Chapter 285

The next day after breakfast, Li Jianguo hitched the horse cart and took Liang Yumei, Li Juan, and Li Qiang to the Liang family's home. At this time, Liang Wenyu was most likely preparing the ingredients for the midday meal.

On the cart were mooncakes, apples, guokui, fish, and meat—as well as a pheasant.

After the pheasant eggs that Li Long had first brought back hatched, they were too lively. Helpless, Li Long had no choice but to trim the large feathers on their wings as they grew. Even so, these few pheasants were restless, flying east and west, and they wouldn't grow fat. By this time, Li Long couldn't bear it anymore and simply slaughtered the few chickens.

He kept two for his own family to eat and sent the rest away.

Li Long didn't wait much longer before carrying the items to Gu Xiaoxia's home.

The courtyard was swept clean; the corn and sunflower seeds that had been piled up haphazardly had already been organized into the spare room. Under the grape trellis sat a table and a few wooden stools—this thing was something Li Long had helped make.

It was very practical.

On the table sat a plate of grapes, a plate of tomatoes, a plate of apples—these must have been bought by Gu Xiaoxia—as well as a plate of watermelon and a plate of mooncakes.

"Without Xiao Long is here." Gu Bo Yuan, sitting under the grape trellis, was wearing a shirt and dress trousers. His hair was combed very neatly, and his previously messy beard had been shaved clean, giving him a somewhat scholarly air.

Seeing Li Long staring at him, Gu Bo Yuan felt a bit uncomfortable, rubbed his chin, and said:

"Yesterday when Xiaoxia came back, she insisted I tidy up. What is there to tidy up? It's usually fine as it is—now that I've tidied up, I feel a bit awkward."

"It's better after tidying up," Li Long said with a smile, "You look spirited."

Hearing Li Long's words, Gu Bo Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Xiaoxia, who had been listening with her ears pricked up inside the house, also breathed a sigh of relief.

She was afraid Li Long would say something like "This is more in line with a university student's temperament."

In fact, although Gu Bo Yuan was a legitimate university student, he was quite sensitive about others mentioning this status. Li Jianguo had mentioned this point, and Li Long, having lived two lives, could also understand.

"Gu Shu, I brought quite a lot of things today. Later, I'll properly stew a pheasant for you to eat."

"You don't need to do it yourself today; you are a guest," Gu Bo Yuan said, "Just eat melon and chat here, or play chess with me is fine. Leave the cooking to Xiaoxia."

Traditional people have this flaw: cooking is the woman's responsibility—at least Xiaoxia has to do it today. After all, she is someone who will marry into the Li family in the future; how can she not know how to cook?

This is very normal, just like Li Jianguo and Gu Bo Yuan, who had served as supply officers and mess hall squad leaders in the production and construction corps; they were both skilled at cooking, but Li Jianguo rarely cooked in daily life.

Gu Xiaoxia pouted, somewhat dissatisfied. However, thinking about how she usually went to work, and when Li Long was there, the meal would already be on the table when she returned at noon, she felt balanced.

She even felt a little nervous: what if she didn't perform well today, or if it didn't taste good, or if it wasn't as delicious as what Li Long made?

Li Long didn't know Gu Xiaoxia had so many thoughts. He listened to Gu Bo Yuan, took the things to the kitchen, greeted Gu Xiaoxia, and then came out to sit there and chat with Gu Bo Yuan.

"Without Xiao Long, when are you going to ask the village director for a homestead?"

"I estimate that as soon as the autumn harvest ends, before sowing winter wheat, the team will redistribute land," Li Long was not surprised by the heavy question Gu Bo Yuan threw out, and he explained:

"After the land is distributed, I will ask for the homestead."

"You really don't plan to go to the city to eat commodity grain?" Gu Bo Yuan still couldn't quite understand.

He had his reasons for not "coming out of the mountains," but how could Li Long, at such a young age, not want to enter the city?

"I plan to, I have a salary now, although I'm a temporary worker," Li Long said half-jokingly, "The main thing is that I can't bear to part with the land here. Now the land doesn't look valuable, but in the future, those with land will be landlords; that is the true guarantee against drought and flood."

"Impossible," Gu Bo Yuan shook his head, "Throughout history, it has been impossible to let farmers get rich. With such a large group of farmers, if they get rich, the land will be targeted by big capital... At that time, the land in the hands of farmers will likely be taken away..."

Although Li Long didn't have much education, he had lived two lives after all. In his previous life, he had also scrolled through many major domestic and international events on short videos. He said with a smile:

"What you are talking about, it's possible abroad. Domestically, farmers still have basic guarantees. Gu Shu, let me tell you this: as long as farmers don't court disaster, no one can take away these few mu of subsistence land."

