Feast of Flowers: 61. Return to hometown

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It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when the plane arrived in Xugo City. The airport in Xugo City is very small, but after Hua Jin got off the plane, she found that not only did people come to send flowers, but there were also TV reporters following her.

Taking the flowers from others with a smile, Hua Jin said thank you.

A few neatly dressed middle-aged men stepped forward to shake hands with Pei Yan politely but enthusiastically, and whispered to him about the city's economic development, educational construction, etc. in recent years. Unexpectedly, things would develop like this. Hua Jin took a few steps slowly and asked one of Pei Yan's assistants in a low voice: "What's going on?"

"A few years ago, Mr. Pei learned that the economic development level of Xugou City was lagging behind, and he also heard about the deeds of local officials who devoted themselves to the people, so he did something that was helpful to local economic development. Because local officials have always been very considerate of Mr. Pei. Thank you. I heard that he was coming to inspect the work this time, so I made special arrangements for the reception." The assistant replied in a low voice, "We did not expect that there would be such an arrangement locally, so we did not communicate with you in advance. This is our dereliction of duty."

"It's okay, it's okay. It's a good thing that someone will pick you up at the airport." Hua Jin glanced at these officials, looking a little dazed. She just saw on the plane that there were many high-rise buildings in Xugou City, and vehicles were constantly flowing on the viaducts. Compared to a year ago, the changes have been huge.

"Excuse me, please come to receive me despite your busy schedule." Pei Yan exchanged a few greetings with the receptionist, looked around, and found that Hua Jin was several steps away from him, so he walked towards her He waved and said, "This visit to your place is not for business, but for some private matters."

Several receptionists were a little surprised. Mr. Pei, who has helped the city a lot, has any personal matters that require him to come to a small place like theirs?

"This is my partner Hua Jin." Seeing that Hua Jin did not come to his side, Pei Yan simply turned around and walked to her and held her hand. "She was born in your place. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. I am here to accompany her back to her hometown to pay homage to her ancestors."

The reception staff had noticed Hua Jin for a long time, but they did not expect that the two would have such a relationship. They were surprised at first, and then overjoyed. Mr. Pei's friend is the one who built the city. In the future, if they want to attract investment and create more jobs for local people, wouldn't it be an extra layer of help?

During lunch, Hua Jin saw that the receptionist wanted to build a relationship between the two parties, but he did not dare to speak casually, so he had to keep asking them to eat the local specialties of Xugou City.

In order to promote the agricultural products of Xugou City, the reception staff also worked hard. The dishes on the table are grown by local people, the fruits are picked from local orchards, and the meat ingredients are from local farms. They are even given to them The earth instruments are all locally produced processed agricultural products.

Compared with those businessmen who resorted to all kinds of tricks to attract investment, the small tricks of the reception staff in Xugo City seemed simple and clumsy, but Pei Yan did not show any dissatisfaction from the beginning to the end. Instead, they talked about some cooperation matters after the meal, which made the receptionist glow with joy.

In the afternoon, the reception staff arranged some more visits. Perhaps considering Hua Jin's status, they also specially arranged two female receptionists who were similar to Hua Jin's age.

During the visit, a receptionist in his fifties heard that Hua Jin was a Sichuan embroidery master, and said with emotion: "In the past, many people here and in several cities built along the river raised mulberry silkworms. In recent years, with the With the development of economy, a large number of young and middle-aged people go out to work, and there are fewer and fewer families raising silkworms."

"The place is small and the level of economic development is limited. It is not easy to retain talents." The receptionist sighed, "How can a city retain its vitality if it does not have enough young adults and talents?"

Hua Jin looked out the car window at the wide and clean streets: "Xugou City has changed so much that I can hardly recognize it."

The reception staff spoke modestly, but in their words they were still proud of the development of their hometown.

Listening to this, Hua Jin discovered that the Anonymous County in her memory was gloomy, and the train station in Xugo City was crowded and scary. But when she came back after eight years, the sun here was bright and the streets were wide. Yes, people are enthusiastic, and even the green trees on both sides of the street are full of life.

She thought maybe she had grown up and become stronger. In other words, the past is no longer important to her, so she has such a peaceful and happy state of mind.

Pei Yan and Hua Jin stayed in Xugo City for a day and set off for Anonymous County early the next morning. Xugo City was worried that any trouble they would encounter would affect their impression of the local area, so they specially arranged for two staff members to accompany them.

"There is already a direct expressway from the urban area to the county seat. It originally took an hour and a half to drive, but now it can be reached in 40 minutes, which greatly shortens the transportation time." The accompanying staff used every opportunity to praise the city, " The districts and counties in our jurisdiction are all good places with convenient transportation, beautiful scenery and outstanding people. If Mr. Pei and Miss Hua have enough time, we warmly welcome them to come and take a look around."

