Su Wenjun's eyes wandered around, and suddenly he caught a glimpse of a long queue not far away. The crowd was winding like a dragon, and everyone was quietly waiting for something.
He was curious, so he raised his hand to signal the village chief, pointing in the direction of the queue.
The village chief looked in the direction he pointed, with a hint of doubt and inquiry in his eyes.
After a brief thought, the village chief decided to go forward and find out what was going on. He walked over to the team, gently patted the shoulder of a young man at the end of the line, and with a kind smile on his face, he asked in a gentle tone, "Young man, what are you doing?"
The young man looked to be in his twenties, with a thin face but a resolute expression.
He was startled at first, then turned to look at the village chief and his group. Seeing that they also looked like refugees, the wariness in his eyes faded slightly, replaced by an enthusiastic expression. He said softly, "I'm waiting in line for distribution."
As the young man spoke, he rubbed his hands which were red from the cold, his eyes revealing a hint of expectation and longing for future resettlement.
"Assigned? Assigned to a village under Jeju Prefecture?" Liuzi asked curiously with his eyes wide open.
"Yeah, I've been waiting here for two days before it's finally our turn. Don't dawdle any longer, go and register, otherwise you don't know how long you'll have to wait in line." As the young man spoke, he stomped his numb feet and exhaled a puff of white air that drifted in the cold air.
"Where are you going to register, young man?" the village chief asked politely.
The young man raised his arm and pointed to another group of people not far away. He said, "Look, it's over there. You need to get your household registration first."
After registration, you can usually be assigned to a village within two to three days. By then, no matter what, you'll have a place to stay and won't be wandering around this city anymore."
His voice was a little hoarse from fatigue, but he tried to speak clearly so that the village chief and others could hear every detail.
The village chief looked up and saw that the registration line on the other side was like a long snake that kept growing. The number of people was increasing rapidly and the line was getting longer and longer.
His heart tightened, knowing that time was running out and he dared not delay for a moment.
He quickly thanked the enthusiastic young man with gratitude, then turned around quickly and walked quickly towards the registration line with the others.
When he arrived at the front of the line, the village chief carefully observed the people in front of him.
Some people were holding a thick stack of household registrations in their hands. The number looked quite considerable. The village chief secretly guessed that these people were probably from the same village or the same clan.
After thinking for a moment, the village chief felt that this method might improve the efficiency of registration and be more convenient.
So, he immediately turned to Da Zhuang beside him and said, "Da Zhuang, run back to our resting place now and tell everyone to bring their household registrations. I'll be waiting here, and we can register together when the time comes. This will save a lot of time and prevent everyone from going back and forth."
After hearing this, Dazhuang nodded without hesitation, turned around and ran back.
The village chief stood in the team with a firm and focused look. He stood on tiptoe from time to time to look forward, silently thinking about the registration matters and future resettlement plans. He only hoped that he could successfully complete the registration for everyone in Sujia Village and give them a stable place to go as soon as possible.
The crowd lined up quietly and orderly. Suddenly, a loud noise came from the front, breaking the tranquility.
The village chief immediately became alert and listened carefully.
It turns out that the refugee distribution policy of Jeju Prefecture is to separate the people in a village and relocate them to different villages below.
At this moment, people from a village were begging the official in charge of registration. Their voices were filled with tears and despair, and their faces were full of fear and reluctance.
Some elderly people even knelt on the ground, clasped their hands together, and cried out in tears about the importance of family members relying on each other, hoping that they would be shown leniency and not be separated from their loved ones.
When the village chief heard the news, his heart skipped a beat and his face showed shock and worry.
"What? The village is going to be split up?" he exclaimed in his heart.
Sujia Village has come a long way, going through countless hardships and obstacles. Everyone has supported each other and has formed deep emotional bonds with each other, just like a closely connected big family.
He really couldn't imagine what kind of situation Sujia Village would face if it was split up.
The village chief frowned, staring at the movement in front of him without blinking, feeling extremely anxious.
However, despite the villagers' pleading, they were ultimately unable to change the fate of being split up.
They were all dejected, with empty and desperate eyes, and were forcibly registered on different resettlement lists by the registration officials.
Witnessing this scene, the village chief sighed deeply, and that heavy sigh seemed to carry his full heart of worries.
When he thought that Sujia Village would face the same fate next, his brows furrowed even more tightly, his eyes were full of sorrow, and his whole body seemed to be shrouded in a thick haze.
He began to think quickly in his mind about how to deal with the situation, but for a moment he had no idea. He could only stand in the queue helplessly, and his steps became heavier as the crowd slowly moved forward.
An hour passed quietly in the anxious waiting, and finally it was the village chief's turn to handle the registration matters.
He carefully submitted the household registrations of everyone in Sujia Village to the registration officer one by one, keeping a close eye on the officer's every move, fearing any mistakes.
The official carefully looked through the household registration, asking for some relevant information from time to time. The village chief answered respectfully one by one, and beads of sweat gradually seeped out of his forehead.
After all the household registrations were completed, the village chief breathed a sigh of relief, collected the relevant certificates, and hurried back to the camp in the village.
As soon as I stepped into the camp, I saw everyone full of joy.
The children were laughing and playing in the open space, while the adults were sitting together, whispering about their aspirations and expectations for the future. Everyone's face was filled with hope.
The village chief looked at this scene with mixed feelings in his heart. The words he had prepared were instantly stuck in his throat and he didn't know how to start.
"Village chief, when will we distribute the spoils?" Su Tiechui asked impatiently, with excitement glittering in his eyes.
"Where will we be assigned?" another villager echoed. Everyone's eyes were focused on the village chief, their eyes full of curiosity and yearning for a new life.
The village chief opened his mouth, but only made a few slight dry coughs. He subconsciously avoided everyone's gaze, and his heart was in deep entanglement and pain.
He knew very well that once he revealed the news that the village was about to be split up, the joy and anticipation he was experiencing would instantly vanish into thin air, but concealing the truth was not a long-term solution.
The village chief slowly raised his head and his eyes swept across the faces of the people that were full of expectation and longing, his heart filled with helplessness and heaviness.
He took a deep breath, knowing he could no longer hide it, so he had to bite the bullet and tell everyone everything he had heard at the registration office today: "Our resettlement this time is to disperse the people in this village to various villages."
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