Chapter 40 Drawing Lots
No one expected that Xu Qiang would suddenly quarrel with the team leader Zhao Xigui in public.

You know, in the villagers' impression in the past, the Xu family was timid and honest, and they never said a word when they suffered occasional losses. Even when they worked in the factory, they were very low-key on weekdays and didn't seem to like to talk much.

As for Xu Qiang himself, he has been like his father since he was a child. To put it nicely, he is honest, but to put it bluntly, he is a coward. He was often beaten at school, and his parents never caused trouble for others. Perhaps because of this, the villagers have never looked down on his family, and it was common for him to be bullied.

But such a coward actually fought with the team leader today. Any other villagers would never dare to do such a thing.

"Since the leaders have also said that the division of our brigade this time must be open and fair, but now even my qualification to be a farmer has been revoked. How are you going to let my family, an orphan and a widow, survive?" Facing the two leaders present, Xu Qiang was obviously trying to gain sympathy.

In fact, Xu Qiang is not a nosy person. If the team only distributed some food, Xu Qiang might have accepted the loss with a pinch of nose. But this time, what was distributed was land and livestock, which were the capital for the villagers to make a living. So even if he had to fall out with Zhao Xigui today, he had to fight for it!

"Old Zhao..."

Upon seeing this, Deputy Mayor Yan Zhenguo's face suddenly darkened and he turned to look at Zhao Xigui.

"This...maybe the timekeeper missed it." Zhao Xigui said quickly.

"Brother, I've always done what you said..." Timekeeper Zhao Zhiqiang looked aggrieved.

"Okay, stop talking!" Zhao Xigui interrupted Zhao Zhiqiang, then turned around and said to Yan Zhenguo with a smile: "Mayor Yan, this is just a work error. I missed registering a villager. I will add him in right away."

"You can't work like this!" Yan Zhenguo said in a serious tone. He continued, "Our work of contracting land to households is not a small matter. It is a major matter related to the livelihood and property of the people! Any mistakes will affect the production and life of the villagers in the future. We must not treat it as a joke!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Leader, you are right. This kind of thing will never happen again."

In front of the mayor, Zhao Xigui behaved submissively, completely different from his usual domineering attitude in the village.

The reason is very simple. On the one hand, the other party is his superior. On the other hand, after the production team is disbanded, all the original leadership positions of the team will be cancelled, and the newly established village committee, including the village head, will have to be re-elected.

"Write it down for me quickly!" Xu Qiang said to Zhao Zhiqiang.

"Put it on his record."

Although Zhao Xigui was already extremely furious with Xu Qiang at this time, in this situation, he could only suppress his anger and do things according to the rules.

As for Zhao Xigui's three sons, seeing that their father was almost embarrassed by Xu Qiang, they were all furious, but in the end they endured it temporarily.

The other villagers stood around watching the fun, looking at Xu Qiang with either surprise or gloating.

The Zhao family is a wealthy family in the village, and their relatives are not easy to deal with. Now that Xu Qiang has offended their family, he will probably be retaliated against in the future.

But Xu Qiang couldn't care less about so many things for the time being. This was a big matter of dividing livestock and land, and he would never give up.

"Okay, sit down, let's continue."

Gao Lei, director of the Zhentu Management Office, also wanted to deal with the division of the brigade as quickly as possible, so he motioned for everyone to sit down.

Despite some altercations, the proceedings continued.

With repeated public voting, the brigade's asset distribution plan was finalized one by one.

In fact, the relevant distribution plan has already been prepared, and several surrounding villages also use the same plan, which is also the least controversial plan, so the whole process is very smooth. It is almost noon now. Usually at this time, many peasant women have returned home to prepare lunch, but at this time, no one moved at all.

Thus, the most important step in the division of the brigade finally arrived, which was to draw lots according to the order of the roster.

As for the order of drawing lots, it is based on age, and the first to appear is Zhao Liren, a five-guarantee household in the village. He is 91 years old this year and is the oldest person in the village.

The tool for drawing lots was a wooden box filled with small paper balls. Deputy Mayor Yan Zhenguo shook it a few times, then gently put the box down, and the drawing lots officially began.

Zhao Liren, a five-guarantee household, reached into the box, grabbed a ball of paper, took a quick look at it, and then walked away. People couldn't tell whether his face was sad or happy.

Then, as the timekeeper read out the names, everyone quickly lined up, and the second and third people came forward to draw lots.

At this moment, the atmosphere on the scene began to become inexplicably tense, and the air seemed to freeze. This was obviously an extraordinary moment.

Xu Qiang was basically one of the last few in line. Because he was young, he could only draw the last one. The ones ahead of him were Zhao Xigui’s three sons.

Soon, Xu Qiang's mother Zhang Fenglan walked to the lottery box. Her right hand was shaking a little. She rubbed the box for a while and then took out a small ball of paper.

As if she didn't dare to look, Zhang Fenglan took the paper ball and went straight back to her seat, her eyes closed, mumbling something...

The scene was once again filled with mixed emotions. Some people were grinning foolishly while holding paper balls, some were wiping away tears, and one person angrily kicked the stool in front of him far away...

When it was finally Xu Qiang's turn, he seemed to have no feeling at all, because there were less than ten paper balls in the box, and there was probably nothing interesting left.

After Xu Qiang took out the paper ball, he immediately opened it and saw that it read: East Field No. 2 to No. 11, a total of ten acres, three hundred and seventy kilograms of rice, one hundred kilograms of food coupons, and four hundred and eleven yuan and sixty-three cents in cash...

The land in the village was divided a long time ago. Judging from the results of the drawing of lots, Xu Qiang had good luck, as the land was right next to the pump house, making it very convenient for watering.

As for money, food stamps and grain, they are almost the same, basically everyone has this amount.

Despite this, Xu Qiang was still somewhat disappointed.

At this time, Xu Qiang glanced at his mother inadvertently and found that she was still muttering something with her eyes closed, so he gently patted her shoulder.

"Mom, stop chanting, and see what you smoked?"

"I am asking for the blessing of the God of Land..."

"What's the point of asking for that? It's a different era now, why do you still believe in this feudal superstition?"

Xu Qiang took the paper ball from his mother with a look of disdain.

The moment he opened the paper ball, Xu Qiang's face was stunned.

The first line of words clearly read: A mule cart...

(End of this chapter)