My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 40 Agricultural Household Registration
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Time passed by in the days of waiting.

One afternoon a little over a week later, Zhou Jiye had just returned from setting up his stall at the market and was tidying up his things at his residence when suddenly shouts came from outside.

"Zhou Jiye! Zhou Jiye! Is Zhou Jiye from number XX here?"

"Coming, coming!" Zhou Jiye quickly responded and ran downstairs to find a postman in a green uniform pushing a bicycle standing at the door.

"Are you Zhou Jiye?"

Seeing Zhou Jiye nod, the postman used his rubber-gloved hand to rummage through the green canvas bag and pulled out a large leather envelope: "There's a registered letter for you. Where's your stamp? Give it to me."

"Oh, wait a minute, I forgot to take it, right away!" Zhou Jiye quickly replied, turned around and ran back to the attic to find his personal seal in his luggage.

This thing is a must-have for people nowadays; you need it for everything, and Zhou Jiye naturally wouldn't be short of one.

He ran downstairs with the stamp and handed it to the postman. The postman took it, glanced at it, then took out a notebook, breathed on the stamp, and pressed it down heavily.

After stamping the mail, the postman handed the stamp and the registered letter to Zhou Jiye, then turned and left with his cart. Once the postman was gone, Zhou Jiye held the heavy registered letter in his hands, and after carefully reading the mailing address written on it, he was overjoyed!

Needless to say, this registered letter must have been sent by his father, Zhou Furong, and it should contain their household registration transfer documents and certificates.

Back upstairs, Zhou Jiye carefully opened the envelope, poured out the contents, and examined them closely. Sure enough, he had guessed correctly; it contained these very things.

There was also a letter from Zhou Furong to himself, in which he inquired about their situation in Shanghai, and wrote many instructions and other trivial matters and explanations about his family.

The letter wasn't very long, and the writing was quite ordinary, but the words were filled with the deep care and love of an elder for their child, which moved Zhou Jiye deeply. Judging by the timeline, Zhou Furong must have taken care of it the same day he made the long-distance call, sending the registered letter to him without delay. He figured the letter and money he sent back later would arrive in Zhou Furong's hands in the next couple of days.

After putting the items away, Zhou Jiye didn't care about anything else and hurriedly went to the movie theater to find Lin Ying. After telling Lin Ying that he had just received the items, Lin Ying was also very excited. If she weren't still setting up her stall, she would have loved to go back and see them right away.

Patiently, Lin Ying told Zhou Jiye to go back first. Since they had the documents, there was no rush; they could take them to Xu Guoqing tomorrow. Of course, besides the household registration documents and certificates, there was also the agreed-upon 2,500 yuan, which Lin Ying had already prepared.

The next day, just like last time, they went to the Blackstone Apartments together and found Xu Guoqing, handing over the items and the money they had prepared.

The other party took the money, examined it carefully, counted the amount, and then nodded. However, they needed ID photos to complete this matter, and since they didn't have them, Xu Guoqing specially took them to a nearby photo studio to take two photos.

Xu Guoqing deliberately kept the pickup slip, saying that he would go and get the photos for them when the time came. As for anything else, he told them to wait patiently and that he would notify them as soon as there was any news.

Another half month passed, and by mid-September, Xu Guoqing finally sent word, inviting them to meet at the riverside dock early the next morning.

Around seven o'clock in the morning, the riverside dock was busiest, with a constant stream of people crossing the river to work on the east bank. Xu Guoqing and Zhou Jiye, like the others, rode their bicycles to the agreed place. When they saw them arrive, Xu Guoqing greeted them and then led them to buy stall tickets before boarding the boat.

The ferry slowly departed from the dock amidst the sound of its horn, heading towards the east bank of the river. About ten minutes later, it docked at the east bank dock, and the passengers disembarked with the flow of people.

The Jiangdong dock area is a shipyard, and it was bustling with people during rush hour. Xu Guoqing led Zhou Jiye and the others along the flow of people for a while, then turned off at another fork in the road and continued walking for a bit. Once they left the shipyard area, the number of people on the road gradually decreased.

"When we get there, don't say anything, don't ask anything. Just follow my lead and do whatever I tell you to do, understand?"

Xu Guoqing, who was ahead, suddenly stopped. Zhou Jiye, who was behind with Lin Ying, also braked immediately. Xu Guoqing turned around and gave them a special instruction. The two nodded repeatedly like chickens pecking at rice.

After giving his instructions, Xu Guoqing continued riding ahead, with them following behind, continuing along the country road.

The further you leave the shipyard area, the more remote the road becomes, and the more farmland appears around you, with a unique rural atmosphere permeating the air.

