Tong Xiaoxi learned about the pig farm’s situation as if engaged in casual conversation.
By now, she had acquired a fair understanding of which household grew what crops and who engaged in which side businesses in the village.
Laixi Village possessed abundant land and a large population, with many villagers engaging in side businesses.
There were people raising chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as those raising pigs, cattle, and sheep.
There were also people running distilleries, oil mills, tofu shops, small grocery stores, and video rental parlors.
The younger uncle of the Lei family ran a distillery, and now the eldest brother of the Lei family wanted to open a small grocery store as well.
Although there were already two or three small grocery stores in the village, there was no shortage of customers.
After Zhu Zhu left, she washed the piece of pork; although it hadn’t fallen to the ground earlier, it had still caught some dust.
With so much meat and the Lei family lacking even a refrigerator, the food could easily spoil in this June weather.
She cut off a large chunk of pork to make braised pork belly.
Her culinary skills were by no means exquisite—just enough to cook ordinary homemade dishes.
She made braised pork belly and directed Lei Yihong to go buy a block of tofu, preparing potherb mustard stewed tofu as well.
With a total of two dishes, rural home-cooked meals did not need to be overly elaborate.
As for Lei Yihong’s former habit of being a picky eater, coming here had cured it directly: eat, or go hungry.
So how could there be so many bad habits? They were all just spoiled behavior.
Circumstances make the person.
By the time Lei Wanqiang and his wife returned, the food was already cooked.
Upon returning, Wang Yumei nagged away, “Your second uncle and his wife ran back again, begging on their hands and knees for permission to take their clothes away. Your eldest uncle threw those quilts, clothes, and such out the door for them to take.”
“On our way back, we saw people from Tong Dahai’s fiancée’s family arriving. I wonder if they’re discussing marriage arrangements.”
Once the house was secured, Tong Xiaoxi no longer had anything to do with that family; whether they lived or died in the future was entirely their own affair.
During the meal, Lei Yihong downed two large overflowing bowls of white rice along with half a steamed bun, drawing the focused gaze of all three people.
Lei Yihong also felt he had eaten a bit too much, feeling somewhat stuffed up to his throat.
He cleared his throat softly. “Um… I’m currently in a growing phase…”
This body was only twenty-two and was recovering from a serious illness, so he felt the excuse was quite sound.
He would definitely not tell anyone that he was in an exceptionally good mood today.
Tong Xiaoxi had cooked yesterday as well, but he had found the flavor rather ordinary; today’s meal tasted extraordinarily delicious…
He had eaten too much without realizing it.
Seeing that he was able to eat well, Wang Yumei was delighted instead. “Eat more so your body recovers faster. But take it easy too; don’t overstretch your stomach.”
Lei Yihong nodded repeatedly. “I’ll go out for a walk in a bit to exercise and speed up my recovery.”
Lei Yihong was determined to regain his abs; without abdominal muscles, he lacked confidence.
“I’ll go for a stroll too.” Tong Xiaoxi also planned to go out for a walk.
Huddling in the house after eating was something she wasn’t used to.
In the past, she used to walk her dog after meals. She would ride a motorcycle while Feiniu ran behind her, exercising Feiniu until her legs turned soft before returning home so that the dog lacked the energy to tear up the house.
The same applied to Li Dapu later on; as a Husky and Tibetan Mastiff crossbreed, it was fierce, provocative, and boundlessly energetic.
The following morning, Lei Wanguo drove a tractor to take Tong Xiaoxi and Lei Yihong to the town together.
Tong Xiaoxi brought along Tong Tiejun’s death certificate, a letter of introduction from the village, the house deed, proof of the father-daughter relationship between the original body owner and Tong Tiejun, and other documents.
Lei Wanguo first went to the bank to withdraw money, handing over five thousand.
After completing the title transfer, Tong Xiaoxi went to the police station to change the name on her household registration. Changing one’s name now was not as troublesome as in later generations; she changed it directly back to her original name, Tong Xiaoxi, which conveniently allowed all future identity documents to use this name.
