Chapter 152: Yang Dong's Hometown

“Team leader, is this Little Yang Village? It looks pretty prosperous.”

Early the next morning, Jiang Hu drove the city Discipline Inspection Commission’s car himself, taking Yang Dong to Little Yang Village in Xia Shui Town.

Little Yang Village wasn’t very large, with only a few dozen households and a population of just over two hundred.

It was called Little Yang Village because sixty percent of its residents bore the surname Yang, and most people were related in some way.

“That’s right. This is Little Yang Village.”

“It’s not bad. Our village has quite a lot of farmland, and we’re close to town, so it’s convenient to find work and buy what we need.”

Yang Dong sat in the passenger seat, looking out at the village he knew so well. For once, his heart was at peace.

Little Yang Village was less than three kilometers from Xia Shui Town. Head north out of town, and you were there.

The village’s young people either went to the city for work or found jobs in town.

There was plenty of farmland, too, all of it rich black soil. Every household had at least three or four hectares.

Moon Lake lay just behind the village.

Little Yang Village could rightly be called a village of fish and rice.

It was far more prosperous than the other villages around it.

“Turn east at the entrance. It’s the third house!”

Yang Dong pointed toward the road branching east at the village entrance.

Jiang Hu nodded and drove that way.

He pulled up in front of the third house, where a tall iron gate stood.

Though Little Yang Village was relatively well-off, very few people owned cars. So when a car stopped there, the country women who had been chatting nearby immediately craned their necks, staring at it curiously.

“Hey, sister-in-law, who’s that?”

“Looks like the eldest boy from Jianwen Yang’s family.”

“It is! He’s grown so much since I last saw him.”

“I heard Jianwen’s eldest graduated from college and went to work at the city government. He’s some kind of official now.”

“Well, good for him. He’s made something of himself!”

As they chatted, the women kept looking curiously toward Yang Dong’s house.

Yang Dong and Jiang Hu got out of the car and spotted the women nearby.

The village was small, and Yang Dong knew just about everyone.

“Second Aunt, Third Aunt, Sister-in-law Han, Sister-in-law Ma! How have you all been?”

Smiling, Yang Dong waved to them first.

“Oh, Yang Dong! Where have you come back from?”

“Yang Dong, you haven’t been home in ages!”

“You’re getting more handsome by the day. Are you married yet? Got a girlfriend?”

Country folk didn’t have much else to talk about. Give them three sentences, and they’d be urging you to get married.

“I just got back from the county.”

“I’m not married, and I don’t have a girlfriend. Work comes first. There’s no rush.”

Yang Dong exchanged a few polite words with them, then said, “Come by the house sometime.”

Sister-in-law Han was a woman in her thirties, plump and good-natured. Knowing Yang Dong worked in the city, she immediately caught hold of him.

“Listen, Dongzi, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“What is it?” Yang Dong asked with a smile.

Sister-in-law Han wasn’t actually named Han. People called her that because she had married Han.

“My boy’s about to finish primary school and start middle school. I’m hoping to get him into Xia Shui Town No. 1 Middle School, but his grades aren’t very good. Without knowing someone or having a connection, it’ll be hard to get him in.”

“I know you’re an official in the city, so you must have plenty of connections. Could you ask around and help my nephew get into the school?”

“Dongzi, don’t worry. Just tell me how much it’ll cost, who we need to talk to, and what gifts we should buy. I’m not stingy. If you help me get this done, I won’t let you go unrewarded.”

Sister-in-law Han was being extraordinarily blunt, but it was perfectly ordinary. It was 2008, and this was Northeast China. If you didn’t use connections to get things done, you often couldn’t get them done at all.

This was commonplace. Nobody thought there was anything wrong with it.

Over the past few years at the city government office, Yang Dong had often had people from back home ask him for favors.

If he wasn’t close to them, he would turn them down whenever he could. If they were close friends or relatives, he couldn’t refuse outright. All he could do was say he’d try, without making any promises, so he wouldn’t offend them if things didn’t work out.

“Sure, Sister-in-law. I’ll keep it in mind. If I can get it done, I will. If I can’t, don’t blame me.”

“I’m no big shot in the city. I’m just a gofer.”

“Of course, of course. Thanks, Dongzi!”

Sister-in-law Han’s face lit up. She didn’t pay any attention to his caveats. All she heard was that he’d agreed, which meant he’d get it done.

“Team leader, that’s a disciplinary violation,” Jiang Hu joked from beside him.

He was only teasing, of course. Even he didn’t think this was a serious problem. Pulling strings to get a child enrolled in a better school was extremely common.

The two men were just about to walk into the courtyard when they heard Yang Dong’s father calling from inside.

“Dongzi? You’re back?”

Yang Dong looked up and saw his father, Jianwen Yang, dressed in work clothes and carrying a shovel, apparently about to head out.

“Dad, I’m home.”

Yang Dong and Jiang Hu walked into the courtyard and went up to Jianwen.

“Aren’t you working in the city? Why are you back? It’s not a holiday.”

Jianwen didn’t look happy to see his son. Instead, he seemed nervous and uneasy.

Had his son gotten into trouble? Had he been suspended?

He was both right and wrong. His son had been suspended, but that was because Tian Guanghan had pulled a dirty trick on him—and it had happened more than a month ago.

Now Yang Dong wasn’t suspended at all. In fact, he held considerable power.

“Dad, don’t worry. I just came back for a visit.”

“This is my colleague, Jiang Hu.”

Yang Dong knew his father was jumping to conclusions. Rather than explain, he introduced Jiang Hu.

With a guest present, Jianwen didn’t feel comfortable asking more. He warmly welcomed Jiang Hu inside.

“Oh, a colleague! Come on in, come on in.”

“Hello, Uncle,” Jiang Hu said, nodding to Jianwen before following him inside.

Yang Dong’s family lived in a three-room brick house, putting them a little above the village’s middle class.

They had plenty of land, so they weren’t poor. But there were three children—two boys and a girl—and expenses added up. They had to be frugal.

“Come on, Jiang Hu, have some tea.”

Jianwen bustled into the east room carrying a teapot and tea leaves.

The tea was Monkey King brand jasmine tea—not expensive, but just right for serving guests.

“Uncle, you don’t have to fuss. I can pour it myself.”

Jiang Hu hadn’t expected Jianwen to be so hospitable. He quickly stood up, took the teapot and tea from him, and poured himself a cup.

“All right, Dad, you don’t have to stand on ceremony with him.”

Yang Dong saw his father still trying to pour the tea and waved him off. He and Jiang Hu were close; there was no need for all this formality.

“Dad, is Mom not home?”

Yang Dong hadn’t seen his mother, Yuxiang Du, and couldn’t help asking. Where could she have gone so early in the morning?

“This morning your mother and I set nets in Moon Lake. We caught dozens of pounds of fish, more than we could eat ourselves, so she went into town to sell them. She should be back soon.”