Chapter 2: Arable Land

"Is anyone home?"

A voice called out from outside the door, breaking the brief silence between the two. Realizing someone had arrived, Wang Susu hurriedly wiped her tears on her sleeves.

"Go wash your hands; I'll go see who it is," Chen Ling said to Wang Susu. He turned on the courtyard light, lifted the door curtain, and stepped outside.

In the glow of the light, he saw a thin, dark-skinned old man wearing a blue-and-white headscarf and a green Mao suit, holding a flashlight as he entered the courtyard.

"Oh, back early today, Fugui!" The old man beamed, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth as he greeted him. Without waiting for a response, he asked, "Where's Susu? Is she home? I have something I need to notify her about again!"

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment before realizing that, in the eyes of others, he was nothing more than a useless, lazy bum. Whenever there was family business, they always went straight to his wife.

"Oh, it's Uncle Wu. It's cold out here, come inside and sit." Wang Susu had come out to meet them and quickly invited the old man into the house.

The old man waved his hand with a smile. "No need to go in. I just came by to mention two things. One is that the annual levy payment is due, and the other concerns the farmland swap between your family and the Er-zhu family..."

"Of course, the main point is to remind you about the land swap again."

"Spring is almost here. You should get it finalized as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the village undergoes land redistribution in a few days, it will be a headache for everyone."

Hearing this, Chen Ling didn't feel much, though he managed to recall who the old man was. His name was Wang Laishun, the village head and party secretary of Chenwang Village. Because he was the fifth in his family, the younger generation called him Uncle Wu or Grandpa Wu. At the same time, Chen Ling remembered his own childhood nickname: Chen Fugui. He had only changed it to Chen Ling after he started school.

Unlike Chen Ling, who was distracted by other thoughts, Wang Susu’s reaction was much stronger.

"U-Uncle Wu, wasn't it supposed to be a swap with Sister Xiuying’s family? Why has it become a swap with the Er-zhu family?"

Wang Susu knew about the levy payments, but she hadn't expected the land swap to suddenly change. Sister Xiuying’s land was fertile and close to the village—hardly comparable to the barren land at the foot of the mountain belonging to the Er-zhu family. The difference was night and day.

"Huh? You didn't know?" Wang Laishun widened his eyes, looking back and forth between Wang Susu and Chen Ling with a frown. "But I heard from Er-zhu that you knew. He even said he was giving you an extra two hundred yuan per mu of land."

"He even gave me a note with both your and Fugui's fingerprints on it..."

As he spoke, Wang Laishun pulled a cigarette box from his jacket pocket. Inside was a stack of paper slips. He pulled one out and handed it to Wang Susu. "Take a look. Aren't those your fingerprints?"

Wang Susu didn't take the slip immediately; she glanced at Chen Ling first before taking it. As she unfolded it, her face quickly turned pale. Looking at Chen Ling with a mix of shock and grievance, she asked, "Y-you swapped our land with the Er-zhu family?"

"Do you have any idea? Not even weeds grow properly on their land. We won't be able to grow any grain..."

"What are we going to live on!"

Wang Susu's voice was choked with sobs, tears welling in her eyes as she bit her lower lip, staring at Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was a bit dazed, but seeing Wang Susu so upset, he didn't dare say much. He rubbed his temples, and a hazy scene flickered in his mind. A while back, during the temple fair in the county, Chen Erzhu had taken him out to drink and have fun at a dance hall. The original owner's memory of what happened was spotty, but he recalled that after they stumbled out drunk that night, Chen Erzhu had put an arm around his shoulders, said a few things, and then laughed as he shoved a note and a red ink pad into his pocket.

The realization hit Chen Ling like a thunderclap. *You can't be serious.* Did the original owner, unable to get money from Wang Susu at the fair, agree to the swap after hearing about the two-hundred-yuan-per-mu supplement, and then sneakily use Wang Susu’s hand to press her prints while she slept?

*Damn it!*

To make matters worse, he remembered that on that same night, the guy had even beaten Wang Susu. Was this something a human being would do? If he was capable of hitting his wife, why go behind her back to forge her consent? This scoundrel was constantly lowering the bar for what he considered human decency. What made it worse was that he was now the one left to clean up this mess.

