Reborn as a Noble’s Son
Chapter 1158 - Chapter 1158 Chapter 1114 The Hardship of Farmers

Chapter 1158: Chapter 1114: The Hardship of Farmers Chapter 1158: Chapter 1114: The Hardship of Farmers The car drove out of the courtyard of Qinxixian First Middle School, but Nie Zhenbang’s expression grew even more somber. His trip to Jinan City had made him personally experience the wild and arrogant behavior of the Zhao Clan Group. With a cold snort, Nie Zhenbang’s face became unprecedentedly solemn, “Meddling in others’ affairs? This affair, I am decidedly going to meddle in.”

In the following few days, Nie Zhenbang skimmed through various cities like a traveler in a hurry. Longxi, with its jurisdiction over ten cities, is divided into Liangzhou City, Yizhou City, Yongzhou City, Qinyang City, Weiyue City, Shian City, Jinan City, Linzhou City, Qinchuan City, and the provincial capital, Ancient City.

Over the next four days, Nie Zhenbang visited seven of these cities, with only Shian City and Ancient City left.

Basically, spending half a day in each city, most of Nie Zhenbang’s travel time was at night. Basically, Nie Zhenbang arrived in a city at night to take a look around, to walk around. To understand the local customs and observe the local economic development. From the attitudes and expressions of the residents, one could roughly glimpse some insights. Then, around ten or eleven in the morning, he would continue on to the next place. Arriving in the afternoon, he took advantage of the afternoon and evening to understand the area. After dinner in the evening, he rushed to the next city to rest.

After four days, even someone as physically strong as Nie Zhenbang felt fatigued. Finally, he spent a day in Shian City.

Here was a place where the revolutionary forefathers had once strived. The scenery of the Loess Plateau, the dusty yellow soil, emitted a sense of dryness and poverty. Cave dwellings were visible everywhere. Due to severe soil erosion, ravines and gullies were densely packed upon looking into the distance, devoid of greenery. Even many areas were gradually undergoing desertification.

Seeing this scene, Nie Zhenbang’s face darkened too. The An River meandered through the downtown area of Shian City. The city was well-built. But Nie Zhenbang did not stay. Instead, he headed towards the depths of the Loess Plateau.

The speed of the car was kept at around sixty mph, considering his purpose, Nie Zhenbang did not take the highway but followed the provincial roads within Shian City and even county roads, wandering aimlessly.

The environment here was extremely harsh; the deeper one went, the more impoverished and backward it became.

Faintly, one could hear the melody of Xintianyou. Farmers wearing white headscarves driving goats sing on the ridges. Their high-pitched and clear voices had such penetrating power.

The vegetation here was severely damaged. On the ridges and in the gullies, it was all bare, with very little greenery to be seen anywhere. The eye was met with nothing but yellow soil.

A gust of wind brought a scene of the yellow soil filling the sky. The environment had deteriorated to such an extent. In such a place, the soil and water could no longer be retained. Coupled with the already dry and rainless climate, a vicious cycle had taken hold. For the people here, mere survival had become difficult.

Then, raising goats, cattle, and other livestock, which were major consumers of the vegetation, became a burden. The poorer it got, the worse the conditions became; the worse the conditions, the poorer it became. This had turned into a vicious cycle.

The responsibility is heavy and the road is long. Looking at all this, Nie Zhenbang felt an unprecedented sense of heaviness. If in Jinan City, Nie Zhenbang’s mood had been one of raging fury, then at this moment, it was one of suppression, a sense of mission. “To be an official for a term, to bring prosperity to a region”: this adage, which had been given to Nie Zhenbang when the old patriarch was still alive, had been passed down for thousands of years in China’s officialdom.

Yet, Nie Zhenbang had always kept it in mind and had always implemented it. But after seeing all this, his mood had also become heavier.

Continuing deeper, the original asphalt roads had turned into dirt roads; as the car passed, it raised trails of dust behind it.

Suddenly, a figure on the ridge ahead caught Nie Zhenbang’s attention. From afar, a frail figure walked arduously along the ridge, carrying a basket on his back almost half the size of his body.

Seeing this, Nie Zhenbang unconsciously stopped the car, opened the door, and walked down. He headed towards the ridge.

As the distance between the two figures narrowed, Nie Zhenbang was completely stunned. How old was this child? Twelve? Thirteen? A child wearing very rustic flower-patterned cloth clothing, with a large basket on his back, taking steps, clearly showing that such a heavy weight was burdensome for a child.

Nie Zhenbang approached and immediately supported the basket on the child’s shoulders. Inside, there were two white, rectangular, large water jugs. He could see the clear water swaying inside. Just those two water jugs must have weighed at least eighty pounds.

