“Get out of here. With your son looking like that, you think he’s management material? He’d be lucky to get a job guarding the gate! Ling’er, just look at your cousin—she went to college! She’s quite something.”
“You just got here, and already you’re acting like being a college graduate makes you so special?”
Jiang Chuling liked acting spoiled and childish around people she knew and trusted.
But she wasn’t really just a child.
Faced with all her uncles and aunts volunteering themselves for jobs, she smiled sweetly and said, “You can apply, of course. Do you have résumés?”
“Yes, yes! Will an electronic copy do?”
“Sure.” Jiang Chuling took out her phone and let them scan the QR code. “This is my company’s HR account on WeChat Work. Add it and send your résumé there. Then wait for an interview notice.”
Everyone was baffled.
“Wait, you still need to interview us?”
Jiang Chuling looked surprised. “Of course. Who gets a job without an interview?”
“…”
The people around them hinted, “Ling’er, you’re a leader now. Isn’t hiring someone just a matter of saying the word? Why would you need to interview them?”
Jiang Chuling shook her head. “Our teachers taught us that we have to be realistic and practical in everything we do. We can’t use back doors.”
Someone grew anxious. “You child, how can you have no understanding of human relationships and social etiquette?”
Jiang Chuling played dumb. “What human relationships and social etiquette? Our teachers never taught us that.”
Everyone exchanged glances.
Right.
Why were they trying to reason with a child about favors and connections? There was simply no getting through to her.
The job-hunting matter ended in complete failure. Jiang Chuling gave a derisive snort.
Did they really think they could trick her?
Maybe in their next lives.
After learning from Madam about the afternoon’s itinerary, Qiuyun found out that they would be visiting the ancestral hall and sweeping the graves. Once those things were taken care of, the trip would essentially be over. The two young masters had each arranged to meet friends and classmates the next day, so they would have to travel back that night.
Madam and Miss weren’t in such a hurry. They planned to leave leisurely the following morning.
Qiuyun thought it over. If they set out early the next day, they could reach the capital by noon and still make it to Chengyuan in the afternoon, so she decided to travel back with Madam and Miss.
That afternoon, the Yu family had already kowtowed, burned incense, and invited their ancestors home on New Year’s Eve.
The incense and offerings had been maintained continuously over the past several days. Now that it was the fifth day of the lunar new year, it was time to respectfully send the ancestors back to the realm of the immortals.
The entire group made its way noisily to the ancestral hall.
Yu Xiang had paid to have the hall renovated. It was the grandest and most magnificent ancestral hall within a hundred-mile radius.
According to old customs, married daughters were not supposed to take part in their maiden family’s ancestral ceremonies. But this ancestral hall had been rebuilt with Yu Xiang’s money.
When it came down to it, old customs and rules were no match for hard cash.
Yu Xiang brought several of the children with her into the ancestral hall to take part in the ceremony.
At the very back of the procession, He Guilan wore a livid expression, muttering that she would definitely teach that little bitch a lesson.
Yu Yang frowned. “Give it a rest. Wasn’t embarrassing yourself at the dinner table enough?”
“Was I the one who embarrassed myself, or were you?” He Guilan hissed. “Your sister merely married a rich man. She’s got a little money in her purse and can’t stop showing off. They say that marrying up means swallowing needles—who knows how miserable her life is behind closed doors? Her husband didn’t even come back with her this time. Are you afraid of her?”
“Didn’t they already explain that? He had surgery for gallstones. He was sick.”
“Heh. An excuse.” He Guilan was certain. “Who schedules surgery during the New Year? It’s not as if he had some terminal illness.”
“What if he was in unbearable pain?”
“Couldn’t he have gotten minimally invasive surgery?”
Fine.
Yu Yang had a wife who was a civil servant, and his standing in the family was already inferior to He Guilan’s. Since she refused to listen no matter how he tried to persuade her, he simply stopped bothering.
The location of the Yu family ancestral hall had been specially selected after consulting a geomancer.
It backed onto a mountain and faced water, with energy gathering on the left and wealth encircling it on the right. It truly was an excellent site.
