Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 316: Going to the Countryside
"Susu..."

At the end of September, when the massive autumn harvest in Longyou was over, all the grain in the farmland in counties and villages had been harvested.

The drying yards in the villages are undoubtedly bustling, but this bustle refers to those villages that have settled down, not new villages like Yongchang Village.

Yongchang Village has only been rooted in Liangzhou for two years. Even though a lot of the wasteland around the village has been reclaimed, the output from the wasteland is only two single types.

Hemp is grown in the first year, beans in the second year, and millet and wheat in the third year. Therefore, the only public fields crops that can be harvested in Yongchang Village are hemp stalks and soybeans.

"When will the people from the county government arrive?"

"It should be soon..."

At this moment, all the villagers in Yongchang Village gathered at the entrance of the village, with harvested hemp stalks and soybeans placed next to them.

The population in the village has nearly doubled compared to last year.

Most of them were people from Jiannan Road who migrated here, and the rest were the second batch of students who graduated from Linzhou University and went to the countryside.

Although the harvest in Yongchang Village is not as good as the grain harvest in other villages, everyone's face is filled with satisfied smiles.

Ma Yi and Li Yangchun squatted under a big tree at the entrance of the village, followed by seven or eight young students.

These young people are the second batch of students who graduated from Linzhou University and went to the countryside. They have been in Yongchang Village for more than half a year.

They live and eat with the villagers, reclaim wasteland and cultivate land together, and have long been integrated into this land.

"What do you think we should do after we get paid?"

"Only three hundred yuan a month, and I can't do much. At most I can buy seven or eight kilograms of meat."

"Speaking of meat, I haven't had any oil in my stomach for a long time."

Several people talked about food, but one of the honest boys smiled and said:
"After I get my wages, I plan to go to Dadou Township to buy some coarse cloth and make a new dress for Aunt Li who takes care of me."

"If you say so, then I remember that I wanted to buy some sugar cakes and salt for Grandpa Wang's family. They are very kind to me and always give me an extra bowl of rice every time I eat."

"Liu Azhang is also very kind to me. My little girl wants to eat candy. I will go to Dadou Township to buy a few kilograms of candy cakes this time!"

"Alas... there are so many things I want to buy. It's so hard to earn money. I want my mother to send me some money..."

"Don't do that. Didn't Marshal Ji say that if you go to the countryside, you have to do it thoroughly. If you ask your family for money, you will lose credits."

A group of young people were chattering, and Ma Yi, who was squatting under a tree, listened to their discussion with a slight smile on his face.

He turned to look at Li Yangchun beside him and gently poked him with his elbow: "Li Dalang, don't spend money recklessly. Remember, at the end of the year, the two of us have to buy a fat pig to treat the villagers to a good New Year."

"Of course I remember!" Li Yangchun rolled his eyes at Ma Yi, then said in amazement, "I hope the price of pork won't go up too much..."

As they were talking, they heard the sound of horse hooves and wheels rolling over a dirt road in the distance.

Ma Yi had very good eyesight. He took a look and then stood up, dusted himself off and said, "The carriage from the county government has arrived. It's time for us to get our wages."

The villagers around also stopped what they were doing and looked into the distance.

Soon, more than thirty horse-drawn carriages slowly drove into the village entrance, piled with sacks and wooden boxes.

Zhibai, who was sent by the county government, jumped out of the car, holding a thick booklet in his hand, and shouted loudly:
"The students who went to the countryside came first to collect their wages, and the villagers helped unload the grain, coarse cloth and coarse salt from the trucks."

"After unloading the things, first load the hemp stalks and soybeans into the truck, and then ask Muramasa to come out and distribute the food!"

Hearing these frank words, the villagers of Yongchang Village cheered and gathered around.

They began to unload the grain, coarse cloth and coarse salt from the horse-drawn carriages, and then loaded the hemp stalks and soybeans harvested this year.

