Chapter 43 "Sell it to the Xie family, I'll sell it..."

“If I sell it to the Xie family, I’ll sell it for eight taels per mu.”

As the village chief's son, Li Zhengyang was respected by everyone in the village, and no one dared to use any underhanded tactics in front of him. This was the first time he had ever seen someone dare to raise prices in front of him, even if it wasn't his money, Zhu Mingyue's money was still unacceptable.

He glared at them: "Why is it more expensive to sell to them than to others?" One tael more per mu, that's three taels for three mu, and they still dare to offer that price? Do they really think the Xie family is a sucker?

"It's not expensive!" the two elderly people said confidently. "You can't even buy it outside if you want to!"

That's true, but the differential treatment is problematic. Li Zhengyang chuckled and stopped arguing with them: "The Xie family is sincerely interested in buying. Since Uncle Li and Aunt Li are not sincere in selling, there's no need to talk anymore."

He got up as if to leave, but before he could even step out the door, he was stopped by Li Zhu'er's impatient mother.

Li Zhengyang: "Auntie, what's going on?"

"Have a cup of tea before you go. We can discuss the price further."

Li Zhengyang pretended to be in a difficult position: "I have other things to do. If it weren't for Brother Xie asking me to come and ask, I wouldn't have come. Let me be frank with you, before I came, they clearly stated that there's no room for negotiation if it's more than seven taels."

“But the Xie family is different from others!” Li Zhu’er’s father continued, “We’re afraid of getting bad luck if we sell land to a jinx, so it’s only right that they pay more.”

Li Zhengyang's expression immediately changed. He hated it when people called Zhu Mingyue a jinx, always calling her that. He saw Zhu Mingyue often and hadn't experienced any bad luck himself. On the contrary, those who only knew how to talk badly about him behind his back were all having a miserable life.

"Then there's nothing to discuss. Uncle Li, I'll head back now."

"Hey! Don't rush!" Li Zhu'er's parents looked at each other, wondering why Li Zhengyang was suddenly unhappy, but their priority was to stop him.

Li Zhengyang came with a mission, which was of course to negotiate the land deal with the Xie family. However, he couldn't stand the family's attitude and was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would lose his temper and lash out at the old man.

"There's nothing to say. The Xie family is only willing to pay seven taels per mu, and I can't make the decision on the price." He said in a cold tone, "If you ask me, Uncle Li, you and Aunt should be content. If it were me, I wouldn't even accept seven taels."

Li Zhu'er's father was displeased: "Brother, what you're saying is wrong. You think seven taels is too expensive?"

Li Zhengyang: "Seven taels is not expensive, but you insist on selling three mu of land along with the vegetable garden, which is more than twenty taels of silver. Which of us farmers can afford that? Don't think I don't know that several groups of people came before me. Why didn't they sell it? Don't you know the answer yourself?"

Li Zhuer's mother was completely speechless. After a long while, she finally mumbled, "That's because they can't afford it themselves."

"Pshaw!" Li Zhengyang laughed. "Then you should wait until you can afford it to buy it!" To be frank, even his family, with his father being the village chief and his brother working in the government, couldn't afford to come up with so much money at once, let alone others.

Of course, wealthy households in towns or counties could afford to buy up large plots of land at once, but they would buy in bulk and wouldn't even look at a few scattered acres.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhu'er's parents felt extremely guilty. Just as Li Zhengyang had said, as soon as they spread the word, several groups of people arrived, all wanting to buy land. Some wanted only one mu, others wanted two mu, but as for three mu, no one could handle it. What? They wanted to buy the land along with the vegetable plot? Who doesn't have a vegetable plot? What do they need that extra stuff for?

So when they heard the extremely unreasonable demands of Li Zhu'er's family, they shook their heads desperately and fled from the Li family's house as if they were running away.

"Seven taels it is!" Li Zhu'er's parents finally compromised and gave in: "But you must buy it along with three mu of land and a vegetable plot."

Li Zhengyang thought to himself, "Of course! That Zhu Mingyue came here for these reasons!" He breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not show it on his face. After hesitating for a while, he pondered and said, "Let me go back and discuss it with them again."

Li Zhu'er's mother was puzzled. What was there to discuss? What was there to be dissatisfied about? Could it be that he didn't want the vegetable garden like the others?

We can't do without the vegetable plots! The reason he set this rule is precisely to sell the vegetable plots along with the land! If everyone only wants to buy the fields, once the bargaining chips are gone, no one will want the remaining vegetable plots.

She was both panicked and regretful. She was panicked because Li Zhengyang said he was going back to discuss it, and she was afraid that, like others, there would be no follow-up. She regretted why she had asked for such an exorbitant price to try and rip off the Xie family, which made it difficult to sell the property now.

The elderly couple watched Li Zhengyang leave with trepidation, calling after him from a distance, "Go quickly and come back quickly," fearing he might not return.

Li Zhengyang's move was intended to put Li Zhu'er's family in a tough spot, to let them know that it wasn't the Xie family begging you to sell the land, but rather your family begging others to buy the land. They shouldn't confuse the big and small kings and casually ask the Xie family to put on airs.

It turned out that his approach was effective; you could tell from the way the old couple looked at him and how they seemed glued to him.

Zhu Mingyue was idly munching on a cucumber in the yard when Li Zhengyang returned. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Didn't the deal work out?"

Li Zhengyang wanted to tease him, but he didn't say anything, just put on a worried face and sighed.

