Fame Brings Trouble

New Year's Eve.

The Jiang Family Old House in Xinxiang.

Jiang Miao and his parents had returned to the old house in Xinxiang these past few days.

Lin Shuya also didn't return to Guangzhou. She didn't want to see her two older brothers, so she followed Jiang Miao back to the old house for the New Year.

Jiang Miao's parents had returned a few days earlier and cleaned the old house until it was completely refreshed.

On the doorposts, bright red couplets had already been pasted.

Shuya and her mother were busy in the kitchen, braising a large goose and pig trotters, and also making two salt-baked chickens in a pressure cooker.

"A Miao, come get the bowls and chopsticks."

"Okay!"

Soon, the table was filled with a large spread of dishes.

Shuya served the two elders a bowl of rice and poured orange juice. "Here, Dad, Mom, try the Honey Glazed Char Siu I made."

"Shuya, you eat too. Look how thin you are." Her mother put a large piece of pig trotter into Shuya's bowl.

Jiang Miao smiled without speaking.

After eating the reunion dinner.

In the latter half of the night, his father set off the opening firecrackers.

Crackling...

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, a year passed.

Unknowingly, the first day of the New Year arrived.

Jiang Miao held Shuya, and the two listened to the occasional sound of firecrackers from the village, chatting softly about the past.

"Shuya, let's get married next year!"

Shuya's head was pressed tightly against his chest, feeling his warmth. She said casually, "Getting the certificate is enough. I don't have many relatives on my side, and my relationships with college and high school classmates have faded. I'll probably just invite a few close friends for a meal. I think holding a wedding is too much trouble. Just thinking about it gives me a headache."

"If you don't like a big fuss, then we'll have a small one. We can just have a wedding banquet in the company headquarters' cafeteria. I'll just invite a few relatives I'm close to, plus the company employees."

Lin Shuya looked up, met his eyes, and said with a smile, "Whatever you say."

Jiang Miao brushed aside a strand of her hair and gently kissed Shuya's forehead. "But we definitely need wedding photos and a wedding dress. One Chinese style, one Western style. You pick the ones you like."

"Okay." Shuya leaned back on his shoulder.

Outside the window, the sound of firecrackers gradually died down.

In the quiet latter half of the night, Jiang Miao had a rare lie-in.

He didn't get up until ten o'clock the next day.

On the first day of the New Year, for young people in the local countryside, there wasn't much to do. Things like paying respects to ancestors were generally done by the older generation at the Ancestral Hall.

Jiang Miao and Shuya casually drank a box of pure milk and prepared to drive the pickup truck to the breeding base.

Just as he walked out the door, after only a few steps, he saw Eighth Aunt, still with a big belly, pulling her grandson and walking over from not far away.

Jiang Miao glanced at her, and the appraisal panel immediately showed her condition. He then shook his head, thinking good words are hard to persuade a doomed ghost, and patted Shuya's back: "Let's go!"

"A Miao! Are you not going to recognize people just because you've gotten rich?" Eighth Aunt's mouth started to stink again.

"A Jie has made a lot of money in recent years too. I heard he bought a house in Jinding Bay. Why doesn't Eighth Aunt go live in Jinding Bay?" Jiang Miao asked with a smile.

"Isn't it being renovated? A Miao, you and A Jie are good brothers, can you..."

Jiang Miao said with a smile: "Eighth Aunt, I know a friend who works at a bank and handles loans. If A Jie needs it, he can find him..."

Eighth Aunt waved her hands repeatedly: "Uh... no need, no need! I wanted to borrow a little from you, after all, we're family..."

"Eighth Aunt misunderstood. My company also borrowed tens of millions in loans from the bank. I see that A Jie has made a lot of money in recent years, why don't you lend me a few hundred thousand to tide me over?" Jiang Miao directly turned the tables.

"Uh!" Eighth Aunt was speechless for a moment, then started chattering again: "A Miao! Doing business is not easy these days, you have to be careful, don't lose your dad's old capital..."

"Thank you for your concern, Eighth Aunt, I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, he pulled Shuya and got into the car to leave.

In the car, Shuya asked him what he was talking about just now, and Jiang Miao explained it briefly.

After listening to the explanation, Shuya shook her head with a smile: "You really are like a prophet."

