Linxia

Chapter 35, Traffic Regulations

The people of Xiaohe Village were immersed in what they saw and heard in the provincial capital, looking like bumpkins who had never seen the world. The minor official named Xiao did not take it seriously. Xiaohe Village was not the first village he had led, so he had long been accustomed to it.

Of course, the deeper reason why he was so tolerant and patient was that he was rewarded with five cents of silver for each village he led - as long as he was paid, he could lead not only refugees but also beggars, after all, it was about making money, not shameful!
Just as the villagers of Xiaohe Village were looking at the scenery of the capital city with the same expression as "Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden", they did not know that they had also become the scenery in the eyes of others.

When passers-by saw the dress and expressions of the people in Xiaohe Village, they knew that they were fleeing from the disaster. They couldn't help feeling superior, and they pointed and whispered to each other.

"I heard that the Yangtze River has flooded and many villages have been affected. Are these the people who have fled here?"

"Look at those people, they are so hungry, their faces are pale, how pitiful!"

——This is obviously referring to Song Kai and others. They have been eating wild vegetables and grass seeds these days. It would be strange if they look good.

"Isn't it? Our city is nothing like the countryside. They are all so dazzling!"

……

The villagers of Xiaohe Village felt ashamed when they heard these words, especially Song Kai and others who were pointed at by the old lady and called "poor guy". Their faces turned red with embarrassment. But at this time, even the most fierce ones in the village did not think of scolding back - they all came from small places, and seeing this prosperous city that they could not even imagine in their dreams, it is inevitable that they feel inferior, and even feel that others discriminate against them, which is all reasonable.

Fang Lin looked at Fang's father, Fang's mother, and Tian Xuan all like this. He was about to say something, but he saw the clerk named Xiao move out of the corner of his eye, and he paused again.

Indeed, Xiao, a petty official, could not stand it any longer. The financiers behind the scenes paid for the people to see the prosperity of the city in the hope that more people would stay. But now they were being pointed at and laughed at by passers-by. What if they were left with psychological trauma and did not want to stay? This was not acceptable!

"Go away, have you never seen a human being? Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, which class are you from? Who is nobler than who?" He stepped forward and scolded.

This statement was politically correct, and passers-by did not dare to refute it, and they all dispersed.

"Make way! Make way!" At this time, another young man in a blue shirt riding a donkey and carrying a book basket came over. There was also a parasol on the donkey's back. He seemed to be a scholar.

The people of Xiaohe Village subconsciously avoided it.

Seeing this, the petty official surnamed Xiao stepped forward again and said rudely, "The rule has always been to 'avoid those who come'. Didn't your parents teach you that?"

After hearing that, the young man actually swallowed his anger and gave way in shame.

"Don't be afraid!"

Although Xiao, the petty official, looked like someone who was not to be trifled with after he had scolded the passerby and the young man, he turned around and smiled at the people of Xiaohe Village: "The rules on this road are simple. Just remember these twelve words: avoid the rich when the cheap, avoid the long when the young, avoid the heavy when the light, and avoid the coming when the going. As long as you are right, you are not afraid of the lawsuit."

In order to reassure the people of Xiaohe Village, he also cited a recent example: "Two days ago, Mr. Yang took his wife and children out for a walk and changed into new clothes worth five taels of silver. A woodcutter came by with a load of firewood on his shoulder. The road was narrow and the two were walking opposite each other. They thought the other would give way, but in the end, neither of them gave way. Mr. Yang's new clothes got a hole in it, and he insisted that the woodcutter pay him five taels of silver, the price of the new clothes. But how could the woodcutter afford it?"

"Finally, the case was brought to court. In front of the prefect, Mr. Yang insisted that the woodcutter should 'avoid the rich with the cheap' and should compensate him with five taels of silver. The prefect agreed, but then said that in this case, Mr. Yang also violated the principle of 'avoiding the heavy with the light' and should apologize to the woodcutter with eight bows. How could Mr. Yang bear that shame? In the end, they could only let it go and neither side pursued the matter."

When the people of Xiaohe Village heard this, they applauded and felt relieved. They also developed a good impression of the clerk named Xiao because of his protection and respect for them.

"The cheap avoid the expensive, the young avoid the old, the light avoid the heavy, the going avoid the coming, is this the traffic rule of this era? It's quite interesting. Also, this Xiao surnamed official is also a wonderful person, he took the money and really did the job! I won't comment on the character of Xiao surnamed official for the time being, just from this case, the Huai'an prefect sympathizes with the weak, and is more likely to be a good official." Fang Lin thought to himself.

After a tour, Xiao, a petty official, took the people of Xiaohe Village to the dock and to see the workshops that had already taken shape as factories. He also said that if they wanted to find a job, they could go find him and he would introduce them to them for free. He then took the people of Xiaohe Village to collect food, one liter per person, a three-day quota, for one month. He then took those who wanted to register, such as the Fang family and Guihuasao, to get household registration certificates. He also kindly told the villagers that if they changed their minds, they could still apply for registration for free at any time before leaving.

As soon as the clerk named Xiao left, the people of Xiaohe Village were no longer as reserved as before. They immediately started talking excitedly about what they had just seen and heard, making the scene very lively.

"Today really opened my eyes. This prefectural city is really different. Not to mention our village, even the county town is far inferior to it. It makes me want to stay here!"

"This city is nice, but where can we live here? What can we eat? What can we drink? The roots of us ordinary people are still the land!"

"Didn't Officer Xiao say that there are jobs everywhere in the city? If you want to find one, you can go find him. He will introduce us to someone for free!"

……

Some of the young people in the village were dazzled by the colorful things and some were tempted to change their minds and want to stay, while the older ones still wanted to go back.

However, whether I want to stay or go back, it doesn't prevent me from taking advantage of this trip to work and earn some money during these days.

Even if the wages are high, it doesn't matter if you go back later. After all, it's the slack season when you go back to the village!

For example, Song Kai, Bai Bao, Zheng Yu and others discussed that they would go to find a minor official named Xiao to sign up and find a job tomorrow.

……

Here, the Fang family separated from the villagers and came back to cook.

After a while, Geng Shi, You Chaodong and Fu Hong from the Geng family came to the Fang family to discuss ideas. The Geng family had always been close to the Fang family, needless to say, and the You family and the Fu family also had a tacit understanding with the Fang family's small group before. After encountering robbers, they saw that there were benefits to following the Fang family, so they came here shamelessly.

Fang Lin didn't mind it too much. Initially, when the Fang family was voted out as the only one to leave, these two families raised their hands to support the Fang family. This was considered as repaying their kindness.

"Song Kai and the others have discussed and decided to go find Officer Xiao to sign up tomorrow. Uncle Fang, Linzi, what do you think?" You Chaodong asked.

"Yes, I think that officer Xiao can be trusted." Fu Hong also expressed his opinion.

"Yes, Officer Xiao is speaking for us. He is a good official." Geng Shi also said.

Uncle Fang knew that these three people came more because of his son, so he didn't say anything and glanced at Fang Lin, meaning to let him speak.

Fang Lin was not afraid of the stage. He thought for a moment and said, "I don't think there is a rush. Let's wait and see. We can go to the city tomorrow to check and see if there are better jobs. It's also a comparison. If there are really no better jobs, it won't be too late to look for Officer Xiao."

You Chaodong, Fu Hong and Geng Shi all thought this made sense, so they agreed to go to the city together to see it tomorrow.

……

(End of this chapter)