Su Jianjun grabbed the newspaper, squinted at it for a long time, and his brows furrowed more and more.
"Brother, the newspaper says you can buy it, but it doesn't say what you can do with it! Besides a few wild jujube trees, you can't grow anything on that mountain!"
"Jianjun."
Su Jianguo sighed and tapped the table with his finger.
"Think about it, how far is Sujiatun from the city? In another ten or eight years, when there are more people in the city and not enough land, won't this mountain become valuable?"
Su Jianjun curled his lip in disdain.
"Valuable? How much can that broken rock be worth? Brother, if you really want to invest, you should buy something better. Old Zhang's twenty acres of irrigated land at the west end of the village is about to be sold, only two hundred per acre!"
The flame of the oil lamp suddenly flickered, casting flickering light on the faces of the three people.
Grandpa Su remained silent, slowly puffing on his pipe, his cloudy eyes gleaming with contemplation.
"Father, what do you think?"
Su Jianguo turned to his father.
The old man exhaled a smoke ring, which slowly rose under the light.
"Jianguo, why do you insist on buying the mountain? Tell your father the truth."
Su Jianguo remained silent for a moment, his fingers unconsciously tracing the wood grain of the tabletop.
"Dad, I heard in the city... I heard that if there are any mines under these mountains in the future, they will all belong to the contractors..."
"fart!"
Su Jianjun slammed his hand on the table, nearly knocking over the oil lamp.
"Brother, who told you that nonsense? Those mountains have been there for generations; if there were any mines, they would have been dug out long ago!"
Su Jianguo smiled dismissively.
"Jianjun, you're too honest. Even without mines, you can still make money by planting fruit trees and raising pheasants on the mountain, right?"
"Plant fruit trees?"
Su Jianjun sneered.
"What good fruit can grow in a crack in the rock? Brother, you can't waste money like that."
The atmosphere inside the room became somewhat tense for a moment.
Grandpa Su suddenly coughed, and his two sons immediately quieted down.
The old man slammed his pipe heavily on the corner of the table, making a crisp "thud".
"Jianguo is right."
The old man spoke slowly, his voice not loud but firm and resounding.
"Buying land is a practical thing, but land is inanimate. Mountains are alive; they can sustain people."
Su Jianjun's eyes widened.
"Father! How could you..."
The old man waved his hand to interrupt him.
"Jianjun, your brother has seen a lot in the city and thinks ahead. We older generations only know how to farm, but times have changed."
A hint of joy flashed in Su Jianguo's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Father, you support me?"
"support."
The old man nodded.
"But we can't buy the whole mountain; we need to save some money. We can't put all our eggs in one basket."
Seeing that his father had said so, Su Jianjun could only nod silently, even though he was not convinced.
"Alright, since Dad said so... I'll go talk to the village secretary tomorrow."
"good!"
Su Jianguo slapped his thigh, and a smile finally appeared on his face.
"Jianjun, you're the battalion commander, you're the most suitable person to handle this."
Su Jianjun sighed helplessly.
"Brother, let me make this clear first, the village secretary is a shrewd man; he'll definitely try to raise the price."
"The price is negotiable."
Su Jianguo thought for a moment, looked at his grandfather and his second brother, and then continued.
"Alright, Jianjun, let's buy those twenty mu of irrigated land you just mentioned as well."
Seeing Su Jianjun's surprised expression, Su Jianguo explained.
"Jianjun, you've worked so hard taking care of our parents all these years. These twenty mu of land will be registered directly in your name; you can farm it."
"What?"
Su Jianjun almost dropped the cigarette in his hand.
"Brother, are you...are you serious?"
Su Jianguo nodded heavily and patted his younger brother on the shoulder.
"You're my own brother. All these years, our parents have relied on you for care. I'm doing alright in the city, so you can farm these twenty acres of land; I definitely won't charge you rent."
Su Jianjun was somewhat excited.
"Brother, this...this is too much. Twenty acres of land, rented out each year, could easily bring in at least a hundred yuan."
Upon hearing this, Su Jianguo immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.
"Why are you being so polite with your brother? Dad's still here watching."
Grandpa Su silently smoked his cigarette, offering no comment.
Su Jianjun took a deep breath.
"Alright! Since you've said so, I'll take you to see the village secretary tomorrow! That old fox is a real sly one; we need to have a good talk with him."
...
the next day.
Early in the morning, at Su Jianjun's home.
Wang Guixiang got up early and started working at the stove.
She specially changed into that floral shirt that she only wore when visiting relatives, her hair was neatly combed, and she even applied some face cream to her wrists, giving off a faint fragrance.
After making breakfast, Wang Guixiang went back to the room and looked at her husband, who was sleeping like a log.
"Jianjun, get up!"
Wang Guixiang yanked the blanket off her husband.
"My brother must be awake by now; we need to hurry and take breakfast over."
Su Jianjun mumbled, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"What time is it...?"
"It's already 5:30!"
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