Chapter 40

"You mean they will come to ask for the land?" asked Mr. Gu.

Shen Jianyi felt deeply humiliated and emotionally hurt because of what happened in Yingshui Village before.

So now he doesn't express much opinion on things related to that place.

But when he heard his in-laws ask this, he had no intention of changing the subject, but looked at his daughter with a questioning look.

Chen Cong felt that this was an obvious fact and there was absolutely no reason to question it.

I couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Of course! You don't think so?

In the past, everyone was on relief, and Wang Liangcai said after his visit that many people in the village were injured. They certainly didn’t think about the land at that time. Now the government is encouraging farming, who would complain about having too much land?

Not to mention the piece of land outside ours, even the land in the community is theirs, so it’s normal for them to take it back, right?

Of course, they definitely can’t take the land in the community, we also have a contract.”

Although I don’t know whether Xu Liang is still the person in charge of Yingshui Village now, no matter who it is, anyone with a little bit of common sense would not come to the community to demand land.

After all, there are more than 300 people living in this courtyard. It is not certain whether there are enough people left in their village to reach 300. There is no need to cause conflict.

But the land from the entrance of the community to the location of the crack used to belong to Yingshui Village. They rented it out earlier and built storefronts facing the street. Now that the houses have collapsed, it is only natural to take the land back and cultivate it.

"No, they can't take it back."

Old Man Gu shook his head and said, "The town working group said that the land in front of the gate is wasteland. Whoever reclaims it will own it. The government is now encouraging the reclamation of wasteland. It also said that the government will buy all the vegetables and grains grown. We can sign a contract and don't have to worry about not being able to sell them.

Shi Lei and his team called on everyone to go to the doorstep and start farming yesterday!

The working group's words are definitely not just directed at our community, the people of Yingshui Village will also know. The government has said that it is wasteland, and their previous land certificates are definitely no longer valid. "

"That's even more troublesome." Shen Cong frowned.

Because there had not been such a big earthquake in the previous life, the community and Yingshui Village had not suffered such heavy damage, so the conflicts between them had not intensified from beginning to end.

Because Bac Ninh was not severely affected by the disaster and there were more job opportunities in the city than in the suburbs, all the old residents in the villa area and the tenants in the high-rise buildings left as they could, and in the end there were not many people left in the entire community.

When Chen Cong came back, the original residents of the community totaled no more than ten households.

These people can't accomplish anything, so no one has ever thought of fighting with Yingshui Village.

At that time, all the land still belonged to the village, and people in the community either worked in the town or rented land in the village for farming.

The days were hard, but peaceful.

But now it's different.

The number of people left in the community has increased many times compared to before, and a crack has appeared in the center of Yingshui Village, causing heavy casualties.

It is unclear how many are left now.

This makes it very likely that the two will be evenly matched, and it would be hard to say who would win or lose if they really fought.

"Why is it troublesome?"

Shen Jianyi still couldn't help himself. He glanced at his daughter and said, "We have to stand firm on this matter! We are also residents of the community, so we have to put the interests of the community first."

Hearing him say that, Cheng Ru sneered at him before her daughter could speak: "I'm going to say this to you. Apart from you, who else in our family would favor the people of Yingshui Village?"

This sentence choked Shen Jianyi so much that his eyes almost popped out, but he didn't know how to refute.

Instead of agreeing with his mother, Chen Cong said, "If you really want to occupy the land from the community's perspective, then don't argue. If they want the land, give it to them. It's their land anyway."

"You can't say that. The government has already said it's wasteland..."

"So it's not wrong for the people of Yingshui Village to come and open up the wasteland."

Shen Cong's sudden change of stance surprised not only the two elders of the Shen family, but also everyone present.

Even Chen Xi, who had just put his child to sleep and came out to attend a family meeting, sensed something was wrong.

"Congcong, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me clearly."

"I'm not keeping you in suspense. I'm telling the truth."

Chen Cong sighed: "If they want it, just give it to them. There's really no need to fight for it. What's the use of fighting for it? When drought comes, won't there still be famine if there's no water supply?

And mom and dad, have you ever thought about this? Yingshui Village is upstream of us, and the river in front of our door flows down from their village.

If they grab the land, they will not let the river flow dry up for the sake of their own harvest. But if they lose the land, they will really go crazy and block the river. What will happen to our community?"

Everyone in the room was shocked.

"No way?" Shen Jianyi asked subconsciously.

After he finished speaking, he realized that he had asked a stupid question. Why not?

If they really had an enemy, they would block the river from upstream, which is something the village would not be afraid of doing.

Since the earthquake, there has been no running water in the community. All the drinking and domestic water for the whole community comes from the small river at the back.

