After the New Year, An Moxue's departure day was approaching, and she had been packing her things these past few days.
I went to the county and town to complete the temporary transfer procedures, and the receipt of my pension was also transferred.
I wrote a letter to each of my friends, and bought a stack of letter paper, envelopes, and stamps.
They distributed some of the coarse grains that had been allocated before the Lunar New Year to several elderly people living alone in the village.
The night before she left, An Moxue invited Village Chief Guo, Aunt Guo, Old Ma, and Aunt Ma to have dinner at her home.
At the dinner table, An Moxue said, "Thank you, Uncle Ma, Aunt Ma, Uncle Guo, and Aunt Guo, for taking care of me all this time. I'm only leaving temporarily. I'll come back to see you and participate in collective labor when I have free time. I'll have to trouble you all to look after the house while I'm gone."
Aunt Guo said, "Mo Xue, when you're traveling alone, be more careful. Don't be too generous, or you'll easily be taken advantage of."
Village Chief Guo was annoyed and said to An Moxue, "What do you mean by being a sucker? That's called being generous. Don't listen to your aunt, she's making everyone stingy."
Turning to Aunt Guo, he said, "Look at all this delicious food on the table. Do you think she's generous or just a sucker?"
Looking at the vibrant Uncle Guo and Aunt Guo, An Moxue felt a warmth in her heart, and a genuine smile spread across her face. She said, "Uncle Guo and Aunt Guo, I know you're both doing this for my own good. I'll remember your words and won't let myself suffer. Eat up."
As he spoke, he placed a piece of food in each of their bowls.
Old Ma said, "Take good care of yourself and try to come back for the Spring Festival this year. Nowhere is as comfortable as home."
An Moxue understood what he meant by living well. "Uncle Ma, I will."
"Mo Xue, when you come back, Auntie will cook a whole table of delicious food for you," Aunt Ma said expectantly.
“Great! I’m looking forward to coming back and enjoying Auntie’s delicious food. Come on, eat up, we can chat more after we’ve finished eating.” An Moxue waved her chopsticks again, serving food to everyone.
"Mo Xue, how did you brew this wine? It tastes so good!" Aunt Guo asked curiously.
Can An Moxue say that she used water from the space well?
No way!
He could only make up a lie: "Auntie, I don't know either! Aunt Meihua taught me how to make wine! Maybe it's because the grapes in our mountains are so good! I wonder if Aunt Meihua will miss me now that I'm gone?"
"Your Aunt Meihua likes you so much, she'll definitely miss you now that you're gone," Aunt Guo said with a smile.
"It's okay. If she says she misses me, just tell her that I'll bring her something delicious when I come back," An Moxue said, making a wish.
"Oh dear! This is going to cost you more money. It's good that you mean it, but you can't just buy things randomly," Guozi lectured.
“Yes, don’t waste money. We don’t need it,” Aunt Ma chimed in.
Old Ma and Village Chief Guo ate their food and drank their wine, listening intently to the three women's conversation, but they didn't say anything.
The two were talking about something else—
“Then you take the bus to the county tomorrow, and I’ll go to the town,” Old Ma said.
“I’ll have Accountant Chen go with you. We’ll have another meeting when we get back and talk to the villagers properly. I thought it would arrive before the New Year, but it’s been delayed until now. There’s really no other way this year. We were named an advanced village, so we have to accept it whether we want to or not.” Village Chief Guo’s words were full of helplessness.
"Try to think positively. Just do what the higher-ups ask, but don't make things difficult for them. Follow the rules and you can't go wrong." Old Ma, a man of experience, comforted Village Chief Guo.
“Mo Xue said so too, and I think it’s true.” Village Chief Guo still trusted An Mo Xue.
"What's up, Uncle Guo? Have the people being sent to labor camps arrived yet?" An Moxue asked curiously.
"Well, there's another batch of educated youth, all arriving tomorrow. I'm really having a headache with these educated youth. I hope a few of them are well-behaved and don't cause any trouble!" Village Chief Guo said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Uncle Guo, try to think positively. I estimate that more educated youth will be sent to the countryside in the next few years, and it won't stop. It's extremely difficult to find jobs for these people in the city now, so going to the countryside is an inevitable trend, there's nothing we can do about it. You could think about how to manage them better."
"How else can we manage them? Most of these people are rebellious and disobedient to the government." Village Chief Guo was at his wits' end.
Old Ma advised, "Alright, it's not a big deal. Just set some rules, punish those who break them, it's a simple matter."
“Yes, that’s a good idea. You can discuss it with the village officials. Reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. If the rewards and punishments are clear, they won’t have anything to say. Especially for those who want to get married, they must get a marriage certificate.”
"What's the difference between getting a marriage certificate and not getting married?" Aunt Guo still felt that having a wedding ceremony was the proper way to get married.
"Auntie, you don't know this! When you're out and about, who knows if a man and a woman are husband and wife? Once the marriage certificate is issued, everyone knows."
"Then staying home won't do any good!" Aunt Guo still felt it wasn't very useful.
“Auntie, think about it. If a sent-down youth returns to the city and his wife comes looking for him, and he denies it, who can prove they are husband and wife? But if they have a marriage certificate, once it is shown, he can’t deny it even if he wants to. Do you still think the certificate is useless?”
An Moxue also hopes that the village chief will take this seriously and that no tragedy will occur when the educated youth return to the city in a few years. It would be good if there were fewer cases!
Village Chief Guo said, "Mo Xue is right. It's better to be safe than sorry. I need to discuss this with the village. If it doesn't work, we should require marriage certificates. Consider it a way to educate the villagers about the national law. I'll go to town to find out more about it and then tell the villagers when I get back."
Old Ma said, "That's good."
"Uncle Guo, if I send any more letters, and I haven't returned, just give them to Uncle Ma for safekeeping," An Moxue said to Village Chief Guo.
“Okay, I’ve got it,” Village Chief Guo replied.
Throughout the meal, she barely ate anything, but kept busy pouring drinks and serving food to the guests.
The group ate until very late before parting ways. Village Chief Guo and Aunt Guo left first, followed by Old Ma and Aunt Ma.
Old Ma said to An Moxue, "Be careful to keep your whereabouts secret. The fewer people who know, the better. Safety first."
"Uncle Ma, don't worry! I'll take good care of myself. Here, this is the house key. There's still some food at home, don't forget to take it all, I don't know when I'll be back! I've already shared the coarse grains with a few elderly people living alone in the village. Don't stop taking your and my aunt's medicine. If we run out of medicine before I get back, I'll mail it back." He said, handing the key to Old Ma.
Old Ma took the keys and said, "Okay, I'm leaving. You should go back too and get some rest."
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, An Moxue, carrying her backpack, took one last deep look at the home she had lived in for half a year, and strode away from Anle Village.
......
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