Chapter 26: Leasing the Land

Several tenant families in the village also cultivated some plots of land.

There was a piece of land in the village with a poor harvest.

Back when everyone worked together in the collective and earned work points, this land couldn’t be left fallow; even with a poor harvest, it had to be planted.

After the land was distributed to individual households, villagers knew this plot was unproductive and nobody wanted it.

So the village didn’t allocate this land. Leaving it fallow wasn’t an option after the land distribution.

They announced that whoever wanted to cultivate it could.

But no one wanted to. The fertilizer and labor costs far outweighed any potential return.

Cultivating such land was a guaranteed loss, so naturally, no one did it.

Later, the tenant families wanted to farm, so the village leased it out cheaply.

Each family got only a small plot, not much.

Uncle Wang explained the situation and enthusiastically took Hua Youcai to the village chief’s house.

The land was west of Hua’s house, just across the road.

While crops wouldn’t grow, the weeds thrived.

Hua Youcai directly bought a pack of cigarettes, a bottle of liquor, a can of preserved food, and a bag of biscuits from the small shop – that should be enough.

He left without money, putting it on credit.

When asking someone for a favor, you can get things done without gifts, but gifts make things smoother.

It’s human nature, the same everywhere.

Those blank, stamped letters of introduction his daughter secretly hid – that’s how they were obtained!

Wang, the village chief of Shili Village, was a straightforward and efficient man.

The village had a precedent for this.

The land was fallow anyway; they didn’t even need to pay.

They just wanted to avoid villager complaints, so they charged a small fee: five yuan per mu per year.

These were military dependents, and the village wanted to maintain a good relationship.

The presence of the military base benefited the village.

For example, the middle school was located in the village, unlike most middle schools which are usually built in towns.

This solved the education problem for the children of military families, and it was also convenient for the village children to attend school nearby.

After Hua Youcai got the information, he immediately went home to discuss it with his daughter.

Five yuan per mu per year, how much should they lease?

Considering the production capacity and rapid growth rate of her space, Huayuanyuan conservatively suggested ten mu.

Hua Youcai thought his daughter might not know how much ten mu was. He and his son cultivating ten mu…

“Dad, there’s me too. There are three of us. No, there’s also our future son-in-law and daughter-in-law, five people in total.”

Five people for ten mu, two mu per person – manageable.

Seeing her father’s conflicted expression, Huayuanyuan guessed what he was thinking.

“Okay, ten mu, fifty yuan.”

So cheap! Five yuan per mu. Villagers get preferential treatment; they wouldn’t even take it for free.

Village Chief Wang was overjoyed when he heard Hua Youcai wanted to lease ten mu.

The total area of the fallow land was twenty mu; five mu had already been leased, leaving about fifteen mu.

In the end, what started as ten mu became fifteen – five mu were given for free.

When signing the contract, the village wanted a twenty-year lease, but Hua Youcai refused.

Whether he’d still be around in twenty years was questionable.

He specifically went to Wang Fugui’s house to ask his wife, who said they only signed a one-year contract initially and didn’t renew it, but continued to cultivate the land and pay annually.

Why was it twenty years in his case?

After some negotiation, they reached a compromise: five mu of land given for free for five years.

The five mu of free land were a burden, but the village wouldn’t budge.

The Hua family of three went west, crossed the road, and that patch of wasteland became theirs.

The boundary was clear, surrounded by wheat fields. After the snow melted, dark green wheat seedlings were visible.

The wasteland, surrounded by wheat fields, was barren, a stark contrast to the surrounding greenery.

Hua Youcai, thinking about the upcoming fieldwork, felt a twinge in his lower back.

“Daughter, can I start looking for a son-in-law now?”

This made Huayuanyuan burst into laughter. Her father was quite amusing.

It wasn’t that she disliked fieldwork; it was hereditary.

The root cause was her father, and she wondered who he inherited it from.

“Hahaha, Dad, hurry up and find one, someone who can work hard.”

Hua Fangfang chimed in, “Dad, don’t forget the daughter-in-law, she needs to be hardworking too.”

…

Hua Youcai didn’t want a long-term lease because he wasn’t sure how long his daughter would stay.

If she suddenly decided to leave, they’d still have to pay annually, incurring a loss.

But worrying about it now was pointless; they’d take things one step at a time.

From Hua Youcai’s observations, his daughter had indeed lost interest in Wang Changjiang, focusing on vegetable cultivation – which was good.

As long as his daughter didn’t get discouraged, he’d support her in whatever she did.

Then the busy work began.

Hua Fangfang was sent to buy bamboo strips and straw mats, ordering enough for two large greenhouses, keeping the dimensions unchanged.

Huayuanyuan was busy with seedling cultivation; the greenhouse in the yard became a seedling greenhouse.

After the outside greenhouses were built, the seedlings would be transplanted, increasing the survival rate.

A space in the space was also cleared for seedling cultivation.

Hua Youcai found a family in the village to help plow the land.

He paid by the mu, not including meals; one yuan per mu.

Fifteen yuan for ten days’ work, or fifteen yuan for five days’ work.

Old Man Liu led the ox, his son held the plow, starting work at dawn, eating lunch in the field, and finishing at nightfall.

Earning fifteen yuan at their doorstep was a rare opportunity.

Because Hua Youcai required deep plowing, it was slow, and the old ox needed rest, taking a total of five days.

Hua Youcai inquired about local livestock farmers and bought manure.

His daughter said to buy as much as possible, but it was fine if they couldn’t get enough; they’d see how things went in the first year.

On the evening of the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, a Saturday, after dinner, Hua Youcai went to Zhang Xiangnan’s house.

He placed a package of about a pound and a half of pork on the kang table and boldly spoke.

“Little Zhang, Uncle is shamelessly asking for your help again. We leased that wasteland to the west and want to try building two greenhouses…”

Hua Youcai calculated that it would be time-consuming and laborious for him and his children, so he asked Zhang and a few others to help, finishing it in a day.

Favors required reciprocation.

“Uncle, you’re too polite. Even if you hadn’t come today, I’d have gone tomorrow. I’m even bolder than you!”

…

The old and young man chatted amiably. After seeing him off, the young couple talked about it.

Yang Jing opened the kraft paper and took a piece of pork, chewing it thoughtfully. The more she chewed, the tastier it became.

“Is it because it’s homemade pork that tastes so good?”

“That’s partly true. Cooking is a personal skill. The same ingredients will taste different depending on the cook.”

“Uncle Hua is so generous, such a large package, and he still has three more. One for each family!”

“Exactly, Uncle Hua said it was from his own pigs.”

…

Yang Jing’s complexion had improved significantly recently; she clearly had an appetite.

Unlike before, she was drinking Chinese medicine and couldn’t even eat a bite; whatever she forced down came right back up.

After leaving Zhang Xiangnan’s house, Hua Youcai visited Fang Dayong’s, Liu Jianye’s, and Wang Fugui’s homes, arranging for them to come early the next morning.

He also contacted Captain Hao, who said he had something to do the next day, but Xiao Wang said he’d pass the message early and he’d come after he was done.