Seeing that Zhang Juntou had no reaction, or rather, that the reaction was not what he wanted, Xu Changshou repeated, "My wife is dead!"
Zhang Jun frowned and looked over: "How many people are still alive in your family?"
Xu Changshou was probably frightened by the soldier's indifference, and muttered, "My wife is dead. I haven't been able to eat or sleep well these past few days, I..."
Zhang Jun slammed his hand on the table: "Is there anyone still breathing in this family? If you don't tell me, I won't register you in the household register!"
Xu Changshou then burst into tears: "I'll talk! I'll talk! I just miss my wife... there are still four people in the family!"
Commander Zhang gestured to the clerk beside him to start writing things down: "What's their name? How old are they? Men or women, give them all details! Also, the acreage of their land. Find five people to be your witnesses!"
"Five people? Isn't it enough to have someone as a witness?" Xu Changshou was taken aback. He had only found Genbao's wife, so who else did he need to find?
Zhang Juntou hated him the most: "If no one can testify, then stand aside. Next one! Hurry up, are you dawdling because you're so angry you can't move?"
The next group consists of stranded migrants, now called "outsiders," who will begin registration.
This family is simple; it's just a couple with two children. Just write down their names, ages, and previous addresses, and that's it.
Xu Changshou was pushed aside. His mind raced, and his eyes looked at the group of people from the Xu family. There were five witnesses. Who should he look for?
Genbao's wife was also listening from behind the crowd. She had been angry when she saw her husband's cowardly appearance, and her mouth was moving like a cow chewing grass as she cursed.
Yaozu's wife was standing with her when she heard that her father-in-law wanted to testify. She quickly grabbed Genbao's wife and rushed out from behind, saying, "They're here! Genbao and the others are willing to testify."
Before Genbao's wife could even react, she was standing in front of the crowd. This wife, who was only good at bullying others at home, felt her legs go weak before she could even speak in front of everyone. But thinking of her promise to Xu Changshou, she still forced herself to say, "I...I vouch for you!"
Seeing that it was Xu Changshou again, Zhang Juntou looked over with a dark face: "Are you guys deaf? Five people, five! Do you have five heads or five butts?!"
Genbao's wife had an idea. It's just five people, as if every family doesn't have enough. She called out to her family, "Genbao! Mother, elder brother, sister-in-law, come here!"
Xu Yaozu also pulled Xu Genbao out, saying, "Come on, you two help say a word. We're all family, don't let outsiders laugh at us."
It's really simple. The locals, born and raised here, have been living along these field ridges for decades. Everyone knows which plot of land belongs to whom. It's just a matter of saying a few words.
Without much thought, Xu Genyou brought his wife and children over to help identify the object.
Seeing that there were enough people, Xu Changshou immediately put on a fawning smile for Zhang Juntou: "Squad Leader Zhang, my family now consists of four people. Before, there were more people, eight in total, and we had more land, so we had enough to eat..."
Seeing Zhang Juntou about to bang on the table again, he quickly said, "My land is right by the ditch, it's called Shuikoutian, Huitouwan..."
He had only uttered two names when Xu Genyou, who had only come to say a few words, changed his expression.
Xu Genbao, his mother Liu, and his sister-in-law Tian all looked puzzled.
Neither of these two plots of land belonged to Xu Changshou. One plot belonged to the village head, Xu Maoping, and the other to Xu Changgeng.
Needless to say, the village chief's land is all fertile farmland. He's currently in Yuzhou Prefecture and hasn't returned. He's only said that he can cultivate the land for now.
It is difficult for people living in the mountains to acquire more land, and even more difficult to have good paddy fields.
Although Chang Geng's family sold their possessions to raise money for medical treatment, they did not sell this best piece of land.
Dazhu said that he and his brother had already emptied their savings by falling and getting injured, and he had to leave a good piece of land for his younger brother no matter what.
Even if I spend an extra three taels of silver, my illness won't be cured. If I sell the land carelessly, I won't even have enough food to eat after the Lesser Fullness of Grain (a solar term).
