Chapter 162: Land and Household Registration

Dong Yanyan knew her father had a gentle temper; if he didn't genuinely feel he was being taken advantage of, he would never refuse anyone. However, this matter was actually a good thing. In a few years, when the national policies changed, not only would the agricultural tax be abolished, but there would also be direct subsidies for seeds and chemical fertilizers, all distributed based on the amount of land farmed. The current situation was that some of the more barren plots in the village were completely unwanted, yet according to national regulations, farmland could not be left fallow. Consequently, some remote, awkward plots had become unappealing burdens that no one wanted, impossible to give away even for free. A few years later, when the policy changed, everyone would be fighting tooth and nail to get those very same plots. Making a move now was the perfect timing.

"Dad, isn't that old man Wang you mentioned the village chief's father? You should go talk to the village chief. We can farm that land, but it must belong to our family from now on. Don't let them take it back after we spend two years improving the soil. Land matters are extremely serious; Old Man Wang needs to sign a written agreement in black and white. Otherwise, wouldn't all our labor and materials go to waste? Also, he has to willingly approve this spring's agricultural loan. Once he agrees to both conditions, we'll take the land!"

"You have no idea about those plots. They suffer from drought on sunny days and waterlogging when it rains. It's just wasted labor and supplies," her father said with a frown.

"Dad, just think of it as farming it for me, okay? The land is the root of us farmers. How wonderful it would be to farm a bit more land! If anyone else has such land, I want it all!" Dong Yanyan said, pulling his arm with a smile.

"Then take it all. Your uncle's family has six or seven mu of land they don't want to farm; we can farm it for them every year!" her father chuckled.

"We might as well pay their agricultural tax every year too! Anyway, it's not much. I'll go talk to him and give him two hundred yuan as if I'm buying it. From now on, those few mu of land will be mine!" Dong Yanyan said with a smile. She knew about those plots as well. Because they bordered her family's land, her father had casually farmed them every year without even requiring her uncle's family to provide seeds or fertilizers. Later on, when the land subsidies came out, her uncle simply took the land back. Her parents were honest people and blood relatives to boot. Aside from occasionally complaining a bit at home, they hadn't made a fuss. Since her uncle was willing to bleed his own biological brother dry, there was nothing wrong with her bleeding her dear uncle dry in return, right? Dong Yanyan thought to herself with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Then go talk to him. He'll be ecstatic," her father laughed heartily.

Dong Yanyan turned serious and said earnestly, "Dad, I'm not acting on a whim. Sometimes suffering a small loss is actually gaining an advantage. Besides, a major disaster like the one the year before last only happens about once every decade; we still have seven or eight good years ahead of us. National policies are getting better and better, and the government is encouraging the return of farmland to forests. In the future, land will definitely become more and more precious. While you are still young and strong, working a bit harder will make our future days much more comfortable. When I go back this time and get my salary, I'll mail it back to you. If you get too busy, just hire a couple of people—I'll pay for it."

"How much can you possibly earn? You'll pay for it?" her mother scolded playfully. "Just focus on your studies and do a good job. Once you find a good job later on, I'll have less to worry about."

Her father thought for a moment and smiled, "What my daughter says makes sense. No matter how poor the land is, it will still yield a little something each year, just like earning some pocket money. In case we hit a good year, we can sell a few hundred yuan more in crops."

"When grain prices go up in the future, it won't just be a few hundred yuan extra," Dong Yanyan said with a smile. Right now, corn was only a little over twenty cents per catty, and rice was just over fifty cents per catty. Fifteen years later, the price of corn would soar fivefold, and the price of rice would double. Every year, her family's own land alone would yield fifty to sixty thousand yuan worth of grain. If she added these dozen or so mu of land, making a hundred thousand yuan a year would be a breeze.

"All right then. Tomorrow I'll go find the village chief. I'll farm his old man's land, but he can't ask for it back later. Otherwise, all the advantages would go to him," her father said.

"Exactly. Even if he's the village chief, he can't just bully us. What we deserve to fight for, we must fight for," Dong Yanyan smiled.

The next day, fearing her father might feel too awkward to push the matter, Dong Yanyan accompanied him to the village chief's house.

"Once Yanyan transfers her household registration out, she'll be a city person. What does she want with all this land?" the village chief teased.

"Uncle, you must save that land for me! That's the only good land my family has. Besides, in case I can't find a job in the city, I'll still have to rely on this land to survive," Dong Yanyan said with a smile. She no longer thought an urban household registration was all that great. Back then, for the sake of job hunting convenience, she had registered her household in the provincial capital. Years later, when Lulu reached school age, she realized what a terrible mistake that household registration transfer had been. With sudden shifts in national policy and aggressive urban expansion campaigns, farmers who owned land received handsome compensation, instantly making rural household registration precious. In many places, people couldn't buy rural household registration with money anymore. Children whose registrations had been moved to the city for various reasons couldn't move them back, and even if they did, they had neither housing nor land. Even more frustratingly, city children could only attend schools within their designated district; to get into a decent primary school, they had to pay a massive school-selection fee. Furthermore, some better public schools refused to accept students from outside their district no matter how much money was offered. However, due to policy regulations, within the scope of compulsory education, schools were forbidden to reject the children of migrant workers. The result was that while rural children could attend any school city children could get into, city children could not necessarily attend the schools open to rural children. She had originally wanted to convert to an urban registration to make her future children's schooling and employment easier, but through a twist of fate, it had actually become more inconvenient. Truly, man proposes, but heaven disposes.

"All right, I'll save it for you," the village chief smiled warmly at her, then turned to her father, "In a while, I'll have my dad come over, and you guys can sign an agreement. You can farm those few mu of land from now on—they are all good plots."

Her father smiled noncommittally.

Hearing the news, her uncle trotted over eagerly as well.

Within a single day, both hot potatoes were successfully secured, and everyone was very happy. The village chief and the accountant repeatedly assured them that this year's agricultural loan would definitely not be a problem. To farmers of that era, they depended entirely on those ten-thousand-odd yuan agricultural loans to buy seeds and chemical fertilizers.

***

In the blink of an eye, the start of the semester was approaching. A few days before school began, Dong Yanyan started applying facial masks every night to care for her skin. The winds in the mountains were fierce, and over the past two months, her skin had become much coarser; she needed to replenish the moisture thoroughly. On the day before her departure, she went to the barbershop in town and got her medium-length hair permed into an upturned flip. Afterward, looking at her renewed self in the mirror, her mood became much lighter and more delightful. For a girl, a hairstyle was extremely important—she wanted to look pretty for as many days as possible. When school started, she could at the very least pin her hair back with clips. Permed hair wasn't allowed at school, but as long as it wasn't worn loose, the teachers wouldn't bother her too much.