Chapter 410: Country People's Respect
The two-wheeled carriage with the advertisement of Newing Town Car Rental painted on the carriage was driving on a roughly renovated country road. Because the road surface had never been paved with gravel, there were ruts of varying depths on the dirt road, and there was a lot of dust. In order to avoid getting her coat dirty, Ms. Will only dared to open the window a little.
This old-style two-wheeled carriage has no driver's seat, and the driver can only stand at the back of the carriage and shake the reins from above the body to drive the horse forward.
Ms. Will hadn't seen this kind of old-fashioned carriage in the city for many years. She looked back curiously at the driver wearing a straw hat standing and driving the carriage. "Didn't the carriage company say that they have small iron carriages for sale? Doesn't the rental company in town plan to change the carriages? I remember that the price of these iron carriages for passengers is not much more expensive than traditional carriages."
——The iron carriage, which was custom-made from the G Province Agricultural Machinery Factory on Earth and modified from the tractor and tricycle chassis for the sake of cheapness and durability, was unexpectedly very popular in this world.
After some private individuals expressed their wish to purchase this kind of tough and durable modified carriage from the City Hall's Carriage and Horse Department, which has a solid chassis and built-in shock absorbers and is not easily deformed or broken even in the event of an overturn or collision, Yang Qiu readily accepted the offer and increased the order... This batch of orders from another world has already revitalized several agricultural machinery factories in Province G, as well as a dozen or so upstream hardware parts processing factories of all sizes, which is cause for celebration.
The driver smiled sheepishly and said, "We have already paid the deposit to the coachman, but there are still many people waiting in line ahead of us. We will probably have to wait until the second half of the year before we can get a ride."
Ms. Will exclaimed, "Ah!" and then she recalled how popular that small iron-shell carriage for passengers was. The Dutata City Hall had originally planned to arrange an iron-shell carriage for the listed earl as a vehicle, which was faster, more stable, more durable, and saved the effort of repairing the vehicle. However, there were too many people waiting in line to buy a carriage, so they had to make do with the old carriage copied from Ezekiel's house.
After thinking for a while, Ms. Will said, "Once our Innadelli Machinery Factory's production technology improves, maybe the iron-shell carriage won't be so hard to wait for."
Innadeli's machinery factory introduced a mature production line from the Earth, but due to the quality problems of its own steel and the limitations of the workers' level, it can only produce some sheet metal parts and hardware components with low requirements, as well as simple equipment with the lowest technical content, such as hand-held threshers, hand-cranked shellers, threshers, feed crushers, etc.
There is still a long way to go before we can build a tractor chassis that can compete with the Earth's quality, or a micro-tiller, rice transplanter, harvester, or other machinery with stronger application performance for which the Earth can provide drawings.
But even with this backward productivity that is not even comparable to the technological level of China on Earth in the 1950s, the emergence of Inadeli's state-owned metallurgical plant and machinery factory is still a landmark change for the local people.
After a bumpy ride back to the small village where she lived as a teenager, Ms. Will saw that many people's courtyards surrounded by earthen walls were filled with simple agricultural machinery manufactured by the Innadeli Machinery Factory - especially the 40-centimeter-high, four-branch, and generally circular hand-cranked corn thresher, which almost every household had one.
For example, a wheat threshing and husking machine that is 1.4 meters high and 1 meter wide is something that only a few relatively wealthy families can afford to buy... This thing is similar to the rice husking machines with wooden shells that were common in rural areas of China in the 1990s. It is easy to operate and very practical.
When Ms. Will was working for the Gerry family, she went home once a year. After joining the city hall, she became busy with work and has only sent money back home in the past two years and has not had time to come back.
When she came back two years later, Ms. Will found that the village had changed a lot.
There are more farmlands outside the village. The slope near the mountain that was originally a forest has been reclaimed into terraces. Even from a long distance, Ms. Will can see many people working on the slope.
There was a water-powered mill on the bank of the small river that ran through the village. When Ms. Will's carriage entered the village, she saw several women chatting and queuing in front of the mill. Next to the crowd was a small row of linen bags and some tools such as baskets and wooden basins.