He would be a burden to Xiaoman if he died, and he would not be able to rest in peace in the underworld.
So the family even sold the paste used for dyeing cloth with milk during the Xiaoman solar term, but they kept the land.
This is something everyone knows; they're right there on the mountain, so they'll definitely plant it.
Now that Xu Changshou has mentioned two plots of land, he's trying to use this opportunity to fraudulently obtain the land deeds.
Xu Genyou spoke up to remind him, "Grandpa Changshou, you must be mistaken! This field..."
“This field is mine now, I own it, you just need to nod your head as a witness!” Xu Yaozu immediately interrupted him.
Xu Genyou shook his head: "You can't do it this way. What if Uncle Maoping and the others come back..."
Xu Changshou interrupted him again: "Genyou, what nonsense are you talking about? If you want to farm, you can farm all the land in my family from now on."
Zhang Juntou had already sensed something was wrong: "Xu Changshou, are you trying to mess with me?"
Xu Changshou and his son quickly said, "No, Section Chief Zhang, this kid is mistaken. The land belongs to our family, our family. If you don't believe me, ask my nephew's wife."
Xu Changshou looked at Liu Shi and said through gritted teeth, "Nephew's wife, your eldest son has a bad memory, but you, who are of an age, should remember!"
"Make this clear: those fields all belong to me. Squad Leader Zhang is from out of town; he doesn't understand the intricacies of our local customs."
Liu knew in her heart that her eldest son was right; those fields did not belong to Xu Changshou.
But the words "If you want to farm, you can farm all of it" and "Zhang, the village chief, is from out of town" made her hesitate. Even if her family helped the village chief, they were still farming someone else's land. If the village chief came back, they would have to pay him back.
Moreover, Zhang, the squad leader, was from out of town. He left after registering, leaving his family to offend the Xu family for no reason.
As for the land of Chang Gengbo...
While she hesitated, Genbao's wife had already pulled her husband aside and said, "Genbao can testify, and I know it too, because that piece of land next to Shuikoutian belongs to our family."
This sentence left the eldest brother, Xu Gen, even more confused. When did his family acquire another piece of land? It clearly belonged to someone else.
Xu Genbao immediately understood when he saw his wife winking and blinking at him, and chimed in, "Yes! Yes! Yes! That's how it is with those lands, my wife and I can testify to that."
Xu Yaozu patted Xu Genyou on the shoulder: "Look, Genbao remembers everything, why are you still talking nonsense!"
The eldest brother, Xu Genyou, already knew what his younger brother was planning and almost fainted: he was helping Xu Yaozu seize those plots of land for himself and getting a piece of the pie in return.
Those fields belong to the people of Xujia Village. They might come back. If word gets out that we've taken over their land, how will we ever have the face to live in this world again?
At this moment, the other Xu family members started whispering among themselves, and their gazes toward them became strange.
Xu Genyou blushed with embarrassment and, disregarding what others thought, roared, "Genbao, don't betray your conscience! Do things with integrity! Grandpa Changgeng and the others are still on the mountain!"
Liu pointed at her youngest daughter-in-law, trembling with anger: "How can your heart be filled with such things? I really regret marrying such a lazy person like you. You've ruined a family, ruined three generations, corrupted my son, and will corrupt my grandson too."
When Genbao saw that his older brother and mother were scolding him for being heartless, he immediately dared not utter a sound.
But his wife got anxious. Seeing that her plan had failed, she sat down on the ground and started wailing: "What are you pretending to be so virtuous for? Ever since I married into your Xu family, I haven't had enough to eat or wear."
That small plot of land supports ten people, and we rely entirely on my son Genbao's skills to earn money.
Every time I cook some meat and put it on the table, the whole family eats it. Those three eat like starving ghosts. Even though I'm pregnant, I still have to fight for it. If I get a few extra bites, it's like I'm getting a great deal.
Now my son Leiwa needs to grow too, when will this ever end?
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