Chapter 453 - 451: A Cheap Sell-off
"He’s had that pig farm for about three years, right? The pens are all built with bluestone slabs and red bricks. The five residential rooms are adobe, but the roofs are all tiled. I heard the brigade captain say it cost eight or nine hundred yuan to build back then."
"Holy shit! That Li guy must have made a fortune off us!" Qian Hongwei’s face was twisted with jealousy.
"Who cares how much he’s made," Captain Yang said, looking at him. "He spent eight or nine hundred yuan building that farm three years ago. How much do you think is a fair price for us to offer?"
The very thought of having to spend money made Qian Hongwei wince. "Brother-in-law, he’s used it for three years. It’s definitely depreciated. I’ll give him half at most."
Captain Yang also thought half was about right. He said to Qian Shucai, "Come with me to the brigade office. In a bit, I’ll pretend to mediate for you. Just agree to the deal and we’ll be set."
Qian Shucai nodded repeatedly. "Okay, okay, brother-in-law."
Captain Yang led Qian Shucai to the brigade grounds. When they reached the threshing ground, he saw Li Xiangyang chatting animatedly with several women who were drying grain.
He walked up with a smile. "Boss Li, I’ve brought Qian Shucai. He was in the wrong about this. I’ll have him apologize to you!"
"Boss Li, I was a bit aggressive earlier. Please don’t hold it against me!" Qian Shucai added, stepping forward with a sheepish grin.
Li Xiangyang replied coolly, "It’s nothing, it’s nothing!"
He had already learned from the women that Qian Shucai’s family consisted of just his elderly mother; they had no money to open a pig farm. The one who really wanted the farm was someone else. When he pressed further, the women just smiled and said nothing.
Captain Yang opened his office door and said to Li Xiangyang with a polite smile, "Boss Li, it’s too hot out here. Let’s go inside, sit down, and discuss the pig farm matter properly."
So Li Xiangyang followed the two men into the office.
After some "mediation and negotiation" from Captain Yang, Qian Shucai said he was willing to pay Li Xiangyang five hundred yuan in depreciation fees to sublease his pig farm.
Li Xiangyang hesitated for a long while before agreeing to transfer the farm to Qian Shucai, but the deal would not include the things planted on the property.
Qian Shucai agreed but demanded that Li Xiangyang vacate the farm by the end of September. Li Xiangyang agreed to this as well.
Li Xiangyang waited for Qian Shucai to go home and get the money. Then, in front of Captain Yang and the brigade’s accountant, the two of them signed the agreement.
Having to fork over five hundred yuan just to sublease the pig farm felt like a knife to Qian Hongwei’s heart. He secretly swore to make Li Xiangyang pay for this one day.
After getting the money, Li Xiangyang returned to the pig farm. Old He and Er Han had already cut a large amount of ramie and laid it out to dry in the yard.
When Old He learned that the farm was subleased to Qian Shucai for five hundred yuan, not including the planted crops, he said happily, "Good! Getting five hundred back means we lose a little less."
"Mhm!" Li Xiangyang thought of the ramie, potatoes, and sweet potatoes on the twenty-plus mu of land outside the farm. He said to Old He, "Uncle He, go into the village and find a few more quick workers. Tell them it’s five yuan a day to dig up ramie roots, sweet potatoes, red-mouthed taro, and regular potatoes."
Old He nodded, but after taking a few steps, he turned back to ask, "Xiangyang, should we dig up the paper mulberry trees and take them back too?"
Li Xiangyang nodded. "Dig them all up. We’re taking everything we can."
"Okay."
After Old He brought the workers, Li Xiangyang had him ride his bicycle into town to find an acquaintance to pass a message to Yang Zhigang and Lin Lan. The message was to immediately find people and rush the construction of a new pig farm. He himself would stay here to clear out the old farm and would be back in a couple of days.
When Qian Hongwei heard that Li Xiangyang was hiring people to dig up sweet potatoes and potatoes, he also went to the pig farm. He saw that they weren’t just digging up potatoes and sweet potatoes, but the ramie and paper mulberry trees as well.
