Su Changjiu had also been in the capital these days.
He had originally thought that if he couldn't find a suitable shop, his wife might return with him. He hadn't expected the shop to be finalized so quickly.
After the shop was settled, Su Changjiu had to return to Nanling Village all by himself.
He had no choice but to go back, as there were many things to attend to in the village.
Xiao Tian had also instructed him not to delay the factory matters any further. If they missed the opportunity, they would fall behind others. She had told him that many villages in the south had already seized the opportunity to develop.
This year, Su Changjiu had made two trips to the capital. His already meager savings had been completely depleted, but he had also broadened his horizons.
His perspective was different now. He even harbored the idea of laying a solid foundation for the village as soon as possible.
Su Changjiu alighted from the rickety bus alone. The first person he met upon returning to Nanling Village was the village's little accountant, Su Xiaotong.
Seeing their village chief return, Su Xiaotong happily went forward to greet him.
"What are you doing standing at the crossroads at this hour?" Su Changjiu glanced at Su Xiaotong and asked.
"Village Chief, you're back? I was just coming to see if you were on the bus. You've been away for quite some time this trip."
"I went to gain some experience. There's no denying it, Xiaotong, I'm telling you, the outside world is completely different from here," Su Changjiu said with emotion.
The feeling this time was different from the last time he went. What did Xiao Cao say?
Xiao Cao said this was called "changing with each passing day"!
That little girl Xiao Tian also said that future development would be even faster.
Xiaotong was quite envious of their village chief's trip to the capital.
However, he also knew that he was just a farmer with little education and couldn't be envious.
But he could nurture his own daughter and son. When the two children grew up, graduated from college, and got good jobs, perhaps he too could see the world like the village chief.
"Let's go home first!"
Watching the bus rumble away, Su Xiaotong suddenly felt something was missing!
"Huh? Where's Auntie? I didn't see her. Did she forget to get off the bus?"
Su Changjiu glared at Su Xiaotong.
"She's staying in the capital for a while. I was worried about the village work, so I came back first."
"Village Chief, shall I carry your bag?"
Su Changjiu looked at the strong young man and handed him his two heavy bags.
"Village Chief, what did you bring back from the capital? They're quite heavy."
The young man underestimated the weight of the two large bags and stumbled before regaining his balance.
"You're still not as strong as this old man. While I was away, was everything alright in the village?"
He had spent the better part of his life dedicated to the village and felt reluctant to be away for even a short period.
Thinking that his wife might stay in the capital permanently from now on, and that he would eventually have to follow her, he felt a pang of sadness.
Fortunately, Su Xiaotong had done a good job these past two years. He looked at Su Xiaotong with a hint of scrutiny.
He wondered if Su Xiaotong could handle the role of village chief in his absence.
But there seemed to be no other suitable candidate in the village; Su Xiaotong was the most appropriate.
He would have to go to the town later and discuss this matter with the leaders.
Su Xiaotong felt a shiver down his spine under Su Changjiu's gaze. Why was the village chief looking at him like that?
What was the village chief planning to do?
Could it be that he was dissatisfied with what he had done during his absence?
"Village Chief, the village is fine. After I received your call, I already found people to start cleaning up the garbage at the farm."
"After several years, it's all dilapidated. I think repairing it again will be a major project."
Su Xiaotong walked alongside Su Changjiu, talking incessantly.
"Village Chief, do you really plan to rebuild the farm? That's not easy. Besides, if we build a large farm, who will buy the meat?"
"Come, Xiaotong, let's go to my place for a drink!"
Listening to Su Xiaotong's words, Su Changjiu felt that he needed to give the young man some advance notice about certain matters.
He led Su Xiaotong, without any preamble, towards his home.
Su Xiaotong was very curious.
Going to the village chief's house for a drink?
Hadn't the village chief forgotten that his house was currently cold and empty? They couldn't just hold wine and drink it dry, could they?
Wouldn't they need at least two side dishes?
Wait, the side dishes weren't important.
What was important was that no one had lived in the village chief's house for days; wouldn't it be covered in dust?
Su Changjiu seemed to read Su Xiaotong's mind and said with a smile.
"I brought some good side dishes when I came from the capital. Just follow me."
Su Xiaotong still expressed doubt.
It took at least two to three days to get from the capital to their Nanling Village, even when rushing.
Wouldn't the side dishes brought from the capital have spoiled by now?
Why was the village chief acting so strangely?
At Su Changjiu's house.
He didn't intend to let Su Xiaotong eat dust in his house. The interior was temporarily inaccessible, so they would stay under the big tree.
"Xiaotong, go invite the village Party secretary, your Uncle Qi, Uncle San, and Uncle Du Jiu over for a drink."
Su Xiaotong placed the bag in his hands in the yard, responded, and ran off to find them.
After running out, he still felt it wasn't quite right, so he hurried home and asked his mother and wife to help prepare some side dishes, simply saying that the village chief had returned.
Su Xiaotong's wife chided him, "The village chief is back, why don't you invite him over for a meal at our place? Instead, you're going to bother them."
"It's just that the village chief disagreed. Wife, please hurry and prepare some side dishes." After saying that, Su Xiaotong ran out again.
The mother and daughter-in-law could only go to the kitchen to prepare the side dishes, and while doing so, they also worried about whether they should go over to help with the cleaning later.
Su Changjiu opened the door to look. Ha, it was even thicker with dust than the yard.
It seemed there had been strong winds recently.
The yard had probably been swept by Su Xiaotong's wife when she came to feed the chickens.
Su Changjiu carried two bottles of wine out of the house and cast his gaze on the table under the big pear tree.
The table was covered in quite a bit of dust. Su Changjiu put down the wine bottles and found a basin of water and a rag.
He quickly wiped the table and stools clean, then went to the kitchen to find bowls, plates, and chopsticks.
They were all covered in dust. He took them to the well to rinse them clean, and then brought them back to the big pear tree.
When Su Xiaotong arrived with the village Party secretary and a few others, they saw Su Changjiu setting up a lively scene at the table under the big pear tree.
It looked quite presentable, with seven dishes and eight bowls laid out, but what food could the village chief's house possibly have!
Then, to Su Xiaotong's astonishment, Su Changjiu pulled out many colorful packaged items from the large bag.
"Secretary, Uncle San, Uncle Qi, you've all come?"
"Changjiu, you just got back, why are you drinking without resting first?"
"I brought some good things from the capital, so I thought I'd invite you all over to chat."
As Su Changjiu spoke, he raised the plastic bags in his hands.
"What is this?"
The secretary took a bag and looked at it. It seemed to be meat, but why was it packaged like this?
"Xiaotong, why hasn't Uncle Du Jiu arrived yet?" Su Changjiu looked around, noticing someone was missing, and asked.
"Uncle Du Jiu has some work to do and said he'll be here in a few minutes!"