In fact, this section of road from the county town is only more than 100 miles, and the car is a new jeep, but it took nearly five hours. You can see how bad the road conditions are. There is also a section of the road that is just like entering a deep mountain forest, let alone pedestrians, there is not even a trace of human habitation. Even large wild beasts occasionally appear in this place at night. Night travelers and vehicles have been attacked and stopped, two people died, and several drivers were scared silly.

The county armed forces organized several teams to hunt wild animals that hurt people, but they only killed wild boars. Wolves ran very fast, while tigers and black bears were very good at hiding and could not be found at all.

After crossing this section of deep mountains and dense forests, the terrain gradually became flat, and large areas of fields and villages appeared in sight. We had to continue moving forward, but suddenly we found that we had walked into a remote mountain again, and the road ahead was getting narrower and narrower. There was no gravel road, and we turned directly into a dirt road. This kind of road is also called a mechanized road, which can be used by ox carts and tractors.

Secretary Wu had introduced before that ten years ago, the population of Heilingzi Village was very small, with only seven or eight households. Later, due to natural disasters in other places, some people migrated here to settle down, and with the sent-down youth going to the countryside, it has now developed into a large village with more than 40 households and more than 200 people. The old road into the village has been abandoned because it was too narrow and tortuous, and this relatively wide dirt road has been opened up.

It was a new thing for cars to enter the village, and it was just after work, so the car parked at the entrance of the village was surrounded by villagers in three layers. Everyone was watching the fun and talking about it. They all thought that some leader had come to the countryside and was probably going to hold a meeting to give a report.

Two brigade cadres came over in a hurry, waving at the crowd, "Everyone, go home and eat! Go home and eat! You still have to work in the afternoon! Go quickly, stop messing around here!"

Officer Wu pushed the door open and got out of the car: "Comrade Wang Guigen?"

Wang Guigen, the leader of the Heilingzi Village, stepped forward and said, "Here we are. Comrade Wu, you are here. You have come all the way here. Thank you for your hard work!"

Secretary Wu: "It's okay, it's okay. You've worked hard. Comrade Meng Taohua, her husband, and the brothers are here. Look... Hey, where is Zhu Manjin?"

"It's good that they're here, Zhu Manjin and the others are at home and will be here soon! The Zhu family has been very happy these days, and has made many preparations, looking forward to seeing the relatives - look! Aren't they here?"

Wang Guigen said, waving to a place not far away: "Manjin, Manjin, come here quickly, your niece is here!"

The crowd was almost driven away by another brigade cadre, leaving only a few aunties, grandmas and children. They said they were related to the Zhu family and insisted on seeing the relatives who had just arrived, and stood by and refused to leave.

Meng Zhehan took Liu Jianli, Xu Yulin, the brigade cadres and several Zhu family men to shake hands and talk. Shen Yu helped Meng Tao get off the car and was immediately surrounded by a group of women and children. A 25-26-year-old woman wearing a blue coat and two shoulder-length braids, with a strong physique, took Meng Tao's other hand and said with a smile:

"You must be Xiao Huahua, right? You are as pretty as my cousin. I have seen her photo, and you really look like her!"

Meng Tao didn't know how to address him, so she just smiled and nodded: "Hello."

The woman said hurriedly, "My father is Zhu Manjin, you should call him your uncle, and I am your uncle's eldest daughter Zhu Chunzhi, you can call me your cousin."

Meng Tao: "Ah, hello, cousin."

When Guan Xiuzhi came to this village to give birth to a child, she took refuge with Aunt He, who was He Lian's aunt. Meng Taohua should call her Great Aunt, or Great Grandma for short. This Great Grandma He was married to Great Grandpa Zhu and had no children. She adopted her cousin Zhu Manjin. The two old people found a wife for Zhu Manjin and started a family, but they did not live together. The two old people lived in a small courtyard at the end of the village, feeding sheep for the production team, and had no neighbors around.

After my great-grandfather passed away, my great-grandmother became deaf and blind, and was unwilling to return to Zhu Manjin's house for fear of being a burden. Guan Xiuzhi came and lived with her great-aunt, thinking that she would not be disturbed. However, she did not receive timely help during childbirth.

Zhu Manjin inherited the incense of Zhu's great-grandfather's branch and was responsible for the funeral of the two elders and the sacrifices during the New Year. It was also he who decided to bury He Lian and her two children below the tombs of Zhu's great-grandfather and He's great-grandmother. This was also He Lian's idea. Before Meng Shengli returned to her hometown, she often came to the Zhu family to stay for a while. At that time, Meng Taohua was too young to be taken with her on mountain roads, but she would be told about her growth, so everyone in the Zhu family knew the name Xiaohuahua.

The other women squeezed forward, smiling, and followed Zhu Chunzhi to call her "Xiao Huahua" affectionately. Zhu Chunzhi kept introducing them, calling them aunt, cousin, and sister-in-law. Meng Tao thought all the Zhu family's relatives had come, but when she saw them staring at Shen Yu, she told them that this was her husband, and that Meng Zhehan and the other two guys were brothers.

Because some people had come to the village to scout ahead, everyone naturally knew that Xiao Huahua was married and pregnant. At this time, they couldn't help but praise the son-in-law for his spirited character and the couple for being a perfect match.

Shen Yu nodded calmly to everyone, without saying anything, just holding Meng Tao tighter. He felt that these women were not telling the truth, just pulling and tugging and asking questions, without thinking about the guests who had come from afar and had worked hard, couldn't they go home and rest before talking? At this time, another group of women and children came running over. The first two middle-aged women with short hair and dark homespun jackets were tall and thin, and the other was short and fat. The tall and thin one shouted to Meng Tao: "My little flower, I've been waiting for you to come!"

The short and fat man's eyes turned red. He raised his hand to wipe his eyes, and directly pushed Zhu Chunzhi away. He took Meng Tao's hand and said in a hoarse voice: "Come on, kid, go home. Let's not stand here. It's windy."

Meng Tao: "You are..."

"I'm your great aunt, from Zhu Manjin's family."

Another tall and thin woman followed up and said, "Child, I am your second cousin's mother, and your second cousin is Zhu Manyin. Let's go home first and talk about it later."

"But just now, cousin Chunzhi said that those two were my aunts?"

"What kind of aunt is that? A shameless crazy woman you don't know. Ignore them!"

My cousin’s aunt was so angry that she turned around and scolded Zhu Chunzhi: “This is Xiao Huahua’s first time here, what did you do, you idiot? Just wait, I’ll settle the score with you later!”

Zhu Chunzhi staggered after being pushed just now, and was very dissatisfied: "Mom, what am I doing? Isn't it that Xiaohuahua is here, and you are busy, so my aunt and I are helping to greet her, is that wrong?"

(End of this chapter)