Ren Tingxi and Lan Xiaolan came to Shimo Village near the cross-river bridge project. The Xu Guangzhi that Ren Tingxi mentioned was one of the villagers in Shimo Village.
Shimo Village is located in a picturesque and quiet village, with a river in front and green mountains in the back. The roads are paved with gravel and the houses are built with bluestone.
The village is surrounded by lush green rice fields. Shimo Village lies quietly in the middle of the green rice fields, like a weathered ocean.
It was late summer and early autumn, and the rice had not yet matured. During the day, you could see villagers busy working in the fields.
Most villagers in Shimo Village make a living from farming. This self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy model has been practiced on this land for thousands of years.
Although the villagers living here are not rich, they all live a peaceful and comfortable life.
Until one day, a land expropriation notice broke the original tranquility of the village.
When Ren Tingxi was planning the main part of the bridge in the early stages, he mapped out most of the site on farmland or flat land, in order to reduce the difficulty of construction and maximize economic benefits.
However, not all areas are flat land or farmland. There are several houses within the planned area, one of which is Xu Guangzhi's house.
Because the cross-river project was a highly regarded project by the government, and the number of houses that needed to be demolished was relatively small, the government, in an effort to improve efficiency, offered very attractive compensation terms to the few households that needed to be relocated.
Seeing such good relocation terms, the other villagers quickly agreed to move away.
But the Xu family was the only one that was stubborn and would not listen to any words or advice.
No matter who came to negotiate with him, or what favorable conditions they offered, he would never leave. He even said incoherently to everyone, "My grandfather, my grandfather's grandfather, and my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather have always told us since we were young that Shimo Village is a Feng Shui treasure land left to us by our ancestors. We must never leave here. If we leave, we will cut off the lifeline of our ancestors, and our descendants will not have a good life."
These words were laughable to others. They were obviously superstitious and had no scientific basis.
But Xu Guangzhi believed it firmly.
"Among the other families whose homes were demolished, are there any with the surname Xu?"
"No, he's the only family with the surname Xu." Hearing Ren Tingxi's answer, Lan Xiaolan nodded and took notes with paper and pen.
In fact, the villagers of Shimo Village have many surnames. How these surnames came about is too long ago to be traced.
However, the surname Xu is indeed a big surname in Shimo Village. More than half of the villagers here have this surname.
Moreover, people with the surname Xu are said to be particularly superstitious. Some of the Xu families here may work outside to make a living, but the oldest and most respected elders in the family will definitely stay in the old house.
Even if some young people died accidentally in other places, their bodies would be transported back to Shimo Village for burial.
In Shimo Village, families with the surname Xu often have promising young people who earn money working in other areas. Even if they earn a fortune, they won't buy a house elsewhere, choosing instead to return to Shimo Village and settle down. Families with the surname Xu call this "returning to one's roots."
"Then how did you convince Xu Guangzhi to move out?" Lan Xiaolan asked, blinking her eyes.
"Later, we really had no choice but to ask the local government and village committee leaders to do some ideological work on him and see if we could convince him to move."
"Strangely enough, the village leaders seemed quite disgusted with our arrival and didn't welcome us very much."
"As for Xu Guangzhi's situation, they all expressed understanding of our work and the government's work, but when it came to finding a way to get him moved, the village leaders were silent."
"Oh? There's such a thing? Then how did Xu Guangzhi move away in the end?"
"The village committee finally decided to set aside a piece of land in Shimo Village for Xu Guangzhi to rebuild his home."
"Xu Guangzhi refused to accept the government's compensation for relocation and was unwilling to move out of the resettlement housing. Finally, out of desperation, they decided to let the government pay for a new house to be built for him in Shimo Village."
"This is indeed a good thing for Xu Guangzhi." Lan Xiaolan said as she took notes carefully.
"But he didn't agree to move in right away at first. He had to force our leader to bring a Taoist priest and perform a big ritual before he agreed to move in." This shows that Xu Guangzhi is indeed a very superstitious person.
Lan Xiaolan covered her mouth and smiled, but she still carefully wrote down everything Ren Tingxi had just said.
Ren Tingxi moved closer to Lan Xiaolan and watched her writing seriously. It seemed as if he saw Lan Xiaolan again when she was in school, studying and taking notes seriously.
"Let's go and meet Xu Guangzhi." After saying that, he couldn't help but put his arm around Ren Tingxi's.
Familiar smells, familiar movements, familiar feelings and familiar people.
Some habits may be diluted by time, but they can never be forgotten.
Lan Xiaolan held Ren Tingxi's hand and walked forward for several steps before she realized something was wrong. Then she consciously let go of her hand and walked forward with big strides.
Xu Guangzhi's home is located at the end of the village, facing south and backed by the mountain. It is a two-story house covering an area of about 80 square meters.
The house looks bright and clean. There is also a small garden on the first floor, which is full of various green plants and flowers.
The house and its surroundings were kept in perfect order. It seemed Xu Guangzhi was a man who understood life. It was hard to imagine that someone who understood life so well could actually talk about such superstitious things like demons and ghosts.
Several small chicken and pig huts were built to the west of the house, and two acres of land were reclaimed to the east, where vegetables, fruits, and rice were planted.
"The environment here is really nice." Lan Xiaolan looked at Xu Guangzhi's new house with envy.
"Of course. This is a house that a Feng Shui master has looked at. Furthermore, I designed it myself. How could it not look good?"
I never thought Ren Tingxi could not only build bridges, but also design houses. It seems he has experienced a lot over the years and has made a lot of progress.
I have another question, Lan Xiaolan said, picking up her notebook and pen: "The village committee official who received you was also surnamed Xu, right?"
Ren Tingxi nodded, and Lan Xiaolan smiled with satisfaction. It was exactly what she had guessed.
"You have been recording these. Does it have anything to do with the ancient tomb that appeared on the construction site?" Ren Tingxi looked at Lan Xiaolan with curiosity, not knowing what she was up to.
"Mr. Ren, you'll know the answer soon! Now go knock on the door."
Ren Tingxi was about to knock on the door when he was suddenly stopped by a shout.
"Stop! Who are you? What are you doing knocking on my door?!"
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