A century of poverty

Chapter 24 Overbearing

Now that the village has an agricultural committee, Zhang Yikun's younger brother Zhang Yilu, the eldest son of Tiandetang whose nickname is Jun and whose full name is Zhang Mingzhi, and their father are all members of the agricultural committee.

After breakfast that day, a few people went to the old house of the Ma Shen Temple, which is now the office of the Agricultural Committee. Zhang Mingzhi went to Zhang Xifeng's new house to find him.

Zhang Xifeng came in and saw that all the members of the agricultural committee were there. Not understanding why they wanted to see him, he asked Zhang Yikun, "Second Brother, what do you need me for?"

Zhang Yikun: "If you have something to say, ask your brother."

Father asked, "The poplar trees and land you used to build the house all belonged to the cooperative. You used them all without saying a word. What do you have to say about this?"

Zhang Xifeng looked around, then stammered, "This matter—it, I don't know either. Is it something we're talking about? I'll go home and ask my mom."

Zhang Yikun: "That's right. I was there when you divided the family property back then, and it was clearly stated in the documents that it was to be shared by all. Now you've taken it all, which is not reasonable. Your second aunt is asking you for it, so you'll have to—you'll see what to do."

"I don't know about this. My mom is the head of the household," Zhang Xifeng said evasively as he turned and walked out.

His mother was waiting for her son to come home. As soon as he entered, she asked, "What did Zhang Mingzhi want with you?"

"The East Courtyard sued us, demanding the poplar trees and the land," Zhang Xifeng replied with a sullen face.

"Let him sue if he wants, we're not going to give it to him," Zhang Gaoshi said defiantly.

Zhang Xifeng: "Find the documents and let's think of a solution. Talking like this won't work outside." Gao Shuzhi came in from outside at that moment, having overheard their conversation. Zhang Gaoshi found the documents, and Zhang Xifeng clearly saw that it read, "Poplar trees in Beidadaogou and the vegetable garden in the west alley belong to the owner."

"Anyway, the roof beams are already in place, and he can't take the land. Let them sue us, we're not in a hurry," Gao Shuzhi said calmly.

Zhang Xifeng understood this, so she pretended to squint, held back, and ignored it. The two of them were thinking the same thing.

Two weeks later, Grandma said to Dad, "They can't handle this matter properly."

Father said, "Then we still need to find Zhang Yikun."

Zhang Yikun said, "Your third aunt and brother's family are not a reasonable family. If you go to see them again tomorrow, you should come too."

Father and grandmother, along with several village officials, have arrived.

This time, Zhang Gaoshi and her son came together.

Zhang Yikun spoke up: "It's obvious what's going on here. You've used all of Lao Ge's things, and we villagers can't stand it. It wouldn't be right for Third Aunt not to give Second Aunt some compensation. Let's lay it all out in front of everyone. Even brothers should keep clear accounts, right? Let's see what Second Aunt thinks."

Grandma said, "I didn't give her any extra; whatever amount we owed, she refunded."

Zhang Yikun: "Does Third Aunt have any objections?"

Zhang Gaoshi raised her chin and rolled her eyes: "I used my own land, what does it have to do with her?"

Father replied, "Third Aunt, that's not right. There's evidence to back it up. Yi Kun, who was in charge of the event back then, is here too! How can you say it's your own business and has nothing to do with us? hope Feng, what do you say we should do about this?"

Zhang Xifeng: "My mother is the head of the household, and whatever she says goes."

Zhang Yikun: "If that's the case, then if our village can't solve this, I'll hand it over to the district."

Zhang Gaoshi said, "Take it or leave it, Xifeng, let's go." With that, the mother and daughter went out.

Grandma, Dad, and a few other villagers were left looking at each other. "You three old ladies, ah—ah—, you're not easy to deal with," Zhang Mingzhi said with a slight stutter.

Zhang Mingzhi is a large-framed, tall man with a long face, large single-lidded eyes, a slightly downturned mouth, a yellowish complexion, and a stern expression. He and his father are now among the few Party members in the village.

