You are unlucky and I am tough

Chapter 165 Spending money like water

The family had noodles with beef left over from last night for breakfast. Each person had a bowl of white noodles. Except for the three young ones who were studying at home, the rest of the family went to work behind the house.

The Wei Qinglang brothers were responsible for building the chicken and duck sheds, Cheng Shuang assisted them, and the others used hoes to turn the soil. The land behind the house was not wasteland and there were no weeds or stones, so they could be turned over and used to grow vegetables.

It didn't take long for a few people to clear out almost one mu of land. Cheng Guqiu asked Cheng Shuang for vegetable seeds and planted the Chinese cabbage first. They thought that this vegetable grew quickly and could be eaten in more than 20 days, saving them the trouble of buying it.

In the afternoon, after the chicken and duck sheds were set up, Wei Qinglang and Wei Nanxing took their two younger brothers to the ancestral hall to open the hall and worship their ancestors. Only males could participate in this ceremony. Cheng Shuang reminded Wei Qinglang not to forget to ask the headman about the business on the mountain, so he stayed at home to help grow vegetables.

In addition to the bok choy, she also took out lettuce and eggplant seeds, and she also got a small piece of chili seedlings.

As for the plot of land at the entrance to the yard, she applied fertilizer while no one was home and then sowed strawberry seeds. It's a very simple and direct planting method, requiring no complicated techniques or tools. Simply spread the seeds evenly on the soil surface and cover with a thin layer of soil. After three to five months, she'll be enjoying large, sweet strawberries.

Cheng Shuang was humming a tune while working in a good mood, while the process for Wei Qinglang was boring and lengthy.

Cheng Lizheng led the villagers to hold a ceremony to worship their ancestors. After burning incense at every household, he distributed the house deeds and land deeds to each household.

These things lasted for more than two hours, and it was almost dusk when they ended.

The villagers came out of the ancestral hall one after another, holding deeds in their hands and smiling on their faces, which indicated that they had really settled down here and the new Chengjia Village would bring them a new life.

Wei Qinglang and Zhao Xiuwen walked out side by side, chatting casually. Wei Qinglang asked, "Brother Zhao, have you chosen which academy to attend? The prefect said he has contacted the academies in Fucheng and Huanhua County, and the scholars who moved here this time can choose for themselves."

"The major academies are giving the prefect face, but if they don't want to accept you, there are plenty of ways to do it."

Zhao Xiuwen said calmly, "The college entrance examination is approaching. Master Shen has given me many books to study carefully. I have decided to stay home and study hard during this period. If I am lucky enough to pass the examination, I can choose the academy at that time. Only then can I have the right to choose."

Wei Qinglang nodded in agreement, "Brother Zhao is very talented. I heard that the provincial examination will be held in August this year. I believe that Brother Zhao will be on the list of both the college examination and the provincial examination."

Zhao Xiuwen smiled, "Then I'll take advantage of Brother Wei's good words. I wonder which private school you plan to send Chen'er and Xu'er to. Master Shen once said that Chen'er is gifted and intelligent, and has a kind disposition. If he were taught by a famous teacher, he would surely become a prime minister in the future."

Wei Qinglang said, "I plan to go to the capital city to find them a private school with good teachers."

He and Cheng Shuang had discussed this matter before moving. Now that they had already arrived in the provincial capital, of course they would send the child to a place with better resources.

As for becoming a famous teacher or a great scholar, or becoming a prime minister, it all depends on fate.

Wei Qinglang still wanted to go find the village head to ask about buying the mountain. When he got outside, he let Zhao Xiuwen go first. He waited at the door of the ancestral hall until most of the villagers had left. Then he went back alone to find the village head Cheng who was still sorting the tributes, and told him about his idea of ​​buying the mountain behind the peach blossom forest.

Several nearby mountains and a lot of wasteland have been allocated to Chengjia Village by the government office. The mountains are collectively owned. If they are to be sold or bought, a resolution of the villagers must be made. More than two-thirds of the villagers or village representatives must sign the letter of intent, and the money earned will be divided equally among the whole village.

Cheng Lizheng was very surprised that Wei Qinglang actually wanted to buy the mountain. After asking a few questions and seeing that he was determined, several elders of the clan were also there, so they discussed the matter. Finally, based on the land price in Huanhua County, they offered a price of three thousand taels.

Wei Qinglang said he had no objection and followed Li Zheng back to write a letter of intent, which he then handed to Li Zheng to inquire about the intentions of each household in the village. Those who agreed could sign directly. As long as more than two-thirds of the people signed, a written contract could be signed. After both parties signed and sealed it, they would go to the county government to handle the forest rights documents, and then file them, pay taxes and stamp them with the official seal.

After finishing his work, Wei Qinglang returned home in a good mood.

