Chapter 9: Recognizing an Elder

  "Good boy," said Liu Xiu at this time.

  Liu Xiucai, over 50 years old, was a former Qing dynasty's Tongsheng (a type of student), who had just passed the imperial examination to become a Xiucai. However, the Qing dynasty no longer existed, so he wasn't actually a Xiucai. Nevertheless, people still habitually called him Xiucai, and he even still wore a queue at the back of his head.

  Due to the hardships of life, his boastful words are rarely seen on his lips, but as a man of letters, he still has some pride.

  "Liu He, you also have the surname Liu, I don't know which generation you are from, has your family's elder mentioned it?" The phrase "which generation" is a way of asking about one's generational order among people with the same surname in folk culture. Needless to say, Liu He indeed knew which generation he was from.

  "Haha, old fellow, I am the 21st generation." When Liu Xiucai asked about his own generation, Liu He began to stir in his heart. In this village, he only knew Dog Egg's family, which was not enough to make him stand on his feet. However, once he got involved with Liu Xiucai, he would be able to stand firm in the village.

  "Little one, I am the eighteenth generation." The old man smiled and looked at Liu He with a you-said-it-all attitude. "Good sir," Liu He immediately knelt down and kowtowed to this Liu Xiucai, originally Liu He was a younger generation from a later era, and now he was even more junior, it was not inappropriate for him to kowtow to his own grandfather.

  "Haha, get up, I acknowledge you as my grandson." "Congratulations, Old Liu, on gaining such a good grandson." "Haha, let's celebrate together."

  "Alright, kid, we're off. You take your time packing up." With that, Liu Xiucai and the village head walked off into the distance. "Village head, Uncle Liu, I'll see you out."

  Liu He didn't have the heart to see anyone off at this time, and he needed to think carefully about what was in front of him.

  Liu He learned from the contract that it was the summer of 1933, still a few years away from '37, but preparations had to be made now, and he already considered himself middle class.

  "Uncle Li, from now on, let Auntie Li help with cooking, and you can all eat together here." Liu He immediately gave Dog Egg's mother a task. "Little brother, how can this be good? Letting your aunt help with cooking is fine, but we can't eat at your place." "Uncle Li, I have another favor to ask of you."

  "Little brother, if you have something to say, I'll definitely help you with it." "Uncle Li, the work in our field needs your attention now. These long-term workers are not familiar to me either, so from now on we'll be relying on you, Uncle Li."

  "Hey little brother, don't worry, I'll take care of the work in your field and make sure not a single grain of food falls to the ground." Dog Egg's father patted his chest in guarantee.

  "Just you, boss, if you can guarantee our meals, we will do a good job on your land." The long workers said discontentedly. Liu He looked at the long worker who had been interrupting and asked, "What's your name?" "Boss, my name is Liu Xiong." "Alright, Liu Xiong, Uncle Li is in charge of you all, you'll be the deputy leader. When Uncle Li is not around, you'll be responsible for these workers."

  "Master, what is the deputy captain for?" "The deputy captain, that is, leads the long workers to work. If it's not done well, I'll find you. Also, if you have anything, just come through him to find me."

  "That's settled then. I'll take on the role of deputy captain, as long as they don't let me bully them." This was one worry off his mind; other matters could wait until after the autumn harvest.

  Then Liu He looked up at the houses here, and only then did he realize that these houses were adjacent to his previous house. Earlier, he was so excited about buying the land that he didn't notice this. This made things easier, and he still had to take care of the previous white radish sprouts.

  Liu He walked around the house for a while and found that there was no place for the long workers to live. "Hey, Liu Xiong, come here, where do you all live?"

  "Master, we all have our own homes, so naturally we live at home." "Then why are you working as long-term laborers here?" "We naturally don't have land, so we can only work as long-term laborers for your family." Liu Xiong looked at Liu He with a gaze that seemed to think he was an idiot.

  "Alright, alright, I know what you're saying. You go ahead and do what you need to do." Liu He awkwardly waved his hand to let Liu Xiong leave.

  Liu He now has five houses, one for eating, one for living, one for storing grain, one for receiving guests, and another that Liu He had taken from the village before, which the village chief did not ask back.

  There are corn and sweet potatoes in the ground, nothing else. Other people's homes are also planted like this. In the past, Liu He often saw peanuts that were not planted here, but they should be planted here too. Let's go to the city to take a look sometime, these peanuts still need to be planted well.

  Look again at the mountain, those rattans and whatnots are growing wildly, not even in the village have I seen any households using rattan to weave things. No wonder this village is so poor. But nothing can be done about it all at once, we'll just have to wait and see.

  "Li Shu, what are you following me for?" Liu He discovered that Dog Egg's father was trailing behind him, "Nothing, young man, I'm just following you to see if you have any instructions."

  "I'm fine, Uncle Li. I just wanted to take a look around. Ah, right, Uncle Li, is there anyone in our village who knows how to weave baskets?" "Weave what?" Dog Egg's father asked puzzled. "Ah, it's my fault for not being clear, I mean is there anyone who knows how to weave baskets or something."

  "You said that, yes, I would have, only compiled a little less, because this rattan mainly exists on Lao Li's mountain, now it belongs to you, young brother."

  "Uncle Li, is there a market around here?" "Yes, young man, what do you want to buy?" "I don't want to buy anything, Uncle Li. Are these basket-like things sold at the market?"

  "There are some that cost one big coin each, and some that cost two big coins each. How about you, little brother? Do you need to buy a basket? Don't bother buying one, I'll weave a few for you."

  "No, Uncle Li, you said these rattan sticks are idle, why don't you organize people to weave them into baskets? Maybe they can still make some big money." "En, this is a good idea. However, little brother, these rattan sticks are yours." Dog Egg's father naturally considered all these things as Liu He's now, but indeed they were also Liu He's.

  "Alright, this is mine. You let them weave it and sell it, I'll give them a portion of the labor fee." "Good, little brother, I'll go back and organize the people who will weave to cut the rattan and take it back to weave."