Chapter 6: View

Jiang Village and Lin Village are two villages that are completely adjacent to each other.

The road passing through the entrance of Jiang Village cuts Lin Village directly into two.

One of these parts is the one-third of the village that sits right next to Jiang Village.

However, this "one-third" is not calculated based on the total area of their entire village.

Rather, it is based on the resident population.

If one were to speak of it, the people in this one-third of neighboring Lin Village are truly unlucky to the extreme.

Lin Village has undergone land requisition twice to date.

One of those times was several years ago, for the construction of this two-way, four-lane highway that cuts through that one-third of Lin Village.

Unfortunately, those who caught this wave of requisition amounted to less than one-tenth of Lin Village in total.

On the contrary, the massive requisition from the year before last almost completely connected Rong County with Lin Village.

Yet, this area of factory buildings, known as the New District, still had nothing to do with the remaining one-third of Lin Village's villagers.

When An Jianping and his brother rode their motorcycle through the village, they discovered that this one-third of the village had already changed its appearance completely.

Looking at the houses, nearly half of which had been replaced with new ones, and those that were definitely taller than the standard height for rural homes, An Jianping couldn't help but ask, "Jianmin, have many families in Lin Village built new houses?"

"Those with money have pretty much all built them," An Jianmin replied while slightly slowing down the bike.

He was just about to pass through a gap in the construction hoarding that hadn't been fully removed yet.

As people from the neighboring village, they had been under closed-off management ever since the New District started construction.

But now that the factory buildings and roads inside were built and ready to be put into use, this hoarding served more to block idlers like them from wandering through.

Finally finding the gap that the villagers had talked about, An Jianmin carefully drove the motorcycle through before continuing the previous topic

"Unlike our village, many people in their village knew that once this factory area was built, there would definitely be no shortage of foot traffic. So, they all prepared to do business with the workers in this factory zone."

"It’s just that these factories haven't started normal operations yet, and there aren't many workers stationed here."

"Once all the factories here start operating, I reckon every household in this closest village will have to start renting out rooms."

An Jianping nodded in understanding.

So that was it!

How could the people of Lin Village be so prescient?

It turned out they had just stumbled upon a lucky break!

As he was thinking this, An Jianping saw the state of the New District.

A vast, endless expanse of new factory grounds lay before his eyes.

Wide roads wound around the factory area, past most of the buildings that were either completed or still under construction.

Trucks roared past from time to time.

One could already see scattered figures of people busy within the factory grounds.

"This road is worthy of being newly built; it must have been specially widened!" An Jianmin said with a hint of envy, accelerating the motorcycle again.

The two men moved forward along the newly paved road in the New District, observing carefully as they went.

Most of the construction for this new factory area was actually already complete.

What remained under construction were mostly office buildings, fences, landscaping, and supporting facilities.

Some factories even clearly had quite a few figures walking about inside.

It was estimated that even if they weren't fully operational, they had likely started partial production.

Although there were many vehicles coming and going, they were almost all large and small trucks carrying factory equipment.

Every so often, An Jianmin’s motorcycle would brush past those long, large trucks.

At the same time, the two men slowly realized that with the current bustle of the New District, there would indeed be a shortage of transportation once it truly began full operation.

But thinking about the increasingly booming garment industry over the past two years, the two of them seemed to slowly understand.

An Jianping and his brother didn't figure out exactly how many factory buildings were in the New District even after circling it once.

They had never imagined that Lin Village, which was indeed the largest village in the surrounding area, would be so shocking once it was turned into a factory zone.

But the clearer they saw it, the more certain they were in their hearts about the news An Songyu had heard.

Passing through Lin Village again on their way back, the brothers parked the motorcycle, and An Jianmin finally voiced what he had been brewing on the way

"Third Brother, I remember that your Songyu getting an internship at Xianquan was something you arranged through a classmate from your night school days?"

An Jianping nodded; he vaguely knew what his younger brother wanted to say.

But he did not stop him.

An Jianmin licked his lips before speaking again: "If we ask him about the guests on the top floor recently, would it... would it put him in a very difficult position?"

"Keeping guest information confidential is a basic requirement for every employee who enters the hotel."

An Jianping spoke of the requirements his daughter was given when she first joined the hotel and underwent new employee training.

An Jianmin sighed with some hesitation.

But he didn't place all his hopes on this.

Thus, the brothers discussed it a bit more before entering the courtyard together.

In the spacious yard, Jiang Shanshan was tidying up the vegetables she had prepared for An Jianping to take home.

Although it was early March, a time when the old crops were exhausted and the new ones hadn't yet matured, in this part of the Southern Province, it was said there were only two seasons a year.

Even in early spring, there was no shortage of all kinds of vegetables.

Especially since Jiang Village had developed agritourism over the years, one could say there were fresh vegetables all year round.

An Jianping didn't plan on going back inside and said his goodbyes to the two of them right there in the yard.

Jiang Shanshan pointed to the things she had just packed up and quickly said

"Then Third Brother, let Jianmin ride you to the village entrance so it's easier to catch a ride."

An Jianping didn't refuse, but before leaving, he didn't forget to tell them

"Xiaoyue’s studies and life have been very good lately."

"It’s just that she has the college entrance exam this year, so other than her monthly leave, she doesn't have morning or evening self-study sessions on Saturdays and Sundays."

"Now that Xiaoyu is at home, she can help her with her schoolwork on the side."

"Thank you, Third Brother. If Xiaoyue can get into a good university, it will all be thanks to the effort you and your wife have put in!" Jiang Shanshan felt both grateful and relieved.

She had been worrying about her eldest daughter, who had been living at Third Brother's house ever since she went to the city for high school.

She just hadn't found a suitable opportunity to ask until now.

"What are you saying, sister-in-law? If the child can study well, it must be due to her own ability and hard work." An Jianping looked at the couple sternly

"We as parents can only help her solve some minor life problems on the side."

"Yes, yes, Third Brother is right. If the child can study well, it's all because the child is capable!" An Jianmin said with a laugh, quickly pushing An Jianping out the door.

His Third Brother always showed extra respect for the children whenever the topic of education came up.

Compared to him, they, as parents, felt like step-parents.

But An Jianmin was still grateful to his Third Brother's family from the bottom of his heart.

If it weren't for them, his eldest daughter would have had to board at school for all three years of high school.

How could she have been able to devote herself wholeheartedly to her studies before the college entrance exam?

After An Jianmin returned from seeing An Jianping off, he saw his wife waiting for him in the yard.

Jiang Shanshan secretly clenched her hands, wanting to ask about the purpose of Third Brother's visit today several times.

But thinking of the help their family had received from Third Brother's family, she really couldn't bring herself to ask.

Maybe... it would be better not to ask at all!

That way, she wouldn't have to struggle with whether to borrow the money or not!

Coincidentally, An Jianmin didn't know how to tell his wife about the demolition news either.

The two looked at each other for a moment and, surprisingly, both decided for the time being to ask nothing and say nothing.