Lin Xiaoguai could only think of two possibilities: first, the land had been bought and planned as a commercial area, and second, initially no one wanted to contract the land, so the government had to make other plans.
Thinking it over, she felt the second possibility was more likely. After all, rather than saying the government owned the land, it was more accurate to say it belonged to the Military Department. If it indeed became a base for supplying the military with food, the military would never want to let it go. Moreover, according to what Shen Chi had said, the land was originally used for training, and having experienced the devastation of smoke from gunfire, she didn’t think the land was very fertile. Yet, the contract fee for this land was much higher than that of the countryside. Native city dwellers wouldn’t think of farming, and even those who were from the countryside but had moved to the city wouldn’t want to pay such an unreasonable fee.
But to Lin Xiaoguai, barren land was something she had ways to improve. Moreover, even without much ambition, the ease of possessing such a vast piece of land in the city still filled her with longing.
After all, influenced by the house slaves of later generations, Lin Xiaoguai had an extraordinary craving for land.
Especially considering that a commercial area was to be built nearby, she wouldn’t worry about the sale of produce from the farm. Just the business of the store she was going to open would flourish significantly.
Lin Xiaoguai hadn’t opened the store just for the money, but as the saying goes, love what you do, she saw no reason not to hope for the store to do well.
However, she started to worry about one thing—if things turned out as she guessed and only she was willing to contract the land while other plots remained vacant, and plans were made for a commercial area, might they want to buy back her land?
In other places, she might not have worried, but this was the Capital, the land belonged to the military, and the commercial area was also initiated by the government. She wasn’t confident of keeping her land.
After some thought, she spoke up, "Why don’t we contract all those 3,000 acres?"
Shen Chi stumbled, looking at her as if seeing a ghost, "What did you say?" Previously reluctant to even contract one or two hundred acres, suddenly she wanted to take on 3,000. Had something happened that he was unaware of?
Lin Xiaoguai somewhat sheepishly expressed her concerns, omitting the part about the commercial area, then said, "I don’t want to get everything planned out excitedly only for someone from above to come knocking wanting their land back."
On hearing this, Shen Chi thought it quite possible, and pondered for a moment, "But contracting so much land will cost several million."
"No worries, we are not short of money." Shen Chi had brought back more money than that over the years, not to mention what she had earned from selling flowers.
Shen Chi was somewhat speechless, "You’re not worried about having too much land and no one to farm it?"
"I plan to hire people. With 3,000 acres, we can build more houses for the staff to live on the farm, which won’t affect our own life." Lin Xiaoguai had clearly thought it through well; having a farm would make it less conspicuous to bring things out of her own space.
In real life, she disliked raising livestock because of the smell and the mess, but with 3,000 acres, it didn’t matter. As long as the breeding area was far enough from where they lived, it wouldn’t affect her.
Shen Chi frowned slightly, "Although we can hire people, just managing it will require a lot of effort."
"Don’t I have you?" While saying this, Lin Xiaoguai had already decided to buy the intelligent management system worth billions of Gold Coins from the exchange store, knowing she couldn’t really expect Shen Chi to leave his job at the Military Department to manage such a huge operation.
Shen Chi felt somewhat helpless but also joyfully trusted. He hesitated but ended up not saying anything, figuring that if it got too hectic, he would find a suitable manager for Wanwan.
Although they had decided to buy all 3,000 acres, the procedure wouldn’t be completed quickly. Of course, that was now Shen Chi’s worry to deal with.
"You’re not kidding, are you?" Hearing Lin Xiaoguai’s words, Jiang Xiaomei looked incredulous, "3,000 acres, that’s as big as a village. You really want to buy all that?"
"Wouldn’t it be good? Land prices are rising every day; if we miss this chance, there won’t be another." Lin Xiaoguai continued pruning the potted plant in her hands.
Jiang Xiaomei was somewhat speechless, "The key issue is that you can’t build houses on all that land and it’s not even fertile, why spend so much money on it?" She didn’t understand, Lin Xiaoguai was always more shrewd than her, why couldn’t she see such a simple thing.
"The infertile land can be improved, don’t you trust me?" Lin Xiaoguai gauged her work and expressed satisfaction.
Jiang Xiaomei was a bit skeptical but, given her long-standing trust in Lin Xiaoguai, didn’t say anything more in the end.
"By the way, where’s Yiyi?" Not wanting to discuss this topic further, Lin Xiaoguai changed the subject.
Yiyi was the son of Jiang Xiaomei and Yi Feng, born in their second year of marriage. Initially, since Jiang Xiaomei worried she couldn’t bear a son, Lin Xiaoguai, unable to bear watching her distress, secretly bought a Child Raising Pill from the exchange shop for millions of Gold Coins and secretly had her take it.
"My mother-in-law is with him." Jiang Xiaomei sounded rather helpless, "Anyway, she doesn’t trust me to take care of her precious grandson by myself."
Speaking of which, Jiang Xiaomei’s in-laws were not difficult to deal with, at least they were reasonable people. The only downside probably was her mother-in-law’s obsession with cleanliness. Unfortunately, Jiang Xiaomei was a carefree person, though not unclean, she often overlooked minor details which always displeased her mother-in-law.
Fortunately, Jiang Xiaomei had a good temperament and didn’t take her mother-in-law’s words to heart. Although there were some frictions, overall, they managed to get along quite well. (To be continued. If you enjoy this book, please visit Qidian to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)