My village can't be like this

Chapter 597 Picking up people
Although the National Day holiday has not yet arrived, Changchangqing Village has been warming up for several days in advance.

Today, under the diligent efforts of the new leader, Hongyan Town has become a major tourist town in the county, thanks to its spacious county roads and double-track railways.

Many of the subordinate villages are developing at a rapid pace. The mountain villas, farms and even ethnic minority villages are developing very distinctively and are welcoming the coming millennium with a very spirited new look.

Perhaps the farmers who work in the fields all day long don’t feel anything different, but leaders at all levels, from top to bottom, attach great importance to this rare turn of the century.

Changqing Village is the most special natural village under Hongyan Town.

It does not have the mountain villas and farms that require huge investments like those in other places, nor is it a typical village with ethnic minority characteristics.

However, it is the best developed and most popular natural village under Hongyan Town.

More than a week ago, when the villagers were not yet busy harvesting rice in the fields, Zhang Jianwen had already called together the village cadres, organized a team, and conducted inspections from house to house in the village.

They checked every villager's home that opened a restaurant or a B&B thoroughly and carefully.

It’s not just about checking hygiene conditions, but also the most important safety hazards.

Even the shops and convenience stores owned by Zhang Xinmin and Huang Ming were not spared.

This is because Zhang Jianwen attaches great importance to this National Day holiday. In the past, except for the Chinese New Year period, there were only two or three days of holiday. But even so, every time the holiday comes, there will be a wave of tourists in Changqing Village.

Now, the Dongli Courtyard has been expanded again and again, and for this reason, it has been rented out, bringing a lot of wealth to the village.

The upcoming holiday is a full seven days long. Based on the experience of the past few years, there will definitely be more people coming this year than in previous years.

In the past, no matter how famous Changqing Village was, it was only known in a few nearby counties and cities.

So this time, Zhang Jianwen was very eager to lead all the villagers to present their village to the outside world with a brand new look, and strive to spread its reputation during this first seven-day golden week.

The villagers below were also very receptive to advice. When they were pointed out any shortcomings, they were actively making corrections and also actively preparing supplies.

Zhang An's family is different from other villagers' families. They don't do anything busy and just live their own lives.

In the past, their family also opened a specialty restaurant to receive some guests.

Now Wang Fang has become accustomed to the pace of life at home and simply stops bothering with these things.

So the whole family worked together and spent three full days drying all the new millet harvested this season. Finally, they could store them in the warehouse with peace of mind.

But I have to thank God for giving me face for the fact that it went so smoothly.

During these three days, the sky was sunny every day and there was no sign of bad temper.

Otherwise, even if it doesn’t rain but is just cloudy, it would be impossible to dry the new millet so quickly.

Afterwards, the vacant fields, along with the newly bought mosquito nets, were lent to other villagers to dry the grain.

The two most important things for grain are autumn harvest and winter storage.

Farmers work hard in the fields and spend several months to turn a season's crops from seeds into grain and harvest them home.

But if you don't take the trouble to dry the moisture before storing it, it won't take long before it becomes moldy and sprouts. At that time, the grain is no longer food and cannot be eaten by people. At most, it can only be fed to pigs, cattle and other livestock. So no matter who the family is, they will set aside time to do this.

Nowadays, the fields in front of Zhang An’s house have become popular in Changqing Village.

Because it is right at the entrance of the village, it is very close to home, and is only two steps more than the previous threshing ground.

Moreover, after Zhang Angang let Huatou's family come out and show their powerful powers, the area at the entrance of the village is now very quiet, and there are hardly any sparrows to be seen.

Even if there were any, they were standing on trees far away. They were afraid of the brutality of the Huatou family and now they didn't even dare to fly over.

Therefore, the fields of Zhang An's family have become a good place for villagers to dry millet.

"Zhang An, do you have time today? Come with me to pick up a few people and get some stuff."

When he woke up in the morning, Zhang Jianwen came to find Zhang An.

"Sure, uncle, where are we going?"

Zhang An had nothing else to do, so he readily agreed.

"Go to Tunbu, where Zhang Ping's uncle lives."

Zhang Jianwen was very happy when he heard Zhang An agree.

