Chapter 2845 Uncle Huang

The two men worked and chatted as they went. Between laughter and conversation, they had tidied up over a hundred meters of channel in just over an hour.

"You haven't forgotten your skills." Perhaps the conversation with Tan Shuangxi had lifted his spirits—Caiwang's expression had relaxed as well.

"At the end of the day, we're still farmers." Tan Shuangxi sat down on the channel bank, gazing at the section they had just repaired. The sun fell warm on his skin without being oppressive. He could feel sweat trickling down his body. The fatigue and satisfaction of honest labor left him feeling mentally refreshed.

"Shuangxi, do you remember when we used to herd cattle together as children?" Caiwang asked.

Tan Shuangxi laughed. "Of course I remember. We were always sneaking off to swim in the river. Old Chen would spot us and stamp his feet, cursing up a storm."

They both laughed. Those childhood memories felt like just yesterday.

"The ox belonged to Old Chen back then," Caiwang said wistfully. "I used to dream about when our family might have our own big water buffalo. I would have happily herded it every single day."

Tan Shuangxi nodded. "Yes, our dreams were simple back then—just hoping to have an ox of our own."

Caiwang laughed. "That wasn't your dream, though. You used to say: when would you get the chance to visit Qiongzhou Prefecture and look around? That alone would satisfy you."

Tan Shuangxi laughed a bit sheepishly. "So naive back then. I thought Qiongzhou Prefecture was like heaven itself. I didn't even know about Guangzhou—just knew there was a provincial capital somewhere out there."

"Now you've even been to Guangzhou. In the future, perhaps you'll travel to the capital, or to even more distant places." Caiwang spoke earnestly. "You've achieved your dream."

Tan Shuangxi looked at him, his heart growing heavy. He knew Caiwang harbored no grand ideals—just thirty mu of land, an ox, a wife and children. If he could have more land and cattle, if he could build a presentable house, so much the better. Under Senate rule, such modest wishes shouldn't have been difficult to achieve... How cruelly fate toyed with people!

Seeing that noon was approaching, Tan Shuangxi said goodbye to Caiwang and headed home. His parents had not yet returned from the fields. Shuangqing was back, though, loading lunch into a basket to carry out to them.

When Tan Shuangxi had left to join the army, Shuangqing had still been a teenager. Now he was a proper young man. Yet compared to other village youth, he still seemed rather slight in build.

Tan Shuangxi glanced at the dishes in the basket and shook his head. "No meat!"

Tan Shuangqing laughed. "Meat is expensive. It's not the busy farming season right now—no need for extra nutrition. Just eat your fill of rice."

"At least boil some eggs. The human body needs protein..."

"Father says to save the eggs to sell. He can't bear to eat them."

"How much can an egg fetch? Don't tell me they're trying to squeeze your bride price out of the chicken's rear end." Tan Shuangxi laughed. "Tell me—how much bride price does the girl's family want?"

The mention of his life's great matter made Tan Shuangqing flush with awkwardness. "Sixty dollars. The family can't scrape it together all at once. Nothing's been formally settled yet."

Hearing "sixty dollars," Tan Shuangxi felt a jolt—was this the going rate?

"Where is the girl from?"

"Salt Field Third Village," Tan Shuangqing said. "She has an elementary school education. Can read and do arithmetic. She can work the fields too."

Tan Shuangxi felt another jolt and nearly blurted out: "She doesn't want to continue her studies, does she?" Afraid of dampening his brother's spirits, he kept his tone casual as he asked: "What's her name? I have quite a few comrades from the salt fields—I might even know her family."

Tan Shuangqing looked surprised. "She's from the Hou family. Her pet name is Baihua."

"Hou Baihua." Tan Shuangxi silently repeated the name several times, committing it to memory. He planned to visit the salt field tomorrow, pretending to call on old comrades while secretly making inquiries.

He changed the subject:

"Doesn't anyone come around to collect eggs here? Does Mother still have to take them all the way to Maniao to sell?"

Because the Senate vigorously promoted village chicken-raising, nearly every rural household kept a few chickens. Eggs had become the most common source of affordable protein on the market. But rural consumption was limited—most still had to be sold in the towns.

"No need to go to Maniao anymore," Tan Shuangqing said. "Old Chen's family is now an agent. They collect chicken and duck eggs throughout the village."

"An agent—for the Senate?"

"Not the Senate—some merchant from outside. I heard he purchased a 'patent' from the Senate and opened an egg factory. It specializes in processing eggs. Once the factory treats them, they can last a long time and be shipped far away to sell. They're even planning to supply the military."

Such talk would have sounded like fantasy to Tan Shuangxi a dozen years ago. Now it didn't surprise him in the least. After all, the conviction that the Senate could accomplish anything had long taken root in his mind.

"Old Chen really knows how to make money!"

"He's clever like that, isn't he!" Tan Shuangqing picked up the food basket and water jug and departed. Tan Shuangxi had just turned back inside to eat lunch when someone called from outside: "Brother Shuangxi! Brother Shuangxi!"

