Chapter 53 Cuiping changed her name. He said I was as pure and strong as a plum blossom...
After listening to Liu Qiaofeng's story, Chen Mian felt a pang of sadness, but was also inspired by her resilience and spirit.
She is a remarkable woman worthy of respect, raising two children while managing to cultivate such a large vineyard.
Chen Mian helped Aunt Liu with some farm work for a while, then got up to say goodbye.
The sunset on the horizon has already begun its shift; it seems that if we want to get the land, we'll have to inquire with the government departments.
The next morning, Chen Mian went out early again, with Ji Yu following behind her like a persistent tail.
Chen Mian turned away helplessly. "My dear Officer Ji, you were worried about me going to the farm yesterday, and today I'm going to the government office. What else could you possibly be worried about?"
Ji Yu ignored her and looked around, changing the subject, "You don't know any of those government officials. What if they stop you from going in?"
"So, they recognize you?"
Ji Yu choked up. Of course, he didn't know them either, but he quickly tried to justify himself, "They'd value it more if there were two of them together."
In short, he was determined to get involved in his sweetheart's entrepreneurial journey and help her in every way he could. They weren't married yet, and what if Chen Mian became successful and didn't want him anymore?
Surprisingly, it was quite easy to get into the Agricultural Bureau.
Chen Mian simply explained her purpose for coming, and the old man at the door pointed out the location of the office to her.
But soon, she was directed by the office staff to the "Rural Management Section," and after going around in circles, she finally stopped at the entrance of the "Policy and Regulations Section."
"Knock knock knock..."
"Please come in."
"Hello comrade, I'd like to contract a piece of land in our city to grow fruit," Chen Mian said bluntly.
Upon hearing this, Aizimaiti put down his newspaper, adjusted his glasses, stared at Chen Mian's appearance for a long time, and then slowly asked, "Do you have a local household registration?"
"No."
"What are you doing here if you don't even have a household registration?" Aizimaiti looked away, picked up the newspaper on the table again, shook it, and slowly leaned back in his chair.
"Remember to close the door when you leave."
Chen Mian never expected that contracting land was linked to household registration, but how could she transfer her household registration?
Having come this far, Chen Mian was unwilling to leave so easily. She stood there for a moment, lost in thought, and asked, "Comrade, do you mean that if I have a local household registration, I can apply to contract land? And what is the maximum number of acres I can contract?"
“You have to be a rural resident; urban residents don’t own land. And we contract land on a family basis; individuals can’t do it,” Aizimaiti reminded the young girl, who was still reluctant to leave.
"You're not the first out-of-towner to ask me this. If there's no policy, there's no policy. Go home and stop making trouble."
Chen Mian left the "Policy and Regulations Section" with her head hanging low and looking dejected.
She recalled the grand ambitions she had made to Professor Shen years ago, and the frustration on her face became even more apparent, even turning slightly red.
Chen Mian slowly walked to the corner of the wall by the door, squatted down, and curled up into a ball.
Ji Yu, who had been silently following along, was now filled with regret. Why did she have to be a damn urban resident? If she had a rural resident, would she be able to help Mu Mian now?
However, she might not agree to marry in exchange for starting a business.
That's not fair to her either.
Thankfully, thankfully he wasn't.
Ji Yu squatted on the ground with Little Mushroom for a while, then reached out and patted her fluffy head. "Don't be sad. If the Agricultural Bureau can't help, we can still ask the people in the Production and Construction Corps."
The 79th Corps was a production and construction corps stationed in Wumu City. As its name suggests, it was responsible for protecting local production and construction.
Yu Xiaoyue and Liu Qiaofeng's land was contracted from the 79th Army Corps.
"Do you know how much the annual rent is for land leased from the Production and Construction Corps?" Upon hearing the name of the Production and Construction Corps, a glimmer of hope ignited in Chen Mian's heart.
Ji Yu shook her head. "I don't know about that. My mom probably didn't spend much money back then. Wait until I get to work tomorrow, and ask my boss to help me find out."
"Will this work? Won't it affect your relationship with your boss?" Chen Mian was a little worried that it would affect Ji Yu's work.
"What's the big deal? If all else fails, I have my dad at home. I can ask him to help you find out." Ji Yu said without hesitation.
Ji Feng, who was in a meeting at work, had no idea that his son had sold him out again, and was doing so with great pleasure.
Fortunately, Ji Yu drove me out today; otherwise, it would have been a long journey just to get from the Agricultural Bureau to the Corps.
When the two arrived at the 79th Army Corps, they were stopped by the soldiers at the gate.
The military is under strict management, and unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter.
"Comrade, I heard that the Production and Construction Corps still has fifty mu of land that hasn't been rented out this year. Do you know which leader I should contact if I want to rent it out?"
This time, Chen Mianmian was clever; she immediately pretended to be very knowledgeable.
But the soldiers standing guard at the gate didn't know any of this; their only responsibility was to protect the gate.
Chen Mian and Ji Yu had no choice but to stand guard at the door, hoping someone could help them find out the inside story.
