Chapter 366: Chapter 366: The Grudge from Fifty Years Ago
Liu Zheng shouted towards the other side, and Li Yanling suddenly looked up. Then she saw the new village head and the old village head both looking at her, so she hurriedly ran over.
"Uncle, I heard you had come down, so I thought I’d come to see you."
"What is it, you came to see me, or were you preparing to come and congratulate Liu Zheng?"
"No, no, uncle, that’s not what I meant."
"Alright, I know what you mean. Liu Zheng just mentioned inside that given your talents, serving as the village women’s director should be well within your grasp, don’t you think, Liu Zheng."
"That’s right, I’ve already proposed this to the old village head, so he’s very supportive of the idea."
"Thank you both for your recognition. Rest assured, once I take office, I will certainly do a good job with the women’s work in our village."
"Alright, then you go tidy things up. Take a look at the relevant population data and see how many women are currently living in our village across the different age groups. These are some basic figures that you must understand clearly."
"Sure, no problem, you can count on me. I’ll get a precise count and provide a thorough report."
"Oh, the old village head and I have some things to take care of outside. Second sister-in-law, you go ahead, and I’ll come right back to meet you after I’m done here."
"Alright, you two take care, I’ll go in and get busy."
Being assigned a task was like receiving an imperial edict. And indeed, there were plenty of women in the home idle enough to get busy, so at this moment, giving her some work to do naturally made her very happy.
"Liu Zheng, let me tell you, you really need to be careful of the people in the village. Sometimes, what you see is just an appearance, and what they hide in their hearts is not something you can always discern."
"I know, Uncle Li, when I saw you managing the village, you always seemed to do it so effortlessly, but in fact, it was not like that at all. Many times when I returned from making house calls, I saw the village committee office lights still on."
"Exactly, it looks like there’s no effort on the surface, but there’s actually a lot going on, and the annual population census in the village is a really big deal. When the time comes, you can assign this work to others. There’s no need for you to do everything yourself."
"Uncle, I understand, and I know how to handle things. Don’t worry, I will not hesitate to ask for your advice if I have any questions."
"I’d actually hope you would ask me for advice more. That way, at least I’d still feel useful. Otherwise, I’d be completely out of use."
"Uncle, you can’t talk like that. Your prestige and influence in the village have always been high. Even after stepping down, the villagers definitely look up to you with admiration. Has this river always been here?"
As they strolled, what was only a few minutes’ walk felt unnoticed, and they reached the border between the two villages, with a small river in between.
Liu Zheng seemed to remember the river being there for as long as he could remember, but he hadn’t really paid much attention to its origin.
After all, he had never focused on it, so when the river came into existence and what role it served naturally became something no one knew anymore.
"Actually, you may not be aware, but at that time, this was one village. It’s just that about 50 years ago, there was a dispute among the villagers, as there were two main surnames in our village: one was Yang, and the other Liu."
"No wonder, most of the people in Chen and village are surnamed Yang, while all of us are surnamed Liu. Is it because of this difference that disputes and divisions occurred?"
"It’s all due to historical reasons. There were huge disputes between the two families, and since then, they each governed their respective villages. This river wasn’t here from the start, it was only after the separation that they diverted a stream from the mountains down here to serve as the boundary between the two villages."
"An integration really needs to happen. After all, it was originally one natural village, and now it’s divided into two, which indeed brings a lot of inconvenience in management aspects."
"You don’t know, but if I endure a few more years, the truth is, we have only separated ourselves. In the administrative division from above, we still belong to the same village, did you know that?"
"I really wasn’t aware of that. I’ve never dealt with those matters from above before. Are you saying the authorities don’t recognize us as two separate villages, but then why are there two village heads?"
"Only my position as village head is official. The other village head, although known above, is not officially listed. To tell you the truth, even if they vote, it’s through their own group, and then they pick someone with a high standing."
"That means they have always been unofficial. Then we should definitely work on incorporating them."
"That’s the idea, but people in that village have always been dominant, and their local customs quite fierce, so compared to our Liu family, they are truly lacking."
"But I’ve had some contact with those people a few times and found them to be quite amiable. They often come to me for medical consultations and treatment."
"Liu Zheng, that’s why I mentioned you to the village committee at the time. You are the right candidate, because when they turn to you for help, you naturally have authority, and your attitude at that time will surely be more agreeable."
"So you think that because of this connection, I’m the most suitable choice to merge the two villages, right?"
"Exactly, that’s the idea. See? After crossing this river, and passing through that copse of trees—which isn’t much, just a few trees bunched together—keep going, and you’ll reach Old Yang’s house."
"Okay, then we should hurry. I’m just not sure if my sudden arrival will be welcomed or if he’s already caught wind of something."
"Of course, he’s bound to know. Plus, he’s already aware that you’ve become the village head, so I think he must be feeling a lot of pressure. But we can’t worry about that now; we have to look after ourselves. Come on, just up ahead is his place."
