1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 62 Exchanging Land
evening.

At the entrance of the Qiao family's residence.

After dinner, the Qiao siblings sat inside the house, warming themselves by the fire and chatting.

As for Huang Hongmei, that fat old man, he disappeared after dinner, no one knows where he went to visit someone.

Qiao Erhe rubbed his hands together and said, "Big brother, the most important thing for our family right now is to build a new house. Have you thought about where to build it?"

Qiao Dajiang was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and said, "Second brother, where else can this new house be built? Isn't it going to be built next to this old house?"

“The new house was originally supposed to be built next to the old house, but now the old house has been turned into a chicken farm. I believe you have smelled the strong smell of chicken manure from the chicken farm recently.”

Qiao Erhe suggested, "So I think we should choose another place for the new house. Otherwise, no matter how beautiful the new house is, it won't be comfortable to live in if the air is bad."

Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Sanduo, and Qiao Sihai were all taken aback when they heard this; they hadn't really considered the issue of air quality.

Qiao Sanduo said, "Second brother, what you said makes sense, but our family only has this one plot of land (including our private plot). If we don't build a new house here, where else will we have land to build a new house?"

Qiao Erhe said, "If there's no homestead, then we'll just build the house on the farmland."

In this era, the control over the ownership of farmland was far less stringent than in later generations. In later generations, the country set a red line of 18 billion mu of arable land, and the control over arable land was extremely strict. Anyone who dared to encroach on arable land to build a house would only have one fate—forced demolition.

Even building a house on the original homestead requires prior approval before construction can begin.

In the early stages of the land distribution to individual households, the state's control over this matter was very lenient. Rural people could build houses on their own farmland without anyone saying a word against them. After all, the land had already been allocated to them, and they could do whatever they wanted.

In Qiao Erhe's memory, after the land was distributed to individual households, a housing construction boom occurred in rural my country, and the phenomenon of illegally occupying farmland became very prominent.

Although the government has introduced relevant policies, they have had little effect.

Qiaojiawan was no exception. In the following years, many families built houses directly on their own farmland, and no one cared about it until the late 1990s when the local government strengthened its control over this matter.

Since everyone else is doing it this way, Qiao Erhe won't be foolish enough to follow the relevant regulations.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang frowned and said, "Second brother, although our family has been allocated 21 mu of land, the largest piece of land is only 1.4 mu, and the location of this piece of land is also relatively remote. It may not be suitable to build a house there!"

Qiao Erhe said, "I've already thought about it. Doesn't our family own a piece of land at the entrance of the village?"

Qiao Dajiang shook his head and said, "The plot of land at the village entrance is even smaller, less than an acre, so it's even less suitable to build a house there."

“If it’s just our family’s plot of land, then the area is indeed a bit small, and it’s not really suitable for building a house.”

At this point, Qiao Erhe changed the subject and said with a smile, "However, we can exchange other fields with others. We can offer better or larger fields to others, and I believe they will be willing to exchange them."

Exchanging land for farmland is a common practice in rural areas. Many families have gradually expanded their homestead area through this exchange. This kind of exchange is a private matter. Right now, the country has many things to do and doesn't have the time to deal with this kind of thing.

Qiao Dajiang hesitated and asked, "Won't there be any problems with this exchange?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "What problems could there be? Everyone is exchanging voluntarily, it's not like we're being forced to." Qiao Dajiang thought for a moment and said, "There are three plots of land connected to ours. One belongs to the team leader, one to Uncle Wu, and one to Uncle Hua. I don't know if they'd be willing to exchange with us."

Qiao Erhe stood up and said, "I'll go talk to them."

Qiao Dajiang said, "I'll go with you!"

Qiao Erhe nodded and said, "Okay, you go and fill a basket with eggs, I'll go get two packs of cigarettes, let's go to the team leader's house and have a chat first."

Qiao Dajiang responded and went to get a basket to put the eggs in.

Qiao Sanduo and Qiao Sihai originally wanted to go too, but since their eldest and second brothers were going to discuss serious matters and they couldn't be of much help, they decided not to go and cause trouble.

Soon, Qiao Dajiang and Qiao Erhe arrived at Captain Qiao Tiejun's house with eggs and cigarettes.

Nowadays, with the cold weather, most families stay indoors and warm themselves by the fire if they have nothing else to do, and Qiao Tiejun's family is no exception.

Upon entering the house, the Qiao brothers greeted each other, saying, "Captain."

Seeing Qiao Dajiang carrying a basket of eggs and Qiao Erhe holding two packs of cigarettes, Qiao Tiejun stood up, completely bewildered, and asked, "Dajiang, Erhe, what's going on?"

Qiao Dajiang smiled and handed over the eggs, saying, "Captain, my family's eggs are pretty good. Here, have a taste."

Qiao Erhe handed over two packs of high-end cigarettes, saying, "Captain, these are cigarettes that my friend in the city gave me a few days ago. Try them and see if they're as good as your dry tobacco."

Qiao Tiejun, who had been the production team leader for many years, understood that the two brothers needed his help when he saw this scene. He reached out and took the eggs and cigarettes, handed them to his wife, Lao Bazi (a term with multiple meanings, which can also be used by an old man to address his wife), and then warmly invited the Qiao brothers to sit down and warm themselves by the fire.

The Qiao brothers also greeted Qiao Tiejun's family members one by one.

After the pleasantries were over, Qiao Tiejun took the initiative to say, "Dajiang, Erhe, brothers, just tell me what's wrong. I'll definitely help if I can."

Qiao Erhe then said, "Captain, it's like this, my older brother is getting married next year, and the house we have isn't big enough, so we plan to build a new house after the new year."

Qiao Tiejun laughed and said, "This is a good thing. Your house really should be rebuilt."

Qiao Erhe said, "Originally, we brothers should have built the new house on our own homestead, but as you know, Captain, our homestead is now used for raising chickens. If the new house is built there, the smell will be really unpleasant."

So, after discussing it with my siblings, we decided to build a new house in a different location.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Tiejun frowned and said, "Dajiang, Erhe, do you mean you want me to approve another plot of land for your houses?"

Qiao Erhe shook his head and laughed, "Of course not. Our village has already distributed land to individual households. How could we possibly ask you, the team leader, to approve a residential land plot?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Tiejun's brows relaxed: "So what do you brothers mean?"

Qiao Dajiang continued, "Our family has a piece of land at the village entrance. My brother and I want to build a new house there, but the land is a bit small. Team leader, your family also has a piece of land that is adjacent to ours. So we came here to ask if our family can exchange other farmland for that piece of land at the village entrance with your family?"

(End of this chapter)