"Have you eaten? Have some with me," Zhang Liunian welcomed Xiao Zhou into the house and invited him to join him for breakfast.
Xiao Zhou hugged his briefcase and shook his head, "I've already eaten."
"We'll leave after I finish eating. Qingqing, would you like to come with us?" Zhang Liunian looked at his wife, who was serving breakfast, and asked for her opinion.
Jiang Qingqing paused in her actions, put down her bag, and hesitated, "Will it be troublesome for you if I go?"
This meant she wanted to go but was afraid of being a burden. Zhang Liunian understood and took the chopsticks from her hand, smiling, "No, I can rest assured only when you are by my side."
He lived here, and if someone wanted to investigate, they would find out everything. He was a bit worried about leaving his wife alone at home.
Seeing her husband say this, Jiang Qingqing smiled shyly, "Then I'll go with you."
"Then don't be busy, sit down and eat with us. We'll leave after we finish eating," Zhang Liunian said, then called Zhang Qian from another room to join them for the meal.
Half an hour later, Zhang Liunian and his party of four set off for Fude Village.
Fude Village had a pleasant name, but the village itself was not as good as its name suggested. There were only about twenty households in the whole village, and every household was desperately poor. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't make ends meet, they wouldn't have agreed to sell the mountain tops.
Moreover, these mountain tops were not good mountain tops, but like the stone mountains in Journey to the West, with piles of large rocks everywhere, which were not only unsuitable for cultivation but also difficult to survive on.
With no fields or land, Fude Village was only allocated a mountain top like this, naturally becoming one of the poorest places in Pengcheng.
In his previous life, Zhang Liunian had also bought this place, not only making double the money but also starting a rental business.
He had made a lot of money from here, so in this reincarnation, Zhang Liunian naturally would not miss it.
However, things seemed to have changed. For example, now, when Zhang Liunian and the others personally met the village chief and expressed their intention to buy all the mountain tops, the other party suddenly waved his hand and refused.
"Comrade, it's not that we don't keep our word, but as you can see, our lives are difficult, and every extra penny means an extra path.
After you left yesterday, someone with a higher offer came and said they wanted to buy our mountain tops, so we can't sell you these mountains." This was the village chief of Fude Village. He was an old man almost sixty years old, with a hunched back and an apologetic expression.
Zhang Qian was displeased when he heard this. They had agreed yesterday, and they came to buy it today only to encounter this situation. He couldn't stand it and immediately flared up, "We had a good discussion yesterday, and you quoted the price yourselves. I said I would buy it when I came back today. How can you go back on your word at the last minute?"
"We are truly sorry, comrades, we really cannot sell to you." A hint of imperceptible nervousness flashed in the village chief's eyes. After the group from yesterday came and inquired that the people in front of them were going to buy the mountains, they immediately offered a higher price than theirs and threatened that if they sold to others, they would make the entire village disappear.
As the village chief, he couldn't gamble and didn't dare to. The other party was aggressive, with status and background, how could they resist them?
Zhang Liunian noticed his subtle abnormality and asked tentatively, "Village chief, are you encountering any trouble? If there's anything we can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask."
The old village chief's eyelids jumped in fright, his heart skipped a beat, and his mind involuntarily thought of the ruffians from yesterday. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Nothing of the sort, you should leave. We are going to sell these mountains to someone else."
"..."
"What exactly do you mean? You agreed yesterday, and now you're going back on your word. If you say someone offered a higher price than us, how much did they offer to make you change your mind? You have to tell us so we can give up, right?"
Zhang Qian couldn't stand their rudeness and stepped forward, suddenly curious about how much the person who intercepted them had offered to make the old village chief change his mind.
The old village chief showed a troubled expression, unwilling to say, "No matter how much, we won't sell to you. You don't need to ask anymore."
Seeing him say this, Zhang Liunian understood that there was a hidden reason behind this.
"This is too much! How can you speak like that? Why can't you sell to us? What did we do to offend you? If you don't explain yourselves clearly, we're not done!" If the village chief in front of him wasn't an old man, Zhang Qian would have resorted to force.
"Xiao Qian, don't say any more. We'll go and look elsewhere. There aren't only these mountain tops around," Zhang Liunian stopped Zhang Qian from pursuing the matter further, but his eyes scanned the surroundings.
This area indeed was not just Fude Village, nor were they the only ones with mountain tops. However, Zhang Liunian knew that this was the center of next year's project planning, which was why he was acting early.
But judging by the old village chief's demeanor, it was clear someone had their eyes on this place and didn't want them to acquire it.
If that was the case, he had a way to obtain these mountain tops in Fude Village, provided that the person opposing him hadn't bought them yet.
"Yes, our neighboring Hongde Village also has mountain tops. You can go and ask them."
Hearing Zhang Liunian's words, the old village chief immediately stepped forward to point them in the right direction.
"Thank you, old village chief. We'll go and ask in Hongde Village. We won't disturb you further," Zhang Liunian smiled and politely thanked the old village chief, then led Zhang Qian and the others to the neighboring village.
As the four of them left, the old village chief's son walked up and said, "Dad, since we refused them, are those people from yesterday going to give us the money?"
The old village chief just sighed deeply and did not answer.
Whether they would get the money depended on the other party's mood. Although the bandits from yesterday had promised to pay 1.5 million yuan for their mountain tops, it was still unknown if it was true or not.
On the other side, Zhang Liunian and his party, who had left Fude Village, were also discussing the matter.
"Brother Liunian, why did you just leave like that? You asked me to inquire early on, didn't you want to use this place for something? If we just leave like this, aren't we letting them off too easily?" Zhang Qian, being impatient, followed Zhang Liunian for a long distance before he finally couldn't help but speak out.
"I do have some ideas, but if they don't sell, there's nothing we can do. Besides, with money, we don't have to worry about not being able to buy mountain tops. Let's go and ask in Hongde Village," Zhang Liunian said, then led his men straight to Hongde Village.
"You want to buy our mountain tops?" The village chief of Hongde Village was a young man, which surprised Zhang Liunian and the others greatly.
"That's right. I want the mountain tops in the area near the stone mountains of Fude Village. Do you have any?" Zhang Liunian had a plan in mind, but he still intended to prepare for both eventualities. If the mountain tops in Fude Village were truly unavailable, he would have to choose two nearby.
"Yes, yes, yes. The mountains next to the stone mountains, covered with phoenix trees, belong to our village. How much are you willing to pay?" The young village chief of Hongde Village, although encountering this for the first time, had recently heard about selling mountain tops. It was said that if they sold the mountain tops, not only would the villagers have jobs, but they would also receive a lot of money, allowing them to live a good life all at once.