1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 2 Land Distribution to Households
The household contract responsibility system, also known as the household-based production contract system, can be considered a milestone in my country's rural economic system reform.

This reform began in Xiaogang Village in November 1978, and in less than two years, it swept across the country like a level 11 gale.

In August of this year, Huanggang Brigade of Cenhe Commune took the lead in distributing land to individual households, making it the first brigade in the entire Jiangling County to implement this policy.

With Huanggang Brigade taking the lead, the other brigades naturally followed suit and began to distribute land one after another.

September 8th marked the third day since Qiao Erhe's rebirth, and the land distribution in Qiaojiawan officially began.

There was no unified standard for land distribution across the country; the distribution method was determined by the members of each production team through discussion.

The land allocation standard in Qiaojiawan was very simple. First, it was divided according to population, with each person receiving 1.5 mu of land. Then, members who received half the work points received an extra mu of land, female members who received the full work points received an extra two mu of land, and male members who received the full work points received an extra three mu of land.

Such a distribution naturally brings both joy and sorrow. Families with many able-bodied men are beaming with joy, while those with few able-bodied men are frowning with worry.

Qiao Erhe's family received a total of 21 mu of land. Of these, 12 mu were allocated based on the number of people, 1 mu was given to Qiao Sihu, who was only a semi-laborer, 2 mu were given to Qiao Sanduo, and 6 mu were given to Qiao Dajiang and Qiao Erhe, who were both strong laborers.

Being allocated so much land is quite good; it puts us in the upper-middle range in the village.

However, the Qiao siblings were not satisfied with the distribution, because the land they received was less than the most basic average.

If their father hadn't died so early, and their mother had been able to work like the other women in the village, and if their eldest brother had married a wife and had a child, their family could have at least received an extra ten acres of land.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in this world.

Back home, seeing his sullen older brother, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but speak up to comfort him: "Brother, we should be content with the amount of land our family has been allocated. Do you know how much land the villagers in Huanggang Brigade have been allocated?"

Qiao Dajiang shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Qiao Erhe said, "Huanggang Brigade has a large population and little land. I heard that the average person has less than seven-tenths of an acre of land, and each family is allocated only three to five acres of land. Compared with the people in Huanggang Brigade, our family is already very fortunate to be allocated twenty-one acres of land."

Qiao Dajiang exclaimed in shock, "No way, less than seven-tenths of an acre per person? Is it really that little?"

Qiao Sanduo also widened her eyes and said, "That's really too little. In Qiaojiawan, the average person has more than three mu of land!"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "The population and amount of land in each brigade are different. Huanggang Brigade does have a large population and little land, which is incomparable to our area with a small population and a lot of land. However, there are some better ones than us. For example, the population of Guhu Brigade is about the same as that of our Hongshan Brigade, but their land is several hundred mu more than ours, and the per capita land is at least five or six fen more than ours!"

Qiao Sihai wasn't interested in how much land the other brigades received. He looked at his second brother, who had seemed different these past two days, and asked, "Second brother, you said before that once the village had distributed the land, our family's chance to get rich would come. Now that the land has been distributed, what should we do next?"

Upon hearing this, all the other siblings present turned their attention to Qiao Erhe.

Qiao Erhe didn't answer directly, but looked at his elder brother and said, "Brother, do you know how much money Fatty Ba (the Qiao siblings' nickname for their mother) still has?"

Qiao Dajiang shook his head and said, "How would I know!"

Qiao Erhe said, "Wheat will be planted soon, and we will definitely plant wheat. However, in addition to planting wheat, I also plan to buy some laying hens to raise. Selling eggs will bring in a considerable income. How many laying hens we can raise depends on how much money Fatty Ba has."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Sanduo's heart tightened, and she subconsciously lowered her voice, asking, "Second Brother, can we raise more of these laying hens?"

Qiao Dajiang's eyes also narrowed. He had also grown up in a special era and was quite sensitive to this kind of thing.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, there won't be any problems." Qiao Erhe naturally knew what his third sister was worried about. It had only been less than two years since the reform and opening up, and the thinking in many places was still restricted. Take chicken and duck farming for example, raising three chickens and ducks was socialism, but raising more than that was capitalism.

This seems incredible to later generations, but it was a consensus in this era.