Hua Jin smiled and said, "I will definitely go if I have the chance."

"Anonymous County has changed a lot in recent years. Miss Hua has not been back to her hometown for many years. I am afraid she is not very familiar with her hometown anymore." The accompanying person said, "I would venture to ask, where is Miss Hua's hometown?" ?"

"My hometown is in the countryside of Anonymous County. When I was in high school, my parents and younger brother died in an accident, so I lived with my uncle's family for nearly half a year. Later, because I didn't have the chance to take the college entrance examination, I went to make a living elsewhere." Hua Jin seemed to be joking. Ban added, "In my senior year of high school, I was still number one in my grade, which is a bit of a pity."

The **** was a little embarrassed when he heard this, but seeing that Hua Jin didn't seem to care, he said: "It's really a pity."

The elder in the family has passed away, and he is living with his relatives but has no chance to take the college entrance examination. Everyone can guess what is going on without having to explain it clearly.

Thinking of this, the staff of Xugou City are a little worried. Ms. Hua has experienced this before. Will she have a bad impression of Xugou City and affect Mr. Pei's investment in Xugou City?

Pei Yan shook Hua Jin's hand and whispered in her ear: "Don't worry, I'll help you vent your anger."

Hua Jin squeezed his waist gently yet fiercely.

Pei Yan: "..." Okay, why are you twisting his waist again?

"I'm sorry, I remembered what you once said about beating a dog, it depends on its owner." Hua Jin raised her finger, "It doesn't obey its control."

Pei Yan: "..."

Before dawn, the village party secretary of Jiu Village, Xiashu Town, Anonymous County, climbed out of bed. Last night he received a notice that investors from big cities were coming to visit them and asked the staff in their village to prepare for the reception.

In recent years, life in the village has been pretty good. Businessmen often come over and say they want to invest, but unfortunately nothing happens in the end. Of course he wants the village to develop better. It's just that something happened in the village recently. If investors happen to encounter this when they come over...

Thinking of this, he was so worried that he squatted on the edge of the field and took two puffs of cigarette, staring blankly at the field where the grains had been cut and only the grain piles were left.

"Secretary Hua, what are you doing squatting here? Damn it!" A villager who was about to enter the county to do soil work was startled. He stood there and stared for a while before recognizing him. "It's so early in the morning, aren't you dozing off in bed?"

"Why are you dozing off? I'm so worried that my head hurts." Secretary Hua handed a cigarette to the villager. "Today, the leaders from above brought investors to visit our place. I'm afraid that when they come, Hua Cheng Zhong and Hua Chengguo came to my place to make trouble again. If this trouble occurs, how will investors look at us?"

The villagers lit up their cigarettes and squatted down like Secretary Hua: "If you ask me, Hua Chengzhong and Hua Chengguo should not take the homestead and fields left by Hua Laosan. There is also a girl in the three families. These should belong to the head of the house. What does they have to do with the two brothers and the old man? The most shameless one is Hua Chengzhong. Back then, the girl’s grades were so good, they She was not allowed to study, she was asked to marry a thirty-year-old bachelor, and she was forced to run away from home. I don’t know what she has been like these past few years. Do you think she is immoral or not?"

They are all from Huajiagou in Jiucun. Strictly speaking, as long as the surname is Hua in the village, their ancestors will be more or less related by blood for several generations. Even Secretary Hua and Hua Chengzhong's family were descended from the same ancestor for several generations, so they were considered as brothers.

When it came to Hua Laosan’s family, Secretary Hua sighed. When Hua Laosan's family was still alive, although they favored sons over daughters, they were at least willing to let their female children go to school. Later, an accident occurred when the Hua family took their son out. There was only one girl left in the house, and she was treated harshly by her uncle. Who wouldn't say something behind her back that Hua Chengzhong lacked great virtue?

"Go ahead, I'll stay here for a while." Secretary Hua threw the cigarette **** on the ground and stomped on it, "You're right, the things in Hua Laosan's house, even if they are rotten, are still people's children. ”

It’s just that the daughter of the Hua family was not yet eighteen years old when she ran away. Now seven or eight years have passed and they don’t even have contact information. Where can they find someone?

Hua Chengzhong was making trouble in the village, saying that the daughter of the Hua family was disobedient and stole the family's money and ran away secretly. They helped Hua Chengzhong's family search together. He and a fellow villager had actually seen the girl squatting in the cornfield, but seeing her trembling with fear and her face full of tears, the two elders softened their hearts. .

Everyone in the village knew that Hua Chengzhong wanted to marry his niece to an old bachelor. Everyone thought that he was doing something immoral. It was normal for the daughter of the Hua family to be unwilling. It's just that they, outsiders, are not very good at meddling in other people's family affairs. Sometimes, they have no other choice but to persuade Hua Chengzhong with a few words.

