ATPnovel Chapter 6 Buying Land
Chapter 6 Buying Land
The deceased was buried, and the seven-day mourning period followed.
All the villagers with registered households gathered together.
Although it is just a small village, it cannot be without a leader.
With the old village chief dead, it is only natural that a new village chief must be elected.
The matter is actually not that complicated. The old village chief died fighting for water and also lost a grandson.
Regardless of his past prestige or his current contributions, his son is the best choice.
After some initial reluctance, the old village chief's second son, Li Shoutian, accepted the offer.
The villagers had no objections, since the Li surname was the most common in Songguo Village, and there was also the legacy of their ancestors.
Although Chu Xun was young, he had already established his own household and naturally came as well.
After the village chief was elected, just as he was about to go back, Li Shoutian came over and called out, "A-Xun, come here, let me say a few words to you."
When Chu Xun approached, Li Shoutian looked him up and down and asked, "If I remember correctly, you'll be seventeen soon?"
"Yes, in two more months." Chu Xun nodded.
"Well done, better than your father," Li Shoutian praised, then turned to the main topic.
"Many families in the village have lost their breadwinners, leaving only widows and orphans. These past two years have also seen severe drought, and they will likely suffer greatly during the autumn harvest."
Li Shoutian lowered his voice as he spoke: "Like Li Ermao's wife, she has nine mu of land, and she manages it all by herself. If she wants to remarry in the future, she won't be able to take all that land with her."
"I know you've saved up some money over the years. Would you be willing to use it to buy land? It's ten taels per mu, which is a bit expensive, but consider it a resettlement allowance for those orphans and widows."
Based on current market prices, one mu of land costs approximately eight taels.
Li Shoutian asked for two taels more than other vendors, but his reasons were quite valid.
Their breadwinner is gone, their children are still young, and they need money to get through this difficult time.
Not many people in the village have managed to save up money over the years, and Chu Xun happens to be one of them.
However, Li Shoutian was unsure whether Chu Xun was willing to buy it, since two taels of silver was already a considerable sum of money for poor farmers like them.
Chu Xun asked, "How much land in the village can I buy?"
Li Shoutian had already calculated it and said, "Li Ermao's family alone is willing to sell seven mu of land. The other families combined will probably sell about twenty-five mu."
Chu Xun then asked, "How many people want to buy it?"
Li Shoutian looked somewhat embarrassed and said, "Right now it's just my family and you."
The two brothers had discussed it and decided to take some money from home and each buy five acres.
But there are still fifteen mu left, and no one else in the village is willing to buy them.
To be precise, they had no money.
Who wouldn't want land? But we've been suffering from disasters year after year, and we're almost broke even.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken the initiative to ask Chu Xun, a half-grown boy.
Chu Xun thought for a moment and said, "If no one else buys it, I'll take the rest."
Li Shoutian was stunned for a moment: "You want all of it? That's fifteen mu of land, and one hundred and fifty taels of silver."
Worried that Chu Xun might have misheard, he specifically repeated that one mu of land was priced at ten taels.
However, Chu Xun still readily agreed to pay the full amount, and he could still come up with 150 taels of silver.
"How do you have so much silver?" Li Shoutian asked in astonishment.
No matter how frugal you are, if you can save three or five taels a year, it's only thanks to God's blessing of a bumper harvest.
Everyone in the village knew that Chu Xun's parents didn't leave behind much money when they passed away.
How did he accumulate all that in just over a decade?
Chu Xun said, "I get bored at home, so I occasionally go for a walk in the woods to collect bird eggs, snake skins, and the like to sell in town. It doesn't cost me much money, so I've saved up without even realizing it."
This is partly true and partly false; it is true, he did sell snake molts.
The truth is, the snake skin wasn't picked up; it was left by the two snakes that often came to soak up the rain.
In addition, other poultry and livestock would occasionally bring some good things, such as rare mountain delicacies. Even a crow once brought a small piece of gold, who knows where it came from.