The two-wheeled carriage stopped at the door of Ms. Will's hometown. When Ms. Will got off the carriage holding up the hem of her coat, the village women who were sitting under the roadside trees picking beans looked over curiously. When they saw that the "foreign guest" was Ms. Will, they smiled and waved in a friendly manner: "Is it Will from the Reed family who is back?"
"Hey, Will, you haven't been back for two or three years, right? Your mother and the others miss you very much!"
Ms. Will smiled and nodded to the village women, whom she could hardly remember who was who. She felt a little confused inside, because she had not been so welcome when she came back before. These village women were already very polite if they did not mock her to her face for being an "unmarried old spinster" because she had never married and had children.
Ms. Will 's mother heard the noise and came out of the house. She found Will standing at the door and exclaimed, "Ah!" She came out in great surprise: "Look who's back? Will, my good girl!"
Ms. Will subconsciously opened her arms and hugged her mother. She was very happy that her mother welcomed her so warmly, but also quite confused... This was not the treatment she received when she came back two years ago!
She still remembered very clearly that in the spring two years ago, four months before the undead appeared in Westham, when she came back that time, her mother just anxiously urged her to hurry in and not stand stupidly at the door, lest the villagers saw her and pointed fingers at their family.
It was not until she took out the old clothes that Mrs. Gerry had given her that her mother's expression eased a little; but she did not let her stay at home for long. The next day, she urged her to return to the city to work, so as not to displease her employer, the Gerry family.
This time, her mother seemed like a completely different person. Her enthusiasm was so warm that Ms. Will found it difficult to resist. She took Ms. Will's hand and walked into the house. She placed Ms. Will's luggage and hung her coat at the door. She also skillfully prepared tea and snacks, and kept asking about her well-being.
Ms. Will was somewhat flattered, and it took her a while for her to gradually understand why her mother's attitude had changed so drastically.
Not long after she sat down at home, the neighbors came to her door in groups.
These neighbors, who had always mocked Ms. Will for being "unmarriageable", looked at her city hall clerk uniform with envy and awe when she took off her coat.
Although they knew to disguise themselves a little and deliberately turn away to talk to others when they met Ms. Will's gaze, in the eyes of Ms. Will, who had seen all kinds of people, this disguise was meaningless...
I see.
Ms. Will picked up the cup and took a sip of water, thinking silently in her heart.
She would send 20% of her income back home, and also explained in the letter that she had left the Gerry family and was working at the city hall.
Although her income and social status could not be compared with those of Mr. Gary, who used to be a senior clerk in the Secretariat - well, Mr. Gary before the dead came - in the eyes of the country people, she was no different from the former Mr. Gary.
Ms. Will is also an ordinary person, and of course she is vain. However, because of the misunderstanding of her by her family and fellow villagers, Ms. Will cannot be vain... because she knows very well that this kind of "honor" and "dignity" comes at a price.
Sure enough, after a while of roundabout flattery by the villagers, some began to ask indirectly whether they could ask Ms. Will for help in finding a job at City Hall. They couldn't even think about a clerk position, so they would just be happy to work as a contract worker at City Hall or get a position at the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.
While the villagers were asking questions with blushing faces, Ms. Will's mother stood by with a proud look on her face, staring at her daughter with bright eyes.
Ms. Will knew that her mother was observing her attitude towards the villagers to judge the bottom line of her ability to use her power to gain benefits for her family. If she could even introduce villagers to work as contract workers, then it would be no problem for her mother to plan greater benefits for her family.
It seems that the mother also knew very well... For the eldest daughter who was sent out to work at the age of fourteen, the constraints of family affection are extremely limited. If she rashly makes excessive demands, the possibility of being rejected is very high.
Ms. Will sighed slightly inwardly.
There have been several cases in Innadelli where employees have been influenced by their relatives, neglected their duties or abused their power. Every time something like this happens, the city hall will inform all departments to learn from it, and will also publish it in newspapers to alert the world.