"National Day is coming soon. Zhang Ping's uncles can perform local operas, so I told them to come here and perform for a few days so that people who come to our village can have some fun."

Dixi, also known as "dancing gods", originated from Zhu Yuanzhang's campaign of conquering the north and the south in the early Ming Dynasty.

According to the "Ming History·Food and Goods Records", "In the early Ming Dynasty, each garrison had its own farmland. The farmland of one army was enough to support the army, and the salaries and grain of the officials in the garrison were all provided from it."

Until now, it has been a local traditional drama.

The performance procedures of Dixi are generally divided into "opening the box", "inviting gods", "touching gods", and "closing the box". Among them, "dancing gods" is the formal performance, which is divided into "setting up the court", "submitting the battle report", and "returning to the court". The rest are Nuo opera activities with elements of exorcising evil spirits and bringing good luck.

The main performance forms are singing and fighting, but because they have been passed down for such a long time, many of the martial arts moves today have evolved into dance forms.

When performing the opera, the performers have to wear costumes and cover their faces with masks and green gauze.

Because there are many performers and the movements are large, it usually requires a larger venue.

It is for this reason that local people call Dixi "shaman dance".

In a few years, this local traditional drama will be listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

"This is a good thing. Tunbu is a bit far away. Let's go now."

When he heard that it was because of this matter, Zhang An became even more happy. He found his car keys and prepared to leave.

When Zhang An was a child, he could see people performing local opera in the town every New Year.

At that time, there were very few forms of entertainment, and watching people danced became a childhood pleasure for their generation.

However, those who perform the local opera are not from Hongyan Town. Instead, they come from Tunbu and perform everywhere.

Tunbu is far away from Hongyan Town, and there is no train. It takes several hours to take the bus. Driving is a little faster.

In addition to picking up people, he also had to transport a lot of performance props, so Zhang An drove a pickup truck, which was also the reason why Zhang Jianwen came to find Zhang An.

After the props are loaded, if there are too many people, a few people can sit in the cargo box.

"Uncle, I've never been there. You'll have to show me the way when the time comes."

Whether in his previous life or this life, Zhang An had never been to Tunbu, so when driving, he had to rely on Zhang Jianwen to help him find the way.

"Okay, no problem. Even though this road is long, I remember it clearly."

When Zhang Jianwen heard this, he agreed readily.

He was not bragging, but he really could remember it.

"When I first brought your aunt home, it was your fourth grandfather who took us all the way over there and brought your aunt back on a cart. Now, in the blink of an eye, decades have passed."

Zhang An drove while listening to Zhang Jianwen reminiscing about the past.

The current national highway is in very bad condition. In these remote areas, it is no different from a rugged mountain road, so the car drives slowly. It is still far away now, and Zhang An can roughly recognize the main road, so he doesn't need Zhang Jianwen to point the way.

Moreover, they were lucky. They met a bus to Tunbu halfway. Zhang An followed the bus directly, which was equivalent to having an extra manual navigation.

It was almost noon when the two arrived at Tunbu and came to Zhang Ping's uncle's house.

"Come on, I thought you guys wouldn't arrive until the afternoon."

Zhang Ping's uncle is called Li Wendeng, a middle-aged man in his fifties with tanned skin from the sun, but he speaks in a very generous and outgoing tone.

But this is normal. After all, when you are dancing on the ground, you are in front of many people. People who can't let go usually can't do it.

"Xiao An is a good driver, and it's not raining today, so we can get there faster. Are the second and third brothers ready?"

After Zhang Jianwen introduced Zhang An to them, he continued to ask.

"They were ready yesterday. I told them that I would tell them when you guys get here. Let's eat first, and then we can get ready to leave."

At this moment, Zhang Ping's aunt had just finished preparing the meal, and Li Wendeng began to speak.

Originally, Zhang Ping's uncle offered the wine, but Zhang An said he wanted to drive and directly refused.

Although there is not much regulation on drunk driving now, you still need to pay attention to your own safety, especially when it is such a long distance.

After dinner, Zhang An went outside and took a look. The village where Zhang Ping's uncle lived was basically inhabited by Han people, but their accents were obviously different from those in Hongyan Town.

