Ideals and Youth: I Too Had a Youth (Part 4)...
They wanted to return Bao Xiangqiao, but Ye Xiqing had already registered their marriage.
The village chief, frustrated, pounded on the table for a long time, finally coming up with the solution of stalling. He said earnestly to Ye Xiqing:
"Why don't you go back to the Zhou family or your parents' home for a while and wait for news? We'll let you know as soon as the village has a solution!"
Ye Xiqing wasn't stupid; she wouldn't fall for his nonsense. She figured delaying would solve everything. She pulled the child closer to her chest and said expressionlessly:
“Go back? Just because I married into your Dayushu Village, you've ruined both my homes. Where am I supposed to go back to?”
“You, as an official, don’t serve the people; you just try to appease us ordinary folks.”
"I'll stay at the village office today. If they don't solve my problem, I'll stay here every day!"
"Get us mother and daughter some food! This is a new society now, let's see how you manage to starve us to death!"
The village chief was so angry that he slapped his thigh: "You even brought a child here to cause trouble! Is this how a mother behaves! You've corrupted the child!"
Zhou Xiaoya is only four years old and doesn't understand many things. She relies entirely on adults' reactions to perceive the outside world.
She used to cry when her parents argued because she sensed a threat from the outside world from her mother's manic and collapsing face.
Although Ye Xiqing has been making a scene from the village to the village office, she remains very calm. On the contrary, while others are breaking down, she stops crying.
They even mimic their mother's speech, clapping their hands very loudly and saying, "Get something to eat!"
Ye Xiqing hadn't expected the child to be so clever, and finally realized the benefits of the little pendant.
A four-year-old child already has the intelligence of a dog.
Ye Xiqing shifted her position, pulling her into his arms and nuzzling her head affectionately. Then he looked at the village chief and asked, "Aren't you going yet?"
*Pfft*
Along the way, Bao Xiangqiao joined in to see quite a few interesting things.
These days, village offices aren't very nice buildings, and they're not soundproof. Everyone peeks through the door and window frames to watch the commotion, and when they hear it, they can't help but chuckle.
A big chili pepper is a big chili pepper, and the offspring of a big chili pepper are also small chili peppers, hahaha!
The village chief was sweating profusely from the spiciness of the two chili peppers, and when he heard the commotion outside, he quickly shooed them away like flies.
She glanced back at Ye Xiqing, then slammed the door and stormed out.
He refused to believe that he couldn't handle her!
First, she went to the women's director who specialized in women's work to talk to her about Bao Xiangqiao's mindset, while she went to the Zhou family to inquire about the matter.
How exactly did you get divorced? And why did it have to come to my attention?
The village chief used to be very close to Zhou Wenyan, after all, he was one of the few intellectuals in the village who knew more than him, but now he has turned his disdain into a disdain.
Bookworm, you've read so many books, yet you can't do anything right!
Zhou Wenyan never expected that Bao Xiangqiao's divorce would cause such a commotion, even reaching the village. Now he had completely lost face.
He stood up angrily, wanting to grab Bao Xiangqiao and tell her to stop making trouble, but Ye Xiqing had already entered their house with the women's director.
Ye Xiqing flipped through Bao Xiangqiao's memories and instructed the women's director and the women under her command to help her move her quilt and pillow.
Bao Xiangqiao's family was actually quite well-off. They not only owned land, but her father also worked in a state-run restaurant, a very respectable and lucrative job.
When I was at home, we were poor because we had too many siblings—one older brother, one older sister, one younger brother, and one younger sister. There were five mouths to feed.
But because there was money coming in, the restaurant often provided subsidies, so Bao Xiangqiao could occasionally eat a meal of white flour at home.
A person's life shouldn't be too good; if it's too good, things can easily go wrong.
When they met, Bao Xiangqiao was immediately drawn to Zhou Wenyan's appearance and character. Not only did she not ask for anything, she also brought two quilts, a cotton-padded coat, a washbasin, and a thermos with her when she married him.
I don't care about food or drink, I just care about this person.
She doesn't want anything, but Ye Xiqing won't. Now that Tu Ren is bankrupt, of course she wants to take back what belongs to her.
