Chapter 663 - Lai Da Arrives
As the transmigrator regime displayed ever-greater power and economic capability, it inevitably exerted tremendous influence over society. The upper-class literati would strongly influence the common people in many ways.
In less than ten years, without any forced head-shaving, Lingao's young men would probably follow the transmigrators' example and shave their heads to wear short hair. Just as some local girls had already begun imitating female transmigrators—no longer wearing traditional hair buns, instead sporting short cuts, braids, and butterfly ribbons.
"Han traditional clothing's future status will be like the kimono in Japan from the previous timeline," Ma Qianzhu said. "Used as formal wear on important occasions. It can become exquisitely made, sold at high prices, but rarely worn day-to-day."
Yu Eshui suggested: "We could establish a Hanfu Association to research, exhibit, display, and promote Hanfu—preserving and carrying forward the tradition..."
Ding Ding added: "Like the Japanese, we could also create a Coming-of-Age Day, where all eighteen-year-olds wear Hanfu to attend a ceremony at the district office."
He Xie firmly opposed: "I absolutely reject this approach of turning Hanfu into a 'living fossil'!"
According to He Xie's view, not only should modern clothing not be popularized, but "Hanfu" should be promoted among the transmigrator elite. On major ceremonial occasions, leaders and officials should all wear Hanfu.
"Of course, I mean not Ming-dynasty clothing, but reformed Hanfu."
Yu Eshui suddenly laughed: "You mean the reformed Hanfu from the previous timeline?"
"Exactly. Is there a problem?"
"None at all." Yu Eshui covered his mouth, coughing repeatedly. "It's just that officials all wearing Hanfu would be rather... comedic."
Wu Nanhai stood beneath the grape arbor at the South Sea Farm headquarters office, a thick cigar in his mouth, puffing clouds of smoke.
The cigar was hand-rolled—Chu Qing had made it by hand following a manual on artisanal cigar-making. The tobacco industry had become an important sector for the transmigrators, even a modest revenue source, but Lingao's cigarette industry depended entirely on imported tobacco leaf. This constrained growth. So the Agricultural People's Committee had decided to promote tobacco cultivation at the Jialai Commune Farm. Once there was enough tobacco leaf, besides manufacturing cigarettes, cigars—which didn't require special cigarette paper—would also be promoted as future luxury goods.
What he was smoking was a crude prototype. Rolling cigars required specialized skill; a poorly rolled cigar couldn't be smoked at all. This one was Chu Qing's tenth attempt—and it could finally be lit and burn normally.
Wu Nanhai exhaled blue smoke. Cigar smoke isn't inhaled into the lungs, which was why he was willing to experiment. He found slowly puffing on a cigar and blowing smoke rings deeply relaxing—he enjoyed this kind of leisurely, pleasant mood.
Chu Qing stood properly beside him, awaiting instructions. She wore a brand-new maid uniform. Her hair had grown long, gathered into twin ponytails with ribbons. She looked very much like a girl from another timeline.
"Now this is living." The man beside him, also puffing smoke, commented.
This man appeared to be in his thirties—pale-skinned with a square, dark face and proper features, wearing glasses. As he spoke, his eyes kept drifting toward Chu Qing.
"Don't you have a life?" Wu Nanhai found this person irksome. Ji Qili had nothing to do with agriculture; he worked in telecommunications equipment, busy testing crystal radios, spark transmitters, and various primitive telecom devices. Yet this person with zero connection to agriculture or agricultural products kept hanging around the farm office, cozying up to him. At first, Wu Nanhai thought Ji Qili was just angling for extra food and drink. Gradually he realized that wasn't it.
This person's eyes were constantly on Chu Qing, and he frequently tried to get close to the Li mother and daughter.
Wu Nanhai was a Christian who considered his moral standards quite high. Scenarios like "Farm of Forbidden Sighs—Mother and Daughter's Lamentations" generally wouldn't happen under his watch. But a man's possessiveness remained.
The Li mother and daughter had been taken in by Zhang Xingjiao at his request, and since then had lived under his protection. He rather naturally assumed the role of their protector. Though Wu Nanhai currently had no particular designs on them, he absolutely would not permit any other man to have designs on them—even just ideas.
Looking carefully, both mother and daughter were attractive. Though Li Quan was still young, she was clearly destined to become a beauty. And if the daughter looked good, the mother usually wasn't far behind. Though the woman he had named "Li Mo" refused to give her real name or age, Wu Nanhai estimated she was no older than thirty.
