Chapter 72 Guests from Afar (2)
"Uncle Zhang, the pork is here. Where do you think we should put it?"
Xia Wu parked the car in front of a small courtyard with a well. Everyone in the courtyard was busy picking, washing and preparing vegetables. The fire in the two large earthen stoves was burning brightly, and the scorching temperature could be felt from a distance.
Xia Wu shouted loudly as he jumped off the single-row bucket truck.
The chef invited to cook for the banquet was named Zhang, 61 years old. The people he brought with him were all his family members, including his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson who was temporarily on leave from school. The whole family was very efficient and was responsible for preparing and serving the dishes.
"Hey, why did I ask you to bring the meat? Let me see," said Zhang Hang, the chef's son, a middle-aged man in his early forties. Unlike most chefs, he was not overweight, probably because he was tired from running around at the banquet all day.
"My parents are busy, and since I can drive, they brought the meat here. Uncle Zhang, please find someone to carry the meat down."
"Okay, wife, Zhang Hao, both of you come over and give me a hand."
Zhang Hang draped a plastic tarp over his shoulders, had someone put half a pig on his shoulders, and then carried it directly to the chopping board himself. The two pigs weighed at least five or six hundred pounds in total, and he had arranged them in a short while.
Then he started to cut the pork with his family's ancestral boning knife, cutting it into pieces according to different parts and cooking methods. The whole process was smooth and flowing, like a butcher cutting up an ox. Just watching it gave people a sense of appreciation and pleasure.
After delivering the meat, Xia Wu went down the mountain, sat back in the truck, stepped on the accelerator, opened the windows on both sides, and the fresh breeze from the mountain blew directly into the car.
She had never driven this kind of bucket truck before, and she was surprised to find it very good and practical.
The car was not bought by Xia Wu. His family was holding a grand ceremony to raise the head of a grandfather's family, and some relatives came to help. The car belonged to one of Xia Wu's cousins. He usually helped people move in the city, and it just so happened that his family bought a new house during this period and also needed to move, so he came back.
After Xia Wu’s housewarming banquet was over, Yang Guojun and Liu Guizhen went to their cousin’s house for a housewarming dinner.
Xia Wu asked his cousin, and he learned that such a domestically produced single-row cargo truck could be purchased for less than 50,000 yuan, and it also had top-notch configurations, which made Xia Wu very excited.
Such a truck can seat people and carry goods. It is cheap and durable. After buying one, she can take the things from her own mountain and go out for a walk.
If we rely solely on the purchasing power of netizens, many things on the mountain will still be wasted. In addition to making jams, pickling or drying them, Xia Wu also wants to sell the fruits and vegetables he grows outside, but unfortunately there is no means of transportation.
The more Xia Wu thought about it, the more reliable it seemed to her. She didn't have enough money to buy an expensive or good car, and having an expensive car was pointless, so it would be better for her to choose an economical and affordable bucket truck.
As the sun gradually rose higher, Yanggou Village became visibly bustling. From Donghua Town to Yanggou Village, ox carts rarely stopped. One ox cart could seat four or five people, so if there were more people, they would have to wait.
Fortunately, the weather today is not too hot and there is a cool breeze, so waiting at the town entrance is not too tiring.
When Zhou Hui and several roommates arrived, it was a little after nine o'clock but not yet ten o'clock. Seeing that the ox carts were full of people, they immediately decided not to wait.
Anyway, college students have nothing to do and are very enthusiastic. It’s not too far from the town to Yanggou Village, so they just walk there with their empty bags.
Why is it an empty package? Because Zhou Hui and his friends planned to buy some local specialties when they go back. If they can’t finish it themselves, they can give it to their families. It’s a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
There were more and more people on the road, and they didn't seem to be locals, which naturally attracted the attention of people from nearby villages.
Hao Datong liked to wander around the village when he had nothing to do. From a distance he saw many people passing by on the road. His eyesight was not very good, so he thought it was someone's family's event, a funeral or a wedding procession.
Then I thought, this is not right, there is no horn or suona, so I just walked slowly to the side of the road and observed for more than half an hour. I saw people from Yanggou Village driving ox carts carrying people passing by, and I was very curious.
"Yang Lao Si! What are you doing?"
"Old Hao, I'm soliciting customers."
"Pimping? Pimping is good, you can make money by pimping."
Mr. Yang Si showed no intention of stopping. The ox cart slowly passed by Hao Datong, so he did not continue to ask questions. He just became more curious. Where did so many guests come from?
This is a godforsaken place like theirs.
After looking at it for a while on the roadside and not being able to figure it out, Hao Datong left and slowly walked to the village committee. "Is Yanghe here?"
