Reborn in 1994: Starting from the Autumn Harvest

Liu Guoqiang's life was only considered average in the village, much worse than Yang Zhanguo's.

However, compared to Chen Hongjian's analysis, people still tend to believe the news from the brigade and want to try to get it done.

With the village party secretary present to witness the event, and the village providing written proof afterward, the cotton can be sold normally.

On the other hand, those 45 acres of cotton are practically free; who could resist the temptation?

There were quite a few people in the village who wanted to lease the land, and Liu Guoqiang couldn't afford to offend so many people, so he had no choice but to give in.

Chen Hongjian lit a cigarette and then dispersed the people in the room. Most of them took the stone coin when they saw it was only 4.5 yuan.

It's really not easy to get a cigarette from Chen Hongjian these days, so I'm happy to chat with him for a bit to get to know him better. Who knows, I might end up asking him for a favor.

Chen Hongjian then turned his gaze to Yang Zhanguo: "Zhanguo, when I arrived I saw you and Guoqiang leaving Guozhu's house one after the other. Have you made up your minds?"

Everyone looked at Yang Zhanguo. After he arrived, he didn't say anything except to greet them.

Yang Zhanguo was somewhat surprised. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he told them what he had heard at Guozhu'er's house. Anyway, even if he didn't say it, others would spread it.

He ran into Liu Guoqiang at Guozhu'er's house in the afternoon. He didn't know what the two brothers talked about, but he could tell that Liu Guoqiang was in a good mood.

Liu Guozhu said he would wait until the price of cotton came down before making a decision, and then he would ask the respected elders in the village to be his witnesses.

Yang Zhanguo thought about it and figured a few more days wouldn't make a difference, so he decided to wait and see, but he was getting more and more annoyed.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Let's wait a few more days. If Guozhu and his brother haven't settled things by then, whoever wants to get involved can get involved, and I'll leave."

"Guozhu's family is already in such a sorry state, all they want is to make more money, and his older brother is still like this..." Someone on the bench in the corner couldn't help but complain, but ultimately, due to some reasons, they didn't say anything unpleasant.

Someone immediately chimed in, "Guozhu is the same; he doesn't dare say no to his older brother and just keeps playing with the villagers like this."

"If you ask me, this matter should be handled fairly by the brigade. If Guoqiang doesn't have money, he shouldn't get involved. Don't try to do that thing where he doesn't want to pay but also wants the land..."

Chen Hongjian's eyes darted around, and noticing that some of the people were getting angry, he immediately spoke up earnestly: "You can't say that, it's not easy for anyone."

"We all have brothers, so if we put ourselves in each other's shoes, and we stop farming this land, and our brothers ask us for it, do you think we can refuse? We have to give it to them even if it's cheap. Guozhu'er has had a tough time."

"The village secretary and others were also in a difficult position. Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes. Now they've already reached the end of the matter." He gave a thumbs up, then paused, glanced around, and continued, "Guoqiang has also had a tough time."

"Hongjian, you said Guozhu and the brigade had a hard time, and I won't argue with you. How come Guoqiang has a hard time too?" Old Zhao at the village entrance couldn't sit still and got angry whenever Liu Guoqiang was mentioned.

Many people echoed this sentiment, clearly indicating that Liu Guoqiang's image had already crumbled in everyone's eyes.

Chen Hongjian quickly raised his hand to comfort him. Old Zhao was almost sixty years old and the oldest person in the house. He was the most influential person in the family, and when it came to emptying cotton, he would often talk to him.

"My little plot of land is all cultivated by my older brother. If an outsider were to cultivate it, wouldn't my brother feel ashamed when he walks around?"

"Do you think this makes sense?"

The crowd looked at each other, agreeing that this was indeed the case, but it only further demonstrated Liu Guoqiang's pettiness.

Then the people in the room started discussing it again, saying they wanted to ask the village secretary to uphold justice.

Chen Hongjian didn't say anything more and walked straight towards the door.

He lifted the curtain with his right hand, glanced back at it, gave a wry smile, and then left satisfied.

……

Chen Mian arrived home at 7:10 p.m., which surprised her mother as it was unusual for her to miss dinner time.

"Why are you so late?"

Chen Mian didn't answer, but kept complaining about being hungry, swaying with each step, looking dazed and dejected.