The situation abroad in later generations verified this point. One was known as the granary of Europe, and the other was a South American country with the largest amount of arable land in the world, considered the place with the highest food output. In the end? Farmers actually went hungry; it really is...

But looking domestically, this year everyone will be allocated another three mu of subsistence land, so everyone's subsistence land will be five mu. And the land management fees and agricultural taxes, which is public grain, paid according to these five mu of land, only account for a small portion. As long as these farmers with land don't court disaster, it is absolutely no problem to mix enough for food and clothing with this land.

And in two more years, the first round of land contracting will begin. At that time, all the land in the village will be contracted to individuals. If you have the ability, contract more; if you don't, contract less.

By 1998 or 1999, after the fifteen-year land contract expires, it will be extended to thirty years, which means the land policy will remain unchanged until 2027... In his previous life, Li Long didn't live until that time, so he didn't know what would happen after that.

But the old farmers in the village all optimistically said that by then, it would likely still be thirty years unchanged, with no increase in land for increased population, and no decrease in land for decreased population—because population growth has already begun to slow down, and land, relatively speaking, is becoming more and more abundant.

For example, there are now one or two thousand mu of land in the village. By the time of the second round of land contracting, many alkali flats have been opened up, and the team's land has become four or five thousand mu. And by the time of the second major price increase for cotton after the new century, those wastelands in the team suddenly became valuable, and the village's arable land suddenly became seven or eight thousand mu.

Of course, as soon as the price of cotton rose, agricultural supplies suddenly skyrocketed. Gu Bo Yuan's words were indeed somewhat reasonable to a certain extent.

"If you really want to distribute subsistence land, then there really is no problem with eating," Gu Bo Yuan nodded, "As long as you are diligent, it's no problem to support the whole family. If your mind is a bit more flexible, then getting rich is not a big deal."

"That's right, Gu Shu, your mind is flexible; you could actually do something else."

"I'm too lazy to spend that effort," Gu Bo Yuan waved his hand, "Xiaoxia has a formal job, so I have no more worries. Next, it depends on you two getting married, and then having a few babies. It would be good if you could come over to see me often. It's fine if you don't go to the city; it's convenient for the babies to run over to see me in the village."

Gu Xiaoxia was listening to the conversation here from time to time in the kitchen. Hearing this, her face turned red.

"But there's family planning," Li Long smiled bitterly, "And you want me to have a few babies..."

"At worst, pay a fine. Are you short of that money?" Gu Bo Yuan glared at him, "At least two—it would be good if it's like your eldest brother's family. It doesn't matter if there are a few more; anyway, I can help take care of your eldest brother and sister-in-law's children."

Alright, the older generation's concept that "there is strength in numbers" certainly cannot be abandoned.

Li Long decisively changed the subject, but thinking about it in his mind, it would be quite good if he had two babies.

However, he remembered that there seemed to be a policy in the countryside here: if the first child is a girl, you can have a second child after four years. He just didn't know if having two children would affect Gu Xiaoxia's work.

Fine, fine, he was thinking too far ahead.

Family planning here was far less strictly enforced than in the interior. In his previous life, Li Long had seen many cases of overly strict enforcement on short videos, but he had basically never seen them in his own village or even his own township. Of course, it might also be because it was better enforced here.

The two chatted for a while longer, and Gu Xiaoxia shouted from inside the house:

"Dad, Li Long, you two tidy up the table, it's time to eat."

"Eating already?" Gu Bo Yuan looked at the sky with some confusion, "We haven't been talking for long."

Li Long looked at his watch; it was past twelve. It was a bit early for a meal, but since Gu Xiaoxia had said so, let's tidy up the table.

Moving the fruit and food on the table to a small table on the side, Gu Bo Yuan took a towel hanging on the wire under the shed and wiped the table haphazardly, and the leftovers fell to the ground.

Li Long prepared to get a broom to sweep, but Gu Bo Yuan waved his hand:

"Don't worry about it, we'll tidy it up together this afternoon. Go and serve the food."

Li Long washed his hands and went to serve the dishes. The first thing on the table was a cold dish.

"Dad, Li Long, you two eat first. Do you want to drink something? The hot dishes will be ready very soon."

Gu Xiaoxia knew that Gu Bo Yuan actually had a lot of things bottled up inside. She hadn't felt it before, but now that she was working, she felt it very strongly. But Gu Bo Yuan wouldn't tell her. He might have told Li Jianguo before, but he wouldn't say much.

Now Li Long was the prospective son-in-law. Just now, hearing the two of them chatting, it was quite good. Gu Xiaoxia's intention was to let Li Long accompany Gu Bo Yuan to drink some wine. After drinking, Gu Bo Yuan could say more things and wouldn't be so depressed.

