Book One, Miao Village Witch Ancestor, Chapter Two, Section One

"We've arrived. Prepare to get off!" The captain's stern command brought me back from thoughts twenty years ago.

My name is Shen La, and Shen Yuanchao is my third uncle. That year, he was promoted three ranks at once for his bravery in fighting the Great Xing'an Mountains fire, going from a small squad leader to a full company-level officer. However, he never received another promotion after that. He remained a company-level officer for over ten years, until he retired at the age of forty-two and took a position as the deputy director of the security department in a state-owned enterprise in the northeast (they called him a deputy director, but it was more like a department head position).

My third uncle had been married twice. The year he became a deputy company commander, my grandfather arranged a bride for him in our hometown. Despite being a cadre in the Armed Police, traditional values still dictated that my grandfather had a say in marriage matters. After a few visits when he came home to visit, the marriage was arranged.

Six months after their wedding, while my third aunt was visiting my uncle in the army, their car went off a cliff, and all forty-four people on board perished. When the news came, my third uncle was heartbroken. Although my third aunt and he had not had a long courtship, they were newlyweds, and losing her so suddenly was something neither of them nor anyone in our family could accept.

Later, as I grew older, my biological father and second uncle spoke about my late third aunt. In my second uncle's words, "If it weren't for my third brother's exceptionally hard fate, that girl Xiuzhi (my third aunt) would have had a good life for decades."

Almost a year had passed since my third aunt's death, and my energetic grandfather began to plan a second marriage for my third uncle. However, my third uncle refused to consider it. He couldn't bear the idea of preparing for a second marriage just a year after his wife had passed away, fearing he would become a laughingstock among his comrades.

No matter how my grandfather tried to persuade him, my third uncle wouldn't budge. In the end, my grandfather used his secret weapon.

Around the time of my third aunt's death anniversary, my third uncle took a special leave to return to our hometown and hold a memorial service for his late wife. On that day, my grandfather gathered the senior members of our clan and prominent figures in the village (my grandfather was the head of the local Shen clan, and the Shen family was a prominent one, making up more than sixty percent of the county's population) for a meeting.

As soon as my third uncle returned from the cemetery, he found himself surrounded by about fifty to sixty people in the yard. These elder clan members and the village's key leaders (all four major positions were present, the village chief, the accountant, the security director, and the women's director) began an intense campaign to persuade him.

From discussing family values to the importance of marrying again and having children to contribute to building a new socialist countryside. They even brought up examples, from a man in the village who struggled to produce sixty-six barrels of oil when he was single, but after getting married and having a child, he effortlessly produced sixty-six barrels of oil within half a month.

The village chief delivered a concluding speech filled with quotations and references: "Yuanchao, we've grown up together from childhood (in fact, the village chief was eleven years older than my third uncle, but they had been using this term since my third uncle became a deputy company commander). We're not outsiders, and sometimes, brothers have to say some things. Look at Liu Laoliu, who owns the village's oil mill. A few years ago, someone ordered sixty-six barrels of oil from him. At the time, he wasn't married and didn't have any help, so he couldn't produce those sixty-six barrels of oil. He ended up losing the money for those sixty-six barrels of oil because he couldn't deliver. But a few years later, after he got married and had children, someone else ordered sixty-six barrels of oil. Within half a month, he effortlessly produced those sixty-six barrels of oil..."

The village accountant and the current village chief had contested the village chief position during elections before, but the accountant had lost by just three votes. The two of them were still at odds behind the scenes. The accountant had once gone to Beijing in his youth, and although he hadn't achieved much there, he came back with a full Beijing accent and style. When he saw the village chief holding my third uncle's hand and speaking in the vernacular, the accountant poked fun at the security director beside him, saying, "This guy used to speak in fast-paced comedy routines."

To be continued in the next section!