Riding the wind of rebirth

When the large swing pole was erected again in the square of the Lianhe Township Grain Station, and the "millstone" frame was set up, Liang Hong and Yang Honghui kept their promise and came to Liangshan.

Accompanying him were Yang He and Feng Xueshan, as well as Yan Xiao and He Shiqing, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

"What a rare guest! We haven't seen each other for several semesters, have we?" Zhou Zhi went up and hugged He Shiqing. "You're such a good girl at school, how could you bear to leave school before the holidays even start?"

"I finished my thesis. It's so boring staying at school." He Shiqing chuckled, not refusing Zhou Zhi's enthusiasm: "I just happened to be persuaded by Liang Hong and Xue Shan to come over."

Seeing that Zhou Zhi had succeeded, Yan Xiao didn't want to be at a disadvantage. He reached out and hugged Mai Xiaomiao as well, and then said, "Shiqing, this is Xiaomiao. You two are about the same height."

He Shiqing and Mai Xiaomiao are both petite. Mai Xiaomiao finally met one of Zhou Zhi's friends whose looks were comparable to hers, and they greeted each other warmly: "When we get to Lianhe Township, Shiqing, you can wear my clothes."

“Okay.” He Shiqing didn’t understand what Mai Xiaomiao meant. She was thinking that she had brought clothes, but she didn’t say it out loud.

Zhou Zhi explained with a smile, "Xiao Miao was referring to the traditional clothing of the Yi people, which can be worn for photos."

He Shiqing then understood, and smiling as she took Mai Xiaomiao's hand, said, "Thank you, Xiaomiao."

Zhou Zhi then turned to greet Feng Xueshan and Yang He: "Last time we talked about the Yi New Year at home, you gave me a wink, and I thought you weren't coming."

Feng Xueshan laughed and said, "Don't you consider the time and place? The baby is only a few days old. Your aunt and parents are worried that we won't take good care of him. How could they possibly agree?"

"Then why did you agree to it now?" Zhou Zhi protested.

“Isn’t it already March?” Feng Xueshan said. “We take care of the child ourselves at night. After supervising for so long, they found there was nothing to worry about. So, while we were here, they decided to head home.”

"Come here, little Shunzi, let your godfather hold you first..." Zhou Zhi reached out to the baby in Yang He's arms: "You can't blame your godfather for missing the full moon celebration..."

However, Xiao Shunzi was taken away by Mai Xiaomiao: "Why are you carrying a child while driving? Let us carry him."

There were quite a few people to pick up this time. Although the Defender is a seven-seater vehicle, it has been converted into a semi-pickup truck. Zhou Zhi originally wanted to arrange two vehicles, but everyone said that would not be lively.

So Zhou Zhi restored the Defender, which hadn't been converted to a seven-seat mode for a long time, turning it into a rear-part roofed mode and adding simple seats, thus fulfilling everyone's request.

The comfortable seats in the front were reserved for the girls, while the "hard seats" in the back were for the boys. Everyone laughed and joked as they headed towards Lianhe Town.

With Yan Xiao and Liang Hong joining the group, plus Zhou Zhi, things got lively. The three of them kept bickering the whole way, making everyone in the car laugh.

The unique scenery and ethnic customs along the way also made the people who had never seen anything like it feel very curious and kept asking questions.

Along the roadside, groups of villagers would gather at any time. The old men and women had wrinkled faces and sometimes smoked pipes. There was usually a bottle of wine in front of them, with a special flower on the label that looked like two hands clasped together.

That's Soma brand corn liquor produced by the Lianhe Town Grain Station Winery. Because of its high alcohol content, mellow taste, and low price, it has become a hot commodity in the surrounding counties.

The reason why the corn liquor from Lianhe Town Distillery tastes better than corn liquor from the surrounding area is quite simple: it simply involves an extra step of removing the germ and crushing the corn compared to other distilleries. This one trick alone has made it very popular.

