Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 22 - 21 Foreigners and Chinese Pears

(Please scroll down and look at the text for the investigation on the male protagonist has begun. Remember to make a choice, in order to prevent the tragedy of the old story from repeating, the investigation must be done at the forefront~)

The Bai Family Ancient Town wasn't as popular as tourist destinations like Lijiang; it's only been a few years since it became known for tourism. Most visitors to the town are from other provinces and cities, tired of their busy lives.

As the Zhu Family grandchildren walked on the road, they would occasionally catch sight of one or two foreign tourists with pale skin and high nose bridges. The foreign customer in the Xinhua Bookstore bought a local tourism map, but after flipping through it, realized there was no English version and wanted to ask if there was one available.

However, the sales clerk in the bookstore didn't speak English, and both were sweating profusely in their urgency.

"Grandpa, that person is speaking the same language as what you listen to on the radio," said Zhu Shijun. His "TECSUN" shortwave radio was a high-quality foreign brand. Even in the mountains, it could receive very clear English channels.

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The elderly man's daily essential activities, besides going up the mountain for exercise, included listening to half an hour of the evening news around seven o'clock, followed by another half-hour of international news from the BBC World Service.

Xiao Xian had been listening for half a month, and his listening skills had substantially improved.

After Zhu Shijun heard this, he stepped forward and translated the foreigner's intended message to the sales clerk, and both sides finally understood each other.

The sales clerk reluctantly informed Zhu Shijun that such a small bookstore did not have English versions of the tourism handbook. However, she told Zhu Shijun that there was a travel agency a hundred meters to the right outside the bookstore, with a few English-speaking tour guides, and the foreigner could go there to find a guide.

The foreigner, seeing a local elderly man in his sixties able to speak fluent English, gave a thumbs up, repeatedly saying, "Good." After Zhu Shijun paid for the book, he took the foreigner to the travel agency, which wasn't very large but had three or four guides.

Before leaving, the foreigner took out a chocolate bar and a can of Coke from his travel bag and insisted on giving them to Xiao Xian.

Xiao Xian couldn't refuse and, after some thought, also gave away the last two pears from his backpack in exchange, two for two, so no one owed anything to anyone.

After leaving the travel agency, Mr. Zhu hesitated momentarily but eventually turned back to find the person in charge of the agency. "Comrade, look and see if you can make an English version of the tourism handbook to help foreign friends when they visit." Zhu Shijun had a keen eye; a quaint southwestern town like the Bai Family Ancient Town, like a quiet corner in people's hearts, was bound to attract tourists from all directions eventually.

After listening, the manager of the travel agency looked at the foreign guests sitting down, slapped his forehead, and realized what a unique business opportunity he had overlooked.

When they left the travel agency again, it was almost three o'clock. Zhu Shijun was feeling slightly tired, so he called for a pedicab. The grandfather and grandson took a few more glances at the banana trees and the sour soup smells wafting from the various shops in the Bai Family Ancient Town, each with their reflections.

"Grandpa, what did that British person give me just now?" Xiao Xian took out the can of cola and the chocolate, saying they were snacks, but Xiao Xian had never seen anyone in Ge Village eat such things.

Zhu Shijun felt disheartened upon hearing this. Xiao Xian's parents had been strict with her since childhood, almost never allowing her to have snacks. So, at six years old, she had still never tasted cola or chocolate, and knowing this pained Zhu Shijun's heart.

The kids in Ge Village who were seven or eight years older than Xiao Xian had mostly dropped out of school early. Either they farmed a few acres of land in the village, or they had gone to work in the coastal areas. They didn't necessarily come back for the New Year, and after a few years, they might return with wives and children in tow.

Those about Xiao Xian's age were still running barefoot, only wearing half-worn shoes and clothes during the New Year or other festivals, let alone having any snacks.

How could the village children who relished the wild hairy chestnuts even have seen fizzy drinks and chocolate? Zhu Shijun knew the financial situation of Ge Village well. Less than fifty percent of the village children finished primary school. The annual income per household in the village was less than a thousand yuan last year. Staying in such a small mountain village could truly drive people into poverty. He wondered whether the village chief had managed to get the subsidy for the next year during his trip to the town.

At this moment, Zhu Shijun was torn. He didn't want Xiao Xian to follow in his footsteps, spending her whole life in the deep mountains. But if they left Ge Village, who would take care of Xiao Xian? Back then, due to his own pride, he had insisted that Xiao Xian's father marry into their family. Xiao Xian had taken the Zhu surname, but this also severed all relations with her biological father's family.

"Grandpa, what are you thinking about? The stuff up ahead, isn't it...?" Xiao Xian said as she hopped off the tricycle, moving with an agility that belied her past as a cripple, almost monkey-like in her dexterity.

The one carrying loads of bags up front was the wife of the Ge Village Chief. She had bought quite a lot, all sorts of groceries and kitchenware, as if she was shopping for the New Year. Zhu Shijun simply offered the tricycle for her to load up her purchases.

"Auntie, why did you buy so much soy sauce?" Xiao Xian saw at least ten packets of soy sauce. One family couldn't possibly need that much, especially since the market met only once every five days. Families in Ge Village like the village chief's, who were better-off, never missed a market day, big or small.

"Isn't it because your Mr. Zhu and Sister-in-law Lian told me that you, little glutton, can't eat your meals, so they asked me to buy it? I'll make it into braised pork in soy sauce for you when we get back," replied the village chief's wife. Because of her husband's position, she frequently visited the Zhu family. Rural women are less formal than their husbands; after meeting Zhu Shijun a few times, she started calling him Mr. Zhu directly.

In autumn, most regions in the country are sunny and dry. In the south during that season, people prepare all kinds of soy sauce meat and glazed wings. After air-drying them, they not only complement the rice but also keep well for storage. Hung in a ventilated spot, they can last until the New Year.

The meat from pigs, chickens, and ducks was readily available for slaughter in the village, fresher than what could be bought in the town, so the village chief's wife only bought what couldn't be found in the village.

The three of them on the tricycle, chatting and laughing, soon arrived beside San Gouzi's truck. The other villagers had returned as well. The spots vacated by those who had left earlier were quickly filled with goods brought back from the market.

A truck full of people and a brimming load sank the tires of the small truck by a fraction. On the way back, San Gouzi turned on the stereo in the driver's seat, and the loudspeaker began blaring the song "My Home is on the Loess Plateau..." marking the end of Ge Village's trip to the market.

On the way back to the village, the village chief's wife began to tally up the day's spending on the purchases, as she usually did after the market. But she had barely started when the village chief interrupted her irritably, "Stop your nagging, we can talk about this back home. Can't you see I'm in a bad mood?"

Everyone in the truck was in high spirits, but fell quiet when they heard the village chief's outburst. The village chief smoked sullenly with a frown on his face, which he refused to smooth out for a long time.