"Cousin, we will stay at your house tonight. I also brought you some good wine and cigarettes." Heizi said, pointing to our off-road vehicle and winking at me.
I almost couldn't help but laugh out loud. Heizi's ability to adapt to situations will always be something I dare not match.
"My cousin is going out now. Get in the car quickly and I'll take you home." That man's acting skills were on par with Heizi's.
I saw the man pushing a motorcycle out of the woods nearby. After a few words with the people around him, everyone immediately moved away from the roadblock.
"Cousin, follow me." The man smiled and started the motorcycle and drove forward.
We quickly got in the car and followed him. Heizi smiled and greeted everyone, as if he was that person's cousin.
"High, really high!" I couldn't help but give Heizi a thumbs up.
"It's cheaper than staying in a hotel." I admire Heizi's thinking.
The three girls were laughing from ear to ear after hearing what had just happened. Heizi's cousin in front would turn his head to look at us from time to time, for fear that we would lose him.
The road into the village was easier to walk. It should have been built by the locals themselves. We finally arrived at Heizi's cousin's house before dark.
Unexpectedly, the conditions of this family were not bad. There was a small courtyard inside the white courtyard wall. Although it was not a wealthy family, at least it was clean.
"Those two rooms are for you. I'll take my wife to clean them up right away and prepare dinner for you." Heizi's cousin was very polite.
"Then I'll bother my cousin." Heizi smiled and cupped his fists.
"It's okay, it's okay. If anyone asks, don't let anything slip." Heizi's cousin looked at us with a smile.
"I know, cousin." The three girls and I said in unison.
Heizi's cousin nodded and entered the house, and soon a slightly fat woman followed him out. This must be Heizi's cousin's sister-in-law.
I guess his cousin had a nice word for us. Anyway, his cousin-in-law was very polite when she saw us and even came forward to help us get our things.
But I am smiling because I have been observing the surrounding environment.
His cousin said there was a drought in the village, but the trees along the way were growing well, and it didn’t look like they were short of water.
Haitang knows better than me about Feng Shui. At this moment, she was also quietly observing. When our eyes met, he also noticed my doubts.
"No one has lived in these two rooms yet. They were originally for children." His cousin introduced them with a smile while standing in front of the door.
"Where's the child?" Zhou Jiaonan interrupted.
"I went to the city to study. Our house was just built not long ago," his cousin said.
"Didn't you say there was a drought in the village?" I deliberately looked confused.
"It's strange to say that everything else is fine, but the fields are very dry." His cousin turned around and looked around and whispered.
"That's why the village invited the master." His cousin added.
"Cousin, can you take me to have a look?" I frowned and looked at his cousin.
"What's so good about this..." His cousin looked at me with a wry smile.
"Oh, people in the city are curious, so why don't you take me to have a look." His cousin-in-law understood me very well.
"Okay, if you don't mind, just take my motorcycle there. The roads in the village are not wide, so your car is inconvenient." His cousin still listened to his cousin-in-law's words.
"Okay, then you help my cousin cook." I looked at the three girls with a smile.
"No problem." The three girls naturally knew the purpose of my visit.
"Cousin, don't worry, I'll get a few bottles of good wine from the car and wait for you at home." Heizi, the cousin, became more and more fluent.
"Oh, cousin, you are too polite..." His cousin said this, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face.
The two of them were riding motorcycles on the country roads. His cousin was very good at driving, and I kept observing the environment in the village from behind.
In fact, this village is not rich, and its main source of income should be farming. There are also various houses in the east and west.
Unlike our village, when I went back last time, the houses in the village were planned in a unified manner and they all looked similar.
By comparison, his cousin's house was in pretty good condition. I looked into the distance and saw that there seemed to be a tea garden on the mountain.
"Cousin, that piece of tea belongs to our family." His cousin stopped his motorcycle and pointed in the direction of the tea garden I saw.
No wonder his family was in good condition. He was probably the first to get rich, and his family must have taken up a lot of the tea garden.
"Cousin, what is the main source of income in the village?" Since he opened the topic, I also wanted to know about it.
"The older generation farmed. Later, when some young people came back, they started breeding and growing tea. Our new house was built by selling tea." His cousin said this with a smile on his face. expectations and happiness.
"I originally thought that I would have a good life, and my baby also went out to study, but suddenly there was a drought, hey..." His cousin said, his eyes dimming.
It was almost dark now, but I could still see that the color of the tea garden was a little yellow, not a touch of green.
"Is the drought serious?" I asked, pretending to be ignorant.
"The situation here is pretty good, but it's more serious in the front. Sit tight and I'll take you to see it." His cousin said and started the motorcycle again.
The houses in the village are built along one side of the road, and on the other side are fields, where you can grow anything.
It was already dark now, and the street lights were on one by one. As his cousin said, the farther we go, the more serious the drought will be in the fields.
Under the dim light of the street lights, the dry and withered crops in the fields looked even more desolate.
"These street lights were installed by the dolls who returned to the village. They said they were solar powered. They would turn on by themselves when it gets dark and turn off by themselves when it gets light..." The man slowed down the car and introduced me with a smile.
I responded with a smile, but my mood was a little heavy. Looking at the drought in the ground, it was definitely not a natural disaster, but something evil must have happened.
"Eh? Why is the master still here?" His cousin suddenly stopped the motorcycle.
Following his gaze, there were many people standing in the drought-cracked field, and a Taoist priest wearing a yellow robe was opening an altar to perform rituals.
"Can I go take a look?" I deliberately acted curious.
"Okay, remember to say you are my cousin." The man warned again and again.
"Yeah, I got it, cousin." I smiled and jumped off the motorcycle.
The man parked his motorcycle on the side of the road, took me down the field bank, and walked towards the center of the field.
Seeing us coming, several older villagers immediately came over to greet us, and their expressions became even more serious when they saw me.
"Who is he?" came the slightly angry voice of an old man.
"Village chief, this is my cousin. I haven't seen him for many years. He's staying at my house tonight." His cousin's face remained calm and his heart did not beat. He was on par with Heizi.
"Hello, village chief." I quickly greeted the village chief with a smile.
"It's getting late, don't wander outside." The village chief frowned and looked me up and down.
"Understood, my cousin is curious, so I'll take him here to have a look and I'll go back right away." His cousin explained with a smile.
"Yes." The village chief nodded and turned towards the altar.
The remaining old people looked at me, said nothing, and returned to the crowd.
His cousin nodded to me, and I quickly followed him to the altar.
The Taoist priest was mumbling something that even I couldn't understand. He was probably just another gangster, trying to earn a living under the guise of a Taoist priest.
After a while, the Taoist priest stopped what he was doing. He looked very tired.
"Taoist priest, how are you?" The village chief greeted him with a grimace.
"It's hard to handle. You have offended the land..." The Taoist priest seemed to be hesitant to speak.
I almost laughed out loud, but in front of so many people, it was hard for me to dismantle others.
"Then what should we do? Is the tribute not enough?" The village chief seemed to believe this.
"It's no longer a question of tribute. If I negotiate with the land on your behalf, it may damage my life." The Taoist priest frowned, and what he said was so convincing that I almost believed it.
"Then I'll discuss it with everyone and raise some money. Do you think it's okay?" The village chief was stunned by him anyway.
"This money is not for me." The Taoist priest still acted innocently.
"I know, you've worked hard." The village chief's attitude was respectful.
"What? The landlord also uses the money of living people?" I couldn't bear it anymore and asked loudly.
As soon as I opened my mouth, everyone's eyes were focused on me.
