Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 239

"Shall I go take a look too?" Zhao Da'e asked tentatively.

"What are you going to do with them? You stay home. I'll go greet them, and then arrange accommodations and meals for them. I also have to go to Tiezhu's house this afternoon to keep an eye on things. Those carpenters are really damn bastards, not working properly at all. It's infuriating... If they keep dawdling, they won't finish that coffin in three days. It's infuriating!" Zhao Tingming was furious.

Zhao Tingming was furious whenever he thought about it. He had finally managed to find a few carpenters, but they were all incredibly lazy and incompetent.

Zhao Tingming's original intention was naturally to finish dealing with Zhao Tiezhu's matter as soon as possible, so as to avoid this constant hassle. The sooner it was resolved, the less trouble he would have.

That's why he found three carpenters. He originally thought he could finish it in a day and a night, but now it seems too difficult.

All morning, those "experts" still haven't decided on the size.

One minute they said 2.25 meters was good, the next they said 2.18 meters was good. Then the width got into trouble too. The original width was 80 inches at the bottom and 96 inches at the top; that was a fixed size. But Zhao Tiezhu had gotten a bit fatter, and it wouldn't fit, so they added more inches. This added a few inches at the bottom caused an argument among the people above; they couldn't understand it…

After arguing all morning, they finally settled on the length, but they still haven't figured out the width...

Although Zhao Tingming was angry, he didn't know what to do. Every time he spoke, the carpenter said he didn't understand…

Zhao Tiezhu's son, Zhao Yongtao, also said that his father only had one chance to die, so he should at least leave in a grand manner...

Zhao Tingming paid nearly fifty yuan a day for his wages, and he was reluctant to part with the money. But Zhao Yongtao didn't care about the cost of food, so they decided to fight it out and see who would lose out in the end.

Zhao Tingming: At worst, I'll just issue an IOU and refuse to pay the wages on credit...

Just then, a call came from above to the village, but there was no one at the Dongtaizi Village office... After all, although Dongtaizi Village had a village head, women's director, accountant, and so on, no one was there.

Zhao Tingming would at most wander around in the morning and again in the afternoon. That would be the end of his workday.

There's not much coal left in the village office this year; it's difficult to even light a stove. Who would want to suffer in that big brick house of the village office?

So when the higher-ups called at first, no one answered.

The phone kept ringing, and when Chen Shuyi finally answered it, he learned that the hunting team sent from above was already approaching the village.

Then Chen Shuyi limped to Zhao Tiezhu's house and told Zhao Tingming about it.

Zhao Tingming then rushed home in a hurry.

“Grandpa, you don’t have anything to do anyway, and I don’t have anything to do either, so let’s go and see what’s going on. I’ve never seen a hunting rifle before, did they bring one this time?” Zhao Da’e asked.

“You absolutely have to bring a hunting rifle. This isn’t a storyteller’s tale. These days, there are no heroes like Wu Song who fought the tiger. If you go hunting wolves without a hunting rifle, they’ll be the first ones to fall.” Zhao Tingming said, “You can go and take a look if you want, but you can only look at it. Don’t touch that thing.”

Zhao Tingming specifically said, "Their hunting team's guns are all real and loaded. Don't touch them carelessly, or they might accidentally discharge and injure someone, which would be a real problem."

"I know. I'm just looking. I'm not stupid, why would I touch that thing for no reason?" Zhao Da'e promised.

Zhao Da'e had never seen a gun before. Although she was a girl, she always thought it looked really amazing.

Afterwards, Zhao Dage followed Zhao Tingming back to Zhao Tingming's home.

Upon arriving home, Zhao Tingming said to Guo, "Wait a while, prepare some food for lunch. Make a few hearty dishes and cook a pot of rice. The higher-ups sent people to catch those laidais. Oh, and buy some wine."

"What kind of main dish?" Guo said unhappily, "I think the bricks are hard, so let's get them some water, mix them up and they can eat them."

“What kind of talk is that…” Zhao Tingming frowned and said, “When the higher-ups send people to arrest traitors, aren’t they supposed to provide them with food? With traitors around our village, no one can have peace and quiet. Look at you, all talk and no action.”

Guo muttered, "Every year it's either this person or that person coming down. They provide meals every day, every single day. You, as the village chief, can serve them all, but I'm nobody, why should I serve you?"

"Then aren't you the village chief's wife..." Zhao Da'e chuckled.

"Don't mention this." Guo felt annoyed whenever this topic came up.

I've worked hard all year round, endured a lot of hardship, and suffered a lot of grievances. Not to mention, my salary has been delayed for the past two years.

