Chapter 17 Chapter 17

After Qiao Jiaxin and her grandmother moved to Jicheng Village, they felt that time passed very quickly.

It’s not like when I lived with Qiao Wangbei and his wife, where every day felt like a year.

After school started in September, Qiao Jiaxin entered her senior year of high school.

She did not continue studying at No. 2 Middle School, but with the help of Chen Bing, transferred to No. 4 Middle School, which was closer to the village.

Jicheng Village is about ten kilometers away from No. 2 Middle School, almost crossing the entire Yu City.

It's not so bad in the summer, but in the winter the roads are icy and it's dangerous to walk such a long distance to and from school every day.

Fortunately, the third year of high school has entered the review stage and there is no need to learn new knowledge, so it is the same in any school.

Many high school students in Jicheng Village go to No. 4 Middle School, including Hai Yan.

However, most of them are younger brothers and sisters who have just entered the first year of high school this year, or are advancing from the first year to the second year of high school. The only one who is in the third year of high school with Qiao Jiaxin is Hai Yan.

The study time for senior high school students is different from that for the other two grades: they have to start early reading an hour earlier in the morning and extend their self-study by an hour in the evening.

They were the only two high school seniors in the village, so it was natural for Qiao Jiaxin to ride his bicycle to and from school.

Will he remember the joke about marrying him when he was little?

After all, he still remembered the promise to compensate himself for "ten thousand days".

Anyway, Qiao Jiaxin wanted to pretend that she had forgotten to avoid embarrassment.

But the more she wanted to forget, the more clearly she remembered it, and she subconsciously wanted to avoid him every time she chatted with him.

Especially when they were alone, if he suddenly brought up the matter, how would she explain it to him and tell him politely that it was just childish talk and he shouldn't take it to heart.

Qiao Jiaxin had rehearsed this scene in her mind hundreds of times, but it had never happened.

I don’t know whether to be worried or sad.

"Hai Yan, stop, stop."

In the evening, Hai Yan and Qiao Jiaxin came back from school on their bikes. When they passed by the village office, Chen Bing, who was chatting with a few aunts, hurriedly stopped him.

"What's wrong, uncle?"

Hai Yan has very long legs, and after braking, he can easily support himself on the ground with one foot, so the car continues to maintain balance, so Qiao Jiaxin, who is sitting sideways in the back seat, does not need to get out.

Chen Bing took the key from his waist and said, "Tomorrow is a holiday, so I'll leave it to you."

As he walked towards them, Chen Bing looked around among the keys, but couldn't find the one he needed. He went back to another office to look for it. "Wait a minute, the key seems to be in that room."

"middle."

While waiting for Chen Bing to get the key, Hai Yan couldn't help but glance at Qiao Jiaxin who was sitting behind him.

She was still the same as usual, holding a book in her hands and covering her face tightly with the pages. Only occasionally could one hear her reciting ancient poems or mumbling mathematical formulas.

"School is so late."

Several aunts and uncles in the room came out slowly and chatted with Hai Yan, "What's for dinner tonight? Your uncle is roasting sweet potatoes. Can I get you two?"

Hai Yan: "No, I ate at night and I'm still full now."

"Being in the third year of high school is hard work, leaving early and coming back late," my aunt couldn't help but sigh. "But as the saying goes, only those who endure hardship can achieve success. I'll try to get into college and let your father see it!"

"hey-hey……"

Hai Yan scratched his head and laughed twice.

He is not as good at studying as Qiao Jiaxin, so it is unlikely that he can get into university. At most, he can go to a junior college.

"Hey, school is over now, why are you still reading a book?"

Seeing Qiao Jiaxin sitting in the back still holding a book, the aunts and uncles hurried over to persuade her, "No matter how much you love studying, you have to take a break. Be obedient and read again when you get home. The flickering lights on the road are not good for your eyes."

"middle……"

Qiao Jiaxin responded, "Thank you, Auntie."

Slowly putting down the book in front of her, she first revealed her watery eyes, and after a while, she closed the book in her hand.

Perhaps it was because she had too little contact with her elders since childhood, or perhaps it was because she had never felt the care from outsiders, but Qiao Jiaxin always felt inexplicably nervous when interacting with the elders in the village.

She could feel that the elders in the village cared about her, but...

Well, maybe it will take some time to get used to it.

Grabbing a handful of peeled melon seeds from her pocket and stuffing them into her aunt's pocket, she asked, "Are you getting used to the new school? Are you able to keep up with the studies?"

Qiao Jiaxin nodded, "Yeah, it's good."

"That's good," another aunt helped her zip up her schoolbag and said, "Many kids from our village are in No. 4 Middle School. If anyone bullies you, just tell them directly."

"In addition to going to and from school together, you have to take better care of her." As he said this, he gave Hai Yan some instructions.

Hai Yan: "Yes, for sure."

Speaking of taking care of her, the aunt next to her touched her arm meaningfully, "Oh, do you even need to explain this? When Jiaxin first came to our village as a child, Haiyan protected her like a little follower every day. How can he let her be bullied now?"

The sudden flashbacks are the most deadly, especially when they come from the mouths of aunts and uncles.

"That's true, do you still remember? When we were little, I kept saying I wanted to marry Jiaxin!"

"Hmm? You know what? Looking at it this way, the two of them are quite a good match."

