Yu Bing thought of the limping man she saw that day. “Why won’t he sign up? Why don’t we convince him?”
Xiao Sheng glanced at Yu Bing and continued eating.
Seeing this, Yu Bing poked Xiao Sheng’s arm. “Speak!”
After Xiao Sheng finished his last bite of rice , he looked at Yu Bing helplessly. “I can’t tell you why.”
Yu Bing frowned as she looked at Xiao Sheng. She thought about it for a moment and said, “It’s fine if I don’t know. Then… then why don’t you convince him?”
Xiao Sheng lowered his eyes and thought about what Yu Bing had said before. He whispered, “I’ll try!”
When Yu Bing heard this, her eyes lit up. “All the best! Tell me more about Uncle Jin.”
Yu Bing had a good impression of Uncle Jin before. After hearing from Wu Qing that Uncle Jin was a retired soldier, she had an even better impression of him. Now that she heard from Xiao Sheng that Uncle Jin met all the conditions she mentioned, Yu Bing was even more curious about Uncle Jin. Xiao Sheng was a reliable and smart person in Yu Bing’s eyes. There were very few people who could obtain his approval.
Xiao Sheng thought for a moment and said slowly, “Actually, many people in the village are indebted to Uncle Jin and Uncle Jin’s father. The Wu family was the largest landlord in this village in the past. Later, in order to support the unification of the country, they sold many assets to support the front line.”
“Not long after this incident, there was another flood in the village. That year, there was no harvest, and many villagers’ houses were washed away. Not only did the Wu family exempted two years of rent, but they also opened a warehouse to distribute grain to save the villagers of the He Mountain Brigade. Everyone survived those two years with difficulty. If not for the Wu family’s actions at that time, many people wouldn’t have survived that natural disaster.”
“Uncle Jin is the only descendant of the Wu family. In order to protect the country, he resolutely joined the army. Later, after the war was won, Uncle Jin advised his father to support the country’s nationalization policy and take the initiative to hand over his land. Their family has a very good reputation in Jiangning County.”
“Later, Uncle Jin retired from the army because of an injury. The country arranged a job for him in the county city, but because of some reasons, Uncle Jin refused and returned to the village. One year, there was a famine, but Uncle Jin brought the villagers through it. However, I was still young at that time, so I don’t know what Uncle Jin did exactly, but I know that if Uncle Jin had participated in the village chief election back then, Sun Wang wouldn’t have had a chance.”
Yu Bing supported her chin with one hand and listened with relish. “So the key to this matter is whether Uncle Jin wants to be the village chief.”
Xiao Sheng nodded.
After confirming that Xiao Sheng would talk to Uncle Jin as soon as possible, Yu Bing went home.
The next day, after lunch, Xiao Sheng went straight to Wu Jin’s house.
When he entered, he saw Wu Jin’s mother taking off her shoes. Xiao Sheng smiled and went forward. He greeted politely, “Grandma Wu, I’m looking for Uncle Jin.”
When Grandma Wu looked up and saw that it was Xiao Sheng, a smile immediately appeared on her gentle face. “Ah Sheng, you’re here. Uncle Jin is in the courtyard at the back.”
Xiao Sheng entered the backyard with familiarity. When he saw Wu Jin repairing the stool, he shouted, “Uncle Jin.”
When Wu Jin turned around and saw Xiao Sheng, he casually pointed at the stool beside him and turned around to continue repairing. “Ah Sheng, sit. Why are you looking for me?”
After Xiao Sheng sat down, he thought about how to bring it up to Wu Jin.
From the corner of his eye, Wu Jin saw Xiao Sheng hesitate to speak. He smiled and took the initiative to say, “Tell me. I want to see what’s so difficult for you to bring up.”
Xiao Sheng looked at Wu Jin and probed, “Uncle Jin, Sun Wang has been captured. The village will definitely choose a new village chief.”
Wu Jin paused and put down the stool in his hand. “You want me to run for village chief?”
Xiao Sheng thought for a moment and nodded firmly. “Uncle Jin, I know you’re not interested in power and have more important things to do, but have you ever thought that this isn’t a long-term solution?”
“What if the new village chief is a villain who’s good at exploiting his power? Moreover, the Sun family has been indebted to you, so they help you get the permission slip to leave town every quarter. But can you guarantee that you can get the permission slip from the new village chief? If you can’t get them, what will happen to the people you have to take care of?”
Other than the Wu family, Xiao Sheng was the only person in the village who knew that Wu Jin was selling local specialties with his comrades. Xiao Sheng was able to enter this industry because Wu Jin had brought him along.
Five years ago, when Xiao Li had a high fever that didn’t subside. Xiao Sheng borrowed a lot of money to bring Xiao Li to the hospital for treatment, but even after spending all the money, Xiao Li’s fever didn’t subside. He was unwilling to return to the village to borrow money. At that time, only Wu Jin was willing to lend him money. It was all thanks to this money that Xiao Li could stay in the hospital for two more days until her fever subsided.