Ms. Will remembered very clearly that such an incident happened in Westham in the second month after she joined the Logistics Department. Lord Tuttle Joe was furious and personally investigated the relevant personnel. He dismissed and demoted more than a dozen people, and implicated many people.
Mrs. Hank, who worked in the Logistics Department's direct management department, was anxious for several days and wrote several letters asking her youngest son, who stayed in Westham, whether he was involved. She also urged her youngest son to cherish his current job and not let down the trust of the town hall.
Ms. Will didn't know whether her mother knew how strictly Innadri was investigating and controlling the so-called "personal relationships". She only knew that... her mother might not care much about her situation in the city hall.
Otherwise, it would be a normal reaction for Mrs. Hank to worry about her son losing his job. She would never brag to the villagers that she works at the city hall and allow villagers to come to her house to test her bottom line.
She only cared about whether she could bring more benefits to the family, not whether she would face the risk of losing her job... Ms. Will really couldn't deceive herself about how much her mother cared about her.
Suppressing the depression in her heart, Ms. Will put on a "decent" smile that was taught by Mrs. Gerry, and calmly told the villagers when to go to the City Hall or which department in the Newin Town Hall to register if they wanted to become contract workers, what the entry standards were, and what the assessment standards were for the internship period, but she never mentioned whether she would help to "say hello".
After sending away the dissatisfied villagers, Ms. Will turned to face her mother, who already felt a little strange to her, and took out the official attitude she had learned in the Logistics Department, and said calmly: "I heard that the family is preparing for Alice's marriage. She is only seventeen years old, and it is a little too early for her to get married now. If you think Alice is a hindrance at home, then let her go to the city with me. She can work and take night classes for about half a year. Alice will have a chance to join the Logistics Department."
Before her mother, Mrs. Reed, could speak, Ms. Will added, "Expenses in the city are very high now. Alice only needs to send back 10% of her income, otherwise her living expenses will not be enough. By the way, I plan to apply for a loan to buy a house in the city, and I will not send money back in the future."
From the age of fourteen to twenty-seven, a full thirteen years, Ms. Will believed that the money she sent back was enough to repay her family for raising her - since her family had calculated her accounts so clearly, she might as well be more shrewd.
Mrs. Reed looked at her eldest daughter in astonishment, as if she could not believe that she would speak to her like that.
"no!"
Mrs. Reed vaguely felt that something was getting out of control, and instinctively opposed her eldest daughter's proposal. However, her 27-year-old daughter had long passed the stage of needing to send money home, and most other children stopped paying money to their families after they were in their early twenties and were about to get married. So after a brief thought, she quickly found a point to oppose her eldest daughter's self-determination, and said firmly:
"Alice can't go to the city with you. Your father and I have found a good family for her. We are not the kind of family that would break an appointment. If Alice goes to the city at this time, what will others say about our family? Can your father and I still meet people in the village?"
Ms. Weir looked at her mother calmly.
In fact, country people care more about "respectability" than city people do. Ms. Will has known this for a long time... In order to appear more respectable in the eyes of others and to maintain their face, they don't even mind making their family members, or even themselves, suffer.
"This is indeed a bit difficult." Ms. Will nodded, and first expressed her approval of the mother's behavior of maintaining the family's reputation - if you want to convince others, you can't just deny the other party outright. This is the grassroots work experience taught in the internal training courses of the City Hall.
"But if Alice can successfully complete the night classes and get the opportunity to work in the city hall like me, then our family will have two people working in the city hall." Ms. Will continued, "My eldest brother's son Jamie is twelve years old this year, right? If my eldest brother and sister-in-law are willing, let Jamie go to the free school in the city earlier. When Jamie graduates, he will have a better chance of finding a good job in the city."
Ms. Will's mother, Mrs. Reed, gave birth to eight children, five of whom were successfully raised. The eldest daughter, Ms. Will, was second, and the youngest sister was Alice, who was only five years older than her eldest brother's eldest son, Jamie.
Except for little Alice, the last born, and Ms. Will, who went out to work early to earn money, the other three children of the Reed family are all married and have children.
