Land, it's the very lifeblood of the villagers!
"Big brother, didn't you promise that we could farm this land?" Even the usually honest-looking Ye Xiu was getting anxious.
"Yes, big brother, spring planting is upon us. We've just got the field ready; you can't just take it back." Liu Ping's squinting eyes widened to their maximum, "Without land, what can your favorite nephew use for his education?"
Concerned about her eldest grandson, Granny Ye could not sit still either: "That's right, eldest, you initially agreed that the second brother would farm this land, you can't just take it back now."
Watching Chen Wen anxiously from the side, Ye Qiu sneered, "Well, mother, what should we do? How is my family going to survive without the land?"
"Aren't we all eating together, and nobody is starving, right?" Granny Ye said, pursing her lips.
"I just got back and watched all of you eat; my wife and daughter haven't even had a seat at the table." Ye Qiu has never been a good person, and if he doesn't stir things up today, there will be trouble in the future.
"Why should outsiders eat? They are just a loss," Granny Ye glared fiercely, spitting out contemptuously.
"My daughter is not a loss." Ye Qiu held Ye Manman in one arm and took Chen Wen's hand, sneering.
Chen Wen did not interject, but her eyes reddened again. After nearly three years, has her wait finally come to an end? Regardless of how he suddenly changed his attitude, as long as it's for their daughter's sake, she was not going to quibble.
Although Liu Ping and Ye Xiu were perplexed about how their big brother could change so suddenly, they did not dwell too much on it; their own interests were what mattered most.
"How about this, big brother? We won't farm your land for free. I'll still take up the farming, and for every mu of land, I'll give you a hundred catties of grain each year," Ye Xiu proposed.
Liu Ping pinched her husband's waist fiercely, lamenting the hundred catties of grain; four hundred catties for four mu of land, the thought was almost too painful to bear.
For him to even propose giving a hundred catties of grain was hard-pressed, as in Ye Village, it was impossible to find a lower rent than that.
"Well, it's not entirely out of the question," Ye Qiu said hesitantly, as if he had more to say.
But Granny Ye didn't give him a chance to speak further: "Yes, why not? That's settled then." Nothing else mattered when it came to her eldest grandson.
"Since mother has said that, alright then," Ye Qiu appeared to give in "reluctantly".
Granny Ye continued, "Since both of you brothers have started your own families, it's time to divide the house as well. Eldest, you have no sons, so the small cottage at the village end will be yours. The main house goes to your brother, and your sister and I will live with your brother. You have no objections, right?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiu and Liu Ping smiled. Ye Qiu kept a straight face, but inwardly, he sneered at the blatant favoritism; the tiny cottage at the village's edge barely had two rooms and half a roof left. However, he didn't care much: "I can accept the house, but out of the two pigs, I want the bigger one, and out of the twenty chickens, I want ten."
"Big brother, that's too greedy of you." Liu Ping protested, now that her own interests were at stake, completely overlooking the fact that she was getting the bigger house.
Granny Ye glared and silenced her, "Alright, but once the family is split, you have to take care of this old lady, and when your sister marries, you will have to provide money."
"Taking care of mother and arranging for my sister's marriage is only right. How about this? Since mother and my second brother will live together, you tell me how much rice I should provide each month – you decide the amount. As for my sister's marriage, when the time comes, I will contribute the same amount of money as my second brother, is that okay?"
"As for the rice, giving it month by month is too much of a hassle. Your brother is renting your land and has to pay you grain; let's not make that transaction, and directly consider it as your support fee for me. What do you think?"
The Old Lady's calculations were astute indeed, taking his land right from the start, leaving him with just one pig and ten chickens – not to mention, those animals were raised by his wife. But from the beginning, he never planned to live his life in this small mountain village; taking less now would provide plenty of excuses to rid himself of them later.
"Since mother, you have said so, it is not my place to argue." Ye Qiu looked utterly heartbroken.
Actually, both families' finances had already been separated when the younger brother Ye Xiu got married; they just hadn't lived separately yet. Today's commotion, with the village chief being called over to officiate, utterly eliminated any complications. That evening, despite the small broken cottage at the edge of the village being unprepared, Ye Qiu moved in with his wife and child.
To other villagers, this was another topic of discussion. Many in the village favored sons over daughters, but Granny Ye's case was particularly severe. Ye Qiu did not hide the fact that he moved out with his wife and child; on the contrary, he was keen to spread the word about Granny Ye's unfairness and Ye Laoer's immorality.
He was always decent in dealing with people; as he walked by, he distributed the candies—half a bag was all that was left after being grabbed by Ye Yu—a handful for you, a handful for me. His face unconsciously wore a bitter smile, and he shook his head at the right moments to express disappointment and fatigue, adeptly capturing the hearts of the villagers.