"There are good people in the village, and there are also petty people, and insidious and cunning people. My dad is too honest. If I don't give him a heads-up in advance, I don't know how much money he'll be asked to borrow."

"If it's borrowing money once or twice for emergencies, that's fine, but the problem is some people will take an inch and expect a mile, thinking it's only right for you to lend them money, and that not paying back the money they owe is their own ability."

Jiang Miao gently turned the steering wheel.

"So in the countryside, don't be too good to people, especially those aunts and uncles and so-called good brothers. If you are good to them, they sometimes won't be grateful, but instead will think you are easy to bully."

"A Miao, is that Eighth Aunt's health really that serious? But her son should be quite rich, right? Why doesn't he get treatment?" Lin Shuya asked with a frown.

Jiang Miao shook his head: "That A Jie has not been a good person since he was a child, he's a gambler. Buying a house in Jinding Bay was probably paid for by Eighth Aunt and her husband. All the money he's made over the years has been spent with his shady friends."

"So that's how it is."

Meanwhile, on the other side.

His mother, Huang Qiuyue, also rode her bicycle to the Ancestral Hall to prepare for the ancestor worship.

Along the way, people she used to have good or bad relationships with all greeted her with smiles.

Someone asked with a smile, hinting: "Qiuyue, your son has made a lot of money, you should enjoy your life now."

Although Huang Qiuyue was uneducated, she was well aware of the cunning unique to middle-aged women in the countryside. She immediately spoke according to the script her son had prepared in advance:

"Xiuzhu, where did you hear that news? If my son really made money, that would be great. His company borrowed tens of millions, and Dahai and I are worried to death."

"Really?"

Someone said sourly: "Third Aunt, you've gotten rich but you don't come back to your hometown. This year the public hall is putting on a play, you should let A Miao sponsor a play!"

"I'm a woman, I can't make decisions about sponsoring a play!"

Someone even started promoting their daughter: "Sister Qiuyue, A Miao and my daughter are old classmates. After the New Year, why don't we arrange a time for the two young people to go for tea together?"

Huang Qiuyue shook her head, "Ah Hua, my son has a girlfriend."

Meanwhile, in the eldest uncle's family, who knew a bit about Jiang Miao's situation, his cousin Jiang Yao had already warned his mother and father not to talk nonsense in the village.

Jiang Yao's mother had a decent relationship with Huang Qiuyue, and coupled with the fact that her son was now relying on Jiang Miao's family for work, she naturally wouldn't speak carelessly. Instead, she even helped out.

Although everyone suspected that Jiang Miao had made a lot of money, without concrete evidence, they could only guess that he might have made a few million.

Adding in the tens of millions in loans that Huang Qiuyue mentioned, their envious thoughts diminished somewhat.

On his father Jiang Dahai's side, he also encountered various "good brothers" and "good neighbors."

Keeping his son's reminder in mind, Jiang Dahai was not carried away by everyone's flattery. Instead, he became even calmer.

One of the village elders (similar to a clan elder), smoking a water pipe, asked with a smile, "Dahai! How many opera books are you planning to sponsor this year? After all, your family has made money. Sponsoring opera is a matter of bringing glory to your ancestors, you can't let people look down on you."

Jiang Dahai knew this was unavoidable, so he nodded, "Although A Miao didn't make much money, we can't lose face for the old Jiang family. I'll pay to sponsor one book!"

"Dahai, that's not very generous, is it?" another elder teased, "How can one book be enough?"

"Third Uncle, please spare me! I still plan to save this little money for my son for a rainy day," Jiang Dahai said with a bitter smile, waving his hand.

Another short elder tentatively asked, "By the way, Dahai, is your eel farm still hiring? Li Yan, my second brother's son, worked in logistics at Guotai Frozen Factory and has experience in that area."

Jiang Dahai shook his head, "The eel farm doesn't lack logistics personnel, but it does need a few people to feed the fish."

"Feed the fish?" The short elder was immediately disappointed. Clearly, he had no intention of letting his nephew do the job of feeding fish.

After chatting for more than half an hour, seeing that they hadn't gotten much benefit from Jiang Dahai, these people stopped talking.

After all, they were fellow villagers, and some things couldn't be taken too far.

All of this was within Jiang Miao's expectations.

Before coming back for the New Year, he had already told his parents his thoughts in advance, asking them to be careful of the people in the village to avoid suffering a big loss.