Her mother started giving birth at the age of 20, and she is still working hard to have children now that she is almost 40. Ms. Will cannot understand this kind of hard work, but she does not want her younger sister Alice to marry in the countryside like her mother and live a life where she only thinks about having children all her life.
When Ms. Will proposed the idea of "having two members of the Reed family work at the City Hall," Mrs. Reed couldn't help but be tempted.
Alice grew up beside her and is more obedient than Will. If Alice could become a city hall person like the eldest daughter Will, she would definitely consider taking care of the family more than Will, who is not close to his family.
However, Mrs. Reed was not so easy to forgive her disobedient eldest daughter. She just said in a stiff tone, "Wait until your father comes home," and got up to do housework.
Ms. Weir had seen colder attitudes from her mother and was not impressed.
That evening, when the whole Reed family gathered together, Ms. Will reiterated the suggestions she had made to her mother, emphasizing that the "two daughters working in the city hall" would make the Reed family more "respectable" in the village. She also tried to win the eldest brother's support by suggesting that his son Jamie go to school in the city - the Reeds were both traditional Rhine people, and the Rhine was a traditional agricultural country that emphasized the primogeniture system, and the eldest son's words would be more valued by the parents in the family.
After more than an hour of family discussion, Ms. Will, who had more than ten years of experience working outside, successfully persuaded her family who had lived in the countryside for a long time to secure an opportunity for her younger sister Alice, who had secretly written to her for help, to leave the countryside and go to the city to fight for her future.
When they were squeezed into her little sister's cramped attic room for the night, Ms. Will solemnly warned Alice, who was too excited to fall asleep, "Only those who can finish night classes and pass the exam can be hired by the City Hall. I can't help you with this matter. If you can't use your energy as much as possible on studying, then you may only be able to do odd jobs for the rest of your life, or be deceived by a man who can say nice things, and work harder to make money to support that man."
Little Alice patted her chest and assured, "Don't worry, Sister Will. I have heard Caroline's story many times. What I want most is to build a career like her. I will work hard and study hard, and I won't use my mind on other things."
A smile appeared on Ms. Will's stern face.
Ms. Will also likes the radio drama "Our Struggle". Compared with those unrealistic romance novels where the girls rely on luck to marry aristocrats or rich men, Caroline, who works diligently to build her own career, is worthy of emulation by girls.
"I'm not saying that you should be like me, still unmarried at this age." Ms. Will reached out and touched Alice's soft hair, and said softly, "If you meet a good boy who works harder than you and studies harder than you, if he is not married, you can also try to have a relationship with him..."
There was no electricity in Ms. Will's hometown yet, and the villagers went to bed early. While Ms. Will and her sister were looking forward to the future, in the city of Innader, Mrs. Harrington and her daughter sat together in a guest house room arranged by the city hall, listening to the radio drama "Caddy's Farm" with relish.
This radio drama, which was just launched by the radio station two months ago, is based on the story of the Kadi family in Adler who applied to the Dutata City Hall to contract a small farm. The reason why this family became the target of the drama is that... next to their farm is the farm owned by the dead.
After the capture of Dutata City last year, two players from a small blood alliance obtained two "fiefdoms" of one hundred acres in area. Next to these two " player fiefdoms" is the small farm contracted by the Kadi family.
Living as neighbors with the dead, farming with the dead, having the dead come to borrow farm tools, working with the dead to drive away the wild beasts that destroy the crops... There are so many interesting things that have happened to the Kadi family, who were bold enough to be the first group to contract a farm.
The undead agricultural expert who went to the countryside to guide the local people in planting heard the Kadi family talk about what happened in their family. He thought that it could be used as a propaganda model for the harmonious coexistence of indigenous people and (non-national team) undead, so he raised his opinion to Zhao Zhenzhen.
Political Commissar Zhao made a prompt decision and arranged for people to visit and collect materials, and then asked Brother Lowell, who had not yet left Innadelli, to polish and artistically process the script, and the script was ready.
