Chapter 29: No one knows a son better than his father

  Jin Hu walked into his own room, the dim yellow light shining on the wall, the fragmented rice stalks and white ash wall was also mottled in daylight, a dark wooden bed, with a poster of a famous star on the headboard, the woman's mouth still had an eight-character mustache painted on it, Jin Hu saw this face and couldn't help but smile, he lay down on his own bed and casually turned off the bedside lamp.

  She slept until dawn and got out of bed, went out of the house to the yard, drew a basin of water, grabbed a towel and started washing her face.

  He had just wiped his face twice when he saw his old man walking over, Jin Hu handed the towel to his father: "There's ash on your face, wipe it off". One look and it was clear that he had been squatting behind the stove burning fire and got wood ash on him.

  Jin Guangfu patted it a few times with his hand, still not finding the right spot. Jin Hu had to pick up the towel to help his old father wipe off the dust. After a pause, Jin Guangfu closed his eyes and let his son take over.

  After helping his father wipe his face, Jin Hu brought the small table into the courtyard and the three of them sat down to eat breakfast. Jin Hu had two big bowls of sorghum porridge with red beans added.

  Jin Guangfu wiped his mouth after finishing eating and said to his wife, "Later, take the things that Hu'er brought back and send them to a few families."

  "I'll go send it" Jin Hu helped his mother clean up a table and said to Jin Guangfu.

  Jin Guangfu listened and said to his son: "You don't go, let your mother go, by the way, it's a visit, I have something to tell you".

  "I'll go send it, you two have a good chat." Jin Hu's mother said with a smile as she looked at Jin Hu.

  After a while, Jin Hu's mother took the things and left. Jin Hu and Jin Guangfu sat in the courtyard, one smoking a cigarette and the other puffing on a dry tobacco pipe, facing each other.

  Jin Guangfu said to Jin Hu, "I discussed with your third uncle for a long time last night. You're not a rule-abiding person, and I think the two businesses you're handling are also not legitimate." After finishing speaking, he glanced at Jin Hu: "A way that can make so much money in such a short period of time won't be a good one."

  Jin Hu grabbed his ear, smiled awkwardly, and Jin Guangfu sighed: "In that case, I don't have much choice either. Following you all the way to the end, originally wanted to let you bring a few people down the mountain this time, but your Third Grandfather quoted a price that I must discuss with you."

  "What price?" Jin Hu was taken aback for a moment. This time he came back thinking that he could bring some people with him, at least the crystal warehouse would be good too.

  "I've taken over as the head of the household!" Jin Guangfu looked at Jin Hu and spat out a sentence.

  "What?" Jin Hu looked at his old man: "You want to take over the position of the head of the house." Jin Hu knew that his old man had never liked that position, otherwise he wouldn't still be letting San Ye Ye manage the affairs of the village.

  Jin Guangfu looked at his son taking a sip of dry smoke: "If you want to take this path, then I can only take the position and help you manage the family. Although it's a poor and remote place with nothing good, but this mountain can hide a person and there's still no problem! In case, in case something happens, you'll have a way out that won't be considered a retreat."

  "Dad!" Jin Hu looked at his old man.

  "He's swindled people out of hundreds of millions, and then ran away with it. He even started two new businesses, and now he still has the nerve to ask for help from others. What do you think he should be thinking? The old man is just like your grandfather, always worrying about who will take over this village! He wants to bring people out, if I don't accept then you'll have to."

  Jin Hu listened and immediately said: "Then I'll do it! What's there to be afraid of?" Before he finished speaking, his father slapped him on the head.

  "Do you think it's easy to be the head of a household?" Jin Guangfu looked at his son and said, "You can take a group of people out and as long as they have food and drink, that's enough. But this is more difficult than earning a salary! Once you take them out, you have to take care of the expenses of their whole family for two generations!" Jin Guangfu said to Jin Hu.

  "Is there such a saying?" Jin Hu raised his head and said to his old man.

  "Has your grandfather told you about your great-grandfather?" Jin Guangfu looked at his son and nodded before continuing, "Your great-grandfather was the head of the household at 14, why? Your ancestor died young, leaving behind a widow and orphans in half the village who relied on him for food. Because the men in the family had died, your ancestor took on the responsibility, shouldering the burden at just 14 years old. You only heard your grandfather say that he became the head of the household at 14, but you don't know that he died before turning 19, do you? Your ancestor had five sons, and in a span of five years, four of them died, leaving behind only your great-grandfather. When he took over, the village already had more than 30 young men, and he still had the heart to follow others out of the mountains. What was important wasn't just brute force; if you were too hard-headed, you'd attract other villages to join forces against you. It wasn't about dividing up the spoils either; relationships with neighboring villages were also good. This way, everyone would have fewer casualties and more gains. That's how the current Stone Village was built."

  "Old Master handled this matter cleverly, every time using the lion to capture the rabbit, accumulating small gains into a large one." Jin Hu nodded in agreement.

  Jin Guangfu smiled after hearing Jin Hu's words, then looked at his son and said: "Being the head of the household is not just a name, it's a burden, a burden for several generations. When I die, you'll have to take up the knife and find food for everyone, this is the rule of our ancestors and all the villages in the mountains. If I'm gone one day, you'll also have to take on this burden."

