Chapter 52: Is There a Witness?

Jing Xi was very curious about why Chen Xiaowen was looking at her like that.

There was something in her eyes—more than just curiosity?

As Jing Xi pondered this, Liu Jianchang walked up from behind Xie Aiguo. “Xiao Jing, let’s go. Your aunt is too busy with cooking. Go help her out.”

Then, he gave her a knowing wink.

Jing Xi understood—Liu Jianchang was telling her to leave this mess for Xie Aiguo to handle.

She glanced at Xie Aiguo, who also nodded in agreement.

Jing Xi was surprised by Xie Aiguo’s recent shift in attitude toward her.

Could it be because of the time she inadvertently helped with his grandson’s food poisoning incident?

She looked at the Zhou family again, thought for a moment, but in the end, said nothing and followed Liu Jianchang back to his house.

The Zhou family’s hostility toward her had always been inexplicable.

And now, she had grown extremely curious about their twenty acres of land.

After she left, Xie Aiguo gave Zhou Wenwu a couple of stern warnings before striding off as well.

The Zhou family had gained nothing today and had even managed to offend Xie Aiguo in the process.

When Jing Xi returned, Zhang Rui immediately pulled her into the kitchen, bombarding her with questions.

Jing Xi, on the other hand, wanted to use the opportunity to probe into the matter of the Zhou family’s land.

“Shen’er, in our village, is it three acres of land per person?” Jing Xi asked.

Zhang Rui nodded. “That’s right. Each person gets three acres.”

Jing Xi continued, “Then what about women who marry into the village? Do they get land? And what about local girls who move their household registration elsewhere—do they still keep their land?”

Zhang Rui nodded again. “No, once a woman gets married and her household registration moves to another family, she loses her land. The land is reclaimed by the village and redistributed when new people are born. If a family has a baby, they get the land allocation.”

Jing Xi recalled something from the past about her cousin renting out land. She had been too young at the time to understand the details, but she remembered her cousin briefly mentioning leasing the land privately.

“What if someone in a family passes away? Does the land get reclaimed?” she asked.

Zhang Rui thought for a moment. “The land of a deceased person can be inherited, so it generally isn’t reclaimed. But each household can own a maximum of twenty acres. Even if they have new family members, they won’t get more land beyond that limit.”

Jing Xi was beginning to grasp the village’s land policies.

Land distribution in rural areas varied—some villages had more people and thus less land per person, while others had fewer people and more land per person.

Inheritance and distribution policies also differed from place to place.

But one thing remained consistent: women who married out lost their right to land. Some villages didn’t even allocate land to girls in the first place.

It was blatant gender discrimination.

Now that she thought about it…

Her cousin had never mentioned any of this before she passed away.

But then again, her death had been sudden—she had fallen ill and died in less than half an hour.

Jing Xi had no idea if anyone else knew the truth about the land.

She didn’t even know who to ask.

Seeing the contemplative look on her face, Zhang Rui seemed to understand something.

“Xiao Jing, can I ask you something?”

“Shen’er, go ahead.”

Zhang Rui sat down beside her. “Your cousin was a local, so she should have had land—three acres. Your parents were from out of town, so they wouldn’t have any. But you were born here, which means you should have land under your name too. That’s six acres in total.

“So why don’t you have a single acre?”

Jing Xi poured out the rice-washing water and said, “I don’t understand it either. I only remember that my grandaunt mentioned once that she had rented out the land to someone, but I don’t remember who. She passed away so suddenly that she never told me anything about it.”

Zhang Rui asked, “The land the village promised to allocate to you last time—did they tell you when you’d get it?”

Jing Xi shook her head. “The village chief told me that the land belongs to Wu Jun. It was allocated to his family a long time ago, but they just forgot.”

Zhang Rui slapped his thigh and raised his voice. “Nonsense! That land has been left unused for years! How could it suddenly belong to Wu Jun’s family? They’re obviously tricking you!”

Jing Xi sighed helplessly. “I know, but there’s nothing I can do. The village chief said that if any land becomes available in the future, they’ll allocate it to me.”

Zhang Rui was furious. “I’ll keep an eye on this for you! Also, I’ll help you ask around about your grandaunt. Maybe someone in the village knows something. She was quite an independent person back then and didn’t interact much with others, so not many people were close to her. But I remember that Zhou Ming’s wife used to have some contact with her. I’ll find a time to ask her!”

Jing Xi didn’t have high hopes, but she still thanked Zhang Rui.

One Month Later

During this time, the Liu family was incredibly busy, tending to their farmland while also building a pigsty.

Jing Xi had practically become a part of their household, helping with cooking every day and occasionally running errands in town for Liu Jianchang.

Fortunately, the Zhou Wenwu family hadn’t come looking for trouble again, so she enjoyed some peace and quiet.

Even though she had run into them twice on the road, she pretended not to see them.

As April approached, Liu Jianchang’s pigsty was almost finished. With no need to cook for the Liu family anymore, Jing Xi planned to take a few days off before deciding what to do next.

But she hadn’t expected to receive such a positive development regarding something she had been thinking about for a long time.

Xie Aiguo showed up at her door.

It was about the land allocation.

Xie Aiguo arrived with a bright, cheerful expression, as if he were bringing good news. Jing Xi politely made him some tea.

Xie Aiguo said, “Xiao Jing, I originally planned to call you over to the village office, but since I had to come this way anyway, I decided to drop by. I have some good news for you. The village now has some available land—two acres, to be exact. We discussed it at the village office and decided to allocate it to you first. The land isn’t far from here; it used to belong to Old Sun’s family. His third son moved away, leaving these two acres behind.”

He pointed down towards the embankment—about a hundred meters from Jing Xi’s house.

That plot of land wasn’t blocked by any mountains, had great sunlight, and was convenient for irrigation. Most importantly, it was close by.

Jing Xi was overjoyed. “That’s fantastic! Now I can finally grow the vegetables I want!”

Xie Aiguo was surprised. “You’re going to grow vegetables? You’re not planting crops for the contract buyers? Given your connection with the Long family…”

Jing Xi shook her head. “I want to grow vegetables mainly to solve my own food problems first. The contract farming does make money, but I’d be too busy handling it all alone. Growing vegetables is something I can manage on my own.”

Xie Aiguo nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Find some time to complete the paperwork, and the land will be yours. Also, I’ll keep an eye out for a suitable homestead for you—when there’s an available plot, I’ll make sure you get one!”

Jing Xi thanked Xie Aiguo.

Unexpectedly, Xie Aiguo looked a little embarrassed. “No need to thank me. If it weren’t for you, my little grandson would’ve been in big trouble. When my daughter and son-in-law took him to the hospital for a check-up after returning home, the doctor said that without your help, he would have suffered terribly. If it had been any worse, his life might have even been in danger.”

Jing Xi remained silent, and Xie Aiguo added, “Besides, this land should have rightfully been yours in the first place.”