Soon, Zhang Lisheng walked out of the old house's central room while holding an old wooden money box. "Uncle Ah Lie, let's go now."
"Let's go now." Tao Lielin nodded and walked to the village entrance along the mountain road after Zhang Lisheng locked the courtyard door.
Along the way, the villagers in Guawo Village could not help but show an unconcealable shock on their faces when they saw the duo walking side by side. Those who could avoid them by the side of the road would avoid them with a smile. When they could not avoid them, they would bow and nod unnaturally.
Zhang Lisheng sighed and said when they arrived at the village entrance, "Sigh, Uncle Ah Lie, it seems like the people in our village really treat me as an old man."
"Of course it's true.
I went to Secretary Tian this morning and told him that I want to bring you to the town's bank to deposit money. However, you don't have an ID, so we'll need a recommendation letter from the village committee to the bank.
"Guess what, Secretary Tian asked me to bring our village's stamp with me. He said that he's never issued such a recommendation letter before, so he was afraid that the bank would not accept it if it's the wrong one.
If he doesn't treat you as an 'old man', the reason he can act like this is because that chapter is his lifeblood.
"Think about it, even Secretary Tian treats you as an old man, let alone the others."
Tao Lielin hopped onto an unlocked red Wuyang motorcycle on the open space at the village entrance as he spoke.
Zhang Lisheng hopped onto the motorcycle's backseat. He held the money box with one hand and grabbed the motorcycle's rear bar with the other. He blurted out in low spirits, "What should I do?
"Forget it, I might leave our village soon anyway."
"Huh?" Tao Lielin, who was speeding on the mountain road after starting the motorcycle, asked after taking a sip of cold air.
"Uncle Ah Lie, slow down." Zhang Lisheng regretted that he told him something that he was unwilling to tell. However, since he had already said it, he did not want to lie to Tao Lielin who was loyal to him. Zhang Lisheng decided to tell the truth after a moment of hesitation, "The police found out that I was born in America and my mother is an American too, so they asked the people from the Chengdu American Consulate to look for my mother.
"I might leave if they found her."
"It's not surprising that you're born in America, kid." Tao Lielin did not seem to be very surprised. He slowed down a little and said, "I heard that your grandpa went abroad on a train ship in the previous dynasty. He's even joined that … something party.
Otherwise, the county government wouldn't have sent people to mess with your father thirty years ago.
Speaking of which, when I first started to remember, your father disappeared for many years. I don't know what he was doing. "
"There's such a thing? I, why didn't I know about it?"
"Who in our village dares to spread rumors about your Zhang Clan in front of the Zhang Clan? It would be strange if you knew about it."
Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a while and sighed. He said softly, "We don't look like fellow villagers even though we're living in the village. It's nice to live like this. I guess it's better for me to leave." He then stopped talking.
"Don't sigh. I think you'll have to come back to our Guawo Village sooner or later no matter which country you've gone to. This is the fate of your Zhang Clan ancestors. It's just that your Uncle Ah Lie might not be able to see that day."
"Uncle Ah Lie, don't say that." Zhang Lisheng sat at the back of the motorcycle with his head down. He said with mixed feelings, "Even if I've found my mother and moved to America, I'll definitely come back to the village to see you when I'm free."
After hearing what Zhang Lisheng said, Tao Lielin fell into silence for a while and said, "Mountain Worm, you're a righteous person.
I have a favor to ask of you, can you? "
"Go ahead, Uncle Ah Lie," Zhang Lisheng replied without hesitation.
"You know what I'm thinking too. Ermu was the one who broke into your house.
He teamed up with a foreigner to break into someone's house in the middle of the night. No matter if they were trying to steal or kill, they deserved to die according to our Miaowei people's tradition.
However, He Qingmiao's old man, wife, and descendants still have to live. Now that they can't attend the funeral, they're living in fear every day … "
"Uncle, I know what you're trying to say. Ask Ermu's wife to bring the child to my house to attend the funeral when you return to the village. I'll definitely help."
If Zhang Lisheng were to help with the funeral, it would mean that the grudge between the Zhang Clan and He Qingmiao would be written off. It would not be considered as offending Zhang Lisheng if the Guawo Villagers were to attend the funeral at Ermu's house.
It might seem like nothing, but according to the Miaowei custom, it would be considered as taking the initiative to humiliate the Zhang Clan and doing Tao Lielin a huge favor.
"Mountain Worm, you're kind and generous. I'll ask Ermu's wife to bring a healthy mule as an apology when she's attending the funeral."
The mountain roads in Western Sichuan were difficult to travel on. Horses could not last long while donkeys were too weak. Therefore, mules were the Sichuan people's favorite mode of transportation in ancient times. Since mules did not need to be fed with fine feed, they were very durable when it came to work, so they were extremely expensive.
Until now, using a strong young mule as an apology was considered the grandest way for the Miaowei people to express their apology.
