Chapter 2846 Riding the Train

"And there are all the debts that have piled up over the years." Uncle Huang shook his head stubbornly. "Times have been hard—I've borrowed over twenty dollars from various families in the village. Your family alone, I owe six dollars. If I truly become a farm laborer, I'll probably never be able to pay any of it back. Going to the South Seas is even worse—running away from debts is something I simply cannot bring myself to do."

If he agreed to the swap, the Fubo Army settling-in payment alone would be twenty-four dollars, plus a ten-dollar voluntary enlistment bonus, plus the hundred from the Chen family. He could not only clear the land loan but also settle his village debts. There might even be a little left over.

"...I've thought it through. At this point, there's nothing left but to gamble." Uncle Huang spoke quietly. "I've worked it all out. Once the debts are cleared, the land is mine. I can contract it out to village folk—there would be a small income each year. I can still work myself. Supporting my grandson won't be a problem. If he comes back safely from service, we take back the land, and our family's fortunes will have turned around. If his luck runs out..." He paused. "Between the death benefits and the land rent, I can still raise my grandson and leave him an inheritance..."

Tan Shuangxi couldn't think of anything to say that might dissuade him. He could only offer a few hollow phrases: "Better to think it over carefully," and "The debts can be paid back slowly." Weak and ineffectual words.

After seeing Uncle Huang off, Tan Shuangxi's mood took an inexplicable blow. The joy of reuniting with his childhood friend had vanished completely.

From Uncle Huang's words, this deal would more likely than not go through. In truth, he understood—if they didn't do it, their family's land would have to be returned to the Heavenly Land Society.

Farmers viewed land as their very lives. Tan Shuangxi understood what was at stake.

Forget it. Better to just focus on studying. Try to get that Class-A diploma, he thought to himself.

Tan Shuangxi would never be called "brilliant." Years in the military had earned him the Class-B diploma, but Class-A represented a major leap in depth of knowledge. Fangcaodi students took five years of study to obtain the higher elementary diploma. The Class-A diploma, as an equivalent qualification, wasn't as broad or deep as the school diploma, but for someone without proper schooling, it still posed a formidable challenge.

Looking at the Self-Study Series (Class-A) he had specially borrowed from the Maniao Fort library, Tan Shuangxi sighed deeply: this material was too difficult!

What gave Tan Shuangxi the biggest headache was mathematics. Chinese, natural science, social studies—those were all manageable, requiring only memorization. But math didn't work that way. He recognized every word in the math book, yet when strung together, he couldn't grasp the meaning. Come to think of it, the four arithmetic operations on the Class-B exam had already made him miserable enough.

Better to just sign up for a training class. After struggling with "self-study" for a while, Tan Shuangxi finally made up his mind: spend some money and get it done. Go directly to Fangcaodi and enroll in the equivalent qualification training class.

The Senate's main educational institutions—the Women's College of Arts and Sciences went without saying—along with the vocational schools, normal college, and the National School's elementary, higher elementary, middle school, and study departments all had separate campuses within the Fangcaodi Education Park, each with strict access control. They did not accept over-age students, nor was it convenient to openly admit continuing education students. So the Education sector had long ago built an independent building not far from Fangcaodi, establishing adult education classes for "equivalent qualifications." Sharing faculty with the National School, vocational schools, normal college, and women's college, it served backbone naturalized-citizen cadres and employees from Senate-affiliated enterprises and institutions seeking to improve their cultural literacy. Various aspiring local youths who wished to enroll could also participate, provided they could afford the tuition.

This tuition was not cheap. The Senate's knowledge was valuable. Moreover, once you obtained an equivalent qualification diploma, it meant you had unlocked passage to employment within the Senate's "system." Even if you had no intention of working for the Australians, this diploma carried considerable weight—you could easily become a "teacher" at some large trading house.

He checked the sun—just past noon. If he left for Bairen Town now, he could still make it back before dinner. His decision made, Tan Shuangxi grabbed his military ID, gathered his things, and hurried out the door.

Outside-the-Field Village lay within the Lingao city rail network's coverage. After walking just over twenty minutes, Tan Shuangxi reached Maniao Station and caught the train bound for Bairen Town.

The locomotive, belching black smoke, slowly pulled away from the platform, heading toward Bairen Town. It wasn't rush hour, so there should have been few people in the carriage. Instead, it was fifty or sixty percent full. All young, able-bodied men—some in uniform, others in civilian clothes—but one look at their posture and bearing revealed they were all soldiers home on leave.

Tan Shuangxi chose a window seat and sat somewhat bored, watching the scenery flash by outside.

The soldiers in the carriage were in high spirits. From their freshly shaved blue-shadowed chins and newly trimmed short hair, they must have returned from the mainland recently. Pockets stuffed with silver dollar certificates, they were ready to have themselves a proper "wild time" in Bairen.

