"That's for sure. With both droughts and floods, it's unrealistic to expect that there will be no impact on the ecosystem."
The year of disaster is over; now we'll see how things go after spring arrives this year. Lu Chuan was also very concerned about the ecology of the mountains and forests, and couldn't help but worry.
"These are things we can't change; we can only leave it to fate."
"If there's nothing else we can do, let's do our best to protect this mountain forest," Lu Chuan said.
“Yes, when we have time later, we can replant some saplings next to the dead tree. I believe they will definitely grow into big trees again after many years,” Xu Han said with anticipation.
"Yes, this is also a legacy left for our children. It's also so that our descendants can live better lives. Most importantly, it's so that they can cope with natural disasters and have something to eat so they don't starve to death during disasters."
Upon hearing this, Xu Han suddenly remembered something and asked Lu Chuan, "Does this mountain belong to the government? Did our family ever obtain a land deed for this mountain before?"
“In the past, it belonged to the government, and everyone could go into the mountains to gather and hunt. However, because our place was far from the homes of the people at the foot of the mountain, it was considered a deep mountain to them, and under normal circumstances, no one would come into the mountains.”
But later, when my father was preparing to build a house in the mountains, he was afraid that someone would come and cause trouble after the house was built. So my father asked a friend to buy it for thirty taels of silver. "Lu Chuan explained.
"You bought it? That means the place we're living in now belongs to our family, not the government," Xu Han said in surprise.
"Yes, with the hilltop where we live as the center point, everything in front, behind, left, and right belongs to our family, but I really can't remember exactly how big it is."
"When we bought it, there was a map; it's a pretty big area," Lu Chuan said after a moment's thought.
"You bought so much for thirty taels? So much that you can't even remember it all? You really didn't spend that much money," Xu Han said with a smug look on her face.
"This is a barren mountain, and normally no one would buy it, so the price is very cheap."
In addition, my father had someone he knew act as a go-between, so when signing the documents, no measurements were taken; the area was simply circled on a map.
"Because we made arrangements beforehand, we naturally let them win a little when they were circling the area. Hehehe," Lu Chuan laughed.
"Father was right. I always thought our house was just built here incidentally. I never expected that Father would actually buy it."
Now that's great! Even if we plant things or make changes on the mountain in the future, we won't have to worry about the government seizing the land or stopping us from doing so.
"With the land deed, we have the confidence to do whatever we want on our own land, and no one can interfere," Xu Han said with a smile.
After hearing Xu Han's words, Lu Chuan felt a pang of self-reproach.
It's my fault for not explaining this to my wife beforehand, which made her worry and unable to live in peace.
He then said, "It seems I really haven't told you about the land deed. That's my fault; I should have told you sooner."
"It's not your fault. We're the only family living in the mountains, and there are no other neighbors around."
Subconsciously, I already felt that all the produce in the mountains belonged to our family. Of course, we would plant whatever we wanted first, without being influenced by others, since other families wouldn't come into the deep mountains anyway.
"If I hadn't suddenly thought of the land deed today, I probably wouldn't have remembered to ask about it," Xu Han said.
After thinking for a moment, he continued, "When we get back, find the map from back then, and we'll take a look at it together."
It's good to know that those hills belong to us; it gives us peace of mind and makes things easier in the future.
“Okay, I’ll find it when we get back,” Lu Chuan agreed.
"But suddenly finding out that our family owns so many mountains feels like becoming rich overnight, it's so awesome!" Xu Han said excitedly.
"What's the use of these hills? Can they be turned into money?" Lu Chuan asked, puzzled.
"Of course it can be turned into money. Think about all those mountains. We can plant whatever we want on them and turn it into money."
If we cleared all the land that could be cultivated and planted crops, wouldn't we become rich?
"With so many hills, how many acres of land could we grow? How much grain could we grow? Would we still be worried about not having enough food in the future?" Xu Han became more and more excited as she thought about it, wishing she could go home immediately to clear the land.
"There are only a few of us, and we can't possibly finish planting it all. Clearing land in the mountains is too much trouble. I never really thought we could clear land and farm it before," Lu Chuan said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"Hehe, I was just thinking about it. It's definitely not enough for just the few of us, and even if we managed to grow them, we wouldn't be able to transport them out to sell. The deep mountains are too far away, and all of this is unrealistic."
"If you really want to do it, then I'll accompany you and work on it slowly. We can eventually achieve it by accumulating experience year after year."
Xu Han was touched to see that Lu Chuan had actually taken it seriously.
But at the same time, some thoughts started to form in my mind. Maybe I really could do it someday. How would I know I couldn't if I didn't try...
The two chatted all the way, and before they knew it, they had reached the foot of the mountain.
After Lu Chuan hid the boat, the two of them walked one after the other towards the official road.
Around 9:30, we finally arrived at the official road.
Looking around, there was no one on the road, and the fields beside the official road had all turned into wasteland.
The ground was covered with withered branches and fallen leaves, a scene of desolation, clearly abandoned for many years.
The surrounding trees had fallen, leaving only some dead branches lying haphazardly to one side.
Looking into the distance, the houses had all collapsed. Some only had some main beams still standing, while others had completely collapsed and were no longer recognizable.
The area below the mountain is no longer as vibrant as it used to be. After so many years of natural disasters, it is almost impossible to see any trace of the life that once lived there.
With people gone, houses easily fall into disrepair, and last year's floods also caused the houses that were originally standing to collapse.
The flood was very powerful; not only did the houses collapse, but the surrounding trees were also uprooted.
Over time, this led to the scene the two of them are seeing now.
"It seems that those who fled the famine haven't arrived home yet," Lu Chuan said.
“Yes, they came back but couldn’t find their old home. There’s no trace of anyone ever living here,” Xu Han said sadly.
“The house is gone, the family is gone, the land is gone. Even if I come back, what good will it do?” Lu Chuan clenched his fists and said.
“Someone has to come back to rebuild our homes. The country needs people, and the people need to have enough to eat. Natural disasters are merciless, but we still have to live on,” Xu Han said, holding Lu Chuan’s hand.
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