Chapter 33: 33 Contracting Wasteland
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Chapter Thirty-Three
Long Fakui was quite surprised upon hearing that Long Xiaoshan wanted to continue the lease on the barren hills.
He was aware of Long Xiaoshan's family situation—they were dirt poor, which was the reason they couldn't even afford their water and electricity bills. Now, Long Xiaoshan was not only willing to make up for the lease but also wanted to continue with it. Where would he get the money?
Moreover, this guy rode in the pickup truck of the Lily Hotel that day. Could it be that he didn't go to work at the Lily Hotel?
Otherwise, why would he still want to lease the barren hills?
Long Fakui's mind was spinning as he hummed, "You still want to lease the barren hills, do you have the money?"
"Don't worry about the money, I will borrow it if I have to," Long Xiaoshan said.
Narrowing his eyes, Long Fakui knew male labor was scarce in Longyang Village. Many of the barren hills were left unattended, and the fields of Longyang Village weren't fertile. It would be good if someone were to lease them, but he felt uneasy when Long Xiaoshan wanted to do so.
He sneered, "You want to lease them? That's fine, but the leasing fee can't be calculated as before; that was a preferential price. It's definitely different now; the price has to go up. Jin Lian, go get the village's land planning map."
Jin Lian responded and went into an office of the village committee.
After a while, she brought out a roll of blueprints.
Long Fakui unrolled the blueprint and, pointing to a mountain to the west of the village, said, "Your family originally leased this area, right? According to the village regulations, the village's leasing blocks have been redrawn. The area of Xishan that you previously leased will now include Shieyan Rock as well."
Long Fakui drew a large circle around the side of Xishan, which included a vast piece of land near the foot of the mountain.
The expression on Long Xiaoshan's face turned cold as he said, "The area around Shieyan Rock is mostly rocky beach, which is basically infertile. Why would I lease that part?"
"This is the village plan. If you can't use it for farming, you can develop something else," Long Fakui said with a sneer that didn't reach his eyes. "Aren't you the talented graduate from Shuimu University? You're very smart; surely you can think of other uses. Anyway, this is the village's plan. If you want to lease, lease it. Besides, the rules have changed now—it's fifty yuan per mu, with a minimum lease of ten years."
"Long Fakui, don't go too far."
Long Xiaoshan said angrily.
"Long Xiaoshan, what kind of way is that to talk? According to seniority, I'm still your uncle. Do we no longer respect our elders? The village has its plans. If you don't want to lease, get lost," Long Fakui said glaring.
"Did I say I wouldn't lease?"
Long Xiaoshan stared grimly at the barren hills and stated, "I'll lease it, and for thirty years at that."
Long Fakui was stunned. Had Long Xiaoshan lost his mind?
Leasing for thirty years, for those few shabby pieces of mountainside and a section of stone beach that couldn't be cultivated—he wanted to lease for thirty years?
But soon, from Long Xiaoshan's tone, Long Fakui thought that Long Xiaoshan was acting out of spite, and he chuckled to himself.
Long Xiaoshan felt someone kick him lightly.
Looking down, he saw that Aunt Jin Lian had stealthily kicked him, and when he glanced her way, she was giving him meaningful looks.
Long Xiaoshan understood what Aunt Jin Lian was trying to convey—she was definitely reminding him not to be impulsive.
He was somewhat thankful that Aunt Jin Lian would remind him, and he nodded at her.
"What are you doing? Get back inside," Long Fakui noticed Jin Lian's gesture, shoved her roughly, and ordered with a cold face.
Jin Lian nearly tumbled to the ground from the push.
Long Xiaoshan's expression tightened, but since Jin Lian was Long Fakui's wife, it wasn't his place to say anything. Village people were particularly sensitive about these things, so he said, "Chief, are you going to let me lease or not? If not, I'll be on my way."
"Hey, don't go," Long Fakui said hastily: "Why wouldn't I let you lease?"
He was afraid that Long Xiaoshan would change his mind.
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Signing a 30-year lease, Long Xiaoshan sure dares to speak his mind.
He laughed and said, "Xiaoshan, you've got guts, truly a university student. Your perspective is indeed different. I have faith in you. Ergouzi, go get the calculator."
Ergouzi quickly ran into the office and brought out a calculator. Long Fakui started calculating against the blueprint, "The Xishan area adds up to 300 mu of mountain land, and there's over 300 mu near Shieyan Rock below. Uncle is not an unreasonable person, so let's just count it as 300 mu for you, making it a total of 600 mu. The lease fee per year is 3,000, so for 30 years it's 90,000 yuan."
Don't think that 90,000 yuan is a small sum.
In such a remote village, 90,000 yuan is an astronomical figure, enough to build a large house.
Moreover, half of the land leased was unused mountainous land, and half of it was simply wasteland.
Long Xiaoshan had just about 90,000 yuan left in his account, which was just enough when calculated.
Long Xiaoshan said expressionlessly, "Let's draft the contract, but it must state clearly that I can develop the rocky beach at Shieyan Rock as I wish."
Long Fakui, fearing Long Xiaoshan would have second thoughts, said, "No problem, but once the contract is signed, if you don't pay up, there will be a penalty for breach of contract."
Long Xiaoshan remained silent but nodded his head.
After half an hour, the lease contract was finally ready.
Long Xiaoshan left a message, "I'll come to pay tomorrow."
He had no desire to greet Long Fakui, so he quickly left.
Stepping out of the village committee building, Long Xiaoshan's earlier chill dissipated, and a hint of a relaxed smile played on his lips. Nobody could tell that he had just been schemed against by Long Fakui.
To others, leasing that piece of mountain and rocky beach that couldn't be farmed was a big loss.
But to him, 90,000 yuan for 30 years was incredibly cheap. The value of land only becomes more expensive over time. In the big cities, land prices have already skyrocketed. Only in such remote villages do they still not take the land's worth seriously.
Thirty years, it was almost like picking up a large piece of land for free.
As for him, it didn't matter whether the soil was fertile or not.
He had the Jade Purifying Bottle, which could produce Spirit Fruit and Spirit Vegetable even on the most barren land.
As for the stony beach, it was also great. The scenery around Shieyan Rock was beautiful. Initially, a few fish ponds could be excavated, and in the late stage, other developments could be fully carried out.
Having returned home,
Long Xiaoshan went to the big pond in the backyard. He saw that the shrimps in the pond had grown to the size of a finger. Last time he had used three drops of Spiritual Liquid, but the pond was much larger than the jar and there were also many more shrimps, so they did not grow as fast as the ones in the jar did earlier.
But Long Xiaoshan was very satisfied with this pace.
In a week at most, these shrimps should grow to the size of a pound each.
After checking on the shrimps, he went over to the vegetable ridge.
The green vegetables from last time had already been pulled out, and now, tomatoes had been planted. He saw little green tomatoes growing.
Long Xiaoshan squatted down, picked up a handful of soil, looked at it, and showed surprise.
The color of the soil had become darker.
Tomatoes, which were planted later, were growing much faster than ordinary vegetables. Although not as fast as the first time, this still proved that the soil quality had improved.
It seems that the effects of the Spiritual Liquid aren't just one-time; this is what's most impressive.
Long Xiaoshan, while tending to the vegetables, heard a shout from outside, "It's bad, Chun Tao has committed suicide."
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