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墨書 Inktalez
This is a typical case of face-saving projects and performance engineering. Such reckless and chaotic actions are worse than doing nothing at all! How can there still be leaders like this? How can such things happen?
Hu Ruoyun asked Third Aunt, “Why don’t you go to the county to report the situation?” Uncle sighed deeply, “Our family can barely read, and we’ve never even been to the county. Who would we talk to? Besides, even if we found someone, they’re all officials. Why would they listen to us?”
At that moment, Hu Ruoyun didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t sleep at all that night. The next morning, she got up early without eating breakfast and went to find her classmate Si Bao in town. At Si Bao's place, not only was Second Aunt's account verified, but she also obtained a notice printed by the Town that was similar to what her aunt had said, stamped with the bright red seal of the Gaoqiao Town Government.
Fortunately, Si Bao lived in an alley and his house was not on the main street, so the commercial street renovation did not affect his family.
While Hu Ruoyun and Si Bao were talking, Si Bao nudged Hu Ruoyun and said, “Look, the Town’s Comprehensive Management Office has sent people to urge Er Niu’s family again!”
Er Niu was also a classmate of Hu Ruoyun’s from Class Three; they knew each other but weren’t very close. Hu Ruoyun looked over and saw seven or eight people wearing plaid shirts and bell-bottomed pants, sporting sunglasses and smoking cigarettes while swaggering towards Er Niu’s house at the alley entrance.
Si Bao quietly informed Hu Ruoyun that these individuals were local thugs and lowlifes who had been summoned by the town to form a so-called “Comprehensive Governance Office Commercial Street Renovation Task Force.” The leader was nicknamed Chung Mao. This so-called “work team” operated under the Town Comprehensive Management Office and aimed to intimidate local businesses into demolishing their shops early.
Er Niu's father came out; he was an honest man who immediately pulled out a pack of Manshan Cannon cigarettes (known for being cheap and strong) and offered them with a smile to those men. However, they barely glanced at the cigarettes in his hand. Chung Mao slapped Er Niu's father on the shoulder with his belt and said, “Old man, have you thought about when your house will be torn down?”
Er Niu's father lowered his gaze and bent down slightly. “Gentlemen, look at my poor family; my wife has been sick for years—she’s like a walking medicine cabinet... If you tear it down, I really won’t be able to rebuild!”
Chung Mao spat out the filter from his cigarette and flicked his long hair back. “That’s not our concern. There are policies from above; if you can’t tear it down in time, we’ll do it for you! You don’t need to rebuild! You better think it through!”
Er Niu's father bowed deeply. “Please don’t do that; if you do, our whole family won’t be able to survive!”
Just then, a woman with disheveled hair came out of the yard crying hysterically. “Are you trying to drive us to death? Can’t you let us live?” But before she could finish her words, she collapsed.
It was Er Niu's mother, who had been ill for years. Recently, the work team had been coming almost every day to pressure them into either quickly demolishing their house or moving away entirely. The combination of intimidation and stress had worsened her condition. Upon hearing that the work team had come again, she forced herself out of bed to confront these thugs but fainted before she could finish speaking.
Hu Ruoyun and Si Bao rushed over to help Er Niu carry his mother back inside.
As Chung Mao and his crew left, one of them gave Er Niu's father a light slap on the back. “No matter what you say now, just wait until it’s time for demolition!”
In rural areas, land use rights are theoretically collective but are passed down through generations within families. The forced renovations in Gaoqiao Town are akin to seizing property through coercion.
In the afternoon, Hu Ruoyun gathered Er Niu and Si Bao again as they went to a new house on South Street that hadn’t even had windows installed yet; this was designated as the contact point for building material suppliers and contractors by the town.
Inside were two rickety tables. Behind one table sat a man in his twenties who weighed at least 180 pounds but stood less than five feet tall; his eyes were so small they seemed like slits—he was known as Fat Man.
Behind a table on the right sat an old man in his sixties, thin and frail like a weathered fish hawk. His hair was grizzled, and the top of his head was bald, resembling a small playground. He wore a pair of yellowed, small, tattered glasses perched on his nose, and his brown eyes were deeply set in their sockets. If he sat still, one could easily mistake him for a zombie.
The Fat Man wore a bright red jacket, propped one leg over the other, and puffed on a "Da Qianmen" cigarette, exhaling clouds of smoke. When three half-grown kids entered from outside, he waved them off impatiently, "Go play outside!"
Er Niu timidly asked as instructed by Hu Ruoyun, "My father wants to know how much our bricks cost per piece?"
The Fat Man spat out the cigarette butt with a "pfft." "A few cents? Where do you get that price? It's ten cents a piece!"
Hu Ruoyun interjected, "Aren't they eight cents each?"
The Fat Man scoffed and glanced dismissively. "Don't talk so much; it's just that one price here. How many do you want?"
Er Niu stammered, "My father said..."
The old man next to him raised his eyebrows sharply. "Your father said? Does what your father say count? Enough of this and that; go home and have your father come here to tell me how many bricks, how much lime, and how much sand you need! Pay a deposit first! How many rooms are you building? For each room, you need to pay an advance of 180 yuan for labor before I can mark the lines and lay the foundation!"
Hu Ruoyun had asked Third Aunt about it; her five-room house only cost 800 yuan for labor, and each brick was just 7.5 cents. Here, both the material and construction costs were clearly much higher.
While they were talking, a middle-aged man in a cotton shirt wearing black-framed glasses rode up on a bicycle and stopped in front of the door. The Fat Man got up to greet him. "Brother Fang, it's still not working; no one is coming. You need to step up your efforts over there!"
The man called Brother Fang subtly frowned but quickly replaced it with a smile. "What's the rush? Good food is worth waiting for; it's only a matter of time."
He handed a cigarette to the old man sitting inside. "Uncle Liu, the Secretary and the Town Mayor have gone to the county to report on their work. What should we eat tonight? I'll arrange it!"
The old man accepted the cigarette without expression. "What we eat doesn't matter; it's just sitting here every day without work that's making me anxious."
Brother Fang smiled again to reassure him. "It's only a matter of time; don't be so impatient!" Then he noticed Hu Ruoyun, Er Niu, and Si Bao standing there and wiped the smile off his face. "What are you doing here?"
Er Niu lowered his head. "My father said... said to ask how much our bricks are selling for."
Brother Fang's demeanor turned serious. "Go back and tell your father that prices are set uniformly by the town... By the way, what's your father's name?"
Er Niu's head drooped even lower. "My father's name is... He Shoutao..."
"He Shoutao? Isn't he unwilling to tear down his house at all? Has he changed his mind now?" Brother Fang lit himself a cigarette with interest and plopped down at the table in front of the Fat Man.
Hu Ruoyun chimed in, "Isn't it true that it has to be torn down sooner or later? My uncle just sent us over to ask."
...
On the way back, Si Bao said mysteriously, "Did you see? The Fat Man is the Town Mayor's brother-in-law; that skinny old man is the father-in-law of someone in publishing; and the guy with glasses is the Deputy Mayor. They're all in cahoots."
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