"Susu, I... I..." Chen Ling was speechless. What could he say? Even though Wang Susu was unaware when her prints were taken, they were on the paper. Who would believe she didn't know? It was too late to back out. If he acted like a rogue and refused to admit it, he could destroy the note, but his reputation would be ruined, and Wang Susu would never be able to hold her head high in the village again. In his past life, he had seen many crafty people destroy IOUs or ballots in public, and it never ended well. Rural life was complicated, and once a petty grievance turned into a dispute, families could stop speaking for half a lifetime. Not to mention that this involved farmland and a known thug like Chen Erzhu.

Wang Susu crouched on the ground and started to cry. Chen Ling clutched the note, staring at the two glaring red fingerprints, and couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration at the original owner.

"Sigh, Susu, don't cry yet. I'll see if I can talk to Er-zhu again. We're all neighbors; things can be discussed," Wang Laishun sighed, trying to comfort her. He had been puzzled when he first arrived—Wang Susu was a sharp girl, so why would she agree to swap for such barren land? Now that he knew it was the work of this good-for-nothing, it all made sense.

*Easy come, easy go,* Wang Laishun thought, glancing at Chen Ling. *This lazy brat needs a good disciplining, especially since his father died—he’s completely lost his way.*

With that thought, he reached out and took the fingerprinted note back from Chen Ling. "Since the fingerprints are already on here, it's not my place to take sides. I'll keep this note for now..."

"You know they're installing high-voltage lines in the south this year, which will take up a lot of farmland. The township is coming to survey the land next month, and every household will have their land reallocated. There isn't much time left, so you two better work out a resolution with the Er-zhu family as soon as possible."

"I'm heading off now; I still have a few more houses to visit." Wang Laishun turned and walked away with his hands behind his back.

Wang Susu called out to him, "Uncle Wu, wait a moment. Let me get the levy payment."

Wang Laishun was already at the gate, but he stopped and patted his forehead, realizing he'd almost forgotten. Though he claimed it wasn't urgent and could be paid later, Chen Ling could see it was just polite social posturing. Given that the levy was not a small amount, he didn't say much and followed Wang Susu back into the house.

Inside, Wang Susu pulled a long, rectangular black wooden box from inside his pillow and took out a stack of cash. It looked like about a hundred yuan or so—just enough to cover their levies.

*Tsk, tsk,* he thought, *this little wife is quite clever.* The hiding spot was excellent—hidden in plain sight.

"Huh?" Chen Ling’s gaze suddenly sharpened. His attention was drawn to the black wooden box in Wang Susu’s hand.

*No way. How could this thing be here?!*

With an expression of utter disbelief, both excited and terrified, he hurried over to get a closer look.

Wang Susu was startled and quickly covered the money in her hands, whispering, "I didn't hide this on purpose. It's for emergencies, in case something happens to the family."

"Now that we have to pay the levy, I can't touch it..."

Chen Ling realized he had been too intense, but finding such a familiar object here was, in his mind, extraordinary. "I won't touch the money; I just want to look at the box. Is that okay?"

He let out a soft breath, forcing himself to suppress his trembling emotions as he explained to Wang Susu. But he had such a bad history that Wang Susu didn't dare believe him. With red, tear-filled eyes, she looked at him with fear, clutching the box and the money behind her back. "No... no."

"Please, you really can't touch this money..."

"I won't touch it, I promise! I won't touch a cent of the money; just give me the wooden box! Really, I only want the box!"

Chen Ling insisted, his heart racing.

"Just the box?" Wang Susu paused, blinking, as if she realized something. She looked at Chen Ling and handed over the wooden box. "There's no money left in here anyway. This is all the money the family has, just enough for our levies..."

As she said this, she averted her eyes—the look of someone accustomed to being afraid. She was terrified that if Chen Ling knew this was all the money they had, he would refuse to pay the levy.

But Chen Ling didn't notice any of that. He grabbed the box, his heart pounding, and turned it over and over in his hands.

Seeing his behavior, Wang Susu assumed he still suspected her of hiding money in the box. Her eyes dimmed, and she murmured, "I'll go pay Uncle Wu the levy now..." She watched him cautiously, clearly afraid he would cause a scene or stop her from paying. Seeing Chen Ling still intently fiddling with the small black box without reacting, she let out a small sigh of relief and hurried out with the money.

Less than a minute after Wang Susu left, Chen Ling was ecstatic.

"It's exactly the same! It's identical to the one I bought at an auction in Japan during the Tokyo Olympics!"

"Could this be the reason I traveled back to 1995?"

"Looking at this shape... could it be the Moon Box?"