Chapter 2800 On The Road

"Delicious!" Zhang Youcai couldn't help but exclaim. "This is real skill!"

Lingao Rice Noodles were a local specialty, available practically everywhere on the streets. Canteens in factories, schools, and the army served them daily. For Zhang Youcai to praise the "skill" meant it had to be extraordinary.

"Sister-in-law Huang made these." The village head carefully accepted the White Holy Ship cigarette Tan Shuangxi offered, turning it over in his fingers for a long moment before bringing it to his lips, lighting it, and taking a deep drag. "Her noodle-making skill is beyond dispute—the best in the village. Whenever guests visit, we always arrange for her to cook."

He watched the two soldiers slurping up the rice noodles and chuckled. "Eat slowly, no need to rush. I'll have Huang's boy take you there in a while. It's the busy farming season, so he's certainly at home."

After they finished eating, Tan Shuangxi produced a billing slip and paid. This type of duplicate slip was specifically used for official travel expenses and could be applied toward tax payments. The village head called over the child who had delivered their food: "Liuzi! Guide these two comrades to Father Fang's house!"

At the mention of Father Fang's house, Liuzi visibly flinched. The village head laughed and scolded him, "What are you afraid of? The two officers are going with you—Old Fang isn't going to eat you!"

Hearing this, the child nodded in agreement. Then he asked the village head timidly, "Boss, my mom wants to know when the meal money will be paid. It's been three or four months now."

The village head waved dismissively. "The summer tax hasn't been collected yet—where would the money come from? She won't be shorted. We'll settle up when the summer tax comes in."

Liuzi didn't dare press further and simply led the two soldiers on their way. The village road was unpaved but appeared well-maintained and reasonably level. Windbreak forests lined both sides. Botang was a mixed village, containing both old local "concentrated villages" and new immigrant settlements, so the character of each jia they passed varied considerably—some simple and weathered with age, others newly built. The pedestrians on the road spoke with accents from all regions.

Walking was tedious, so Zhang Youcai drew Liuzi into conversation. "You seem afraid of this Father Fang. Is he really that difficult to deal with?"

Liuzi was only about ten years old, and he answered with evident irritation. "More than just difficult—he speaks with outright hostility. If you're beneath him, just a few of his remarks would be enough to make you die of anger!"

"So his popularity isn't very good."

"Depends on whether you have money. If you're rich, it's good. If you're poor, it's bad." Liuzi spat to the side. "But to cadres like the village head, the stationed police, and the Heaven and Earth Society special commissioners—oh, he's perfectly polite. Snobbish dog! Pah!"

Tan Shuangxi and Zhang Youcai exchanged glances. This family would be difficult to deal with.

"Is his family very wealthy?"

"He was rich before the Chiefs came, and now he's even richer." Liuzi kicked at a pebble. "But he's terribly stingy. Don't anyone think of getting the better of him."

Hearing the child speak this way, the two soldiers felt their spirits sink further. It wasn't that they wanted any advantage, but stingy people often had eccentric, stubborn personalities. This errand would likely become tangled and drawn-out.

After walking for some time, Liuzi suddenly announced, "His land starts here."

All along their route, the fields had been meticulously cultivated with healthy crops. But here, a water channel divided the land on either side, and the difference was stark. The fields west of the channel were perfectly level, crisscrossed with irrigation ditches. Not only did the crops grow more vigorously, but every nook and cranny had been planted with cash crops. Every inch of soil was clearly put to careful use.

"This Father Fang knows his craft!" Tan Shuangxi, who came from a farming background, praised sincerely.

"The Heaven and Earth Society taught him all of it." Little Liuzi said with undisguised envy. "Before that, he was just a small landlord."

"Did your family ever hire the Heaven and Earth Society?" Zhang Youcai asked casually.

"After my dad died, the family had no money. We couldn't afford people from the Heaven and Earth Society, and we couldn't afford their good seeds either." Liuzi sighed.

Their conversation had touched on sorrowful matters, so Zhang Youcai changed the subject.

"The fields in your village are farmed well!" Tan Shuangxi observed.

"Those who can't farm well don't farm anymore." Liuzi explained that ever since the Senate promulgated the "Provisional Regulations on Homesteads," although household land couldn't be bought or sold, management rights could be transferred for a term. Families with little land or insufficient labor gradually contracted their plots out to larger households. Liuzi's family had done the same.

"The big households pay land rent every year. Scraping together enough to eat isn't a problem."

"If you're not farming, what do you plan to do?"

"There's plenty to do. I'm not old enough yet, but when I turn twelve, I'll go out as an apprentice." Liuzi spoke with confidence. "My mom's uncle works at the printing and dyeing factory in Nanbao. Last time he wrote asking if I wanted to apprentice there. Apprentices earn one yuan and twenty cents!"

When he mentioned "one yuan and twenty cents," his eyes shone.

Tan Shuangxi smiled. "How old are you? Why don't you go to school?"

"Eleven. I finished junior primary school. My grades weren't good enough for senior primary, and the family couldn't afford it anyway. So I run errands for the village office to earn two meals a day."

