diskusbooks Chapter 52 The Yang Family's Division of Property and Contracted Land (The Brigade's Lotte
Chapter 52 The Yang Family's Division of Property and Contracted Land (The Brigade's Lotte
In mid-November, the two large tin loudspeakers hanging high in the production team office of Daxing'an Village blared again that morning. This time, it was the same unpleasant announcement from the production team leader, Wang.
"Attention, fellow commune members! After breakfast, each household should assemble in front of the brigade office at 8:00 AM. The head of each household must be present. If the head of household cannot be present, the second-in-command will be present. This is a very important matter. We will be drawing lots to distribute land and livestock."
As soon as Captain Wang finished speaking over the loudspeaker, cheers erupted from the Yang family compound. One can imagine that other families must have felt the same joy at having their land contracted to the farmers!
The Yang family had eaten early, and the grandparents had Yang Zhannan, Yang Zhanbei, Yang Chong, and Yang Zhi, the four grown men, participate in the land distribution.
When the four men arrived at the brigade, most of the villagers had already arrived.
A short while later, the rest arrived happily.
Some women from the village, having nothing else to do, would come over to watch the excitement, especially to see how lucky their husbands were, which plot of land their family would get, which horse or cart from the production team, or which old ox.
Yang Yuhan was also among the women of the village. The weather was alright; it wasn't too cold, and it was still warm enough to stand outside.
Before long, Village Chief Zhao, Secretary Yu, Accountant Liu, and Captain Wang from the village brigade arrived.
Soon, they got down to business. First, Secretary Zhao spoke, then Captain Wang spoke, and then Accountant Liu spoke.
Finally, they drew lots to divide the land and livestock. In this way, the brigade leaders ensured fairness and impartiality.
Which plot of land a village receives depends on the luck of each villager's labor force. Those with good luck get good plots, and those with bad luck get bad plots.
The paper for drawing lots was placed inside the large cardboard box wrapped in red paper that Captain Wang had just brought out.
This box contains the plots of land that have been allocated. After all the plots are allocated, the livestock will be allocated next.
According to Captain Wang's naming system, whichever member's name is called will draw a small white paper ball from the big red box.
It started with Wu Sanbao's husband drawing lots. While he was drawing, I could see that his hand was trembling. Finally, he managed to calm himself down and put one hand in. But I didn't know which little paper ball he should grab.
Everyone was getting anxious, urging him to hurry up. They were worried that his dawdling would prevent them from using their skills to secure a good spot.
Chen Erlai said impatiently, "You damn well better hurry up, you're wasting my precious spot. Just use the same audacity you have when you're with women to draw lots, and that'll be the end of it!"
His words actually worked quite well. Wu Sanbao, without hesitation, immediately grabbed a small piece of paper. Then, the process continued, starting with reading out names, and so on.
Wu Sanbao opened the small piece of paper and burst into laughter!
Looks like he's happy because he landed a good plot of land. This kid really has that kind of luck.
Chen Erlai regretted it now. He shouldn't have rushed to chase after him. Otherwise, he might have been able to get a good plot of land.
Next up was Chen Erlai, but he didn't get a satisfactory plot of land. He was unhappy, so he went to Wu Sanbao to exchange the plots he had drawn, saying that he had urged Wu Sanbao to draw faster so that he could get a better plot, and used that as a reason to exchange it back.
Wu Sanbao, being a man, refused to stand for it, and the two started fighting before being pulled apart by a crowd. Secretary Yu then reprimanded everyone present.
Fortunately, Wu Zongbao had relatives from out of town visiting and weren't present, otherwise he would have definitely scratched Chen Erlai's face black and blue. Besides, if Wu Sanbao had been there, Chen Erlai wouldn't have dared to do that.
They continued to grab land plots. Everyone except Wu Sanbao's family, who laughed after grabbing their plots, had a crying face after looking at the little paper ball in their hands.
The lottery was about halfway done, and then Captain Wang called out Yang Zhannan's name to draw lots.
When Yang Zhannan heard Captain Wang call his name, he glanced at his family members beside him. His family gave him courage, and he turned around and quickly walked a few steps to the red cardboard box. Without hesitation, he reached one hand into the box and took out a small piece of paper. Just as he was about to open it, suddenly, the small piece of paper was no longer in his hand.
Yang Yuhan was watching the whole process, but didn't participate. She just slightly moved her lips and continued watching Yang Zhannan draw lots again, three times in a row. The villagers who didn't get a lot started cursing at him for being so slow.
The fifth time, he finally looked at the little ball of paper in his hand with satisfaction and smiled. Yang Yuhan watched him smile, and secretly smiled to herself!
After the others finished drawing lots, they began to draw lots to divide the livestock in the same way.
Yang Zhi went to catch it, and he caught the complete white horse-drawn carriage that Uncle Niu in the village often drove.
Old Niu wasn't happy about this, because he had caught an old yellow ox. The two exchanged a few words and almost came to blows, but Village Chief Zhao intervened and stopped them.
The day's land and livestock distribution ended just like that. The Yang family was very satisfied. Yang Zhannan drew lots and received several acres of land in the west of the village, which was protected from drought and flood, and had previously been used by Yuqiu to make burlap sacks. Yang Zhanxi drew lots and received several acres of land in the east of the village.
Yang Zhi drew lots and got a white horse-drawn cart, the same white horse-drawn cart that Uncle Niu often drove to Tuandingshan Commune. It was also the same white wooden cart that had been used to transport the village woman who had suffered a difficult childbirth to her funeral many days ago.
Yang Chong drew lots and got the red wooden cart that Yu Qiu got on her wedding day.
Therefore, for this grand event, none of the women in the Yang family compound had good luck in drawing lots. On the day of the event, the old lady ordered several women to prepare a large kitchen and celebrate with eight delicious dishes served at the dinner table!
This was also the last time the Yang family had a reunion dinner together as a whole.
The next day at the Yang family compound, after breakfast, Liu Yue, Yang Zhixin's new wife, demanded a separation from the family. This coincided perfectly with the wishes of the other wives who had held this view for many years!
At the dinner table, several wives raised their hands in agreement, while the men remained silent, exchanging glances. Yang Zhi showed a different expression and winked at Liu Yue.
Liu Yue brought up the idea of dividing the family property. This enraged Yang Hong so much he nearly overturned the table, but Yang Zhannan grabbed the old man's angry arms, while the old lady wore a wicked smile!
The first day's proposal to separate the family did not receive the support of the two elders. Later, the two elders discussed it in their east room. In those days, it was almost unheard of for brothers to separate and live independently. It was extremely rare for the Yang family, with more than a dozen people, to still live together and eat from the same pot.
A tree grows tall and branches out; a person grows old and capable and travels far. Fortunately, the two elders finally opened their minds and understood; their old ways of thinking couldn't keep up with the new social situation.
The two elders knew their health was declining and they didn't know how much longer they could live. They figured it was better to divide the inheritance among the family members as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the brothers were fighting tooth and nail over it.