Although there are 230 villagers in Yongchang Village, the wasteland they have reclaimed is only more than 400 acres.

The hemp stalks and soybeans harvested from the more than 400 acres of wasteland were not much, with only more than 3,000 kilograms of hemp stalks and more than 8,000 kilograms of soybeans.

While the villagers were loading the supplies onto the truck, Li Yangchun and Ma Yi also came to collect their wages.

Three hundred coins per person per month, although not much, is worth their happiness.

Ma Yi and Li Yangchun were not in a hurry to collect their wages. Instead, they let their younger classmates come forward to collect their wages first, and the two of them stayed until the end.

They originally thought it was just a normal way to collect wages, but when they came to Zhibai, Zhibai said:

"Mr. Ma and Mr. Li, the Protectorate has issued an order that the first batch of students who went to the countryside should return to the city three months in advance."

The words were straightforward and calm, but Ma Yi and Li Yangchun were stunned.

"Return to the city early?"

"Where are you going back?"

The two were stunned and couldn't believe what they had just heard.

Facing the two people's such straightforwardness, he seemed to be used to it, and just explained calmly: "The Protectorate has ordered that you will be given a four-month vacation."

"I suggest you go back quickly. In half a month at most, the Hongchiling Mountain will be closed due to heavy snow."

"In addition, before the fifth day of February next year, the local county government will send someone to notify you to join the army!"

After saying it bluntly, he immediately paid the two men their wages, took out red clay and documents, and asked them to sign and seal.

At this moment, the two of them had not yet recovered from the news of returning to the city early, but they signed the contract in a daze.

"Are we going back to the city now?"

Looking at Zhibai's back as he turned and left, Ma Yi still couldn't believe it and felt very complicated.

He looked back at Ma A-zhang and Li A-zhang who were helping with the work in the crowd, and then looked at Yongchang Village, feeling extremely reluctant to leave.

"Senior, are you guys going back to the city?"

Several junior students were standing behind him, and they obviously heard what Zhibai had just said.

The emotions in the eyes of several people were equally complicated, seven parts envy and three parts reluctance.

Ma Yi laughed dryly and said, "It's okay. Longyou is only this small. I'll write you my home address later. Remember to write to me on weekdays."

"When you join the army next year, maybe I can still take care of you."

After hearing this, several people expressed their gratitude, and Li Yangchun looked at Ma Yi and said, "We will follow the county government's carriage to Dadou Township later. You wait here, and Muramasa and I will go and borrow a carriage."

"Okay!" Ma Yi agreed, then turned around and ran to help Ma A-Zhang and Li A-Zhang.

Soon, all the hemp stalks and soybeans were loaded onto the truck, and Ma Yi took the opportunity to say to Ma Azhang and Li Azhang:

"Ah Zhang, the Protectorate asked Da Lang and I to return to the city..."

Upon hearing this, the smiles on Ma Azhang and Li Azhang’s faces froze instantly.

"Then you...you guys..."

"It's good to go back to the city. When are you leaving?"

Ma A-zhang didn't know what to say, and in the end it was Li A-zhang who was calmer and forced a smile to comfort him.

"It will probably take another seven or eight days before we leave. Dalang and I will go to the village to buy a pig and then treat the villagers to a pork feast when we come back."

Ma Yi said that he would be leaving in seven or eight days, thinking that in the last few days, he would chop more firewood for the family to save his father-in-law and mother from having to chop firewood themselves in the middle of winter.

"Good good..."

Ma Azhang didn't know what to say, he just kept saying yes.

At the same time, Li Yangchun also appeared with Muramasa, driving a horse-drawn carriage.

Muramasa was a man in his early thirties, his surname was Li, and he was a very enthusiastic person, so he was chosen as Muramasa.

The village chief in Longyou also had a salary, but it was not much, only two hundred coins per month, which was lower than the wages of students going to the countryside.

