There is a kind of affection in life called ‘Hometown Affection’

In a person's life, there are many 'affects', such as: parental affection, marital affection, filial piety, brotherly love, and the affection for hometowns.What is hometown affection?

As the saying goes: 'When old comrades meet, they shed tears',Simply two sentences express the inner feelings, which are difficult to say and even more difficult to understand.

If we put it this way, hometown affection is like a fine wine, it gets better with every drink; like a rainbow in the sky, it has infinite charm; like a lighthouse, guiding the direction of progress.I don't know if I've ever had such an experience:

• When a person is alone in a distant foreign land, they will feel very lonely. Especially when they encounter difficulties, a stranger from their hometown appears and offers a helping hand, you will truly feel the preciousness of hometown affection.

01

In the late Qing Dynasty, there was once a gentleman named Song who participated in the imperial examination many times but failed. Finally, he managed to obtain a title of 'Scholar'. After that, he became a private school teacher in a remote mountain village, where he supported himself and his family by teaching several children. Although Mr. Song didn't pass the imperial examination, his educational knowledge was very profound, and he attached great importance to his students' education. He tried to teach his students the knowledge of 'investigating the principles of things and gaining insights from them' (i.e., 'investigating the principles of things and gaining insights from them'). Although the village was remote, Western knowledge also began to arrive there. Mr. Song appreciated it very much, so he often taught these knowledge to his students.Once, to build a plant specimen museum for his students, he attempted to raise funds. The village had exhausted its savings, so he borrowed from neighboring villages. When the neighboring villages also ran out of money, he went to the city, hoping to find some fellow villagers to help him.

When he heard that a fellow villager was now rich, he was overjoyed and hoped for help. However, the fellow villager was extremely stingy and didn't give him a single penny, so he drove Mr. Song away. Mr. Song was a person of high moral principles, but he was humiliated like this, and he couldn't swallow it.

However, after calming down, Mr. Song realized that this fellow villager would still be very useful to the village and his students. If he and the fellow villager established a good relationship, it would be easier to obtain funding for education in the future. Therefore, he came up with a plan to visit his fellow villager. (At that time, seniority was very important, 'master' was used for older people, and 'uncle' was used for older people who were not as high in status.)

Mr. Song brought a family register and carefully searched through it. He discovered that he was one year older than the fellow villager. Therefore, he called the fellow villager 'Uncle' instead of 'Master'. Although Mr. Song was only 31 years old, the fellow villager was already over 50. In the end, in front of the family register, the fellow villager could no longer be so arrogant, and Mr. Song successfully borrowed the necessary funds.

In life, people often say that there are four major joys: passing the imperial examination, a wedding night, a drought ending with rain, and meeting old friends in a foreign land. Hometown affection plays an important role.

02

• When 'far from home', when encountering fellow villagers in a foreign land, hometown affection will naturally arise. We can only establish a network of interaction and exchange with our fellow villagers, and it will be easier to ask for help.

Haqi and Wang Liang met by chance. After talking, they realized that they were actually fellow villagers. Through communication about their hometown, they became closer. When they left, they left each other's phone numbers and promised to stay in touch.

Haqi works in a factory, and Wang Liang is the manager of a company. Besides hometown affection, there's a big difference between the two in terms of actual status. Therefore, their separation actually didn't lead to any contact.

Until one day, Haqi's factory was declared bankrupt due to losses. But Haqi had to support his family's expenses, and after being laid off, he was now in a desperate situation. One day while looking for a job, he thought of his fellow villager Wang Liang, hoping to ask for help.

But after thinking about it carefully, it had been a long time since they had contacted each other, and it was only a single meeting. Wang Liang was a senior manager, and he had many things to do every day, so it was uncertain whether he would remember him.

At this time, Haqi became even more discouraged. But the pressure of life constantly fell on Haqi. So he decided to stubbornly call Wang Liang. No matter whether he could help Haqi, he had to try.

Finally, he dialed the number. When Wang Liang heard that Haqi was a fellow villager, he was very enthusiastic. After learning about Haqi's difficulties, Wang Liang said generously: 'Aren't you driving? Come to work as my driver, and you can set your own salary!' Before, Haqi was a driver in the factory, and he was now regaining his old job, and his salary was higher than before.

Haqi was very happy and agreed without hesitation.

In a person's life, no matter what the reason for a person's departure from their hometown, they may not feel any sadness at first, but after a long period of time or when encountering unfamiliar life habits and setbacks in another place, they will feel more homesick.

There's an old Chinese saying: 'Ten seals of state would be better than one hometown friend.' This means that in the past planned economy, 'social capital' had a significant impact on resource allocation, sometimes exceeding the system's program or going beyond the rules. From an economic point of view, hometown relationships were sometimes more effective than procedures and regulations.

The Chinese people are very conscious of hometown feelings because Chinese people value relationships. It is because of hometown affection, family affection, and friendship that people's distance is narrowed and their feelings are deepened.Especially when you are far from home, you can hear the most familiar local dialect, drink the most delicious local wine, how can you not shed tears?

Therefore, using human relationships to connect with fellow villagers and ask for help is very effective. So, learn to use hometown relationships to help fellow villagers, and it will be easier.