Cheng Shuang was planting strawberries in the yard with a small shovel. She looked up and saw him smiling, so she asked, "Did you find any money?"

Wei Qinglang walked over, leaned against the wall with his arms folded, and recounted what he had been talking about with Cheng Lizheng.

"Three thousand taels?" Cheng Shuang felt a pang of pain when she heard it. "It's really not cheap."

But if you think about it carefully, there are 122 households in the village, and if it is divided equally, each household will only get more than 20 taels, which is not much.

And she believed that buying the mountain would bring her ten, a hundred, a thousand, or three thousand taels.

After thinking about it, Cheng Shuang stuck the small shovel into the ground and dragged Wei Qinglang with her. "Let's go back to the room and count the money to see how much is left after buying the mountain."

All the money in the house was in Cheng Shuang's hands. As soon as she returned to her room and closed the door, she took out all the money and put it on the table. She also took out an account book, opened it and started to calculate the accounts.

"The original 3,620 taels, plus the 1,600 taels you submitted last time, the 400 taels reward from the prefect, and the 728 taels from selling vegetables on the five acres of land in Beishan. The two families split a total of 115 taels from the braised food over the past few months. All of this is income, for a total of 6,549 taels.

The expenses are all small amounts that have not been recorded. Apart from the monthly pocket money for my younger siblings and necessary household expenses, the two hundred taels that Nanxing spent on the apprenticeship gift is the only expense that can be considered as a large amount.

After mumbling a lot of calculations, Cheng Shuang began to count the money. After counting the silver in her hand, the final amount she got was 6,119 taels.

She counted out three thousand taels of silver and pushed it to Wei Qinglang, "Take these three thousand taels for yourself. You can pay directly after the formalities are completed."

Wei Qinglang propped up his head and looked at her, "We also need to buy the land at the foot of the mountain, which is estimated to be more than 200 acres."

"Oh, right. The land here is 2.5 taels per mu. So buying the land would cost 500 to 600 taels."

Cheng Shuang sighed, "Forget it, if you want to make money, you have to spend money first. I'll give you another 700 taels."

Wei Qinglang wanted to laugh when he saw her painful expression, and continued, "Not only that, our family can't farm all this land, and we also need people to take care of the mountain.

Hiring people long-term is unrealistic. We need to buy a group of people to help us farm and manage the mountain. We need at least 30 laborers. According to the prices in the capital, one adult laborer costs at least five or six taels of silver."

Cheng Shuang sucked in a breath of cold air. This person was spending money like water. He hadn't started making any money since arriving in his new home, but a quick calculation showed that he had already spent two-thirds of his previous savings.

"Shuang'er."

Just as she was about to calculate how much money would be left after buying the person, she heard Cheng Guqiu calling her from outside.

"Give me some more lettuce seeds, and I'll plant a piece of land there as well."

"Okay, here we come."

Cheng Shuang responded and quickly put away the remaining money. Then she bought a few packets of lettuce seeds from the mall, poured them out, and wrapped them in yellow paper. She said to Wei Qinglang, "Let's find a chance to go to the market again. We'll be growing more and more rare things in the future, so we have to be prepared for the possibility that someone will really investigate the source of these seeds."

Wei Qinglang nodded. "This isn't difficult. If there's no seller, we can just create one. It's just a matter of renting a shop."

Cheng Lizheng has always been very efficient in his work. In the evening, he went to every household with a letter of intent, and everyone in the village knew that the Wei family wanted to buy the mountain.

When they heard that each family could get more than 20 taels of silver by selling the mountain, almost everyone signed the agreement, feeling happy but also shocked.

I was shocked that the Wei family could afford so much money to buy a mountain.

That night, Cheng Lizheng brought a letter of intent signed by the villagers to the door, wrote a written contract, and both parties signed and sealed it.

Wei Qinglang placed the banknotes on the table and said, "I'll ask the village head to help me go to the county government office to handle the rest. I've also bought the land at the foot of the mountain."

Cheng Lizheng was surprised. "There's a lot of land at the foot of that mountain. Do you want it all?"

Wei Qinglang nodded, "I'll also ask the village head to find someone to help measure it, and then take it and the mountain to the government office for registration and official stamping."

Cheng Lizheng didn't know their purpose in buying the mountain and so much land, but he knew the couple were not foolish, so he didn't ask any more questions. He nodded and said, "I'll find someone to help you measure it tomorrow. Once you get the stamped forest rights documents and land deeds back, it won't be too late to pay me."

After the first big thing was done, after Cheng Lizheng left, Cheng Shuang called all the family members who were still in the know into the main hall and told them about buying land and hilltops. She also asked Cheng Guqiu to accompany her to the brokerage firm in the capital city tomorrow to help her select people.