“Yan Qing’s back.”
As soon as Song Guozheng entered the village secretary’s house, he saw Wang Yanqing drinking with a few of the village boys. Wang Yanqing stood up and smiled, “Well, it’s the weekend, so I’ve got some time off.”
“Grandpa Song, you’re looking for my dad, right? He’s in the west room.”
Song Guozheng said, “Right, right, I need to discuss something with your dad.” With that, he headed to the west room.
“What’s he discussing?” one of the boys at the table asked.
Wang Yanqing rubbed his chin, “I reckon it’s about approving a homestead plot. When I went to buy cigarettes earlier, I heard Song Ying say she wants to open a restaurant in our village.”
“The kind that hosts banquets and feasts.”
Everyone in the village knew what Song Ying did for a living, and they nodded at the news. “That could work. Once she gets it set up, plenty of people will go.”
When the village secretary heard that Song Ying wanted to open a restaurant, he supported it wholeheartedly—if she opened one, the villagers wouldn’t have to go to the neighboring village’s restaurant for their events anymore.
Song Guozheng said, “Besides the restaurant, my Yingzi said she wants to build a house and set up two vegetable greenhouses. Secretary, give me a bigger plot of land—the small ones won’t do. I also need space for a sheep pen.”
“You want greenhouses too?” The secretary thought for a moment. “Uncle Song, I’ll approve the land at the east end of the village for you.”
“Will ten mu be enough?”
Their village was part of the new rural development, with houses built side by side. Aside from the west end and east end of the village, there was no other space available.
Song Guozheng pondered for a moment. “That should be enough. Yingzi’s restaurant will take up two mu, my sheep pen a little over one mu… Yeah, that’s enough.”
The secretary said, “Alright then, Uncle. Come with me tomorrow to look at the land. If it works out, we’ll finalize it.”
Song Guozheng left the two cartons of Yuxi cigarettes he’d bought for the secretary. When he got home, he told Chen Shuqin and Song Ying about it. Song Ying asked,
“Is it the plot near our farmland?”
There was a large open area at the east end of the village, with the village road running through the middle. On the other side of the road was the villagers’ farmland. Song Ying remembered their family’s land was over there.
Song Guozheng said, “Yeah, it’s not far from our fields—just across the road.”
Song Ying glanced at the sky outside. It wasn’t dark yet, so she said,
“Grandpa, let’s go take a look.”
Song Guozheng said, “Sure, let’s go check it out.”
The two of them drove the little three-wheeler to look at the homestead plot at the east end of the village. “This is a good piece of land, Grandpa. It’s just that it’s right by the road.”
It wasn’t a main road, but with village vehicles passing back and forth, it would be a bit noisy.
Song Guozheng said, “By the road is fine. Yingzi, the secretary approved ten mu for us, but the standard homestead size in our village is five mu. You’ll need to pay for the extra five mu.”
Their village had a lot of people and a lot of land. Each household had eighty to a hundred mu of farmland, and some families with more members had nearly a hundred and fifty mu.
Twenty years ago, the village secretary would just point out a homestead plot for you and you could build as you pleased—as long as you didn’t encroach on your neighbor’s land, nobody cared.
But now things were different. There were standards—five mu per household, no more than that.
It was only because their area was a semi-farming, semi-pastoral region that they approved five mu homesteads. In other villages, that probably wouldn’t fly. With so many cattle and sheep around, if the homestead was too small, there’d be no room for cattle sheds and sheep pens.
Song Ying asked, “How much do I need to pay?”
Song Guozheng said, “The secretary said 2,500 per mu. For five mu, that’s 12,500.”
Song Ying said, “Fine.”
The homestead plot was settled. Song Ying planned to build the big restaurant at the front, their new house in the middle, and at the back, she’d leave space for a vegetable garden and the sheep pen, plus set up two greenhouses—one for cherries and one for strawberries.
Song Guozheng said, “If there are no other issues, I’ll go pay for the land tomorrow.”
