Chapter 925: Chapter 925: The Ruined Mountain Village
"Oh oh oh... so thrilling..."
The SUV bumped along the dirt road, pressing forward.
Nie Yinghong, sitting backward between Lin Fan’s legs, was constantly groaning loudly due to the jolts.
As for Lin Fan, he focused on holding the steering wheel, looking at the village nestled halfway up the mountain in the distance. But what puzzled him was that the car originally tailing them disappeared before entering the dirt road. Could it be that they didn’t plan to act here?
As the car slowly drove into the village, Nie Yinghong, now wearing her underwear, still had a blush on her face. She pointed to the village committee ahead, signaling for Lin Fan to stop the car. After getting out, she waved at several cars that arrived one after another behind them, all of whom were colleagues from the education bureau.
"It’s really poor here!"
Lin Fan stepped out of the car, looking at the houses in front of him, many of which were made of earth. Being away from the main village, they hadn’t benefited from the convenience of the Village-to-Village Road Program. Just this winding dirt mountain road had consumed a lot of effort, yet the over a hundred households living here were unwilling to move.
"County Magistrate Lin, this is Team Four of Huanglan Village, housing a total of 103 families!"
Mayor Ma and the village head of Huanglan Village hurried to Lin Fan’s side.
"The transportation here is inconvenient, and there isn’t much arable land. I recall there’s a policy at the county level for relocating villages. Don’t you have any other land for use in Huanglan Village?"
Lin Fan stood at the village entrance, glancing around. The road he just traveled was full of dangers; from here, looking down, it was practically another world compared to outside, lagging at least fifteen years behind.
"Of course, there is, and quite a lot indeed. We implemented a new policy eight years ago, dividing the residents of Team Four into various small teams, and providing them with corresponding land. The village was supposed to be abandoned, but some elderly people were unwilling to leave, so they all came back."
The village head quickly explained, "Moreover, the hillside behind Team Four produces a lot of hedgehog mushrooms and matsutake mushrooms, so most villagers go up the mountain to pick them in spring and autumn. They can earn fifty to sixty thousand yuan in just one season, which is more profitable than farming. Thus, the relocation plan was ultimately not implemented."
"So that’s how it is."
Since there was no assassination attempt, Lin Fan fulfilled his duty as a deputy county magistrate, following the mayor and the village head around the village.
Due to its remote location, there was no electricity here. Each household had solar panels on their dilapidated houses, which was their only chance to connect with modern civilization.
"Go, go, go... get out of here, whether my granddaughter goes to school is none of your business... get out!"
As the group strolled forward, a hunchbacked old woman not far away was waving a broom, chasing several staff members out of the gate. In the courtyard behind her, a teenage girl in shabby clothes was helplessly holding a three or four-year-old child, staring blankly at everything, not daring to respond in any way.
"Ma’am... there is now a county policy for free schooling, and it can even earn money."
Nie Yinghong hurried over, trying to explain to the wrinkled old woman.
"Get lost, stop telling me useless things... my granddaughter doesn’t need to go to school... if she leaves, what about the pigs at home... are you going to take care of the children at home... hurry up and get out... I decide my granddaughter’s future, not you!"
The old woman wouldn’t listen to Nie Yinghong at all, aggressively waving the broom to drive them out of the yard.
"What is this situation?"
From afar, Lin Fan watched the teenage girl in pity, her clothes patched, and frowned as he looked at the village head.
"This is normal... This village values boys over girls. Most of the adults are elderly. If there’s a girl in the family, many don’t even finish elementary school before coming home to work. There’s nothing we can do. In the village, there are fewer and fewer young boys, and a little girl is also a labor force. When she reaches the right age, she can be married off for money, so Team Four has the lowest school enrollment rate. There’s nothing I can do about it; these are elderly folks in the village, I can’t speak against them or reprimand them!"
The village head also lamented. Due to its isolation, the village was severely aging, and most of the elders were his seniors. With their age, they were unswayed by him as village head.
"I’ll take a look!"
Lin Fan stepped toward the courtyard. It wasn’t the first time they faced closed doors, but as the county magistrate, apart from political struggles, he had to handle some matters. At least he was here now; he had to at least help those girls.
"County Magistrate Lin... we simply can’t get in!"
Nie Yinghong awkwardly looked at Lin Fan walking over. He just smiled and strode to the gate, but before he could speak, the old woman madly swung the broom at him.
"Whoa, so aggressive."
Without even a chance to speak, Lin Fan could only smile bitterly and retreat. Seeing this, the village head hurried over: "Grandma Sun, you can’t hit him... this is the county magistrate!"
"What... he’s the county magistrate?"
Upon hearing this, the old woman was stunned. After sizing Lin Fan up, she suddenly knelt down with a thud.