Even so, it was still a good job. After all, apart from organizing land reclamation and paying taxes, Muramasa did not have any hard work to do.

There was no corvée in Longyou, so being a village chief was not a difficult job.

"Uncles, mothers, brothers and sisters!"

Li Cunzheng stood on the carriage and shouted to the villagers who had finished moving their things:
"Just now, the government sent a message asking Mr. Ma and Mr. Li to return to the city in a few days."

"Mr. Li and Mr. Ma have discussed it and are planning to buy a pig to treat the villagers to a feast. After the food is distributed, each household will send someone to help in our yard, and we will have a lively feast of meat!"

"Mr. Ma and Mr. Li are leaving?"

"Of course. Educated people like them must go back after going to the countryside."

"If you ask me, going to the countryside is also a hard job. Let officials like them come to the countryside to farm."

"Why can't the official farm? I heard that the general often farms!"

"That's Longyou. If it was Jiannan Road, you would have been beaten up by the police for saying these things."

"When Mr. Ma and Mr. Li become officials in the future, they will definitely be honest officials."

"What you said, there are no corrupt officials in Longyou..."

Most of the villagers in Yongchang Village fled here from Jiannan Road and have no experience.

But they knew very well that Longyou had kept them alive and that it was not as evil as the officials in Jiannan Road.

Of course, some of them thought too highly of Longyou.

Faced with their praise, Ma Yi felt mixed emotions until Li Yangchun drove over and he woke up from his dream.

"Let's go!"

Li Yangchun drove here with several of his fellow students. Although there were only three horse-drawn carriages, it was enough to transport what they wanted.

Ma Yi got on the carriage and said nothing along the way.

They followed the county government team, and after more than two hours, they saw Dadou Township in front of them.

The county government's team passed the inspection station without stopping, but Wang Zhao at the inspection station walked out of the straw hut and waited for Ma Yi and his men to arrive from a distance.

When Li Yangchun and Ma Yi arrived, Wang Zhao walked up to them flatteringly and bowed to them, saying:

"Congratulations, gentlemen, on returning to the city. When you return to the village later, you can pick up two draft horses at the post station in Dadou Township."

"After riding to the county government office to report, you can change horses from the county government office and return to Linzhou."

"All the post stations along the way can provide horses for change and rest. You two may run into your former classmates on your way back."

In Wang Zhao's opinion, going to the countryside must be a very painful thing for the son of an official like Ma Yi.

After all, Wang Zhao himself was a student in Guzang before he became an inspector. Although he only graduated from elementary school, he knew what he could enjoy in the city. Dadou Township was prosperous compared to those villages, but it was not as good as the county town, not to mention Guzang, the seat of Liangzhou.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhao smiled even more flatteringly, but Ma Yi found his smile very disgusting.

He naturally knew why Wang Zhao wanted to befriend him, but he did not tear his face off. Instead, he forced a smile and responded, "Thank you, Inspector Wang!"

“No problem, no problem!” Wang Zhao quickly returned the greeting and made way for the carriage to enter Dadou Township.

Li Yangchun shook the reins of his horse and soon entered Dadou Township.

The students from Linzhou University dispersed and went shopping.

Li Yangchun and Ma Yi were waiting in front of the butcher's shop, while the owner of the butcher's shop had already sent someone to catch the pig.

A quarter of an hour later, the butcher's clerk drove up with a large-looking eight-browed pig on the back of the mule cart.

The Eight-browed Pig had its limbs tied up. Ma Yi tried to lift it, but when he found that he couldn't lift it, he finally smiled for the first time since leaving the village.

"This pig is good, at least over 150 kilograms."

"Mr. Ma has great strength. The eight-browed pig he raised these past two years weighs exactly 180 kilograms."

The servant got off the carriage and praised Ma Yi. Ma Yi and the servant picked up the pig and put it on his carriage.

