Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2846 A Stroll in the Village

The village where Tan Shuangxi lives is called "Changwai Village". This straightforward name tells everyone that it is very close to the salt field, but it does not belong to the salt field.

Changwai Village is an administrative village, consisting of ten "paijia". Each paijia is equivalent to a natural village. The paijia where the Tan family lives is the largest one and is also the location of the village office. Since the original village had a large population, there are relatively few immigrants resettled here, and two-thirds of them are "old households". Walking on the streets, most of the words heard are the Minnan dialect that is most commonly heard in Maniao.

Tan Shuangxi heard from his ancestors that they and the saltworks owners were all from Fujian. However, the saltworks owners came here according to the imperial decree, and had vacant land and salt troughs; they were "farmers" who came here to "make a living" and could only make a living by reclaiming wasteland and farming in the surrounding areas.

There are plenty of wastelands in Lingao, but there are no decent rivers. There are floods in the rainy season and crops die in the dry season. The people who come here to make a living can only rely on irrigation from the Maniao River to barely make a living.

Tan Shuangxi had a hard life when he was a child, but it was not the hardest life because his family could afford to build a canal to bring river water to irrigate the fields during the dry season. The hardest life was that they could only use ox carts or human labor to carry water to the river for irrigation every day. The labor intensity was so great that people often vomited blood or urinated blood because of the exhaustion of carrying water.

After the Australians came, at first only the salt fields benefited, and they built a big windmill. Seeing them make a fortune by selling salt, the people in the village outside the field were also very jealous, but without a beach and a trough, they could not join the cooperative, and could only continue to do odd jobs and hard labor. They saw the cooks bought new clothes, built new houses, and their wives and children were all well-dressed. They envied them very much. The women were willing to marry into the salt fields. The young men in the village were all indignant.

It was not until the elders sent people to sort out taxes and set up the Tiandihui that life in Changwai Village gradually improved. He didn't know much about how it improved. After the first county meeting, he joined the army, but every time he came back, his hometown always gave him the feeling of "a new look".

Most of the houses were newly built, with white walls and black tiles, and the wall skirts were painted black, which looked elegant and dirt-resistant. Every household had a yard surrounded by a hedge, with vegetables and fruit trees planted in the yard; the village roads were also paved with stones - this was only available in the first-class wealthy salt fields in the past.

Since he had returned to the village after a long absence, Tan Shuangxi wanted to visit old acquaintances in the village. There were many of his childhood playmates and friends in the village. But when he came back this time and asked, he found that these people had either gone out to work or moved their families to the town. There were only a few left in the village.

However, he went to several houses and none of them were there. I think it is because the weather is so nice and the young and strong people have gone to the fields, so who would stay at home?

He walked and stopped until he came to the small river at the entrance of the village. The security was originally bad, and bandits often appeared here, so a gate was built here and locked every night. There were special people watching and giving warnings day and night.

However, when he walked here today, there were no militiamen on the lookout, only a few old men and women doing odd jobs and chatting with their children in front of the doorway. When they saw Tan Shuangxi coming, they all greeted him.

Tan Shuangxi knew that after returning this time, he had become a "famous figure" in the village, and the village's "news center" would definitely not let him go.

Fortunately, he did not mind being the "focal point," or rather, he was somewhat pleased. Tan Shuangxi had been a "man in the crowd" for decades, and even in the military, he had only recently become the focus of a platoon.

He quietly pulled the hem of his clothes to make his old military uniform look more straight. In fact, he had already bought himself a new set of blue cloth "national uniform" and the most popular white shirt made of Dutch fine linen in Bairen Town. However, he still deliberately wore his old military uniform every time he went out.

When there is no war, the military uniforms are replaced twice a year. After a year of hard training and duty, the uniforms are worn out by the time they are replaced. But if someone brings an old uniform home during vacation, he will immediately become the focus of the whole village. So before going home every time, he will specially wash it, ask the female workers in the barracks service center to carefully mend it, and some will even be dyed again.

Such an old uniform, whether it is sent to someone or worn as a casual dress when going home, looks majestic and makes the voice louder. As for the veterans, whenever they get the chance, they will wear this old uniform that symbolizes his past honors, and also hang the medals and awards he has won. Even if there are no medals, at least they have to hang a "Service Medal for the Senate and the People" and a seniority medal to show off.

Tan Shuangxi naturally didn't need to use such medals to "make up the numbers". He had two second-class medals and one second-class medal for bravery, as well as several third-class medals and third-class medals for bravery. He also had several other medals and awards, so he could have hung them all on his chest if he wanted. In order to prevent people from thinking that he was too deliberate and deliberately showing off, he simply nailed a "Chengmai Battle" commemorative armband on all his old uniforms.