However, the overall situation of the village is slightly worse than that of Changqing Village.

But this is only compared with the current Changqing Village. If it were a few years ago, Changqing Village would not be as good as here.

After a while, Zhang Ping's uncle called the other people who wanted to go together, and then started loading the costumes and props into the car.

By the time we returned from Tunbu, another half day had passed and it was already afternoon.

In the evening, Zhang An naturally couldn't escape being called over by Zhang Jianwen for a drink.

He waited until the moon was bright and the stars were sparse before returning home drunk.

"I told you to sit farther away, why are you getting so close? You don't need your eyes."

When Zhang An returned home, Xiao Siqi was watching TV, but he was so close to the TV that he almost squatted under it.

Then Zhang An walked over, picked up the little guy and the stool together, and moved him to the back.

“Mmmmm~~~~”

Because he smelled the strong smell of alcohol on Zhang An, Xiao Siqi kept shaking his head and struggled to leave Zhang An.

"Alright, alright, stop bothering him after he drank so much. Go take a shower."

Wang Fang saw the father and son playing a game of chase and escape, and said something to Zhang An.

Zhang An also felt uncomfortable, so he stopped teasing his son, took his clothes and took a comfortable cold shower.

"By the way, Xiao An, tomorrow is the end of Qiqi's birthday. Since we have harvested all the millet, let's celebrate with Qiqi."

After Zhang An came out of the shower, Wang Fang gathered the family to discuss something.

"Tail" is what rural people call children's birthdays.

This is the only child in the family, and the whole family cherishes him very much, especially the grandmother Wang Fang.

So the whole family pays special attention to the little one's birthday.

In the past, Zhang An had never received such treatment. At most, Wang Fang would cook him a bowl of longevity noodles and add two eggs that night.

Now it is the turn of her precious grandson Xiao Siqi, and Wang Fang actually imitated what she saw on TV and wanted to celebrate the little guy's birthday.

"Then let's go ahead. Tomorrow I'll get up and go buy a cake. You can take care of the rest, Mom."

Zhang An only remembered this when his mother mentioned it.

He really had forgotten, because people of his generation don't pay much attention to birthdays.

The next day, Zhang An got up and went straight to the city to buy a big cake. Fearing that it would be left outside for too long, he put it in the space.

"Qiqi, come out quickly, brother will take you to play."

In the afternoon, just after school, Li Yao went home, dropped off his schoolbag, and ran directly to Zhang An's house to call his godson.

Today is the eve of National Day, and both primary and secondary schools have already started their holidays.

"Come on, come on, Guoguo, wait for me~"

Little Siqi was playing quietly at home, but when he heard someone calling him outside, he immediately dropped the toy in his hand and ran outside.

The little guy now can speak very long sentences, but his voice is still a little hesitant when he speaks.

"Here, a lollipop."

As soon as Li Yao saw Xiao Siqi, he peeled a lollipop and handed it to him.

The little guy was a foodie and couldn't resist the temptation. He took it and put it in his mouth.

"What about yours, Li Yao?"

When Zhang An saw that Li Yao gave the lollipop to his son and he didn't eat it himself, he started to ask.

"Godfather, I only bought one. Just give it to my brother. I won't eat it."

Li Yao said frankly that he is not as good as he used to be. Because of his naughtiness, his pocket money had been taken away by Zhou Lan a long time ago. Even the money to buy this lollipop was probably hard-earned.

"Here, call my aunt along, and go buy whatever you want to eat."

Zhang An felt very pleased as he saw his godson becoming more sensible day by day. He took out five dollars from his pocket and handed it to him as a reward.

"Don't give me money, godfather. I don't want to buy anything."

But Li Yao did not take the money. Instead, he rejected Zhang An outright.

"Okay, just take what your godfather gives you. I won't tell your mom."

Zhang An ignored him and stuffed it directly into his pocket.

"Then I'll take Qiqi out to play."

Only after hearing Zhang An say he would not tell his mother did Li Yao feel relieved to accept it.

"Okay, don't run too far, and remember to come back for dinner later."

Zhang An was afraid that they would run too far, so he quickly gave them a warning.

(End of this chapter)