!.

"Alright, I'm happy today, let's drink some," Gu Bo Yuan said, "Without Xiao Long, you're free this afternoon, right?"

"Today is a festival, what could I have to do?" Li Long smiled, "Let's drink slowly."

A bottle of old wine was opened, and both cups were filled. At this time, they were small porcelain wine cups—in a few years, they would be gone. Li Long remembered that old man Liang Donglou still used that kind of old-fashioned wine pot, and he would even warm the wine when drinking.

He didn't understand before, but later, once when he returned to his hometown, his cousin took him to the county seat to eat and drink. Before the dishes were served, everyone was poured a cup—the kind of 150-gram disposable paper cup. He drank half a cup in one gulp, and after drinking it, he felt the wine was cold, not spicy. Li Long was unconscious that night.

Then he understood that some wine really needs to be warmed to drink, otherwise it can really make you black out.

It might also be because the quality of the wine is different.

"Come, now we can talk, let's have a drink, the two of us," Gu Bo Yuan picked up his cup first and raised it to Li Long, "Xiaoxia is handed over to you."

"Gu Shu, why are you being so sentimental?" Li Long didn't want the atmosphere to become sad, so he joked, "Isn't the homestead I'm asking for in the team? When the child is born, won't they be running around playing in the team? Even if it's in the county, it's only a one or two-hour ride by bicycle, not hundreds of kilometers away. If Xiaoxia really has any grievances, she can run here, and you'll take a stick and go over..."

"Hehe, that's the logic," Gu Bo Yuan laughed, clinked glasses with Li Long, drank the ten-gram cup of wine in one gulp, put down the cup, wiped his mouth, and said: "This wine is not bad."

Li Long looked at the flush on his face and said with a smile:

"Gu Shu, don't be in such a hurry to drink, eat something first. Don't wait until the hot dishes aren't served yet and you've already fallen; that wouldn't be good."

"Nonsense, how could my drinking capacity be that bad? Drink it up, drink it up and pour another!" Gu Bo Yuan was naturally unwilling.

The two talked and laughed, and Gu Xiaoxia, listening from the kitchen, also smiled.

The bottle of wine wasn't finished. Although Gu Xiaoxia joined in and had a cup at the end, there was still a bottom left in the bottle.

After Gu Bo Yuan drank the wine, he really started talking more, from when he went to university to later coming to Xinjiang. From the hardships of building the village to the happiness of later pulling Xiaoxia from the earth nest to building a good house and moving into a new home.

Although Li Long had a strong curiosity, Gu Bo Yuan's mouth was still very tight, and he skipped over some key points directly.

For example, Xiaoxia's mother.

For example, why he came here.

After the meal, Gu Bo Yuan went to lie down on the bed in the inner room. After Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia tidied up the table and the ground together, he said:

"When the team distributes land in a few days, I will go apply for the homestead."

"Hmm." Gu Xiaoxia had actually heard it before. Li Long was the one who made the decision on this matter, and she was actually quite happy hearing it.

The relationship between the two was not as fast as most people who were dating in the team, but for Gu Xiaoxia, this speed was just right. She could understand Li Long as a person more, and could slowly adjust the way she got along with Li Long to ensure a better understanding between the two.

When Li Long returned to the Li family, the sun was already slanting west. Li Jianguo and the others had already returned. Li Juan had gone to play with friends, while Li Qiang was teasing a nightjar in the courtyard.

Liang Yumei scraped the cooled pig feed into a bucket to prepare to feed the pigs.

"This blind hawk was hopping in front of the horse cart, and then Qiangqiang chased it for a while after getting off the cart. The hawk flew up and hit a tree, so Qiangqiang picked it up," Li Jianguo said, sitting on a small stool against the wall, "This hawk is quite fierce; it pecked Qiangqiang twice, and blood even came out."

Regarding birds like hawks, children usually maintain awe, so even for a bird like the nightjar, which is a bit silly and has congenital physiological defects, Qiangqiang's tolerance was quite high.

Li Long sat beside Li Jianguo, listening to him talk.

"Qiangqiang's maternal grandfather said that they will start distributing land there tomorrow, distributing the second portion of subsistence land, adding up to five mu per person. It looks like our team should be soon too."

"Hmm, it must be distributed before sowing wheat, otherwise you can't just let every family eat corn," Li Long also said.

The village where the Liang family is located has less land than this village, but subsistence land must still be guaranteed, because that village is surrounded by villages on all sides, the boundaries will not change, and there is little wasteland.

So Li Long felt that the village where he was located really had unique advantages.

For himself, he just needed to wait slowly.

Opportunities are really numerous. (End of chapter)