With limited horizons, it seemed a woman’s only purpose was marriage. People would fuss over finding suitable matches for young women, while divorced middle-aged women became subjects of gossip.
Liu Fen didn’t think that way anymore. With two stores opening in the capital, she was busy enough. She had no time to consider remarriage. After suffering through marriage with Third Tiger Tian, Liu Fen felt so disgusted she didn’t even want to return to Qijing Village.
“You silly girl, how dare you go argue with the Tian family alone!”
Liu Yong had beaten up Third Tiger Tian afterward. At the time, Liu Fen and the others were at home frying New Year’s crispy meat. Grandmother Yu’s hearing wasn’t good, and the radio was turned up loud, so they didn’t hear the commotion at Village Chief Chen’s house.
Liu Fen reached to twist Xiao Lan’s ear. “Ouch, ouch, ouch! Mom, gentler, please! I wasn’t going to argue, I was going to reason with them, to educate the Tian family about the law.”
Did they think this was still a feudal society? As educated people who couldn’t risk their reputation, the Tian family tried moral blackmail, expecting Xia Xiao Lan to reluctantly take in Tian Xiao Yan and her younger brother! How convenient for them. But Xia Xiao Lan hadn’t planned to play by their rules. If Tian Xiao Yan and her brother wanted to resent her for not being charitable, they should instead resent Third Tiger Tian for being irresponsible and the rest of the Tian family for being neither kind nor caring. Xia Xiao Lan wanted to teach Tian Xiao Yan to recognize who truly had the responsibility to raise the siblings.
The Tian family wasn’t all dead – why should Xia Xiao Lan play the role of a saint?
“Did that hurt?”
Liu Fen was the one who twisted the ear, and she was also the one who felt bad about it.
She couldn’t bring herself to use much force, but when Xia Xiao Lan cried out in pain, maternal concern took over.
When Liu Yong returned from the county town, he beat up Third Tiger Tian. He felt deeply connected to the village – even when he was idle and unsuccessful, the neighbors had helped him. Liu Yong had kept his outside work secret from the village, originally planning to start after the New Year and take some villagers along to help. But after this incident, he needed to carefully consider who to take with him.
“Let’s ask Grandpa Chen’s opinion, he’s still on our side.”
Xia Xiao Lan felt that village relationships were difficult to handle. People don’t mind poverty as much when everyone is poor, but when someone does better than their neighbors, others start getting ideas. They had to return for several days each year, and as Xia Xiao Lan said, they still needed to sweep the ancestors’ graves. With her grandparents buried in Qijing Village, the Liu family’s roots were here – how could Liu Yong and Liu Fen not return?
Liu Yong nodded. If villagers earned money through him, they wouldn’t mind that the Liu family wasn’t native to the village – those who depended on him for income would naturally protect him.
Some villagers were quite reliable, and Liu Yong wasn’t worried about them quitting halfway. It would also increase village income. Those with masonry skills could easily get started, beginning as laborers before becoming skilled workers. This arrangement would make things easier for Liu Yong while providing income for the villagers.
Those who worked under Liu Yong for a full year – who didn’t return home with several thousand yuan at year’s end?
In the village, farming might not even save a few hundred yuan a year, but working for Liu Yong, while not making anyone rich, could help build a new house in three or four years. From mud brick and thatched houses to red brick and tile, then to multi-story buildings – once people’s bellies were full, wasn’t it natural to pursue a better life?
Grandmother Yu listened to the opera program on the radio while pondering.
She had previously noticed Mayor Tang’s intentions and found it surprising. The conditions between Mayor Tang and Liu Fen were too different, but if she had to choose, it was better to consider possibilities with Mayor Tang than be pursued by a village scoundrel.
Liu Fen appeared clever but was actually quite naive – if she were to find another man, she would surely give her heart completely.
Give her heart to a scoundrel like Third Tiger Tian?