Take Zhao Tingming's salary for example. It's almost Chinese New Year, and not only has he not received this year's salary, but he hasn't received last year's either.

The village's industries had long since declined. The large pigsties that used to be built—collapsed, the livestock sheds—collapsed, the small coal mine—collapsed, the quarry—went out of business, the cement plant—closed down, the cannery…

The cannery was the most unlucky. They used to make canned hawthorn and apples. The products were good, but nobody bought them, so they went out of business.

Times are changing, and the household responsibility system has been implemented in the south. This is something that should have been promoted, and it has been.

However, in reality, until 1992, the North was in a state of exploration and semi-exploration.

Nothing is achieved overnight; rather, it comes about naturally.

That spring thunder is still more than a year away. And the current reality in Dongtaizi Village is that the village is heavily indebted.

Zhao Tingming was also powerless, and he went around issuing IOUs everywhere...

But often, IOUs are no longer valid. In the past, Zhao Tingming could at least take the people who went to the countryside to the village guesthouse, or at least to restaurants in town.

But that's not possible now. The restaurants are all privately owned, and they don't give Zhao Tingming a chance to write an IOU...

No chance at all.

You have to pay for your meal...

If he was paid, Zhao Tingming wouldn't go to restaurants. If someone came over, he would try to avoid them. If he really couldn't avoid them, he would bring his family along.

This year, he also brought his family here several times.

Guo had long been dissatisfied.

Guo believed that Zhao Tiezhu's mess had already wasted four or five days of the family's time, and her son couldn't even spend time with her properly... Zhao Tingming was busy running around, and not only did he receive all sorts of complaints, but he had also already spent more than a hundred yuan.

Although Zhao Tiezhu's surname is Zhao, he has long been separated from Zhao Tingming by five degrees of kinship. Moreover, they went to Northeast China to make their way back in recent years and haven't visited Zhao Tingming since. When nothing happened, they were practically indistinguishable from other people in the world; but when trouble struck, they remembered that their surname was Zhao.

Will Guo be satisfied?

Now we have to arrange meals and drinks for the hunting team. That all costs money...

We've been saving every penny, but my son has been spending a lot lately. He'll be starting work next year, and I don't know what to do. If we don't save some money, and he keeps spending all his money, what will we do if he needs money to find a job?

"Don't bring them home, I don't cook."

Upon seeing that Guo was not cooking, Zhao Tingming immediately said, "Oh dear, I guarantee they'll leave in three to five days. If we don't finish this matter soon, what if they come down the mountain and take the child?"

"Why don't they go to other villages? People have been bitten by the cane before..."

“Other villages don’t lack village offices anymore…” Zhao Tingming said somewhat awkwardly.

Dongtaizi Village is one of the few villages in the vicinity that is still "alive".

The remaining few were even worse than the last.

"It will take at most three days. You can cook some meals. I'll find someone to help you out then," Zhao Tingming promised.

Guo reluctantly agreed, but kept muttering to herself, "Go ahead and make a fuss. When will you finally be dirt poor? It's a good thing you don't have a daughter-in-law, otherwise she'd all end up like Goose's mother, running off to her parents' home..."

Zhao Tingming: "Uh..."

Zhao Da'e: "..."

Zhao Tingming's expression relaxed somewhat; at least he wasn't too embarrassed anymore.

He then grabbed a megaphone and called over Xing Shuling, the village's women's director. They were the only two officially recognized women in the village; most of the others were unresponsive.

It would be strange if they didn't pay wages and still managed to move people.

Zhao Da'e followed Zhao Tingming and Xing Shuling to the village entrance to greet the hunting team from the county.

After waiting for about ten minutes, a beat-up Songhuajiang Red minivan with abnormal noises, clearly burning oil, arrived.

Zhao Da'e was stunned when he saw the van: Holy crap! Where did this antique come from? It's even worse than Xiangzi's old van! Judging by the noise, the engine must have blown up. Not only is it burning oil and emitting black smoke, but there's practically no original paint left on the van; it's full of dents and bumps.

The only remaining advantage of this van is that it can still move...

The car stopped next to Zhao Tingming, and someone rolled down the window by hand.

"Old Zhao..." the driver said with a smile.

Zhao Tingming looked and saw that the person who came was Director Meng from the township's reception office.

"Director Meng, Director Meng. Thank you for your hard work. Why didn't you ask Xiao Ye to drive?"

Xiao Ye is a staff member at the reception desk. Zhao Tingming has met her a few times; Xiao Ye used to drive him around.

