It was already 4 p.m. when Shuya got home. She found a thin wooden board and used chalk to trace the outline of the writing on it. She then found a saw and two small buckets of white and red paint from the backyard storage room and used the saw to smooth out the edges and corners.
Paint it white, then paint the middle characters red, and leave it to dry on a stone under the pear tree in the backyard. After that, I heard the sound of an electric scooter braking and stopping in the front yard. I looked up and saw the old man just coming home from get off work, holding a household registration book in his hand. He paused, his face serious, and said:
"I went to the village office this morning and they said that to separate households, we need a housing certificate and a land use certificate. We have a land use certificate, but there's no house on it, so we can't separate households yet. Only after the house is built, and the village office comes to measure the dimensions and re-registers the household, can we process the separation of households."
“Okay, Dad, I’ll get the money as soon as possible. It should be settled by the day after tomorrow at the latest. I might have to trouble you again then. I heard you’re a bricklayer by trade, so I might need your help,” Shuya said after a pause.
The old man sighed helplessly:
"This time you've probably really offended your aunt and uncle. They made arrangements well in advance to let them use the homestead. What can I say about you?"
Jiang Shuya asked, puzzled, "You've all moved down here for over ten years, and they still haven't built anything. There were so many opportunities in between, why did they wait until now?"
The old man sighed again: "Ah, a few years after we moved here, your uncle's family renovated and built a new house. Back then, they didn't have enough money to build a large house, so they demolished their two houses and renovated them."
“Your mother wanted to build on the side when she had more money, but then your aunt said she wanted to give her that piece of land to build on and promised to give her 30,000 yuan for the land. Your mother agreed without thinking because she saw that was so much.”
"Later, there was no movement from your aunt's side for a long time. I guess your son-in-law didn't agree and didn't want to get involved. We didn't dare to bring it up either. Until the earthen wall in front was about to collapse, I was worried it would hit someone, so I pushed the earthen wall down and filled in the ditch in front. Now the area looks a bit bigger, and your grandfather casually planted vegetables on it."
Jiang Shuya understood Huang Guohua's concerns. After all, she had lived a long life and had long seen through his thoughts, but she didn't say it aloud. She knew in her heart that her aunt would probably come to collect the five thousand yuan owed to her uncle in the next couple of days. She didn't know how the money was borrowed, but it had to be repaid. She hesitated for a moment and said:
"Dad, don't borrow money from Auntie's family anymore. After all, you're bound to be indebted to those who give you money. You have to rely on yourself for everything. We'll sell the grapes ourselves this year instead of selling them to the vendors. We must pay back the money. The wooden plank in the backyard will be almost dry by tomorrow. Could you help me sand the edges and nail it to the gate of our vineyard in a few days?"
Because every household in Xixia Village has a vineyard, and there is no one to guard it, each family has its own gate and courtyard. Some are surrounded by fences, while others are secured with very sturdy wire mesh. Each family has a gate, and those with better conditions will use greenhouses to grow grapes. The greenhouses have a high temperature, which makes the grapes look better, and they will be on the market earlier and fetch a good price.
However, most families grow their grapes outdoors, and the planting techniques are similar. As a result, the quality of the grapes sold is not much different, and the selling price depends on each person's ability.
At this time of year, the yield of grapes is about 1,500 catties per mu (approximately 0.16 acres), and those who know how to sell can earn a considerable income from just a few mu of vineyards.
This applies to people with established sales channels. For those without proper channels, the mother-in-law sells all her produce to street vendors for 2 yuan per jin (500g). That's for the good quality ones; the bad ones are worth even less.
A family with three acres of grapes can sell for three to four thousand yuan a year. The Cao family next door has sales channels. Every year, I see them ordering thousands of gift boxes, each weighing 10 jin (5 catties), which are all ordered by their company as employee benefits.
I've heard that they're selling at good prices. A company with thousands of employees is doing this because of the government's strong promotion. Any conscientious boss would be happy to support the government in doing so.
This will boost the farmers' economy, since a business cannot function without government support.
The old man curiously examined the wooden board for a while, said nothing, and went to the storage room to find screws. Shuya noticed that Bao'er wasn't home; the old lady had probably taken her to visit Old Wang next door.
The Cao family lived next door, just two minutes away from Old Wang's house. Sure enough, the old lady was there, holding Bao'er and chatting with Old Wang's wife.
The little guy spotted Shuya with a glance, and stretched out his hands excitedly. His big eyes were filled with tears, so he must have just been crying.
Once in her mother's arms, the baby started whimpering and wanted to nurse. Jiang Shuya took the low stool handed to her by the old lady of the Wang family and, seeing that no one else was around, nursed the baby against the corner of the door and wall.
The little one was happily munching on his milk when suddenly someone squatted down beside him, startling Shuya.
Jiang Shuya clutched her chest and scolded, "You naughty girl, you walk without making a sound."
Her round face was beaming with a smile, her complexion radiant, and she had almond-shaped eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and an air of approachability.
She is Wang Hongjuan, the daughter-in-law of the Wang family. They are truly a family. Her husband's surname is Wang, and he also married a woman with the surname Wang. It's such a coincidence that the child was named "Qiao'er" after birth. Speaking of which, she is also from the same hometown as Shuya.
They were both from the same county in northern Jiangsu. She was three years older than Jiang Shuya. They say that when fellow villagers meet, their eyes well up with tears. In her previous life, Jiang Shuya clearly remembered that when she was weaning her child, she had nowhere to go and asked her to help her find a job in a shopping mall.
There was never a reply. Because she had worked in the shopping mall for many years, Shuya trusted her quite a bit and liked to confide in her.
Two people from the same hometown, now meeting in a foreign land, naturally feel closer and encourage and comfort each other.
In the past, Shuya was often angry with her for not helping her, so she stopped associating with her and no longer exchanged pleasantries when they met.
Looking back on her past life, Jiang Shuya realized how petty and unsophisticated she had been. Now, she understood that it was a favor if someone helped her, and their right not to. There was no right or wrong in it.
Wang Hongjuan, oblivious to Shuya's quiet contemplation, craned her neck and asked, "The grapes will be on the market in a month. How do you plan to sell them?"
Jiang Shuya didn't reveal her plans, but smoothed her stray hairs and said, "I have no clue. I guess it'll be the same as before."
"You're planning to transport it to the city to sell, where you can get a higher price. But you have to get up early, and the journey is a bit far. It's not worth it to sell it to a street vendor."
Wang Hongjuan picked up a potato from the bowl next to her and scraped off the potato skin.
Shuya noticed that her mother-in-law wasn't in the yard anymore, so she figured she'd probably gone home to cook. She was naturally averse to cooking because she disliked the fumes, but she was also a big foodie.
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