Rebirth: My Dear Little Wife Is So Scheming

Chapter 118 - 118 118 Registering for Household

?Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Registering for Household Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Registering for Household Bai Yue’s eyes reddened, “Auntie, you can’t blame my parents. I was eighteen at that time, understood the importance of things, and it was also me who begged my dad to marry me off. My dad would rather tarnish his own reputation for being ungrateful than marry me off, fearing I would suffer. Let’s not talk about the past; I just want to live well with my kids, raise them, see them get married, and then I’ll be content, my life won’t have been in vain.”

Li Chunmei nodded, “Let’s not talk about it anymore. I’ll discuss this issue with your Uncle Baoguo when I get back! We’ll think of a way for you, your household registration is manageable, but I’m worried about the registrations for your three boys. They’re always considered outsiders in the village. But no worries, if it comes to it, we’ll deal with the village directly, not overstep on land, nor infringe on any residential land, and I think that should pose no objections.” That was also a solution; it wasn’t that Li Chunmei wasn’t willing to help, but even the village chief couldn’t be entirely unfair. When the time came, many eyes in the village would be watching, certainly talk would arise.

Liu Baoguo could only help secretly, providing some privileges with relief funds, personal plots, and even public grain. But agricultural land and residential bases were the lifeblood of the villagers! No one could likely relax their grip on that.

Bai Xiao also knew that it was impossible to get fat with one bite, “Godmother, it’s okay, we still have my and my brother’s land. Those two acres are enough to start with for now, we can slowly figure out the rest later.” If worse came to worst, they could lease someone else’s land to cultivate, as this was not without precedent.

There would always be families unable to cultivate their lands, needing others to share some of the burdens.

“Thank you, Auntie!” Bai Yue was immensely grateful.

Returning to the village wasn’t just a homecoming; more issues would be encountered, yet Li Chunmei had already made her stance clear. With the protection of the family of the village chief, the journey would surely be much smoother! Moreover, Bai Xiao knew that in the upcoming decades, people would move from the countryside to cities. Farming wouldn’t be the only livelihood, as many had made their first fortunes in the present era.

She had no reason not to help her sister’s family embark on the path to a modest socialist well-being. Farming wasn’t their pursuit.

But settling down first was for certain.

They would plan for the long term later.

Li Chunmei smiled and said, “You speak wisely. Alright, you all pack up, and Aunt will go back and talk to your Uncle Baoguo to see how we can tackle this issue. Also, Xiao, the land under your grandmother’s control needs to be reclaimed, which might require some talking, as your grandmother just came back yesterday afternoon. Since your sister has returned, you and your sister should check it out, having the stature of seniors; you’re about to go to university and shouldn’t leave behind any grounds for gossip.” This was for Bai Xiao’s own good.

Bai Xiao nodded and looked at Li Chunhua; of course, they needed to check, but not now, at least not until Li Chunhua had endured a few days of hardship.

“Aunt, look at the mess at home, my sister’s youngest is still sick. We’ll go once things are sorted here, but we’re definitely going.” Bai Xiao explained the situation, and it was because this was Li Chunmei; if it were someone else, she wouldn’t even bother to explain. The affairs of one’s own family were beyond an outsider’s understanding; they were living their lives, and if they cared too much about what others said, they probably couldn’t live well.

Liu Hong wanted to speak with Bai Xiao, but seeing how busy everything was, she knew she shouldn’t add to the chaos and left with Li Chunmei.

Bai Yue quickly emptied the contents of the basket, adding a package of glutinous rice strips, covered it with cloth, and handed it to Liu Hong to bring back, not just offering the vegetables but also including the basket itself.

Upon receiving the basket, Liu Hong immediately felt something was off, lifted the covering cloth, and saw the package, “Mom, look!” she showed it to Li Chunmei.

“Oh my, you girl, what are you thinking? Aunt gives you some vegetables from her own garden, and you load it up with a package of snacks; this is embarrassing for your aunt. Take it back, otherwise, Aunt will get angry.”

Bai Yue prevented Li Chunmei from taking it out and gripped her hand tightly, “Auntie, since you are Xiao’s godmother, it’s only proper by both reason and sentiment. When she comes back, shouldn’t she pay her respects to you? Please don’t say anything more; if you keep being so polite, then it really seems like we don’t consider ourselves as family.”

Li Chunmei had no choice but to accept, “But we should not do this again; if it happens next time, I won’t come to your house anymore. Isn’t this like slapping your auntie in the face?” She also knew that Bai Yue was worried she wouldn’t help them with the household registration matter. Knowing that Bai Yue was overthinking, she was actually eager to have some connection with Bai Xiao. Helping Bai Xiao was for the future, and considering Bai Xiao had saved Liu Hong, the couple could only feel grateful.

Li Chunmei and Liu Hong left.

An Zhiyuan also packed up and was about to leave; Bai Yue wanted him to stay for a meal, but An Zhiyuan shook his head, saying he still had duties at the military base and couldn’t be late.

Bai Xiao stuffed a packet of rice cakes into An Zhiyuan’s hands for him to eat on the road, feeling uneasy that he had helped her so much yet wouldn’t even stay for a meal.

An Zhiyuan did not refuse and drove off with the rice cakes.

That very afternoon, Liu Baoguo held a large village meeting, not specifically because of Bai Yue, but because it was time to collect the withheld funds. Whenever it was time to collect these funds, there would be much grumbling, but every village was the same. At such times, the role of the village chief and the public security director was clear. Anyone who dared not to pay would have the director come to their house to collect. If no cash was available, they would take chickens, ducks, pigs, or any valuable belongings from the household.

Generally, people dared not refuse to pay. As soon as the village chief called a meeting, everyone understood that it was time. However, every year there were always a couple of stubborn households who refused to pay and caused a huge commotion.

This was also Liu Baoguo’s purpose for holding the meeting, to briefly mention Bai Yue’s matter. While everyone’s attention was on the withheld funds, Bai Yue’s matter would be overlooked with hardly any objections, showcasing Liu Baoguo’s cleverness.

Indeed, as soon as the meeting started and everyone heard that each person had to pay eighteen yuan and twenty cents, the people at the brigade headquarters complained loudly, lamenting their lack of money and the high withholding amounts. Since the withholding was calculated per capita, households with many members felt the burden heavily. Fortunately, Liupan Village was better off since, due to its geographical location, transportation was relatively smooth, and villagers could earn some extra money by working outside during non-farming periods. Though truly coming up short wasn’t common, no family admitted to having money.

Thus, everyone complained together, hoping to reduce the amount they had to pay.

So, when Liu Baoguo brought up Bai Yue’s matter, people heard that it would not occupy the village’s farmland or housing land, they didn’t pay much heed, preoccupied with how much they had to pay.

Thus, the matter regarding Bai Yue was quickly settled.

Bai Yue went the next day to process the divorce with Li Dashan and also transferred the household registration for Li Haiping, Li Haian, and Li Haishun out of the household. Since removing three people could save farmland and housing land, the village chief did not block it, and the household registration was smoothly processed.

Liu Baoguo didn’t even require them to run around; he completed the process directly, and the materials just had to be delivered to the township police station to be finalized.

Thus, the four of them were officially settled in Liupan Village.