Li Mo rarely spoke at the farm or hospital, but strictly adhered to the principle that she belonged to Wu Nanhai—never giving other men the time of day and never speaking behind Wu Nanhai's back. But the little girl was easily tempted by Ji Qili's smiles and candy, chatting happily with him.
Wu Nanhai had initially been cold to Ji Qili, but the man kept coming to the farm regardless. This put Wu Nanhai in an awkward position. He wasn't skilled at rejecting people—and as a person, Ji Qili wasn't the unlikeable sort. He was broadly knowledgeable, knew many things, was articulate and interesting, a good conversation partner. And he remained oblivious to Wu Nanhai's coldness, maintaining a cheerful smile.
So Wu Nanhai found it difficult to completely shut him out—and for his future political prospects, he didn't want to sour relations with fellow transmigrators. Thus Ji Qili became a regular visitor to the farm. Of course, he rarely saw the Li mother and daughter anymore: Li Mo, sensing her master's coldness toward this man, not only avoided appearing herself but also forbade her daughter from being seen by him.
Today he got to smoke Chu Qing's hand-rolled cigar not because of Wu Nanhai's hospitality, but because he had agreed to build some audio equipment for the farm café to create ambiance—a small token of thanks from Wu Nanhai.
"I live the life of a tech geek; you live the life of an industrialist." Though Ji Qili said this, he had no actual interest in "the industrialist's life." For him, tinkering with electronic components and having plenty of girls to roll around with was life's greatest pleasure.
Wu Nanhai thought: I slogged through this myself, standing in mud sowing and transplanting and weeding. But he didn't want to say anything so overbearing. After a few perfunctory words, he sent Ji Qili on his way.
Ji Qili strolled out of the farm humming a tune. The demonstration farm had continuously expanded and was now quite large as an independent entity. Just past the gate, he reached the roadside of the Bairren–County Seat Highway.
On one side of the highway was the Wenlan River management project construction site, where workers busily labored. The roar of machinery mingled with work chants.
As Ji Qili walked, someone suddenly stopped him.
"Sir—"
It was a dark-skinned worker wearing a straw hat, face caked with mud, holding a shovel and speaking Mandarin with a Cantonese accent.
"What is it?" Ji Qili was in a good mood—smoking Chu Qing's hand-rolled cigar had satisfied him.
"Is there a girl named Chu Qing in that farm?"
"Yes." Ji Qili said absently.
"About sixteen or seventeen?"
"That's right."
The worker thanked him and walked away. Ji Qili strolled a few more steps, then suddenly became alert. Why would a worker suddenly ask about Chu Qing? He tried to call the man back to question him, but among all the workers he could no longer identify who it was. They all wore similar Lingao-made field-uniform-style work clothes; everyone looked the same to Ji Qili—he hadn't looked carefully at the man's face.
"Strange." Ji Qili felt uneasy. Should he report this to the Political Security Bureau?
But he worried that reporting so little would invite ridicule—someone asking about Chu Qing wasn't a major concern. Perhaps an old acquaintance, perhaps a relative, too timid to approach the farm directly, asking a transmigrator first for confirmation.
Thinking this way, Ji Qili let the matter drop. But then he remembered: Wu Nanhai had told him Chu Qing was originally from Gou Family Stockade—one of Gou Er's maids. Could her acquaintance or relative also be connected to Gou Family Stockade?
Everyone had grown indifferent to the Gou family affair. In truth, neither the Yuan Laoyuan nor the Executive Committee nor the Political Security Bureau had ever considered the Gou Er gang a major threat. Capturing the Gou father and son was less about seeing them as a grave danger and "cutting grass at the roots" than achieving a propaganda goal of "no one escapes the chiefs' grasp."
But recently, the External Intelligence Bureau had learned from interrogating secretaries captured in the great Chengmai victory that Gou Er's son had participated in the punitive expedition, providing detailed information about Lingao. He had also secretly sent people to Lingao to try inciting local gentry to rise up and welcome the imperial troops.
Once this information was confirmed, the Political Security Bureau elevated the capture of the Gou Er gang to a priority task. The matter was also announced at the Yuan Laoyuan's weekly security briefing.
The Yuan Laoyuan took security awareness education very seriously. Weekly briefings, bulletin board notices, and the Lingao Times (Internal Edition) constantly reminded everyone: danger is all around us!
Though Ji Qili didn't pay close attention in meetings, the repeated indoctrination had left an impression. He grew nervous. He turned back and searched the construction site several times, hoping to find the strange questioner. But he found nothing.