Chapter 53: Property Hunting

Chen Xiao Cai had cooked dinner when Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi arrived home.

Chen Xiao Cai used to cook dinner for his brothers when Chen Xiao Mi ventured into mountains, he wasn't great at it, but it was the thought that counted.

Lu Lin had been responsible for cooking since he married into this family, but Chen Xiao Cai would still occasionally cook when Lu Lin was too busy. Chen Xiao Cai's cooking skills had improved a lot thanks to all the observing he had done when Lu Lin cooked.

"Big Brother, Lin Gege, why are you guys so late today?" Chen Xiao Cai asked.

Chen Xiao Mi told Chen Xiao Cai what had happened in the mountain.

"Those mountain people are leading a hard life, aren't they?" Chen Xiao Cai shook his head.

Chen Xiao Mi and his two little brothers had spent a few nights in the mountains before hunted the tiger and bough the house they were living in, so Chen Xiao Cai felt so sorry for the Qins because he knew what poverty could do to people firsthand.

Seeing how sad Chen Xiao Cai looked, Lu Lin changed the subject by asking him whether he had heard anything interesting in the village.

Chen Xiao Cai was popular among the kids, the other kids would just tell him all matters, whether important or trivial.

"The Lus are officially selling farmland now, they are selling a mu of inferior farmland for 10 tales, the villagers all say the Lus are robbing money."

"What? 10 tales for a mu of inferior farmland, that's ridiculous!" exclaimed Chen Xiao Mi. Farmland were less valuable in trouble times like this. A mu of inferior farmland's market price was 7 or 8 taels, a mu of average farmland 11 or 12 taels, a mu of great farmland 15 taels.

The Lus were selling their inferior farmland for the price of average farmland, they were just being greedy. However, there were some villagers who were looking to buy some farmland, so maybe the Lus could have their way.

"What a shame it's the Lus who are selling farmland." Chen Xiao Mi shook his head.

Lu Lin gave Chen Xiao Mi a meaningful look as if he were absorbed in thought.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi went to see the Qins the next day, they brought rice and some preserved meat with them.

Qin Yi was doing better and now he had come round. The Qins were so grateful for Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, Qin Yi struggled to lean against the bed to express his thanks in person.

Lu Lin exclaimed in his heart that the mountain people had sturdy physique, he couldn't believe it just took Qin Yi a day to come round.

Lu Lin guessed Qin Lang and Qin Ming must have told Qin Yi about the expensive liquor because Qin Yi appeared a bit embarrassed on seeing them, he kept saying he would return them. He had even asked his kids to kowtow to them. Lu Lin turned him down sternly.

As a person who was transmigrated from the modern society, Lu Lin was neither gullible nor innocent, but he also wasn't cold-hearted, he would never just sit back and watch someone die in front of him.

Lu Lin let out a sigh of relief when he and Chen Xiao Mi left the Qins'. He was thrilled that Qin Yi now was getting better.

They went back home in high spirit, but they saw Chen Xiao Cai sitting by the house gate with a gloomy look from afar.

"Cai, is everything all right?" Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi quickened their footsteps.

"The Lus were here." Replied Chen Xiao Cai.

Lu Lin sighed, the Lus wouldn't come to him if they hadn't something to ask of him.

"What did they say to you, Cai?" Chen Xiao Mi asked.

Chen Xiao Cai pouted, "They say they'd like to keep the goodies within the family, and they want us to buy their farmland since we don't have any."

"Did they mention how much they want from us?" Chen Xiao Mi looked interested.

"12 taels per mu."

"For inferior farmland?" Chen Xiao Mi rolled his eyes.

Usually, farmland would sell like hot pies among the villagers, but the Lus were just so greedy, they tried to sell seconds at best quality prices. The record high for inferior farmland was 8 taels, the current market price for them was between 6 and 7 taels. The Lus demanded 10 taels from the villagers, and they went even further with Lu Lin!

Lu Lin shook his head, "Those people, let's just ignore them."

Chen Xiao Cai nodded.

In the Lus' house.

"Have you heard anything back from Lu Lin?" asked Grandma Lu.

Tang shook her head, "No, I don't think he is interested."

Lu Lin and Lu Cheng Yu were cousins, the villagers always liked to compare them with each other. In Tang's eyes, Lu Lin and her son could not be mentioned in the same breath. However, Lu Cheng Yu failed in the imperial examination time again, and Lu Lin had been leading an affluent life since he got married. Tang was pissed off about that.

Grandma Lu asked sulkily, "Aren't they rich now? How come they can't afford to buy 2 mu of farmland?"

"Maybe they are not as wealthy as people are saying, rumors are rumors!" Tang said bitterly.

Grandma Lu nodded in approval, "That Lu Lin is ill-starred, no way will he become rich! You are right, the villagers have got it all wrong, rumors are rumors!"

Lu Cheng Yu's wedding was just around the corner, the Lus had to lower the price. They sold the 2 mu of farmland for 16 tales in total, and the buyer was Granny Shen who had worked for Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.

Granny Shen's gesture had provoked an uproar from the villagers. Fancy an old lady like her having 16 tales! The villagers still thought 8 taels for a mu of inferior farmland was a bit unreasonable, and they were more looking forward to seeing Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony, they were curious to see how grand it was going to be.

