old man's grandfather's grandfather's father were brothers. Jiang Ning held his hand and called him "old brother". This was taught by his uncle. The second one is Jiang Xueqin, who is a generation younger than Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning called all the clan members his relatives, and the rest of the 21st, 62nd, and 63rd generations, who were younger, were all called clan members.

If you are about the same age, just call them by their names.

The other side all call them ancestors, which feels quite nice.

It feels really good to be an elder.

There are a lot of troubles when the two families interact.

Especially when you meet for the first time.

There are rules for addressing people, and Jiang Ning and his friends don’t understand that.

These were all arranged by my uncles early on.

After getting to know each other, a smart young man asked for everyone's ID card and ran away quickly. After everyone exchanged greetings outside for a long time and entered the hotel, the check-in process had already been completed and they were taken directly to the room.

The hotel is of good quality, similar to New Town Hotel.

Probably the best hotel here.

Each person had a single room, except for my third grandfather and my third grandmother.

After settling down, they gathered in groups of three or four to chat.

The third grandfather and grandmother were accompanied by two elderly people, the parents were also accompanied by middle-aged people, and the Jiang Ning brothers were accompanied by young descendants of the Jicheng Jiang family who were about the same age. They were taken care of very well.

But after all, we are not familiar with each other, so there is not much to talk about.

After chatting for a while, we went to have dinner first.

After dinner, after sending the people back to their rooms, the people from the Jicheng Jiang family withdrew.

Many people do not live in the city, but come here from the countryside.

They have to go back and prepare for a lot of things.

The uncle also called everyone to a small meeting to discuss matters related to tracing one's ancestry tomorrow.

Especially the younger ones, they are most likely to make mistakes and I am worried about them.

I repeated this several times.

Rebuilding the family tree is of course a big deal, but since they have come to the clan land, they must recognize their ancestors. If they don’t recognize their ancestors, how can they enter them into the family tree? This has been agreed upon before, and preparations have been made here.

That night was speechless.

The next morning, Jiang Quanxing rushed over and led everyone to the clan land.

A car in front led the way, and Jiang Quanxing sat in the Coaster and introduced the route to everyone.

The development here is quite good and there are many rural people.

Unlike Bei'an, many rural areas are in a dilapidated state.

Especially in the past two years, the tourism industry has been booming.

When we arrived at the entrance of the village, we saw a memorial hall standing quietly. Dozens of people were waiting there. We got off the car and introduced ourselves to each other for a long time. They were all relatives of the Jiang family in Jicheng. After introducing themselves for a long time, only Jiang Ning had a good memory and remembered half of their names.

My father and brothers didn’t remember many of them.

After some pleasantries, we went to visit the memorial hall.

Then we went to the Jiang Gong Temple at the back to burn incense and pay homage to our ancestors.

Finally went to the cemetery.

The cemetery is a cenotaph built on a hillside with lush trees. According to clan members, after the ancestor was killed in a mutiny, his followers carried back his clothes and boots, and the people of his hometown built this cenotaph.

As for whether it is true or not, I guess only gods know.

Jiang Ning had already checked and found that there were at least six tombs of Jiang Wei across the country.

Just like Zhuge Liang had several hometowns, there’s no way to tell.

For the descendants of the Jiang family, having a tomb is enough.

The cemetery is surrounded by green trees and is clearly well maintained.

There are even more people here, hundreds of them waiting here. The two old men from yesterday also came and prepared three animals, a cow, a pig and a sheep, for the Jiang family in Bei'an. The money was shared by Jiang's father, three brothers and two cousins.

Tracing one's ancestry is a big deal, and offering sacrifices is an indispensable part of the ritual.

But it was impossible for Jiang Ning to bring pigs, cattle and sheep over from Bei'an.

My uncle could only ask the relatives here to prepare for him.

The relatives waiting at the cemetery worked together to help move the various prepared offerings from the car to the tombstone.

