Chapter 540: Then We Won’t Split Up!

Nianzi Mountain Village. Village Committee Office!

The phrase “If only Xiao Yi from the Shan Kui family were here” instantly silenced the previously noisy village committee office.

For some reason, everyone’s gaze instinctively turned to Li Shan Kui, who sat silently in the corner.

The sudden attention made this honest, down-to-earth farmer feel somewhat uncomfortable, so he could only keep his head down, staring at the Liberation shoes on his feet.

Perhaps it began when Li Yi stood tall and promised the entire village he would marry “Tang the educated youth”;

or perhaps it began when he built the village’s first brick-and-tile house in just a month, even inviting county officials to his wedding;

Or perhaps it was when he led the villagers in selling mushrooms and raising cattle and sheep, ensuring everyone had enough food to survive during a year of severe famine.

In short, without anyone really noticing, Li Yi’s image in the eyes of his fellow villagers had completely transformed.

He was no longer the “good-for-nothing” or “street urchin” who only knew how to cause trouble and get into fights; instead, he had become a “capable person” in everyone’s eyes.

So, when the villagers faced a major decision, the vast majority of them wanted to hear his opinion.

Feng Kai, of course, understood what everyone was getting at. After a brief pause, he glanced at Li Shankui and said, “Shankui, has your son Yi been in touch with you lately? Do you know when he’s coming back to the village?”

“No, he hasn’t. That kid’s been swamped!” Li Shankui replied somewhat gloomily.

That was just his nature—he wasn’t much of a talker.

“I heard you mention last time that Xiao Yi had a phone installed somewhere. See if you can give him a call, talk to him about this, and get his take on it while you’re at it!” Feng Kai said.

“That’s right, Brother Shan Kui. He owns the lion’s share of the village’s several hundred sheep and over four hundred head of cattle!” Production Team Leader Zhang Tongfu chimed in.

“Uncle Shankui, if all else fails, you could always write a letter. After all, that policy won’t take effect until after the autumn harvest…”

As everyone chimed in with their own suggestions, all eyes once again turned to Li Shan Kui.

After a brief silence, Li Shan Kui nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll go into town tomorrow and give him a call!”

Although he didn’t want to drag his son into this mess, Secretary Feng and Team Leader Zhang did have a point.

After all, the village’s cattle and sheep had all been purchased with his son’s own money.

Now that the higher-ups were requiring the village to distribute assets to individual households, that meant everything had to be divided among the villagers. How to divide up these cattle and sheep was indeed a major problem—it would be best to ask his son!

Hearing that Li Shankui agreed to call Li Yi, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“All right, since Brother Shan Kui has agreed to handle this, there’s no need for anyone to worry. You can all go home now…”

However, before Feng Kai could finish his sentence, the sound of a car engine suddenly echoed from outside.

Through the small window of the village office, everyone saw a black sedan cut through the rain and pull up smoothly in front of the building.

Just as everyone was wondering who on earth would be coming to the brigade headquarters at a time like this, the car door opened.

First, a young stranger stepped out, and immediately afterward, everyone spotted a familiar figure getting out of the car!

“Hey, isn’t that Xiao Yi from the Shan family?”

“Oh my, it really is him! Xiao Yi is back!”

“Shan Kui, your son is back—come take a look…”

Amid the crowd’s exclamations, Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang jogged over to the brigade headquarters.

Li Yi was a bit speechless at that moment. When they left the capital, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear, but he never expected that as soon as they passed Zhangyuan City, a light rain began to fall.

By the time the car entered Qing Shan County, the rain had intensified, turning into a downpour.

Because of the heavy rain, what should have been a five- or six-hour drive ended up taking them over eight hours.

By the time they got home, it was already past 5:00 p.m.!

However, upon returning home, Li Yi discovered that only his mother was there; everyone else was gone.

Upon asking, he learned that his father had gone to the village committee office regarding the household-based production system, while his eldest sister had returned to work at the sugar factory in the county seat several months ago.

His second older sister and her husband did visit often, but since they were quite busy, they would usually just come by to dry some mushrooms and then head back once they were done; they generally didn’t stay overnight.

Upon hearing the news that the authorities were preparing to implement the household contract responsibility system in the village, Li Yi immediately felt restless and promptly had Zhang Ziqiang drive him over.

As soon as he walked in, Li Yi was surrounded by the crowd, who greeted him in a flurry of voices:

“Xiao Yi, when did you get back?”

“Did you come back alone? Did your wife and kids come back too?”

“We were just talking about you a moment ago, and here you are…”

While greeting everyone, Li Yi scanned the crowd for his father.

Soon, he spotted his father standing toward the back.

His father was still as stoic as ever, appearing almost impassive, but Li Yi could see suppressed excitement in his eyes.

“Dad!”

“You’re back?”

“Yeah, I just got home. I heard you were here, so I came right over!” Li Yi replied.

“Where are Xiaoxue and the kids?”

“They came back with me. They’re at home with Mother right now!”

Hearing that his daughter-in-law and two little grandchildren had also returned, a rare smile appeared on Li Shankui’s face, and his gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the door.

Seeing this, Feng Kai cleared his throat and said, “Comrades, quiet down. Since Xiao Yi has just returned, let’s discuss this matter now!”

Feng Kai’s authority in the village was unquestionable; the moment he spoke, the room quickly fell silent.

“Xiao Yi, have a seat!”

Feng Kai continued, “Xiao Yi, the county issued a notice a few days ago. They’re going to implement the Household Contract Responsibility System here, which means we’ll be allocating land to individual households…”

“Uncle Feng, you don’t need to explain this to me. I’ve known about this policy for a long time and understand exactly what’s going on. Basically, it’s about putting an end to the era of communal dining!” Li Yi said.

“Right, we’re done with the communal dining system. That’s why we wanted to ask for your thoughts!” Feng Kai said.

“What good is my opinion? It all depends on what everyone else thinks!” Li Yi said.

“Most of the villagers don’t want to split up the land!”

“Why is that?”

“Mainly because everyone’s made money working with you, and the village is developing really well right now—especially with the cattle and sheep farming. It’s given everyone hope, and they’re worried that if we split the land among households, they won’t be able to keep it going!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhang Tongfu chimed in, “Yi, you might not be fully aware, but our village is really taking off right now. Most of those five hundred-plus ewes are already pregnant, and by the end of the year, we’ll be welcoming the first batch of lambs!”

“The calves and foals we bought from the back pastures last year have all grown up. This year, the village planted over 3,000 mu of corn and so many sugar beets—we’ve got plenty of grass and feed. If we raise them for another year, that herd of cattle, sheep, mules, and horses could easily fetch over a hundred thousand yuan. If we mess this up, the loss would be huge!”

Li Yi looked around at the crowd and then asked, “Uncle Feng, Uncle Zhang, you can’t just say we shouldn’t split up—you have to consider how many people in the village don’t want to split, and how many do.”

Feng Kai replied immediately, “We’ve already asked everyone for their opinions. Basically, no one in our village wants to split up!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yi made a startling statement: “Since everyone doesn’t want to split up, then we won’t split up.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire village office fell silent, and everyone stared at him in shock…

………