Using old things would save money, while buying new ones would cost money, so Ye Xiqing mobilized the women's director to help her move her things.
This is exactly what women's work should be doing!
The village chief stared wide-eyed at the scene and immediately pulled the women's director aside, saying, "Didn't I tell you to do Bao Xiangqiao's job? Why are you doing her job instead?"
The women's director looked at the village chief with annoyance and said, "That's all useless talk. People are already staying at the village office. If she doesn't leave on her own, how can we kick her out?"
Whenever something happens in the village, they always pass the buck to her. It seems she's being put to good use again, this time to take charge of Bao Xiangqiao's meals.
The position of women's director is already a low-paying job, and to expect her to pay to work there is something even a fool wouldn't do.
So the women's director directly mobilized the women and fulfilled their wishes, taking away all of Bao Xiangqiao's eating and sleeping utensils.
The village chief can handle the rest himself; their family is barely making ends meet, so there's nothing he can do about it!
village head:……
Ye Xiqing and a few people were moving things in and out. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were ransacking the house.
Zhou Wenyan tried to speak up, but Ye Xiqing shoved him aside with a stick: "Get the hell out of here! You have no sense of propriety and you're just getting in the way!"
Zhou Wenyan:......
Ye Xiqing packed up her and Xiaoya's belongings and carried them back to the village office.
As soon as he entered, he said to the electrician who was looking after the child with a cheerful expression, "Thank you for looking after the child. Give him to me, and I'll take your night shifts from now on. You can go home now."
"It's okay, it's okay, I won't ask you for money."
"Go home and rest without worry. Serving the leaders is what we ordinary people should do."
electrician:……
Turning to the village chief: Should I go back?
village head:……
Come back! Come back! Come back!
After this battle, Bao Xiangqiao became famous in the village, a thousand times more famous than before. In the eyes of people of this era, this fame had transcended the human realm.
Ye Xiqing held her child while waiting for dinner. In those days, food was still precious, and no one wanted to cause trouble. Only the village chief could do his best and specially ask his daughter-in-law to prepare something less appealing.
Even the worst has a foundation, and Ye Xiqing looked at the large bowl of corn porridge that the village chief's wife brought over with a happy expression.
"Oh my, this is truly the village chief's food! It's so different. There are even red beans in this corn porridge, which my father-in-law is reluctant to put in. I'm really living a good life here with you!"
village head:……
Why did you put red beans in there?!
Daughter-in-law: ...
Who would have thought that the Zhou family, such a large household, wouldn't even put red beans in their corn porridge...
No matter what food the village chief brought, Ye Xiqing and the children ate with relish, clearly finding enjoyment in life at the village office.
Every morning, he would enthusiastically go to the village loudspeaker and sing for everyone.
Bao Xiangqiao is a strong and energetic woman who can argue well, and her singing is very convincing.
If the village needs entertainment personnel, she will apply for the job.
The audience watching from outside the screen were almost bursting with laughter. Watching Ye Xiqing, who was used to being calm and composed, play a shrew was incredibly entertaining.
The system, seeing Ye Xiqing deliberately shining the lights to amuse the little girl, was also exasperated: "Host, what are you doing! Aren't you afraid of being embarrassed at all?!"
In those days, electricity had just been introduced, and every household was reluctant to use it. In the Zhou family, electricity was only available when Zhou Wenyan was studying for his exams, which was particularly important; at other times, it was not allowed.
Ye Xiqing is currently staying at someone else's house and can order whatever she wants. Looking back at the system, she thought, "What? It's not shameful for someone to force me to throw a tantrum and fight for my legal rights, but it's shameful for me to fight for my legal rights?"
system:……
There is absolutely no precedent in the village for granting a homestead to a woman, especially a divorced woman.
But in those days when the legal system was not yet fully developed, especially in rural areas, many things were distributed based on who made the most noise.
Those who make a fuss will gain more, while those who don't will suffer in silence. If you don't make a fuss, then you haven't suffered any losses; otherwise, why don't you make a fuss?
The village chief originally wanted to go to Bao Xiangqiao's family to inform them and take this shrew back, thus saving the village the trouble.
As it turned out, Mr. Bao was a man who valued his reputation highly. He had never let anyone criticize him in his entire life, but having a divorced daughter like this made him lose all face.
