Chapter 242 242
Jiangjia Village wanted to give tea land and homesteads to girls, which caused a huge uproar.
In fact, after countless female ancestors fought for their rights with their blood, many places had already given land to girls.
Jiangjia Village was no exception.
But when it comes to giving land to girls, in fact, this acre of land is tacitly given to the girl's family. For so many years, no girl has ever taken this acre of land away after getting married. This piece of land allocated in their name actually belongs to their parents and brothers.
But homesteads are different. Once a girl is allocated homesteads, it means that the girl can choose not to get married, or even if she gets married, she can return to the village to live, and even bring her husband and children to live in the village together.
This will greatly avoid the possibility of girls being subjected to domestic violence outside.
Because they live in their own village, the whole village is her relatives and clansmen. If a man comes to live in Jiangjia Village, he will be alone and weak. If he dares to beat a woman, the girl will just shout. Even if her family is not strong enough and is a coward, there are still the whole Jiangjia Village and the elders of the village committee. Can they let a girl be bullied in her own village?
Once it is opened, divorced women will also be given a share of the homestead. Then, if a daughter who married out can no longer live in her husband's family, she can return to Jiangjia Village. Not to mention an acre of homestead, even if it is only one or two acres of homestead, it is a place for her to settle down. She does not need to return to her parents' home to be looked down upon by her parents and brothers and sisters-in-law. She has her own little nest, and her parents and brothers and sisters-in- law can help take care of the children. Her own resilience and vitality like weeds are enough for her to grow freely on this land.
As long as they are given a place to live.
Once the barren mountain becomes a gathering place for many girls who do not want to marry out, it also fundamentally solves the problem of rumors.
When something is an exception, everyone will discuss and point fingers behind it. When something becomes the norm, everyone will only say that the people in Jiangjia Village are famous for being good to their daughters. If they don't want to get married, they can stay in the village and find a son-in-law. If they get divorced and come back, they will be given a homestead.
At this time, the people in the village committee didn't think so much. They just didn't care about the barren mountain with many corpses buried in the graves, which looked gloomy even in the daytime. So when Jiang Guoqi, the second wife, fought for a homestead for his younger sister Jiang Guoge, facing the direction of Xujia Village, no one objected because it didn't affect their interests.
Many people who came back from working outside have heard from their elders that this year, many families have earned nearly 10,000 yuan from tea alone.
Now the notice from the brigade said that they should also go to the tea land and housing land in the evening. From now on, they will also have a share of the tea land. As long as they are not married, they will be given tea land.
One mu of tea land, even if it is in the worst location, can bring at least 2,000 yuan a year!
"Is it true? Are we really going to be given tea land and housing land?"
"We girls also have housing land, so can I live in the village and have my own house in the future?"
But many girls are worried that even if they work hard to build a house, it will be taken away by their parents and brothers after it is built, and they will not be given it to them.
Isn't that what they call the land they are given?
Many girls don't even have the concept of having their own land, because the education they have received since childhood has implanted in them a deep-rooted concept of what is yours and mine? The land at home belongs to the family, to the parents, and to the brothers in the future.
They themselves also tacitly accepted this rule.
With all kinds of trepidation, at 7 o'clock in the evening on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, many families in the village who did not get tea land last year, and many unmarried girls, twisted their fingers and stepped into the movie theater in the center of the village in a daze.
The village chief was afraid that some people had not come yet, so he went to the loudspeaker of the brigade and shouted: "Hey~~~! Hey~~~! Hey~~~!"
"Are there any unmarried girls over 18 years old who haven't come to the movie theater? Hurry up and come to the meeting to divide the homestead! If you don't come, you won't get a share this year! Hey~~!"
The loudspeaker echoed continuously, and the village chief shouted three times.
This time, the entire Linhe Brigade heard the loudspeaker, even the people in the nearby Xiaojiangjia Village heard the loudspeaker and called out to the head of the family: "Shuigen, Shuigen, did you hear that? Dajiangjia Village is allocating residential land to girls!"