Director Meng gave an awkward smile: "Xiao Ye has gone to find another job."

Zhao Tingming smiled and took out a pack of mass-produced cigarettes from his pocket, handing it to Director Meng: "Everyone has had a hard time coming here. Have a smoke, Director Meng, please help distribute these, I haven't seen the people inside yet."

At that moment, the carriage door opened, and three people got off.

One was a bald, middle-aged man, about forty years old, and very strong; another was completely bald, short, wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, with a crooked mouth, slanted eyes, and a slight limp; and the third was a middle-aged man, about thirty years old, with a hat askew, a full beard, and carrying a large backpack.

The first one was somewhat normal, but the next two were just... well...

Zhao Da'e didn't even know how to describe it.

Holy crap! Where did these oddballs come from? If these guys went out there, they could form a whole team of male models.

Zhao Da'e really didn't understand. You could say that when the hunting team selects people, they don't care about their appearance, that's one thing.

But you know, of the people they chose, one was dazed with drunkenness, another had a crooked mouth and slanted eyes, and yet another had small, triangular eyes…

hiss……

This appearance is even more "outstanding" than the three disciples of Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West.

Director Meng got out of the car with a smile, first offering cigarettes to the three men, and then introducing them to Zhao Tingming: "These are three brothers. Back when we were eliminating the four pests, these three brothers even fought a tiger. These three are Sima Dapao, Sima Erpao, and Sima Sanpao."

The order is the same as when I got off the bus.

Sima Dapao grinned, a foreign cannon slung across his back, and nodded as a greeting to Zhao Tingming and the others.

Seeing that Zhao Tingming seemed a bit distracted, Director Meng guessed he might be a sucker for good looks, so he continued with a smile, "Old Zhao, don't let their fancy clothes fool you, these three are really capable people."

"This Sima Dapao participated in shooting competitions and won first place in the county shooting competition. His marksmanship was truly exceptional, hitting the bullseye every time. This second-ranked cannon can smell things; let's put it this way, if there's a puddle of urine on the ground, he can tell whether it's from a wolf or a dog. This third-ranked cannon is also very famous in this field; no matter how big the mountain is, he will never get lost, and even if his compass is broken, he can still find his way around."

Upon hearing Director Meng's introduction, Zhao Tingming laughed and said, "Oh, Director Meng, what are you thinking? I'm extremely satisfied. Our village needs someone like this, someone who can help everyone catch the laidai. It's like ridding the people of a scourge. Otherwise, you know, when these laidai come down the mountain, they've been biting people to death, causing widespread panic. Who wouldn't be afraid?! Not to mention, these past two days, no one has even gone up the mountain to collect firewood or cow dung."

"That's for sure. Even the candied hawthorn vendors are afraid to come to our village anymore; they all avoid it." Zhao Da'e wasn't particularly impressed with these "talented" individuals; they were just the best of a bad bunch. Kashi County itself didn't have any particularly large mountains; she wouldn't get lost even if she went in… As for Sima Erpao's special skills, Zhao Da'e remained noncommittal. But Sima Erpao's titles like "hundred paces, a hundred-pace archer" and "shooting champion" were, to say the least, practically useless when hunting in the mountains. The wolf was waiting for you to approach, motionless, for you to shoot it? Were the wolves stupid, or were people stupid? But they hadn't actually gone yet; they'd see the real test later.

"Pack up Laidai as soon as possible so I can go back to my grandma's house."

Zhao Da'e hadn't seen his mother and sister for a while and was missing them. Having a wife was one thing, but also, he'd been busy lately hauling bricks, but these wolves had made things incredibly chaotic.

These wolves are such a hindrance. Putting everything else aside, if it weren't for these few wretched wolves causing trouble, Zhao Da'e's brick-hauling project would have been finished long ago. Now everyone's gone to Tie Zhuzi's house to help out, and there's no one left to haul bricks himself.

Most importantly, Zhao Da'e is now scared and doesn't dare to go out for a stroll. Zhou Chunwen is busy, so she can only wander around the village now. There is firewood at home, but not much kindling. Zhao Da'e is thinking of going up the mountain to collect some pine cones to start a fire. She also wants to check behind the mountain; maybe she'll find a badger.

Zhou Chunhong's injury is a bit problematic. It's been two or three days and it still hasn't healed.

In this era, there weren't any high-tech products, such as growth factor drugs like polymer gels, that could make skin grow quickly. Only badger oil had this effect. If Zhou Chunhong caught a badger and got some badger oil, her wounds would heal even faster.