PCJ – Chapter 666 A Bowl of Clear Water

“Uncle Zhang, are you really leaving? Didn’t you say you’d wait until our Yingpan Village was prosperous, and every household could eat meat, before you left?” The one most reluctant to see Zhang Jiaohua leave was, of course, Gu Chuangui.

Zhang Jiaohua smiled, “Although Uncle Zhang won’t be living in Yingpan Village anymore, I’ll still be paying attention to the village’s development. I’ll also come visit often. So Uncle Zhang will definitely make sure that Chuangui can eat meat every day in the future. But most importantly, I want you to be able to afford to study—go to university someday, and see the world beyond these mountains.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Zhang. I’m always ranked first in my class. In the future, I’ll definitely go to college like you and learn your skills—so I can help make other poor villages like ours become wealthy too.” Gu Chuangui looked off at the ring of mountains surrounding Yingpan Village like a bowl—perhaps he was already longing for the world beyond.

Zhang Jiaohua had already packed everything neatly and was ready to leave.

Gu Yongyi rushed over barefoot, “Cadre Zhang, we really hate to see you leave Yingpan Village. But at the same time, we hope you become a great official. The higher the position you hold, the more people will benefit from your kindness.”

“Elder, please don’t say that. I’m just a village official of Yingpan Village—whatever I did, it’s just what I should’ve done. You don’t need to be so polite,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“This morning, I went to the river and caught a few carp, and I also caught a wild pheasant in the mountains. Come have lunch at my place today. This time, you mustn’t refuse.” Gu Yongyi insisted.

“Elder, I can’t accept that. You’re trying to make me break the rules. Wild pheasants are protected animals. As a government official, I can’t set a bad example, right?” Zhang Jiaohua replied quickly. In rural areas, it’s often hard to strictly enforce such laws. For example, wild boars are also protected, but if there are too many of them, they’ll come out of the mountains to raid the crops. Nature’s balance has already been disrupted—without predators, overpopulation becomes a problem.

Villages like Yingpan have always had a tradition of hunting. Trying to ban it completely is nearly impossible.

Gu Yongyi was stunned, “Then I’ll go home and slaughter my old hen instead—we won’t eat the wild pheasant.”

“Elder, I appreciate your kind intentions, but I won’t come for the meal. These past few days, many people have invited me to eat at their homes. But I’m not Sun Wukong—I can’t pluck a hair and make a clone of myself. If I go to one home and not another, people might get upset. That would defeat the original purpose.” Zhang Jiaohua declined politely.

Gu Yongyi didn’t know what else to do and turned around, barefoot, heading back home. Zhang Jiaohua thought that was the end of it—but surprisingly, Gu Yongyi soon came back, carrying two bowls of food. Gu Chuangui followed behind, carrying a big bowl of rice.

“Elder, what are you doing?” Zhang Jiaohua said with a wry smile.

“I figured you were right. Most villagers probably want to invite you to eat, and you’re afraid of offending anyone. So I brought the food to you instead.” Gu Yongyi chuckled.

Zhang Jiaohua had no choice but to accept the bowls from him.

Gu Yongyi also brought a plastic bag full of hard-boiled eggs. “These eggs are already cooked. Take them with you and eat them on the road. Who knows when we’ll see you again.”

Zhang Jiaohua’s eyes turned a little red. He remembered when he left for the tea expo that year—back then, the villagers had also brought eggs to see him off. They weren’t wealthy and had nothing fancy to give, so they boiled eggs early in the morning. Yingpan Village was just like Meizi’ao back then—poor but full of simple, honest people.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t turn down the eggs. He smiled warmly, “I’ll gladly accept them.”

“Good, good. Cadre Zhang, eat the food while it’s hot. It’s nothing fancy—we don’t have anything fancy in Yingpan Village. But when our village gets rich, we’ll make sure to treat you to a proper feast,” Gu Yongyi said.

“I’ll definitely come back. Yingpan Village is like my second home. No matter how much it changes in the future, I’ll come back to visit. And I hope everyone remembers the hardships we went through—only then will we truly treasure the happiness that comes from struggle,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“We really should remember,” Gu Yongyi sighed emotionally.

Finally, the vehicle sent by the county arrived. Driver Shi Chao jumped out of the jeep and quickly apologized, “Deputy County Head Zhang, sorry I’m late.”

“It’s not your fault. The road’s rough,” Zhang Jiaohua waved his hand, showing he didn’t mind.

“Yeah, the road’s terrible. Originally, the county wanted me to drive a Santana, but I was afraid it wouldn’t make it. This jeep is much more suitable,” Shi Chao said.

“Cadre Zhang is leaving!”

No one knew who shouted first, but soon the entire village came out. Old and young alike surrounded the old schoolhouse, forming an impenetrable crowd.

“Cadre Zhang, we don’t want you to go!”

“Cadre Zhang, be sure to come back and visit us!”

…

The sight made Zhang Jiaohua’s heart ache.

Gu Yongyi filled a ceramic bowl with tap water and handed it to Zhang Jiaohua. “Cadre Zhang, this is our village’s tap water. If it weren’t for you, we’d still have to walk over ten li just to get clean water. Even little Chuanbao had to carry water for me when he was still a child. Poor thing!”

Zhang Jiaohua took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. “Good water! So sweet.”

“The spring water from the mountains of Yingpan is the best there is. But even so, we still couldn’t fill our bellies. Thankfully, everything changed because of you,” Gu Yongyi said.

Gu Baishui also came over. A little embarrassed, he said, “Cadre Zhang, I hope you can forgive me for any disrespect in the past.”

“No need to bring up the past. Secretary Gu, the future development of Yingpan Village still needs your full cooperation,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

The jeep started to move slowly, and the villagers began running after it.

“Deputy County Head Zhang, just look how much the people love you. It shows you’ve truly done good work,” Shi Chao said.

Zhang Jiaohua looked back—he saw the villagers chasing after the jeep as fast as they could. Only when the vehicle had gone far into the distance did they finally stop.