All the houses in this village are the kind of adobe houses that were most common in the early days of liberation. The courtyards of every household are basically connected into one piece. The whole village is not big. There are only eighty or ninety households in total. The whole village adds up.
There are only more than 400 people, and every household has been living in such a remote place for who knows how many years. As long as they go back two or three generations, they can all be related to each other.
That’s why.
It is precisely because of this that although the village is very poor and even almost isolated from the world. The whole village does not even have a small shop that can regularly contact the outside world, but the villagers in the village have feelings for each other.
Excellent.
Visiting each other's houses is their biggest entertainment activity in daily life. The more they move around, the better their relationship will be.
Therefore, two children and a girl suddenly disappeared in the village during this period, which really made the whole village worried.
The adobe house that Ye Su stepped into had obvious signs of weathering. As soon as he stepped into the house, he could see a portrait of the founder of the Republic of China hanging on the wall of the main room.
However, the portrait is quite old, so the color has basically faded away, giving the entire adobe house a more dilapidated feel.
Only the old man walked in behind Ye Su. As he entered the house, Ye Su realized that there was no one else in the house.
"Old man, is there anyone else in this house?"
Ye Su asked strangely.
"Hey, I went to work in the fields. Although the baby girl at home is lost, I still have to eat. If I don't work, the harvest will be affected. It's really pitiful to say that the boy in this family
I went out to work. I am already in my thirties this year, and I have never been able to find a wife. I originally planned to marry the girl to Lincun, a dozen miles away, and then give the boy a wife, but in the end, the marriage was settled.
, but the girl is lost. I don’t know how to deal with it in the future. If I can’t find it again, the boy can’t be a bachelor for the rest of his life. I have no choice but to borrow some money from each family and buy a wife from outside.”
The old man shook his head and sighed.
"Old man, are you the mayor of this village?"
When Ye Su heard the old man talking about buying a wife, he was stunned and asked with a frown.
"Yes, I am the village chief. I am the oldest in the village, and the younger generations still respect me. In addition, I spent a few years outside when I was young. Compared to other people in the village, I have some knowledge and experience.
So I became the village chief. In fact, in a poor village like ours, there is no difference between the village chief and the village chief, but it only causes more troubles."
The old man was a little sad.
"But I think the villagers in our village are very simple. For example, there is no one in this house, but the door is not even locked. Leaving the house open at night is absolutely unheard of in the city."
Ye Su said with a smile.
"Hey, why don't you close the door at night and not pick up things on the street? It's because there is nothing, so naturally you are not afraid of losing things. Look at this house, is there anything worth stealing? How do you say that? A house with four walls? Yes, just one
A table and a bed have been used for decades. People in the city are as poor as our village, and they open their doors at night in the city."
The old man curled his lips, not appreciating Ye Su's compliment.
Ye Su was slightly startled, and then had to admit that what the old man said was reasonable.
"Old village chief, I just heard you say... buy a daughter-in-law? Could it be that human traffickers abducted women and then sold them to you? Since you have been outside for a few years, you should know that buying and selling women is illegal.
?”
Ye Su thought for a while and decided not to beat around the bush, but asked directly.
Although the old village chief in front of me doesn't seem to have much education, he has lived for so many years and has a very clear understanding of some things in the world. His tone is tortuous, so it is better to be straightforward.
"Illegal? Hehe... Who doesn't know that it's illegal? What if you don't buy a wife? You are from the city and an official in the government. Don't deny it. Although you are very young, I just want to follow you.
The respectful attitude of those people towards you, I'm afraid you are a big official. People like you naturally don't understand what kind of life we live in a village like ours. You said... If we don't buy
Wife, will anyone be willing to marry into the village?"
As the old village chief spoke, he pointed to the door.
Ye Su frowned, then slowly shook his head.
The old village chief continued to smile bitterly: "That's it. No one wants to marry into such a poor place, and we can't leave. If we leave this land, I'm afraid we won't even be able to survive. In this case, don't buy a wife
What should I do? I can only rely on giving birth to a girl to exchange for a wife? What if someone doesn’t have a girl at home? Watching the family without a child? Then slowly the whole village will disappear? I won’t hide it from you, buy a wife.
I just made this statement on purpose. I just want to tell you about this. You are an official in the government. Doesn’t the government have to make decisions for the people? So can you make our village rich? At least we are so rich that we don’t have to go back.
How much does it cost to buy a wife?”
"The responsibilities of various government departments are different. Leading you to get rich should be the responsibility of the township government that is directly in charge of you."
Ye Su said helplessly.
"Township government? Bullshit township government! I have been the village chief for sixteen years, and no township official has ever come to our village! Here, a four-wheeled car will stop at most twenty miles away.
, and then you have to walk on a mountain road for several hours. How can those officials in the countryside endure this hardship?"
The old village chief couldn't help but swore, looked at Ye Su and sneered, "You said, since the government doesn't care about us, why should we listen to the government? Do we have to take care of ourselves? As for buying a wife
I’m not afraid to tell you about this. The people in charge of our area in the village know about it, not only in our village, but also in nearby villages. What do you officials want to do to save abducted women?
It doesn't matter if we increase our political achievements. As long as it can lead us out of this poverty, we can do anything. But if we don't care about anything, just let us fend for ourselves, and keep trying to use this policy or that regulation.
To restrain us is just a dream. At worst, our whole village will riot together. Anyway, we have nothing but this life. I understand what those officials are afraid of. Once such a mass incident occurs, they will not be able to bear the consequences.
Let’s go, hehe, you say yes?”
Listening to what the old village chief said, Ye Su was speechless for a moment. The old village chief was undoubtedly angry. What he was angry about was how modern the country was constantly promoting and how the people's living standards had caught up with the so-called middle-level people.
At the level of developed countries, they still live a life that is only slightly better than that of African refugees.
Otherwise, the old village chief would not directly speak out about the sale of women.
Living in the same country, it seems like we are in two completely different worlds.