Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming lingered sweetly for a while in the house, then decided to visit the Village Chief’s house to buy land, following the old custom of bringing along two pounds of meat since gifts ease tasks.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw the Village Chief’s wife, "Auntie, is Uncle Village Chief home?"
"Yes, he’s at home. Both of you, come inside."
Every time the Village Chief’s wife saw them, she greeted them with a smile. Now, the couple were quite important in the village, holding a higher status than her own husband.
Yang Ming handed the meat to the Village Chief’s wife, "Auntie, this is a little token of appreciation. We also need to ask Uncle for a favor."
"What talk of trouble or no trouble! Come inside quickly." The Village Chief’s wife warmly welcomed Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao into the house, then went to the kitchen to store the meat.
Upon entering the house, they immediately saw the Village Chief. Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming promptly greeted him with respect, "Uncle Village Chief."
"Ah, you two sit down. What brings you here this time?"
Yang Ming’s wife had helped their village significantly, previously with the cabbage harvest, and now by hiring many female workers, things had begun to improve for the village. Perhaps their visit would bring another surprise.
"Uncle Village Chief, my wife and I would like to buy twenty mu of flat land here in our village. Which location do you think would be suitable right now?"
Yang Ming directly stated their need to purchase land.
Upon hearing this, the Village Chief frowned, puzzling Xiaoxiao. Was buying land in this place really such a difficult matter?
"Uncle Village Chief, is there some difficulty? Can’t we buy land now?"
The Village Chief sighed, looking troubled, "Yang Ming’s wife, I won’t hide it from you. You’ve come too late. A wealthy man bought all our village’s land yesterday. If only you’d come two days earlier, oh well."
"..." This was completely unforeseen by Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao. Who could be so wealthy to come and buy land here?
The village wasn’t wealthy, land was sparse, and the yield wasn’t that great. Compared to other villages, their land was definitely not the best pick.
"Uncle Village Chief, is there really no land left at all?"
Xiaoxiao was somewhat incredulous, thus she asked again.
"Alas, there’s still one plot left, but that land, because it’s in a low-lying area, has been yielding poorly for many years. In years with excessive rainfall, it completely fails to produce, so the person who bought the land yesterday didn’t want that plot. But, Uncle can’t in good conscience, sell you such poor land."
Hearing this, Xiaoxiao felt the Village Chief was truly decent, not just pushing the inferior land onto them because they wanted to buy.
"Uncle Village Chief, is it the plot near Xiawa Village?"
"Husband, do you know that plot of land?"
Yang Ming nodded, "That land really isn’t very good; it’s too low and often gets flooded by rainwater."
Xiaoxiao thought for a moment. Low lands were everywhere, but with proper care, perhaps it could still work, "Uncle Village Chief, how many mu is that plot?"
"And how much is it in silver?"
"Since that land yields poorly and nobody wants it, although it’s flat land, it’s sold at the price of mountain land, just five taels per mu, so thirty mu is one hundred fifty taels."
At home, Yang Ming had mentioned that flat land was ten taels per mu, so this way, we would save half the silver, "Then Uncle Village Chief, could we go see that plot of land?"
The Village Chief was somewhat surprised, seeing the determination in Yang Ming’s wife. Uncertain, he looked towards Yang Ming.
Seeing Yang Ming nod, he agreed, "Alright, let’s go see that plot of land right now."