Without speaking, Nie Zhenbang simply helped the child carry it. They walked down from the ridge and at that time, the child put down the basket and nodded to Nie Zhenbang, “Thank you, uncle.”

Once she began to speak, her accent was distinctly of Qin opera. Yet Nie Zhenbang was able to understand and hear her clearly. What shocked Nie Zhenbang even more was that this child turned out to be a girl.

A pang of sorrow hit his heart. This is what a child should be, he thought, looking at her small frame, probably even smaller than Pan’s. At this moment, Nie Zhenbang felt himself getting emotional, his voice choked up, “Child, do you have to walk such a long way to fetch water to drink?”

“Yes, the well water in our village is salty and undrinkable. Only over here can we find a sweet water well. Every family in the village has to walk over five li of mountain road every day to fetch water.” The child did not seem to find it unusual. Gazing at the clear water in her back basket, her face showed a look of anticipation and happiness.

This scene further saddened Nie Zhenbang, “Child, what about your parents? You are so young; you should be in school.”

The girl’s face and hands were dirty, but her gaze was clear. Upon hearing his question, a hint of sadness crossed the young girl’s eyes. She lowered her head and stopped speaking.

Seeing this, Nie Zhenbang stepped forward, smiling as he said, “Child, come on, Uncle will carry the water for you today. You lead the way.”

Following the girl up the mountain gully, they moved forward, and after about a thousand meters, turning a corner, a typical rural village came into view.

The girl’s home was located at the eastern end of the village, two cave dwellings. As soon as she reached the door, the girl shouted, “Grandpa, Grandma. I’m back.”

As the door opened, a dark-skinned elderly man stepped out. He wore a gray sleeveless waistcoat and thick soled cloth shoes. The wrinkles on his honest and simple face were profound.

Upon seeing Nie Zhenbang, the old man hesitated for a moment. Without waiting for the old man to speak, Nie Zhenbang smiled and said, “Old man, I’m just passing by. Earlier, on that mountain ridge over there, I saw this child carrying water alone. It was quite pitiful, so I helped her bring it back.”

“Sir, how old is this child? Aren’t your son and daughter-in-law at home?” Nie Zhenbang was somewhat dissatisfied. How could they let such a small child bear such a heavy physical burden?

What Nie Zhenbang didn’t expect was the old man to silently sit down on the threshold, sighing, “Ah, big brother, you don’t know the suffering of this girl. My boy, after she was born, it wasn’t long before he went to Jinmei to mine and died over there. His wife was still young, left the child, and remarried. This girl has been living with us two old folks. Now, we’re getting old and can’t carry heavy loads anymore.”

Silence. Another wave of silence. At this moment, Nie Zhenbang’s emotions also grew heavy. He sat next to the old man on a stone seat, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, offering one to the old man, and Nie Zhenbang spoke, “Uncle, how is the harvest this year? Can you make ends meet? Why isn’t the child in school? That won’t do. Her future depends on it.”

The old man nodded in agreement, “How could she not be educated? It’s just that school is out for the holidays now. Next year she’ll be in junior high. After junior high, that’s it. It’s a pity for this child of mine. She always gets the best grades, and her teachers praise her year after year. But with our situation, it’s impossible for us, we just can’t afford it. Those who can work might fare a bit better, going out to find a job and bringing in some money. But for a family like ours, we’re doing well to have a hundred or so yuan by the end of the year. We can’t afford further education. When she’s a bit older, finding her a good family to marry into, we’d feel we’ve fulfilled our responsibility to her father.”

The hardship and pain of farmers. In such poor and backward areas, the historical dependence on heaven and land for sustenance has never seen much change. At this moment, Nie Zhenbang felt a sense of dejection.

He nodded and reassured the old man, “Uncle, don’t worry, it will get better, it must get better. The Party and government will certainly focus comprehensively on rural issues. You just take it easy.”

Nie Zhenbang’s words seemed somewhat baffling to the old man. Suddenly, Nie Zhenbang stood up, checked his pockets, and saw that he had only over a thousand yuan left on him. The rest of the cash was in his car.

He took out an even thousand and walked up to the old man, pressing the money into his hands and whispered, “Old man, please accept this, as a little bit of kindness. No matter what, the child mustn’t drop out of school. No matter how tough life gets, it shouldn’t get tough for the children. Only knowledge can change one’s fate.”

“Ah, big brother, this… how can I accept this? It’s not right.” The old man was stunned, never expecting Nie Zhenbang to make such a gesture.

The old man stood up, his calloused hands still holding the thousand yuan, ready to give it back to Nie Zhenbang. However, Nie Zhenbang had already turned around. He said to the old man, “Uncle, please keep it. I’ll definitely come to visit you in the future.”(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (NovelFire.net) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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