Song Xingwen ran to the side and made a phone call, looking very excited.
Chen Xing touched his chin with his right hand and said: "It seems that he really doesn't know, but the names given to them are quite good, Song Xingwen and Song Shulan."
Hou Tong said: "There is a reason, but it is best not to ask in front of them."
If you have a reason, you should tell me. Otherwise, it would be better to just say half of it than say nothing at all.
A few minutes later, Song Xingwen came over after making a phone call and seemed to have calmed down. He first asked about his sister's performance in school, and Principal Zhang gave an ambiguous answer. He did not say whether Song Shulan's grades were good or not.
Then Song Xingwen asked Chen Xing how his sister was doing now.
Chen Xing recalled Song Shulan's appearance during the two days when he met her, and said with a smile: "She was very good, she was a very optimistic girl."
"That will reassure me. She has not been exposed to social affairs since she was a child. I was still very worried when I heard that she was working outside today." Song Xingwen said, and then he glanced at the wall painting that was about to be finished and said, "Let's paint tomorrow. I'll take you to my house first."
Zhang Guimei looked worried as she was thinking about Song Shulan, while Chen Xing admired the surrounding scenery.
This place doesn't look like a remote village at all. The combined population of the two ethnic groups can even be called a small town.
But a large population does not mean affluent people.
Apart from the few modern facilities around it, this place is no different from what it was hundreds of years ago.
Song Xingwen introduced his hometown to them all the way, such as how pure the river is, how many meters upstream there is a beautiful waterfall, every household can dance, handicrafts are sold well outside, and so on.
Chen Xing said: "It's very beautiful. You stayed in your hometown after graduation just to build it?"
"It can't be said about construction. I went to university in Yunyi and studied many scenic spots in our country in the past few years. But I really feel that many scenic spots are not as good as our village. So when I came back from graduation last year, I was also thinking about it. How can we promote this place and see if we can attract some tourists.”
Hou Tong frowned and said, "Is this your idea? You should come to me."
He is not a local, and he came here to be the village chief just to transform this backward place into a well-off society.
Over the past few years, he has promoted Chunman Shuizhai's handicrafts in the surrounding areas. Many families have benefited from this and have added many household appliances to their homes.
Now there is a young college student who wants to engage in tourism when he returns home, but he doesn’t know anything about it.
Do you still take him as a village cadre seriously?
"I'm sorry, Uncle Hou, I haven't thought of any good solution yet. I'm just helping to paint some wall paintings to make this place look more beautiful. If I find a solution, I will definitely come to you first, you guys."
He pointed into the distance.
Chen Xing saw his works on many houses, but they were not the large wall paintings that Song Xingwen painted just now, but some colorful decorations, which made the simple Dai buildings become more gorgeous and more like Chen Xing's. Unexplainable exotic customs.
Well, it’s quite suitable for shooting anyway.
Chen Xing now discovered that the photography talent he had been rewarded with had been strengthened, and the area of improvement was in his photography of architecture.
I used to take pictures of food, and my portraits were pretty good. Now my level of photography of architecture has skyrocketed, making it easy for people who see the photos to grasp the key points that Chen Xing wants them to see.
Chen Xing looked through the photos he had just taken and thought to himself.
The system says that architecture is a book, and it is true. Architects wrote this book. What Song Xingwen did was to add annotations to the book so that readers like Chen Xing would know better how to appreciate the beauty of the Dai people.
Who could say no to a beautiful house?
A few minutes later, Song Xingwen stopped in front of a bamboo house and found a key somewhere at the door.
"My mother is in the fields and will be back soon," he said as he opened the door.
"Already back!"
A woman who looked fifty years old rushed over and spoke in a strong dialect. She was barefoot and wearing a cloth hat on her head. She came over to look at a few people and said before her son could introduce him: "Shu A teacher from Lan School?"
"Hello, I am Song Shulan's teacher."
"My son won't go to school until he grows up, and he can't live without people at home."
Zhang Guimei waited for her to finish, then sighed and shook her head and said, "But Song Shulan is only a teenager. If you don't let her go to high school and take the college entrance examination, what do you want her to do?"
She was also angry. Before she came here, she knew what kind of situation these two students were facing, but by preventing them from going to college, didn't this deny other people's previous ten years of life?
Girls in the mountains have no way out. If they don't study or go to college, they can only marry young and be trapped in the mountains all their lives, without independent personality and freedom.
She was very angry, angry that the students she devoted her life to teaching could still not escape such a fate.
So no matter how difficult the mountain road here is, she still has to take a look.
She didn't just want to see the students. She knew her students very well and treated each one of them as a daughter. She just wanted to see the parents.
"We have no choice. I am not in good health. Sometimes I need someone to take care of me when I am sick. The food grown at home also needs someone to take care of..."
Song Xingwen interjected: "I can do all of this. I've said it a long time ago, right? You also said that Shulan would continue to study and go to college, but why did you send him to work outside?"
The mother ignored her son and waved several people into the house.
"Guests, please come in first. Are you both teachers at the school?"
Her eyes stayed on Chen Xing for a while, as if she was thinking about why the school teacher was so young. This boy looked younger than her own daughter, so he could also be a teacher?
Chen Xing shook his head and said, "I'm not. I just came over to take a look and take pictures."
"Oh, come in first, come in first."
The mother didn't notice Teacher Zhang's displeasure at all, so she led several people into the house.
Chen Xing finally saw what was inside the Dai house.
Go upstairs along the stairs outside the house. As soon as you enter the house, you are in front of a large living room with a wooden sofa and pillows. Opposite the sofa is a thick color TV that looks a bit old. .
As for computers, air conditioning, etc., of course they are not available.
Probably won't be used.
There are some kitchen utensils on the right side, and there is a Buddha statue that should be gold-plated on one side against the wall.
The house is separated by wooden boards along the center line, and the bedrooms should be inside.
Mom politely invited a few people to sit down, with a simple smile on her face, not at all like the evil person Chen Xing imagined.
Song Xingwen sat down and then stood up and said, "My girl has to go to college. Mom, can you listen to me? If she can pass the exam, she will get a bursary for her tuition. This will be very bad for her future."
Chen Xing sat without saying a word.
He is a spectator.
He felt sorry for Song Shulan's situation and understood the thoughts of Song Xingwen and Teacher Zhang, but he still didn't understand why his seemingly reasonable mother would send her daughter, who was in her second year of high school and expected to go to college, to work.
