The plane arrived in Xugou City at about 1 p.m. The airport in Xugou City was very small, but after Hua Jin got off the plane, she found that not only were there people giving her flowers, but there were also TV reporters following her.
Hua Jin took the flowers handed to her with a smile and said thank you.
Several neatly dressed middle-aged men politely and enthusiastically came forward to shake hands with Pei Yan, and whispered to him about the economic development and education construction of Xugou City in recent years. Unexpectedly, things would develop like this. Hua Jin walked a few steps slowly and whispered to one of Pei Yan's assistants: "What's going on?"
"A few years ago, Mr. Pei learned that Xugou City's economic development level was lagging behind, and heard about the deeds of local officials who were dedicated to the people, so he did something to help the local economic development. Because local officials have always been very grateful to Mr. Pei, this time when they heard that he was coming to inspect the work, they specially arranged a reception." The assistant replied in a low voice, "We didn't expect that there would be such an arrangement in the local area, so we didn't communicate with you in advance. This is our dereliction of duty."
"It's okay, it's okay. It's a good thing that someone is here to pick us up at the airport." Hua Jin glanced at the officials with a dazed look on her face. Just now, she saw from the plane that Xugou City was full of tall buildings and vehicles were flowing on the viaduct. Compared with eight years ago, the changes were really huge.
"Please take the time out of your busy schedule to receive me." Pei Yan exchanged a few words with the receptionist, then looked around and found Hua Jin several steps away from him, so he waved at her. "I'm not here for official business this time, but for some personal matters."
Several receptionists were a little surprised. What personal matters could Mr. Pei, who had helped the city so much, have that required him to come to a small place like theirs?
"This is my partner Hua Jin." Pei Yan saw that Hua Jin did not come to him, so he simply turned around and walked in front of her, holding her hand. "She was born in your place. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. I am here to accompany her back to her hometown to pay homage to her ancestors."
The receptionist had noticed Hua Jin a long time ago, but they didn't expect that the two would have such a relationship. They were surprised at first, and then overjoyed. Mr. Pei's partner was from their Xugou City. If they wanted to attract investment and create jobs for local people in the future, wouldn't that be another layer of help?
During lunch, Hua Jin saw that the receptionist wanted to curry favor with both sides, but did not dare to speak freely, so he had to invite them to eat the local specialties of Xugou City.
In order to promote the agricultural products of Xugou City, the reception staff also put in a lot of effort. The dishes on the table were grown by local people, the fruits were picked from local orchards, the meat ingredients were from local farms, and even the local offerings given to them were processed foods made from local agricultural products.
Compared with those businessmen who used eloquent words and all sorts of tricks to attract investment, the little tricks of the reception staff in Xugou City seemed simple and clumsy. However, Pei Yan did not show any dissatisfaction from beginning to end. Instead, he talked about some cooperation matters after the meal, which made the reception staff very happy.
In the afternoon, the reception staff arranged some more visits. Perhaps considering Hua Jin's identity, they also specially arranged two female receptionists who were close to Hua Jin's age.
During the visit, a receptionist in his fifties heard that Hua Jin was a Sichuan embroidery master and said with emotion: "In the past, many families in our area and several cities built along the river raised silkworms. In recent years, with the development of the economy, a large number of young and middle-aged people have gone out to work, and the number of families raising silkworms has decreased."
"It's a small place with limited economic development, so it's not easy to retain talent." The receptionist sighed, "If a city doesn't have enough young people and talent, how can it retain its vitality?"
Hua Jin looked at the wide and clean streets outside the car window and said, "Xugou City has changed a lot. I can hardly recognize it."
The receptionist was humble in his words, but he still expressed pride in the development of his hometown.
Listening to this, Hua Jin discovered that the Anonymous County in her memory was gloomy, and the train station in Xugou City was crowded and scary, but when she came back eight years later, the sun here was bright, the streets were wide, the people were enthusiastic, and even the green trees on both sides of the street were full of vitality.
She thought, maybe she has grown up and become stronger. Or maybe the past is no longer important to her, so she has such a peaceful and happy mentality.
Pei Yan and Hua Jin stayed in Xugou City for a day, and set off for Anonymous County early the next morning. Xugou City was worried that they might run into trouble and affect their impression of the local area, so they specially arranged two staff members to accompany them.
"There is now a direct highway from the city to the county seat. It used to take an hour and a half to drive there, but now it only takes 40 minutes, which greatly shortens the transportation time." The accompanying staff took every opportunity to praise Xu Gou City, "The several districts and counties under our jurisdiction are all good places with convenient transportation, beautiful scenery, and outstanding people. If Mr. Pei and Miss Hua have enough time, we warmly welcome you to come and have a look around."