He grabbed Li Xiangyang, annoyed. "Boss Li, this ramie and these paper mulberry trees belong to the Red Star Brigade! What gives you the right to dig them up?"
Li Xiangyang gave him a cool glance. "I take it you’ve never seen wild ramie or paper mulberry before?"
’There’s no way the news of me subleasing the farm could have spread this fast. This kid found out so quickly. So he’s the real mastermind who wanted to snatch the farm!’
Qian Hongwei sneered, "If they’re not wild, don’t tell me you planted them?"
"Sorry, but I did plant them." Li Xiangyang pointed at the neat rows of ramie and paper mulberry in the field. "Where have you ever seen wild ones grow like this?"
Just then, one of the hired commune members spoke up, "Hongwei, back when we couldn’t buy grain husks, everyone cut ramie and paper mulberry to feed their pigs. Boss Li planted his ramie back then, and the paper mulberry trees were planted this past spring."
"That’s right, Hongwei. We even came and helped," a few other commune members added.
Qian Hongwei shot them a sullen glare, then turned back to Li Xiangyang and sneered, "Well, Boss Li, aren’t you a bit too cheap? Taking home a few worthless trees and some pig feed."
"Sigh!" Li Xiangyang let out a breath and said to the crowd with a wry smile, "As you all know, I poured my heart and soul into this pig farm. Business was just getting better and better, but now I have no choice but to sell it off for cheap. Of course I have to take whatever I can with me."
"Boss Li, so you’re really quitting? We thought you were just digging them up to replant them!"
"I have no choice. Someone wanted it, so I had to sell it for a low price." The hired workers glanced at Qian Hongwei and began to whisper among themselves.
Qian Hongwei felt their stares like daggers in his back and scurried away in disgrace.
From the crowd’s explanations, Li Xiangyang now understood that this man was Captain Yang’s brother-in-law.
When Lin Lan received the verbal message from Li Xiangyang, she thought, ’Thank goodness the busy farming season is over, it should be easy to hire people.’ She hurried to find Yang Zhigang, gave him money, and told him to buy bricks and stone slabs and hire people to expand the pig pens.
The next day was August 30th. After breakfast, Lin Lan and Little Douzi went to the school. They had just entered the gates and hadn’t even reached the school’s public notice board when they saw a large crowd gathered up ahead.
When they reached the notice board, Lin Lan held back Little Douzi, who was trying to squeeze through the crowd. "Let’s wait. We can go after they’ve had a look."
"Oh!" Little Douzi replied, then sighed like a little adult. "If only Uncle Xiangyang were here. He could definitely squeeze through."
Lin Lan pinched his cheek. "You little rascal, you were so confident on the day of the exam. Why are you in such a hurry now?"
"Yang Xiaoguo, I see you!" a little boy perched on his father’s shoulders shouted to Little Douzi.
Little Douzi looked up at him. "Really?"
The little boy nodded. "Really, I saw it." The boy’s father nodded at Lin Lan. "Yang Xiaoguo is on there. He’s been assigned to first grade, class one."
"Thank you!" the mother and son said happily to the father and son.
Little Douzi excitedly grabbed Lin Lan’s hand, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her and swung her hand back and forth. "Mom, I got into first grade!"
Lin Lan gave him a thumbs-up. "My son is so capable!"
Little Douzi’s eyes crinkled into a smile. He blushed and glanced from side to side. "Mom, be quieter."
Lin Lan chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Oh! Getting shy, are we!"
Even though they already knew the result, the mother and son waited for the crowd to disperse before walking up to the notice board to see it for themselves.
Yang Xiaoguo had perfect scores in both language and math. Lin Lan scanned the list and noticed quite a few students had gotten perfect scores. She patted his shoulder. "Well, student Yang Xiaoguo, from now on you’re a first-grader!"
Little Douzi nodded, grinning. "Mhm! Let’s go tell Grandpa."
"Okay." Lin Lan walked him to her bicycle, took him to the entrance of the department store, and waited for him to get off. She then instructed, "Mom is going to take a look across the street. You stay with Grandpa and don’t run off, okay?"
"Got it." Little Douzi ran into the store.