However, Qiao Erhe was not worried about this at all. It would be best if no one came to cause trouble once his egg-laying chicken farm was up and running. If someone did come to cause trouble and brought up capitalism, he had ways to deal with it.

Qiao Dajiang couldn't help but say, "Second brother, this is no joke. If it's just about secretly raising a few more laying hens at home, then it's not a big problem. Many families in the village are doing that now. But from what you're saying, the number of laying hens you're raising is definitely not small. If you're not careful, it could cause a big problem. If you don't explain yourself clearly today, I will absolutely not agree to what you're doing."

Qiao Sanduo chimed in, "Big brother is right. Second brother, you mustn't do anything reckless. It's too risky, something bad will happen."

Qiao Erhe knew that he couldn't dispel his siblings' concerns without making things clear, so he said, "Big brother, Sanduo, the issue you're worried about was addressed by Deng Xiaoping in Guangzhou two years ago. He personally said that we farmers can raise as many chickens and ducks as we want, it's all part of socialism."

Qiao Dajiang asked in astonishment, "Second brother, you're not lying to me, are you? Did Deng Xiaoping really say something like that?"

Qiao Erhe nodded and said, "Brother, of course it's true. How could I lie to you about something so important! If Deng Xiaoping hadn't said such a thing, I would never have taken such a big risk to raise laying hens."

Qiao Dajiang exclaimed excitedly, "I knew it! How did you become so bold? If you don't have to worry about getting into trouble, then egg-laying chicken farming is really a promising business!"

Qiao Sanduo said excitedly, "Great! I'll go find Fatty Ba right now and ask her how much money she has. The sooner we buy the laying hens, the sooner we can make money."

Qiao Sihai is only 15 years old this year, and he can't get a word in edgewise when it comes to such important family matters. So he has been sitting there quietly listening. Now that he heard his third sister's words, he volunteered and said, "Third sister, you and the eldest and second brothers continue to talk about raising egg-laying chickens. I'll go and find Fatty Laoba."

After saying that, he got up and ran out.

Seeing this, Qiao Sanduo sat down again and looked at her second brother, asking, "Second brother, how do you plan to raise these laying hens? Are you going to keep them in the backyard?"

Qiao Erhe said, "It depends on the number of chickens we raise. If we only raise a few dozen, we can raise them in our backyard. But raising only a few dozen laying hens would be too slow to get rich. I think we can fence off our entire homestead. That would be big enough to raise ten thousand or even several thousand chickens."

Of course, on the other hand, this is our first time doing aquaculture, so we can't start with so many. Let's start with a thousand or so to test the waters!

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang gasped. Raise a thousand or so laying hens to test the waters first? The second son really dares to dream!
He waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Second brother, let's not even talk about whether Fat Old Ba has enough money to raise so many laying hens. This is our first time doing farming, and we have no experience at all. Isn't it too aggressive to start on such a large scale all at once?"
"How about we take it slow and start by raising a few dozen to try it out? If we make money smoothly, then we can increase the number later."

Without his rebirth and the help of the spiritual spring, Qiao Erhe would definitely have been as conservative as his elder brother and wouldn't have thought of raising so many laying hens right away. After all, there's a saying that goes, "Even with a fortune, livestock doesn't count." Raising livestock is quite risky; if a plague strikes, everything could be wiped out.

But with the help of the spiritual spring, things are different. Not only can it completely prevent disease, but it can also accelerate the growth of laying hens, making money is practically a certainty.

Therefore, Qiao Erhe said confidently, "Brother, it is only reckless to do something that is not certain and full of risks. I am absolutely confident in this egg-laying chicken farming, so I plan to go all out and take a chance. If we succeed, our family will soon be able to get out of poverty and become rich. If something unexpected happens and the farming fails, we will have income from the fields to support us, so it won't be too serious. At worst, we can start over."

"This……"

Qiao Dajiang looked at his second son, who was completely different from before, with a somewhat hesitant expression.

Seeing this, Qiao Erhe added another strong dose of medicine: "Brother, don't hesitate. As long as our family can raise more laying hens, if everything goes smoothly, you can choose any girl from the surrounding villages next year."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang could no longer hold back and gritted his teeth, saying, "Fine, I'll listen to you then."

……

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(End of this chapter)