Rebirth as an official

"Chief Li, Cadre Chen, you have only been here for a short time, and you don't know much about some situations."

Wang Defu took a puff of his cigarette and continued: "Our Fuqiang Village has always been a poor village. It has always been difficult for boys in the village to find wives. Therefore, boys from poor families basically rely on marriage exchange to find wives."

"Exchanging relatives?" Chen Shanhe heard this term for the first time. Although he was also born in a rural area, he was in a wealthy place in the south after all, and there was no such custom in his hometown.

"Marriage exchange is actually a bad custom in rural areas. It is a marriage method in which the man gives his sister to the woman's brother as a wife in exchange for the woman to be his wife." Li An explained.

"What kind of bad habit is this? It's too sensational." Chen Shanhe couldn't listen anymore, and his mood that had just calmed down became aroused again.

"Hey, there is nothing we can do if our family is poor. But now the government does not allow marriage exchange, but as long as the women in the village reach sixteen, they will basically get married so that they can save some money for their sons. This is not just for us. Village, it’s the same in several other villages.” Wang Defu finished his words.

Liu Changfa also added, "Head Li, this matter is difficult to control. This is a family matter. If you control it too much, other villagers will rebel."

Chen Shanhe said with some confusion: "What kind of rebellion is this? What Wu Xiuju's family does is human trafficking and it is against the law. Don't you and the police station care about this?"

Li An said with a wry smile: "Shanhe, you have to look beyond the phenomenon to see the essence. What is the reason for the villagers' rebellion? If we interfere in the Wu family's marriage, then if the villagers' daughters don't want to get married, they will come to us. Solve it, then how will they save the bride price for their son in the future."

Chen Shanhe said angrily: "This is too cruel to those girls. They also have the right to pursue happiness."

"Hey, yes, but it's just poverty. If you weren't poor, who would be willing to marry off your biological daughter so early." Li An also sighed with emotion.

Ang Lee knows that this is still the case in many remote areas not just now, but even in the past two to 30 years.

The main source of income in rural areas is farming, which requires labor, and men are the main labor force.

As for daughters, in the eyes of many people in rural areas, married daughters throw away water. Once the girls get married, most of them will live with their men. If it can help their own families, it is better to get married early in exchange for a bride price.

"Li An, you have a lot of ideas. Do you have any good ideas? You can't just do nothing and watch that girl being forced to marry by her family." Chen Shanhe asked anxiously.

"Well, we definitely can't let Wu Xiuju get married. As for what we can do, we have to think about it carefully." Li An said, touching his chin.

At this time, the door was suddenly pushed open, and two black-faced farm men walked in. Walking behind was an honest man with a simple and honest appearance. He was Wu Yougen.

The other man was Wu Yougui. He was in his early 30s, with small eyes and a hooked nose. When he saw Wang Defu, he shouted: "Wang Jizi, is Xiuju here?"

"Xiuju is in the house." Wang Defu nodded.

"That's good, I'll take Xiuju back." After Wu Yougui said that, he walked into the house.

"Don't worry, you can't take people away yet." Li An stretched out his hand to block Wu Yougui's way.

"cadre Li?" Wu Yougui then noticed that Li An was also there and said with an unhappy expression: "What are you causing trouble here? Get out of the way."

When Liu Changfa heard that Wu Yougui was rude to Li An, his face darkened and he said sternly: "Yougui, why are you talking to Mayor Li?"

Wu Yougui was still afraid of Liu Changfa, and immediately said with a sneer on his face: "Liu Party Secretary, aren't I worried about my niece?"

Liu Changfa waved to Wu Yougen and Wu Youtian and said, "Xiuju is fine in the house. You don't have to worry. Let's discuss some things over there."

After Liu Changfa finished speaking, he pointed in the direction of the stone table under the big banyan tree in the yard.

Several people sat down on the stone bench. Liu Changfa first made a circle of cigarettes and then said to Wu Yougen:

"I said you have roots. I remember your girl is not even sixteen yet. Why are you so anxious to find her husband's family? You can't just wait."

Wu Yougen is an honest farmer, with a medium build, short and strong hands and feet, some sparse hair, and a thin face full of wrinkles. He looks like an old man in his 60s. .

He was wearing a gray undershirt and ragged black pants with a patch on them.

Wu Yougen was a little introverted and hesitated to speak.

Wu Yougui looked shrewd. He looked very similar to Wu Yougen. He had a mustache and those small, sly eyes that made people feel very uncomfortable.

Wu Yougui said loudly with a bit of a naughty look: "Zhishu Liu, it's not like you don't know the situation of my brother's family. The boss of his family is getting married and is anxious to get the gift money. I finally found it for Xiuju The money given to one family is quite a lot."

Li An felt sick in his heart for a while. Wu Yougui said it so bluntly that he was selling Xiuju as a commodity.

Liu Changfa ignored Wu Yougui and said to Wu Yougen: "Yougui, I remember that your eldest son is only 21 this year. The legal age for marriage stipulated by our government is 22 for men and [-] for women. I think we can wait a few more years. Get married again."

"This... this" Wu Yougen paused, not knowing what to say.

Wu Yougui, who was behind him, immediately grabbed the words and said, "Liu Zhishu can't say that. The first [-] or [-] people in the village got married, and their children are all over the place. The eldest brother of my brother's family is already [-] years old, so he's not too young. Besides, Finally, someone is willing to marry the girl over, so we can’t delay this matter.”

Liu Changfa glanced at Wu Yougui with some disgust. This guy was simply disgusting.

"Dad, I don't want to get married, I don't want to get married." At this time, Wu Xiuju ran out of the house and looked at her father's face with tears.

Seeing his daughter's heartbroken look, Wu Yougen felt sour in his heart. He had raised her heartache for her, so how could he not feel bad for her?

Wu Yougui saw that his elder brother seemed to be a little soft-hearted, so he quickly said loudly: "Xiuju, stop being so angry. Let's go home and talk about what happened."

After Wu Yougui finished speaking, he was about to walk towards Wu Xiuju. At this time, Li An once again stood in front of him.

"Captain Li, what do you want to do?" Wu Yougui looked at Li An with a somewhat unkind expression.

"What do I want to do, and I also want to ask you what you want to do." Li An sneered.

He finally figured out that Wu Yougui had been taking the lead in this matter. He was also the one who planned Wu Xiuju's marriage, and he might have benefited from the groom's family a lot.

"What's wrong with me taking my niece home?" Wu Yougui said confidently.

"You also said that that is your niece, not your child. What right do you have to take him back?" Li An asked.

"It's none of your business. Mr. Li, you are too lenient." Wu Yougui's voice also became colder. He was originally a bastard. If he really wanted to act like a bastard, he wouldn't be afraid of anyone. .