These faces are so familiar, yet so strange.
"Hello, Mr. Pei, Ms. Hua." Secretary Hua saw the investors get off the car and went forward to greet the two people, "I am the village party secretary of Jiu Village. My surname is Hua. You two have worked hard on the journey." The superiors had already greeted him, saying that the two investors were from big cities, had strong financial resources and extensive connections. If they were willing to invest even a little bit in Huajiagou, they could help many people live a good life.
Hua Jin looked at Secretary Hua quietly. After not seeing him for seven or eight years, he looked much older. He was less than fifty years old, but his hair was already gray.
"What a coincidence! Ms. Hua's last name is also Hua, so she has a connection with Huajiagou." The accompanying personnel arranged by the county are interested in bringing investors closer to the local area. "Mr. Hua, please take everyone to the office and have a seat. By the way, introduce the characteristics of your Huajiagou agricultural products."
"Yes, yes, yes." Secretary Hua reacted and quickly invited Pei Yan and Hua Jin to come into the office to sit and drink tea. This Ms. Hua was beautiful and fashionable. Although she also had the surname Hua, he didn't dare to claim a kinship with her. What if he made her unhappy? Wouldn't that implicate everyone?
Hua Jin smiled at Secretary Hua, and when she entered the room, she stopped and asked Secretary Hua to go ahead. Secretary Hua would never let a distinguished guest walk behind him, and refused repeatedly.
"Secretary Hua, the senior leaders are here today, and I don't want to cause trouble, but the issue of the homestead must be sorted out in front of the leaders." Seeing the leaders starting to enter the office, Hua Chengzhong could no longer sit still and shouted at the top of his voice, "If the secretary doesn't make decisions for us ordinary people, you might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes."
When he shouted, the staff arranged by the city and county secretly complained in their hearts. Everyone present had worked at the grassroots level and knew that grassroots mediation work was very difficult. Sometimes, a family in the east could quarrel over a pumpkin seedling or a family in the west could quarrel over a vegetable.
Thinking of this, they secretly looked at Pei Yan, Hua Jin and their assistant team. Seeing that they looked normal, they felt even more uneasy. They didn't know what these two investors from big cities would think.
"Mr. Pei, Ms. Hua, this..."
"It's okay. Since there's something wrong in the village, let's solve it first." Hua Jin glanced at Hua Chengzhong who was talking, and smiled at the accompanying personnel arranged by the city. "We are all fellow villagers, there is nothing we can't talk about."
The city's accompanying personnel knew that Hua Jin's hometown was here, so they smiled and nodded without saying anything. However, the county staff were still secretly worried about the local people. What good would it do for them to offend investors?
Secretary Hua smiled awkwardly at Hua Jin: "It's not a big deal, it can be solved later."
"That's different." Hua Chengzhong walked a few steps to Secretary Hua and couldn't help but look at Hua Jin a few more times. Such a young girl was actually an investor, and she took her parents' money to come out and show off?
"Secretary Hua, I won't leave until you explain clearly today." Hua Chengzhong said proudly when he saw so many leaders were there, "You are the parent official of our village. Leaders, please don't bully us ordinary people."
"What's going on?" The city leader walked up to Secretary Hua and asked, "What difficulties does this fellow have that we need to solve?"
In front of so many leaders and investors, Secretary Hua explained the whole story and finally emphasized: "Hua Chengmin's family is not extinct. He has a little girl at home. Even if the land rights need to be confirmed, they should not be recognized. But the two brothers didn't listen, saying that our village wanted to take advantage and not share the things with them. These lands belong to the country. How can our village take advantage of them? Besides, Hua Chengzhong has been using Hua Chengmin's land all these years, and no one in the village said anything. But no matter what you do, you must abide by the laws and regulations."
"Secretary Hua, my niece stole the money and ran away many years ago. She has never come back. Are these things just going to lie there forever?" Hua Chengzhong doesn't care about any laws. In his opinion, since there is no one left in his brother's house, the things should be his.
