Chapter 433: Chapter 433 What on Earth Were You Thinking? Chapter 433: Chapter 433 What on Earth Were You Thinking? Auntie Sun laughed, “That’s right, they were urging me to leave early in the morning, and I didn’t even have time for breakfast. Okay then, we’ll head off first.”
Luo Qiao watched as Auntie Sun walked away with the children. Having grown up in the city, she had never witnessed the spectacle of opera in the village, but she figured the most excited by the liveliness would definitely be the children.
Once in the village, Luo Qiao headed straight for the Secretary’s home, occasionally meeting villagers along the way who greeted her with smiles.
After last autumn’s harvest, the village had allocated farmland to each household, and each family was truly vested in their own plots.
Indeed, some of the elderly who couldn’t stay idle were already shouldering hoes and shovels, eager to work on their land as soon as the New Year festivities were over.
Upon reaching the Secretary’s gate, Luo Qiao called out, “Auntie, are you home?”
Hearing someone outside, Auntie Gao said to her daughter-in-law inside the house, “Why do I think it sounds like Luo Qiao’s voice?”
Hastily slipping on her shoes and getting off the heated brick bed, she came to the door and saw, “Ah, I thought it sounded like you. Why are you back today?”
Luo Qiao replied with a smile, “I had some time today, so I came back.”
Auntie Gao asked, “Isn’t it the start of the school term?”
Walking along, Luo Qiao answered, “I asked for leave from school to self-study at home.”
Auntie Gao knew a bit about Luo Qiao’s situation, aware that she had learned the textbooks in advance with others at the farm, so it wasn’t too hard for her to accept.
After greeting everyone inside the house, Song Jiao warmly invited, “Luo Qiao, come sit on the heated bed to warm up.”
Luo Qiao wasn’t quite accustomed to taking off her shoes and climbing onto the heated bed in someone else’s home, so she said with a smile, “It’s not too cold. Is Baozhu brother on holiday for the New Year?”
Song Jiao laughed, “He is, he has been back for three days. Oh right, thank you for the seafood you sent.”
Luo Qiao smiled, “You’re welcome.”
As she spoke, she placed the things in her hands on the Kang table, “This is a specialty I brought back from Capital City for you to try.”
Auntie Gao brought in some homemade sticky rice dumplings, “Luo Qiao, these are the sticky rice dumplings I made. Try them, they’ve just come out of the pot, it’s the perfect time to eat them.”
Luo Qiao smiled, “Yes, I definitely should try them. Auntie, where’s my uncle?”
Auntie Gao laughed, “He’ll be back soon. The Gao Family came to borrow a ladder a few days ago, and they haven’t returned it yet. During last year’s land allocation, we drew lots and got a donkey.
At the time, it was temporarily housed in the storeroom behind, but quite a few of the roof tiles were broken, so he wanted to fix them while there’s not much going on these days.”
Just as Auntie Gao finished speaking, someone entered the yard. Looking through the window, wasn’t it Secretary Gao Jiefang carrying the ladder back?
Auntie Gao hurried out to help set down the ladder, “Hubby, Luo Qiao is back.”
Luo Qiao had also walked out to the yard by then and greeted, “Hello, Secretary.”
Jiefang said, “I was thinking you should be back by now. Everyone else’s land has been allocated, and during the autumn, you insisted on that piece of land at the foot of the mountain covered with thorny brushes. What were you thinking?”
Luo Qiao replied with a smile, “I came back just to handle this, Secretary. My stance remains the same, I want to exchange my ration land for that thorny land, and maybe you could give me a bit more in the deal.
The village cadres could meet to discuss, minus my two points of reserved land, how much of that thorny land at the foot of the mountain my ration land might equate to. Or if there are villagers who object, I’m willing to give up those two points of reserved land and convert all of my ration land into thorny land.”
Jiefang asked, somewhat perplexed, “Luo Qiao, may I ask why you are so adamant about the thorny land?”
After thinking for a moment, Luo Qiao said, “Secretary, here’s what I think: first, I’m not originally a resident of this village. When I first arrived, the villagers kindly accepted me, and I’m very grateful for that.
Now that the Zhao Family’s daughter has returned, she certainly needs to be added to the household registry and allocated ration land. Everyone is aware of my situation, but if I continue to occupy the good land in the village, I’m afraid the villagers might have some concerns.
There’s no doubt that my household registration is in the village and I’m entitled to land according to the policy, but on the other hand, firstly, I’m not born and bred in the village, and secondly, I’ve found my birth parents now. It really doesn’t sit well to continue taking the village’s ration land.
To put it simply, I want to do something for the village, but my plans might not show immediate results, so I need to start on my own and let everyone see the outcome.”