  When it comes to this rule, Jin Hu had considered this matter when he was in school. There are so many stockades in the mountain that have been passed down for generations. In the past, they were led by the head of the household, and now eight or nine out of ten of the most prestigious elderly people are still from the original household. Firstly, it's because of this rule, secondly, it's because of intermarriage, just like Jin Hu's maternal grandfather, Jin Hu's mother Lü Cui's father, who is the head of the Shanxi Mianzhuangzi village. The heads of households in the mountain, as long as they meet, can pull a few sentences and connect with each other through one or two close relatives. Thirdly, it's not that the more people there are in the mountain, the better. Too many people would make it difficult to feed everyone every day, and swallowing up other stockades is unlikely. On the other hand, if there are too few people, there won't be enough manpower when collecting taxes.

  These uncultured bandit leaders relied on these three things to pass down their bloodline, of course there were also unlucky ones who had seven or eight daughters but not a single capable son, so they would use the trick of recruiting sons-in-law, and in the end they would still manage to pass down their surname.

  Jin Hu thought for a moment, what he wanted now was not too much, but once this matter unfolded, it would really require many people. Finding outsiders wouldn't be suitable, not to mention the physical quality being far superior to those from the plains. Moreover, their personalities were straightforward and wouldn't play tricks on you. When fighting, if one person died, the others wouldn't be afraid or timid, but rather angry. Some people had evaluated that men from this place could become good soldiers with some training, but it was rare to find a capable leader among them. They spoke directly and might offend someone without realizing it. Jin Hu didn't need leaders who would please people; he just needed one who dared to fight and was loyal.

  "Father!?" Jin Hu looked at his old man and said.

  Jin Guangfu looked at his son, thought for a moment, and sighed: "In two days, I'll take over the position! You're doing this business, just finding outsiders is not only inconvenient, but also unreliable. It's better to use our own family members. Moreover, you have an enemy outside, and it's useful to have these brave mountain boys." After finishing, he looked at Jin Hu: "Tiger is a brother, father and son are on the battlefield together. If the old man were still here, with you two brothers inside and out, this old man would have left early, but after hiding for over ten years, it's impossible to hide forever!"

  "Then I'll see you take your place and leave!" Jin Hu said to his old man.

  Jin Guangfu took a puff of smoke: "No need, you'll go down the mountain the day after tomorrow and arrange a place for the kids to live. Your enemy will take advantage of any opportunity to get rid of you, it's better to die early and reincarnate early, don't play cat-and-mouse tricks! Cats can play but you can't, because mice are always just mice and can never become mountain weasels, but your opponent is human, do you understand?"

  "I understand!" Jin Hu nodded solemnly after listening. The old man was talking about when he was a kid, staying beside a dying wild boar, using a stick to tease the boar and almost getting bitten.

  Jin Guangfu stood up from the stool: "Follow me to see your Third Grandfather" Jin Hu looked at his old man standing up, also followed and stood up from the stool, walking towards Third Grandfather's house.

  As soon as they reached the gate of the courtyard, they saw the old man sitting in a bamboo chair in the courtyard. When he saw Jin Guang and Fu entering the gate, all the wrinkles on his face gathered together.

  "Third Grandfather!" "Third Uncle!" The two of them followed the old man and exchanged greetings.

  "Sit! You two sit down and talk." The old man's face was full of smiles, pointing to the two bamboo chairs not far away. Looking at Jin Guangfu sitting down, he continued: "Guangfu, have you finally figured it out?"

  Jin Guangfu said to Shan Lao: "What can't be helped has no solution, the child is grown up and has her own ideas, I couldn't stop her".

  The old man pointed at Jin Guangfu and said: "You're always shrinking back, but there will be a day when you'll get angry."

  "I can't just watch as people who are worse than cats and dogs think about ending the legacy of my old family, the Jin clan." Jin Guangfu lit a cigarette for himself, while Jin Hu took out one from his pocket, first lighting it for Old Master before taking a drag himself.

  The old man looked at Jinhu and said: "I heard your father talk about this, it's not your fault, actually you didn't finish college, that can't be blamed on you. We are men, we should have some dignity, hiding our heads in our pants outside is not a good life! It's better to end it with one knife and still have a pleasant ending!" The old man patted the armrest of the chair: "I helped your father take care of this position for over ten years, people say I'm old but forgot my manners, don't understand the rules! Your father won't sit here anymore, now there's you, his son. Which family looks at things until the grandson is about to come out? Now your father has taken it, in the future it will be you, this ancestral matter must be passed down!"

  Jin Guangfu hastily said: "Third Uncle!"

  "I also know what you're thinking! Things are different now, the outside world has changed, and what you said is right." Old Master Shan waved his hand at Jin Guangfu: "In the past, kids could still go to be soldiers, but now it's not easy to even join the army. Going out to work? You've heard about the Four Villages incident, haven't you? Two young men killed two factory foremen just because those bastards dared to make them kneel. These kids have suffered hardships but can't take the humiliation, they escaped and are still hiding in the mountains."

  ;