"Don't worry, I'll go find out what's going on!"
Many people from Xiaojiangjia Village walked out of their homes and ran towards Jiangjia Village.
Because the cement road was built, even if it was raining and snowing outside, they still walked smoothly in the wind and snow.
When they arrived at Jiangjia Village, the closest place to them was the Dafang settlement. They ran along the wide cement road of the Dafang settlement to the center of the village above.
Although they have separated from Dajiangjia Village and have their own independent village committee, everything in the village has nothing to do with Dajiangjia Village and is not under the control of the village committee and village chiefs of Dajiangjia Village, but they still belong to the Linhe Brigade.
This year, Dajiangjia Village has become popular because of tea sales and tourism. Xiaojiangjia Village, which is closer to Shangan in Shigan Township, has also witnessed the amazing popularity of Dajiangjia Village.
Because cars and cars of people go to Shangan in Shigan Township to play rafting.
Not to mention the tourists who are having a great time, even the children in the nearby villages are envious.
They grew up near the mountain stream. The happiest thing to do in the mountain stream is to jump into the mountain stream to swim in the summer. The deepest part of the mountain stream is only up to the chest of an adult. Some places are as deep as an adult's thigh. It is the best place for children to play. The mountain spring water is clean and clear. It is full of round and smooth pebbles washed by the mountain stream all year round. Children play in the water without worrying about drowning or getting their feet pierced by glass shards.
Because the nearest village to the mountain stream is 700 to 800 meters away, even if people in the surrounding villages throw some broken bowls and broken glass, they will not run so far to throw them into the mountain stream. Even if someone throws glass bottles into the mountain stream, they will be washed away by the endless water all year round.
In addition, people from the surrounding villages would wash clothes, quilts, and vegetables in the mountain stream. In summer, children like to play in the mountain stream. People from the surrounding villages would not throw glass shards into it. If they saw it in the mountain stream, they would pick it up and throw it away, and scold the person who was wicked. What if the children's feet were pierced by glass when they threw glass bottles into the mountain stream?
Not to mention children, many adults would go to the mountain stream to take a bath in summer.
So this mountain stream is very safe.
So this summer, adults and children nearby saw tricycles pulling people up to the small hill above.
The small hill is now contracted by someone, and a yard is built with wire mesh, and people are prohibited from entering, as if a villa is being built on it.
Then they watched people rushing down the hill in kayaks wearing orange life jackets every day. The naughty little boys were drooling. It was so much fun!
Because Xiaojiangjia Village was not far away, there were little boys going to the mountain stream with their bare bottoms to play in the water and watch tourists rafting and surfing. Business-minded people made snacks such as glutinous rice cakes, dumplings, spring rolls, etc. at home and waited at the downstream mountain stream. After a summer vacation, some people made two or three thousand yuan, and some made less than one thousand yuan.
This money may not seem like much, but the people who come here to sell snacks are almost all old people and women. For them, this money is a great confidence.
Now that they heard that Jiangjia Village was going to give the girls land and private plots, those who married into Xiaojiangjia Village only hated that they were not from Jiangjia Village. Some women even thought of merging with Dajiangjia Village, but this idea was not something they could decide. Now they could only anxiously want to know the specific situation of Jiangjia Village regarding the division of tea land and homesteads.
Because since ancient times, it has been tacitly agreed that homesteads would be given to boys. If homesteads were given to boys, there was no need to say it in the loudspeaker.
They were anxious at home, waiting for their men to go out and inquire about the news.
Xiaojiangjia Village was not far from Dajiangjia Village. Since they had been going to Dajiangjia Village to watch opera performances and movies since they were young, they were very familiar with Dajiangjia Village and went straight to the cinema.
It was just past 7:15 at this time. The door of the cinema was wide open. Many people had already gathered inside. Many people who had heard the news were standing outside the cinema looking in.
