Reborn in 1981, starting by smashing my iron rice bowl.

In fact, the household responsibility system had already been implemented in other villages. The results were obvious, with farmers' incomes showing a significant increase.

However, when Wang Deli was the village head, he kept delaying the implementation of the household responsibility system in order to better benefit himself, which had long caused great dissatisfaction among the villagers. But at that time, Wang Deli wielded considerable power in the village, so the villagers dared not speak out against him.

Hao Qiang, having only been village chief for a short time, is preparing to implement the household responsibility system, which has naturally excited the villagers. Whenever they meet, this is the topic of conversation, and everyone is filled with anticipation for the land they will soon receive.

The fact that Hao Qiang was elected to replace Wang Deli as village chief shows that he is usually fair in his dealings. The household responsibility system is a major event for the whole village, so Hao Qiang plans to hold a village meeting to handle this matter in front of everyone, in order to avoid any conflicts.

After hearing about this, Liu Weidong couldn't help but whisper in praise, "Uncle Qiang is quite experienced in handling things; he knows that underhanded tactics won't work."

Wang Shujuan also heard about this and couldn't help but ask, "Weidong, how much land will our family get? If it's too much land, I'm afraid I won't be able to manage it all by myself!"

Liu Weidong said mysteriously, "I've thought everything through, so don't worry about it, sis!"

Wang Shujuan trusted Liu Weidong completely. Since he had already said so, she didn't ask any more questions. She decided to let her younger brother make the decision.

Soon it was time for the village meeting, and every single villager showed up—the village committee was packed. Many people had to listen in through the windows. Even Wang Jianguo and Li Yinfeng, who hadn't been seen in the village for a long time due to their conflict with Liu Weidong, were present.

Knowing they were unpopular, the two men stood furtively outside the window, not daring to greet anyone. However, upon seeing Liu Weidong, both Wang Jianguo and Li Yinfeng revealed resentment, so angry they were practically grinding their teeth to powder.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Hao Qiang cleared his throat and said, "The reason I called everyone here today is to discuss the household contract responsibility system. The village committee's idea is to try to make this matter as fair as possible, so as to avoid any future disagreements between us."

"Yes, it really needs to be fair."

"Village chief, we all believe in you."

"Hurry up and divide the land so that we can plant rice in time."

The villagers voiced their agreement with Hao Qiang's statement.

"Next, I'll explain the rules for allocating land..." Hao Qiang didn't mince words, pointing to the hand-drawn map of Hexi Village on the wall as he began to explain.

Liu Weidong listened for a while and couldn't help but nod in approval. The village divided the land into three tiers based on its condition: good, medium, and poor. The better the land, the smaller the area each family could receive. Then, the land area allocated to each family was determined based on the number of people in each household, including adults and children.

The order in which land was selected was determined by a lottery drawn by a representative from each household. The village chief and village committee members then drew lots, which was considered a fairly fair process.

Although Liu Weidong believes there are still some details that need improvement, the fact that the village committee considered the issues so comprehensively shows that Hao Qiang and his team have indeed done a lot of work.

The other villagers also agreed with this distribution method and expressed no objection, but urged Hao Qiang to start distributing the land quickly.

"If everyone agrees, then we'll proceed this way." Hao Qiang nodded, then changed the subject, saying, "However, there's something else I need to say before the lottery. As you all know, Wei Dong has made tremendous contributions to our village these past few months. So the village committee thinks he can skip the lottery and be the first to choose his land. Does anyone have any objections?"

Hao Qiang's words immediately sparked a quiet discussion.

The villagers all knew Hao Qiang was right; Liu Weidong had indeed done a lot for the village recently. Leaving aside the matsutake mushroom purchases, even this household contract responsibility system was largely thanks to Liu Weidong. If he hadn't ousted Wang Deli from the village head's position, everyone would still be struggling to earn work points, with no hope of ever getting land!

So although a few villagers were dissatisfied with the decision, no one really stood up to oppose it, and there was no need to offend Liu Weidong over this matter.

Only Wang Jianguo and Li Yinfeng, standing outside the window, sneered, thinking that Liu Weidong was nothing special, just taking advantage of everyone whenever he had the chance.

Wang Jianguo had already secretly decided that he would wait for Liu Weidong to be the first to choose land, and then he would jump out to object. Wang Jianguo was just worried about not having a reason to sabotage the matter, and now that Liu Weidong had presented him with an opportunity, he was secretly pleased.

Seeing that no one objected, Liu Weidong stood up and said with a smile, "Then I'll thank you all in advance!"

"Let's start the lottery now!" Hao Qiang announced loudly, and the villagers came up one by one to draw lots.

Those who drew the earlier lots were all smiles, while those who drew later lots looked worried, fearing that the best plots would be taken by others. This led to more discontent among the villagers, who felt it was unfair that the village let Liu Weidong choose the land first.

Soon everyone had drawn lots, and Hao Qiang announced loudly, "Alright, now let Wei Dong choose the land!"

Liu Weidong approached the map and earnestly asked Hao Qiang, "Village Chief, can we choose all the land in the village?"

Hao Qiang said, "Apart from other people's homesteads and private plots, any land belonging to the village collective is fine!"

"That's good!" Liu Weidong pointed to the map and said with a smile, "I want this piece of land!"

Everyone stared at Liu Weidong's finger, their faces showing disbelief. Hao Qiang was stunned for a while before stammering, "This...this is the woods at the foot of the mountain, Weidong, you must be mistaken?"

Liu Weidong said seriously, "There's no mistake, I want to lease this forest. But forests aren't farmland, so I need a larger area. This whole forest is mine, is that alright?"

Hao Qiang was dumbfounded. Who would give up perfectly good farmland and instead want the forest on the mountain? This is not something a farmer would do!

Seeing Hao Qiang remain silent, Liu Weidong laughed and said, "Village chief, you'd better give us an explanation!"

Hao Qiang then came to his senses and said, "Well... the village committee has no objection. As long as everyone agrees, this grove of trees is yours."

If Liu Weidong had chosen the best farmland, perhaps some people would have objected. But now he wanted a grove of trees that no one ever went to, so of course no one had any objections. The village committee was completely silent; no one raised any objections.

Seeing this, Hao Qiang immediately said, "Alright, since no one objects, this forest belongs to Liu Weidong!"