Perhaps knowing that its death was approaching, the pig was oozing feces and urine when it was picked up. Although Ma Yi felt disgusted, he did not let go.

Living in the countryside for the past two years, he had come into contact with pig feces and urine, and he had also picked up a lot of cow dung.

Occasionally, you will encounter cow dung that is dry and hard on the outside but soft on the inside. When you reach out to grab it, your fingers will go directly into the cow dung.

At first, Ma Yi still cursed, but ended up being ridiculed by Li Yangchun.

Later he learned to be smart. Even if he got caught in cow dung, he pretended nothing happened. At most, he would stick his fingers into the soil and wipe them when Li Yangchun wasn't paying attention.

However, he still underestimated the vitality of the pig. The feces and urine almost sprayed out, making his hands covered with feces.

"Damn it, how much did this pig eat this morning?"

The guys were a little overwhelmed, but Ma Yi kept his mouth tightly shut, fearing that pig manure would burst into his mouth.

"Bam—"

After finally throwing the pig onto the carriage, Ma Yi quickly looked at the butcher and said, "Can I borrow some water to wash my hands?"

"Haha, please come in, Mr. Ma."

The butcher shop owner smiled and nodded, gesturing for the guests to come in.

"Here is eight strings of cash. Please keep it."

Ma Yi walked into the butcher's shop, while Li Yangchun outside secured the pig and handed out all the money from his pocket.

The steward took it and bowed to Li Yangchun: "I don't know if I can see you two young gentlemen again in the future, so consider these two pounds of beef as my treat."

As soon as he finished speaking, he picked up the two pounds of cut beef next to him and handed it out.

Li Yangchun was surprised when he heard this: "Are you selling beef today?"

He looked towards the beef and saw a cow on the table in the butcher's shop, most of it had been cut up.

"This is an old cow that died in a nearby village. I freed it after the government gave its permission."

The manager explained, and Li Yangchun looked at the price of meat and was shocked.

With the remaining money he and Ma Yi had, they definitely couldn't buy beef.

Thinking of this, he took the two pounds of beef handed to him by the steward, bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you, steward."

"You're welcome." The manager smiled and nodded, while Li Yangchun looked inside the butcher shop:
"Ma Dalang, are you done yet?"

“Here I come!” Ma Yi hurried out of the butcher shop, shaking his hands and complaining:

"My clothes are stained with a lot of pig manure. I'll have to trouble my mother to help me wash them when I get home."

"Let's go." Li Yangchun urged him to get in the car, and then drove the carriage with him to the archway of Dadou Township.

At this time, the younger students had been waiting here for a long time. When they saw them coming, they all got on the carriage.

During this time, I couldn't help complaining that this eight-browed pig pooped too much, so I couldn't put my things down and had to hold them in my arms.

Li Yangchun smiled and teased them a few times, then drove back to Yongchang Village.

During the period, when passing by the inspection hut, he couldn't help but see Wang Zhao standing in the stance again.

After a few greetings, Ma Yi and his companions returned to Yongchang Village.

When they returned to the village, it was already 15:45 p.m.

Forty or fifty people had gathered at Muramasa's house and had prepared firewood.

The two men placed the eight-browed pig on the table and stabbed it to death from below the neck.

Soon, the aroma of pork began to spread and the whole village could smell the fragrance of pork.

Half an hour later, the eight-browed pig was completely cleaned up.

Even though there are no spices and only the simplest coarse salt, it still makes everyone smile while eating it.

Ma Yi returned home early. He arranged the dry tree stumps at home and chopped wood without saying a word.

When Li Yangchun followed Ma Azhang back, he had already chopped two piles of firewood as tall as a person by himself.

Seeing this, Li A-zhang and Ma A-zhang told him to change his clothes quickly. Ma Yi obediently followed their advice and changed the clothes that were stained with pig manure.

After he took a shower with warm water, he saw a new set of clothes on the table outside the hut.