Half an hour later, a military jeep pulled up. A middle-aged man sitting in the back saw the two people standing at the door and rolled down the window. "Are they having some kind of trouble guarding this place?"
"Reporting to the commander, they want to rent land from the corps to grow fruit."
The man nodded. "Understood."
He beckoned to Chen Mian, signaling her to come over and talk, "Young lady, the land in our corps is only rented to military spouses. Is your husband serving in the army here?"
Chen Mian shook her head.
"Then you should try to find another way. We can only allocate them to military families at most. Sorry."
Let's go.
The jeep drove away, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Chen Mian stood there indignantly. She stomped her feet, took a few steps back to the car, sat in the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut.
Why can land only be rented to locals, but not to outsiders?
People from other places can also do business here.
Why is it that something as simple as farming is so difficult to do?
Seeing Chen Mian's dejected appearance, Ji Yu felt as if the sun had turned into a small moon. He racked his brains trying to think of a few words of comfort, but when he opened his mouth, he still didn't know what to say.
He could tell that Chen Mian had been looking forward to contracting the farm for a long time, and had come happily right after the New Year.
But to everyone's surprise, after being hit by reality one after another, they couldn't even get the first step started.
But now, to comfort her, he really didn't know what to say without provoking her or making her feel like he was showing off.
After a long while, Ji Yu finally dug out a suitable candidate from the depths of his memory.
Li Cuiping, Chen Mian's good friend.
He silently started the car and drove to the entrance of "Wu Er Women's Clothing".
Chen Mian was still immersed in the day's frustration, thinking she was back at the wolfberry farm, but she realized something was wrong when she got off the bus.
Ji Yu said, "I know you're in a bad mood right now, go talk to a friend."
"I'll wait for you in the car."
Chen Mian was touched by what she heard. She hadn't expected that Ji Yu, who looked so tall and strong, would be so thoughtful.
She lifted the curtain and saw Wu Wei and Li Cuiping chatting and laughing.
"Kapok, what brings you here?" Li Cuiping looked at her friend with surprise. "Weren't you busy with things at the farm? How come you have time to come here?"
Chen Mian was sullen. "Things at the farm might not be going well..."
"Why? Is there a problem with the saplings? If it's difficult to transport the saplings, I can ask Brother Wu to help you contact a few trucks," Li Cuiping said enthusiastically.
"Brother Wu is such a good person, don't worry, he'll definitely handle it perfectly for you." After saying that, she glanced at Wu Wei.
Wu Wei smiled and replied, "You're Hongmei's friend, so you're my friend too. Just say the word if you need anything."
“Hongmei? Who is Hongmei?” Chen Mian was still immersed in her own dejection, but suddenly caught a different word in Wu Wei’s words.
"Look at me, I forgot to tell you." Li Cuiping patted her head and said with a smile, "I'm not called Li Cuiping anymore."
"My name is Li Hongmei. The winter solstice has passed, but spring is still far off; the red plum blossoms bloom in succession..."
"Brother Wu said it's a line from a poem written by a great poet of the Qing Dynasty. He said I'm as pure and strong as a plum blossom." Li Cuiping, no, now it's Li Hongmei.
As she spoke, a blush crept across her face, and then she looked at her friend with expectant eyes.
"Kapok, what do you think of my new name? Does it sound nice?"
Chen Mian was a little confused and forgot about her unhappiness. She asked in confusion, "It does sound nice, but why do you suddenly want to change your name?"
Li Hongmei raised her hand to brush away the stray hairs by her ear and slowly said, "My previous name was too old-fashioned, so I don't want it anymore."
"I think this name suits me well; it sounds stylish."
Seeing that Chen Mianmian and Li Hongmei were whispering to each other, Wu Wei wisely left the room, leaving them alone.
Chen Mian finally sensed something was amiss in the strange atmosphere. She narrowed her eyes and stared at her friend, questioning, "Li Hongmei, you wouldn't already be with Boss Wu, would you?"
Li Hongmei didn't expect her good friend to be so direct right away. She blinked nervously for a moment, trying to cover it up, and said, "I just think he's a really nice person and he's very good to me, so I wanted to try getting to know him. I didn't mean anything by it."
Chen Mian sighed and leaned against the counter. "You know I told you about him before, right? He has a son. How could you agree to that?"
"So what if I have a son? I don't mind."
"He's more than ten years older than you, don't you mind?" Chen Mian felt that her friend had clearly lost her mind and was completely immersed in the man's lies.
Li Hongmei argued, "He's not a teenager, he's ten years older than us."
"Isn't ten years old enough? If you really want to date, can't I ask Ji Yu to introduce you to a few people around your age? Why does it have to be him?"
"What exactly do you see in him?"
Li Hongmei's eyes darted around, and after stammering for a while, she finally whispered, "I think he has a bit of a similar vibe to my dad..."
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The author's note: There are countless privately imposed policies regarding land contracting; please do not attempt to investigate them.
Let's congratulate Cuiping on finally getting rid of that name that made her feel inferior and ushering in a new life!
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