Old Ma looked at Aunt Ma and then at An Moxue, sighed softly, full of helplessness and compromise, "Fine, in our family, you two are in charge. My word is the least important." He sounded somewhat pitiful.
An Moxue said ingratiatingly, "How could that be? Uncle Ma, I take your words very seriously!" She raised her right hand as if making a vow, her face full of sincerity, and said, "I promise, this will only happen once, and there will be no next time."
Before Old Ma could speak, Aunt Ma interjected, "Alright, that's enough. Mo Xue has already realized her mistake. What? Do you have anything else to say?"
Old Ma said weakly, "A doting mother spoils her son. If you do this, she will become even more audacious and lawless." Aunt Ma didn't hear him clearly because her voice was too soft, but An Moxue understood from his lip movements.
However, An Moxue pretended not to notice, cleared her throat, and then changed the subject, "Uncle Ma, Auntie, I haven't been back for two years, and the village has changed so much! The original plans have all come to fruition, with fruit trees surrounding every house, and it's the perfect season for the fruit to ripen. Even before entering the village, I could see fruit trees laden with fruit from afar, and once inside, the air was filled with the fragrance of fruit. In just two years, many houses have been renovated. There are no more people chatting by the roadside. The roadsides are also neat and clean, so much so that I almost didn't recognize them."
Aunt Ma said, "Don't just talk about you, many people feel the same way, even we feel that the changes are huge."
Aunt Ma looked at her wrist and asked, "Are you back at this hour? Have you eaten yet?"
An Moxue said, "I ate it."
Aunt Ma got up and said, "Then I'll go pick some fruit for you to eat, while you chat with your Uncle Ma."
An Moxue nodded and said sweetly, "Thank you for your hard work, Auntie."
Aunt Ma replied with a smile, "What's so tiring about it! I'm just happy as long as you come back safely every time you go out!"
An Moxue gave her a playful salute and said, "Then I guarantee I can complete the mission!"
Aunt Ma smiled and walked away.
After Aunt Ma left, Old Ma asked in a low voice, "Those successive fires in the Japanese kingdom, were they all your doing?" After saying that, he looked sharply at An Moxue.
An Moxue awkwardly touched her nose and said unnaturally, "How could that be! I don't have that kind of ability!"
Old Ma didn't believe a word of it. He said, "Stop talking nonsense. If there are too many coincidences, then it's not a coincidence. It must be man-made."
An Moxue just chuckled and didn't say anything.
Old Ma wasn't about to let her off the hook, saying, "Well done! You've got the style of your grandfather back in the day! He'd be so happy if he knew."
An Moxue stole a glance at Old Ma and cautiously probed, "You're not angry with me anymore?"
This girl is a die-hard fan of her maternal grandfather.
Old Ma didn't have a beard, otherwise he would have been glaring and berating himself. Now, he wasn't much better off. He sighed deeply before starting to say, "Tell me, if anything were to happen to you, would your aunt and I still be able to live? After we pass away, how would we have the face to face the ancestors of the Nalan family?" In the end, he became a pitiful old man again.
The old man's emotions changed so quickly that An Moxue couldn't keep up. She could only comfort him by saying, "Don't worry, sir. I will cherish my life more in the future. In a few years, when things are better, I will take you abroad to travel and let you see what it's like overseas."
Old Ma seemed somewhat satisfied after hearing her repeated assurances, and his attitude softened considerably. He said, "I've traveled to many other places in China with you over the years, which is already very good. As for overseas, let fate decide; there's no need to force it."
He seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Can I stay in the village for a few days?"
"able."
Old Ma smiled maliciously when he heard her say that, and said, "If your Uncle Guo knew you were back, he would definitely come over right away, and you'd be very busy."
An Moxue asked suspiciously, "Has he come up with some new idea this time?" That man has been dedicated to turning Anle Village into a prosperous village, and he won't miss any opportunity.
An Moxue listed the village's industries, "Our village now has a weaving factory, a fruit canning factory, a specialty product factory, and a few families have even started agritainment businesses. What else does my Uncle Guo want to do?"
“A few years ago, you proposed planting medicinal herbs, but the village opposed it. Now, he may have the same idea again.”
An Moxue asked, puzzled, "Will the village agree now?"
Old Ma smiled mysteriously and said, "Look at our village now! With these achievements as a precedent, and with you as our backing, who can object? Take the village housing construction, for example. Initially, your plan clearly stated we should build antique-style houses with blue bricks and tiles. So many people objected, so many hesitated. But look at us now! Two houses were built according to your design, and after moving in, who has a single complaint? It looks quite realistic now. I estimate that in another two years, the whole village will have these new houses. Our village's young men and women are in high demand for marriage." Many girls get married in our village, not at the groom's house, just to enjoy the village's benefits. However, your Uncle Guo was a bit cunning back then; he set up a rule that anyone who marries into the village—both men and women—would receive the same treatment as other villagers, starting from the date of marriage registration, as long as they settled in Anle Village and their household registration was transferred there. However, if they divorced, the benefits would be canceled. This rule only applied to men and women who married into the village later; it didn't apply to villagers who were already there. Even so, many people were still hoping for it! Do you remember those two scoundrels in the village? And Li the Scoundrel, whom you dealt with before?”
An Moxue thought for a moment and said, "I remember, didn't he also marry Wang Zhaodi, a former educated youth? Those two caused quite a bit of trouble back then."
Old Ma sighed, "Things are different now. They've all learned their skills and are working at the village's specialty product factory. One person is in charge of purchasing specialty products from several villages. They've all gotten married and had children."
Just then, Aunt Ma came over with a basin of washed plows and apples. Hearing what Old Ma had said, she continued, "That's right, now, from the elderly to the children, there's no one idle in the village. Especially after listening to your advice, after the land was distributed to individual households, every family got their own land and is taking good care of it!"
As she spoke, she handed a pear to An Moxue, saying, "Try it, it's so juicy! It'll quench your thirst! You went to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to get these seedlings, so see how they taste?"
An Moxue took a bite; it was sweet and juicy, very delicious, especially since the skin was so thin.
The three of them sat together, eating fruit and talking about the changes in the village.
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