Zhang Yikun stood up: "Let's disperse. Someone from the district will come and resolve this in a few days."

Grandma and Dad came home. Grandma said, "You're getting tough with these words."

Father: "We're not afraid of her being tough. People in the village are respectful and no one says anything to her. But try it on a stranger; a few words will shut her up. But then again, we're all family after all. If we really cause trouble and involve the authorities, it won't look good for us either."

Grandma: "What should we do then? Just ignore her and let her take it."

Father: "Now that things have started, there needs to be an explanation. I'll go to Zhaozhuangtuo to find my uncle. Wasn't he there when the family property was divided? I'll talk to him and see what he has to say."

Grandma: "This is also a law, you can go now."

The distance between Dongzhuang and Xizhuang was only about a mile, and they arrived in the blink of an eye. Father told his uncle Zhao Si everything.

Zhao Si listened without speaking for a long time. His heart was filled with complicated feelings. When the family divided, his second brother-in-law was gone. His third brother-in-law and sister-in-law instigated him to mistreat his second brother-in-law and her widow and her child. So many years have passed, and the orphan of the past has grown into the young man in front of him.

The father-in-law's instructions: "If he and his mother don't leave after I pass away, you can try to settle things for them."

Now that his third brother-in-law is gone, his two sons are the same age, living on opposite sides, each with their backs to the other.

In the past, I failed my mother and son, and listened to the advice of my third brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

If it weren't for his father-in-law's instructions back then, he would have simply given up and ignored both the past and the present.

His father-in-law's words echoed in his ears. He hoped that his mother and son had indeed been mistreated and that he felt uneasy about it. He hoped that he could take this opportunity to live up to his father-in-law's expectations and clear his mind of the guilt.

He knew a little about the matter of his third brother-in-law's wife and nephew Zhang Xifeng planting trees and building a house. The two villages were only a few minutes' walk apart, and they were close relatives. It would be a lie to say he knew nothing about such a big thing as building a house. But even he was stumped by this matter. Both of his brothers-in-law had passed away, and the two remaining wives-in-law had a long-standing feud. The younger generation hoped that the couple would be sensible but couldn't manage the household. It was also uncertain whether his third brother-in-law's wife would agree. How could he get both families to accept it? This was truly a difficult problem.

He didn't say anything. "I hope you go back first, I'll come over in a couple of days."

Sure enough, the next evening, after having dinner at home, he went to Zhangzhuangtuo and visited his second sister-in-law. He said to Xiwang and her son, "Second sister-in-law, here's my idea. Do you agree? We'll give you the old courtyard house that Third Sister-in-law demolished, in exchange for the part of the North Garden they occupied and the poplar trees in your share. We'll be even. What do you think? I haven't talked to Third Sister-in-law about this yet. I don't know if they agree. If you agree, I'll talk to them."

"I disagree," Grandma replied without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Si said, "Then there's nothing I can do. I won't interfere in your two families' affairs anymore." With that, he turned and left.

Dad asked Grandma, "Why didn't you agree with what my uncle said? We wouldn't be at a disadvantage that way. Our yard isn't big enough for three rooms, and even with the stuff over there, it's enough for five rooms if we don't have six. As our family grows, we can build five rooms when we need to, and we'll have enough for both the house and the yard. Why not?"

Grandma: "They've conspired together; they have no good intentions. This time, I'm not listening to them."

Father: "I don't think so this time. Besides, it's obvious that our yard is too small and needs to be expanded, while their new yard is spacious and has all kinds of space. The old yard is just sitting idle anyway, so giving it to them would save us a lot of trouble."

Grandma didn't like what she heard, so she pouted, turned her neck to the side, and ignored everyone. When Dad saw that Grandma was angry, he stopped talking.

A few days later, civil affairs officials from the district came and, based on the documents from the time of the family division, allocated several vegetable plots in the north end of Zhang Xifeng's unused old courtyard to his grandmother, and paid the equivalent of the poplar trees in monetary terms. The division was carried out without any objection from either side.

The two families, who were already at odds, fell silent again.