Gourd Farm Chapter 3
Translated by Etherna (ko-fi)
Chapter 3: Land Disputes
Yang Feng naturally knew what he was thinking, and he calmly said, "I'm not going to leave my hometown this time, so I want to take back the land and farm it myself."
The old man sneered, "You're so young, why don't you look for a job outside instead of farming at home? Do you even know how to farm?"
"I don't know, but I'll learn," Yang Feng replied.
The uncle's face changed, and he kept glancing at the people around him, wanting to say something but hesitating.
"Well, you need to think it over. Come to the house tomorrow morning and we'll settle the accounts," said the old man.
"Okay, I'll come over tomorrow morning. You guys can continue chatting here. I'll go back first," Yang Feng said as he left.
...
Upon returning home, Yang Feng looked at the overgrown weeds at the doorstep and shook his head helplessly, saying, "Looks like I have something to do tomorrow."
He took out the keys and opened the rusty lock. It took several turns to finally open it, probably due to not being used for a long time.
"Creak."
Pushing open the door, a musty smell wafted out. Yang Feng found the switch and turned on the lights. Luckily, the power was still working.
There was a thick layer of dust on both the bed and the table, and there were many spiderwebs in the corners of the walls.
"Ah, this place is not livable."
Yang Feng found a chair and put his backpack down before starting to clean up quickly.
After a simple cleaning, it was already close to ten o'clock. Yang Feng had been sitting on a bus all day and had run a long way, so he was exhausted.
He took a quick cold shower and went to bed.
….
...
The next morning, Yang Feng changed into clean clothes, ready to go to his uncle's house to settle accounts.
At that moment, he saw the gourd he picked up on the overpass yesterday. Yang Feng decided to bring the gourd to the hall at home and display it as it looked pretty good.
He picked up the gourd, which was heavy, and opened the lid. Yang Feng was puzzled: "Huh, this water in the gourd is full?"
Yesterday evening, the water in the gourd was only up to its belly.
Although he didn't understand what was going on, he didn't have time to think about it. He was ready to pour the water out and then find his uncle.
When he saw the abandoned vegetable garden, he noticed that a patch of strawberries had grown there. They were small, green, crooked and unformed, basically useless.
He poured the water from the gourd on them, then put it back in the house, locked the door, and headed for his uncle's house.
Yang Feng knocked hard on the door. Their house had a courtyard, and if he didn't knock hard, they wouldn't hear him inside. He didn't understand why they kept the door locked during the day.
"Who is it?" his uncle's voice came from inside.
"It's me, Yang Feng," replied Yang Feng.
The voice on the other side of the door abruptly stopped. After waiting for five minutes, Uncle's son, Yang Meng, finally opened the door.
"Is Uncle at home? I have something to talk to him about," said Yang Feng, getting straight to the point.
"Hmph, just want land or money, why bother sugarcoating it," sneered Yang Meng.
Yang Feng didn't have time to deal with him at the moment. He had always been at odds with this kid since they were young, so he went straight to the main hall.
Pulling back the door curtain, he saw Uncle lying comfortably on a recliner, with plenty of watermelon rinds piled on the table.
"Oh, little Feng is here, come and sit down and cool off. Have a piece of watermelon to quench your thirst," said Uncle, smiling and handing a piece of watermelon to Yang Feng.
"No thanks."
"You see, this child, why be so formal when you're at your own home? Why are you being so reserved?" Uncle joked.
"Uncle, let's settle the accounts first. Later, I need to go back and remove the weeds from the doorway and vegetable garden," said Yang Feng.
"Well, this account might be a bit tricky," said Uncle, feeling embarrassed.
Yang Feng furrowed his brows. "Isn't it a fixed account? It's two hundred yuan per mu of land per year, and now it's been three years, so it's exactly one thousand two hundred yuan."
"Little Feng, your calculation is correct, but I have already plowed the land this year. Can we talk about it next year?" said Uncle.
Upon hearing his uncle's meaning, Yang Feng realized that he didn't want to return the land.
"Uncle, you've already planted one season this year. Even if you plow the land, you have enough capital."
Yang Meng suddenly jumped up and shouted, "What's going on with you, Yang Feng? Don't be shameless."
"Get lost. It's not your turn to talk here," Yang Feng replied with a glare. He could see that one played the good cop while the other played the bad cop.
"You..." Yang Meng was intimidated by Yang Feng's fierce appearance. When they were kids, Yang Feng used to beat him up.
"Uncle, I want to be honest with you. If you decide not to plow the land this year, I won't charge you the rent. Think of it as compensation for you." Yang Feng said to his uncle.
" Little Feng, to be honest, you can have the land if you want. But you won't get a penny of the rent from before," Uncle said with a rogue look.
Yang Feng narrowed his eyes and said in a harsh tone, “I respect you as an elder and have always given you face. Don't make a scene that makes it hard for everyone.”
"You’re pressuring us, so what? You think you can change anything?" Yang Meng kicked a chair.
"Asshole."
"What the f***." Yang Meng picked up a watermelon and threw it.
Yang Feng instinctively dodged, and the watermelon landed on his uncle's face.
"Ouch! You bastard, do you want to kill me?" His uncle's eye was swollen shut.
"Ah!"
Yang Mang saw that not only did the watermelon miss Yang Feng, it hit his father instead. He immediately rushed over with a clenched fist.
Yang Feng was not someone to be trifled with and punched him in the face.
The two of them wrestled with each other, knocking tables, chairs, and stools everywhere.
Seeing that his son was at a disadvantage, Yang Feng's uncle ignored the pain in his eyes and kicked Yang Feng.
"You little brat, how dare you hit my son!"
Yang Feng and Yang Mang were fighting fiercely, and for a moment, they didn't notice the person behind them. Suddenly, Yang Feng felt a sharp pain in his leg from a sudden kick.
"You old bastard, I'll kill you!" Yang Feng was furious at being outnumbered.
As he turned around to fight, he kicked out with his leg, hitting his uncle.
His uncle stumbled back and nearly fell, holding onto the door frame to steady himself.
The noise of the fight had attracted some of the neighbors, who came to see what was happening.
The first to come in was Yang Feng's younger brother, who saw that Yang Feng and Yang Meng's family were all beaten up and rushed to break up the fight.
Yang Feng's younger brother usually had a good relationship with Yang Feng and was the only one in the village who played with him.
At this point, it is unclear who called the village chief, who hurriedly ran over with a pair of reading glasses.
"What's going on here? Don't you all have anything better to do?"
Looking at the bruised and swollen face of Yang Hao, the village chief looked very disappointed.
"Old Yang, it's not for me to say, but it's one thing for the younger generation to mess around, but look at your age, bullying the younger ones."
Now, many people have gathered at the door, pointing and discussing, enjoying the spectacle of a family fight.
"Alright, let's all disperse now. Everyone, take a seat and explain your side of the story one by one."
