Ever since the last time we went door to door to do the work, the fruit tree planting has come to a standstill.
Dahua sighed all day at home. Liang Genfa knew roughly what was going on, but he didn't know some details.
That night, Liang Genfa finally couldn't bear it anymore and called Dahua to come closer.
He lit a cigarette and the two of them drank tea.
"Last time you went to do the work, if anyone disagreed, tell me what you think."
Dahua counted them one by one on his fingers. Liang Genfa took a puff of cigarette, and smoke came out of both nostrils like a double chimney. He squinted, as if observing the color of the smoke.
After Dahua finished speaking, he thought for a moment before speaking: "These people are all close to Old Wu!"
As soon as he said that, Dahua's eyes lit up, but then immediately darkened.
"It seems that Captain Wu disagrees with my idea from the bottom of his heart. He disagrees but still says he agrees with a smile. It's really... really..."
Dahua couldn't find the words, stood up angrily, and paced back and forth.
"Alright, alright, sit down. My head hurts from all this shaking."
"Hey, Dad, I can't sit still. I'm anxious and I have a thorn in my butt."
Liang Genfa took a few more puffs of his cigarette and continued to squint his eyes to observe the smoke he exhaled.
"There's no point in worrying about this. The problem still lies with Old Wu."
Dahua thought about it and was about to go outside, saying, "Then I'll go find him!"
"Come back!" Liang Gen put out the cigarette in his hand and said, "It's useless to go. I should say it's useless for you to go."
"Why?"
"Why do you say you're still a little immature? Do you know where the Wu family's ancestral tomb is?"
Dahua shook his head in surprise. How could he know this clearly?
"It's halfway up a small hill. A feng shui master calculated that spot years ago and said it had good sunlight and would bring blessings to future generations from our ancestors.
Think about it, if this fruit tree grows well in the future, won’t it provide shade for his ancestors’ grave?
Also, the fruit attracts birds, and then they'll shit on our ancestors' heads!"
As soon as his father reminded him, Dahua understood everything. He really couldn't solve this problem, and it was not appropriate for him to step in. He was just a young man and it was not appropriate for him to do so.
"Dad, what should we do? Should we stop planting these fruit trees?"
Liang Genfa looked at the small hill not far away and said, "Our secretary is a smart man. I guess he would have thought of this. There has been no movement in the past few days. I guess he hasn't figured out a solution yet.
Don't be so anxious, let's talk about it in a few days. There's no need to rush."
Although he said so, Dahua still felt uncomfortable.
"Why not just leave some space for him and not plant trees on the plot where his family's ancestral grave is? That should be fine, right?"
"What's the point? There are so many ancestral graves on that hilltop. If you leave it for him, you have to leave it for others. If everyone leaves it for them, will you have room to plant trees? By then, they'll just be like the hairs on a bald head, a few here and a few there."
Dahua was speechless after what his father said, and could only say: The older you get, the wiser you become!
After a few days of quiet time, Dahua felt unsettled and had no energy to fiddle with the flowers and plants in the yard.
He went to see Secretary Liang several times, but he just sighed and shook his head, saying that he knew about the problem. He also talked to Captain Wu privately, but Old Wu refused to agree.
Yes, it’s a matter concerning the ancestral grave, how can we be so casual about it?
However, Old Wu is a very honest man. He did not tell others about the impact of planting fruit trees on the ancestral grave. Otherwise, if everyone disagreed because of this, it would be really difficult to deal with.
Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better soon.
One day, Old Wu's son came home at night. Because he had drunk some wine and his vision was blurry, he accidentally stepped into someone else's lime pit and almost lost his life.
According to what he said after he woke up, his vision was blurry and flashing, and he followed the flashing light and somehow fell into the lime pit.
That night, Old Wu dreamed of his father. His father said that the sunlight on the mountainside was not very bright and comfortable, so he wanted to move to the top of the mountain where there was no obstruction and he could see the scenery of the entire village.
As soon as Old Wu woke up in the morning, he began to think about his dream from last night. He stood in his yard and looked at the hilltop, and he saw the place his father pointed to at a glance.
You know what, my dad has a really good eye. There is unobstructed sunlight all day long over there, and it feels like you can see all the mountains. You can see your home at a glance. Maybe he can even watch over it and take care of the younger generation every day.
However, the graves cannot be moved at will. The hill is collectively owned, and if you want to use the land on the top of the hill, you have to discuss it with the secretary.
Old Wu thought about how the secretary had come to him two days ago to discuss mobilization, but he had just dealt with it perfunctorily with a grunt, and the last time it had even ended up being a bit unpleasant.
I didn't expect that the situation would change so soon.
"Oh, Old Wu is here!" Secretary Liang still greeted Captain Wu warmly when he saw him coming to see him.
Old Wu's signature smile was a little awkward. Secretary Liang welcomed him in, handed him a cigarette and poured him tea.
"Secretary, don't be busy, I'm just..." Old Wu glanced around again and again, stammering.
"Regarding planting fruit trees..."
"This isn't your problem. If everyone doesn't want to, there's nothing you can do about it."
After Secretary Liang said this, Old Wu felt even more embarrassed. He wiped his face and said, "Secretary, I came here today to discuss something with you.
We want to move our ancestral grave."
"Oh? Why did you think of moving the ancestral grave?"
You must know that the ancestral grave cannot be moved casually. If it is not moved properly, the family will have to consider that aspect when encountering problems in the future.
"Well, our monkey fell into a lime pit a few days ago. I've lost all my energy and feel uncomfortable and uneasy."
Old Wu didn't tell Secretary Liang about his father's dream, for fear that the villagers would laugh at him.
Secretary Liang didn't believe in feng shui, but he didn't argue with Old Wu. He smiled and asked, "So which one do you like?"
"It's the one on the top of the mountain where we landed the last time we went to check it out."
As Old Wu spoke, he tried to catch the subtle expressions on Secretary Liang's face. He would decide what to say next based on the secretary's reaction. The only thing that never changed was his smiling face.
However, he was overthinking it. Secretary Liang agreed without even thinking about it.
This was somewhat unexpected for him. He had expected Secretary Liang to agree, because once his ancestral grave was moved to the top of the mountain, the fruit tree issue would no longer be a problem.
He thought the secretary would at least pretend to make things difficult for him, or discuss the conditions with him.
Unexpectedly, during this trip, Secretary Liang readily agreed to relocate the graves and did not mention a word about planting fruit trees.
Old Wu came out of Secretary Liang's house, feeling depressed and his smile was gone.
On the way home, he thought to himself: Look, this is why he can become the secretary!
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