Zhao Yanghe is the village secretary. According to seniority, he should call Hao Datong uncle, not to mention that they were colleagues before.
Zhao Yanghe was busy issuing birth permits to villagers in the house. He came out when he heard the noise and asked, "Uncle, why are you here?"
"Are you busy?"
"Yes, isn't it true that Zhao Yong and his wife are expecting a baby outside? They need to apply for a birth permit. I'm working on it now."
"You won't come back even if you give birth to a baby?"
"Of course I won't come back. The medical care in our village is not good. Which young person would come back to give birth?"
"That's true. You go ahead and do your work. I'll sit here and wait for you."
Zhao Yanghe continued to serve the customer. About twenty minutes later, he arrived at the reception room and saw the old secretary wiping the desk with a rag.
He quickly stepped forward and took over, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Uncle, look at you, you just can't sit still. Come on, sit down, I'll pour you some water."
"Don't fall down. I'm here to ask you something serious. Did you see the people on the main road today? Why are there so many people? They seem to be going to Yanggou Village. I saw Yang Laosi pulling people with an ox cart, four or five at a time, passing by again and again."
"This matter!" Zhao Yanghe suddenly realized, served tea and sat down in front of Hao Datong, "You don't know, last year, Dr. Yang Hongen from Yanggou Village, his granddaughter came home and rented Yantou Mountain in their village. Last year, his villagers got a lot of money just from the profits."
"I ran into Secretary Yang when I was in town on some business, and we chatted for a while. She's a very capable young woman, even doing livestreams online. She doesn't even have to leave the house to sell the village's vegetables, melons, and fruits. She's planted a lot of fruit trees on the mountain, and applied to the government to build a supporting warehouse. It was completed a few days ago, and she held a beam-raising banquet. This morning, she even went to Hao Qing's house and asked for two whole pigs."
Zhao Yanghe didn’t know anything more specific, after all, he was not invited to participate.
Hao Datong muttered, "Yang Hongen, didn't his granddaughter get into college? She graduated so soon?"
"How could that be? This is another granddaughter. They said they took the wrong child away before. We don't know for sure."
"This old man is so lucky. Both of his granddaughters are so promising. One got into university, and the other returned to the village to run a farm and is doing so well. Sigh..."
Hao Datong shook his head and sighed, hating the young generation in the village for not living up to expectations. Why weren't there such lively young people in their village?
But this cannot be blamed on the young people. Yanggou Village has mountains, and their Haotang Village does not have a collective mountain, so there is plenty of water. We can't let all the young people come back to raise fish, otherwise they will starve to death.
But Hao Datong suddenly remembered that the young girl he met at the door of the old house in the morning might be Yang Hongen’s granddaughter?
"Okay, I'm leaving now. Go ahead and do your work."
Hao Datong found out what he wanted to know and stood up to leave without wasting time. Zhao Yanghe stopped him and said, "Uncle, we haven't been together for a long time. How about we come to my place for lunch?"
Hao Datong didn't even turn his head and waved his hand, "No."
Despite his age, he was in good health and walked out of the village committee gate in no time.
Zhao Yanghe looked at the old secretary's departing back and smiled helplessly. Everyone wanted the village to develop and become prosperous, and he wanted to do so too, but he could not think of a way.
Mr. Yang Siye couldn't remember how many times he had traveled between the town and the village. The old friend was a little tired, so he simply stopped, sat cross-legged by the river against a willow tree, took out a cigarette from his pocket and smoked it, his eyes following the movement of the buffalo in the water.
"Yang Laosi, are you smoking here?"
Mr. Yang Si looked back and saw that this was Hao Datong, the old secretary of Haotang Village. They had known each other for many years and had even played together when they were young.
"Secretary Hao, why are you here?"
If you go further, you will reach Yanggou Village.
"Hey, an old man with nothing to do all day, just wandering around aimlessly," Hao Datong said, waving his hands. Seeing more people on the road heading towards Yanggou Village, he asked curiously, "What are these people doing in your village? Do you know them?"
Fourth Master Yang shook his head. "Who knows them? They are all from out of town. Xiao Wu wanted to hold a Liang banquet and said that people from the city wanted to join in the fun, so she invited them to come and play."
"Xiao Wu? Yang Hongen's granddaughter, right?"
"Yes, Secretary Hao also knows Xiao Wu?"
"Everyone knows this. She's taken over the hills in your village and made a lot of noise. How many people envy a young man like this from your village? If you work for her, will she pay you?"
"Give it to me, why not!" Fourth Master Yang was simple-minded and hadn't realized that Hao Datong was trying to get information. He said cheerfully, "Xiao Wu is kind-hearted and capable. We are at this age and can do a lot of work, but she doesn't mind. She earns at least fifty or sixty a day, and over a hundred at most, which is not a small amount!"