When the people from Xiaojiangjia Village arrived outside the cinema, many people from Dajiangjia Village who did not know the situation were standing outside. Some of them knew each other and were related to each other. They went straight to the people they knew and asked them: "What's the situation? Why did I hear on the loudspeaker that you in Dajiang Village are going to divide the tea land and give girls housing land?"
There were still many people in Dajiang Village who were not clear about the situation. Holding black umbrellas, they said: "I don't know either. It seems that Guotai and the fourth brother came back to hold a meeting two days ago. When they came back, the team leader said that they would give housing land to unmarried girls over the age of 18 in the village. I don't know what the situation is."
"That's right. There are only so many residential plots in the village. There is not enough for boys, so how can there be some for girls?"
Some families have already tacitly accepted that this residential plot belongs to them, just like the land allocated to girls. They said that they would allocate residential plots to girls, but when they really get it, won't it belong to the boys in the family? Then the boys will have two residential plots and build a bigger house.
Didn't you hear that? This year, the big guy's house was used as a hotel, and it is said that they earned 5,000 or 6,000 yuan!
If their sons have two residential plots, can't they build a bigger house?
The cinema in Jiangjia Village was originally a converted granary of the Linhe Brigade. It is very large. There is only a small room next to the main entrance with a window facing the outside, which is used as a projection room and ticket window. The stools inside are all long wooden strips nailed to the legs of the wooden stools. They are placed from top to bottom, forming a low front and high back terrain. At the front, there is a one-meter-high platform, and behind the platform is a huge white curtain.
There is now a row of tables on the platform, and behind the tables, there is another row of chairs.
Whether it is a meeting, a movie, or a rural opera, or a performance in their brigade, the performance venue is all in this cinema.
Many people wandered outside and looked inside.
As the only female college student in the village, and one who has brought earth-shaking changes to the development of her hometown, Jiang Wu had already entered the cinema early, but she just didn't sit down at the stage.
Town Chief Jiang had already gone up to find a seat and sat down.
As the person with the highest status in the village, he did not choose to sit in the middle seat, but let the village chief, who was in his 50s or 60s, sit in the middle seat. The two of them politely gave way to each other, and finally the village chief sat down, Town Chief Jiang sat next to him, Jiang Guotai sat on the other side of the village chief, and some village cadres also sat down one by one.
Jiang Guotai and Mayor Jiang called Jiang Ning: "Ning Ning, come, sit next to your uncle."
Jiang Guotai patted the seat next to him, and Mayor Jiang also said: "Yes, as the first major contributor to the development of our Jiangjia Village and our hometown, you will sit next to your uncle."
Many young people and people from the fourth room of the big house who came to share the tea plot have already found a seat to sit down.
The microphones in front of Jiang Guotai and Mayor Jiang were on, and the two large speakers were on both sides of the stage. The sound resounded throughout the cinema and reached everyone's ears clearly.
Previously, when Jiang Wu gave advice to Jiang Guotai and Mayor Jiang, it was all in private. Even though Jiang Guotai and Mayor Jiang repeatedly stated outside that their ideas came from Jiang Wu, many people were still willing to believe that it was Mayor Jiang and Jiang Guotai's own abilities. No matter how capable Jiang Wu was, she was just a little girl. Some of the second and third wives who knew the situation were fine, but the first wife and the marginalized fourth wife had the most intuitive understanding of Jiang Wu, which was that they knew that the CCTV crew was invited by her. In addition, it was Jiang Wu who proposed to open up tea mountains, plant tea trees, and divide tea land. No one knew what else Jiang Wu did specifically.
At this time, Mayor Jiang's words put the hat of the first great contributor to the development and revitalization of the entire Jiangjia Village, and even Linhe Brigade and Yaoba Town, on Jiang Liu's head. They had a clearer understanding of how important Jiang Liu is now. The
first great contributor to the construction and revitalization of the hometown was not Mayor Jiang, not Jiang Guotai, but a yellow-haired girl of 18 or 19 years old.
