Chapter 32 Land Allocation by Lottery...
Cui Dani took a bite of the pickled radish, her eyes narrowed slightly, and she nodded gently. "The cooking is excellent, fragrant and spicy, perfect with rice."
"If Sister Liu knew about Mother's praise, she would be very happy."
Miya took a bite and found it spicy and appetizing. It's a great choice whether you pair it with porridge or rice.
Speaking of pickled vegetables, Cui Dani also thinks about how the vegetables grown at home will grow and the extra ones will need to be pickled to eat in the winter when there are not many vegetables.
And so, the indispensable pickling jar in the house was mentioned again.
Ren Qingsong interrupted his mother and Miya's conversation as they discussed whether they could find anything to sell when they went to the market.
"Mom, the pickling jar is so heavy, it's better if I find someone to bring it over."
Why would Cui Dani disagree with the idea that she wouldn't have to put in the effort herself?
He immediately nodded in agreement, "That's good. I'll leave all the pickling jars at home to you. And the hoes, sickles, and other farm tools too."
"By the way, I see there's still some empty space at home where we can raise pigs. Why don't you ask the army if we can buy a piglet from somewhere? There's no shortage of pig feed here."
You don't realize it until you do a careful count, but after thinking about it carefully, Cui Dani realized that there were quite a few things missing from her home.
Ren Qingsong never expected that his mother would even think of raising pigs.
He thought raising chickens was alright; he could simply feed them some rotten vegetable leaves from home, and it didn't require much effort.
But if you actually raise pigs, you have to spend a lot of time every day cutting pig feed.
In addition, since we'll be clearing land for farming soon, my mother will definitely be involved.
In this way, his original intention of bringing his mother to the army base to enjoy a comfortable life has turned into bringing his mother to work.
Thinking of this, Ren Qingsong felt unhappy, and his true thoughts were revealed on his face.
Cui Dani saw through it immediately, arrogantly raised her chin, glared at her son, and questioned him:
"What? Now you won't even listen to your own mother anymore, is that it?"
"Mother, that's not what I meant."
Ren Qingsong immediately took a step back, meeting his mother's gaze with embarrassment.
"Mom, I wanted you to come here and enjoy a comfortable life, but why are you doing more and more work? It's even more tiring than back home. What kind of person have I become?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Dani's expression froze for a moment.
But the next second, the desire for food overshadowed the influence of her son's identity, not to mention that she wasn't the only one in the family compound who participated in reclaiming land and farming.
“We farmers feel uncomfortable if we don’t work on the land for a day. Anyway, I have to cultivate the land, and you should send the pigs over as soon as possible.”
After saying that, Cui Dani grabbed Miya and walked into the house, not giving Ren Qingsong a chance to refute.
Ren Qingsong stood there, realizing for the first time that his mother could also act unreasonably.
The next day, before dawn, everyone in the entire mountain residential compound was busy.
For a moment, the noise of children being woken up, the clatter of pots and pans, and the urging of women created a melodious tune in the mountains.
Miya and Cui Dani also got up early, and Ren Qingsong continued to get up early to exercise after his health had improved significantly.
While Miya and her companion were preparing breakfast, Ren Qingsong also brought his harvest home.
He habitually leaves his things on the first floor, and during meals, he reminds me:
"Mother, I caught a chicken this morning. Should I keep it to eat later, or should I marinate and air-dry it?"
"What kind of family do you have? You eat meat every day. Save it for when you officially return to work, so you can treat your comrades and doctors and nurses who helped you to a meal."
"Okay, I'll handle it later."
Upon hearing Ren Qingsong's words, Cui Dani rolled her eyes at him without any politeness, showing none of the intimacy that mother and son usually displayed when they met again after many years.
"Your sister and I are in a hurry to line up for the lottery."
The implication is that, apart from Ren Qingsong handling it himself, there is no one else who can do it.
Before Ren Qingsong could ponder why he had suddenly fallen out of favor, Cui Dani and Miya had already put down their bowls and chopsticks and got up to walk towards the door.
Miya was pulled by the hand, stumbled a step, and quickly walked backward.
As she went downstairs, she glanced somewhat embarrassed at the empty bowl left on the table.
Ren Qingsong noticed Miya's gaze, smiled and nodded in acknowledgment, indicating that he would clean it thoroughly.
Miya nodded quickly in response and followed Cui Dani's steps, heading down the mountain as dawn broke.