"Earn so much?" Hao Datong's eyes widened as he muttered, "Even if I make 60 yuan a day, that's almost 2,000 yuan a month. That's quite a lot."
You should know that some young people working in the town only earn one to two thousand or three thousand yuan a month. If they work in a factory for ten hours a day, their salary may be a little higher, but it is only about four thousand yuan.
An old man like Yang Laosi can earn one or two thousand in the village. No wonder Hao Datong sees him happy all day long!
"There are other people in your village working for her, right? Do they earn more than you?"
Hao Datong sat down next to Yang Laosi and continued to ask questions as if chatting.
"Of course. Many people in the village work for her. Some time ago, they were clearing wasteland in the mountains, digging tree pits, planting trees, and building houses. Some of them made a lot of money. It's mainly because it's close to home, so it's not easy to find work."
These words really touched Hao Datong's heart. In their place, there is no shortage of labor force, and no one stipulates that people in their sixties and seventies have to rely on the 200 yuan given by the government to survive. The main reason is that there is no work to do and no money to earn, so young people are not willing to stay in their hometown.
Hao Datong chatted with Yang Laosi for a long time and got to know the situation of Yanggou Village in detail. He felt very envious.
Seeing that his old friend had almost finished his rest, Yang Laosi pulled it up and put it on the cart. He happened to meet some villagers coming back from the town entrance to pick someone up, so he asked, "How's it going? Is there anyone else waiting for a ride?"
"No, the ones behind are gathering the last wave of people. Xiao Wu also said that everyone is almost here and dinner will be served soon. Fourth Uncle, you can just go back to the village."
Fourth Master Yang put away the rope and patted his old friend's head. "Okay, then I won't make this trip in vain. Let's go back and have dinner."
Hao Datong put his hands behind his back. When someone greeted him, he nodded in response. The person politely asked, "Secretary Hao, have you eaten yet? Why don't you go and have some too?"
Fourth Master Yang also said, "I almost forgot about this. Old Hao, go too. We can still make a difference whether there are many or few people."
Hao Datong didn't hesitate at all. "Okay, I just happened to be worried about where to go, so I'll go with you guys to join in the fun."
"Brothers, did you see that? That braised pork over there. It's a pity you can't smell it through the internet. It smells so good! It smells so good!"
When Zhou Hui came, he specially prepared a selfie stick. He started taking pictures from the moment he rode the ox cart, and then posted them in the group. Soon the group was flooded with his messages.
Someone protested, and Zhou Hui got so angry that he simply started the live broadcast mode.
He had previously done a strawberry review for Xia Wu, and the ghost video he posted had over a million views and 100,000 to 200,000 likes, so he also accumulated some fans.
In addition, he is usually active in the group. After the live broadcast, he directly sends the link of the live broadcast room to the group, and then starts to live broadcast with ecstasy.
Six male college students were chattering in a mess, and they were curious about everything in Yanggou Village.
One pointed at the rice in the paddy field and asked, "What is this?"
The other one didn't even look at it and insisted: "You are stupid! You are so good-looking, you must be a leek!"
The comments in the live broadcast room were almost going crazy. Some said they were lazy and didn't know the difference between grains, while others shouted that they were 100% leeks.
Zhou Hui is from the north. After arriving in Yanggou Village, he entered a state of ecstasy and kept asking to see the mountains, water and blue sky.
"How can there be such beautiful mountains and such clear water? Even the cattle are different from the ones we have over there, and they can actually go in the water!"
They were young and noisy. When elderly people from the village passed by, they simply stopped to watch them play. The village had not been so lively for a long time.
"Uncle, what are you planting here?"
"Rice, that's white rice."
The old man ended the quarrel. They found out that the beam-raising banquet would be held on Yantou Mountain, so they headed straight to the top of the mountain.
Arriving at the courtyard with a well, Zhou Hui and his companions smelled the aroma of the food and became even more absorbed in it, completely oblivious to what was happening in the world.
The camera was aimed at Old Zhang who was cooking. The old man's flipping of the wok caused many exclamations in the live broadcast room. With Zhou Hui's all-round display, more and more people entered the live broadcast room to watch.
Many viewers who were not aware of the situation were also curious and asked: "Whose wedding is this?"
It's a pity that everyone is just busy making and playing with memes, and no one pays any attention at all.
It was almost noon, and people kept serving food on the six-meter-long mahogany table, each one in a large iron basin.
Oily braised pork, tender pork elbow, cold cucumber and preserved egg salad, four-happiness meatballs...
Zhou Hui held up the selfie stick high and selflessly shared the rich and tempting food.
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