Tang Xiuyun couldn't help but laugh: "Hurry up and wash your face and eat."

Where's my dad?

"Your dad has work to do at home and in the fields right now, so after he finishes packing, he goes to the consignment store to join in the fun."

After washing up and tidying up, Chen Mian went into the house and found that her mother had made hand-pulled noodles. She hadn't tasted noodles for two or three months.

Lu Zi is made by frying Sichuan peppercorns in oil, and then adding vegetables such as green beans and diced radishes.

He took a bite of a garlic clove and held it in his mouth, then stuffed a mouthful of noodles into his mouth, chewing with such relish that he mooed like a cow.

"Mom~ I'm going out with Haichao tomorrow, can you give me 50 yuan?"

"What game costs 50 yuan?" Tang Xiuyun stopped drawing the thread, then ran the needle through her hair, glancing at Chen Mian. "Can your parents earn 50 yuan a day?"

"I didn't spend it all at once."

"You'll get whatever you spend."

"..."

Chen Mian wiped her mouth, then tactfully tidied up the table. After washing and cleaning everything, she sprawled out on the kang (a heated brick bed) and shuffled closer to her mother.

"Stop making a fool of yourself here, you're like a maggot." Tang Xiuyun gave him a kick, feigning seriousness, but she was a little helpless.

"No~"

Muttering to himself, he sidled up to his mother's legs.

I reached out and touched the red brocade quilt that my mom hadn't finished making yet. It was soft, smooth, and cool—it felt so comfortable.

"Stop waving around like that, this is for your nephew." Tang Xiuyun slapped away Chen Mian's hand that kept waving around.

"Mom, did you make this kind of quilt for me when I was little?"

Seeing her son resting his head on her lap, Tang Xiuyun patted his head. The child has grown up and is more obedient now.

I couldn't help but reminisce about the past, feeling quite emotional.

"When you were a child, we didn't have these conditions. Things only started to get better after Chen Shu was born. We were so poor before. Several of your clothes are hand-me-downs from your older brother."

When Chen Mian thought of her younger brother Chen Shu, a thought inexplicably arose in her mind: Could Chen Shu in her previous life have also been a reincarnated person?

His family was able to turn their lives around thanks to him getting into university and bringing honor to the family. Later, he worked his way up to a million-dollar annual salary and was determined to improve his family's life. He even insisted on taking her on blind dates.

However, by then I had already indulged myself and didn't have much desire for marriage or material things, so I firmly rejected them all and just lived a comfortable life with the land.

With all kinds of agricultural machinery and drones available year-round, farming doesn't actually require that much physical exertion.

After thinking it over, Chen Mian decided that she had to find an opportunity to buy some English textbooks from outside, since rural schools did not have such resources.

Even when there are English classes, they are just a formality. There isn't even an English textbook; students rely entirely on the teacher to dictate and repeat what they hear, even though the teacher doesn't actually know the language.

This caused my younger brother to lose at the starting line. He didn't start learning English seriously until junior high school, and he found it very difficult and painful. He really relied on rote memorization.

Chen Mian has a clear understanding of herself, so she doesn't intend to interfere too much with Chen Shu's growth. She only wants to provide some supplementary assistance in areas where he is lacking.

"Mom, I want to buy Chen Shu two English books. He's really bad at this subject, so he needs to study hard."

Tang Xiuyun put down her work, and her expression became visibly serious.

Although the couple didn't even graduate from elementary school, they have heard and seen too many people and stories of how education has changed their destiny over the years, so they attach great importance to learning.

Having suffered enough from the hardships of farming, they were filled with hope that their son could go to school, get a non-agricultural household registration, and find a decent job.

Currently, only Chen Shu still has a chance to go to high school and become the first high school student, or even a college student, in his family.

Chen Shu had previously struggled with English, and he was still using Chen Mian's junior high school textbooks, which looked like they had been chewed by a dog, and he couldn't understand most of them.

Thinking of this, Tang Xiuyun patted Chen Mian to get up, then turned around and lifted the quilt to take out fifty yuan: "Spend it sparingly."

Chen Mian took the banknote, flicked it with her fingertips, and couldn't help but shake her head slightly. She would have to find a way to keep her parents in the dark when she sold fish in the future.

"Don't worry, am I the kind of person who wastes money?"