At that time, there was little entertainment in the countryside, and people liked to gossip, discussing the minutiae of others' lives. Sometimes, if public opinion was well managed, it could be very advantageous. Having experienced multiple worlds, Ye Qiu thoroughly understood the principle behind it.
After driving the pig to the sty behind the house, he fixed the shabby pigsty and chicken coop with old wood, did some simple cleaning, and then, since it was early spring and the weather wasn't warm yet, he hurried to repair the roof with straw and tiles borrowed from the village chief's house before it got dark.
Beyond the pig and chickens, all they had brought were Chen Wen's dowry, two sets of quilts and bedding, and some wooden basins and buckets. It was too late to cook that day, so Ye Qiu, not wanting to let his wife and daughter go hungry, took a chicken to the village chief's house and exchanged it for some hot food and tableware.
The humble house was dilapidated, but the family within was incredibly warm. That night, Chen Wen had the best sleep she'd had since their daughter's birth.
Having just split from the larger Ye Family, Qiu Ye couldn't blatantly take his wife and child straight to the provincial city, lest the blood-sucking Cheng Family notice and become persistently troublesome.
With the onset of spring plowing, even though Ye Qiu didn't own any fields, he wasn't short of work to sustain his wife and child. Behind the house, on the minor hills, as long as one was industrious, it was occasionally possible to catch a rabbit or a pheasant, and so the family of three lived an orderly life.
Months went by, and perhaps having confirmed that Ye Qiu truly had no money left, Liu Ping stopped probing their situation, while Ye Qiu awaited an opportunity to take his wife and child to the provincial city.
It seemed that, seeing Ye Qiu without farmland and struggling to support his family, the village chief was always the first to recommend external work to him.
During Mid-Autumn Festival, the village chief's son brought news that a farm on the outskirts of the provincial city was hiring, but only individuals were allowed—no families with spouses and children.
Ye Qiu declined, but it gave him an excellent pretext to venture to the provincial city.
A few days later, everyone in Ye Village knew that the Ye Qiu family was facing difficulties on account of having no farmland; they planned to seek a new life in the provincial city, having sold their only pig and a few chickens to gather enough money for the journey.
When Ye Qiu and Chen Wen, along with their daughter, went to the city, Granny Ye, Ye Laoer, and Ye Xiaomei did not show their faces.
He sneered inwardly, a true profit-oriented family, not even bothering to maintain appearances while watching his downfall.
Timely sighs and the expression of disappointment led the village chief to think even less of Ye Laoer's family; after returning to the village, their popularity fell even further.
After months of intentional and unintentional interactions and disclosures, Chen Wen already knew that her husband's last deceitful trade might not have incurred any loss at all. The prospect of leaving that little mountain village for a more developed life in the provincial city was exciting, more than frightening, to Chen Wen.
Now with a clever and agile daughter and a considerate, ambitious husband, what else could she ask for?
The early morning bus meant the family arrived at midday at the small courtyard Ye Qiu had purchased.
The entrance featured an old-fashioned wooden door—not particularly valuable, but sturdy, durable, and imposing. To the right of the courtyard was a grape trellis built by the previous owner, out of season now with only a few clusters of late-ripening purple grapes left, with few fallen fruits on the ground—presumably picked by neighbors or children.
Beneath the grape trellis was a swing that Ye Manman couldn't wait to sit on, her merry laughter echoing throughout the courtyard.
On the left side of the courtyard was a hand-pumped well, with roses and Chinese roses planted along the wall, blooming purple and pink even in autumn.
A stone path down the middle meandered to an exquisite two-story building, delectable but not luxurious. The entire courtyard exuded a simple yet warm atmosphere; clearly, the previous owner had taken good care of it.
Chen Wen had suspected her husband had secret assets, but she never expected such a marvelous surprise.
"This must have been expensive!" She was somewhat dazed, as just the day before she was living in a derelict thatched hut, yet today they were in a detached courtyard house in the provincial city, like being in a dream.
"It's alright; there's still some money left from what I earned." Ye Qiu had taken a liking to this courtyard the first time he saw it; he wouldn't have acquired it if the previous owner hadn't been eager to go abroad.
The furniture in the little building was very complete, requiring only a few necessities for everyday life before they could move in. That evening, Ye Qiu could hardly wait to treat his wife and child to a meal at a state-owned restaurant, eager to start their better life.
After putting Manman to sleep and lying in bed, Chen Wen was still in disbelief until Ye Qiu pulled her into his embrace and she slowly calmed down.