"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhang Yulan had already taken the plastic film off. "Hurry up and push the bicycle over, take these to the winery first, and then we'll go line up. Every household in the village has them, so there will definitely be a lot of people later."
Zhang Yulan looked petite, but she was quite capable when it came to work. She carried two bundles on a shoulder pole and headed out.
"Mom, put it down for now." Su Xiaonuan took the load off her mother-in-law's shoulder. "You'll have to make so many trips back and forth like this. Let Moxi go to the winery and borrow a dump truck. We can push all this stuff over in one load."
"Merxi doesn't need to go." The village chief pushed the dump truck in.
The three spoke at the same time. "Village Chief?"
"What are you all standing there for?" The village chief shook his head. "Hurry up and move them up, we still have to move mys after we're done."
As he carried the load, Moxi flattered the village chief. "Uncle Village Chief, you are truly a good leader for us. Our whole family will still vote for you as the next village chief."
"Alright, don't choose me." The village chief said, shaking his head. "Your uncle, the village chief, doesn't want to be the village chief for life."
"Uncle, judging from your smug look, are you about to get promoted?" Su Xiaonuan threw a bundle of hemp into the bin.
"Xiao Nuan, I owe it all to you. I'm about to be transferred to be the township head." The village chief cupped his hands in greeting to Su Xiao Nuan. "I never dreamed I could become the township head. In the future, I'll need your support and help even more."
"Congratulations!" Su Xiaonuan cupped her hands in greeting. "So, who will succeed me as village chief next?"
“Chen Hao,” the village chief said. “This lad is not bad. He’s also your savior. He’s an upright man. I feel at ease handing over the village chief position to him.”
"What if his votes don't come through?"
"So, we need to cooperate and let everyone see how good this kid is, then all the votes will go to him, right?"
"Okay," Su Xiaonuan readily agreed.
In the distillery courtyard, there were already many people queuing up, each with a lot of hemp in front of them.
The village chief, holding a microphone, shouted, "Folks, from now on, Chen Hao will be in charge of quality control for all our village's crop harvesting. Don't bring in anything that's too bad. Quality is the key, do you understand?"
"Understood," everyone said in unison.
Everyone would be more than happy to be able to sell their crops without leaving home; life is getting better and better.
Chen Hao was pulled forward by Su Xiaonuan. "Brother Hao, take a look first. Is our hemp any good? Don't be lenient. If it's good, great. If not, we'll have to return it. This is related to our future orders."
Chen Hao was somewhat at a loss. "Little Nuan, I..."
"It's alright, don't worry about it, the village chief and I will back you up."
"Alright then." Chen Hao only thought he was helping the village chief and Xiao Nuan with their work, completely unaware that he would be the village chief's successor.
Chen Hao was meticulous and responsible. He would take a small portion out of each bundle of hemp to examine it, stretch it, and decide whether to keep it or not. Almost every household returned a few bundles of hemp, but most of them were exchanged for money.
This money was all unexpected income. Counting the bills, they happily carried the returned defective products home.
"Haozi, do a good job, I have faith in you." The village chief patted Chen Hao on the shoulder and relayed the words the town mayor had once said to him.
"..." Chen Hao was also completely dumbfounded.
"Brother Hao, thank you for your hard work from now on." Su Xiaonuan smiled. "The village chief has been too busy lately, so you'll have to do a lot of things for him. But there's no pay, it's just helping out, you don't mind, right?"
"It's alright," Chen Hao said, scratching his head sheepishly. "I was just afraid I might do something wrong with my good intentions."
"It's okay, just do your best."
“Okay, I will do my best.” Chen Hao understood that the village chief was indeed very busy, especially after the winery opened. The village chief had to go to the town for meetings more often, and there were many things to do in the village. It was nothing for him to share the burden of the village chief’s work.
"Xiao Nuan, the National Day performance is the day after tomorrow. You need to practice the program you've prepared. We're counting on your family to bring glory to the country," the village chief said.
"Okay, I'll do my best," Su Xiaonuan said modestly.
She has already taught Moxi to dance, and the two children can sing "Lupin Flower" fluently. She herself plays the harmonica. In other words, she has singing, dancing, and instrumental accompaniment. She is sure to make a name for herself and win first prize.
Just as the whole village was immersed in the joy of making money, a large truck drove up to the village entrance, with the words "Pingshan Coal Mine" written on the door.
The villagers, who were counting their banknotes, stopped and stared at the large truck with a red cloth tied to its front.
Generally, if a red cloth is tied to the front of a car, it means that the car has either been in an accident or transported a dead person. When such a car comes along, an ominous feeling arises.
Someone ran in and brought out the village chief and Su Xiaonuan. These are the two people who are always invited when there are any big or small matters in the village.
The car door opened, and two people stepped out. One of them looked like a leader, wearing a dark gray shirt and black trousers, with his shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing a watch on his wrist that gleamed brightly.
He first looked at everyone with a solemn expression, then dragged his heavy steps a few steps forward.
The Li and Wang families ran over happily.
"You're from Pingshan Coal Mine, right?"
"Yes." The man nodded. "That's me."
"Do you know my son, Wang Dabao?" Li Shufen asked, gesturing as she spoke. "He works as a temporary worker at your mine."
"Yes." The man nodded again, his tone even more serious. "I know him."
Lin Xiaolan couldn't wait to ask, "Do you know my husband? His name is Li Ming, and he's also a temporary worker at your mine."
"Li Ming is in the car," someone said, pointing to the person inside.
Lin Xiaolan looked up and saw her husband sitting in the car, waving. "Li Ming, why aren't you getting out? Come on, get out and help me carry this hemp. I didn't want to make several trips back and forth. You've come back just in time."
The village chief and Su Xiaonuan noticed something was wrong and exchanged glances.
The car door opened, and Li Ming landed on one foot first. After a while, his other foot slowly landed on the ground.
Li Ming's feet felt as heavy as a thousand pounds when he landed, and his legs were still trembling.
"Li Ming!" Lin Xiaolan thought he had injured his leg and rushed over, shouting.
Fearing his wife would rush at him and smash the ashes he was holding, he dodged away.
Li Ming walked over, holding Wang Dabao's urn in both hands.
The scene was completely silent.
The older generation is very familiar with this scene; back then, the Lan family patriarch was also carried back in the same way.
Li Shufen rushed over, "Li Ming, is that Lan Guangxue you're holding? Has something happened to him?"
She didn't see her son, so she would rather the box contained Lan Guangxue than her son.
“Auntie, no.” Li Ming choked up.
Not Lan Optics?
The villagers immediately understood: the box contained Wang Dabao. There were only three people from the village working at the Pingshan Coal Mine: Li Ming was there, and Lan Guangxue was still alive, so it could only be Wang Dabao.
"Who is that? Who is that?" The Wang family members all gathered around.
“It’s Da Bao,” Li Ming whispered.
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