"I won't say much. If you can find that dead girl Hua Jinjin, I will never make trouble with you again." Hua Chengzhong didn't understand the laws and regulations, but he was very good at playing tricks. "You said that the things belonged to that dead girl, so why don't you find her?"
Secretary Hua's face darkened. Was Hua Chengzhong deliberately trying to cause trouble at this time? He was about to say something stern when suddenly Ms. Hua, who was standing aside and smiling the whole time, spoke.
"Then there's nothing more to say. Let's go." Hua Jin said to Secretary Hua, "Secretary Hua, please tell us what the main products of Jiu Village have been in recent years."
"Why don't you have anything to say?" Hua Chengzhong saw the beautiful female boss from the city preparing to leave, and hurriedly asked loudly, "You are rich people, so you don't care about the lives of us farmers?"
"Didn't you say yourself that you would stop making trouble as long as Huhua Chengmin's daughter came?" Hua Jin looked at Hua Chengzhong coldly. After not seeing her for so many years, her uncle was still so shameless and greedy. He felt he was at a disadvantage if he didn't take advantage of her.
"You, what do you mean by that?" Hua Chengzhong took two steps back in fear. This girl from the city didn't look very old, but why did her glaring eyes look so scary?
"What it means is that Hua Chengmin's daughter is here, and what belongs to her is hers." Hua Jin curled the corners of his lips, "Uncle Hua, do you know that if you embezzle other people's property, you will not only go to jail, but also be fined?"
Frightened by the other party's half-smile, Hua Chengzhong didn't dare to say a word. After Hua Jin and his group entered the office, his wife shook his shoulders several times before he came back to his senses in a trance.
"What's wrong with you? You can't even speak clearly when you see a beautiful girl?" Aunt Hua stretched out her hand to scratch Hua Chengzhong's face. "You are shameless. I will beat you to death."
"Sister Hua, please stop talking nonsense. He's such a big boss. If you say this to him, it will cause a lot of trouble." The villagers who were watching the fun pulled the two apart. "If you have anything to say, go back and tell him. If his boss sees it, what will happen?"
The villagers saw that the investor was not only accompanied by the leader but also by a TV reporter. They guessed that the investor was not simple and did not want Hua Chengzhong and his wife to make a fuss and ruin the good things of the village. It was Hua Chengguo and his wife who were reasonable. Although they also wanted to share the things of Hua Lao San's family, at least they were still human in front of the investor.
Hua Jin and his group returned to the office, took a document from Assistant Pei Yan, and handed it to Secretary Hua: "Regarding the development plan for Huajiagou, Mr. Pei's assistant team made a rough idea last night. The relevant follow-up work still requires the village to communicate with the relevant staff here. You can take a look first."
"This..." Secretary Hua took the document, read it roughly, and began to doubt his own eyes. Although he had not seen the world, this cooperation plan was too favorable to their village. This was not seeking cooperation at all, but clearly using money to alleviate poverty.
"Ms. Hua, I don't quite understand. Although the soil quality in our Huajiagou is not bad, it is not good enough for you to treat us so well." Secretary Hua was very tempted, but more puzzled, "Why are you doing this?"
Hearing this, Hua Jin turned her head to look at Pei Yan. Before getting in the car, she didn't know about this cooperation plan. She asked Pei Yan why he did this.
Pei Yan said: Your elders have all passed away, and I cannot buy them any gifts. I can only use this cooperation letter as a token of my gratitude for their giving birth to you.
After hearing this answer, Hua Jin was silent for a long time. She knew that Pei Yan's real intention was not this. He knew that she had a bad childhood, so he wanted to use this cooperation plan to let her stand here in glory. He wanted the whole village to know that although she escaped in embarrassment, she lived better than anyone else.
She knew everything, so she was reluctant to give up both his kindness and so much money.
"I have no parents, and all I can give you is this money and my heart. Since you even want my heart, you can also help me share some of the burden." Pei Yan held her hand, "It's too lonely to spend money alone."
