98: Back to Daxia! You promised to study abroad,

Chapter 98: Returning to Da Xia! You said you were studying abroad, but you brought back a daughter-in-law?

The next morning.

On the mountain road outside a poor village in the southern part of Da Xia's Northwest Province, a 'chugging' tractor was pulling two people and some luggage on a hay bale behind it.

After almost a full day of travel, the two finally reached their destination.

"We're actually riding this kind of transportation into this big mountain?"

Lucy leaned on Lu Ze's shoulder, her previously listless face now radiant with excitement. She seemed incredibly surprised: "Lu Ze, did you always take this to school before?"

The two of them transferred in Yanjing to the capital of Northwest Province, then took a five or six-hour long-distance bus to a county town.

Lucy thought they had already arrived at Lu Ze's hometown.

But then she was pulled onto another passenger bus, packed with elderly people going to the market and workers and students returning to the countryside.

After finally snagging a seat, protected perfectly by Lu Ze's arm, Lucy thought that no matter how bad things got, it would just be a bus ride to a rural area.

She never expected that she would end up riding this old-fashioned tractor into the mountains?

This was a fantastic adventure; this single experience made Lucy feel that the trip was well worth it.

It's just that this place was too remote, wasn't it?

Hearing this.

Lu Ze smiled: "How could that be? This is because I rarely come back, so I get to enjoy our village's VIP treatment."

"Before, I could only walk to school, step by step."

As the only person from the entire Lu Family Village to study abroad, he was the only one who could enjoy the privilege of the village personally sending a tractor to pick him up and drop him off.

Ordinarily, regular villagers didn't have such good benefits; they could only rely on their own two legs to walk out of the mountains.

However, Lu Ze looked at the concrete road in front of him: "At least tractors can get in and out without a problem now."

This road must have been built in the last year. He remembered that before he went abroad to study, the main road in the village was still that muddy path with yellow dust flying everywhere.

Back then, if it was a sunny day and the road was dry, it was fine, but if it rained or snowed, even tractors had trouble, so only donkey carts and horse-drawn carriages could transport people.

With this one-way concrete road, the villagers' daily commute wouldn't be so difficult.

This should be Da Xia's 'Village-to-Village Connectivity' policy, but in his previous life, the Lu Family Village's road was completed around 2011, and now it has been brought forward by more than two years.

Lu Ze speculated: 'Could it be because my repeated large-scale 'aid' to Northwest Province led to the road being built ahead of schedule?'

The sound of the tractor continued for more than twenty minutes, echoing through the wilderness.

Finally, it stopped in front of a village.

"Uncle, this is a gift I brought for you."

Lu Ze handed over a beautifully packaged gift box, then added: "And it's really a bother for you to bring me into the village."

This was good quality tobacco he bought in the county town. After all, for farmers in the mountainous areas of Northwest Province, smoking cigarettes was too bland and too expensive; they always preferred strong and cheap hand-rolled tobacco.

This uncle from his village usually enjoyed smoking, so Lu Ze was just catering to his preference.

"Look at you, always buying these things every time you come back." A hint of annoyance flashed across the old man's weather-beaten face: "Don't bring them next time."

After saying that, he held the box of tobacco in his hand and couldn't help but secretly click his tongue.

This box must have cost three or four hundred yuan. How could he bear to smoke it? He usually only smoked tobacco that cost a few yuan per jin.

At the village entrance.

"Lu Ze, is this your hometown?"

Lucy looked at the surrounding scenery, which completely exceeded her imagination.

The mountains were filled with vast expanses of barren yellow earth, with very little greenery even in spring and summer.

Lu Ze actually came from a place like this? Can people really live on such barren land? What kind of perseverance is needed to survive here for generations?

"Yes, this is where I've lived since I was a child."

Looking at the village in front of him, Lu Ze's eyes also flashed with deep nostalgia.

If he counted his previous life, it had been many years since he had returned to his hometown, and the vague image in his memory became clear again at this moment.

And on the other side.

Under the big tree at the village entrance, a group of middle-aged women were sitting around, holding sunflower seeds or snacks.

They seemed to be discussing something, chattering like sparrows.

The topics ranged from heaven to earth, from the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in the village to the situation of bachelors outside the village; there was nothing they wouldn't talk about.

Even a dog passing by would be mentioned a few times with comments like "how many litters it had," "whose dog it was," and "I saw it with other dogs usually."

After all, for most rural women, after finishing farm work and housework, besides various gossips, there seemed to be no other way to relieve their loneliness.

Just then.

One of the women glanced towards the village entrance, as if she had discovered something strange.

She pointed in the direction where Lu Ze was standing: "Look, isn't that Lu Jian Guo's boy?"

Everyone immediately turned their heads to look, instantly switching to this topic.

"Didn't they say he went to study abroad? Why is he suddenly back?"

"Yeah, I think he went to a famous university in Eagle Country for a master's degree, right? The village chief announced it on the loudspeaker for three days straight last year."

"He must be on vacation, right? I see him with luggage."

"It's only June, do schools in Eagle Country get out so early? Students abroad really don't study well."

Suddenly.

Lucy's figure, dragging her luggage, appeared behind Lu Ze in their line of sight, which made the firepower of the women's gossip increase by three points.

"That Lu Ze, why did he bring back a woman?"

"So beautiful... This woman is really pretty, much prettier than the celebrities on TV."

