The group walked and stopped frequently, and it took them more than an hour to reach the land that Zhou Sui had bought.
Starting from the land she bought, a dividing ridge was formed. Further down the slope, there was a developed scenic area, and a few meters behind, there was a sparsely populated village.
There's another way to get into the village, instead of going through the scenic area; going through the scenic area would take you on a huge detour.
This village has a long history, probably dating back to the 1950s or 60s. While most places were bustling with activity, the village was filled with thatched houses.
In the dead of winter, a gust of cold wind blew by. Zhou Xu tightened his hat and looked at an old man in front of a thatched hut, saying, "I'm wearing so many layers and I'm barely feeling warm. How come that old man is in such good health?"
Everyone followed his gaze and saw the old man sweeping the yard. His cotton-padded clothes were patched and patched again, and when the wind blew, the clothes clung to his body, revealing the old man's thin figure.
Zhou Sui sighed and explained to everyone, "There are only elderly people left in this village now. Before winter, I had someone send them a batch of warm clothes, but I guess these old people will be reluctant to wear them."
As they were talking, an elderly man with a cane walked in from the intersection. He was about to slowly walk past them when he caught sight of Zhou Sui.
"Oh my, Miss Zhou has arrived?"
Zhou Sui bought land in their village. At that time, the few elderly people in the village came, so they all knew her.
"Grandma Ma, where are you going?" Zhou Sui asked with a smile.
"It snowed a few days ago, so I'm checking if any of the cabbages in the field have been frozen."
"It's cold outside. Let's go to Grandma's house. It's warm inside."
Grandma Ma warmly invited everyone to her home, but Zhou Sui waved her hand and declined, saying, "Grandma, don't trouble yourself. I'll just take a look inside. You should go back inside; it's cold outside."
"No, we're already here, why don't we come inside and sit down? We haven't properly thanked you for the clothes, pants, and cotton shoes you brought us last time."
"Okay, you guys look around the house first. I'll go say hello to everyone and then come back to call you for dinner when it's ready."
Grandma Ma said in an unyielding tone, and although she was using a cane, she walked very quickly with her small steps.
Cheng Yue, with her sharp eyes, noticed the abnormality in her feet and asked Zhou Sui in a low voice.
After everyone had walked away, Zhou Sui said, "Grandma Ma used to be a young lady from a wealthy family."
In those days, young ladies from wealthy families had to bind their feet, and Grandma Ma still has a pair of three-inch golden lotuses.
Everyone else understood immediately, but Cheng Yue kept asking, "And then?"
Zhou Sui had no choice but to explain it to her again, then took out his key and opened the wooden door of the courtyard in front of him.
From the wooden doors to the walls to the roof, the whole thing looked like it was about to collapse.
Song Qi'an walked to Zhou Sui's side and said, "Don't touch anything when you go inside. This house looks like it could collapse at any moment."
He was the oldest among them, and everyone listened to what he said.
Zhou Sui led everyone through the front house to a corner of the backyard, saying, "The hot spring is right below here."
Zhao Xinfeng had never seen a hot spring before and was extremely curious. He quickly moved the things in the corner aside and looked around for a long time, asking, "Where is it? Where is the hot spring?"
This is clearly an ordinary and unremarkable piece of land; it doesn't look like there's a hot spring at all.
Zhou Xu looked down at the ground for a long time and said, "Sis, have you been fooled?"
"I don't see any hot springs at all."
"You'd never see one," Zhou Yu scoffed, telling them, "Hot springs are usually two to six hundred meters underground. You couldn't see them even if you pressed your heads to the ground."
"Unless you have X-ray vision and can see things hundreds of meters deep."
Zhou Yu is absolutely right; without excavation, the hot spring would not be visible.
As for how Zhou Sui found out, it all started when she brought her company here for a team building event in the summer.
Back then, the village was adorned with flowers and plants, unlike its current desolate state, and possessed a certain idyllic beauty.
On a whim, Zhou Sui lingered at the village entrance and happened to run into the owner of the house selling herbal tea at the door.
He was a healthy old man; his children had all gone abroad, leaving him alone to look after the old house.
"After this summer, I'll have to go abroad. I'm getting old, and I still can't bear to be away from my children." The old man said this with a hint of helplessness on his face.
Zhou Sui could understand that what people want most in life is to have a house full of children and grandchildren and to enjoy their old age. The children were worried about the old man being alone here, which is why they urged him to go abroad.
The old man and the young girl chatted for a while. Zhou Sui drank half a pot of herbal tea and ate a wild vegetable cake. She was about to say goodbye when the foreseeable scene in her mind reappeared.
That's how she learned there was a hot spring here. She was about to leave, but she sat down again. Since the old man was going abroad, the house would definitely be empty.
So he asked the old man if he was selling the house.
The old man laughed heartily, “Little kid, after I’m gone, this house will just be empty anyway. If you don’t mind, you can come and stay here from time to time.”
Zhou Sui didn't want a place to stay; she was after the hot springs below. Of course, what she told the old man was only half true.
“I see that your place is so close to the scenic area, so I’m thinking of buying your house, renovating it, and turning it into a hotel for tourists to stay in.”
Her idea is not surprising. Many families in front of the scenic area have done the same thing. But for the locals, there are already enough places to stay. Tourists from other places will be overwhelmed with choices. Savvy businessmen will not open hotels anymore.
The old man honestly advised Zhou Sui, "Selling this house won't affect me much, but if you open a hotel, you'll lose a lot of money. Who would want to stay here?"
That's right, most people who come to the scenic area stay in the area in front of it.
Zhou Sui smiled but remained silent. She knew that this area of the scenic spot was not just developed to this extent; this was only the beginning.
Moreover, Zhou Sui remembered that when she was about to die in her previous life, the news was still reporting that Cao County's scenery attracted not only Chinese people but also many foreign tourists.
A place that's famous internationally must have a high volume of visitors; it just hasn't reached that level yet.
Zhou Sui insisted on buying it, so the old man sold it, but the two were deadlocked over the price for a while.
The old man knew this was a dilapidated house, fifty or sixty years old, so he offered less than a thousand.
Zhou Sui immediately objected, as she felt she had the better deal, and raised the price significantly. After a long negotiation, Zhou Sui lowered the price from 10,000 to 5,000, while the old man increased it from 1,000 to 5,000.
When it came time to transfer the property, the old man also transferred several plots of land, besides the house, to Zhou Sui. Since they were all next to the house, Zhou Sui did not refuse. However, on the day the old man left the country, Zhou Sui secretly slipped him a large red envelope.
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