He hurried out to look—it was Uncle Huang from the village. Uncle Huang was not old in years, but he already looked quite aged. In the village, he counted among the poorest. In the past, his family had owned no land and had long rented from others. Later, when the Heavenly Land Society organized collective land-clearing, they sold reclaimed plots to his family at low prices with long-term, low-interest loans—thirty mu in all. Only then did they finally have land of their own.

Though they now had land, Uncle Huang's family had not improved much. They had risen from "cold and starving" to merely "barely getting by." Misfortune seemed to hover constantly over his household. First the ox that the Heavenly Land Society had loaned them died. Not two years later, the wife they had nearly bankrupted themselves to secure for their son also died of illness. Then last year, Aunt Huang passed away too. Of over two hundred households in the village, even refugees who had arrived with nothing—once they had been settled for a year or two—were living better than his family.

Seeing him, Tan Shuangxi sighed inwardly. Before the mainland expedition, he had come home on leave. Uncle Huang had visited to borrow money for his daughter-in-law's medical treatment. Originally his father had not wanted to lend it, but Tan Shuangxi felt that as a military household, their family should set an example in the village. He had persuaded his father to lend six dollars. Yet when he returned a few days ago, his father mentioned that not a cent had been repaid in all these years—and naturally, the family's situation had not improved much either.

Looking at Uncle Huang now, his complexion seemed passable, but his eyes were evasive. Clearly he was not here to repay.

If he was not here to repay, then he was not here for idle conversation either. Being poor and in debt, villagers had almost no dealings with his family. For him to come visiting, he was obviously here to borrow money again.

But Tan Shuangxi always remembered the military's teachings—"Military and civilians are one family." He could not bring himself to turn the man away. He could only smile and say: "Uncle Huang! Have you eaten lunch yet? If not, come in and join us..." He made to invite him inside.

But Uncle Huang waved his hand, saying quietly: "No need. I'll just stand here and say what I've come to say." He glanced around as though he had something unspeakable to discuss.

"What is it?"

"I want to ask you about something," Uncle Huang said. "You're in the military, and you're an officer now. You surely know more than the rest of us."

"I'm not any kind of officer," Tan Shuangxi disclaimed quickly. "Just ask—whatever I know, I'll certainly tell you."

"The village is recruiting for the autumn draft. My son signed up too..."

Tan Shuangxi was surprised. "Dalo? Isn't he an only son? He doesn't need to serve."

"Not soldiering means there's no way out staying home." Uncle Huang's face was bitter. "The recruiter said if he's willing, he can volunteer and receive an extra ten dollars in settling-in money."

"Why put yourself through this!" Tan Shuangxi grew almost incoherent. He was about to say that there's fighting now—new recruits would very likely be sent to the front to fill the ranks. What if he were wounded or killed? But he thought better of it, realizing that such words might be considered "undermining morale." He was preparing to apply for candidate officer—he could not afford to say the wrong thing now.

After thinking it over, he took a more tactful approach: "Well, your household has only three people—grandfather, father, and son. If Dalo goes off to soldier, what about your land? What about your grandson?"

"The land—I'm not farming it anymore." Uncle Huang lowered his head. "The way things are going for my family, we'll never be able to repay the Heavenly Land Society debt..."

He said no more on that subject, then asked: "I just want to ask you something..."

"Please, go ahead."

"This draft—Old Chen's youngest boy is also on the enlistment list. A few days ago he came to discuss something with me. He says he's willing to switch places with Dalo..."

"Switch?" Tan Shuangxi was puzzled. "Switch what?"

It turned out that for volunteers like his son, they could choose to serve in National Army units stationed in relatively stable areas. This batch of National Army soldiers was being assigned to Taiwan—a comparatively safe posting. But correspondingly, the settling-in money was only half of what the Fubo Army offered. Even with the volunteer bonus, it came to only twenty-two dollars.

This batch of Fubo Army recruits, rumor had it, was being assigned to the Second Battalion in Sanya. That battalion had always served as a reserve force there.

Now Old Chen was approaching him with a proposal—if they were willing to swap enlistment slots, he would give them a hundred dollars.

"...I just want to ask—that battalion in Sanya, will they be sent to fight on the mainland?"

Tan Shuangxi's heart churned with mixed feelings. He thought of the scene at the Daya Village banquet, and what Zhang Laicai had said. His heart felt blocked up.

"I don't know the Second Battalion's situation. I can't say whether they'll fight on the mainland." He spoke rather reluctantly. "I can only tell you that any unit might be sent to the front."

This answer clearly did not satisfy Uncle Huang, but he did not press further. He simply lowered his head with a long sigh, apparently unable to decide.

Tan Shuangxi could not help advising: "If you truly want to soldier, it would be better to join the National Army."

Uncle Huang shook his head with resignation. "If he joins the National Army, the settling-in money won't even be enough to clear the loan."

The Heavenly Land Society land loan came due next year. Seven years of principal plus interest—over ninety-three dollars. That sum he naturally could not produce.

"If the land is seized, then let it be seized. You and Dalo could work as farm laborers and still have food and clothes. Why take such a risk? If nothing else, the Nanyang Company is recruiting migrants for the South Seas. Go there and they'll give you land, plus settling-in money..." Tan Shuangxi had abandoned all caution now and was urging him earnestly.

(End of Chapter)