They continued riding for over half an hour, going further and further into the remote areas. To be honest, not only Zhou Jiye, but even Lin Ying, a native of the area, was now completely disoriented. They had no idea where they were. Finally, around nine o'clock, they arrived at a rural village. Compared to the production brigades Zhou Jiye frequented, this place was even more dilapidated. The houses in the village were all crumbling, and many were even built with mud bricks without any roof tiles, just dried thatch woven into roofs. If they didn't know that this was Jiangdong, near Shanghai, they would have thought they had wandered into some backward rural village in the mountains of the interior.

No wonder there's a saying these days: "I'd rather have a bed in the city center than an apartment in Jiangdong."

It will be more than ten years before Shanghai develops Jiangdong. Jiangdong is too backward now. In addition, the inconvenience of transportation before the bridge is built makes it impossible for anyone to live in this godforsaken place!
Upon arrival, Xu Guoqing led them to the best and largest tile-roofed house in the village, with a white sign with black characters hanging outside. Only after looking closely did they realize that this was the commune.

After parking the car at the entrance, Xu Guoqing took a black imitation leather bag from the door handle and gestured for Zhou Jiye and the others to follow him. The two followed Xu Guoqing into the commune. Xu Guoqing seemed very familiar with the place, greeting several people he encountered along the way warmly. Finally, they arrived at the innermost office.

"Brother Ade!"

"Oh, Ah Qing Nong is here!"

Upon entering, Xu Guoqing greeted a middle-aged man wearing faded blue overalls. The man, who was drinking tea and reading a newspaper, looked up at the sound of his voice, saw Xu Guoqing, and stood up with a smile to greet him. Then, he glanced at Zhou Jiye and the others who had come in with Xu Guoqing.

"My mom has been talking about you these past few days, saying why you never visit her. I came to run some errands nearby today and thought I'd drop by. Oh, by the way, this is something my mom specifically asked me to bring you. Didn't my sister-in-law ask her to buy it for her when she went to town last time?"

Xu Guoqing smiled and walked up to Brother Ade, placed the heavy bag on the table, unzipped it but didn't take anything out, just slightly opened it to show Brother Ade the contents, and then pushed the bag towards him.

"Yes, yes, I almost forgot. You even made a special trip to bring it to me. Thank you so much." Brother Ade's eyes lit up when he saw the contents of the bag. He said this as he reached out and picked up the bag, stuffing it under the table. Then he gestured to Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying.

Xu Guoqing smiled and said it was just on the way, there was no special reason or not. He took out a cigarette, handed it to him, and then lit it for him.

Brother Ade smiled without saying a word, sat down, opened the left drawer, and took out two forms. The registration information on them had been filled out completely, and Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying's ID photos were attached.

"Sign here! And get the stamp."

Ade pointed to a spot somewhere below the table.

Xu Guoqing waved to Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying, handed them the forms, and took out a pen from his chest, asking them to sign and stamp them with their personal seals.

Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying remembered Xu Guoqing's instructions. Without asking or saying anything, they simply signed their names on the document and then stamped it with their prepared personal seals.

After finishing, Xu Guoqing gave the two forms to Brother Ade. Brother Ade checked them and, finding no problems, took out an official seal and stamped it on the signature area. He then put the forms away and took an envelope from another drawer, tossing it to Xu Guoqing. Xu Guoqing opened the envelope, looked inside, smiled, and nodded before putting it away.

Then, Xu Guoqing chatted casually with Brother Ade for a few minutes. After finishing his cigarette, Xu Guoqing made up an excuse to leave. Brother Ade said something like, "Since you're already here, why don't you have lunch before you go? Or have a drink together?" Xu Guoqing politely declined, saying he had something to do and needed to get back. He suggested they get together properly next time he came, and have a few drinks together.

After leaving the commune, they retrieved their bicycles and, with a bewildered Zhou Jiye and the others, departed.

After driving for a while, Xu Guoqing stopped the car, looked around to make sure there were no outsiders, and then said to Zhou Jiye and the others, "Alright, everything's taken care of. You can keep this yourselves."

As he spoke, he handed the envelope that Brother Ade had given him to Zhou Jiye. Zhou Jiye took it subconsciously, and was immediately stunned when he poured out the contents of the envelope, because what was inside was none other than a household registration book with a yellow kraft paper cover that was no bigger than the palm of his hand.

Somewhat excitedly, I flipped through the household registration book. The first page had five big characters: "Agricultural Household Registration Book." Then, I saw Zhou Jiye's name in the head of household column.

Below is the address, along with information about the local commune and production team.

The second and third pages contain the detailed personal information of the household heads, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying, who are listed as spouses on the same household registration booklet. The pages include various sections such as household type, relationship between household heads, name, gender, date of birth, place of origin, education level, and marital status, and are stamped with a bright red official seal.

Besides the household registration booklet, there were two other pieces of paper inside. One was a certificate for the village's private plot of land, and the other was a certificate for the homestead, both stamped with the village's official seal. These three items together were quite heavy, and Zhou Jiye felt a sense of unreality as he held them in his hands. Was that all? Was it really that simple?
(End of this chapter)