Hua Jin smiled and said, "I will definitely go if I have the chance."
"Anonymous County has changed a lot in recent years. Miss Hua hasn't been back to her hometown for many years. I'm afraid she is not very familiar with it." The accompanying staff said, "Excuse me, where is Miss Hua's hometown?"
"My hometown is in a rural area of Yiming County. When I was in high school, my parents and younger brother died in an accident, so I lived with my uncle's family for nearly half a year. Later, because I didn't have the opportunity to take the college entrance examination, I went to other places to make a living." Hua Jin added as if jokingly, "When I was in my third year of high school, I was still the top student in the grade. It's a pity."
The accompanying staff was a little embarrassed when they heard this, but seeing that Hua Jin didn't seem to care, they said, "It's a pity indeed."
The elders in the family passed away, and I had no chance to take the college entrance examination with my relatives. Everyone can guess what the trick is without me saying it explicitly.
Thinking of this, the staff of Xugou City became a little worried. Miss Hua had experienced all this before, so would she have a bad impression of Xugou City and affect Mr. Pei’s investment in Xugou City?
Pei Yan held Hua Jin's hand and whispered in her ear: "Don't worry, I will help you vent your anger."
Hua Jin twisted his waist gently yet fiercely.
Pei Yan: “…” Why did you twist his waist again?
"I'm sorry, it reminds me of what you once said, that when you beat a dog, you have to look at its owner." Hua Jin raised her fingers, "My hand won't obey me anymore."
Pei Yan: “…”
Before dawn, the village party secretary of Jiu Village, Xiashu Town, Wuming County, got up from his bed. He received a notice last night that an investor from a big city was coming to visit them, and asked the staff in their village to prepare for the reception.
In recent years, the village has been doing well, and businessmen often come to invest, but unfortunately nothing has happened. He certainly wants to make the village better. But recently something happened in the village. If the investors come and encounter this...
Thinking of this, he was so worried that he squatted on the edge of the field, took two deep puffs of his cigarette, and stared blankly at the field where the millet had been harvested and only the millet stumps were left.
"Secretary Hua, what are you doing here? You're killing me." A villager who was about to go to the county town to do earthwork was startled. He stood there for a long time before recognizing him. "It's so early in the morning, why don't you take a nap in bed?"
"Why are you sleeping? I'm so worried that my head hurts." Secretary Hua gave the villager a cigarette. "Today, leaders from above are bringing investors to visit us. I'm afraid that when they come, Hua Chengzhong and Hua Chengguo will come to my place to make trouble again. If this happens, how will the investors look at us?"
The villagers lit up their cigarettes and squatted down like Secretary Hua. "If you ask me, Hua Chengzhong and Hua Chengguo shouldn't have taken the homestead and land left by Hua Lao San. Hua Lao San has a daughter at home. These should belong to the daughter. What does it have to do with the two brothers? The most shameless one is Hua Chengzhong. The daughter had such good grades back then, but they didn't let her go to school and forced her to marry a 30-year-old bachelor. They forced the daughter to run away. I don't know what kind of life she has lived these years. Don't you think it's immoral?"
They were all from Huajiagou, Jiucun. Strictly speaking, anyone with the surname Hua in the village had some blood relationship with him. Even Secretary Hua and Hua Chengzhong's family were descended from the same ancestor, so they were considered relatives.
When talking about Hua Laosan's family, Secretary Hua sighed. When Hua Laosan's family was alive, although they valued boys over girls, they were at least willing to let the girls go to school. Later, when the Hua couple took their son out, an accident happened, leaving only a girl at home, who was also treated harshly by her uncle. Who wouldn't say behind his back that Hua Chengzhong lacked virtue?
"You go and do your work. I'll stay here for a while." Secretary Hua threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it. "You're right. Even if the things in Hua Lao San's house are rotten, they still belong to the child."
But when the girl from the Hua family ran away, she was less than eighteen years old. Now seven or eight years have passed, and there is not even any contact information. Where can they find her?
At that time, Hua Chengzhong was making trouble in the village, saying that the daughter of the Hua family was disobedient, stole the family's money and ran away secretly. They helped Hua Chengzhong's family to look for her. He and a fellow villager had actually seen the girl squatting in the cornfield, but seeing that she was shaking with fear and her face was full of tears, the two grown men softened their hearts.
The fact that Hua Chengzhong wanted to marry his niece to an old bachelor was known to everyone in the village, and everyone thought that he was immoral, and it was normal for the Hua family's daughter to be unwilling. However, as outsiders, it was not easy for them to interfere in other people's family affairs, and sometimes there was nothing they could do except to persuade Hua Chengzhong a few words.
I don't know whether it was right or wrong to pretend that I didn't see the Hua family girl. What if she encountered an accident outside...
