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墨書 Inktalez
After the Wheat Break, July was fast approaching. Once the final exams were over, Hu Ruoyun had officially moved up from Freshman Year of High School to Sophomore Year.
In the second year, students were to be divided into different tracks, with four classes reorganized into liberal arts and sciences. Most students opted for the science track, leaving only Hu Ruoyun and about forty others in the liberal arts class, which was assigned to Class One of Sophomore Year, with Wang Hongjian as their homeroom teacher.
By the way, the school beauty, Wang Bingbing, also chose the liberal arts track and became Hu Ruoyun's classmate.
The sixth day of the sixth month in the Lunar Calendar marked the Ancient Fair in Gaoqiao Town, which featured three days of grand performances. All primary and secondary schools in Gaoqiao Town were closed for these days, with June 7 being the Spring Festival, the most festive day of all.
As per tradition, Hu Ruoyun's grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, along with her cousin and younger female cousin from her Second Aunt's family, as well as her parents who brought along Xiao Hu and Xiao Feng, all gathered to join in the festivities at the fair. Naturally, Hu Ruoyun was excited to go and enjoy the feast.
At this time, the happiest ones were undoubtedly the children. They paid no attention to what was being sung on stage by performers with painted faces; instead, they happily pushed through crowds. Parents would at least give them fifty cents or a dollar to spend freely—what immense joy and happiness that brought!
Cotton candy, creamy popsicles, millet cakes, caramelized rice sugar, candied hawthorn... they wanted to try everything; street performers selling colorful paper windmills or offering fortune-telling with pet parrots captivated their attention endlessly.
Aunt and Uncle had already prepared plenty of food—meat and fish, along with dried tofu, boiled peanuts, fried shrimp, salted duck eggs glistening with butter, large bottles of soda, and even some trendy beer...
The men sat at one table while the women gathered at another. The adults' dishes were served on plates—eight dishes per table—while the children had a separate table where all dishes were mixed together in a large bowl.
Three tables were set up in the newly built five-room house of Third Aunt.
These five new rooms were made of blue bricks all the way to the top without a single wooden beam or rafter; instead, over two thousand yuan was spent on prefabricated concrete slabs from a factory in the county. The floor wasn't your typical cement but was covered with shiny and colorful tiles. Just these two aspects made this house stand out in all of Gaoqiao Town. Of course, when adding it all up, it cost over twenty thousand yuan; no wonder Third Aunt had borrowed money from relatives on her maternal side.
The food was excellent and the drinks were fine. It should have been a joyous occasion for family members to gather at home; however, Hu Ruoyun felt that Third Aunt seemed off. Her smile appeared forced and Uncle looked absent-minded.
Hu Ruoyun could tell that her grandmother, grandfather, mother, aunt, and Second Aunt noticed it too. The atmosphere during dinner felt somewhat awkward; her father and Uncle’s laughter while playing games was cautious. The children at their table—Xiao Hu, Xiao Feng, Chunsheng, Chuncao—as well as Cousin Chun Jie and younger cousin Chunxiu from Second Aunt's family were also unusually quiet and hesitant to speak or chew loudly; it felt very uncomfortable.
Despite being guests at their home, Aunt did not spare Sister-in-law Meixia any leniency. With a smile on her face but sharp words laced within: “Meixia, out of us four sisters you are the only one who married into town. Not only do you have land but also several storefronts for business; you’re living quite well compared to us. Now that our parents are here and your brother and sister have come too, why do you look so grim? Are you afraid we’ll ask you for money back or something?”
Uncle’s honest demeanor along with her father’s and Second Uncle-in-law’s raised glasses froze in place. Grandfather and Uncle changed their expressions as well; Uncle shot an angry glance at his wife: “We’re having such a lively gathering here—what nonsense are you talking about?”
Unexpectedly, Third Aunt burst into tears, choking on a bun and unable to say a word.
Grandma stood up and said, "Everyone be quiet, let Meixia speak for herself!"
Then she turned to her youngest daughter, "Why are you crying? Everyone here is family. If something's bothering you, just say it. Don't blame your sister-in-law for being harsh; seeing you like this makes me feel bad too!"
Third Aunt shifted from wailing to sobbing, "Oh my, we can't go on living like this!"
She then stammered and hesitantly explained the situation.
In recent years, Gaoqiao Town had been trying to develop itself. They first launched the "White Project," encouraging villagers to build plastic greenhouses for vegetable cultivation. With the leadership of village officials, it had been quite successful. Not long after spring began, cucumbers and zucchinis were harvested from the greenhouses, which was indeed a pleasing sight.
However, while growing vegetables was easy, selling them became a major issue. The market in Annan County was limited and couldn't absorb such a large output. Transporting them to Jinan City posed another problem—there was uncertainty about the market conditions there and whether nearby rural areas also had greenhouses. Even if they could sell them there, the long-distance transport of over 200 miles became a challenge.
Selling locally meant prices wouldn't rise; selling at low prices meant not only would they not make a profit, but they wouldn't even recover their investments in bamboo poles, plastic sheets, and straw mats used for building the greenhouses.
The "White Project" ended with most farmers incurring losses.
The town leaders seemed eager to achieve quick results and recently introduced a new plan: transforming the Gaoqiao Town market into a "modern commercial street."
The Town Government sent a small van equipped with loudspeakers that repeatedly broadcasted the regulations and requirements for the commercial street renovation:
All storefronts facing the street must be renovated within three months according to the style specified by the Village. Building materials must be purchased from designated suppliers, and construction must be carried out by appointed contractors to create two-story buildings.
Regardless of when or what materials were used for existing structures, any that did not conform to the specified style would be demolished and rebuilt.
Foundations that were not completed by the deadline would be confiscated by the town and sold to wealthy individuals capable of constructing new homes. The Town would allocate another plot of land for rebuilding without adherence to the specified style, severing any connection between the original owners and their former properties!
But right now, not to mention building a house, even constructing three brick houses would require a family's lifetime savings.
The house belonging to Third Aunt was just completed, replacing the original brick and wood structure with steel, cement, and prefabricated panels. They even extravagantly laid floor tiles, which not only drained the family's savings but also forced them to borrow heavily from relatives in the Maternal Family. However, the design did not meet the Town's requirements and faced the risk of being torn down and rebuilt. At this moment, aside from being in debt, where would they find any money?
But if they couldn't build it properly, the new house would be torn down, and they wouldn't be able to keep the foundation!
Could they just endure it?
The Town Comprehensive Management Office sent a large group of people every day, urging them in an unrefined manner to demolish the house.
How could they live like this?
After hearing Third Aunt's plight, several families were left speechless, their mouths agape in shock.
This situation would be unbearable for anyone!
Once they regained their composure, all that remained was sympathy for Third Aunt's family. Even Aunt sighed deeply along with them.
Third Aunt also heard that the designated building material supplier for the Town was the Mayor's Brother-in-law. Not only were the materials subpar, but the prices were also significantly higher than those in the market. The designated contractor was a makeshift team formed by the Secretary's Uncle and the Secretary's cousin... who knows if that's true or not.
Now, on both sides of the town market, countless families were struggling desperately.
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