The river flows down from the mountain. The water is crystal clear, which is rare in the suburbs.

This was once a major selling point of the community.

There is a small river and water purification tablets. Although it is a bit troublesome to carry water every day, no one has ever worried about water.

Because of this, it is easy to be overlooked.

If Shen Cong hadn't said it, even Shen Jianyi would have almost forgotten that Yingshui Village was located upstream of the stream!

Although the earthquake created an extra mountain between the community and the village, the water never stopped flowing.

I also didn't see people from Yingshui Village crossing mountains and hills to fetch water, which means they still drink water from the same river.

"Even if we knew, there's nothing we can do! Congcong, you guys didn't come back. Didn't you know that Shi Lei and other district leaders specially called a meeting for everyone yesterday?

In addition to mobilizing strong laborers to find work in the town, it was also specifically stated that those left behind at home should go out to open up land.

They also talked about a lot of reward and punishment systems, and the meaning was very clear, that is, the community does not want to keep idle people.

I discussed this with my mom today. If it doesn't work out, we'll leave dad and Uncle Gu at home to grow vegetables, mom will look after the kids, and the three of us will go out to open up wasteland. Even if we don't expect to earn a living from what we grow, we have to follow the crowd.

Our mother also said that she would wait for you to come back to discuss it."

Having said this, Shen Xi paused.

Then he turned to look at Cheng Ru: "Mom, think about it again. Now I recall why Shi Lei and the others were so anxious. They must have thought that Yingshui Village would come to grab the land, right?"

Cheng Ru nodded: "Yes, I didn't think about it yesterday, but now the more I think about it, the more I think it is. But it is normal for Yingshui Village to want to grab the land. Most of their previous land has turned into mountains, and the good fertile land is gone.

What will they eat if we don’t open up the wasteland? Even though we are a little far away from them, it is flat land after all, which is better than opening up the mountains, right? Besides, the land here really belongs to them.”

"But we don't have much land in our community! There are so many people in the community, if we don't occupy the land at the door, there won't be enough for us to share?!"

“Yes, even if we go and tell the people in the community that a severe drought is coming and that it is useless to occupy too much land, no one will believe us!”

The mother and daughter talked to each other, and the more they talked, the more they felt that Chen Cong's previous words made sense. Once this policy came out, there would be big trouble.

This has actually pushed the community and the villagers of Yingshui Village to opposite sides.

The government must have had good intentions when it enacted this policy.

In order to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm and to open up more farmland.

However, the situations in different places are different. If we rush to release information without conducting in-depth investigation and research and fail to grasp the right degree, it will easily lead to fierce fighting.

But now the whole country is short of food, and I guess the leaders no longer have time to conduct an in-depth investigation.

Shen Jianyi stood up from the stool at once: "No, I have to find Shi Lei and tell him about the upstream and downstream of the river. They definitely didn't expect this. Even if it's a land grab, we have to have some idea in mind and can't do it to the extreme."

But Shen Jianyi was not given any chance to lobby.

He had just stood up when he heard a shrill whistle outside, followed by someone shouting, "Someone is being beaten! People from Yingshui Village are here to beat people up! Everyone in the community, come out! Someone is bullying us!"

There was great anger in his voice!

Everyone in the Shen family looked stern and stood up.

At the same time, a thought popped up in my mind - it's too late.

Leaving Cheng Ru at home to look after the children, the rest of the Shen family followed the crowd and ran towards the gate.

Before I reached the door, I could hear from a distance all kinds of arguments and quarrels coming from outside, mixed with the sound of iron colliding.

Everyone's heart tightened.

The place where the two sides confronted each other was not far from the community, about 500 meters outside the gate.

At this time, people on both sides were holding emergency lights, illuminating the surroundings and making it very clear.

At this moment, the two fighting parties had been persuaded to stop, but people on both sides were still holding shovels and hoes and glaring at each other, and the battle was on the verge of breaking out.

Shi Lei and Cao Hongmin stood at the front, each holding a young man and using their bodies to block them.

The two guys' heads were broken, with blood flowing down their foreheads. One of the young men's eyes was covered with blood, which looked a bit scary.

Gu Zhengchu immediately stopped and said to Shen Xi beside him: "Go home and get my medicine box."

Chen Xi was also frightened by the scene, and turned and ran away with an "oh" sound.

The people from Yingshui Village standing opposite them were only five or six meters away and their situation was not much better than theirs.

Men, women, old and young, all held up the farm tools they brought with them and confronted this side with stern looks on their faces.

In the open space between the two sides, an old man in his fifties was lying on the ground with one leg curled up, screaming in pain.