Seeing her change her name, Lei Yihong grew somewhat anxious. “What about the marriage certificate?”
“The marriage certificate?” Tong Xiaoxi really hadn’t considered the issue of the marriage certificate. “It’s fake anyway, so it doesn’t matter, right?”
Lei Yihong directly pulled out the marriage certificate, pointed at the red official seal on it, and tapped it. “This is real and protected by law!”
Tong Xiaoxi looked at him; why did this person carry a marriage certificate around on him?
What she referred to was the marital relationship, not the physical marriage certificate itself.
Not far beside the police station was the Civil Affairs Bureau, and Lei Yihong pulled her straight over there.
Noticing the sign for the Divorce Registration Desk, Tong Xiaoxi trotted over to inquire, only to learn that even for a divorce, the marriage certificate would have to be reissued under the new name before they could proceed.
It was quite a hassle.
The marriage certificate needed to be reissued, and the photo had to be retaken as well.
Tong Xiaoxi wanted to peel the original photo off the old marriage certificate and reuse it; after all, the staff hadn’t said it was forbidden.
However, Lei Yihong said, “My treat. Let’s go take a group photo.”
Tong Xiaoxi felt that this person seemed somewhat overly enthusiastic.
Before taking the photo, Lei Yihong spent a long time in front of the mirror combing his hair and adjusting his clothes, looking as though he were preparing to be a groom.
Had he not feared that dragging it out too long would make Tong Xiaoxi lose her temper, he would have wanted to visit the barbershop next door for a full wash, cut, and blow-dry before taking the photo.
During the photoshoot, the photographer shouted, “Bring your heads closer together, smile!”
Lei Yihong leaned toward Tong Xiaoxi in all seriousness and revealed a standard eight-tooth smile.
Tong Xiaoxi also put on a formal, polite smile.
The two of them each took two individual photos as well, which were required for both the tour guide license and the passport application.
The photos would take at least two to three days to pick up.
Three days later, the two returned to the town again and had the marriage certificate reissued. As soon as the marriage certificate was produced, Lei Yihong looked at the joint photo on it and grinned; although he was still very thin in the picture, his mental state appeared very good.
He felt that Tong Xiaoxi looked exceptionally beautiful in it.
Much prettier than when he had first met her.
“Let me keep the marriage certificates.” Lei Yihong appeared solemn and proper, revealing no particular emotion on the surface.
Without waiting for Tong Xiaoxi to decline, he slipped them directly into his pocket.
Tong Xiaoxi felt that he had been somewhat strange over the past two days, yet she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was odd about him.
The two traveled from the town to the city to apply for passports first.
Holding the letter of introduction issued by the travel agency, the passport was a one-time tourist passport that allowed entry and exit only once.
The same applied to tour guides; a new passport would need to be processed the next time they traveled abroad. This was unquestionably a unique product of this era, which many people likely had never even heard of.
They also needed to apply for an international health certificate and submit the photos to Cheng Junsheng to process the tour guide licenses.
Cheng Junsheng noticed that Lei Yihong’s complexion looked much better and that he was slightly plumper than when they first met.
“You two can come to work in three days. Start by interning with domestic tour groups first, and wait until your tour guide licenses and passports are processed before accompanying groups abroad.”
Currently, there was a severe shortage of tour guides, and the domestic tour groups were all foreign tourists coming to travel.
Ever since Laibin City was established as a border trade trial zone, those visiting were not only tourists from the Russian Federation, but occasionally from other countries as well.
Laibin City not only bordered the Russian Federation, but was also China’s sole land trade port leading to the Sea of Japan, as well as a crucial junction for land-sea passages connecting countries and regions such as Japan, Korea, South Korea, and the United States. It was hailed as a golden corridor.
Despite being a small city, its geographic location was very important.
Neither of them had any objections, but since they were going to start working, they needed to rent an apartment.
Otherwise, taking auto-rickshaws back and forth would cost one yuan per person per day, adding up to thirty yuan a month.
Travel agencies did not support tour guides nor provide them with dormitories, so they could only resolve these issues on their own.