He was brought to Dayushu Village, and as soon as he entered, he shouted and threatened to kill Ye Xiqing, this daughter who had disgraced the family and was unchaste! So that she wouldn't continue to embarrass him while she was alive!
Could Ye Xiqing be beaten by him? She turned and ran away without giving him any chance.
Bao Xiangqiao had lived in the village for six years and was familiar with everyone there, so the people of Dayushu Village quickly went to stop her father.
Ye Xiqing covered her eyes and wailed to the heavens. After Bao's father left, she turned to the village chief and asked, "So what do we do now? Tell me."
village head:……
The solution they had originally planned not only failed to work, but also made the problem even worse. In the end, they had no choice but to agree to Ye Xiqing's unreasonable request and make an exception to open an account for her, but only give her two and a half cents of land!
Ye Xiqing can't do it. Why is it that everyone else gets four-tenths of an acre, but she only gets two and a half?
What good is two and a half minutes? You can't even get a chicken coop to open.
The village chief looked at her with annoyance. "Giving it to you is already good enough. You're still being picky. They're a couple, are you?"
Ye Xiqing's eyes widened. How could they not be a couple? She picked up the little girl and asked the village chief to count carefully how many couples there were.
The village chief was furious with Ye Xiqing's shamelessness. The other couple were living a normal life and had children. What were you two doing?
Ye Xiqing laughed upon hearing this: "Village chief, what are you saying? Who's going to have the baby? Xiaoya and I are both capable of having children. We don't know how many children we'll have in the future."
"So you have to give me eight points of land, because I want to hire another person, and then have another one, so I'll get eight points."
"Even if we take into account the little girl growing up, sixteen points won't be enough."
*Pfft*
Those watching the commotion outside burst into laughter again, and the village chief, exasperated, went out to chase them away.
He turned to look at Ye Xiqing, about to scold him, but Ye Xiqing had already taken advantage of the moment when no one was around and quickly stuffed some things into his pocket.
Who would dare take Ye Xiqing's things? The village chief was shocked and tried to take them out.
Ye Xiqing grabbed his hand and said in a low voice, "Stop tearing it. If you keep tearing it, someone will hear you, and it will be even more difficult to explain."
“Give me six fen of land, right there on the dry ridge path of the Cheng family’s house. I’ll exchange the two mu of irrigated land of the Zhou family for the two mu of dry ridge land of the Cheng family. They’ll definitely be happy to do that.”
"Give me the dry-land arable land, and it won't be a problem for me to get a little more land on my shoulders."
village head:……
No, you suddenly seem like a completely different person...
In Bao Xiangqiao's village, there is not only one person with the surname Zhou, but also a group with the surname Cheng.
Most people with the same surname are related. The Zhou family is more influential than the Cheng family. The village well was dug near their land, so they can get water for irrigation no matter what.
Chengjia was just a little short of being able to get a proper family home. Many of their plots of land were dry and lacked irrigation. Although they would get a larger share of the land, they still envied the Zhou family's good land.
The village chief tentatively looked at Ye Xiqing: "Two mu of irrigated land for two mu of dry land, two for two?"
Ye Xiqing nodded.
"No regrets?"
Ye Xiqing nodded again.
Ye Xiqing suddenly changed her mind, and the village chief also changed his attitude, slowly sitting down and taking the opportunity to rub his pockets.
The village chief handed over two ten-yuan bills and some smaller bills, then began to purse his lips. Now everything was easier to say.
While tearing up old paper and making new slips of paper, he snorted at Ye Xiqing: "You, what can I say about you? You're such a troublemaker!"
"Let me tell you, I'm not doing this for any other reason. I'm only making an exception because I feel sorry for you two. But you can't do it again next time!"
Ye Xiqing nodded honestly: "Okay, okay, there won't be a next time. I can get a second divorce."
The village chief finally laughed, stamping her seal as he asked, "So when are you leaving? The higher-ups are coming to inspect, and what will they think of you if they see you like this!"
After Ye Xiqing saw him stamp the document, she said without hesitation, "Then I can't do it. I can't live on just a piece of land. I have to wait until the house is built before I leave."
She has nothing now.
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