Although Li Shoutian was astonished, he had no choice but to believe it.
He said with a mixture of envy and admiration, "You're really lucky, and you know how to be frugal. In the future, there probably won't be many people in the village as wealthy as you."
Then, half-jokingly, he added, "My daughter is almost fourteen, why don't you wait a few more years?"
Chu Xun smiled and naturally did not agree.
Li Shoutian's daughter is only seven and a half years old this year, it's not something that can be done in a few years.
Within a few days, everyone in the village knew that Chu Xun had spent 150 taels of silver to buy 15 mu of land.
In no time, the threshold of the house was worn down by people walking all over it.
Some people came to see what was so strange that a boy of only half a year had managed to save up so much silver.
Some people even came to arrange a marriage, saying, "Chu Xun, you're almost seventeen and still not married? What are you waiting for!"
Only Zhang Sanchun looked worried and sighed at the anxious Zhang Anxiu, "How are you going to marry him now?"
Zhang Anxiu's ears were bright red, and she looked somewhat melancholy.
Yes, in the blink of an eye, Chu Xun now owns seventeen acres of land.
In the entire Songguo Village, only Old Li's family has more than him.
How could I possibly be worthy of a man like that?
Zhang Anxiu glanced at the honest-looking Zhang Sanchun, hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't resist.
"elder brother."
"What's wrong?"
"How about... you stop doing odd jobs for the rich and we go farm for Brother Xun instead?"
Zhang Sanchun was stunned and looked at his younger sister, puzzled.
How could Zhang Anxiu tell him? She just wanted to find an opportunity to get closer to Chu Xun.
It seems that the only solution is to help with farming.
Time flies.
In the blink of an eye, three years have passed.
Chu Xun, who was already nineteen years old, stood by the field.
The farmland that was previously purchased has been moved together over the years through exchanges with villagers.
His fingers moved, forming hand seals.
Great Cloud Rain Technique +1
【Great Cloud Rain Technique 8311/30000: Drives water vapor to gather over a large area, with controllable slow movement and rainfall amount】
Earth Control +1
[Soil Control Technique 7092/30000: Controls and shapes soil movement over a large area]
Three years have passed, and both techniques have advanced to the next stage.
It only takes two spells to cover one acre of land.
In this way, the seventeen acres of land will not require too much time.
Since last year, the severe drought has finally ended, and the villagers can finally breathe a sigh of relief and save up some surplus grain.
Chu Xun's land also yielded a bumper harvest, with nearly 300 catties of rice per mu.
On average, one mu of land can contribute five taels of silver per year.
Seventeen mu is eighty-five taels. After deducting daily expenses, he saved more than seventy taels in just one year.
This speed is much faster than before, which is why he was willing to take out all his savings three years ago to buy fifteen acres of land at a relatively high price.
Money lost can be regained; it can help those in need in the village and also speed up the process of getting rich. Why not do it?
This is only what is visible to the villagers.
As the Great Cloud Rain Technique controlled the movement of the rainwater, rustling sounds echoed in the fields.
Large numbers of poultry and livestock ran around following the rain.
The weasel that came alone a few years ago has two more this year.
A slightly smaller female animal, and a newborn baby.
At this moment, a small, bluish-white snake was trying to climb up Chu Xun's trouser leg, its head poking out and flicking its tongue downwards.
ga-
ga-
A dozen or so crows perched on the old tree that had been dead for several years, lined up neatly, occasionally shaking their feathers and peering in this direction with their round eyes.
There are plenty of rabbits, field mice, pheasants, and even toads in the fields.
A cacophony of cries rose and fell, creating a chaotic and unending din.
In recent years, more and more poultry and livestock have been attracted to the area, sometimes trampling the rice seedlings and causing them to bend and fall.
Chu Xun didn't care; he really liked the atmosphere.
When the rain stopped, the birds and livestock emerged from the fields, nodded or lay down before Chu Xun, and then left.
hiss--
Two large snakes, each nearly two meters long, swam out of the ground.