He was overacting. Zhu Mingyue recognized his exaggerated acting at a glance and pretended to throw the half cucumber in her hand at his face.

Li Zhengyang quickly dodged, his composure instantly crumbling: "Alright, I can't fool you. It's a deal."

Zhu Mingyue was just about to be happy when she was immediately doused with cold water.

"Don't be too happy yet. It's true that they're willing to sell it to you at the original price, but you only have five taels of silver, and I haven't told them yet!"

"Didn't Xie Pei say that five taels is a deposit? I'm sure I can pay off the balance in less than two months."

Li Zhengyang continued, "Guess why Li Zhu'er's parents want to sell the land? It's all to build a house for Li Zhu'er and find him a suitable match. You can tell from their eagerness that they need the money urgently. Knowing their temperament, they can't wait two months for you to pay the difference."

Zhu Mingyue shrugged and said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do about it. This is all I have right now."

Li Zhengyang mentally calculated how much money he had that he could lend to Zhu Mingyue for short-term needs, but after calculating, he realized that his little bit of money was far from enough and could only be a drop in the ocean, so he had no choice but to give up.

"Besides, the Li family's land is still planted with grain, which will not be harvested until the autumn harvest. If I pay the money all at once now, I will still have to wait until the rice is harvested in the fall before I can get the land. It's not a problem if it's delayed by two months."

After listening to this, Li Zhengyang pondered for a moment and found that what he said actually made some sense.

Fifteen minutes later, Li Zhengyang, without blushing or panting, slapped five taels of silver onto the wooden table in Li Zhuer's house.

"Five taels?" Li Zhu'er's father exclaimed, "You've got it wrong! Didn't we agree on twenty-three taels and seven hundred cash beforehand? You're just trying to fool us with these five taels!" He was happy that the Xie family was willing to buy the land, but he was dumbfounded when they only took out five taels of silver.

Li Zhengyang coughed twice to cover his embarrassment, "Uncle Li, you've misunderstood. This five taels is a deposit from the Xie family."

Li Zhuer's father: "What deposit or not, I, this old man, know nothing about this. If the Xie family wants to buy the land, they have to pay the full amount upfront."

Li Zhuer's mother chimed in sarcastically, "That's right! If you don't have money, don't buy land. I thought the Xie family had made it big, but they were just daydreaming."

Li Zhengyang said, "I'm just asking you, are you going to abandon those three mu of rice fields?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Why wouldn't we want rice that we grow ourselves?"

"Since the Xie family has declared their intention to buy your land, they certainly have no shortage of money. It's not that they can't afford it, but can you transfer the land to them immediately for a payment of over twenty taels?"

"Well... this..." Li Zhu'er's parents were really stumped. They understood the principle of cash on delivery. They might not care about this principle with others, but the person in front of them was the village chief's son, so they were somewhat afraid and dared not make trouble in front of him.

Seeing that this question stumped the two, Li Zhengyang continued to press them: "If you take all the money today, you'll have to go to the yamen tomorrow to sign and seal the deed to transfer the land to the Xie family. At that time, everything in the fields will belong to the Xie family. The rice you've worked so hard to grow will be ripe in two or three months, right?"

"No!" Li Zhu'er's parents were so frightened by these words that they shuddered. No way! They had flooded the fields to plant the rice seedlings, only to have them flooded again. They had gone through so much hardship. It was truly remarkable that the rice had grown now. They couldn't just hand over the fruits of their labor to someone else.

Li Zhuer's mother was quick-witted and responsive. She quickly put the five taels of silver into her pocket and said in a trembling voice, "We're not in a hurry for the money. I'll take the deposit first, and we can pay you back in two months." Two months later, her family's rice was harvested.

The matter was thus resolved, and Li Zhengyang was focused on returning to report, but he was stopped by Li Zhuer as soon as he reached the door.

Li Zhengyang was speechless. Why was it so difficult to leave his house? He was always blocked by this or that.

Li Zhengyang wasn't very friendly to Li Zhuer: "What's up?"

Li Zhu'er arrived at some unknown time, his face dark and gloomy like a ghost, his state was very strange. He immediately said, "Make the Xie family pay the money in full."

Li Zhengyang said, "Don't blame me for not reminding you. Once the money is paid in full, your family's land will have to be handed over to them. If you don't want the rice anymore, that's fine too. I'll have the Xie family pay the difference. Anyway, we paid the same amount of money and got three acres of rice for free. They'll be overjoyed." After saying that, he turned around and glanced at Li Zhuer's parents indifferently.

"Piglet, don't be foolish and let others get such a benefit for nothing!" Piglet's mother ran over and grabbed her precious son's arm to persuade him.

Li Zhu'er's eyes were full of impatience. He forcefully shook off his mother's hand and roared, "You said you would use this money to build me a house and get me a wife! What can five taels of silver do? By the time you get the silver, your wife will have already run away!"

His mother was thrown aside, and if Li Zhengyang hadn't caught her from behind, she would have almost fallen. Even so, she couldn't bear to be angry with her son, and almost pleaded, "Two months! You can't even wait two months?"

"I don't care! I'm getting married right now!" Li Zhu'er's words were squeezed out from between his teeth, showing no regard for his parents' feelings. His words were like sharp knives, cutting into their hearts and causing them excruciating pain.

Li Zhu'er's father was furious, his eyes red and he was breathing heavily: "I think I've spoiled you rotten!"