Incense was burned and an altar was set up, with various offerings placed on it.

Then they slaughtered cattle, pigs and sheep and it took a long time.

Only after the three animals were placed on the table did the ceremony finally begin.

Third Grandpa and Third Grandma were helped to kneel on the two mats at the front.

The five brothers of Jiang Dad knelt behind him.

Jiang Ning's brothers knelt at the back, and then the Jiang family members also knelt on the ground. An old man acted as a priest, holding a booklet and reading for a long time. It was all about the history of family changes. Then he held the family tree and read out the inheritance for most of the day. Jiang Ning listened for a long time and heard his great-grandfather's name, but nothing else, because his great-great-grandfather fled famine and settled in Bei'an.

There is no such branch of theirs in the family tree.

Then kowtow, kowtow again and again.

The old man had a strange accent and Jiang Ning couldn't understand what he was saying.

I can only understand the word "bai".

As soon as they heard the word "bai", the people below would kowtow.

After knocking for a long time and my neck was almost sore, it finally ended.

It took me nearly three hours in total, and to be honest it was pretty boring.

It was almost noon and we were invited to have lunch and visit the village.

The village was built very well, much better than the rural areas in Bei'an. The roads were paved and the walls were painted. It had a strong cultural atmosphere. The lunch was quite rich and the slaughtered pigs, cattle and sheep were not wasted and were all used.

After the Coaster drove to the village committee, the fathers gave the gifts they brought to their relatives.

Not counting the fruits from the farm, Jiang Ning bought local specialties worth tens of thousands of dollars.

It’s not that rich, but at least it’s not shabby.

Besides, there are a lot of fruits.

These are the only things I can give as gifts, nothing else is appropriate.

After having lunch at the village committee, the fathers and relatives discussed important matters, such as revising the family tree. Jiang Ning didn't understand and got bored after listening for a while. He found an excuse to run out and asked a girl to take him around.

Jiang Wei and his brothers also wanted to run away, but after being looked at by their uncle, they dared not move.

Being small has its advantages, and being big has its difficulties.

Jiang Ning is the youngest, so it’s understandable that he doesn’t have the patience to run around.

Among the remaining ones, the youngest, Jiang Hua, will be 30 years old next year.

You don't know anything at all, why are you running around?

Don't let your relatives laugh at you.

The girl's name is Jiang Xueyi, and she calls Jiang Ning "little ancestor".

She is from the 65th generation, six generations younger than Jiang Ning, so there is nothing wrong with calling her "little ancestor".

But the girl was quite active. Jiang Ning was also from the same generation and didn't care much about these things. After chatting for a few sentences, they became familiar with each other. The girl couldn't help laughing and sighed: "I didn't expect that I would go back to my hometown during the Qingming Festival and find so many ancestors. It's so funny." Jiang Ning asked her: "Is your grandfather still alive?"

Jiang Xueyi said: "He is still alive, 76 years old. My grandfather is from the Jian generation, and he is one of the oldest in his generation, which makes us very young. There are many grandfathers younger than me in the village, but there is no one as old as you!"

Jiang Ning laughed out loud: "It's good to have a high generation. Suddenly there are so many younger generations, and they all call me ancestor. I feel that I have taken advantage of it. It feels pretty good. Thanks to my great grandfather's high generation. If he was younger, we would have to come to Jicheng to recognize our relatives, and we would have to call everyone ancestor. It wouldn't feel so wonderful, haha."

Jiang Xueyi was very curious: "I heard that your family is doing well in Bei'an and has a big farm?"

Jiang Ning nodded: "It's not so bad, but our family has only been passed down for five generations. There are only a few brothers and sisters in my generation. It's not as prosperous as the one in Jicheng."

Jiang Xueyi said: "What good is having so many people? There's not enough land to farm, and everyone is out working."

Jiang Ning said, "No one will bully you if there are more people. I heard from my dad and others that when my great grandfather first settled in Bei'an, he was the only outsider in the village and was bullied a lot. That's why my grandfather didn't want to farm. If there are more people in the city, who would dare to bully him?"