Jiang Liu did not hesitate, and walked onto the stage and sat next to Jiang Guotai. It was the most central position besides Jiang Guotai and Mayor Jiang. She looked calm and had a strong aura. She sat there as if she was the center. Everyone's eyes unconsciously shifted from the village head, Mayor Jiang, and Jiang Guotai to her.
No matter who looked at her, she always had a faint smile on her face, nodded to everyone, and then sat there calmly, as if it was natural for a girl like her to sit among the most capable and prestigious people in the village, who were also the elders.
The village officials around her were very polite to her, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with a little girl like her sitting there.
The village chief picked up the microphone and said "Hello! Hello!" twice, then patted the microphone with his hand, making a bang echo. After making sure that the microphone was in good condition, he straightened his expression and said, "I called you all here today mainly to talk about two things! Now, let us use applause to invite Comrade Jiang Guoding, the mayor of Yaoba Town, to report to everyone on the major achievements made in the development of our Jiangjia Village this year!"
The people below were a little confused, but they still raised their hands unconsciously and clapped sparsely.
Jiang Guoding was already accustomed to such occasions and conversations. He would say "Hello! Hello!" twice before saying, "I haven't been back to the village many times in recent years because of work, but I believe you all know me."
People in the village like Jiang's father's generation certainly knew Jiang Guoding, but people like Jiang Xi and his generation, or even younger people, didn't really know Jiang Guoding. Many young people didn't even know that their village had a mayor of Yaoba Town.
You know, Yaoba Town, one of the 'Three Hegemons of Wucheng', is very famous in their Wucheng area. They never thought that the town of Yaoba Town actually belongs to their village.
For a moment, many young people opened their eyes wide and listened to the speech of the middle-aged man on the stage.
Jiang Guoding's voice was a little hoarse. He coughed and said: "The first thing I want to talk about today is that last year Jiang Liu from our third room proposed to plant tea trees on the hill in front of our house. After obtaining the consent and support of the village committee, most of the families in the second and third rooms paid to buy tea varieties, plant tea trees, and divide tea land last year. This year, through the tea processing factory opened by Jiang Guotai from our third room and the central government invited by Jiang Liu, The crew of the TV station filmed and promoted our Wucheng, Yaoba Town, Wugong Mountain, and our entire Linhe Brigade and Jiangjia Village, focusing on promoting our village's "Wugong Tea" and wolfberries, which played a huge role in promoting the development of our Wucheng, Linhe Brigade, and especially our Jiangjia Village's tourism economy, and achieved initial results! "
He paused, and the audience burst into thunderous applause unconsciously.
He stretched out his hand and pressed down, asking them to be quiet, and continued: "This year, under the leadership and support of Jiang Guotai and the village chief, as well as our village committee, and under the development plan given by Jiang Liu to the village, the average annual income of the families in the village who were allocated tea land this year has basically exceeded the 10,000 yuan mark, taking the first step towards getting rid of poverty and becoming prosperous!"
Everyone was surprised.
There was another round of scattered applause. Many people were applauding and whispering to each other: "Every household in the second and third rooms has earned more than 10,000 yuan this year?"
"Didn't you hear that they basically broke the 10,000 yuan mark? I guess some of them have earned even more!"
"Is selling tea so profitable?"
"If selling tea doesn't make money, how else can you make money? Didn't you see that a few years ago, our village had to go to Jiangnan to pick tea for others every year for many years?"
"You can earn 10,000 yuan a year, and you can build a small building in two years!"
Many of them work in factories outside. They are very skillful. People who often work more than ten hours a day can only get 700 to 800 yuan a day at most. Most people can only get 400 to 500 yuan a month. Even if they eat and live in the factory, they don't buy anything for themselves on weekdays. At most, they can save 4,000 to 5,000 yuan a year and bring it home. This is already very frugal and good at making money. Those who
can bring back 5,000 to 6,000 yuan a year will be coaxed by their families at home during the New Year. The girls are very straight at home.
