135: Banquet for clan members

Yang Qi looked at these seafood and was truly speechless. He didn't even have the interest to ask for prices.

His Mom was now quite knowledgeable about seafood. She used to think that the seafood sold here was high-end stuff, and the prices were ridiculously expensive.

Now, looking at it, it was not even as good as the small fish and shrimp they processed at the dock, was it? At least those were much fresher and had many more varieties.

Knowing that his son didn't care for these things, she decided to buy a lot of sea shrimp and razor clams. As for sea fish, she decided against it; she really couldn't bring herself to buy them.

Vegetables were simple; she just bought some that she liked. For chicken and duck, she bought cooked food, and also sliced a few catties of cooked beef. She also got a few kinds of cooked offal, like beef tripe and duck gizzards.

Fortunately, on the way back, only one Aunt asked if Yang Qi had found a girlfriend. After learning that he already had one, she didn't continue the topic.

He didn't know if she was just making conversation or if she wanted to introduce him to a girlfriend.

When they arrived home, there were a few more villagers. Several Women saw them and helped carry the groceries to the kitchen.

Not long after, the sounds of cooking, clanging and clattering, came from the kitchen.

"Dad, where are you going?"

Yang Qi saw Yang Dad walking out and immediately called out.

"I'm going to call your Uncle Lidong and ask him to come home for dinner."

Yang Lidong was the Village Chief, Yang Dad's cousin within five generations. As the highest official in the Village and his cousin, it was indeed necessary for Yang Limin, as the head of the family, to personally invite him.

Yang Qi went to the car, took two furong wang (cigarette brand) and two bottles of wine worth about 600 yuan, put them in a black bag, and handed them to Yang Dad.

These were all agreed upon in advance, so Yang Dad didn't say anything, carrying the bag and walking towards the Village Chief's house.

"Hello, Uncle, Aunt!"

Not long after, Yang Qi saw Yang Dad enter the house with Yang Lidong and his wife, and immediately stepped forward to greet them.

"Ah! Xiao Qi is doing well now! Not bad, really not bad."

The Village Chief saw the Tiguan at the door and thought Yang Qi had bought it. It might also have been the effect of the cigarettes and wine Yang Dad had brought over earlier. The couple praised Yang Qi a few times.

"Xiao Qi, you're getting more handsome by the day. Have you found a girlfriend yet? Do you want Aunt to introduce one to you?"

Polite words, purely polite words, don't take them seriously!

Yang Qi reminded himself that he had some self-awareness about his appearance, which belonged to the plain and unremarkable category.

Only his height gave him a slight advantage; at 1.78 meters, he was just average in his hometown. However, in the southern coastal areas, it was an advantage.

Zhang Jun and his brothers were only a little over 1.7 meters tall, including several fishing buddies he knew. In Bai Xue's Village, among the people he knew, he was definitely in the top three.

Therefore, regarding Aunt's praise, Yang Qi just smiled and didn't take up the conversation.

Although a rural Village Chief is not part of the civil service system, he is indeed the highest leader in the Village. It's normal for the entire Village to fawn over him.

If he wants to make things difficult for you, it's enough to cause you trouble. For example, if you want to build a new house and get a land permit, if he obstructs you, you can basically forget about it.

After all, he has nothing to do all day; if it's not entertaining a department for dinner today, it's taking leaders from another department for singing and travel tomorrow.

His relationships are like brothers. If he comes forward and lets these township leaders hold up a small commoner like you, it's a done deal, and you'll have nowhere to complain.

Any small infrastructure project, he's the one who bids for it, and the leaders get dry shares. If some unlucky person wins the bid, well then! The project payment will be delayed until you doubt your life.

You might say that when his term is up, just don't elect him. However, in some places now, the Village Chief is appointed by the town, so he's not afraid of you not electing him. As long as he maintains good relationships with the higher-ups, how can you, a mere commoner, move him from his position?

(The above are all the author's personal ramblings, used to pad the word count. As a rural person, the author has only heard these things through hearsay.)

(All our government staff are still caring for the people like their own children. They do not engage in corruption or bribery, have excellent conduct, and never make things difficult for the common people.)

I don't know if there's something that should be said or not!

With Yang Lidong's arrival, he and Yang Qi's oldest great-granduncle, who was of the same generation, sat at the head of the table.

The others were much more casual; a total of three tables were set. Yang Qi used to always prefer sitting at the children's table, but today there were only a few children, not enough to open another table.

He could only sit at his Mom's table with the Women. The main table was definitely out; there were too many rules.

A pack of furong wang (cigarette brand) was placed on each table, but the bottled wine was not brought out. Locals preferred to drink homemade grain wine; who would drink that blended wine?

Yang Qi could drink alcohol, but he wasn't addicted. At the Women's table, in addition to wine, there were several kinds of beverages. A large number of people were 'gulping' down the drinks.

The beef today was especially fragrant, and Yang Qi could tell it was a local breed of small yellow cattle.

This beef couldn't be found by the sea; it was completely incomparable to the market beef there.

"Hmm, I must bring some back when I leave," Yang Qi thought to himself.

During the meal, Yang Qi went to the main table with his wine glass and toasted a few times. He also said some polite words like "eat well and drink well."

When he returned, he had just sat down and was about to grab a drink bottle when he found it tightly held in the arms of a little girl, who was staring at him without blinking.

"Holy cow, she's complaining that I drank too fast and too much! She hasn't even had a drink herself, but she's already claimed the bottle!"

Yang Qi found it amusing, stood up, and went to get two more bottles. He handed one directly to the little girl,

"This bottle is for you. Take it home and drink it slowly later!"

The meal ended amidst everyone toasting each other. These Aunts and older Women were very particular; they waited until the other two tables had finished eating and drinking, and then tidied up the area.

His Mom packed some of the leftover meat dishes for the Aunts and older Women who stayed to clean up, so they could take them home and eat them tomorrow.

After all the villagers had left, Yang Dad told Yang Qi that he had already spoken with the Village Chief. The family's contracted orchard would be returned to the Village, and the Village would compensate their family 6,000 yuan.

Yang Qi nodded; he knew this was the effect of the gifts sent in the afternoon. Otherwise, the Village might give them one or two thousand, or even nothing at all, and there would be nothing they could do.

The family's four acres of farmland were all given to Third Uncle's family to cultivate, with a total annual rent of 100 yuan, just a token amount. However, an agreement had to be written, witnessed by the Village.

After an agreement was also written for the house, it was entrusted to Third Uncle to look after. He would be responsible for checking for leaks during rainy weather and other maintenance. Two rooms on the first floor could be cleared out for his use.

This was also right. Although this amount of money was not much, clearly stating it as land rent made a difference. Otherwise, many years later, the land might no longer be theirs.

Yang Qi's two paternal aunts both married far away, so it was not realistic for them to come and look after the house and land. Furthermore, marrying far away meant less interaction.

In Yang Qi's perception, the relationship with Third Uncle's family was even closer than with his aunts' families.