“No other issues, Dad. Let’s go with this plot.”
The land at the west entrance of the village was closer to the village gate, with more traffic passing by, so they settled on that plot.
The next day.
When going to Song Ying’s maternal grandparents’ house, besides the clothes and shoes bought yesterday, Song Ying and Chen Shuqin also carried two cartons of milk and two cartons of cigarettes.
They rented a ride from a villager to get there.
Song Ying’s maternal grandparents were Mongolian, but their names weren’t Mongolian names. Her grandfather’s surname was Wang, named Jianguo, and her grandmother’s surname was Liu, named Hongxia—Liu Hongxia.
Her grandparents had only two children, one son and one daughter—her mother and her uncle.
Her mother had passed away, leaving her uncle as the only remaining child.
Her uncle’s name wasn’t Mongolian either. He was called Wang Lei, and her aunt was named Qiqige, meaning “flower.”
Her uncle and aunt had two children—her older cousin Narisu was married, and her younger cousin Saihan was still in university.
“Hey, sis, didn’t I tell you before? If you were coming, you should’ve told me, and I’d have picked you up,” said her older cousin Narisu.
Her aunt chimed in, “That’s right. You should’ve just told your cousin directly and had him come get you. Renting a car costs money.”
Although the two families weren’t far apart, renting a car for half a day cost at least a hundred yuan.
Song Ying smiled. “That’d be too much trouble—you’d have to make several trips back and forth.”
“Come in, come in. Your uncle went out to tend the cattle and will be back soon. Honestly, you kids—you come over and bring so many things,” her aunt grumbled.
Song Ying said, “I haven’t seen you all in years. These are gifts I bought for you.”
“Mom, Dad, Song Ying is here.”
The two elders were tending the vegetable garden in the backyard. As soon as they heard, they put down their hoes and hurried inside.
Having not seen her granddaughter in years, Liu Hongxia’s eyes reddened.
“You girl—you haven’t come home in years. You’re not leaving again this time, are you?”
She held Song Ying’s hand and chattered on.
Song Ying said, “I’m not leaving, Grandma. I’ll be staying in my hometown from now on.”
Liu Hongxia said, “Good. Your grandparents are getting old—they need someone by their side.”
Sigh. Liu Hongxia thought of her daughter and son-in-law.
Grandpa Wang Jianguo scolded her, “What are you crying about, you old woman? Stop crying.”
“Sister, have some tea,” he said, inviting Chen Shuqin.
Song Ying knew why her grandmother cried every time she saw her. When her grandmother looked at her, she thought of her mother. Her grandmother had said before that her parents were unlucky—they never got to see their daughter grow up.
To lighten the mood, Song Ying said, “Grandma, Grandpa, yesterday I went to the city and bought you clothes. Come try them on.”
“Uncle, Aunt, you have some too.”
She opened the shopping bags and took out the clothes, shoes, and bird’s nest.
“Sister-in-law, I bought you a box of bird’s nest. I heard it’s really good for pregnant women.”
Song Ying handed the bird’s nest to Zhao Min. “I was going to buy the pre-cooked kind, but I looked it up online and heard that kind isn’t as pure, so I bought the dried one instead. Sister-in-law, have my brother stew it for you.”
Zhao Min took it with a smile. “Thanks, Yingzi. You really went out of your way.”
Song Ying waved her hand. “It’s nothing, nothing.”
Then came the clothes and shoes for everyone. “Grandma, Grandpa, these are yours—a matching set.”
“Aunt, these are for you and Uncle—shoes from Yierkang.”
“Cousin, you have some too.”
Narisu laughed. “Oh, I got some too?”
Song Ying said, “Of course. Everyone gets something.”
After looking at the clothes and shoes, Aunt Qiqige called to her son,
“Narisu, go kill a chicken.”
Chen Shuqin said, “Qiqige, no need to fuss. We already ate before coming.”
Aunt Qiqige smiled and said, “I ate before coming out, but I’m hungry now too.”