The people in the room were helpless and could only murmur, "So what should we do now? If we don't take that piece of sandy land, firstly, it would be embarrassing. Secondly, it would be such a waste. Those ten acres of land can yield tens of thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes in the fall, enough to feed so many people!"
Everyone's eyes lit up. Every household was short of food, and when they heard that there were tens of thousands of pounds of food, they wanted to eat it all up immediately.
Zhou Xianyong knew his village was in the wrong, but for years he had believed in obeying whoever had the stronger fist. As long as the fist was strong enough, everything would be easy to negotiate.
"Then let's just settle it. We want the sandy land too. I'll go to the county seed station, too," Zhou Xianyong whispered. "But let's first agree on how we're going to get it. We'll go and make trouble every day until the people in Wangjia Village give in. If we continue to fight, no one is allowed to bring weapons or pick up rocks or anything like that. We'll just fight with our fists. I say stop, and we'll stop. If everyone agrees, it's a deal!"
"We can do it. But what about the people from Wangjia Village?" Heizi muttered in a low voice.
"The people in Wangjia Village are so cowardly, they definitely wouldn't dare to take them!" another person mocked. "Wait until we beat them up a few times and make them behave themselves!"
"I have nothing better to do anyway. If I can't defeat them in one day, I'll fight them for two days. If not, I'll fight them for three days. There will be a time when I can scare them off!"
Zhou Xianyong came out and said to Li Gongan with a smile, "Alright. It's all settled. Let's put this matter this way. I'll go to the county to find the leaders tomorrow and ask them to approve some rice seedlings for our village."
Li Gongan didn't expect it to be so easy to talk to. After confirming it again and again, he left with a smile.
Before leaving, Li Gongan went back to Wangjia Village and told the village chief Wang the results of the mediation.
"Can the people in Zhoujia Village be so easy to talk to this time?" Village Chief Wang didn't believe it either.
"Don't mention you, I have my doubts too. But Zhou Xianyong confirmed with me again and again that he will go to the county to get rice seedlings tomorrow."
No matter what, as long as there is a good outcome, it's fine. Village Chief Wang took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Li Gongan: "Thank you for your hard work, Li Gongan. I will rely on your care in the future."
Li Gongan is an old smoker and couldn't refuse the cigarettes. He smiled and pretended to refuse, but finally accepted them.
After Li Gongan left, several respected people from Wangjia Village gathered at Old Lady Feng's house to discuss countermeasures.
"We still have to be careful. The people in Zhoujia Village have not been keeping their promises for a long time." Dashan's grandfather, Wang Wuye, is the fifth uncle of the village. He has been dealing with the people of Zhoujia Village for so many years, but he has never seen them be so easy to talk to.
"I also think this is not right. The Zhoujia Village is so unreasonable, they are simply robbers! They rob people who have good things. This sandy land has been abandoned for so many years and they didn't ask for it. Now they want it as soon as we plant some sweet potatoes."
The village chief held his head and said weakly, "We can't give them this piece of land no matter what. Today it's just a piece of sand, but in a few months, it will be the lifeline of our entire Wangjia Village team! We can't afford to lose even one acre of land!"
Several people looked at each other hesitantly. Normally, food is most scarce now. Early spring, the lean season, means there are few wild vegetables and fruits. But after these two months, there's more and more food to eat. And by June, when the grain is harvested, there'll be white flour to eat again.
In a few months, it will be time for the autumn harvest. Why does the village chief regard the sweet potatoes from this sandy land as our life-saving food?
"Village chief, what does life-saving food mean?" asked Grandpa Wang Wu.
The village chief then realized that he had inadvertently revealed the secret that was weighing on his heart.
In the room, Jiaojiao, who had slept all afternoon, finally woke up and called for her great-grandmother.
When Old Lady Feng heard Jiaojiao's voice, she left the others and went into the house to pick up her great-granddaughter, regardless of the important matters in the village she was discussing.
"Village Chief?" Gou Dan'er's grandfather continued the previous topic. "Was there a disaster in the fall? How did you know?"
The village chief was dizzy and thought, how else can I know? It’s still Old Lady Feng.
He pointed into the house, and the others looked as if they understood.
"What disaster?"
"The heavy rain continued for days, and the crops were completely destroyed."
Several people took a deep breath.
"We can't give in! Not at all! Not only that, we have to organize the villagers to dredge the ditches everywhere, raise the doorsteps of each house, dig ditches at the doorsteps to drain water, and then go up the mountain to find a place to see if we can open up some more land." Grandpa Wang Wu said.
"We still need to prepare food!"
"If the autumn harvest doesn't come through, then what about the second half of the year and next spring..."
Several people couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"Last year's harvest was poor, and many people are already going without food this year... If we don't harvest a single grain this autumn..."
That's going to kill people! And it's not just one or two!
Grandpa Wang Wu suddenly said, "Can we open up the wasteland ourselves and plant sweet potatoes?"
"Where else can you find land to reclaim?" Goudan's grandfather said, "Except for that piece of sandy land, the rest of the area is unsuitable for growing crops!"
"Why is there no space? There's so much land at the foot of the mountain. We can dig up all of it and grow sweet potatoes. Now as long as we can grow sweet potatoes, it's fine. We don't grow other crops, so it doesn't matter if the land is poor."
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