Chapter 356: Chapter 357: Land Lease Turmoil Chapter 356: Chapter 357: Land Lease Turmoil Xu Ying gave her the phone number and told her to call the food factory herself.

Sun Youdi gave Xu Ying a look, a complaint brewing in her heart. They were acquaintances; why didn’t she just ask for her? Why did she have to make another call?

Wasn’t this just a waste of phone money?

Reluctantly, Sun Youdi still made the call.

Mr. Sun, the factory manager, answered the call, hesitated for a moment, and then directly refused Sun Youdi.

According to Xiao Xu’s character, if this girl could actually do the job,
the girl would have made the decision herself. Now that someone else is asking for her, it meant either the girl wasn’t up to it, or there was some conflict between them. In either case, he couldn’t hire her.

Sun Youdi hung up the phone, furiously clutching the corner of her clothes. She hadn’t found a job, and all for nothing she had wasted so much money.

She returned to her dorm room with grievances, lay her head down on the desk, and started to cry.

Qu Huimin, after understanding what had happened, felt even more indignant for Sun Youdi and looked at Xu Ying with fury, “How can you be like this? You knew that your factory wasn’t hiring salespeople anymore.

Why didn’t you make it clear to Youdi? You knew her family’s financial situation was poor, yet you deliberately watched her embarrass herself.”

Xu Ying really felt wronged even while lying down, “Qu Huimin, the food factory isn’t mine, and I’m not the HR person, so how would I know whether they’re hiring or not.

If you really feel sorry for her, why not find her a job yourself?

Didn’t you say your parents are officials? Since that’s the case, it should be easy to find a job. Don’t just pretend to be the good person without doing anything.

Since you two are so close, why don’t you help her out?” Xu Ying finished speaking and pulled the curtain shut.

Now, just seeing Qu Huimin made her feel sick.

If it weren’t illegal to hit someone, she’d beat up this woman a dozen times.

Lying in bed, Xu Ying touched her lower abdomen; her period hadn’t come for almost two months now, and she likely was really pregnant.

Thinking that she was pregnant and had a baby in her belly, Xu Ying felt both intrigued and scared.

She had never had a child before, but had heard about the pains other women had during childbirth, especially during the apocalypse, where there were no doctors to deliver babies, and many women who had evaded zombification couldn’t get past the ordeal of childbirth.

She wondered how Huo Chen would react when he found out he was going to have a child.

Thinking about all this, Xu Ying fell asleep.

The next day she woke up in the late morning, thankfully it was Sunday and there were no classes, otherwise she would have been late.

Xu Ying rubbed her eyes just after getting up, and Yang Hongxia, seeing her take out a steamed bun, remarked, “You’re getting more and more sleepy.

Did you go for a check-up? I think you’re really pregnant. I was just like you when I was pregnant, sleepy all the time, but I also felt like vomiting. You, on the other hand, seem to have an increased appetite.”

Xu Ying yawned and took the steamed bun, “I’ll go to the hospital for a check-up in a bit.”

Yang Hongxia said with concern, “Let me accompany you. They say the first three months of pregnancy are the most crucial; once you get past the three months, there’s usually nothing to worry about.”

“Okay,” Xu Ying nodded, as she wasn’t quite sure what the check-up would involve.

After breakfast, Yang Hongxia and Xu Ying headed out to the hospital. After the check-up, it was confirmed she was pregnant, and there might even be twins.

The babies were all normal, nothing was wrong.

When Yang Hongxia heard it was twins, she couldn’t hide her envy, “That’s really great for you, one ordeal and two children.”

But hearing this, Xu Ying felt a bit scared. People say that the first birth is always the hardest, and she was going to have two at once; it almost seemed like it would cost her her life.

On the way back, Xu Ying made a call to Xu.

The hotpot business was booming, and the demand for chili peppers was sure to follow, especially for hotpot seasoning. The recipe was simple, and anyone slightly skilled in cooking could figure out how to make it after a few tries.

Chili peppers were definitely going to be popular, and many people in the south had a preference for spicy food, so demand was bound to be high.

Xu Ying mentioned to Xu that she could grow chili peppers.

With no land available for rent, individual entrepreneurs had already started their businesses, and many people had stopped farming their family plots. This presented an opportunity to rent their land.

After hanging up the phone, Xu began to ponder the idea. After consulting with Mr. Xu, they decided to rent land to grow chili peppers.

They would definitely prefer to rent the land from those nearby to make farming it more convenient.

Mr. Xu went directly to the neighboring village, where he approached their village chief about renting land, offering twenty yuan per mu per year.

Farmers relied on their land for survival, with it being the cornerstone of their livelihood. The moment they heard Mr. Xu wanted to rent, they immediately rejected the offer.

However, the village chief of Wang Family Village next to Xujia Village was immediately intrigued when he heard about this.

Their village had several hundred mu of land. At twenty yuan per mu, with him taking a two-yuan commission, he would be making several hundred in a year.

This was more profitable than farming, and he wouldn’t have to do anything.

The Village Chief of Wang Family Village quickly called a meeting with his villagers.

“This year, I don’t want anyone farming the fields. We’re renting them all out to the Village Chief of Xujia Village. They’re paying rent, eighteen yuan per mu per year.

After all, farming all year round is back-breaking work that barely pays anything. Everyone might as well rent their land out.”

Once these words were spoken, the villagers of Wang Family Village became uneasy, “Chief, the land is reserved for farming. Without crops, what will we common folk eat?

How much food can we buy with eighteen yuan? We don’t have any other jobs. What will we do for food if the land’s gone and we starve to death?”

Village Chief Wang held his head high with arrogance, “I don’t care about that, the land must be rented out; my word is final.

A great opportunity has fallen into our laps. You should be counting your blessings instead of disagreeing. I’m doing this for your own good.”

With that, he turned and left.

Mrs. Wang looked at her husband with some concern, “Can this really work? What if they refuse to rent out their land?”

“I’ll keep an eye on things. Let’s see who dares to farm the land. If anyone comes with tools, I’ll stop them,” Village Chief Wang said, standing tall with a menacing look.

“What if they report us to the authorities?” Mrs. Wang asked, worried.

“I’ll see who dares. I’ll take care of them. I am the village chief, and these people are under my control,” Village Chief Wang replied.

Mrs. Wang nodded in agreement upon hearing this. The village chief was in charge of the villagers.

If these people dared to disobey, they would make things difficult for them.

The people of Wang Family Village were shaking with anger yet dared not speak out.

“What are we supposed to do? Us common folk survive by growing food. If we don’t have grain, we’ll starve to death.”

“Exactly, the chief is trying to kill us. I won’t rent out my land no matter what.”

“Nor will I. I’ll keep farming. If it comes down to it, let the chief kill me. Either way, starvation or murder, I’m dead, but I have to fight for this.”

“We won’t rent out our land either,” the villagers of Wang Family Village were cloaked in gloom.

“We finally had it a bit better, and now they’re trying to force us into a corner.” Those with less courage were huddling together complaining, but they didn’t dare to resist and could only watch what the others would do.

In any case, they were against renting their land out.

This chapter was written based on true events with some modifications. Sigh!