Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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Old Man Ye would never admit this broken contract. No matter what, Ye Qingshan was his eldest son, and he still hoped for the best for him. If these lands were rented to the eldest and third sons, the food provided every year could support the three younger ones. From now on, if Ye Qingshan came home to farm his own land, they would definitely return it to him. If he sold it, he would have nothing.
Land was the life of farmers. Without land, life was lost!
“It can’t be sold, Xiao Ning. You are still a high school student. Have you read all your studies into a dog’s belly? Can land be sold? No matter how much money you have, it will be spent when it is spent. Land can be kept from generation to generation. It is passed down from generation to generation, do you even know how to settle this account? It’s easy for you to sell it, but if you want to buy it back, it will be gone.”
Old Man Ye said earnestly, “Hurry up and return the money to Youcai, aren’t you just afraid that we will take advantage of it? We won’t farm your land anymore. You can rent it out to a trustworthy person in the village. The rent will be enough for you, your siblings, and your father will earn the tuition. If it’s not enough, borrow it. In short, you can’t sell the land, even if you don’t go to school, you still can’t sell the land.”
“Dad…” Ye Qinghe suddenly became anxious when he heard that Old Man Ye said he wanted to rent the land to others.
Old Man Ye glared at him and said to the old party secretary: “Although Xiao Ning is nineteen years old, this child has been spoiled by her mother. She has never been on the ground and doesn’t understand anything. You must know how important the land is. The land cannot be sold.”
“It doesn’t matter what I say. I’m just a witness. You tell Youcai.” The old party secretary shook his head and refused to answer his question.
It had been a week since Ye Ning’s land came into Ye Youcai’s hands. This week, he and his wife took a look at it all. It had to be mentioned that Ye Qingshan was really lucky, not to mention the two paddy fields by the stream in the village, but the paddy fields on the other side of the pit were all fertile, and the mountains were also facing the sun. The more they looked at them, the happier they were. His father even said that the purchase was worth it.
Now let him spit out the fertile land he got? Dream on.
“According to the country, Ye Ning is an adult and a high school student. Her signature counts.” Er Mazi specifically called his son who was working in the city to ask. Ye Ning was already eighteen years old. As an adult, her sign was the same as Ye Qingshan signing himself.
“The head of this family is Ye Qingshan. It’s not yet the girl Ye Ning’s turn to be the head of the family. Why does her signature have to count? I am Ye Qingshan’s father. I don’t agree with it. It’s useless to break the contract.” Old Man Ye didn’t understand what adulthood meant. She was not an adult, so he just didn’t agree.
“It’s useless even if you don’t agree. You and Ye Qingshan have separated your households a long time ago, and you can’t care about his family’s affairs. Now Ye Ning and Ye Lan are both here, and the contract by signed by the siblings. If she doesn’t agree, she has to take it back, too.” Er Mazi knew how determined Ye Ning was to sell the land, and considering the happy reunion, he didn’t believe Ye Ning was willing to give the money back to him.
Everyone looked at Ye Ning, who had remained silent. Old Man Ye frowned. Just as he was about to speak, he heard her say: “I have already signed the contract. Of course I will not go back on my word. Grandpa, you know I will go to college in the second half of the year. How much is the tuition? How much is the tuition for Xiao Lan to go to high school? And Xiao Gu, the expenses for a year are also quite a lot. We also need food and clothing. These are all money, or are you willing to lend them to us?”
“That can’t be done either. But does the land have to be sold?” Of course Old Man Ye knew that their family had a lot of expenses, but he didn’t hear anyone selling the land because of their high expenses. “You are just a girl, why do you go to so many schools? You just have to graduate from high school. That’s enough.”
Old Man Ye had said this to Ye Qingshan several times. Girls were different from boys. A girl would already be in her twenties after graduating from college. How many years could she still earn money for her family? When the time came and she got married, all the money she made would belong to her husband’s family, it was just studying for others.
Ye Ning laughed angrily, “I can’t help it. My dad is willing to let me study. Not only do I study, but Xiao Lan also wants to go to college. What happened to the land being sold? My dad will live a happy life from now on and will never come back to farm. Like Xiao Lan, I will provide for him until the end of his life.”
When Ye Lan heard this, she couldn’t hold back her tears. She fell down and quickly lowered her head. She had always thought about supporting her father until he died, but she had no chance.
Ye Ning’s heart ached, and she took a deep breath, “This field belongs to my family, and Xiao Lan and I share it. Besides, my dad also agreed, and it has nothing to do with you.” Ye Ning looked at Ye Fangming and Ye Qinghe and the others said, “From now on the land will be owned by Uncle Cai, so don’t worry about it.”
Er Mazi felt relieved. He was really afraid that Ye Ning would take the land back. Hearing her words, he laughed, “Yes, these lands are all mine, so don’t go wandering around in the future, I’ll leave if there’s nothing else to do.”
The village party secretary also left, he was just here to be a witness.
