NovelsAlex Chapter 515 Going up the mountain
Chapter 515 Going up the mountain
"Sorry, I'm late." Lu You opened the car door and sat down.
"Where have you been? You disappeared after breakfast." Tang Wan sat on the other side, wearing ice sleeves, a sun hat, and a sun-protective jacket, almost armed to the teeth.
Lu You pulled out the seat belt, locked it into the buckle, and explained, "I had a chat with the new member of the family."
"New member? Which new member? Have I seen him before?" Tang Wan asked puzzledly.
"I've seen him!" Lu Jingshu, who was sitting between the two of them, raised her short hand, "It's Brother Lian Zhan!"
In the co-pilot seat, Shen Yuyin turned around. Her equipment could not be said to be very similar to Tang Wan's, but it could be said to be exactly the same.
"What did you talk about?"
"Some things about study and life."
Lu Jianyan pressed the top edge of the steering wheel with one hand, looked forward, and said, "When your grandfather first brought him out of the city from the countryside, I asked him if he wanted to stay and study in the city, and all the procedures and expenses were covered. He said he wanted to pass the exam based on his own ability."
"To get out of the city from the countryside? You have to take the high school entrance exam, right?"
As far as she could remember, Tang Wan went to school in the city. It was not until she entered Chunhua School after the high school entrance examination that she met a few classmates who came from the countryside.
Lu You took out his mobile phone and asked Deepseek questions.
In his two lives, Lu You has never taken a proper high school entrance exam. In his previous life, he rushed all the way, skipped grades, and didn't know what the high school entrance exam and the college entrance exam were. In this life, he even went to high school through the back door.
After a short wait, Lu You got the answer.
"You can indeed apply to schools in other places for high school, and you are not forced to stay in your registered place of residence."
"If rural students want to compete with urban students, they will probably have to rank among the top five in their region in the high school entrance exam."
The facts are almost the same as what Tang Wan said.
Urban high schools have a large number of students, and the quality is not low. Unless the out-of-town students are particularly outstanding, or there is an invisible big hand behind them, there is no reason to recruit out-of-town students over local ones under the same conditions.
“We’ll talk about the rest later.”
Just as he finished speaking, a car drove past. Lu Jianyan immediately turned the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator to catch up.
"That kid is only in the fourth grade, and he's a long way from the high school entrance exam. As long as his grades are acceptable and he has a desire to learn, it won't be difficult to get him into Chunhua."
Now, this is the invisible hand.
……
A long line of cars traveled along a two-lane country road, climbing over the mountainside, passing by houses, passing by fish ponds, crossing fields, and finally arriving at a temple at the foot of the mountain.
The temple is a small one, with only one room and no walls. The roof is covered with golden glazed tiles and the body of the room is vermilion. There are two coiled dragon pillars on the front. The wooden temple door is open, so the whole view can be seen at a glance.
There are two stone pagodas in front of the temple, which are used to burn paper money. The area around the entrance is blackened by smoke. Further in front of the stone pagodas are two large three-legged round incense burners, with thin wooden sticks left over from burning incense and candles scattered on the ashes.
There is a large open space on one side of the temple for parking vehicles, and on the other side is a tree-lined path overgrown with weeds, and it is unknown where it extends.
In front of the temple gate, a large crowd gathered, and arguments broke out one after another.
Lu Jianyan parked the car and headed towards the crowd with Shen Yuyin.
Grandpa, grandma, uncle, second uncle and other elders who got off from other vehicles also went there one after another.
Lu You held Lu Jingshu's left hand and Tang Wan's right hand, and led the two ancestors to a big tree on the side of the road.
The spring breeze blowing from the shadows carries with it some of the remaining chill from winter.
Lu You decisively put on the hood of his sweatshirt to avoid catching a cold.
At this moment, Tang Wan's soft voice came to my ears.
"Hubby, don't you want to go see what's going on?"
Lu You put his hands on Lu Jingshu's shoulders, fixed her in front of him, and used his body to shield her from the wind. He replied, "Children should stay out of the adult business."
"You're already in college, but you're still a kid?"
"When you went home for the New Year, didn't your aunt ask you to do housework?"
"understood."
In the eyes of parents, children are always children as long as they are alive.
With the arrival of my grandfather, the crowd not far away, which was originally noisy and bustling like a vegetable market, suddenly became quiet and orderly.
Everyone takes a turn to speak and express their own opinions, instead of speaking at the same time to see who has the loudest voice.
Tang Wan saw the whole process of change and asked curiously, "Grandpa has a very high status in the village, it seems that everyone listens to him."
Lu You smiled, moved his left hand away from Lu Jingshu's shoulder, and pointed at the concrete road next to him.
The road is about five or six meters wide, with a flat surface and water gutters on both sides.
"Do you know who built this road?"
"Who?"
"My family repaired it."
"Huh?" Tang Wan's eyes widened.
Lu You pointed to the opposite side, a small hill with a gently sloping surface, with low trees planted in an orderly manner.
“Guess whose orchard across the street is?”
"Your home?"
"What about the fish pond over there?"
"Is it yours too?"
Lu You put his hand back to its original place. Lu Jingshu, who was originally eager to run and play with other children, was turned into a puppet as if she had been cast under a spell.
"It can be said that the public facilities and agricultural products in the village are basically related to my family. So, do you think Grandpa's status is high?"
