Chapter 12: Contracting and Household Registration

“Uncle Lin, would it be possible for me to go see the locations of the mulberry fields, fish ponds, and flower fields in the village that haven't been contracted out yet?” An Jianping made his request directly.

Jiang Wenlin froze slightly, looking at An Jianping with a bit of confusion.

An Jianping gave a self-deprecating smile. “Uncle Lin, it was indeed me who called my brother a while ago to ask for help with the residential land.”

“It’s just that I regretted making that call the very same afternoon.”

“As you probably know, Uncle Lin, my eldest is now at the age where he needs to get married.”

“The boy is quite capable himself, and the girl is a good person with talent.”

“That’s why our family wants to treat her even better; we were planning to prepare a wedding house for the young couple when they marry.”

“However, we didn't take much interest in other types of housing. We felt that future houses would likely keep getting taller, and without an elevator, it would be inconvenient.”

“As it turns out, looking around, there is only one new residential complex currently under construction in Rongdi that has elevators.”

“But the price...” As he spoke, An Jianping couldn't help but wince in pain at the thought of the cost.

“Even if my family emptied our entire savings, we still wouldn't be able to scrape that much together. That’s why, in a moment of confusion, I thought of these two plots of residential land in the village.”

“But thinking about it later, even if we did manage to trade these two plots, it would still be difficult to gather that amount of money.”

Jiang Wenlin had a moment of realization.

No wonder. One of the village's most capable figures was trying every possible way to scrape money together.

Although Jiang Wenlin wasn't entirely sure about the specific prices of elevator apartments in the city, many families in Jiang Village had become wealthy over the years.

Not many people went to the city to buy houses, but quite a few people kept a close eye on city property prices.

He had heard that this year, even the cheapest houses in the Rongdi area were over a thousand per square meter.

Calculating for a whole family, they would need to buy at least several dozen square meters.

Wouldn't that cost at least fifty or sixty thousand?

With that much money, one could build two or three decent two-story houses in the village.

“So, what are you thinking now?” Jiang Wenlin pondered, unable to figure out how buying a house related to contracting land in the village.

“It was only when our family needed money this time that we realized that with the meager salaries my wife and I earn, we are truly limited.”

“So I was thinking, should we be like the people in the village and contract some land to start a business?”

“It’s just that my family doesn't live in the village, so I'm not quite clear on certain matters.”

Jiang Wenlin was still a bit dazed. He instinctively asked

“So, you aren't planning to sell your house after all?”

An Jianping let out a long sigh. “Whether to buy or not, it's a difficult decision either way!”

“That’s true!” Jiang Wenlin nodded in agreement.

Even if it were him, just thinking about it would be stressful.

But as expected of one of Jiang Village's earliest achievers!

The couple had raised three children and sent them all to school for many years, yet they still had significant savings?

If they truly felt the money wasn't enough to buy a house in the city, then preparing to develop a business in the village seemed like a pretty good idea.

Thinking this way, Jiang Wenlin forgot what he originally intended to say to An Jianping.

He stood up directly and led An Jianping out of the Village Committee office.

The two chatted as they walked down a street in the village.

This street was the most densely built area in all of Jiang Village, lined with all sorts of shops.

With this street, not only the villagers but also the visitors passing through could find almost all their daily necessities.

However, many businesses were unique, and even in the small supermarkets and grocery stores, the variety was not as rich as in the city.

Since it was Sunday, there were noticeably more strangers on the street.

However, most of the shops were not particularly busy.

When they saw Jiang Wenlin and An Jianping walking together, people—whether they were acquaintances or not—would call out greetings from a distance.

An Jianping greeted people while observing carefully.

Among the strangers on the street, some were riding motorcycles or small cars, and some were in the rare sight of larger cars.

But most were walking, having gotten off the bus at the village entrance.

Their destinations were not entirely the same, but with careful observation, one could see that they were mostly heading toward agritainment farms or places where one could pick vegetables.

The two quickly crossed the entire street until they could see An Jianping's plot of residential land.

Only then did Jiang Wenlin realize

The reason he had specifically called An Jianping wasn't to show him the uncontracted areas of the village.

“Jianping, regarding your residential land—if you truly don't intend to sell it, how about... I have someone tear down these earthen walls?”

Jiang Wenlin looked at the eyesore of earthen walls with a complicated expression.

In the current Jiang Village, while not every house was a multi-story building, An Jianping's family was the only one with a house in such a state of disrepair.

Especially since the industry Jiang Village had developed was primarily centered around agritainment.

In a place where guests were constantly coming and going, having such a dilapidated old house was truly an embarrassment to the village.

An Jianping glanced at the Captain and finally understood the reason behind the multiple phone calls.

However, he did not nod in agreement with the Captain's suggestion.

If his plan were to be implemented, the earthen walls would naturally not be an issue.

Jiang Wenlin felt somewhat helpless.

Seeing that An Jianping had already walked a good distance away, he could only continue to follow.

Next, the two left the immediate vicinity of the village and took a large loop around the outskirts.

They visited almost every uncontracted mulberry field, fish pond, flower field, and even orchard in the village.

Generally speaking, after years of neglect, except for the mulberry trees in the fields—which, though unmanaged and looking very different from their once neat and easy-to-harvest state, could still be restored in a short time—everything else was almost completely abandoned.

Whether it was the fish ponds, the flower fields, or even the orchards, they were largely derelict.

The flower fields, in particular, had mostly become empty lots.

As for the fish ponds and orchards, even though they were temporarily unmanaged and looked desolate, one could occasionally spot the shadows of fish beneath the water, and most of the fruit trees were still alive despite the lack of maintenance.

It was just that if one truly wanted to make use of them, it would require more than just time and effort.

Throughout the journey, Jiang Wenlin kept a close eye on An Jianping's expression.

But nothing could be read from his face.

On the contrary, he seemed quite pained looking at the mulberry-fish ponds that he himself had once invested a great deal of effort into.

It was a pity; after years of neglect, not only the mulberry-fish ponds but even the mulberry forests and the fish ponds had long been left unmanaged.

They looped back to the Village Committee from a different direction.

After the two sat down once more in the Village Chief's office, An Jianping got straight to the point and asked Jiang Wenlin

“Uncle Lin, if I contract some mulberry fields, fish ponds, and so on in the village, and also move my whole family's household registration back here...”

“Can our family be allocated more residential land?”

“What?” Jiang Wenlin looked at An Jianping, unable to process the question.

He understood the first part.

But how could someone who was just looking to sell their residential land suddenly be asking about getting more?

As if seeing through Jiang Wenlin's thoughts, An Jianping explained with a hint of helplessness

“Uncle Lin, you don't realize—it's not just my eldest who is about to get married.”

“There is also my second child, who has been studying in Nancheng.”

“She graduates from university this year, and her boyfriend is a classmate she has been dating since high school.”

“From the looks of it, they intend to get married right after graduation.”

“The reason I wanted to move the village's residential land this time is because I'm thinking we might need to hold another wedding in the second half of the year.”