The blood stained his trouser legs red, and half of his trousers were soaked in blood and stuck to his legs.

There was a young girl next to him, pulling at his clothes and crying loudly, making people feel heartbroken.

Seeing so many people rushing into the community, the faces of the villagers in Yingshui Village all changed.

A young man raised the shovel in his hand and shouted: "They are bullying us because we are outnumbered. Let's fight! Let's fight them!"

As he shouted, the villagers nearby responded and shouted.

Everyone raised their weapons higher!

"Shen Fei, put him down!" Shen Jianyi, who followed, shouted, rushed to the front of the team, and grabbed the young man's hand.

Chen Cong was startled!

She didn't even see how her father rushed over.

Without saying a word, she quickly ran to her father's side, and Gu Kai naturally followed closely.

The young man named Shen Fei obviously didn't expect that Shen's father would rush over and block him at this time.

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and finally put down the shovel in his hand.

But his eyes were red, and he looked at Shen Jianyi and said aggrievedly: "Second Master, they bully our Shen family!"

Shen Jianyi held his hand tightly, frowned, looked at the people standing next to him and said, "Put down your farm tools! Hoes and shovels are for working, not for hitting people!

The number of people who died in the earthquake wasn’t enough, do you want to add a few more?”

These words caused the crowd to suddenly choke with sobs.

The person leading the team here today should be the young man named Shen Fei.

Although Chen Cong didn't know him, he could tell from his last name and the way he addressed his father that he was at least from the same clan.

And he still respects his father.

This finally made her feel a little relieved.

The people led by Shen Fei put down all the farm tools, and the people around Shi Lei naturally put away their "weapons".

Because Shen Jianyi is now a middleman recognized by both parties, he cannot refuse even if he doesn't want to get involved.

So he, Shen Fei and another representative elected from Yingshui Village stood aside with Shi Lei and Cao Hongmin to negotiate.

Chen Cong ignored them. She and her sister who had hurried over helped her father-in-law treat the wounds of the injured.

The injuries of the two young men in the community looked scary, but in fact, the wounds were not deep and they would be fine after cleaning, disinfecting and sprinkling anti-inflammatory powder.

The old man's injury is quite serious.

There was a sunken wound on his leg. It was so deep that the flesh on both sides had sunk into the wound. Even the bleeding couldn't be stopped without stitches.

But the community currently does not have the conditions for treatment.

Chen Cong stood up and walked over to the people who were negotiating the terms. He said directly to Cao Hongmin, "We need a tricycle, and another person from the community needs to go with us. We must immediately send that old man to the town's emergency center."

Although Shen Jianyi acted as a middleman among the people here, it was obvious that the talks were not going smoothly.

The atmosphere was a bit tense.

Chen Cong's words actually eased the stalemate.

Shen Fei stopped talking and turned around and ran towards the old man.

Cao Hongmin hesitated for a moment but did not refuse. Instead, he shouted to his people, "Xiao Qian, push the tricycle over here and put the quilt on it!"

"Bring some more food!" Chen Cong didn't even give Lao Cao a chance to object, and shouted at Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian was obviously a little hesitant and looked up at Cao Hongmin.

Cao Hongmin nodded and repeated: "Bring some dry food."

As the only doctor in the community, Gu Zhengchu had to follow at this time. After all, walking on the road at night, if you stumble, it will be no joke.

Gu Kai was worried about his father and wanted to go with him.

So three people went from the community, Xiao Qian, Gu Kai, and Gu Zhengchu.

In addition to the old man and his granddaughter, a young man also followed to Yingshui Village.

After the car carrying the injured left, the explosive atmosphere dissipated.

In particular, the community did not shirk its responsibility. Not only did they send people and cars to take the injured to the hospital, they also brought out a lot of food. This at least shows an attitude.

Although the Shen family didn't want to step out at this time, sometimes things happened so fast that there was nothing they could do and they would be forced to the front.

At this time, Shen Jianyi could only come forward to appease the people of Yingshui Village, asking them to go back first and saying that they could talk about it tomorrow during the day.

Those people agreed, but did not return to the village. Instead, they spread mats and put mattresses on the open space outside the community, apparently planning to live there permanently.

This made the people in the community even more angry.

Fortunately, Shi Lei and his companions were able to remain calm. They took all the people on their side back and did not allow them to stay outside the community.

After everyone in the community had gone back, the Shen family father and daughter followed Shi Lei and the others to the villa in the west.

There are more people living here now than before, and the environment is worse than at the beginning, but it is obvious that Shi Lei and his group have become more prestigious.

Seeing them come in, the people who were originally sleeping on the floor in the living room automatically rolled up their bedding and went to another room, making room for them to talk in a relatively quiet space.