The more he thought about it, the more upset he felt. Secretary Hua went home to change into clean clothes, and seeing that it was getting late, he went to the village office.
I had just sat in the office for a short while when the two brothers of the Hua family came. One said that the homestead left by his third brother should be divided equally between the two brothers, while the other said that he helped his third brother raise the child, so the things should belong to his family.
"How shameless do you have to be to say such a thing?" Hua Chengguo spat on the ground. "How did you raise Jin Jin back then? Everyone in the village knows about it. You locked Jin Jin up in the house, didn't let her take the college entrance examination, and even wanted her to marry an old bachelor. You don't feel ashamed for doing these things, but I feel ashamed to talk about them."
"If you have any shame, then why didn't you support her back then?" Hua Chengzhong retorted, "She is a girl and will get married sooner or later. What's the point of her studying so much? Can she possibly become the top scholar?"
"You can't say that. If you had let Jinwazi take the exam, maybe our village would have really produced a top scholar." A village woman who was watching the fun interrupted sarcastically, "Although Hua Laoer didn't raise Jinwazi, she didn't harm him either."
"What happens in my house is none of your business." Hua Chengzhong glared at the woman who interrupted him. "You're annoying."
"Hua Chengzhong, you short-lived bastard, how dare you scold me and my wife?" The village woman's husband stepped forward and put the hoe in his hand on the ground, "Believe it or not, I will punish you."
"Stop arguing." Secretary Hua walked out of the office, looked at the crowd outside, and glared at the two brothers of the Hua family: "You two have been arguing here for a few days, and you don't care about the farm work at home?"
"It's not that we want to quarrel, but whoever gets this thing should get it..." Hua Chengzhong said with his neck stiff, "We can't let others take advantage of us."
"Since it belongs to whoever it is, what are you two brothers fighting over?" Secretary Hua put his hands behind his back, "The things belong to the third daughter of Hua Lao. What does it have to do with you?"
"Jinjin hasn't been back for seven or eight years. Who knows what she's been doing?" Hua Chengzhong said, "Why not give me the homestead and fill land so they won't be wasted."
"Nonsense! If everything goes according to your words, what law do we need?" Secretary Hua said with a gloomy face, "Stop making trouble. The thing belongs to Hua Jinjin anyway, so neither of you two brothers can argue over it. A leader is coming today, so don't make trouble here. If things get out of hand, it will affect our entire village."
"It would be better if a leader came. I want the leader to tell us who should own the things." Hua Chengzhong's wife said sharply, "Hua Jinjin, that short-lived girl, hasn't come back for so many years. Maybe she ran off with a strange man. She doesn't even remember which direction the door of the house faces. You still want to leave the homestead to her. What a joke."
During the slack season, when the villagers have nothing to do, they like to watch the fun. When Hua Chengzhong's wife said this, the villagers who were watching the fun began to talk about it. Some said that Hua Jinjin was abducted by human traffickers, and some said that Hua Jinjin must have married someone outside. Anyway, no matter how they discussed it, everyone knew in their hearts that she would never return to this village.
"Go back and watch TV if you have nothing to do. Don't gather here. Walk around." Secretary Hua saw several cars on the road driving towards the village office and felt a little nervous. Why did the investors and leaders come so early?
Other staff members from the village office also gathered around, and seeing that the villagers were reluctant to leave, they whispered to them not to talk nonsense, saying that these were investors from big cities, and if they were lucky and could get the investors to invest in their village, they could earn a lot more income every year.
Although the villagers enjoyed watching the fun, they also knew the interests involved, so they all stepped back a few steps and prepared to applaud and welcome the event.
To Hua Jin, the whole village was unfamiliar. She remembered that she had to climb two very high mountains to leave the village and go to the county town, but now the mountains were gone, leaving only wide roads and neatly arranged terraces. She sat in the car and didn't even know where the village where she had lived for more than ten years was.
"Leaders, the village branch of Huajiagou is ahead." The driver whispered, "The road to the village branch has not been completely repaired, so the car will be a little bumpy. Please be careful."
As the car got closer and closer to the two-story white building, Hua Jin's heart... was calm.
The car stopped outside the small white building. The accompanying staff helped her open the door and she heard warm applause.
"Welcome leaders to come and inspect."
“A warm welcome.”
"Please come inside and have a cup of hot tea. You've come all the way here and you've worked hard."
"Come, I'll accompany you out of the car." Pei Yan got out of the car, bent down and stretched his hand in front of Hua Jin.
Hua Jin turned her head and smiled at him, then placed her hand in Pei Yan's palm and walked out of the car. Looking around, she saw people with smiling faces and enthusiastic applause.
The author has something to say: Huahua: Fellow villagers, are you happy, touched, or surprised to see me?
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