As soon as the two left, Old Man Ye raised his hand and pointed at Ye Ning, his index finger trembling, “I will beat you to death today, you money-losing proposition.” As he spoke, he raised his right hand high, and Ye Ning pulled Ye Lan and ran out of the yard ahead of him, shouting: “Grandpa Party Secretary, help me!”
Many people had gathered around. Seeing Old Man Ye’s face flushed and looking like he was about to hit someone, they all stopped him: “The child is so old, so you can’t hit her.”
“Yes, it’s even a girl, so you can’t beat her.” The person who spoke was the aunt next door. “You and your whole family come over to beat a few children, so you are not considered adults. You don’t have any dignity.”
“Good conscience, we didn’t beat her. She, it was she who sold the land at home, and dad was angry.” Jin Xiuli quickly explained.
Selling land? When the villagers heard this, they looked at Ye Ning. This girl really could do it. She sold her family’s land without saying a word. She was too courageous.
Everyone immediately understood why Old Man Ye wanted to beat her. If it were their kid who dared to sell the land, they would definitely beat her to death.
“Xiao Ning, did you sell the land? All of it?” the mother-in-law asked in disbelief.
“Aunt, we can’t help it, they…” Ye Ning pointed at Old Man Ye’s big family, “They came to rent the land these three days, and what they said is nice. But when they get it, could we still have it back? Would they still give 20% of the rent, and it was guaranteed to be gone in a year or two. I told my dad these things. Our family needs too much money, mainly because I will go to college in the second half of the year, and my sister is in high school and needs money everywhere, now my father is the only one making money in the family, so he has no choice but to think of selling the land. As long as they were willing to help, my father will not sell the land.”
Everyone turned to look at Old Man Ye and the others, feeling that this was true, it was really difficult for Ye Qingshan. He lost his mother at a young age, and his biological father married his stepmother and became a stepfather. He was thinking only about the son born to his later wife. If his family’s land came to Old Man Ye’s house, he would take it in the future. It would be difficult to take back, instead it would be better to sell it.
“Don’t talk nonsense. I told you that we will pay the rent. When the food comes, we will pick it out for you when it is dried. Didn’t your grandpa also say that? If you don’t trust us, you can ask the old branch to write the deed. Then we can also ask the old branch secretary to check, the fields are all allocated to us by the state, and what you own belongs to your family, how could it be taken away by us?” Ye Qinghe said loudly.
No one in the village believed this. Who didn’t know that he, Ye Qinghe, loved to take advantage? He was really a stingy man who wouldn’t even give a mouthful of water to others. How could he turn around after he got it? Don’t talk about him, even Old Man Ye didn’t know what to do.
“If you want to sell it, you can sell it to your family. Why sell it to Er Mazi?” Fang Xianfeng felt that Ye Ning didn’t know how to get married.
“Can you afford the money? Don’t write me an IOU then.” Ye Ning glanced at them, “Anyway, I have sold this field. If you want to beat me or scold me, that is my dad’s business. You have no such right.”
Old man Ye pointed at Ye Ning, trembling with anger, “Okay… okay, I have no right to control you. When your father comes back, I will break his legs.” After saying that, he walked away angrily.
Ye Ning thanked the man who held the fence and went back to the house with her younger brother and sister. The onlookers dispersed in twos and threes, but the news that Ye Ning sold her family’s land soon spread to the entire village. They believed that if it spread to the entire township, it won’t be long before she became a famous prodigal daughter in eight villages across the country.
“Xiao Ning, did you really sell the land?” The aunt followed Ye Ning into the house, “Tell me the truth, did you deliberately lie to your grandpa?”
“How can I let the old party secretary and Er Mazi go together ? We worked together to deceive people, but I really sold it.”
The aunt had a good relationship with their family, but there were some things she couldn’t tell her.
“You…hey, you are really short of money. I can lend some more, but you can’t just sell the land.”
Who would sell the land until they really couldn’t make ends meet? This was the end of the road. After sending away the sighing aunt, Ye Ning and Ye Lan looked at each other, then she waved them to go to school.
The older generation’s love for the land was something that Ye Ning’s generation could not understand. Twenty years later, apart from those who contracted the land for planting, how many young people would be willing to farm? Almost all of them went out to work. At that time, the land in their hometown was abandoned and was given to others for free. Still no one wanted it. Ye Ning’s own land was like this. The nearby land was cultivated by her uncle and the others, while the far away land was left uncultivated. Later, the country gave free fruit saplings, and many people planted them. Those with elderly people at home could help take care of them, while those without elderly people didn’t even have anyone to take care of them. They picked a few edible ones every year and didn’t care about anything else.
Calculating the price, except for the foundation field, what was the price of the other fields at this time, and what the price would be decades later. If Ye Qingshan was gone, she and her siblings would definitely not be able to keep it. Of course, it was cost-effective to sell it for money. After entering the house, she put incense sticks in front of Ye Qingshan’s tablet and told him what happened today. Then she locked the door and went to find the old branch secretary with the sugar in hand.
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