However, mules were useless to Zhang Lisheng. He said while being stunned, "There's no need for that, Uncle Ah Lie. I don't need mules."
"How is it not useful? Kill them as an offering to the ancestors. Then, you'll go to Ermu's house to help with the funeral. It won't be considered as humiliating the Zhang Clan."
Hearing Tao Lielin saying 'kill them as an offering to the ancestors', an idea flashed through Zhang Lisheng's mind. "You're really thoughtful, Uncle Ah Lie. Alright then, ask Ermu's wife to bring a healthy mule as an apology when you're attending the funeral."
"Don't worry, I'll settle everything for you," Tao Lielin said while smiling.
Both of them arrived at the Damu Town government station unknowingly as they were chatting.
As a new tourist town that maintained a certain classical style, Qu County's Damu Town had learned from the coastal tourist area that was first developed in China. While the economy was developing at a high speed, they did not rush to rebuild the old town's style. Instead, they continued to expand the town.
Now, it had successfully expanded from one street to four intersecting streets that were in the shape of a 'well'.
Of course, the town government station was still the core area of Damu Town. The business outlets of a few banks such as the Agricultural Bank, Construction Bank, Minsheng Bank, and the best folk hotel in the town were built on the street that was less than 200 meters long.
Tao Lielin drove Zhang Lisheng around the street and eventually parked the motorcycle outside the Agricultural Bank's business hall which had the least customers.
The both of them walked into the business hall. Tao Lielin took a queue number from the machine at the entrance and said while pouting, "Mountain Worm, there were only two to three salespeople in the Milky Way in the town last time. We were so bored that we were starving to death.
"Look at the situation now, we have to use the machine to take a queue number."
In the business hall, a young lady who had fresh short hair and was wearing an employee uniform with a gold 'at your service' embroidered belt on her chest took the initiative to welcome Tao Lielin after hearing his complaint, "My friend, may I know what kind of service you're looking for?
"If you're using a card to withdraw money, you don't have to queue at the self-service ATM over there. It's more convenient."
"No, we're here to open an account and deposit money," Tao Lielin pointed at the old wooden money box that Zhang Lisheng was holding and said, "Miss, may I know where I can deposit money faster?"
"I'm sorry, opening an account and depositing money is a counter service. You can only queue according to the number that you received," the lady said apologetically.
"We have a lot of savings, we can't even accommodate hundreds of thousands of yuan."
The lady was slightly stunned, but she was not too surprised. Ever since Qu County became a new tourist attraction, it was common to see Miao people gambling in Damu Town with bundles of hundred-dollar bills in bamboo baskets, let alone depositing money in the bank.
She smiled while showing her eight teeth and said, "My friend, if the one-time deposit amount is more than 500,000 yuan and you're willing to apply for our bank's Golden Wheat Card, you can go to the VIP room to complete the deposit service."
After Zhang Daowu died, the insurance compensation was 500,000 yuan. The Golden Path Company that was affiliated to the taxi that caused the accident had compensated Zhang Lisheng with 150,000 yuan in consolation money. Together with the more than 50,000 yuan that he earned from the funeral, he had a total of more than 700,000 yuan.
Zhang Lisheng was planning to deposit 700,000 yuan, so he asked, "I'm planning to deposit 700,000 yuan, but what's that consumer credit card?"
The lady finally felt a little surprised when she realized that the tanned and skinny young man who was wearing a gray overalls that did not fit the middle-aged man was the customer.
She was stunned for a moment and asked out loud, "May I know how old are you this year?"
"17."
"You're already 16 years old?" The lady took a good look at Zhang Lisheng and asked doubtfully again.
"Of course, I'll be 16 on the 7th of July, I even brought my household registration with me."
The lady's eyes lit up hearing what Zhang Lisheng said, "I'm sorry, I'm asking about your age because the minimum age for a Golden Wheat Card holder is 16 years old.
"Such a card can be used in all of China and the 37 countries that have signed a reciprocal agreement with China's Bank Association.
"Not only that, there's a 50% service charge when you swipe the card overseas.
"Apart from that, you can enjoy VIP treatment at all the airports and high-speed rail stations in the country with this card."
She explained so much, but she did not mention that this Golden Wheat Card did not have any interest payment at all. If the card holder did not swipe a certain amount every year, there would be a deduction of an annual fee of 2,000 yuan.
Apart from China, the other countries that the Golden Wheat Card could be used in were relatively poor small countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Nobody would travel there unless they were out of their minds.
The lady's words confused Zhang Lisheng. His heart skipped a beat as he asked, "Can it be used in America too?"
"Of course. Although it's not as convenient as those countries that have signed reciprocal agreements with China's Bank Association, it can be used directly in some duty-free shops in some tourist cities."
"Then, I'll apply for such a card."
The girl smiled from ear to ear. She said, "Please follow me." She then brought Zhang Lisheng and Tao Lielin to the VIP room in the business hall. "Please follow me." She then brought Zhang Lisheng and Tao Lielin to the VIP room in the business hall.
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