Have a couple of puffs of a cigarette, chat a bit, and then take a sip of wine. Sometimes happiness is that simple.

The young men and women next to them were different.

The young men wore black diagonally buttoned shirts, headscarves tied in hero knots, and many wore yellow or red earrings on their right ears.

The girls wore blue or black blouses decorated with colorful threads, colorful pleated long skirts, and the edges of the blouses were trimmed with multiple layers of colored cloth. They also wore headscarves or square scarves made of felt wool wrapped in black cloth, with silver beads of various sizes on them.

"Are those all solid? The Yi people are quite wealthy." Liang Hong asked curiously.

"Are you kidding me?" Zhou Zhi laughed. "You have no concept of density, do you? If they were solid, a whole square of silver would weigh several pounds." "Those are hollow." Mai Xiaomiao hugged Xiao Shunzi, who had been rocked into a sleepy state by the carriage. "Some of them even have little bells, which sound quite nice."

"The ethnic minority costumes are quite beautiful, and they have a lot of accessories. Hey? Even the horses have silver ornaments hanging on them?"

"It's a festival, but silver saddles are rare these days. Should I stop and ask if they're for sale?" Zhou Zhi's collecting obsession kicked in again.

"No! Drive properly!" Everyone objected.

"It's a holiday, why are you getting so caught up in shopping for bargains again?" Liang Hong criticized.

Yan Xiao mocked, "Don't you think about it? If someone wanted to sell it, they wouldn't bring it out to use during the New Year. It's like a Han Chinese family having an ancestral porcelain piece that they would display during the New Year. If you went to ask them if they would sell it, you would most likely get beaten up."

Upon reflection, it really makes sense. Zhou Zhi tried to justify himself: "Hehe, concern leads to confusion, concern leads to confusion."

As the car approached Meigu, Yan Xiao quieted down, leaving only Zhou Zhi and Liang Hong chatting away in the car.

"Salt rat!"

"Ah? What for?"

"If you won't help me, I can't argue with him!" Liang Hong protested.

"Hehehe, you were thinking of criticizing me? You'd better take care of your old Yang first," Zhou Zhi said slyly.

"Huh?" Liang Hong was taken aback.

"Haven't you noticed that the increase in pretty girls on the street matches the decrease in the amount of nonsense spouted by salt rats?"

“Oh, right!” Liang Hong grabbed Old Yang’s ear: “You dare to peek! Hmm? Those girls seem pretty good…”

"I barely said a word from beginning to end," Yang Honghui cried out, feeling utterly wronged. "Liang Hong, you can't listen to slander!"

"Cough cough cough... I just fell asleep, what's wrong?" Yan Xiao turned his head, looking sleepy. "Where are we?"

"Pretentious!" He Shiqing rolled her eyes at Yan Xiao.

"Exactly!" Seeing that He Shiqing's efforts had no effect, Zhou Zhi continued to provoke her: "Looking at beautiful women is nothing, but if you look and then don't admit it, that's a serious problem!"

"Ouch!" Yan Xiao finally took a punch to the leg from He Shiqing, and cried out dramatically, "Elbow is always cunning, Shiqing, you have to believe me..."

“Some of the girls are quite pretty,” Yang said, “mainly because they have thin and straight noses.”

Yan Xiao and Yang Honghui looked at Feng Xueshan excitedly.

"Why are you looking at me? If you like pretty girls, go ahead and look." Feng Xueshan didn't seem to care. She took the just-woke-up Xiao Shunzi from Mai Xiaomiao's arms and asked Yang He to make him milk.

"Aren't you going to teach him a lesson?!" Yan Xiao was exasperated.

"Tch! Yang He is so honest, unlike you guys," Feng Xueshan laughed.

"Xueshan, you've broadened the scope a bit," Zhou Zhi immediately retorted. "I'm as honest as Yang He. No, even more honest than him!"

"Tch!" Now, everyone in the car except Mai Xiaomiao scoffed. (End of Chapter)