Song Tan's Notes

For a moment, Qi Lin was really moved.

He didn't know whether he was moved by the ambiguous words of Secretary Zhu in front of him or by her proposal.

But after a moment, he quickly gathered his thoughts and replied seriously: "I mentioned it before, but the old man is reluctant to leave his hometown and really doesn't want to come here."

These young people are accustomed to running around, pursuing a higher quality of life or a brighter future.

But for the elderly living in the previous era, death was a careless yet grand event. At least when they realized they were old, they wanted to be buried in their hometown no matter what.

If not for this, Qi Lin would not have deliberately learned more about raising cattle and sheep, just wanting to give the elderly some companionship and comfort.

After all, if he wanted to live, he had to leave that barren place. He didn't want to face the dilemma of not having enough money to support his children in the future.

As for now...

There are only a few families living on the vast loess slopes. Even if he stays, he can't even find help with farming.

Among the three brothers and sisters in the same profession, Yanran comes from a wealthy family, who love, pamper and support her; Tang Xiaodong comes from a well-off family, and all his parents want from him is a job.

But only for him, his grandfather didn't even have any other requirements. He had suffered all his life, and all he wanted was that his child shouldn't suffer either.

Qi Lin's expression gradually became depressed.

  However, Secretary Xiao Zhu smiled slightly, and a soft but determined smile appeared on his slightly white face trimmed in winter:

"That's because you didn't persuade the right place, right?"

"Come, listen to me - call back and find a piece of wasteland in the village and tell your grandfather that it has been rented, but he is too busy at work to plant crops, so he can only leave it to grow grass."

Xiao Zhu, the village chief who is now deeply engaged in agriculture, knows very well how barren the land of Huangtupo is. When she was a child, she read the textbooks of her relatives and learned about the hardships of a family of three moving stones and collecting urine and feces to open up wasteland in the mountains.

The Chinese people’s deep-rooted pursuit of land is regardless of region or age.

"And let me say this: this place provides meals and accommodation for family members. Others have family members, but you don't. You feel like you're being cheated when you can't take advantage of it!"

To package family members for dinner, it depends on their status. For someone like Qi Lin... Since Secretary Xiao Zhu had spoken, Song Tan nodded immediately:

"Yes, it's included. The cafeteria provides normal meals, and you have a dormitory for accommodation, right?"

Qi Lin was stunned.

Based on his understanding of the elderly, after saying these two sets of words, even if the other party does not come, he will always talk about it at home.

He looked towards Secretary Xiao Zhu, but saw that he was still looking at him with a smile on his face, which made his heart feel warm.

After a moment, he lowered his head slightly and asked softly, "What if... you still don't want to come?"

He had always been in a calm and steady state, but now there was a sudden change. Yan Ran and Tang Xiaodong, who were young men standing beside him, naturally noticed it first.

Then the two of them nudged each other with their elbows and made faces, obviously noticing it.

This made Qi Lin obviously even more uncomfortable.

But no matter how uncomfortable he felt, he still looked back at Secretary Xiao Zhu seriously while speaking.

Secretary Zhu raised his eyebrows and said, "Qi Lin, when talking to the elderly in the countryside, don't be shy about talking about life and death. They can even arrange their own funeral affairs openly and demand the same standards for funeral ceremonies."

Just don't be too direct or blunt. Secretary Xiao Zhu, who had just arrived in the countryside, didn't understand.

Her grandfather seldom mentioned these things at home, and it was not something their family needed to worry about. Her ideas about funerals were still contained in the dogma of textbooks.

But after living in the village for more than a year, she found that older people could even discuss their own coffins calmly, ask the gods to come and look at them, and would consider performing rituals. They could also talk to others about their own graves.

Even in the poorest families, when the elderly talk about funeral arrangements, they say that the person is gone and that it is useless, but most of them still hope to be decent...

Song Tan promised to take good care of Zhang Wang's seventh cousin and others.

Similarly, Qi Lin’s grandfather probably had similar thoughts.

"Why don't you calculate with your grandfather? If you can live to 80, how many years are left in the future? If you provide food and accommodation every year, how much money can you save?"

"When I have saved enough money, I will go back to my hometown. I will have enough money to handle my funeral in a grand manner. No other elderly people in the surrounding area will have as much face as him."

"If these three methods still fail to persuade him, then he may really be attached to his hometown, so there is no need to force him."

At this moment, Qi Lin's heart was beating like a drum.

The next moment he stood up suddenly and hurried out the door: "I'll call him now."

He paused as he pushed the door open and turned to ask, "Tell me, which piece of land is better for me to show him?"

Secretary Xiao Zhu thought for a moment and said, "It's right next to the plot of land that the crew rented for planting grass. The grass sprouts there are growing vigorously. It's obvious that it has been abandoned for a long time. And the large area is quite eye-catching. Even if the old man's mobile phone can't see it clearly, he can still make out the general idea."

"The most important thing is, if the old man really agrees to come, I am willing to rent out the land. There are two acres in total, and one acre is 600 per year."

Just 1200 yuan!

If his grandfather is willing to come, the beautiful scenery here is obviously more nourishing than the poor loess village. Moreover, living together here, the elderly will no longer have to make do with their diet, and maybe they can really maintain their health!

Qi Lin pursed his lips, and finally said solemnly: "Thank you!"

After saying that, he ran away like a gust of wind.

As everyone looked at his back, Yan Ran sighed: "It seems like he is really excited."

On this side, Song Tan, no matter how insensitive he was, had noticed it. He pulled Secretary Zhu over and asked quietly, "What's going on? Do you like him like this?"

Secretary Xiao Zhu laughed and said, "He is steady and stable, who doesn't like him?"

"He has good conditions, good-looking features and a decent height. He graduated from a prestigious university, and his career path is simple and clean. He is not likely to be involved in other dangerous relationships - you know, business or finance. Moreover, the working environment is easy to adapt to different regions. It is convenient to transfer, right?"

"Plus, he only has one grandfather and he was adopted, so he may have lower requirements for a perfect family in the future - and he won't be under too much pressure from the outside world and his family for things like children."

Secretary Xiao Zhu spoke eloquently, and it did not sound like he was talking about the person he had a crush on, but rather that he was objectively evaluating the interviewee.

But Song Tan obviously didn't think there was anything wrong with it, he just smiled and said, "You've considered so much?"

Secretary Xiao Zhu was helpless: "I just thought about it. You know, I'm almost old. And if I want to move up and the leaders give me more responsibilities, then family stability is also an important assessment factor." (End of this chapter)