Chapter 209 You, Liu Dafa, are only working for the benefit of your own people.
He tucked his hands into his sleeves, craning his neck as he stared at Liu Dafa. "We'll see later if you don't believe me. Your family will definitely take away the best land! Anyway, I don't want this land!"
The crowd below also seemed to have a lot of complaints. It was obvious that if Li Datong didn't want the land, it would likely be their turn to draw lots and take it away.
They all became agitated and yelled at Li Datong, "You drew it, so it's yours! Why don't you want it? So many people have agreed! What gives you the right to cause trouble?"
"I'm just making a scene, why don't you switch places with me!" Li Datong jumped around on the stage, hurling insults at them. "It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering! You're all really something! Would you be happy to grow saline-alkali land?"
The young widow's shrill voice stood out from the crowd—"Even if I let you cultivate the black soil, your house will still be abandoned; your whole family is lazy to death!"
"It's my land, so what? It's none of your business! I just can't grow saline-alkali land!" Li Datong was unreasonable. He stood on the platform and refused to leave. He squatted down there, looking like he was saying, "Let's see what you can do to me."
"Come on, let's continue drawing lots, just pretend he doesn't exist!" Zhang Suzhen pulled Liu Nian towards the stage.
Li Datong snorted and said sarcastically, "You two, one is Liu's daughter-in-law and the other is Liu's daughter, you'll definitely draw a good spot later!"
It's strange, but Zhang Suzhen and Liu Nian both happened to smoke the best black soil from the south, which yielded good harvests every year.
Li Datong got excited and jumped up from the ground, shouting, "See that?! The Liu family is siding with their own people! They're trying to get the good land for their own family to cultivate! They're just bullying people like us who have no power or influence!"
Liu Dafa had been the village head for many years, so he had some prestige. Most of the villagers didn't believe Li Datong's words, and besides, the Liu family didn't rely on the meager harvest from farming to make a living.
They have factories and the ability, why would they care about a piece of land?
"Alright, you can go now. The village chief isn't that kind of person!"
"We trust the village chief's character!"
However, some were dissatisfied, as these two, like Li Datong, also drew the same lot: saline-alkali land.
"But who knows? Otherwise, why would it be such a coincidence? By the way, I also found some saline-alkali land, but I don't want it."
Seeing that someone was supporting him, Li Datong immediately said, "Anyway, your Liu family doesn't care about a piece of land, but we can't. We are farmers, and we can't live without land. Why don't you do us a favor and exchange your good land with us?"
This large area of saline-alkali land used to be wasteland. In order to give each villager a larger share, the village cleared up the wasteland around the village and planned to distribute it by drawing lots.
So nobody knows how the crops on this land will ultimately grow. But you can't just use moral blackmail, can you? Just because they don't need the money, does that mean they have to trade with someone else?
Ironically, the two villagers who had been catching the saline-alkali land strongly agreed with Li Datong's statement.
They all acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Yeah, you're not short of money, you might not even have time to farm. But for families like ours, we live off a few acres of land. If we don't have a good piece of land, how will we survive?"
"Please, just consider this a good deed, okay?" The group of people pretended to wipe away their tears, looking at them pitifully.
Liu Dafu was so angry that he said irritably, "I've done nothing wrong, and I'm not afraid of what you say!"
He was also afraid that if the same family took all the saline-alkali land, the harvest would be poor the following year. So, whoever got the saline-alkali land would definitely add a piece of the best black soil next to a well for easy irrigation. Why didn't they mention this?
Now they're even framing him?
"As the saying goes, a clean prefect earns ten thousand taels of silver in three years. I don't believe you won't seek benefits for your own family!" Li Datong said unreasonably. "If you want us to trust you, then leave the saline-alkali land to your own family!"
"You—" Liu Qiang almost punched him, pointing at Li Datong and saying, "Are you being reasonable?!"
Liu Nian and Zhang Suzhen quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't be impulsive."
"You just want to trade for a better piece of land, right?" Liu Nian smiled and said, "How about this, I'll trade my land for yours, how about that?"
Li Datong was delighted to hear this, "Okay!"
"What about us!" the other two protested, shouting, "We don't want saline-alkali land either!"
Liu Nian said, "Sister-in-law, Dad, why don't you switch with them?"
Liu Dafa said angrily, "Why should I! I didn't cheat!"
"Alright, alright, you're the village chief, just consider it a contribution to the village." Liu Nian quickly comforted her, saying, "Don't worry about it."
And so, that large piece of saline-alkali land came into the possession of the Liu family, and a contract was signed as Liu Nian requested, stipulating that they could not go back on their word in the future.
Li Datong pressed his fingerprint firmly onto the contract and said, "I definitely won't regret it. Who cares about that saline-alkali land!"
After this incident, the villagers of Jiangjuntun trusted Liu Dafa and his son even more, since they had sacrificed themselves and given the benefits to others.
"But that saline-alkali land looks like nothing can grow there, there aren't even many weeds."
"Hmph, they don't lack food, it's only right that they give it to me!" Li Datong didn't appreciate the Liu family's kindness at all, and even after taking advantage of them, he still had a reason to argue.
But one day, Jiangjuntun received news that the saline-alkali land was about to take a turn for the better!
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