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墨書 Inktalez
The old man rambled on with irrelevant talk, starting from his past experiences, wandering wherever his thoughts took him, as if the events of the past were accumulating in his mind.
Perhaps Grandpa himself sensed that his time was limited. Now, his children and grandchildren took care of him, buying him medicine and supplements, merely to help him live a little longer without suffering.
Until the year before Jiang Yizhou started working, which was also the year he woke up in this world, Grandpa was still able to get out of bed and work. However, after falling ill, he deteriorated rapidly, ending up confined to bed. This was also why Jiang Yizhou followed Jiang Maode to work; they needed to spend a considerable amount of money on Grandpa's medical treatment.
After spending over an hour with the old man, listening to his ramblings, Jiang Yizhou finally left the room feeling both relieved and heavy-hearted. Although he didn't have a deep emotional connection with Grandpa, it was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.
Having died once, Jiang Yizhou felt little about it because all his sentiments had been released in that moment of death. Now, every minute and second of life felt like a gain. Holding onto this thought, Jiang Yizhou dared to try everything boldly.
Hearing Aunt complain again about how hard it was to take care of the elderly, Jiang Yizhou recalled what his mother had told him. The Old House had actually been transferred to Uncle's name; his parents still lived there but had to pay rent to Uncle. Of course, this was meant as a gesture of respect towards Grandpa and Grandma, and in reality, at least half of it ended up in their hands.
Jiang Yizhou was naturally willing to give this money; anything that could be resolved with money was not a problem. Although Aunt was a bit greedy for money, she did take care of the grandparents and wouldn’t let her own children starve their in-laws.
What he feared most were those who clearly benefited from supporting the elderly but refused to spend a dime while blaming them. Such people would act this way when not facing financial difficulties or moral dilemmas; they were often looked down upon in rural areas but were hard to confront since they weren't directly involved.
“I told you already, giving them three hundred a month is enough for meat! Why are you still expecting more?” Gao Qingzhen complained while walking back with her son.
The cost of living in the countryside is indeed very low; grains can be grown by oneself, vegetables can also be planted at home, water is drawn from their own well, and electricity costs very little. Sometimes even oil can be avoided by planting rapeseed or peanuts. Here, earning three hundred a month is rare; indulging in meat is not an issue.
“Mom, Grandpa can't even get out of bed anymore. Uncle's House is taking care of him and Grandma; this hard work is worth the money. Even if not all of it goes into Grandpa's hands, it can still improve their lives,” Jiang Yizhou reasoned. He believed that if he had to serve a bedridden patient day and night himself, he would feel anxious—aren't there many such cases in Japan?
Due to aging populations, many middle-aged people have to care for their long-lived parents and may end up feeling so overwhelmed that they either commit suicide or kill their parents first before taking their own lives.
China's rural areas might not reach such extremes, but after prolonged caregiving without much patience, one could easily vent emotions on the elderly.
Now he is treating it as hiring an Aunt, paying a little more to take care of things for a month, and he can get a sum of money. As for supervision, isn't there still his mother?
"Just think of it as hiring a nanny, Mom. There's no need to be so calculative! Our family isn't short on that little bit," Jiang Yizhou recalled his previous life, where a few hundred dollars had caused a rift with a relative.
In the constraints of a difficult life, people often do things that seem unbelievable to others, sacrificing for potential promotion opportunities or bowing down for performance metrics. The analogy may not be entirely appropriate, but those who set their goals too high are not much different from those at the bottom struggling through hardship.
"I just feel like it's too much. I've already bought the medicine for your grandparents, and it doesn't cost much on a daily basis..." His mother continued to nag in his ear, but in the end, she didn't oppose it.
There are too many examples in life where hardship leads people to a state of mere survival; don't test humanity with poverty, as the answers you get will mostly be disappointing.
After finishing lunch, Jiang Yizhou lay down in the inner room. There were no south-facing windows in the inner room; it was cool and shady in summer but very cold in winter.
Thinking about these relatives, due to blood ties and years of interaction, he felt he still had the responsibility to manage relationships with family and relatives, but it was just responsibility.
So he handled it calmly; aside from his parents and sister, everyone else felt like people he had to be bound to, like classmates assigned together.
Perhaps he was someone who lacked emotional depth in his previous life, able to treat love as a game of strategy—this seemed to be true.
Returning home was also out of responsibility, which is why Jiang Yizhou always wanted to bring his parents and sister to the capital.
"Son, do you have time? Help your mom out; your dad has disappeared again!" His mother's voice came from outside the door. Jiang Yizhou got off the bed covered with a mat, responded, put on his slippers, and immediately went out.
"This is an evaluation report I prepared with relevant personnel. Manager Ma, I feel that you seem to have brought your own biases into your work!" Song Rushi arrived in the capital and immediately began her work as per Jiang Yizhou's instructions, focusing on the pager industry.
By mid-1997, the pager industry had become quite mature, and there were many providing online paging services. The last two years were the peak; after 1998, mobile phones began to gain popularity, and prices gradually became more affordable. It was more practical to buy a mobile phone than a pager.
Ma Huateng flipped through the report that Song Rushi handed him, feeling somewhat anxious because he had suddenly risen to a high position and had not yet achieved results, only to be dismissed by his superior. Jiang Yizhou might think he had made a mistake in promoting him and could fire him.
"According to the evaluation, the pager industry has reached saturation, and the market prospects are not bright. It is unwise to expend so much effort trying to capture a saturated market."
Ma Huateng defended himself, "But there are still many users of pagers; we can attract more users through this business!"
"Then treat it as an additional feature to improve user experience rather than making it the main business focus!" Song Rushi did not have a good impression of Manager Ma; he was too refined and lacked impressive talent. His technical skills were good, but his colleague was clearly superior.
In the end, Ma Huateng reluctantly accepted this decision and left to implement it.
Song Rushi rubbed her temples, feeling somewhat fatigued. The recruitment of assistants needed to be prioritized; although Internet companies were highly valued, they had very few employees.
Jiang Yizhou still assigned her tasks without hesitation, and she had thought about building a closer relationship but ended up getting too involved herself.
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