Ma Yi recognized it. This was the coarse cloth that he and Li Yangchun bought for several uncles and aunts last year.

The money was originally intended to be made into clothes for a few people to wear during the New Year. However, during the New Year, the four people did not wear new clothes.

At first he thought he was extremely reluctant to wear it, but now it seems that the coarse cloth made into clothes is made into his body shape.

Not knowing what mood he was in, Ma Yi just felt a sore nose and then slowly put on his clothes.

He walked towards the side room, but heard Ma Azhang, Li Azhang and Li Aniang saying:

"I can't bear to see them leave. I have treated them as my own children over the past year..."

"They have to leave eventually. They are people who are going to do great things. It's enough if they can remember us in the future." replied Li A-zhang.

"Tomorrow I will go and tell Li Erlang that our two families will no longer accept students. I will feel sad when they leave..."

Li A'niang was sobbing, which made Ma Yi feel uncomfortable.

He didn't dare to listen any further, and walked back to the side room with light steps, only to see that Li Yangchun had fallen asleep with even breathing.

"This is so heartless!"

Ma Yi, who was about to cry, saw Li Yangchun's appearance, all his emotions disappeared instantly, and he secretly cursed this guy for being heartless.

After cursing, he lay down on the couch beside him and wrapped himself tightly in the quilt filled with willow catkins.

After he lay down, Li Yangchun slowly opened his eyes and wiped away his tears silently.

Over the next few days, both of them spent their time chopping wood and looking for horse grass.

They went from being students who knew nothing to farm children who are now proficient in everything such as reclaiming wasteland and farming, cooking, chopping wood and making clay.

Apart from the initial complaints, all that remained was gratitude.

Eight days later, as time arrived, Ma Yi and Li Yangchun packed their bags and arrived at the entrance of Yongchang Village under the escort of Ma A-zhang, Li A-zhang and the two A-niangs.

The villagers from Yongchang Village and their younger classmates had all arrived, and Li Cunzheng was waiting outside in a horse-drawn carriage to take them to Dadou Township.

"Mr. Li, please remember to come back in the future."

"That's right, remember to come back in five or six years!"

"That's right, by that time, the wasteland next to the village will be ripe, and we will treat you to corn rice!"

The villagers were talking at once, the two fathers remained silent, and the two mothers had red eyes and kept wiping away tears.

Ma Yi wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he burst into tears before he could finish his words.

"Ma Dalang, you bastard! Don't cry!"

Li Yangchun scolded him, and then he started crying as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Damn it, I told you not to cry! If you cry, I'll want to cry too!"

He blamed Ma Yi for wanting to cry. Ma Yi said nothing, but just turned his head away, not wanting to cry in front of everyone.

"Stop crying and get in the car early."

"Yes, Li Erlang told us that the mountain will be closed due to heavy snow in seven or eight days, and you won't be able to return home by then."

Ma A-zhang and Li A-zhang tried to persuade them, while Li A-niang and Ma A-niang cried and hugged them.

On the way to escape, some of their children died, some were lost. Now they finally treated Ma Yi and Li Yangchun as their own children, but they are leaving.

"Mother...I will write back..."

Ma Yi, who was in his twenties, was crying like a child at this moment, and promised to write back with sobs.

Ma A Niang nodded and patted them both on the back: "Be careful on the road, and remember to write back when you get there."

"We can't understand it, but when your letter arrives, we know you've arrived home safely..."

Li A'niang and Ma A'niang's words made Li Yangchun and Ma Yi burst into tears.

In the end, the two uncles pushed the two aunts aside and pushed them into the carriage.

"drive!"

Li Cunzheng was shaking the reins and pulling the horse and carriage towards Dadou Township.

"Remember to come back!!"

The villagers kept waving, and Ma Yi and Li Yangchun waved back.

Gradually, Yongchang Village became farther and farther away, and their figures gradually disappeared from the villagers' sight...

(End of this chapter)