Once everyone had arrived, the younger members of the family carried in apples, oranges, cups of wine, bowls of tea, chicken, whole fish, dumplings, tofu, and other offerings in succession. Led by the oldest and most senior member of the clan, Great-Uncle Tai, they began by lighting incense and worshiping the ancestors.
The others then knelt and bowed in order of age and seniority.
Qiuyun wasn’t a member of the Yu family, so she did not enter the ancestral hall. She stood quietly outside the threshold, waiting.
Unfortunately, someone was determined not to let her enjoy the peace.
“Assistant Qiu, what do you think you’re doing? Just mind your own business and your young lady’s affairs. Do you have to interfere with the way the Yu family worships its ancestors too? Where do you get the nerve?”
The abrupt voice rang out just as the worship ceremony ended.
He Guilan wasn’t stupid. Of course she wouldn’t disrupt the ceremony itself.
Everyone inside the ancestral hall turned around. Second Master Yu frowned and shouted at Qiuyun, who was standing outside the door, “Xiao Xiang, what is your assistant doing? Does she understand the rules at all?”
Yu Xiang knew her family’s character all too well.
Xiaoqiu was the most cautious and steady person there was. There was no way she would openly interfere in the family’s ancestral ceremony. Clearly, her sister-in-law was causing trouble again.
“Second Uncle, this must be a misunderstanding. Xiaoqiu isn’t the sort of person who would be so lacking in propriety.”
After all, the Goddess of Wealth carried considerable weight. Second Master Yu merely shot Assistant Qiu a fierce look from inside and barked, “Get out. This isn’t a place for you.”
Jiang Chuling frowned. “Second Granduncle, Xiaoqiu has to stay by my side. Wherever I go, she goes.”
Although Great-Uncle Tai was the most senior by generation in the family, the most feudal, traditional, and rigid person was still this Second Granduncle.
In his mind, the old hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants was set in stone. During the earlier dispute, his sympathies had clearly been with his nephew’s wife.
Still, as an elder from a separate branch of the family, he couldn’t bring himself to blatantly take advantage of Yu Xiang’s wealth.
But now, when he heard Jiang Chuling dare to contradict an elder in the ancestral hall, his face immediately darkened.
“You get out too! This ancestral hall isn’t a place for some unrelated little girl like you.”
Yu Xiang’s expression turned cold. Jiang Lin’an immediately stepped forward to shield his sister.
“If that’s what Second Granduncle thinks, then next year, those of us who have taken other family names won’t need to come back.”
Hey, hey!
The people around them panicked.
How could they not come back?
Lin’an was the eldest grandson of the Jiang family’s main branch—the family’s most important connection!
Once again, Second Granduncle had been put on the spot by a younger member of the family in front of their ancestors. Anger flared in his eyes.
“Have you all gone mad? Where do you think you are? Do you still have the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues in your hearts? What about social order and propriety?”
Lin’an pressed his lips together.
His grandparents hurriedly tried to mediate. “Oh, Lin’an, he is your Second Granduncle, your elder! He’s four or five decades older than you. Why argue with him? We old folks won’t hold it against you when you talk back in other places, but do you know what day it is? We’re in the ancestral hall performing rites to our ancestors. This is a solemn occasion. You’re acting so disrespectfully and showing no regard for your elders. That’s simply being immature.”
Jiang Lin’an pursed his lips.
His grandparents coaxed and pleaded with him, looking so earnest that it left him feeling extremely uncomfortable.
It was almost as if he truly were the unreasonable one, making trouble without justification.
Jiang Linzhi didn’t rush forward. Instead, he took two steps back to the doorway and leaned against the frame, egging her on.
“What, you’re still holding back? My brother’s too mild-mannered and not very good with words. Don’t let him hold you back later.”
Qiuyun was speechless.
Was this what young men were like at that age? Did they all enjoy watching the drama unfold?
Seeing the eldest young master and Miss once again being silenced by the notion that filial piety was greater than the heavens, Qiuyun sighed and stepped across the threshold.
