Chapter 1699 - 1699
"Hmm... Ao Yong, Ao Jun..."
Liu Zhizhong nodded, driving while looking thoughtful, internally noting down those names.
Ah-Xia shook his head somewhat dejectedly, "Brother Zhongshui, that's how it is here. Those with money and power are the masters. Those without money, the poor, can only be bullied. Sigh... I don't know what will happen when Xingban returns. His affection for Ah-Yu is known throughout the village, but... he has no money and is burdened with debt. How can he compete with wealthy people like Ao Jun?"
"I understand. This is the lack of choices for the poor!"
"Hehe... Yes... But, if you can help them, as long as Ao Jun hasn't paid money and hasn't cleared the debt, there may still be hope."
"Okay, I'll return to the village after dinner and see what the situation is."
Then, Liu Zhizhong took Ah-Xia to a very nice restaurant in town and sat down, ordering a large table of dishes.
Ah-Xia's eyes bulged at the sight; the dishes on the table were worth quite a bit! He kept saying there's no need for so much, just a little would be enough.
In fact, he had never eaten such good food in his life!
Liu Zhizhong said, "I ordered more because I plan to pack some to take back to the village to your family, and also to Xingban and Ah-Yu's families."
"Oh, haha, I got it, got it, thank you, Brother Zhongshui, thank you!"
"You're welcome! Ah-Xia, brother, the future days will get better and better. Your three children at home can go to school, afford school, maybe even attend for free. Your parents-in-law will also receive good retirement care..."
Liu Zhizhong was sincerely painting a picture, determined internally to make it happen.
Ah-Xia listened as if hearing something ancient and looked stunned, then bewildered, and eventually resigned.
"Brother Zhongshui, I've had some education, I know what you're saying is modern societal welfare. But we... haha... the people of Vallebang aren't even considered citizens, so how can we have those benefits? There are so many warlords here, each does their own thing, sometimes they take the young lives of the people to fight for territory, other times they collude to exploit the people, sigh..."
Ah-Xia shook his head, waving his hand, "Let's not talk about it, it's our fate, born here, suffering for a lifetime."
"Alright, let's just enjoy our meal! By the way, how did you get your education?"
"Me? Haha..."
Ah-Xia looked more bitter, shaking his head.
But when the dishes started being served and Liu Zhizhong poured wine, he didn't drink, Ah-Xia drank a little.
The wine was nice, the food was nice too, eventually, Ah-Xia opened up and talked about his school days.
Turns out, when Ah-Xia was little, his father was doing small business in Kachin City, and the family was doing okay.
Ah-Xia studied in Kachin City until the second year of high school, then dropped out due to family upheaval.
Mainly because at the time, warlord conflicts affected even the suburbs near Kachin City.
Ah-Xia's parents, then still young, in their early thirties, unexpectedly fell victim to the viral weapons used during warlord conflict actions, purely innocent collateral damage.
The warlords didn't care about these things, gave no compensation, when people died they were simply buried, and families of those who died from collateral damage were prohibited from talking about it...