Zhang Youcai teased, "You seem quite clever. Why not sign up for the Army Youth School when you turn twelve? Everything's at public expense!"

"My mom won't agree." Liuzi shook his head. "My real dad died fighting. My stepdad was crippled in battle too. But actually, I want to go."

"Your father was a martyr?" Tan Shuangxi was surprised. "Which battalion?"

"Not any battalion. My stepdad told me they were all old security corps. They fought a battle with pirates at Bopu. Many died or were crippled. The soldiers who survived without injury—they're at least company commanders by now." Saying this, he sighed with resignation.

"As a survivor's child, senior primary school should be free for you."

"Tuition is waived, but living expenses aren't. My dad is missing an arm and can't do heavy work. I have younger brothers and sisters. Two pensions alone can't support such a big family."

"Even so, the village head still owes your family money?" Tan Shuangxi felt a flash of anger.

"It's delayed, but it always gets paid eventually. After all, cooking for the public still earns a few coins." Liuzi spoke with weary acceptance.

"Your mom's skill is excellent. Since you aren't farming in the village anyway, why not set up a stall or open a small shop in a nearby town? It would be far better than struggling here."

Liuzi nodded. "They've thought about it, but they keep hesitating. After all, opening a shop requires capital, and they don't know if it would succeed. The village work at least lets us scrape by..."

Just then, someone hailed from the distance: "Liuzi—"

The group looked up and saw three or four people driving oxen through the fields. The one in front was calling out to Liuzi.

Liuzi pulled off his battered straw hat and waved back.

"Who's that?"

"The head laborer of Father Fang's household. His name is Chen Linhuang—also a Fulao."

As they spoke, Chen Linhuang reached the road. He was a sturdy young man, his skin tanned dark, wearing only a thin linen undershirt soaked through with sweat. His bare forearms revealed solid muscle.

A fine specimen, Tan Shuangxi thought involuntarily. Sturdy yet light and agile in movement—excellent material for light infantry.

Before he could speak, Liuzi introduced them: "These two officers came from the troops looking for Father Fang."

Chen Linhuang had been smiling, but his expression grew serious the moment he heard this. He studied the two soldiers carefully and asked quietly, "Is it about Hu Weide?"

Tan Shuangxi knew this man was likely an acquaintance of Hu Weide and nodded. "It is."

"He..." Chen Linhuang's face darkened further. "He's gone?"

Tan Shuangxi nodded heavily. "Yes. We're here to notify his family."

"That fool!" Chen Linhuang's voice was thick with disappointment and resentment.

"What do you—"

But Chen Linhuang didn't let him finish. He turned to Liuzi. "You can head back now. I'll take the two officers to see the old man."

"Good, good, good." Liuzi had no desire to see Old Man Fang anyway and was more than happy to be relieved of the duty.

Chen Linhuang sent Liuzi on his way, exchanged a few words with the laborers in the field, then took the lead.

"Father Fang isn't home right now—he's directing work at the West Estate today. I'll send someone with a message right away." After saying this, Chen Linhuang beckoned to one of his men and gave him brief instructions. The man hurried off at once.

The group continued toward the Fang family residence. Along the way, Zhang Youcai couldn't help asking, "Since the Fang family has a West Estate, surely there's an East Estate too?"

"The family residence is at the East Estate. The West Estate is just a level threshing ground with a few laborers' quarters—they keep livestock and store equipment there."

"Two estates—he must have considerable land?" Tan Shuangxi marveled inwardly; he hadn't expected Hu Weide's father-in-law to be such a substantial landowner.

"Probably seven or eight hundred mu. Half is his own, half rented from villagers." Chen Linhuang wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. "Originally his family didn't even have a hundred mu. It all came from having the Heaven and Earth Society as a backer. Between opening wasteland and renting land, he's become a demonstration household."

"Hu Weide was originally a long-term laborer for Father Fang too, right?"

"Yes, he used to share a room with us. Ah Wei was literate and clever, and he did everything methodically. Everyone said he was wasted being a laborer on the estate—" Chen Linhuang smiled bitterly. "Cursed words, as it turned out."

Tan Shuangxi felt a strange sense of dissonance as they talked. The Hu Weide that the head laborer described didn't seem like the same person he knew. The volunteer soldier Hu Weide he remembered was flighty and boastful, always talking big yet unable to perform basic training competently. But this laborer Hu Weide had been enthusiastic, capable, and well-liked. It made sense—why else would the Fang girl have fallen for him? If she'd been looking for a live-in husband, given the Fang family's wealth, her range of choices would have been vast.

In short, this man who had been sneered at throughout his time in the platoon and company probably did have many admirable qualities. He simply wasn't suited for the army.

"How is his wife?" Zhang Youcai asked suddenly. Perhaps realizing how that sounded, he hurriedly added, "I mean, is their relationship good?"

"Good." Chen Linhuang's voice grew wistful. "They're newlyweds—how could the relationship not be good?"

Tan Shuangxi shot Zhang Youcai a reproving look, feeling his companion's curiosity had grown a bit too indulgent.

(End of Chapter)