Perhaps because the land is so attractive to Chinese people, the two of them didn't leave early.
Before even getting close to the foot of the mountain, Miya stood in the mountains and looked towards the square. There were already quite a few dark figures standing in the square, clearly having set off earlier to queue up.
Although the logistics department did not explicitly state it, everyone assumed that they would queue up, take a number, and draw lots.
And because there were quite a few people participating in the lottery, the entire queue formed a serpentine pattern, winding and twisting.
Cui Dani and Miya happened to see Liu Limei's family at the end of the line, so they quickened their pace and walked towards them.
"Limei, it's more convenient for you to live at the foot of the mountain."
"Auntie, you guys are pretty quick. I couldn't sleep at all thinking about the ground, and I woke up before dawn. I didn't expect the others to be up even earlier; we're considered late."
Liu Limei's words quickly resonated with the crowd.
Many people feel that getting up before dawn is already early enough.
But when you get to the square, you find that there are always people who got there earlier than you, even earlier than when they went to the supply and marketing cooperative to grab meat.
"Are they all just going to sleep in the square?"
"It's quite possible. I got up at four o'clock and saw a dark figure in the square. At first, I thought I was seeing things."
"I don't know why they came so early? It's not like whoever comes first gets a good plot of land in the lottery."
Isn't that so?
This question resonated with many people in the crowd, who all felt that drawing lots earlier would increase their chances of getting a good location.
For most rural residents who are illiterate, probability and fairness are difficult to reconcile.
Miya followed the others' line of thought and felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Previously, some families in the village used a lottery system to allocate laborers.
If the lottery is unfair, how could the sons possibly agree to such a life-threatening labor?
Everyone discussed which plot of land would be best for them.
Meanwhile, they craned their necks to observe the situation at the front of the line, anxiously waiting for the draw to begin.
Instead of joining the crowd in the discussion, Cui Dani held onto Miya and murmured to herself.
Miya leaned closer to listen and only caught a few scattered words like "Bodhisattva" and "deity." Her nerves immediately went on high alert, worried that someone might overhear.
After making sure no one was paying attention, he quickly whispered a reminder to his mother.
"Mother, the army doesn't allow us to say these things, or we'll get arrested."
Upon hearing this, Cui Dani shut her mouth tightly, remained silent, looked around, and, finding no one paying attention, quickly patted her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart.
"Mother was just in a hurry and forgot to worship the gods and Buddhas at home this morning, and she said something extra."
"Don't worry, Mother, no one heard us."
"That's good, that's good."
As time went on, more and more people gathered in the square, and various voices mingled together, so the two of them lost the will to speak.
Although each family draws a representative by lottery, many families send their entire household to participate in such large-scale events.
People like Miya and Miya are extremely rare.
As it drew closer to eight o'clock, people became increasingly impatient, and some even began to complain to the quartermaster and others.
"What time is it? Why aren't you starting yet?"
"What kind of scene is this with so many people crammed together? What good would it do to start earlier?"
"Could it be that they're planning something sneaky behind the scenes?"
"If you wanted to do it secretly, why wait until today?"
...
Miya was squeezed in the crowd, listening to familiar words, and felt that no matter in ancient or modern times, most people are still the same.
Just as the noise was about to reach the heavens, the quartermaster, Qian Jinbu, arrived in a hurry, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Without a loudspeaker, he could only shout at the top of his lungs to calm the restless crowd.
He shouted twice, but the crowd remained noisy. Qian Jinbu, losing his temper, sat down abruptly and said coldly:
"If you're not in a hurry to divide the land, please continue."
Those standing in front immediately shut their mouths when they saw Qian Jinbu's cold expression.
The people behind realized something was wrong and quickly lowered their voices as well.
It took a while for the entire group to finally quiet down.
Qian Jinbu didn't want to waste any more time, so he read the distribution plan aloud to everyone.
"Alright! Let's begin the official draw. First family member, please come forward."
The family member at the front of the line was both excited and nervous. They stepped forward awkwardly, their minds blank, completely unaware of what they were doing.
She only knew to follow Qian Jinbu's instructions and draw lots and register step by step.
Only after she left the crowd did she remember what great thing she had just done, and excitedly held up the note in her hand.
"3-5?"
Looking at the unfamiliar numbers, she was puzzled and wanted to turn around to find someone to explain, but was stopped by the soldiers.