"Yes, a talented man and a beautiful woman, a perfect match, how wonderful~"

Although she knew they were joking, Qiao Jiaxin's face turned red with shame when she heard them reminiscing about their childhood, and her embarrassed toes almost scratched through the soles of her shoes.

Seeing that Qiao Jiaxin was a little overwhelmed by the aunts' jokes, Hai Yan quickly came to her rescue and said, "Oh, that was just when we were young and ignorant. It's been so many years now, we have long forgotten it."

At the same time, he changed the subject and asked, "By the way, is our village fair coming up soon? I think it's in the next few days."

"Where?" The aunts' attention was immediately diverted. "It's only October now. The meeting won't take place until the tenth month of the lunar calendar."

Aunt: "Jiaxin hasn't come yet, right? This time it's just perfect for some fun!"

After chatting for a while, Chen Bing came back with the key.

After taking the key off, he handed it to Hai Yan along with the other one. Chen Bing explained, "This is the key to the warehouse's front door, and also the key to the office. I have to go to the city for a meeting tomorrow, so I'll leave the rice and flour distribution in our village to you guys."

Tomorrow is National Day, and the village will distribute things to every household again.

This is a benefit that every villager has.

According to custom, every year on major festivals such as May Day, National Day, Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, the village would use public funds to buy some things and distribute them to every household.

Sometimes it's a barrel of oil, sometimes it's a bag of noodles. In recent years, the income from renting out the village's arable land has increased a lot. This year's National Day, we can distribute two bags of things, one bag of rice and one bag of noodles, which together weigh twenty kilograms.

There are more than 2,000 villagers in Jicheng Village, and distributing so many things is a huge project.

Warehousing, registration, collection, fingerprinting... every year there are about ten people working on this.

Hai Yan had helped carry things into the warehouse in the past two years, so when Chen Bing was away this year, he continued to be in charge of the warehouse.

Taking the key, Hai Yan accepted the task: "Yes."

"Uncle, is there anything I can help you with?" Qiao Jiaxin volunteered.

When she and her grandmother came back, the village chief and his people helped them a lot. This time, they were going to do something for the villagers, and Qiao Jiaxin also hoped that she could do her part.

The tasks that needed to be assigned had been arranged in advance, but in order not to dampen her enthusiasm, Chen Bing thought for a moment and said, "How about you help with the registration? Your aunts write slowly, so you could help out a little while they're taking notes."

After receiving the task, Qiao Jiaxin nodded happily, "Okay, no problem!"

This is the first time that Qiao Jiaxin celebrates National Day in the village.

On this day of national celebration, the village is also filled with a joyous atmosphere.

Qiao Jiaxin reported to the village office early, and several trucks carrying flour and rice also stopped at the door of the warehouse.

Moving goods is a physical job. How can a few people move thousands of bags of rice and flour?

In addition to the people Chen Bing arranged in advance, many villagers also came to help spontaneously. Some of them even helped their neighbors take the things away, saving them the trouble of moving them to the warehouse again.

"Team Three, Sixteen Households, Wu Baoguo, my wife Chunhua, and my little Wu Yang."

After writing it down in the booklet, Qiao Jiaxin handed him the ink pad and said, "Okay, put your fingerprint on the back."

Not everyone in the village can write, so it is more convenient to use fingerprints than signatures.

"Trouble."

Qiao Jiaxin: "You're welcome. I have a lot of stuff, so please drive slowly."

When she collected the register, she accidentally saw her grandmother's name:

Team 2, 36 households, Liu Shuqin.

I didn’t expect that there was also my grandma’s name.

However, most of the names in the village were followed by several family members, but there was no name behind grandma's.

"Auntie, why is my grandfather's name not here?" Qiao Jiaxin asked Zhuang Xiu, who was in charge of registration.

Zhuang Xiu explained, "He's gone now, so his name was erased."

Qiao Jiaxin asked again: "What about my uncles?"

“Their household registration has been moved.”

The registration book only records villagers whose household registration is in Jicheng Village.

There used to be 36 households in the second team, with a total of six names. Times have changed, Qiao Wensheng and Qiao Fenglai have passed away, and the four brothers of the Qiao family have also moved their household registration to the city. Now only Liu Shuqin is left.

It’s good to have a city household registration. Many people in the village would think about moving their household registration after working in the city for a few years.

After all, no one wants to be a "farmer" for life.

Qiao Jiaxin wanted to be a farmer, but her household registration was with her father Shi Lei, a glorious worker, so she never moved here.

Because only grandma's name was on the list, they could only get one bag of rice and one bag of noodles.

But it doesn’t matter, it’s enough for them to eat.

As it was approaching noon, they all prepared to go home for lunch while there were not many people coming to pick up their things, and then come back to continue their work in the afternoon.

As soon as I closed the office door, I heard the phone on Chen Bing's desk ringing.

Ding ding ding... Ding ding ding!

The sound of the phone seemed to have emotions, urging them to pick it up quickly.

"Who is it, in the middle of the day?"

Zhuang Xiu cursed inwardly as he reopened the door.

She came to the phone and answered it with a frown. Although she was a little unhappy, her tone was still polite: "Hello? This is the office of the village chief of Jicheng Village. Who is this?"

I don’t know what was said on the other end of the phone, but after just a few seconds, Zhuang Xiu’s eyes widened and she pressed the receiver tightly to her ear, wishing she could crawl into the phone line.

"What? Say it again?"

"Is this true? Our village is really going to be demolished?!"