"Secretary Hua," Hua Jin regained his composure from his memories and looked at him and said, "My main purpose for coming to Huajiagou this time is not for cooperation, but to return to my hometown to worship my ancestors."
"Returning to your hometown to worship your ancestors?" Secretary Hua stared at Hua Jin in astonishment, hardly daring to believe his ears, "Your ancestors...are from our place?"
"Thank you for letting me leave secretly seven or eight years ago." Hua Jin smiled, a smile that was relaxed and relieved, "I am Hua Jin, and I am back."
"You are Jinwazi?" Secretary Hua asked in astonishment, "You are the daughter of Hua Lao San, Hua Jin?"
"Yes, I am Hua Jinjin." Through Secretary Hua's shocked eyes, Hua Jin seemed to have returned to seven or eight years ago. She was squatting in the cornfield, hungry and afraid, and through the gaps between the corn stalks, she met Secretary Hua's gaze.
Secretary Hua and the uncle from the same village who was traveling with him had already seen her. She thought of all kinds of possibilities, but what she didn't expect was that the two uncles secretly let her go and left her a few hundred yuan.
Those few hundred dollars became Hua Jin's life-saving money. After she arrived in the big city, she found that everything cost money. She relied on the money that Secretary Hua and another uncle "dropped" on the ground to get through the most difficult days in the first few days.
"Thank you for that back then." Hua Jin stood up and bowed to Secretary Hua.
"Hey, no, no, no." Secretary Hua was a little slow to react to this sudden change. He reached out to help Hua Jin, but then remembered the difference between men and women, so he had to ask the village women's director to help Hua Jin sit down. He looked at Hua Jin, then at Pei Yan and others who were with her, and after a long while he sighed, "I didn't expect you to change so much, I couldn't recognize you. Have you been doing well these years?"
"Okay." Hua Jin nodded, stretched out her hand to Pei Yan and held his hand, "This is my boyfriend. I want to take him to meet my grandmother."
Huajiagou is the first group of the ninth village. Hua Jin's grandmother lives in the fourth group of the ninth village. The two families are not far away. There are no secrets in the countryside. Hua Jin's parents favor boys over girls, but her grandmother likes her very much. When Hua Jin was a child, her grandmother was worried that she would not eat well, so she often called her to her home to play. During the high school entrance examination, Hua Jin ranked first in the school. At that time, everyone in the village said that Hua Jin's grandmother was going to enjoy a good life. Who knew that the old lady fell ill and passed away not long after, and she did not enjoy any good life.
"Okay, okay. I'll take you there this afternoon." Secretary Hua was a little embarrassed. "A few years ago, the village built a road, and your uncle's family took the compensation money and moved your grandmother's grave to a new location. It's not in the original place."
Hua Jin's eyelids trembled, and she nodded, "Thank you, Secretary Hua."
The accompanying personnel from the county did not expect things to develop like this, and they were all very surprised. In the end, Pei Yan's assistants told them that they had to deal with some private matters in the village. They exchanged glances with the accompanying personnel from the city, and only one person who had more contact with Huajiagou was left to accompany them, and the others left first.
After the leaders left, Secretary Hua and the village staff felt much more at ease. They were a little hesitant to recognize Hua Jin, who was dressed fashionably and had skin so fair and tender that water could be pinched out of it.
"You've changed so much in the past few years. When you were in the house, you were so thin and dark that your eye sockets were sunken..." Before he finished speaking, Secretary Hua suddenly remembered that Hua Jin's boyfriend was still here. He shouldn't have said that Hua Jin was ugly before, so he changed the subject and said, "Mr. Pei, thank you for taking care of the girl in our village. When Jin Wazi was in school, her grades were always the best in the village. A few days ago, I met her high school class teacher in the county, who said that if she had been able to take the college entrance examination, she might have been a good candidate for Peking University or Tsinghua University."
These words were a little exaggerated, but Secretary Hua saw that Pei Yan looked very noble and was accompanied by a driver, assistant, and bodyguards. He was worried that Pei Yan would look down on Hua Jin's background after seeing the state of Huajiagou, so he wanted to say a few good words for Hua Jin.