  When everyone called him, he sat down on a long bench by the village gate and smiled as he rejected the yellow-shelled candy the old man offered him:

"I'm the junior, how can I smoke your cigarettes? Smoke mine!" As he said that, he took out a pack of Bai Shengchuan and distributed it around.

Unlike the women who just work to talk and have fun, the old men who hang out in the "News Center" at the entrance of the village can be regarded as "leading figures" in the village. Most of them are "highly respected" and have relatively affluent families, so they can afford to get together every day to "drink Daddy's tea". And the old man who took the initiative to offer cigarettes is called Chen Laodie by everyone. Chen Laodie's family was originally a small landlord in the village, with fifty or sixty acres of land. They relied on their three sons and many laborers, and were considered the "first family". But they were also tormented by the government and bandits at the beginning. After the Australians came, he became rich by relying on the "demonstration household" of the local society. People in the village who envied his family said that the Chen family was "eating shit to get hot".

  Of course, what he ate was not "shit", but the "bonus" of being the first. Because they harvested a lot of grain and made a lot of money, the Chen family has been very prosperous in recent years. First, he became the village chief because of his relationship with the model household. Then, the second son, who was slightly literate, passed the exam and got a Class C diploma. He was recommended by the Tiandihui to join the Maniao Agricultural School. After graduation, he joined the Nanbao Farm as an administrator.

Old man Chen was really scared now. His son was a "cadre", so he was also a "old man". Although he was no longer the village chief, except for the resident police, almost all the village cadres depended on him and had to seek his opinion on all matters, big or small.

"It's Bai Shengchuan, Shuangxi, you've grown into a capable person." The old man in the lead said with a smile, took out a pack of matches from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep breath, as if he was savoring the "taste of money" contained in this "high-end product".

"What abilities do you have?" Tan Shuangxi said with a smile, "I've been fighting in the war for a few years, and I'm not good at my job when I come back."

"Farming is nothing," said Old Man Chen. "Working hard for a year is not as good as working for three months! People in the village are all thinking about transferring their farmland to work in the city. For example, you have been in the army for a few years and have built up so many businesses. If you rely on your parents and brothers to dig for food in the soil, you will never be able to earn that much in several lifetimes."

"It all depends on the Senate," said Tan Shuangxi. "If it weren't for the Senate, we would have to dig in the soil for food and carry water from the salt fields!"

"In the old days, people said that good iron is not used to make nails, and good men do not join the army. But with the arrival of the Australians, joining the army has become a good job!" said another old man.

"When you go to serve in the Ming Dynasty, you can't even wear a complete uniform," Old Man Chen sighed, "Those soldiers in the county garrison are dressed like beggars. They don't even have enough food to eat. It's really useless to be a soldier. Unlike now, when you go out, you are just a mud monkey, and when you come back, you are really worn out!" He looked at Tan Shuangxi, envy and jealousy in his eyes.

Tan Shuangxi had seen this kind of look many times. This village was not like other villages that were mostly made up of immigrants from all over the place. Most of the families in this village were from the older generation and knew each other well. Some people were angry, while others were not. This was considered normal. In a sense, Tan Shuangxi's existence had greatly affected Old Man Chen's prestige in the village.

But Old Man Chen would never dare to confront the "Senate Authority", and Tan Shuangxi was the concrete manifestation of this authority in the village. Tan Shuangxi was not an ordinary soldier, but a platoon leader. According to the police, he would become an officer in the blink of an eye.

So besides being envious and jealous, he had to try to please her to some extent. To show his concern, he asked, "Shuangxi! You are 25 years old, right? You are already quite old, but your family still hasn't arranged a marriage for you? Your brother is almost getting one!"

"I've said it, but I have to obey the team's orders to get married now." Tan Shuangxi evaded, "Besides, I only have a few days off, so I won't have enough time to meet and fall in love..."

"Whether you're in love or not, it's also a new thing," said the woman working nearby. "My father said he would find a husband for me, but we didn't even have a chance to meet and we got married in three days! I didn't even know the groom's face before the veil was lifted!"

"It's the parents' order and the matchmaker's words." The old student in the village laughed, "This dating is a new thing that the leader has come up with. Although it changes customs, it can be considered a good thing. If the marriage is not happy in the future, you can't blame the parents and the matchmaker."

"If they are not happy, they can get a divorce now. The two of them can go to the town hall and get a divorce." Someone said, "Cai Wang's wife wanted a divorce less than a year after getting married. Even her family members couldn't persuade her!"

"Cai Wang is usually honest and never does anything shady. His family conditions are pretty good..." Tan Shuangxi said curiously.

Cai Wang is one of the few childhood friends who still lives in the village. When he came back this time, his parents only told him that he was still farming in the village and had not started a family. I didn't expect such a thing to happen!