Jiang Xueyi thought for a moment and said, "What you said makes some sense. We can only say that everyone has his own opinion!"

Jiang Ning asked her: "What do you do?"

Jiang Xueyi said: "I'm working in Guangdong. Who owns the farm in Bei'an?"

Jiang Ning said: "Mine."

"what?"

Jiang Xueyi was quite surprised: "Aren't you the youngest?"

Jiang Ning asked: "Does it have anything to do with age?"

Jiang Xueyi looked him up and down: "It has nothing to do with age, but you are so young, you look about the same age as me. I heard that your farm is quite big and you invested a lot of money. How did you start a business at such a young age?"

Jiang Ning joked, "Why start a business? I didn't get into college. I went to Africa to work after graduating from high school at the age of 18. I stayed in Africa for five years. Two years ago, I did something ruthless. I robbed a few chiefs and then ran back home to enjoy myself."

Jiang Xueyi was surprised and said, "So the little ancestor who went abroad they were talking about is you!

Jiang Ning was curious: "What do the relatives here say about me?"

Jiang Xueyi said, "You said you have the ability. You went abroad when you graduated from high school at the age of 18, and you made a fortune abroad. You returned to your hometown to invest and start a business and it was very successful. I heard that you also have a hotel. Are you going to build a farm of more than 300,000 acres?"

Jiang Ning nodded: "About the same!"

Jiang Xueyi looked at him and said, "You are amazing."

Jiang Ning changed the subject: "How old are you?"

Jiang Xueyi rolled her eyes and said, "You can't ask such questions to a young girl."

Jiang Ning put on airs: "I am your elder, why don't you tell me the truth."

Jiang Xueyi said: "Elders can't just ask girls about their age."

……

I walked around the village and then went out for a walk around the neighborhood.

Jiang Ning realized that the conditions here are actually not as good as Bei'an. It is a typical Loess Plateau, the land is very barren, and it is mostly hilly and mountainous. Bei'an is mainly arid, but the land is not barren. Except for the Qilian Mountains in the southwest, most of the rest of the area is plains. As long as there is water, you can plant anything and it is easy to reclaim land.

It doesn’t work here. How can we open it in hilly and mountainous areas?

But there is a large population here, and there are also many permanent residents in rural areas.

Unlike Bei'an, the population is not large.

In recent years, everyone has moved to the city, and most of the rural areas have been abandoned.

After strolling around, I went back and was dragged by the village chief to drink.

We drank until the afternoon, after dinner, and only returned to the hotel to rest when it was almost dark.

The next day, we set off back to Bei'an.

Many relatives came to see him off.

The clan members were so enthusiastic that they didn't want them to leave. They wanted them to stay for a few days to take a good look at the scenery of Jicheng. But there were too many people. Feeding, drinking, defecating and urinating more than a dozen people was a big burden. How could they cause trouble to others?

Therefore, after finishing the important task, he hurried back home.

By the way, take the revised family tree back with you.

A reluctant farewell.

The car finally got on the road.

After sharing the gains of this trip, the uncle said to his nephews: "The Jicheng genealogy has included our branch. In the future, our Jiang family will also have roots. But after all, we have already taken root in Bei'an, so we should also have our own genealogy. It is impossible for every generation born in the future to be recorded only in the Jicheng genealogy. We are all old, who among you can be responsible for this matter?"

The brothers looked at each other, all acting like cowards.

Compiling a family tree is something that only educated people can do.

Who among them can be considered a cultured person?

Not to mention the brothers Jiang Ning and Jiang Hua, they didn’t even go to college.

The same goes for my two cousins ​​from my third uncle's family.

Although Jiang Ze and Jiang Wei went to university, it was no different from not going to university. They had to copy articles of a few hundred words from the Internet, not to mention compiling a family tree, a job that requires very high technical skills.

