The countryside is great; it's spacious, and they can build whatever they want there.
Looking back now, going to the countryside wasn't so bad after all.
The young man led three educated youths, some dragging and some carrying them, and the three of them managed to walk out in a large, imposing manner.
The village secretary turned around and saw the group of people standing motionless behind Old Lady Wu. "Why aren't you leaving?"
On the way, we learned that Old Lady Wu was the one who had recently moved her household registration from a big city to their village, so naturally, there were other arrangements made for her.
What about the others?
"I'm with my mom."
That's like something a complete idiot would say. How old are you? Still calling me "my mom"?
You'd think he was a three-year-old if you didn't know better.
Grandma Wu's lips twitched, and she rolled her eyes backward.
The village secretary's eyes widened. "You two are mother and son?"
"Yes, yes, these two are my sons, one of whom was a sent-down youth."
The village secretary pondered for a while, then fixed his gaze on Gu Qing, "Is this your daughter?"
“No, no.” Old Mrs. Wu quickly shook her head. “They were also educated youth.”
Gu Qing bit her lip and whispered to the village secretary, who was old enough to be her grandfather, "I also want to follow Aunt Wu."
“Besides me, all the other educated youth who came were men. I…I was scared. I felt safe with Aunt Wu.”
The village party secretary nodded, looked at Gu Qing who was as thin as a bamboo pole, and said nothing.
After a while, he smacked his lips, took out his pipe, and puffed on it several times. This was the first time he had received educated youth, and the higher-ups had said that the educated youth should stay in a fixed place.
They didn't say whether I could live with my mom.
"Okay, come with me."
The two Huang brothers looked at each other, their eyes brimming with joy.
I didn't expect the village party secretary to be so easy to talk to.
Grandma Wu didn't have any particular thoughts. She followed the village secretary all the way and met many people from Shanyao Village. She smiled and pointed at them as she met them.
"These are city people, they're no different from us."
"Look at your eyes. Look at that person's skin, and then look at yours. It's rough, all worn out, like the bark of an old tree at the edge of a village."
All around were the sounds of middle-aged women laughing, joking, and scolding each other.
Despite her age, Old Lady Wu still managed to keep things in check. Gu Qing, a young girl, and the two brothers, Huang Xiaofu and Huang Xiaoqiang, followed behind Old Lady Wu with flushed cheeks and their eyes fixed on their toes, without raising their heads.
"Alright, they're all students. Do you think they're your little rascal? You can't even bat an eye when I tell you the truth."
The village party secretary stroked his beard leisurely and snorted, "Alright, everyone disperse."
The women exchanged smiles and slowly dispersed.
"They're just joking, don't take it to heart. You'll understand once you spend more time with them; they're all quite plump."
After they left, the village secretary began to explain. Old Mrs. Wu looked at the village secretary who had specially explained to them with surprise, raised an eyebrow, and said, "It's nothing, he didn't say anything. I think the atmosphere in the village is good, which is probably thanks to the village secretary."
"Well, that's true, you're right."
As they arrived home, the village secretary lifted the gate and called out to them. Soon, a woman in good spirits came out.
"Cuifen, we have a guest."
The village secretary's wife peeked in, and before she could even speak, a smile had already spread across her face. "Yes, come in quickly. This must be someone from the big city. They're definitely different."
When Huang Xiaofu and his brother entered the courtyard, they were shocked to see the luggage on their backs. They wondered how much stuff they must have brought.
"You must be exhausted from carrying so much stuff. Let's put it all in and go inside to rest."
The village secretary's wife's enthusiasm made Grandma Wu feel a little uncomfortable.
Seeing that Grandma Wu nodded, Huang Xiaofu and Huang Xiaoqiang said, "Let's put the things in the yard first."
As soon as they sat down on the stools and drank the herbal tea, their vision cleared up.
She had drunk her water, and it was getting late. Seeing that she still had nowhere to stay, Old Mrs. Wu felt inexplicably irritable, though she didn't show it on her face.
He took out cigarettes, alcohol, and brown sugar from his satchel and placed them on the table.
“We will be considered villagers of Shanyao Village from now on. Since we will be living in the village for a long time, we need to have a place to live.”
Before Old Lady Wu could finish speaking, the village secretary raised his hand to stop her, "I know that everyone in this village is allocated a plot of land for building houses, and they can build whatever they want on it. However..."
“Now that all the residential land in the village has been allocated, you…” The village party secretary’s face showed a hint of difficulty.
Old Mrs. Wu's heart sank when she heard this. Without a homestead, she couldn't very well ask the villagers to rent a house.
She'll be in this village for a while, and renting a house for an extended period and mingling with other people isn't a good solution.
The village secretary's wife carried some things in and immediately glanced at the village secretary, whose eyebrows were furrowed. "With your brain like that, you're still the village secretary? Have you forgotten that Old Han at the foot of the mountain has been gone for more than ten years? Isn't that yard empty?"
The village secretary glared, annoyed that his wife was making him look bad in front of outsiders. But after hearing the rest, his eyebrows relaxed. "Yes, Old Han was a recipient of the Five Guarantees, and I was the one who took care of his funeral arrangements."
“He was quite capable when he was young. He made money and built a rather large house, even better than mine.”
When Grandma Wu heard this, she felt something was wrong. Such a nice courtyard, and the owner had been gone for more than ten years. Logically, the villagers should have something to do with that courtyard.
"Well..." the village secretary stammered, "it's just that this yard isn't very clean."
"What do you mean 'unclean'? They can't even speak clearly." The village secretary's wife turned her head away in disgust and looked at Old Lady Wu, saying, "It's just haunted."
The village party secretary rolled his eyes, so angry that his beard stood on end.
That woman.
Gu Qing's fair hands immediately clenched the hem of her clothes. It's haunted!
She caught a glimpse of Huang Xiaoqiang not far from her, and quietly shifted her position, getting even closer.
"Why are you angry? Am I wrong? Let's talk things out. Besides, they're from big cities, they're all educated. All that talk about ghosts is feudal and old-fashioned. I don't believe in that stuff."
"If it weren't so expensive, I would have bought it and moved there."
Grandma Wu nodded. What the village secretary's wife said was true, but what had happened to her still made her somewhat hesitant.
"Don't worry, sister, this money is for the village's public funds. We don't need a penny more, but a penny less..."
"I know that rules are rules."
Old Mrs. Wu was resolute, her expression firm. What ghost or monster could be greater than the resentment she felt at the moment of her death in her previous life?
"I wonder how much this will cost?"
The village secretary snorted, trying to regain his sense of self-worth, and spoke up in front of his wife, "Two hundred and eighty-eight yuan."
I felt a little embarrassed after I said it.
This is indeed too expensive; most farming families couldn't earn that much money in their entire lives.
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