Chapter 37: Blocking Someone and Requesting Land

Because of Wu Dazhuang’s case, Wu Jun and Wang Suitang had become much more low-key in the village.

Meanwhile, Jing Xi had become completely famous in the village after being personally commended by the police chief.

Several small newspapers and TV stations wanted to interview her, but she declined them all.

The credit for this incident was too mysterious—it wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny!

A reporter even left her a business card, saying that if she ever wanted to accept an interview, she could contact them.

Fame brings trouble. Now, every time she stepped outside, people would greet her the moment they saw her.

Her plan of maintaining a cold and distant persona had completely failed. She had no choice but to adopt a friendly and approachable demeanor instead.

The atmosphere of the Spring Festival was growing stronger.

With money in her pocket, she went to town twice with Aunt Wang and Aunt Liu to buy New Year’s goods.

She got new clothes, fresh bedding, and a variety of snacks and treats.

On their way back home, they ran into Liu Jianchang’s workplace cafeteria manager, Director Liu—a chubby woman.

As soon as she saw Jing Xi, she walked over enthusiastically. “Oh my, young lady! Fancy meeting you here!”

“Hello! What a coincidence!”

“Yes, I saw you from afar and thought it looked like you all! Sister-in-law, how’s Liu Chun doing?”

Zhang Rui nodded. “She’s doing well, she’s recovered now!”

“That’s great, that’s great! Oh, I was so worried when the child went missing—it was awful! But now everything’s fine. I knew it, you and your husband are good people. Your daughter was bound to come back!”

Zhang Rui nodded again. “I didn’t expect you to still remember.”

“Will Jianchang be going back to work after the New Year, or will he be farming?”

Zhang Rui nodded. “We have to plant crops in the spring, but we’re not sure yet.”

“No worries, no worries! If it’s convenient, he can come back. If not, I’ll find someone else!”

After exchanging a few more words, they parted ways and went home.

Hearing Zhang Rui mention farming, Jing Xi suddenly remembered the dihuan seeds she had cultivated.

“Aunt Wang, I remember you saying last year that you wanted to plant two acres of dihuan, right?”

Aunt Wang nodded. “That’s right.”

“Well, I have some dihuan seeds. Would you and Aunt Liu like to give them a try?”

“Seeds? Where did you get them?”

Jing Xi pursed her lips slightly. “When I went to Nanzhen, I happened to run into someone selling dihuan seeds. There weren’t many, but they looked big, full, and round—really rare. So I bought them all. If you trust me, I can give you the seeds. One acre per family should be enough!”

The two women trusted Jing Xi completely, but farming was no small matter. “Alright, Xiaojing. When we get home, show us the seeds first!”

Jing Xi nodded confidently.

---

Zhang Rui was stunned when she saw the seeds Jing Xi brought.

“How are these seeds so big? So full?”

They were perfectly round and looked truly special!

“Xiaojing, do you remember what the person selling them looked like? Maybe we can go back to Nanzhen and see if they have more!”

Jing Xi shook her head. “I don’t remember. And that person said these were all he had—there weren’t any more.”

“What a shame! But it’s fine. If we plant them this year, we’ll have our own seeds for next year!”

“Exactly! We can test them out this year!”

“Xiaojing, when we sell the dihuan, we’ll give you money for the seeds. We can’t take them for free!”

Jing Xi smiled. “Alright, we’ll discuss it when the time comes!”

The three of them finalized their plan to plant the dihuan seeds in the house.

Jing Xi only regretted one thing—she didn’t have any land of her own.

Thinking about that, she remembered how Wu Jun had taken over her land.

No matter what, she needed to go to the village and request a piece of land back.

This was her home, the place where she was born and raised. Why did every household have farmland and a homestead, yet she was the only one living on the embankment of a field?

And why wasn’t she given the land she was supposed to have?

It wasn’t fair.

A person couldn’t just keep swallowing their grievances forever!

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On the day of the Little New Year, Jing Xi went to the village office early in the morning and happened to run into Xie Aiguo, who was just opening the door.

Seeing her standing at the entrance, Xie Aiguo’s right eyelid twitched. “Xiao Jing, you’re here so early—what’s the matter?”

Jing Xi nodded. “I came to ask you about the land.”

“Come inside and let’s talk!”

Once inside, Xie Aiguo busied himself boiling water and lighting the stove, deliberately making Jing Xi wait for half an hour.

Jing Xi just sat on the stool, waiting patiently, without the slightest sign of impatience.

When Xie Aiguo finally brewed his tea and sat down at his desk, he finally spoke.

“There really isn’t any land left in the village right now. I’ve tried to find a solution before, but I just couldn’t come up with anything.”

Jing Xi had expected this answer. “Does Wu Dazhuang have land?”

Xie Aiguo hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”

“What about Liu Yan and Liu Chun?”

“They do, but if they move their household registration elsewhere in the future, they’ll lose it.”

“What about Zhang Jianjun?”

“He has land too!”

Jing Xi stood up and glanced at Xie Aiguo’s filing cabinet. “Then tell me—who in the village doesn’t have land?”

Xie Aiguo paused and flipped through the village records. As it turned out, it seemed like Jing Xi was the only one without land.

Jing Xi saw his silence and let out a small laugh.

“Village chief, my parents passed away when I was only a year old. After that, my maternal grandaunt raised me. When I was twelve, she also passed away. According to the rules, my parents and my grandaunt should have had land. I remember that when I was a child, because my grandaunt was in poor health, she rented out the land for others to farm. But she has been gone for so many years, and I have never received a single cent of rent. Don’t tell me you weren’t aware of this?”

Xie Aiguo felt his head start to ache—this was indeed a suspicious matter.

But it also served as a reminder to him.

“Wait here. Let me check. I’m really not too clear on this issue.”

Jing Xi stood beside his desk, watching as Xie Aiguo flipped through records, going through files of various families in the village.

Most of the records belonged to households with large amounts of land, and the family with the most land was the Zhang family.

The Zhang family had a lot of land for several reasons. First, the deceased elders of the Zhang family had three children, so the land was divided among them. Second, the village allocated land based on population and inheritance—descendants could inherit land from their elders.

Old Master Zhang had been biased and left most of his assets to Zhang Qiang. The other two daughters had married out of Fucha Village, so the Zhang family, with just three people, owned fifteen acres of land.

But based on Jing Xi’s experience working for the Zhang family, she estimated that they definitely had more than just fifteen acres.

That well-known hillside plot alone was already three to four acres, and if you added up all the scattered fields, the Zhang family had at least twenty more acres—probably over thirty in total.

Which meant there was a very real possibility that the Zhang family had taken her grandaunt Yuzhu’s land.

Jing Xi had already pieced the puzzle together, and now, the rumors from the village women about the Zhang family occupying extra land seemed very likely to be true.

Xie Aiguo closed the record book and rubbed his temples. “Alright, Xiao Jing, go back for now. I’ll take some time over the next couple of days to measure the land. Also, since your grandaunt Yuzhu passed away so long ago, I don’t know who she rented the land to. We’ll need to find someone who was familiar with the situation to figure it out. I’ll do my best to get you an answer, okay?”

Jing Xi stared at Xie Aiguo, unmoving.

“Village chief, I haven’t done that interview with the city newspaper yet. What do you think—when should I schedule it?”