Third Uncle is the most farsighted and intelligent among them. Qin Xiaoyu still needs to consult with him.
As soon as she entered her grandmother's yard, she heard a burst of cursing.
"You listened to that little bitch and lost all your money, didn't you? You even built that building? You deserve it!" A copper basin flew from the house into the yard, spilling water all over the ground.
My aunt carefully went over to pick up the basin, but when she heard the curtain rustle, she was so startled that she almost slipped and fell.
Qin Xiaoyu ignored her grandmother and went straight into her uncle's room.
My uncle, pale-faced, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), his hands behind his head, leaning against the quilt, lost in thought.
"Third Uncle," Qin Xiaoyu called softly.
"Little Fish is here, come sit down." Third Uncle snapped out of his reverie.
"Is there any other way? She definitely won't sell the land to us." Qin Xiaoyu was already somewhat desperate, and she was prepared to start over.
"There's always a way out. Think about it..." Third Uncle stood up and paced a few steps on the ground.
"Who's in that room? Let me see!" Grandma stormed over angrily, startling Uncle, who grabbed Qin Xiaoyu and pulled her outside.
The third aunt was quick-witted and blocked the grandmother at the door, which allowed the uncle and nephew to escape.
Amidst the grandmother's shouts and curses, the two fled in panic.
At Qi Si's hotel, the three men sat around a table in silence.
“She’s been planning this for a long time, and there’s probably no chance of turning things around this time. Let’s just accept our defeat. Third Uncle, don’t worry. No matter how much money we lose, we can slowly earn it back. My hotel is doing quite well. Where do you want to open it? I’ll help you. I’ll cover all your needs, from staff to equipment.” Qi Si patted his chest and gave his assurance.
Qin Xiaoyu at least still has a clothing factory, but this time, her third uncle is the worst off, as all his investments have been frozen.
"We were careless in this matter. Land use is chaotic now, and there are no unified regulations, so many people take advantage of loopholes." Qin Xiaoyu regretted this.
She had initially considered that infrastructure development required land, but current land regulations are incomplete, and problems could be difficult to resolve. Therefore, she wanted to wait a few more years. If Zhou Xing hadn't bought the land for her, she probably would have had to wait another two years before starting any infrastructure projects.
"Everyone's in chaos, everyone's in chaos... Why are we the only ones who're unlucky?" Uncle San sighed.
"Yes! Everyone's in a panic!" Qin Xiaoyu suddenly jumped up. "Third Uncle, I won't take you home. I have an urgent matter to attend to."
She didn't go home immediately; instead, she drove to Hengchang.
"Why did you come here?" Her cousin-in-law was a little surprised to see her. Qin Xiaoyu had completely relinquished control of Hengchang's management and rarely came over now.
"I'll just take a look around and see how to arrange things later." Qin Xiaoyu told her to go about her business, and then wandered around the yard for a while before leaving.
When it was time for dinner, the whole family gathered, all hoping to hear good news.
With no progress made, they all fell silent again.
"Let's make some simple arrangements. Although there are still five days left, we need to allow for some advance planning." Qin Xiaoyu made two preparations.
"Aunt Wang, you and your family should take Fengqin back to your own home first. Sister-in-law, you should go to Hengchang to resolve this." Qin Xiaoyu began to disperse the crowd.
“I can still house people in my shop, Tang Hu, come with me,” Tang Long said.
"Dad, you and your eldest brother and sister-in-law should move to the new building. That old house hasn't been cleaned yet. Just wipe it down and move in. We'll come pick up Madam after everything is settled." Qin Xiaoyu said this to Hanhan's grandfather.
“How big is that house? It’s so small you can barely move around. How will we manage if so many people move in?” Grandma Hanhan’s eyes widened as she heard this, and she said unhappily.
"If we had given you a multi-story house before we had this house with the little fish, you would have been overjoyed. Why are you complaining that it's too small now?" Grandpa Hanhan didn't say anything nice to her.
"What are you saying? It's just that you've lived in a big house before and you're not used to it." Grandma Hanhan only dared to mutter under her breath. Qin Xiaoyu was too lazy to pay attention to her and pretended not to hear.
“Staff Officer Zheng has taken care of everything. We can move back to our old home in the military compound then,” Zhou Yue said, rubbing her red nose.
"You don't need to worry about my few cigarettes, there's room at the hotel," Qi Si said in a low voice, throwing away his cigarette butt.
"Let's leave it at that for now."
When I went to see Zhou Xing's mother that evening, I ran into Tang Fengqin. Qin Xiaoyu had called earlier to tell her not to leak the news to Wang Lei.
Fortunately, Tang Fengqin hadn't said a word beforehand for fear of worrying Wang Lei, so A Lei should still be unaware.
After another day of investigation, Qin Xiaoyu realized she was completely in a desperate situation. First, Zhou Xing had indeed been deceived; the lawyer had falsified documents when buying the coal mine land. Even if Bai Weiwei hadn't come to the scene, let alone obtained the land deed later, the land wouldn't have belonged to Qin Xiaoyu.
Secondly, Bai Weiwei legally acquired this land. The conversion of the coal mine land back into farmland was something that happened before Zuo Xiangyang became mayor, and it had nothing to do with him. The farmland requisition at the end of last year was another large-scale operation, a necessary step in urban development and expansion. The entire city extends forward from the southeast, northwest, and other directions, and the coal mine is only a part of it.
It seems moving is inevitable. Qin Xiaoyu looked around her room, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
When she moved in, Hanhan's grandmother helped her, but now she has to unpack herself. Then she remembered that A Lei's room was upstairs, and a sense of dread washed over her. This was going to be exhausting! Should she notify Lei Bingzheng to send someone to help her move in?
No, she quickly rejected the idea. In A Lei's eyes, if she asked the Lei family to help her move, it would be the same as her coming to them for help.
The land of the coal mine was given to her by Zhou Xing, and she would rather lose it than let A Lei appear to protect it; this was her bottom line.
She's not afraid to start over; what she fears is being stuck in a rut.
The phone rang particularly jarringly at night; she so desperately hoped it would be a familiar voice on the other end, but it wasn't.
However, this phone call was just as crucial as a lifeline.
The coal mine might still be saved.
She didn't bring many people to the meeting: Qi Si, her third uncle, and the others were useless and couldn't help much. Decision-making only required three people.
"Use their own methods against them!" Qin Xiaoyu slammed a piece of paper on the table.
"Tell me quickly." There aren't many reliable people these days, and Qi Si is Qin Xiaoyu's strongest support.
"I heard some inside information that when Bai Weiwei developed the Dafa Shopping Mall project, the compensation for the original residents hadn't been paid yet, meaning she hadn't obtained the land rights." Qin Xiaoyu knew there was a chance, and her heart was pounding with excitement. This feeling was so thrilling, even more thrilling than falling in love.
"She's the mayor's wife, she shouldn't be short of money," Qi Si said, puzzled.
“This is a lot of money. Besides, opening a department store requires a huge investment. Even with a state-owned wholesale station, she can’t get the goods without spending money. Xiaoyu, tell me quickly.” Uncle San was quite knowledgeable.
“I followed this line of investigation and found out that the land she requisitioned was not the dormitory of a state-owned enterprise, but the dormitory of employees of a sock factory. When the sock factory went bankrupt, it had already sold the houses to individuals at a discounted price to offset the back wages. Bai Weiwei bought them at a price of 10,000 yuan per household, but the money has been delayed.”
"500,000?" Uncle San was deflated.
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