Carrying a Jurassic on me-Chapter 1324 - 645 Street_2

Xu Changsheng’s mind was in chaos, and he nodded subconsciously, "Let’s go for a walk."

The police station’s main gate was on the street. Although it was already afternoon, besides a space barely big enough for a van, everywhere else was packed with stalls, even splitting the street into two.

Officer Xu had already taken a round outside just a while ago and wasn’t wearing a uniform, so the two just slowly walked along with the crowd on the street.

They hadn’t walked far when Shang Jin yelled at a vendor selling vermicelli, "Hey, buddy, your accent isn’t local, is it?"

The middle-aged noodles seller grinned, "I’m from Huangtian area over there. Don’t worry, I won’t cheat you because I’m not a local. Want to buy some vermicelli? I guarantee they are authentic sweet potato vermicelli. I’ll be here for a few days, and if there is any adulteration, you can send me inside, and I won’t say a word..."

Shang Jin laughed, "I was just asking. We used to have fewer outsiders."

"That’s true, your place wasn’t much better than ours before. Normally, we wouldn’t come here," the middle-aged man laughed heartily. "Now the folks here are wealthy, selling things fast..."

Before he’d finished speaking, someone came to buy vermicelli, and since they were not customers, the man got busy attending to his buyers.

A few steps further, Shang Jin shouted at a fish stall, "Wow, that fish must be over twenty catty, right? Buddy, this fish isn’t from around here, right?"

"Spot on, spot on, I’m just from Cheng Guan Town..." the young fish vendor, busy serving others, managed to respond briefly.

"From Cheng Guan Town and not selling in the county, but coming here?" Shang Jin asked knowingly. "How’s business?"

"There are too many selling fish in the county, thought I’d try here," the young man replied while weighing fish for a customer. "Business is okay, thought I’d have leftovers from this year’s catch, but it turns out I’ve sold quite a bit here..."

Walking a few more steps, Shang Jin struck up a conversation with someone buying meat, "Big brother, how many people do you have at home? Can you finish all this meat?"

"During the New Year, the kids craved meat. I earned some money working at a construction site in the west this year, so I bought a bit more." The man, slowed down by the weight of the meat, didn’t mind chatting more. "Last year’s cattle were sent to the ranch a few days ago, now I even have the tuition and living expenses for the kid’s high school covered, not afraid to eat a bit more."

"What grade is your kid in? How are his grades?" Shang Jin asked further.

"This year he’s in the third year of junior high, will take the high school entrance exam after New Year," the man said, his spirit clearly uplifted discussing his student. "His grades are okay, he ranked just over twenty in the whole school on the final exams. The teacher said with a bit more effort, he might go to First High School in the county next year, or at least to No.19 Middle School..."

"I should congratulate you in advance then!" Shang Jin’s flattery came out smoothly. "Wait a few more years, and he’ll be in university! You’ll be able to enjoy your retirement."

"That’s still early!" the man modestly replied. "Not thinking about enjoying retirement or anything, just hoping to raise more cattle in the future, to build a house for the kid early, then everything will be complete..." freёnovelkiss-com

College is still early, but you’re already thinking about building a wedding house for the kid, who’s really speaking later?

Shang Jin was speechless for a while, just laughing towards Xu Changsheng.

Seeing that he was about to speak again, Xu Changsheng pushed him slightly, "Enough, stop asking everyone. I know what you want to say. Let me think, okay?"

Shang Jin chuckled and didn’t say more, continuing to walk through the crowd with him.

Not only were there people from other places doing business, but even from other counties. The little Sancha River area, with just a few hundred meters of street, was bustling with uncommon liveliness.

Locals shopping were carrying big and small bags, and although visually it was hard to tell how much they had bought, once they reached the meat stall, the sounds of the meat stall’s owner scolding his son filled the air, "You little rascal, can you hurry up? You’re big enough but still can’t help out, expecting your dad to handle selling several pigs a day. Want to work your old man to death, don’t you?"

Two people reached the crossroads in the middle of the street when Shang Jin asked, "Should we keep heading east?"

Xu Changsheng shook his head, "No more walking. Everyone is rushing to buy goods for the New Year. Why should we squeeze in with them?"

"Then let’s head back!" Shang Jin immediately turned around.

Back at the police station, they didn’t rush into the office. Instead, they stood near the entrance, watching the noisy crowd outside. Shang Jin appeared reflective, "See that? This is the change in Sancha River over the past few years. People’s lives are getting better, and they are increasingly willing to spend money. We used to only hear about leading the way in getting rich, but I never imagined that the development of a single enterprise could drive the economy of an entire area!"

It wasn’t just him who was surprised; probably everyone in the village hadn’t anticipated it. Even seeing the current situation, some might wonder, could the influence of one enterprise really be that significant?

The reality was right before their eyes, undeniable.

To give an example, a few families in a village made some money by raising cattle or working at construction sites. This was equivalent to having almost wealthy households. With money, even though most want to save, having cash makes them less anxious, and they spend more freely than before.

When there’s a wedding or a funeral in the family, in the past, giving ten or twenty yuan was considered decent. But now, giving thirty or twenty feels insufficient; you’d feel embarrassed not to give at least fifty or a hundred.

Previously, if a relative was building a house, contributing three hundred or two hundred yuan was the norm, but now with more money, why not give five hundred or a thousand?

In Sancha River, if rural families build houses, close relatives generally contribute more money to support. The homeowner keeps a clear record of this and repays it when there’s an occasion in your family, ensuring to return more rather than less—previously, building a new house for each family was quite challenging, and everyone got by with mutual help.

Even for weddings or funerals, the accounts are kept, and the homeowners gradually repay the contributions.

Also, with more money, what was once unthinkable, like eating eggs, becomes common. If your own supply isn’t enough, you are willing to buy some to nourish the children and the elderly in your family.

The money that leaves their hands circulates, naturally stimulating others to become wealthier as well.

In the past, the poorer they were, the less willing they were to spend. Now, the more money they have, the more willing they are to spend it, especially families with cattle who aren’t afraid of losing their wealth next year.

Isn’t it said that money is like water, only revealing its effects when it flows?

Xu Changsheng’s family was well-off and involved in business. Although not educated in economics, he understood these matters far better than Shang Jin, a simple country fellow. Although he didn’t speak, his thoughts were many.

Seeing Xu Changsheng not responding, Shang Jin continued, "Now the situation in the village is very good. If this continues, it won’t be long before we can retire that old Jeep at the police station."

Currently, besides the unreliable motorcycle, the police station had two vehicles: an old Jeep and a van donated by Yan Fei. If there’s an incident and the van isn’t enough, the Jeep still needs to roar into action.

Seeing Xu Changsheng still not joining the conversation, Shang Jin began to address the main issue, "Whether you call the villagers ignorant or say their educational level isn’t high enough, traditional beliefs are there and can’t easily be changed overnight. Take cremation for example, the village used to have the police station assist and enforce it for a while, but you can see what the situation is like now."

"You’re not from here, so you might not understand how much we want to maintain this condition. Even if it occasionally goes off track, everyone is willing to tolerate it. Really, when I was in school, I had good grades, and even the principal urged me to aim for high school. But in the end, I chose technical secondary school. Why? Because it meant I could start working earlier!"

Xu Changsheng had nothing to say, even now, the entry scores for good technical schools and Normal Universities were still quite a bit higher than those for key high schools. Were all those students attending technical schools and Normal Universities unwilling to go to university?

Not at all.

The reason was simple: they wanted to start working earlier to relieve their families’ financial burdens.

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