While marrying up might bring hardship, marrying down was even more foolish. Grandmother Yu advised Liu Fen earnestly: “If those two Tian children try to take advantage of your soft heart by kneeling and begging, you absolutely must not give in. Getting entangled with them means getting entangled with Third Tiger Tian. Think about it – how could Xiao Lan live with such a person as her stepfather?”
Village Chief Chen had suppressed the Tian family, but since they wanted to take advantage, they might still send the children to gain sympathy.
Grandmother Yu worried that Liu Fen might become confused.
Liu Fen considered it and felt overwhelmed – if the two children were to kneel before her, she wasn’t as eloquent as Xiao Lan.
But Liu Fen wasn’t stupid. “I just won’t go out alone!”
Grandmother Yu was irritated by this. “You’re just going to avoid what you can’t handle? How impressive!”
Grandmother Yu thought they should let Mayor Tang know about the situation here. What exactly were Tang Hong En’s unhurried intentions?
…
Liu Yong and Xia Xiao Lan went together to invite Chen Wang Da for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Besides Chen Wang Da, other villagers were invited. When Liu Yong mentioned his plans to hire workers for next year, Chen Wang Da was pleased:
“How many people do you plan to hire?”
Chen Wang Da knew Liu Yong seemed to run a construction team outside, but didn’t know its scale.
Liu Yong considered, “Up to 10 people would work. I’ll cover their train tickets, but I do interior renovations, so even those with masonry skills need to start from the beginning. Initially, I can only pay 10 yuan per day, rising to 13 yuan for laborers, with skilled workers earning up to 18 yuan.”
Rural wages were particularly low, just a few yuan per day.
Masons couldn’t find steady work either – there weren’t that many houses to build in the countryside.
Liu Yong said rural masons’ skills weren’t adequate, and Chen Wang Da understood. How could building village houses compare to urban high-rises? Even starting from scratch, Liu Yong was doubling their wages. Earning 18 yuan per day as a skilled worker would match a year’s farming savings in one month.
Chen Wang Da felt Xia Xiao Lan was promising – wasn’t she hoping to bring development to the village?
Big talk was just talk – truly helping villagers become prosperous was what mattered.
“Ah Yong, it’s kind of you to think of the villagers. Tell me who you want to take with you, and I’ll ask around about others. But don’t buy their train tickets – you’re giving them an earning opportunity, not owing them anything!”
Several hundred yuan a month – couldn’t he find plenty of workers elsewhere?
Even buying train tickets – it wasn’t as if Liu Yong was begging them to earn money. Chen Wang Da felt that if they couldn’t even afford train tickets, they shouldn’t go!
“Uncle, please listen to Grandpa Chen.”
Xia Xiao Lan chimed in, and Liu Yong nodded with a smile.
Chen Wang Da knew what to do – he would choose hardworking people to go with Liu Yong. Anyone named Tian or connected to the Tian family wouldn’t be considered.
Liu Yong invited Chen Wang Da to come early for dinner tomorrow. After the uncle and niece left, Chen Wang Da called Mrs. Chen and instructed her: “Long hair, short wisdom – don’t meddle needlessly in Liu Fen’s affairs. Whether she remarries or not, she’s still a villager. If you offend her deeply, you think my small amount of face will be enough?”
Liu Yong was requesting ten people, and from his tone, the construction team wasn’t small.
They didn’t even farm their land anymore, letting villagers work both families’ fields without caring about the income. Now they still thought to help the village – that showed conscience and kindness. If Liu Yong showed kindness, the village shouldn’t keep testing their limits!
Mrs. Chen didn’t dare argue, though she felt quite unconvinced. The relative she tried to introduce wasn’t bad – why couldn’t she at least mention him to Liu Fen?
Even if her daughter got into Huaqing University, would Liu Fen be so proud?
“Ring ring ring-“
The village committee’s phone rang. When Mrs. Chen answered, something about the voice on the other end made her straighten her back.
“…Looking for Xia Xiao Lan? Asking if they’re back home for New Year’s. Yes, this is Anqing County, Qijing Village.”