Although they only have a few days of Chinese New Year throughout the year, as if they can enjoy a few days of happiness at home, and even the housework they should do is not less.
But they never thought that their poor village could earn 10,000 yuan a year by planting tea trees and selling tea leaves!
They also have tea trees at home, quite a few of them, and every year they pick and fry them for their own drinking, and at most send a few kilograms to relatives on the other side of the river, or take a few kilograms out to drink when they work outside, and I have never heard of anyone selling tea leaves!
Thinking of this, they admire Jiang Guotai and Jiang Liu even more in their hearts, but they don’t know how much this matter has to do with them. Even if they are also allocated tea land, can they take it away after they get married?
Many people listened with both expectation and indifference.
Many of the adults in the first and second rooms, as well as those who did not participate last year, were very excited. It was obvious that they had the same idea as the young girls. The tea fields that were allocated to the girls were allocated to them, right?
Jiang Guoding continued, "Regarding the tea fields allocated to the girls in our village, before the girls reach adulthood, the income from the tea fields they are allocated must guarantee their schooling and daily needs. If the income from the tea fields cannot guarantee the schooling and basic living needs of the girls in the village, then the income from the tea fields can be temporarily handed over to their families for management after obtaining the consent of the girls, and the monthly living expenses and tuition fees for the girls' schooling and living must be guaranteed, and the minimum cannot be less than 300 yuan."
"Secondly, after the girls come of age, they can manage the tea income from the tea fields as they wish. They can choose to share the village's residential land, build houses in the village to attract bribes, or simply want to stay in the village to live, or continue their studies. The income from the tea fields is theirs to manage!"
This statement really caused a huge uproar.
Not only were the girls surprised to hear such a rule, but many men who regarded the girls' tea fields as their own tea fields were also shocked and angry, and wanted to object.
Jiang Guoding looked at the tumultuous crowd below and the many people who were standing at the entrance of the cinema and discussing loudly. He picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip of tea, then said with a smile: "Of course, before dividing the tea land, we have an agreement and a contract to sign. If you don't want to sign, don't agree to these regulations and want to occupy other people's tea land, you can temporarily not divide the tea land! We divide the tea land on a voluntary basis. If you are willing to sign, we will divide it. If you are not willing to sign, you can take it slow and wait and see for two years."
For people like them, who are big families in the same village and live in ethnic groups, the clan elders and the village committee have great power. Don't even mention suing to higher authorities or using the law. In this era, it won't work.
The bad villages where ethnic groups live together are extremely feudal and backward. The good ones, such as Jiangjia Village, have people like Jiang Guoding and Jiang Guotai. They lead the way and get things done very efficiently because they have great power in the village.
Jiang Guoding's smiling words were like a basin of cold water pouring down their heads. They immediately became quiet and only dared to murmur in a low voice, not daring to object loudly.
Jiang Guoding said: "The second thing I want to talk about is that we have decided through joint discussion of the village committee to allocate housing land to the girls in our village. The location of the housing land is the barren mountain between Jiangjia Village and Xujia Village. If there are girls in the village who do not want to marry out and live at home, or want to continue living in the village, or are bullied outside and want to divorce and return to the village to live, the village committee has decided that after the girls turn 18, they will be allocated a two-mu housing land on the barren mountain for the girls to build houses and live in. The fields they were allocated in the past and the tea fields they will be allocated in the future will be used as the land. , all belong to them personally, and no one else can seize it!"
He looked at the excited crowd below and said: "The village committee will implement this matter later. As I said, these are all voluntary principles. I have a printed agreement here. You can take a look first. If you agree after reading it, stay. We will draw lots to divide the tea land later. If you disagree, you can go back and discuss it with your family. Maybe we will divide the tea land again next year." He said in a relaxed tone with a smile on his face: "It will be the same if we divide it next year!"