Chapter 33: Celebrating a Joyful Feast
Chapter 33: Celebrating a Joyful Feast
As the saying goes, "Distant relatives are not as helpful as close neighbors." In his past life, Deng Shirong lived alone in his hometown. His children provided him with enough money for his retirement, but when he fell ill, no one was there to take care of him.
The person who took care of him the most in his later years was his cousin's grandson, Deng Changping, who lived across the small stream from Deng Shirong's house.
The two families were quite close, as Deng Changping's grandfather was Deng Shirong's cousin, and their fathers were brothers.
At the moment, Deng Changping, though only 26 years old, was already a father of three children. Three years ago, he and his three brothers had divided the family property.
The young couple, raising three children and living with their parents in the old house, faced many challenges and lived a rather difficult life.
Now that the land was being divided among households, it was the perfect opportunity for Deng Shirong to lend his land to Deng Changping, who could use it to improve his family's situation.
With this in mind, Deng Shirong said to his youngest daughter, "Azhu, go and call Changping over. I have something to discuss with him."
"Sure thing," Deng Yunzhu replied and walked across the stream to fetch him.
Three minutes later, Deng Changping arrived.
As soon as he entered, he asked with a friendly smile, "Elder Ninth, what do you need?"
Deng Shirong set aside his pipe and said, "The first batch of land has been divided among the households. Your family has five members, so you get two acres, with each person receiving four tenths of an acre. Even if you have a bountiful harvest this year, after paying the public grain and keeping enough for your own consumption, there won't be much left."
Deng Changping sighed, "Elder Ninth, it's tough, but what can we do? Our production team has very little land. In places like Mavillage, each person gets two to three acres. They have so much land that they can't even finish planting it all. That's the kind of life that really has a future."
Deng Shirong sighed, "Actually, a lot of the land in Mavillage originally belonged to our village. Back in the days of communal farming, the village party secretary was from Yeyevillage. Since the workload was the same regardless of how much was done, to ease the burden on our villagers, he assigned most of the land to Mavillage.
"But a few years later, the situation changed, and each village formed its own production team. The land that was assigned to Mavillage was not returned. That's why our village has so little land, while Mavillage has more than they can handle."
Deng Changping had heard this story from his elders before and replied with a bitter smile, "We can't blame the village party secretary. His intention was to take care of the villagers and reduce the burden. He just didn't anticipate how quickly the situation would change, and in the end, it backfired."
After reminiscing about the old village party secretary for a while, Deng Shirong got to the point, "Changping, I called you here because I want to lend you the land that was assigned to my family. You'll be responsible for paying the public grain. Are you willing to do this?"
Deng Changping looked surprised, "Elder Ninth, you're not going to farm it yourself?"
Deng Shirong explained, "Yuntao is working at the brick factory, Yunheng and the three children are in school, and I've started a new career as a matchmaker. It's just too much to handle, so I won't be farming anymore."
With the wedding invitations for Deng Changfu and Guan Yongying being sent out, and the news that Deng Changmei was going to Changtian to look after the family, the villagers were well aware that Elder Ninth had taken up a new profession as a matchmaker.
Moreover, since Elder Ninth was also one of the owners of the brick factory, it made sense that he wouldn't be farming. Deng Changping understood this.
And by calling him over to ask, Elder Ninth was clearly showing his concern and support. After all, in the countryside, more land always meant a better life.
"Elder Ninth, thank you for your kindness. I'll be responsible for the public grain, and when the harvest comes, we can split the rice fifty-fifty.
Deng Changping said with a grateful smile, "Thank you so much, Ninth Uncle."
Deng Shirong laughed, "Don't worry about it. When the harvest comes, just bring a hundred or so pounds of rice to show your respect to Ninth Uncle!"
...
After returning from Ninth Uncle's house, Deng Changping walked into the room with a broad smile on his face.
Inside the room, his wife, Chen Xiaohua, was nursing their child. Seeing his happy expression, she teased, "You’re grinning from ear to ear. What good news did Ninth Uncle have for you?"
Deng Changping beamed, "You guessed right, Ninth Uncle did have some good news for me."
Chen Xiaohua gently patted the baby’s back and asked, "What is it?"
Deng Changping leaned in close and whispered, "Ninth Uncle doesn’t plan to farm his fields this year. He asked if we’d be willing to take them on. All we need to do is contribute the required public grain."
Chen Xiaohua’s eyes lit up, and she asked eagerly, "Is that true? You’re not joking, right?"
Deng Changping nodded, "It’s true, I’m not joking."
Chen Xiaohua was visibly excited, "That’s wonderful!"
It was no wonder she was so thrilled. In this rural community where everyone farmed, having an additional three acres of land meant an extra few thousand pounds of rice each year. This was a significant amount that no one could ignore.
As for the extra work, it was a non-issue for people of their time.
Deng Changping continued, "Ninth Uncle said we just need to contribute the public grain, but we can’t just do that. When the harvest comes, we should at least bring him a few baskets of rice as a token of our gratitude."
Chen Xiaohua nodded in agreement, "That’s only right. Ninth Uncle is doing us a favor, and we need to show our appreciation."
She then placed the sleeping baby back in the crib.
Deng Changping, brimming with enthusiasm, said, "With these extra three acres from Ninth Uncle, if we work hard, our life will definitely get better."
Chen Xiaohua added, "Our brothers have already built new houses and moved out of the old homestead. We should do the same as soon as possible. Living in the old house isn’t very convenient."
Deng Changping agreed, "Now that we have our own land and Ninth Uncle’s help, I believe it won’t be long before we can build a new house."
Thinking about the benefits of having their own home, the couple grew increasingly excited. If it weren’t for the time, they might have started planning right then and there!
...
As the first batch of fields in Bangjie Brigade was distributed to households, June came to an end.
Tomorrow was the big day for Deng Changfu and Guan Yongying’s wedding, and the entire Naye village was a hive of activity from early morning.
First, a pig was slaughtered. The groom’s family had to send a sacrificial gift to the bride’s family, which included two chickens, two pig buttocks, and a substantial amount of pork.
There were also candies, pastries, cigarettes, and alcohol, along with two red envelopes.
Of course, if they couldn’t afford to slaughter a pig or buy enough pork, they could give the bride’s family cash instead. This was all negotiable.
By the afternoon, the groom’s relatives started arriving with their contributions of wine and rice.
Due to the poor transportation and the fact that weddings in Shuangwang were held in the morning rather than the afternoon or evening, relatives and friends would come the day before to celebrate.
The wine and rice contributions were a standard part of the wedding tradition.
Each guest would bring ten to fifteen pounds of rice and two bottles of rice wine, with the red envelope placed on top of the rice.
As the matchmaker, Deng Shirong had to go to the bride’s family for the pre-wedding celebration that afternoon and then accompany the bride to her new home the next day.
(End of Chapter)
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