"Sister-in-law, the number of plots allocated is regulated. You can check the notice board over there for the specific plots."
"Okay, okay, I'll go right away, I'll go right away."
*
Miya didn't know how long she had been waiting in the crowd, she only knew that she was almost sweating profusely when she could finally see the quartermaster's face clearly.
Only then did she realize the tension felt by the people who stood on the stage during the lottery.
She subconsciously looked to her side. "Mom, why don't you draw the lots? I'll just watch."
"You're lucky, kid. You should go."
Cui Dani shook her head in disapproval, grabbed Miya's hand, and squeezed it tightly.
"Good luck?"
Miya asked doubtfully, but met her mother's sparkling eyes.
As if possessed, she followed the staff's instructions, went to the front of the stage, drew a plot number, registered Ren Qingsong's name, and slowly walked with the crowd to join the queue.
She thought to herself: Isn't she just lucky? Otherwise, how could she have such a good life now?
Things unfolded as they had hoped.
The plot of land that Miya drew was located on the hill behind their house.
For others, this piece of land might be too high, or there might be concerns about water and sunlight.
However, Miya and Cui Dani, who were familiar with the area, knew that there was a spring on the mountain and the plot of land on the mountaintop was not lacking in sunlight.
In addition, the land is close to home, making it convenient to work.
If you look closely, it really does have all the benefits.
Cui Dani excitedly smoothed out the lottery paper in her hand, repeatedly saying, "I told you Miya, you're lucky. You drew the land right in front of your house right away. Now we don't have to worry about anything."
As Liu Limei and her children walked through the crowd toward the two, they overheard these words, and bright smiles immediately appeared on their faces.
"Auntie, then we really are destined to meet, our land is right below yours."
Liu Limei held out a piece of paper to Cui Dani's eyes, on which was written: 3-2.
Miya also glanced at it and, based on her judgment of the numbers on the money, confirmed that it was the land below them.
"Sister-in-law, that's wonderful!"
“Limei, our two families farm together, so we can discuss things.”
"Hmm? Auntie, what's your explanation?" Liu Limei asked, puzzled.
Cui Dani glanced at Miya and directly stated the farming method that the two had discussed at home.
"I see that the people here can build paddy fields on the mountain, so I'm planning to do the same and build one of these fields, what's it called again?"
“Terraced fields,” Erni added quickly.
Upon hearing the words she wanted to say, Cui Dani's tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed, and her smile deepened.
"Yes! It's terraced fields. With terraced fields, we can grow rice that the locals are used to eating, which is a high-quality grain."
"yes!"
Liu Limei slapped her thigh in a mixture of surprise and frustration.
Why didn't she think of that?
Thinking about having land, I habitually wanted to grow wheat and grind it into flour, just like back in my hometown, and I completely forgot that I'm now in the south, where people prefer to eat rice.
She had also seen the mountaintop pool belonging to Miya's family; storing water and building paddy fields would not be difficult.
As Erni listened to her mother and Grandma Cui's conversation, something suddenly popped into her head, and her eyes kept rolling upwards, searching for the memory.
Just as the two were getting more and more excited, Erni blurted out, "It seems like we can grow three crops a year here."
"Really!"
The exclamation came not only from Liu Limei and Cui Dani, but also from the people eavesdropping nearby.
People come from all over the country, and they are used to allocating land according to the crops grown in their hometowns.
When Cui Dani revealed her farming plans, many people were reluctant to move and stood aside, pretending to be deep in thought as they listened.
Now that he heard Erni's words, how could he possibly hold back?
Feeling the intense gazes of everyone, Erni's confident face wrinkled in fear, and she tentatively said:
"Well... I think I've forgotten where I heard that."
Even though it's just a child, you should never underestimate the Chinese people's enthusiasm for farming.
Isn't that right?
Immediately, someone found a local to ask for specific information.
People received more accurate information from the locals.
Erni's words can be said to be right, or they can be said to be wrong.
Because, in some areas of their Yunnan province, it is indeed possible to have three harvests a year.
However, their area is at a high altitude, nestled among mountains, and has low temperatures, making it difficult to achieve three harvests a year, but two harvests a year is certainly achievable.
Even with two harvests a year, it couldn't dampen everyone's enthusiasm.
Especially for families from Northeast China, two harvests a year are enough for them to manage their farming.
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