"I know." Pei Yan smiled, "Our Huahua is very good at everything she does."
Secretary Hua Pei Yan felt relieved after hearing this: "According to the old rules, before getting married, you have to burn paper for the deceased ancestors on both sides of the family. It's a good thing that you still remember these things, Jinwazi."
Visiting ancestors’ graves before getting married?
Hua Jin left home at the age of seventeen, so she had no idea about these rules. She was about to explain that she was not going to marry Pei Yan, but Pei Yan spoke before her.
"We thought so too." Pei Yan looked at Hua Jin with a smile, "When we get married, we will arrange for someone to pick you up to attend our wedding. We hope you can do us the honor."
Outside the office, some villagers who came to watch the fun had not left yet.
"It seems that the city and county leaders have already left, but the investors are still here. Do we need to investigate further?"
"That female boss named Hua is really young, pretty, and very stylish."
"He's rich, so of course he's fashionable." Hua Chengguo's wife spoke softly. She nudged her husband's elbow and said, "Chengguo, do you think that Mr. Hua's eyes look a bit like Jin Jin's?"
Hua Chengguo was squatting in the sunbathing area when he heard his wife say, "That's impossible. No matter how promising Jin Jin is, he can't be such a big boss."
"Why don't we just forget it? If Hua Chengzhong wants the land, let him take it. There's no point in fighting like this every day. Our son and his wife both live in the county town, and they won't be interested in a house like this in the countryside." Hua Chengguo's wife glanced at Hua Chengzhong and his wife who were still cursing, "They will get their comeuppance sooner or later."
As soon as he finished speaking, the office door opened and several tall men in suits walked out and stood on both sides of the door. They looked like bodyguards in TV dramas.
"Hua Chengzhong, Hua Chengguo." Secretary Hua walked to the door and called the two brothers, "The homestead and land of Hua Laosan's family have been handed over to their daughter. You two are not allowed to fight over it anymore. Do you hear me?"
"Secretary Hua, Jinwazi is not here, how did you give it to her?"
"Uncle, who said I wasn't here?" Hua Jin stood beside Secretary Hua and looked at him with a half-smile, "I'm back, aren't I?"
Hua Chengzhong took two steps back in fear: "What, what, you are Jin Jin?"
"Yes." Hua Jin raised the corner of her lips, "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm back."
The villagers watching the fun were shocked. Is this Jin Jin? Hua Jin Jin?
Hua Chengzhong and his wife thought of what they had done in the past, glanced at the assistant bodyguards following behind Hua Jin, and were so scared that they couldn't speak for a long time.
"I heard that my cousin got into a fight with someone some time ago and injured someone's leg?" Hua Jin walked down the stairs and stepped in front of Hua Chengzhong in her high heels. "This is not good. Intentional injury will lead to jail time."
"Jinjin, let the past be the past. You, you..." Hua Chengzhong's face turned pale. "You are rich now, but you can't ignore us elders."
"Oh?" Hua Jin raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Elder?"
Hua Chengzhong felt uneasy when he saw her look and took two steps back.
Hua Jin looked at the couple with disgust. These two greedy and cowardly people cut off her hope of going to college and even wanted to ruin her life.
It's ridiculous, so ridiculous.
Hua Jin turned to Pei Yan and said, "Pei Yan, I'll take you around."
Pei Yan walked up to Hua Jin and held her hand: "Okay." After taking a few steps, he looked back at the shivering Hua Chengzhong and his wife, his eyes cold.
"Jinjin, let's talk it over nicely..." Hua Chengzhong saw Hua Jin and Pei Yan walking away and wanted to chase them a few steps forward, but was stopped by a professional bodyguard.
"Sir, since you have a history of illegally detaining my client, please do not approach my client." The assistant with glasses smiled at Hua Chengzhong, "For other related matters, please wait for the court summons."
Court, what subpoena?
The author has something to say: Mr. Pei is a law-abiding citizen.
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