Chapter 233
After eating, they walked around in the yard. At eight o'clock, Su Miao and the others carried small stools to watch the show.
My sisters-in-law and aunts were also going, so the men at that table who were drinking happily were left to look after the house.
The empty threshing ground can easily accommodate the entire village, and activities and meetings are usually held here.
There is no stage in the village. They only installed a few large lights in the threshing ground two years ago. They are only turned on when there are activities, and the electricity bill is paid from the village account.
There was no curtain, so the villagers who were performing stood in the center, and the others brought small stools to form a circle. Whoever's performance was due would go on stage, and after the performance, they would become the audience again and applaud.
Su Miao and her group of children naturally got to sit in the front row without any obstruction. Second aunt and the others sat behind the children, and she even specially brought some snacks in a dustpan.
There are sugar cakes, melon seeds and peanuts, homemade dried sweet potatoes, and several large tangerines.
At half past eight, everyone was almost seated, and the New Year's Eve party in Sujia Village was about to begin. Fifth uncle was adjusting the microphone next to the big speakers. I heard that the big speakers were rented from the county and cost money.
Su Miao asked curiously, "Is Fifth Uncle the host?"
Second Aunt said, "Yes, such evening parties are usually hosted by the village director. Your fifth uncle is our village director now."
"Wow! Fifth Uncle is actually an official! Was the previous village director dismissed because of his son's incident?"
"Of course not! How could he continue to be in office after such a big incident? Many people trusted his son so much because of his reputation."
Because he returned to the city very quickly and his family was not cheated, Su Miao did not follow up on the follow-up of the village fraud case. Now is a good time to ask about it.
Several aunts started talking one after another:
"That Wei San is a bad guy. I don't know where he met these people, but he followed them to cheat and deceive people."
"I heard from the police that it was Wei San who came up with the idea to come to our village and defraud people of their money! He told the group that his father was the village director and that if he brought people back, many people would definitely believe him. It would be more likely to succeed than going to those unfamiliar villages. He's really a black hearted person."
Su Miao heard the key words: "So Wei San was not the victim of the scam, but the active perpetrator, and he played a leading role in the case. A group of people, is that a large group of people?"
Fourth Aunt said indignantly, "There were five of them! They were all shills! They acted so well back then! You couldn't tell at all."
An aunt from another family nearby heard their conversation and came over to say, "Yes, yes, they were set up from the moment they entered the village. The driver who brought them here refused to accept the fare and only asked them to take him with them when they invested.
That expert, along with his two apprentices, created a ton of fake certificates and other things, all stamped with fake seals, making them look like the real thing. He even performed experiments in front of the entire village, not showing any fear at all.
Seventh Aunt rushed to say, "And there's another one, pretending to be a county government employee. They arrived later, saying they were there to oversee the investment and demanded the village representatives sign a contract and guarantee. They were so angry they almost killed Seventh Uncle."
Su Miao nodded. It was really a scam, one scam after another. No wonder so many people in the village were fooled. The village director, the research institute, and the county government were all very authoritative figures and institutions to them.
"Has the person been caught now? Did the village director know about this beforehand?"
"Wei San and the driver were caught, and the others ran away with the money. His father didn't know he was a scammer beforehand, and was forced to pay back the money by relatives after the incident. How could he come up with so much money all at once? He took his family and hid away before the New Year."
Su Miao suddenly realized: "Oh~ No wonder I saw the store at the entrance of the village was closed, I thought they were closed for the New Year."
"That store has been emptied out. It's unlikely to reopen. But then again, it's really inconvenient to buy anything. Even to make a phone call, I have to run to the next village."
"Then uncles and aunts can take over and continue running the business. Everything is ready, the phone lines are already in place, and they can open the business as soon as the goods come in. They're short of money right now, so they should be able to negotiate a price."
The other aunts laughed and said that they didn't have so much money to open a convenience store, but the second aunt took note of her words.
At this time, Fifth Uncle had walked to the front of the stage and began to give his opening remarks. What was interesting was that because it was a party in his own village, he spoke directly in Zhuang language. Su Miao had never seen such a party before.
The first opening was a fashion show. Imitating the models on TV, the villagers put on colorful new clothes and walked around in circles and posed.
There were also people carrying hoes, fish baskets, and swinging two heads of lettuce...
In short, the most local elements of the countryside were used. As the performing villagers walked, they accidentally looked at each other and couldn't help but burst out laughing, which made the audience laugh as well.
Next there were dance, chorus, skits and other programs. Although everyone's performance level was only mediocre, the atmosphere on the scene was joyful and even more lively than watching a performance in the county theater.
The 360° surround stage is more difficult to perform on than an ordinary stage, but the villagers don’t understand this. After all, they are all from the same village, so they are very relaxed and there is no stage fright. One person can control the whole stage.
It’s truly a big rural stage, come if you’re brave enough!
When it came to the folk song duet, my second aunt stuffed the snacks into the hands of the person next to her and went up.
Su Miao said in surprise: "Second aunt wants to sing folk songs?"
Seventh Aunt said: "Your Second Aunt has a brilliant voice. When she was young, she could sing songs as well as an entire group!"
Zhuang folk songs are folk songs sung by the Zhuang people in Zhuang language, which are divided into different tracks, tones and contents.
There are songs of sorrow, folk songs, production and labor songs, pan songs, historical songs, current affairs songs, children's songs, and revolutionary songs.
Pan Ge is also known as question-and-answer song, meeting song, guessing song, and duel song. It is performed in duet form and particularly tests the singer's expressive ability and mental flexibility. When we usually talk about dueling songs, we are mostly referring to Pan Ge.
There were two camps on the field, fighting back and forth with great enthusiasm. The people off the field were listening with great interest. When they heard something exciting, they would open their voices and shout a few words to cheer them on.
There is also an interactive game of throwing hydrangeas. There is a colorful ring with a diameter of less than one meter on a three-story-high pole. Each person has three chances. Those who can throw the colorful hydrangeas into the ring will receive a small gift.
These gifts were donated by the villagers themselves, and most of them were handmade products from women's homes.
This project was included in the school's physical education class, and Su Miao also practiced it. He won once out of three times and finally chose a butterfly embroidered with colored threads.
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