"Didn't he go to study abroad? He's just bringing a girl straight to the village?"

"What studying abroad? I think the woman is pregnant and can't hide it anymore, so he brought her home to meet the family!"

"He's already married and had children out there? Won't Old Lu be a grandfather soon?"

The group of chattering women immediately concluded the matter as such:

[Lu Ze used studying abroad as an excuse to marry a wife outside. Because of the pregnancy, the woman's family came looking for him, and he was forced to return to his hometown.]

And the situation's development became increasingly outlandish.

They clearly didn't notice the expressions on the faces of the two people who had been standing behind them, which went from confusion to shock.

"What? There's even this?"

A middle-aged man with some resemblance to Lu Ze widened his eyes, his entire being somewhat disbelieving.

His son went abroad and brought back a daughter-in-law? And even a grandchild was on the way?

Was this the surprise he mentioned on the phone last week?

This wasn't a surprise; it was almost a shock.

"What are you guessing wildly about? Hurry up and go pick up your son." Someone next to him slapped Lu Jian Guo's shoulder hard, speaking irritably.

This middle-aged woman was in her forties. Although weathered by sun and wind, one could still vaguely discern from the traces of time that she must have been quite delicate in her youth.

This was Lu Ze's mother, Lin Xiaqin.

Lu Dad and Lu's mom hurried to the village entrance, looking at the dusty Lu Ze with a hint of heartache.

During that year of studying abroad, thousands of miles away in a foreign land, how could they not be worried?

However, after taking the luggage.

They looked at the beautiful girl next to their son, who was curiously looking at him.

At this moment.

Lu Jian Guo quickly pulled Lu Ze aside: "Tell me honestly, what's the deal with this girl? Is she really your wife?"

"If someone is really pregnant, you must take good care of the girl." Lin Xiaqin chimed in: "You can't forget your basic principles just because you went to study abroad."

"Our Old Lu Family, going back a hundred years, has never produced a 'Chen Shimei'."

"Dad, Mom, what are you thinking?" Lu Ze's face was full of black lines.

How could Lucy be pregnant? With her appetite, if she were pregnant, wouldn't she be performing 'three bites for a roasted suckling pig'?

"This is Lucy, a friend I met while studying in Eagle Country. She's very curious about our Northwest Province, so she came with me to travel for two weeks."

Lu Ze introduced her, and also prompted Lucy to greet Lu Dad and Lu's mom.

"Hello, everyone." Lucy flashed a brilliant smile: "My name is Lucy, I am Lu's friend. I apologize for the trouble, please take care of me."

Listening to her strange accent, every Chinese character seemed to be off-key.

Lu Dad and Lu's mom: ???

Her accent, why does it sound like a foreigner?

The women at the village entrance were collectively shocked: "Oh my goodness, that Lu Ze is quite capable, he even brought back a foreign daughter-in-law?"

Dozens of minutes later.

Inside Lu Ze's house, a small farmhouse courtyard built with green bricks and stone tiles.

"Your name is Lucy, right?" Lu's mom was asking kindly.

Her gaze towards Lucy still held intense surprise and curiosity.

Who would have thought that a girl who looked so similar, even with black hair and eyes, was a native-born Eagle Country person?

And she was so beautiful, with a physique that clearly suggested she would bear children well.

'I must urge that boy A Ze not to waste time.' Lu's mom thought to herself.

Not a girlfriend now? She thought she could be one in the future.

Hearing the question.

"Yes, that's right." Lucy nodded like pounding garlic.

She didn't quite understand, only roughly guessing that Lu Ze's mother was calling her name.

Her beautiful eyes looked around the small house.

It seemed that every part of this place was a very new experience for her.

Seeing the two of them conversing like a chicken and a duck, Lu Ze shook his head helplessly.

He stood at the doorway, gazing at the distant scenery, and sighed: "The environment here in my hometown has changed a lot. I see that even roads have been built."

His hometown in his memory seemed to have changed quite a bit in this life.

"Not only that."

Lu Jian Guo put the luggage inside and explained: "It's said that in the future, roads will be built to the doorstep of every household, and even the village will have a main road."

"The several remote villages in the back mountains will also have a concrete road built."

"Furthermore, an engineering team arrived last month."

"They say they're going to build an elementary school in the village, and several teachers have even been arranged, to serve as a collective public school for the surrounding villages."

"Even the students in the village get eggs and milk every day, and they eat incredibly well."

This series of major events that occurred in the past two months was a first in decades for the remote mountainous area of Lu Family Village.

Often, one piece of news would just spread throughout the Northwest mountains, and then another piece of news would arrive.

"Who is this 'enthusiastic citizen' you're talking about? Who is this kind-hearted person helping us mountain people?"

Lu Jian Guo, an old farmer who hadn't read much, spoke with confusion in his words.

After all, these plans were all donated under the name of 'enthusiastic citizen,' and he thought it was some great philanthropist doing good deeds for their 'Lu Family Village.'

"Dad, that should just be a name."

Although Lu Ze said this, his heart warmed.

Everything he had done was not in vain, and that was gratifying.

But this was far from enough; Da Xia's economic scale had not expanded much, and even Lu Family Village was not truly prosperous enough.

'It seems I should submit the smartphone technology to Da Xia.' Lu Ze thought to himself.

This future industry, with a scale calculated in trillions of usd, is known as the most vibrant industry globally, and Da Xia should seize the most substantial piece of the pie ahead of time.

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