Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s

Chapter 753: Chapter 746: Jianding Village

As the name implies, Jianding Village is naturally located at the mountain summit. Fortunately, the mountain isn’t very high, and the path up is not steep. The road was all manually trodden out by people; though it’s not steep, it’s also not easy to traverse. It’s manageable when the weather is clear, but if it rains, there’s no way to ascend the mountain.

Gui was leading the way ahead. This child was extremely nimble, moving like a monkey as he darted far away. He even took Sisi’s bag to carry, claiming he was strong enough to carry the bag and still move faster than Sisi.

By noon, the four of them finally reached the top of the mountain. Just as they entered the village gate, they saw a huge tree that required several people to embrace it, curling and winding along with some wild vines, forming a naturally distinctive dragon-headed village gate, which was quite picturesque.

This village gate was highly recommended by Huang Xiaoguang as a scenic spot. He said that when he chose to shoot a film at Jianding Village, one of the main reasons was because he was captivated by this unique natural village gate, and it was even used as a promotional image for the movie.

Back then, Huang Xiaoguang was highly confident in this film, aiming for it to win awards. However, he didn’t anticipate the film having trouble once finished due to containing taboo content like incest, rape, adultery, and sexual culture. It didn’t pass the review. Even with Huang Xiaoguang’s family background, it was useless; the powers were mighty enough to ban it decisively.

Thus, Huang Xiaoguang’s film, into which he poured countless effort, was aborted in Z Country. This incident was a significant blow to Huang Xiaoguang and was the primary reason he later switched from making films to producing them.

However, God is ultimately fair. Although Huang Xiaoguang’s film couldn’t proceed in Z Country, it blossomed outside the wall and bloomed widely overseas, winning numerous awards at several international film festivals. Foreign media praised him profusely, calling him one of the standout young generation directors from Z Country.

This could be considered a perfect conclusion to Huang Xiaoguang’s directing career!

Sisi once advised Huang Xiaoguang to continue making films and not give up his dreams easily, but Huang Xiaoguang said he wouldn’t make films anymore.

"The cultural atmosphere in Z Country isn’t suitable for nurturing a unique flower like mine. Restrictions and limitations for film-making are everywhere; damn it, I’m not doing it anymore!"

Well, the young master has the privilege to be a bit capricious!

The buildings in the village are all low straw huts, some even lacking doors, just left wide open. The straw huts are mostly very low, with a few that are somewhat better; according to Gui, those belong to the Chief or families where there are many men. Because the man of the house holds a position in the village, their lives are relatively better.

However, this ’better’ seems quite insignificant to Sisi; they still live in straw huts, without running water or electricity, akin to a primitive tribe.

Huang Xiaoguang said this village is relatively affluent; at least the villagers have fields, though not much, but enough to fill their stomachs and keep them warm. Those villages still deep within the mountains face harsher living conditions; villagers there struggle to even eat enough. Young girls are married and have children by the age of twelve or thirteen, like animals, without names or rights.

The village is ring-shaped, with a large open space in the middle where several big trees are planted, dense with branches and leaves. Many children and elderly people are resting and playing under the trees, along with a few local unique black-eared piglets darting around, occasionally snuffling the ground or playing with the children.

The children are, without exception, dark, thin, and short. Regardless of gender, they are all naked, even some five or six-year-old girls, visibly apparent.

The elderly look somewhat similar to those outside, except for having more wrinkles, a bit dirtier, and more senile. However, their hairstyles are rather peculiar; regardless of male or female elders, they all have shaved heads, leaving just a small tuft of hair at the Baihui point, amusingly.

"Gui, does the tuft of hair on the head have any special significance?" Zhang Jie asked softly.

Gui replied, "The hair is used for healing. Elderly people in the village often have health issues as they age, like various pains. They pull out a few strands of hair when they’re in pain, and then it doesn’t hurt anymore."

Pulling hair to relieve pain?

That’s truly the first time we’ve heard of this?

Sisi asked, "Isn’t it said that health clinics above regularly come to provide services?"

Gui snorted, "They come only a few times a year, disperse some common medicines to each household, conduct a cursory check and then leave. What’s the use?"

"And those medicines are bad; if they don’t kill you, then it’s due to good luck, so how can they treat any illness?" Gui said indignantly.

Sisi’s eyes lit up, and she exchanged a glance with Zhang Jie and Shangguan. It seemed Gui was indeed very familiar with the situation here.

Gui took them to the Chief’s house. The Chief was a middle-aged man around fifty, wearing a somewhat ill-fitting plaid shirt, looking slightly imposing as the ’Chief’.

The Chief’s name was Yanwang, a talkative person. He greeted Gui with a beaming smile and a hearty laugh.

Gui whispered, "Every time I come, he collects a lot of things. This old man is quite cunning, knowing that my price for collecting things is higher than others."

Gui lamentedly continued, "The old man’s two daughters are very pretty, but alas, they’re both married, alas!"

Zhang Jie couldn’t help but tap Gui on the head, "You sly little lad, so young yet longing for pretty wives!"

Gui touched his head, smiling broadly, "Of course, a wife should be pretty. My requirement isn’t high; as long as someone is as pretty as Sister Zhang, that’s enough!"

Sisi chuckled, Shangguan’s lips curved, and Zhang Jie couldn’t resist tapping Gui’s head again, scolding him, "You’re bold, trying to hit on me!"

They laughed and joked as they arrived at Yanwang’s house. Because it was a straw hut, lighting was poor, and the house was very dark, except for a few beams of sunlight streaming through the roof gaps, forming bright columns where countless dust particles danced.

The house was very simple, with an earthen floor, a table, a few chairs, but no stove—just a fire pit with a few pieces of black smoked bacon hanging above.

"Lunch must be at my house; I’ll have my wife cook smoked bacon and rice," Yanwang said with a hearty smile, revealing his yellowed teeth.

Rice is a rarity here. According to Gui, the scarce amount is all donated from above, and villagers normally don’t eat it, only cooking some when they have guests.

Such a rare treat made Sisi and the others insist on not letting Yanwang cook the rice. They eat rice every day, missing a few meals wouldn’t matter.

After Gui translated, Yanwang decided not to cook rice but had his wife make cornbread instead; of course, the bacon was still to be cooked.

Knowing Sisi and the others came to Jianding Village for photography, Uncle Yanwang became particularly enthusiastic, repeatedly saying the village scenery was the most beautiful. A few years ago, someone came here to make a movie too, although he didn’t know if the movie was completed.