The uncle waited for a long time, and seeing the younger generations pretending to be ostriches, he looked disappointed and said, "Tell me, how much have you studied? A high school student from Jicheng is much better than you."

The brothers looked at each other and didn't refute.

You wouldn’t know if you haven’t been there.

After coming here once, I found that there is indeed a big gap between the two sides in some aspects.

In terms of culture alone, the Bei'an Jiang family is far behind.

They didn't even recognize many of the words in the family tree, which was a bit embarrassing, while several high school students in the Jicheng clan could write family trees. This was the gap, many things were not taught in schools and needed to be passed down from generation to generation in the family.

The Bei'an Jiang family has a shallow foundation and is indeed far behind in this aspect.

This is not something that can be compensated by money.

We arrived at the county town at five in the afternoon and first sent the person to the community.

Jiang Ningcai returned to the farm, and the family tree was taken away by his uncle.

It was late spring, the farm was lush and green, and summer was approaching.

The villa was decorated with flowers, and Feng Yu was pushing a stroller and walking the child in front of the door.

Jiang Ning stopped the car, said hello to his wife, and went to see his daughter first.

The little guy is awake, and I don’t know what he is looking at.

His eyes were not focused until Jiang Ning leaned over. The little guy's big eyes moved and his eyes focused on his face. Jiang Ning touched his little hand and said, "Baby, your daddy should smile."

The little guy opened his mouth and smiled.

This smile is so contagious.

Jiang Jian suddenly felt that there were no more worries in the world from now on.

Feng Yu asked him, "Have you finished recognizing your relatives?"

Jiang Ning teased his daughter while saying, "It's over. There are so many younger generations now. Wherever I go, people call me ancestor. It's quite interesting. There are many people who are about my age, and some are even six generations younger than me. Even my grandfather's grandfather has to call me grandpa."

Feng Yu laughed out loud: "The generation gap between you two is really huge."

Jiang Ning said cheerfully: "That's not the case. If you go there, a bunch of old men will call you grandma."

Feng Yu imagined the scene and couldn't help laughing.

Jiang Ning opened the roof of the stroller completely and wanted to hug his daughter.

Feng Yu didn't let him hold her: "Don't hold her anymore. If you hold her all the time, you won't be able to put her on the bed anymore."

Jiang Ning didn't care and still took his daughter out, holding her in his arms and said, "Just hold her. We have a big family, three of us, what's there to be afraid of? Take turns holding her."

Feng Yu said angrily: "You are not at home all day and you still change your arms. You have to let me and my sister hold you."

Jiang Ning hummed and hawed in response, then bent his head and kissed his daughter.

The little fellow grinned and laughed again, moving his two little arms around.

A small hand even touched his face.

Jiang Ning was in a good mood and thought it was nice to have a daughter.

When he was born, he didn't feel anything.

But as I watched my child grow up day by day, I finally found some feeling of being a father.

It was a feeling I had never experienced before.

There is love and also responsibility.

Feng Xue didn't come out and was cooking in the kitchen.

Seeing that he was holding his daughter tightly, Feng Yu stopped nagging and went back to the room to help Feng Xue cook.

Jiang Ning held his daughter and strolled around the house for a while until the little one peed. Then he put her back in the stroller, took out a diaper from the stroller and changed her. Then he pushed the stroller back to the house. By then, dinner was ready.

Putting the stroller aside, the three of them went to the table to eat.

The little guy didn't cry or make a fuss, just looked at the roof quietly.

After dinner, Feng Yu helped Feng Xue clean up.

Then push the stroller outside to get some fresh air.

Jiang Ning also followed him out, but when they arrived at the backyard, Feng Yu ignored the child. He put the stroller aside, played a short video with his mobile phone, put the phone on a stand, and imitated the dancing woman in the video, swinging his arms and twisting his waist.

Feng Xue pushed the stroller and looked after the child.

While watching Feng Xue learn to dance.

(End of this chapter)