This kind of indulgent pleasure Tan Shuangxi had already tasted in full. Now he felt only the weariness that came after indulgence. Years of military life had instilled in him a constant tension, keeping his mind and body perpetually strung tight. Relaxing after coming home actually left him somewhat uncomfortable.

He really needed to adjust his state quickly, he thought: passing the exam in one go within three months would be quite the challenge.

After signing up for the training class, should he rent a room in Bairen Town to stay? His home wasn't far from Bairen, and the city rail connected them—transportation was very convenient. But studying at home meant constant distractions. Villagers came to chat with him almost every day. Shuangqing's happy occasion was approaching, with more people coming and going—every day something or someone demanding his attention.

It seemed he would have to spend a bit more money and go study elsewhere. But this rare leave would then mean being separated from his family once again.

Nearby, several soldiers were debating whether contracting land counted as buying it.

"...I paid real money. How doesn't that count as buying?"

"Buddy, if you bought it, where's the deed? Did the Land Office issue you a deed?"

"They did! Some kind of land business license..."

"You know what business rights mean?" one soldier laughed. "Means the land isn't yours, but you can farm it! Whatever grain or cotton you grow is yours..."

"But I'm also the one paying the grain taxes."

"They let you farm it—who else would pay the tax? Think about it: doesn't the contract have a term? Should be twenty-five years, right? What you call buying is actually just leasing twenty-five years of business rights!"

"So? This 'buying' is actually pawning?"

"Exactly, it's pawning. That deed they issued you can't be resold!"

"That's no fun. All this fuss and the land isn't even mine!"

"Whether the land is yours doesn't matter. What matters is whether the produce from the land is yours."

...

Tan Shuangxi half-listened to their conversation. The city rail began to slow. He knew Bairen Station was still three stops away and paid no particular attention.

Suddenly a graceful figure appeared before him and spoke softly: "Excuse me... General, is this seat taken?"

Locals rarely called soldiers "General." Tan Shuangxi was quite surprised. Looking up, he saw a woman.

Women riding the Lingao city rail was nothing unusual, but this one stood apart. The dress she wore was called something like "Han elements"—actually a hybrid of original Ming Dynasty clothing and Australian-style garments. This style preserved traditional clothing forms while fully demonstrating the advantages of "Australian-style clothing" in cutting and fit. It was very popular among local wealthy families, especially wealthy immigrant families.

Though he had only glanced at her briefly, the woman's appearance had already left a deep impression. He couldn't help looking a second time. She was around thirty and strikingly beautiful. She lacked the shoulder-length hair or braids common among female naturalized citizens, wearing instead a "reformed" hair bun. Combined with her outfit and the small leather handbag in her hand, she was clearly some wealthy family's lady.

But such a lady going out would usually have accompanying servants or maids. She had no one with her.

This immediately put him on guard. He unconsciously shifted his body and said: "No one. Sit wherever you like."

The woman thanked him and settled into the opposite seat. Tan Shuangxi couldn't help glancing at her a few times. He saw her brow furrowed, eyes downcast, as if worrying over something.

A mysterious beautiful woman was most alluring. But the rational voice in Tan Shuangxi's mind told him clearly: something about this woman was off! So he simply gazed out the window, refusing to look at her again, lest she try to start a conversation.

But the more you fear something, the more it comes. He heard the woman's voice once more: "Gen... General! Does this train go to Bairen?"

Now he couldn't pretend not to notice. He had to turn and say: "Yes, it goes to Bairen."

"Um, I need to go to Wanzi Pavilion," the woman said with a touch of anxiety. "Which station should I get off at?"

Tan Shuangxi had never heard of any Wanzi Pavilion. East Gate Market and Bairen Town together had hundreds if not thousands of shops—how could he possibly remember them all? He shook his head: "I don't know that place."

The woman seemed slightly disappointed. Bairen Town had grown quite large now, with a city rail transfer station and four different stops altogether. Getting off at the wrong station meant walking an extra li or two. For ordinary people that was no trouble, but for this woman who clearly had "liberated feet," such a walk would prove difficult.

Considering this, Tan Shuangxi kindly added: "In that case, just get off at Bairen Main Station. There's a rickshaw waiting area there. Getting a ride anywhere won't cost much."

"How... how much would that cost?"

You're asking me this too! Tan Shuangxi thought. But having already spoken up, he couldn't refuse to answer: "Within Bairen Town, at most just a few cents..."

"A few cents?" The woman's expression wavered. She glanced down at her handbag. He wondered to himself: this woman clearly came from a wealthy family—could she really not have even a few cents in her bag?

(End of Chapter)