"According to what you said, grandpa is the breadwinner of the entire village, so he deserves a high status."
Tang Wan glanced at Lu Jingshu, and Lu Jingshu also looked at Tang Wan, and their eyes happened to meet.
Lu Jingshu pouted her lips and blinked her big eyes, looking pitiful.
Help me, help me!
Tang Wan smiled apologetically and blinked as well.
Mi ah, there’s nothing I can do to help you!
Lu You must have his reasons for arresting Lu Jingshu and not letting her run around, and Tang Wan would not try to change his mind.
"But it must cost a lot of money every year to take care of the infrastructure and daily livelihood of the entire village, right?"
"It's estimated to start at seven figures. I don't know the exact amount. I rarely ask about family matters."
"Your family is really willing to spend millions in the countryside. I'm afraid it's a pure loss."
“It depends on how you define it.”
Lu You looked into the distance. There was a plain surrounded by mountains. A straight road ran through it. On both sides of the road were residential buildings and large green fields.
“From a business perspective, the countryside lacks raw materials, has a shortage of labor, has incomplete supporting facilities, inconvenient transportation, and a small consumer market. No matter how you look at it, there is no need to invest.
But if the villagers start from the perspective of consumers, they only need to spend a few hundred yuan a year, not only can they gain friendly interpersonal relationships, but also have endless fresh fruits and vegetables to eat, which is really a huge profit.”
"The difference between your few hundred dollars and millions is a bit big, isn't it?"
"It's just one word, what's the difference?" Lu You raised the corners of his mouth, his brows relaxed, and his face looked calm and composed.
Tang Wan gave Lu You a thumbs up and said, "As expected of you, you are a rich man. You speak so arrogantly!"
The three of them stayed under the tree for nearly ten minutes. The crowd in front finally finished their discussion and dispersed in groups.
Shen Yuyin waved to the three people, motioning them to come over.
"Let's go, Tigress is calling us."
Lu You took the two of them again, followed Lu Jianyan and Shen Yuyin's footsteps, and came to the back of the car.
Lu Jianyan opened the trunk of the car, and inside were several big red plastic bags and two hoes, one new and one old.
Lu Jianyan took the old hoe, strung four bags on one end, and carried it on his shoulder.
"Each of you take some of the rest."
Lu You was very tactful and knew which were the dirty and tiring jobs. He didn't even look at the new hoe and directly took the remaining two bags.
"OK, I got it."
"Don't play dumb, there's still a hoe." Shen Yuyin crossed his arms and looked at Lu You coldly.
"Didn't they say that everyone should take a little?"
"Yes! Each person takes a little. The hoe and the bag together make up a little. You take it all by yourself. Is there a problem?"
Shen Yuyin was already making excuses, what else could Lu You say? He just picked up the hoe obediently and hung the bag on one end.
Fortunately, Tang Wan was considerate of her boyfriend and offered to help share the burden by taking away one bag.
When Tang Wan picked up the bag, she felt it was quite light. It looked bulging on the surface, but it was only about the weight of two bottles of mineral water.
Tang Wan opened the bag and looked inside. Apart from a bundle of Buddhist incense, the rest were all paper money and paper models. No wonder it was so light.
A family of five joined together into a team.
There are more than a dozen people in the team, including old men, young men, and children, and there are also two little pine trees with fluffy hair and bursting with energy.
Leading the group was an old man with seven parts white and three parts black hair, who looked strong and energetic.
He stood on a stone, glanced around the team, and asked loudly: "Are all the people here?"
"All ready." The voices responded sporadically.
"Check to see if anything is missing!"
There was a commotion in the team, with rustling sounds.
“No leak.”
"I have everything."
"Okay, follow me and let's go!"
Led by the old man, the group walked along the tree-lined path.
Although it is called a small path, it is actually not that small and can barely accommodate a small car.
The road surface material is common soil that has become hard due to repeated trampling and is difficult for plants to grow.
It is not difficult to imagine that if the weather is not good, this road will be slippery and muddy.
After walking along a flat road and turning a bend, a small hill comes into view.
The mountain is about a hundred meters high, with shady trees and lush vegetation.
When you reach the foot of the mountain, the road that went up the mountain shrinks into a small path that is only wide enough for one person to pass through.
The path does not lead straight to the top of the mountain, but winds around and stretches into the distance, and the slope is not very steep.
The old man leading the team stopped at the entrance of the trail for a few seconds, looked around, and was the first to climb the mountain, and the rest of the people followed.
The path was covered with thick fallen leaves and dead branches. It creaked when you stepped on it, and there was no sense of solidity. From time to time, you would encounter fallen tree trunks and rivers formed by rainwater. In addition, most people were carrying items in their hands, so the pace of progress was slow.
After walking for more than twenty minutes, everyone finally reached the top of a slope.
At this time, there were fewer trees around, the vegetation became thinner, the road was suddenly unobstructed, and the view suddenly became clear.
Looking around, you can see mountains surrounding you with villages and fields in between.
However, the heights of the mountains are generally low, lacking the heroic feeling of climbing to the top and overlooking all the other mountains.
Everyone continued to move forward.
After about five minutes, we arrived at a place with obvious signs of human construction.
The old leader finally stopped.
"Here we are, this is it."
(End of this chapter)