I don’t know whether it was right or wrong to pretend that I didn’t see the flower girl. What if she encountered an accident outside...

The more I thought about it, the more panicked I felt. Secretary Hua went home and changed into clean clothes. Seeing that it was getting late, she went to the village office.

Not long after we sat in the office, two brothers from the Hua family came. One said that the homestead left by the third brother should be divided equally between the two brothers, and the other said that he helped the third brother raise the baby left behind. , the things should belong to him.

"How shameless do you have to be to say something like this?" Hua Chengguo spat on the ground, "You were raised by a single Jin Jin back then, who in the village didn't know that? Lock up Jin Jin in a Housetop, you don’t want her to take the college entrance examination, and you want her to marry an old bachelor. It’s not shameful for you to do these things, but I feel shameful even when I say it.”

"You want face, so why didn't you raise her back then?" Hua Chengzhong retorted, "She is a girl who will get married sooner or later. What's the use of reading so many books? Can she still be the top scholar? ”

"You can't talk about that. If you had let Jin Wazi take the exam, maybe our village would really have the number one scholar." A village woman who was watching the excitement added angrily, "They are beautiful. Although the second child did not raise a golden child, it did not harm her."

"What happened in my house is none of your business." Hua Chengzhong glared at the woman who interrupted, "It's annoying."

"Hua Chengzhong, you short-lived son of a bitch, how dare you call me a wife?" The village woman's husband stood up and put his **** on the ground, "Believe it or not, I'm tricking you."

"Don't make any noise." Secretary Hua walked out of the office, looked at the people crowded outside, and glared at the two brothers of the Hua family: "How many days have you two been arguing here, and you have ignored the farm work at home?"

"It's not that we want to quarrel, it's just that whoever deserves this thing belongs to whom..." Hua Chengzhong frowned and said, "We can't let others take advantage of us."

"Since whoever belongs belongs to whom, what else do you two brothers have to fight over?" Secretary Hua put his hands behind his back, "Things belong to the third daughter, so what does it have to do with you?"

"Jin Jin has not been back for seven or eight years. Who knows what she has done." Hua Chengzhong said, "It would be better to give me the homestead and fill soil, and it will not be wasted."

"That's nonsense. If everything goes according to your words, what kind of law do you need?" Secretary Hua said with a serious face, "Stop making trouble, things are expensive anyway, you two brothers don't even think about arguing with each other. . Leaders are coming today. Don’t make trouble here. If things get serious, it will have an impact on our entire village."

"It would be great if a leader comes. I want the leader to tell me which thing should belong to it." Hua Chengzhong's wife said in a sharp voice, "That short-lived and dead girl Hua Jinjin didn't come back for so many years. Maybe she has run away with the wild man a long time ago, and she doesn’t even remember which direction the door of the house opens. You still want to leave the homestead to her, what an international joke you are making.”

In the off-season, when people in the village have nothing to do, they like to watch the excitement. When Hua Chengzhong's wife said this, the villagers watching the excitement began to talk. Some said that Hua Jinjin was abducted by traffickers, and some said that Hua Jinjin must have married outside. Anyway, no matter how they discussed it, everyone knew it in their hearts. , she will never return to this village.

"If you have nothing to do, go back and watch TV. Don't hang around here, just take a walk." Secretary Hua saw a few cars on the road heading towards the village office, and felt a little nervous. Investors and leaders had come so early. ?

Other staff from the village office also gathered around. Seeing that the villagers were unwilling to leave, they whispered to them not to talk nonsense. These are investors from big cities. If they are lucky, they can Let investors invest in this village, and they can earn a lot more income every year.

Although the villagers liked to watch the excitement, they also knew the stakes. They all stepped back and prepared to applaud.

For Hua Jin, the whole village is unfamiliar. She remembered that leaving this village to go to the county town required climbing two very high mountains. But now the mountains were gone. There were only spacious roads and neat terraces. Sitting in the car, she didn’t even know where she had lived. The village for more than ten years.

"Dear leaders, the village branch office of Huajiagou is ahead." The driver whispered, "The road to the village branch office has not been completely repaired, so the car will be a little bumpy. Leaders, please be careful."

As the car got closer and closer to the two-story white building, Hua Jin's heart... was at peace.

The car stopped outside Xiaobailou, and the **** opened the car door for her, and she heard warm applause.

"Welcome leaders to come and inspect."

"A warm welcome."

"Please come inside and have a cup of hot tea. Thank you for your hard work coming all the way."

"Come, I'll get out of the car with you." Pei Yan got out of the car, bent down and stretched out his hand in front of Hua Jin.

Hua Jin turned to smile at him, put her hand on Pei Yan's palm, and walked out of the car. Looking around, she saw people smiling and applauding enthusiastically.