In Chen Xiao Mi's house.

Chen Xiao Cai saw the land deed in Lu Lin's hand and he asked curiously, "Lin Gege, was it actually you who bought the farmland from the Lus?"

"Yes and no."

Lu Lin didn't want to do business with the Lus directly, so the thing was Lu Lin lent some money to Granny Shen, Granny Shen bought the farmland from the Lus. Then Lu Lin bought the farmland from Granny Shen, as a result, the land deeds now were in Lu Lin's hand.

"What makes you want to buy farmland?" Chen Xiao Mi chimed in.

Lu Lin smiled, "You have always wanted to have some farmland, don't you? Plus we have the money."

Chen Xiao Cai's eyes would glow every time they talked about farmland, Chen Xiao Mi was better at hiding it, but Lu Lin could tell how much Chen Xiao Mi wanted to have some farmland as well. Farmland was like the ultimate goal for people in that time and space.

Chen Xiao Mi blinked with a broad smile, "Farmland is great!"

Lu Lin nodded, "I think we can manage to take care of 2 mu of farmland by ourselves."

Chen Xiao Mi cast a glimpse at Lu Lin and whispered, "Do you know the old you used to take care of 5 mu of farmland by yourself?"

Lu Lin knew Chen Xiao Mi was talking about the host Lu Lin, he lowered his head in embarrassment. Lu Lin wasn't able to endure hardships like the host Lu Lin, but he was proud of his progress.

Lu Lin and Granny Shen had kept their deal a secret, Granny Shen had already sowed seeds in the farmland, so they agreed on transferring the land after Autumn Harvest. Granny Shen felt sorry that she kept the farmland longer than she should, and Lu Lin felt sorry for using Granny Shen as a middleman. In the end, Lu Lin managed to convince Granny Shen to feel less sorry.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi counted their savings again, they had over 300 tales of silver in hand now, and they decided to buy a shop in town. Buying a commercial property seemed like the smart thing to do.

The two went to town for an on-the-spot investigation.

"Lin, there are 3 shops or sale now, which one should we get?" Chen Xiao Mi asked.

The 3 shops on sale had vast differences. Two of them were rather small, they both charged for 50 taels, but neither of them was at great location. The third one was 250 tales, it was at the best location in town, and it was so spacious, the shop was in the front and the residence area was in the back. The residence area consisted of a huge hall, two main bedrooms and several small rooms for maids and servants.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi both fell in love with that property, it was spacious, grand, clean and well-decorated, their only concern was money, 250 taels was a huge amount of money.

Lu Lin squinted, "Why don't we settle a matter at one go? We don't have anything urgent that needs money, right?"

Chen Xiao Mi wasn't surprised to hear that from Lu Lin, he remembered how Lu Lin loved that property when they visited together.

The owner of that property was a renowned landlord, his first son had passed the highest imperial examination and was appointed as governor in some other province, their entire family would move together with the son, that was why the landlord was selling such a great property.

It was a rare opportunity, 250 taels for a commercial house with spacious residence area. But not a lot of wealthy people in town had that amount of cash, they had invested their money in either their business or real estate. Therefore, the commercial house was still available when Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were interested in buying a shop in town.

"That shop is close to school as well." Lu Lin said casually.

Chen Xiao Mi snorted, "So what it's close to the school, the scholars in town won't admit Cai and Mai due to my reputation."

"That's okay, we can work on that. The shop is close to school, that means we won't be out of business, students are the bet customers. Take the Lus for an example, their entire family is living frugally, but they will support Lu Cheng Yu's study in every possible way in the hope that Lu Cheng Yu will bring glory to the family."

Chen Xiao Mi looked intrigued, "What kind of shop do you want to open then?"

"We can sell stationery." Lu Lin smiled.

"Stationery? As in writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones?" Chen Xiao Mi asked, then he recalled Chen Jing's inkstone, his grandmother spent 2 taels of silver on that inkstone! He didn't dare touch it, he knew he would get a good beating if he had mishandled that inkstone.

Lu Lin shook his head, "Nope, the profit margin on those isn't great. Plus there are already shops which are selling those, the market is saturated, and I don't want us to offend them."

Chen Xiao Mi asked with confusion, "What else can we sell then?"

Lu Lin squinted his eyes and said, "We can consider selling schoolbags."

Those designer bags in modern society were so damx expensive, Lu Lin thought he might be able to make a fortune if he sold some original and cool schoolbags.

"Schoolbags? Will they be popular?" Chen Xiao Mi's upper lip twitched.

"I have faith in it."

Chen Xiao Mi gave Lu Lin a funny look, "Do you know how to make schoolbags?"

"I do not, but I know how to hire people to make schoolbags for me." Lu Lin showed a cunning smile.

Chen Xiao Mi was still unconvinced.

"Haha, let's give that a try, what's the worst gonna happen?"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "All right, I'll listen to you."

Chen Xiao Mi thought, 'Our entire saving is basically made by Lu Lin, he has every right to make these business decisions. The worst case scenario is we lose it all and we start over. But I don't think we will lost that amount of money for a while...