"Xiuyuan, I heard from your aunt that you've become the town mayor?" Aunt Li Siqin is the youngest, but she looks much older than her age. Farming in the countryside, exposed to the wind and sun, makes people look older as they get older.
Li Xiuyuan took the hot water handed to him by his aunt and said with a smile, "Deputy, deputy mayor."
“That’s still pretty impressive. Look at your cousins, they’re nowhere near as good as you. You two should both learn from Xiuyuan.” Li Siqin said, looking at her two sons. The eldest son was learning to repair cars in the city and was still unmarried.
My second child is about to graduate from junior college, and finding a job will be a problem then.
Li Siqin's two sons, Li Xiuyuan's cousin Ma Jie and cousin Ma Wei, were also curiously observing Li Xiuyuan. They had only just learned that Ma Jie was actually only a few months older than Li Xiuyuan, so the two were considered to be the same age.
He never expected that his cousin would become the deputy mayor. Having been through many years of experience in society, Ma Jie understood the significance of the deputy mayor position to some extent. As for Ma Wei, he simply didn't understand the implications.
They even thought that their cousin was just a rural cadre.
Many young people are like this in school, with unrealistic ambitions; frankly, they haven't experienced the harsh realities of life.
“Mom, I want to start a business after I graduate,” Ma Wei said immediately.
"You little brat, you want to do business? Don't you even have a brain?" Li Siqin was about to start cursing.
Li Xiuyuan quickly stopped his aunt: "Aunt, doing business is a good thing. I was thinking of doing business too. As for my cousin, he works in the city. After staying here for a long time, he will get used to city life and will definitely settle down in the city in the future."
I only came back to work in our county because I wanted to be closer to home, but now I've been relegated to a rural town..."
Li Xiuyuan's words were meant as modesty, but Ma Wei, standing nearby, had already taken them to heart, believing that anyone who graduated from university and was willing to go to the countryside could become a deputy town mayor.
The others chimed in, saying they had business to attend to. After taking a couple of sips of water, they got up to go sweep the tombs. Li Xiuyuan's hometown was Lijiazhuang, about a ten-minute walk from his aunt's house.
The aunt's family only had one motorcycle, which couldn't fit four people, so they simply didn't let the uncle ride the motorcycle and instead got into the van belonging to the sister, Li Qingqing.
The three cars arrived at Lijiazhuang. Actually, Li Xiuyuan didn't have a deep impression of the village. After stopping the cars, a group of people carrying various paper offerings walked towards the ancestral graves.
During the Qingming Festival, many people returned to sweep the tombs, but Li Xiuyuan's family still attracted the attention of the villagers. After all, other people who were away from home usually returned in groups of two or three, but Li Xiuyuan's family, with more than ten people, was quite conspicuous in the village.
Li Jianguo and his three siblings, Li Simin and Li Siqin, knew quite a few people in the village and would often stop to chat with acquaintances they encountered.
As for the younger generation like Li Xiuyuan, they didn't know anyone in the village. While the adults chatted, they stood aside and waited. Whoever the adults introduced would step forward.
He smiled at the other person and addressed them as "uncle," "elder brother," or "aunt."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