"What's the situation outside today?" Chen Cong asked before his father could speak.

"It's really not our fault what happened today!" Xiao Fan was still following Shi Lei, and this time he once again acted as his spokesperson.

"Sister Chong, you just came back from outside, so you may not know that our community has already agreed to prepare the land for the gate.

Today during the day our people measured the land outside, and then divided it into blocks with white lime, so that it will be easier for everyone to divide it tomorrow.

But who would have thought that those people from Yingshui Village would come over for no apparent reason without even saying hello.

They took advantage of the darkness and the fact that we had no one on guard outside, and came over and started digging!

Then they got a group of old men, old women and children to guard the edge of the field. When our people went up to stop them, they lay down on the ground and started howling.

The old man was not beaten by our people at all. He didn't see anything when he was kneeling down and suddenly knelt on the iron shovel of our people.

But they really were the ones who beat our people!"

Shen Cong felt a pain in his forehead when he heard this, and Shen's father's face didn't look good either.

This is simply a scam!

Just thinking about the scene at that time, he felt embarrassed as a person from Yingshui Village.

But what can we do?

This matter still needs to be dealt with.

"Have you leaders decided what to do with our community?" Shen Jianyi asked with a sigh.

After that, he waved his hand and said, "You don't have to consider my opinion. I am from the community, so I will naturally stand on the side of the community."

His words made those people look much better.

"Uncle, we can't compromise on this matter. They have come to our door to provoke us. If we show a little softness, they will definitely be more aggressive. Then they might even cause trouble inside the community."

"Yes, uncle, you also know that the land in our community used to belong to Yingshui Village, but the government has said that now the land belongs to us. But those people refuse to acknowledge it. If we don't stand up, they will definitely think we are easy to bully."

Shen Jianyi nodded: "I agree."

After his statement, Xiao Fan and the others immediately became more energetic.

Several young men stood up from the ground, waving their hands and cursing, "How many of them are there? They have come to our door, how can we let them take advantage of us? Go! Let's go and kill them together tomorrow!"

Shi Lei reached out and slapped the man on the back.

The man chuckled twice but didn't say a word to surrender.

Chen Cong remained silent.

She didn't want to say anything to persuade him.

In this kind of situation, each person has his own reasons, and she can't say that the people in the community are wrong.

If she hadn't known that drought was coming, she wouldn't have tolerated such an act of slapping her in the face.

Seeing that she lowered her head and didn't express her opinion, Shi Lei asked, "What do you think, Xiao Shen? You have seen the world and just came back from the city. Tell us what you think? If there is anything we did wrong, tell us and we can discuss it again."

Shi Lei's attitude was very humble, but his meaning was very clear. He hoped that Shen Cong could express his opinion.

"I agree with the community's decision. If outsiders come to bully us, we have to take action. We can't let them do what they want!"

"I knew Sister Cong would say that!"

"That's right, Sister Cong has always been the toughest person in our community!"

As soon as Chen Cong finished speaking, Xiao Fan and the others cheered.

"You guys are planning to drag me into the fight, right? Are you going to prop me up first so that I'm embarrassed to jump down?" Chen Cong said jokingly while looking at the guys he knew very well.

"No, don't listen to their nonsense." Shi Lei also laughed.

"Captain Shi, that's what we said, but we still have to consider some issues. Let me first tell you, Captain Cao, and everyone else about our return to the city this time."

Chen Cong picked out the important things that happened to him and his wife in Bac Ninh and told everyone about them, focusing on how tight the food supply was and how all the water needed to be delivered by water trucks.

Then she concluded: "I didn't realize there was a water shortage before, but it's clear that there's not enough water in the city.

On the first day we went there, the water delivery was limited in time but not in quantity. As long as you wanted, you could go back home and queue up immediately after taking it home, and no one would stop you. When we left, someone at the gathering point had already started counting the amount of water each person had to collect every day.

I was thinking that this was just providing drinking water, and we hadn’t started to cultivate land for all! Now it’s not just the countryside that is promoting the cultivation of land, cities are also beginning to promote indoor vegetable cultivation.

Once it really starts operating, water consumption will inevitably increase dramatically. How will the water problem be solved then?

Think about it, from the earthquake till now, not a drop of rain has fallen. And it is September now, and the weather is still so hot.

If this continues, even if we occupy all the land and open up all the fields, will we be able to irrigate them all?"

"Also," she looked at everyone again, "Yingshui Village is upstream of us. The water we drink every day flows down from their village."

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-07-10 22:46:43~2022-07-11 22:43:35~

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Yimeng 1;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!