Early the next morning, Li Xingkong began his daily spiritual practice ahead of schedule, because he needed to set aside time to attend the village's land acquisition meeting.
In Li Xingkong's view, the outcome of this meeting was already decided long ago. No one would be unmoved by a windfall. The main content of this meeting was probably just to discuss the distribution of the money.
This is going to be interesting; since it involves their interests, these people might actually start fighting.
Li Xingkong went there partly out of curiosity and partly to see just how much money the group was willing to spend on his Body Tempering Grass.
His current feelings are similar to those of an online novelist browsing pirated websites.
If the book wasn't stolen, it makes me feel like my knowledge is limited, which makes me unhappy; if the book was stolen, people will read pirated copies, and I'll lose money, which also makes me unhappy.
In short, it's very contradictory.
Li Xingkong acted relatively early. The meeting was scheduled for 10 a. m. in the village square. When Li Xingkong arrived, there were only a few people in the square, with just one or two people who were organizing the meeting setting up the sound system and microphones.
There are no chairs in the square; you'll have to bring your own if you want to sit.
Li Xingkong was well-prepared. In the village, when he went out to walk around, carrying a small stool was always useful. He could use it anywhere, and he could just take it with him when he went out.
He found a spot away from the loudspeaker and sat down to wait. After he had been sitting for a while, his neighbors and some villagers with farmland nearby gradually arrived.
They were all white-haired, elderly people, some of whom looked to be in their eighties or nineties, and they even brought small stools to sit on.
She might not be able to speak clearly, but that didn't stop her from joining in the fun.
The elderly also have their own circles; three or five elderly people sit together, dividing the entire venue into several sections of varying sizes.
Li Xingkong knew many people, but unfortunately, while he knew them, they no longer remembered Li Xingkong. The elderly often had severely impaired minds, poor memory, deafness, and various other ailments.
At first, Li Xingkong was about to go and say hello, but after being blocked several times, he quieted down.
Sitting here, Li Xingkong stood out, being the only young man among them. Looking at the elderly people around Li Xingkong, he was filled with emotion.
He had heard stories of these people when he was young. They had their own lives when they were young, full of youthful vigor and excitement, but sadly, they have all disappeared now.
Only the wrinkles etched on their bodies by the knife of time still tell their stories from back then.
If I cannot cultivate myself, I might end up no different from them at this age.
Li Xingkong for a moment, thankfully, he still had time.
When most of the people had arrived, Old Master Liu, who was standing at the front, picked up the microphone and coughed a few times.
"I'm so glad everyone Heavenly Capital. Let me say a few words first..."
Old Master Liu used to work at a school, but once he picked up the microphone, his talking skills never stopped. Although he has been retired for many years, his skills seem to have not diminished at all.
" Old Liu, stop dawdling. We're not your students, get to the point."
The audience was full of old men; who had the stamina to listen to him for long? Soon, they started making a scene.
Old Liu had no choice. He could use his status to suppress others, since they were all his peers, and it wasn't certain who was of higher seniority.
"Alright, alright, let's get down to business."
"You know the Cherry Blossom Wind Group, right? It's a huge corporation. They've got their eyes on this land and plan to build a factory there. You're all likely to have your land taken."
"I see, that's what we're here for today."
An old man in the audience shouted.
"Then let's start with the first vote, okay?"
Old Master Liu didn't say much more and raised the first point:
"Let's ask everyone here whether they agree or disagree with this?"
"Agree!"
"No problem"
"I have no objection."
"With such a good opportunity, everyone would love to come!"
A group of people immediately started chattering and shouting, but most of them agreed, and so far no one has spoken up to say they disagree.
I disagree!
However, a dissenting voice came from outside the venue.
When everyone looked outside, they saw that it was a villager who had nothing to do with the matter and they didn't know what he was shouting about.
"What does this have to do with you, Ergouzi? Don't mess around!"
Old Master Liu directly reprimanded him a few times.
"Who said it's okay? Huh? How can it be okay?"
Ergouzi squeezed into the meeting circle, shouting as he did so.
"My great-grandfather's grave is still on his family's land. How can you not call me when you've occupied it?"
Ergouzi's reasons were quite convincing. The key point was that his great-grandfather's generation was so ancient that he himself couldn't recognize which grave it was, and he hadn't been seen paying respects at it in recent years.
Once they saw there was money to be made, even ancestors who had been lying dormant for hundreds of years were brought out.
"Are you kidding me? Do you even know what your great-grandfather's name was?"
Old Master Liu didn't stand on ceremony; if there was another person sharing the money, he would get one less, which wasn't worth it.
"Whatever you call my great-grandfather, he's in that area anyway. If I pay less, it's unacceptable."
Ergouzi has the look of a scoundrel, and it's a good thing he's thick-skinned; in just a few days, he's come up with an excuse to split the money.
"Alright, alright, we'll talk about your problem later. Just stand aside quietly. When the people from the group arrive, you can cause trouble there. We don't care."
"That won't do. I have to get a share of this money."
Ergouzi wouldn't let it go.
"Then sit down, we'll talk about it when we divide it later. What kind of mess are you making?"
Those who knew him quickly pulled him aside and made him sit down. They hadn't even discussed splitting the money yet, so they didn't want him to ruin the discussion.
After a while, no one objected, and the matter was considered settled.
Old Master Liu then moved on to the next topic.
"The land we've occupied is limited in size. Originally, we thought we'd divide it equally among everyone, but that wouldn't be fair to those who have more land. So, we're thinking of dividing it according to the area of each plot. What do you think?"
"Divide it equally!"
"Classified by area!"
As soon as this question was raised, the entire room began to split.
Those who occupy more land naturally want to take more, while those who occupy less land naturally want to divide it equally.
This is the real issue today; nobody's thinking of backing down, everyone's making a fuss over these trivial matters.
"I said, 'No, no, it's not that serious. It's just a few dollars. Let's calm down and discuss it slowly.'"
Old Liu's microphone was still loud, completely drowning out the chattering onlookers.
"Here's what I'm thinking: our land is different, so simply dividing it by area isn't fair. Let's divide the land into several grades: good fields are grade one, hilly land with difficult irrigation is grade two, saline-alkali land is grade three, and can we still exchange homestead land? Even if it's grade one, how about we calculate it uniformly based on grade and area?"
This allocation method is quite complex, enough to give everyone present a moment to quiet down and think it over.
Most importantly, the final decision on this matter should be made by a few respected elders in the village. After all, it's impossible to please everyone, and respected elders are more likely to mediate and satisfy the people.
Li Xingkong sat to the side, quietly watching the spectacle; after all, this scene was quite a rare sight.