Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 104 - 103: Buying Fields

Chapter 104: Chapter 103: Buying Fields

Mrs. Wang bashfully scolded Chen Afu, "Silly boy, you should be serving dishes to your third uncle and his wife, not me."

Upon hearing this, Afu laughed and served dishes to Chen Shi and Mrs. Zhang instead. He smiled, "We’ve been troubling uncle and aunt these past few days."

Chen Shi laughed and said, "Your third uncle and I would be delighted if you were to trouble us every day. We’re just worried about your second brother being alone in the countryside, otherwise we’d ask you to stay longer."

After dinner, Manager Luo came. He had been busy for the past few days. Yesterday, in the late afternoon, he had finished seeing most of the guests off, so today he could spare some time to accompany Chen Afu to the Dental Clinic to see the land.

It was Dabao who wanted to get rid of the road, Chen Afu wouldn’t come with her. She said they were going to the clinic, where there are a lot of human traffickers. Since childhood, what Chen Dabao feared most was being taken away by human traffickers, so she didn’t dare to go anymore.

She also said, "Mother is so beautiful, be careful not to be kidnapped by human traffickers." She instructed Mrs. Wang, "Grandma must hold my mother’s hand all the time."

Mrs. Wang pinched his little face and smiled, "Yes, grandma knows." Once they were outside the door, she said to Chen Afu, "Dabao is a good boy, you’ve raised him well."

Chen Afu nodded with a smile.

After they left Chen San’s Grocery Store, Chen Afu and her mother sat in the carriage and Manager Luo sat next to Uncle Qing.

Chen Shi and Chen Ayu, who were sending them off, told Manager Luo and Uncle Qing that they must come to their house for dinner that night. Chen Afu also extended the invitation from the carriage, causing both Manager Luo and Uncle Qing to laugh and agree.

On the way, Manager Luo mentioned again that in five days, on the 25th of September, he would be returning to Tang Garden with Chu Hanyan. he asked Chen Afu whether she would like to accompany them back. He also mentioned that the journey by carriage would only take two hours.

On hearing this, Chen Afu agreed to go with them. Not only is the carriage fast, but it’s also safe. It would be four days later than originally planned but she was worried that if they returned too late, Chen Ming would be concerned.

Manager Luo said that his eldest son, Luo Yuan, had come to The Chus’ Mansion to deal with matters and wouldn’t return until tomorrow. If Chen Afu decides to return on the 25th, he will have his son go back and tell Chen Ming.

Chen Afu and Mrs. Wang thus agreed.

The carriage drove for about three-quarters of an hour before arriving at a Dental Clinic. Indeed, Li Yaren and Manager Luo knew each other quite well. When Li Yaren saw Luo arriving, he welcomed him warmly and offered him tea.

Upon hearing Chen Afu’s conditions for purchasing land - the land in Zhongning County and Sanqing County had to be top-quality and ideally contiguous, even if it was over one hundred acres - he laughed.

Li Yaren smiled and said that there was a piece of land in Guanghe Town in Zhongning County that would be suitable. It was a paddy field and the price was also reasonable, six taels of silver per acre. However, the amount of land was quite extensive, around two hundred acres. But he added that if one bought the entire piece of land at once, the cost of the rapeseed that had been sown in the land would not be included.

Chen Afu calculated in her head that two hundred acres would cost one thousand two hundred and sixty taels of silver.

The Ten Brocade Sparrow would bring in six hundred taels, the sale of the gemstones would bring in four hundred taels, the red packets would contribute one hundred taels of silver, the sale of the disk button design would contribute one hundred and forty taels and the sale of the dolls would bring in ten taels, adding up to a total of one thousand two hundred and fifty taels of silver. If she topped up with ten taels of her own, she could afford it.

Furthermore, Guanghe Town is adjacent to Sanqing County and only a dozen miles away from Xiangluo Village.

If indeed the land was of good quality, Chen Afu would consider buying it.

On hearing about the immense amount of money required, Mrs. Wang pulled Chen Afu aside and said, "Afu, it’s too much for us to afford."

Chen Afu quietly broke down the numbers for her, reassuring her, "We have enough money."

She then turned to Li Yaren and said, "If the fields are indeed good, we’ll buy them."

Li Yaren chuckled, "I’ve been friends with brother Luo for over a decade, I wouldn’t deceive you. The paddy field is truly excellent. However, for such a big transaction, it’s best to see the land yourself before making the decision. It’s late today, going to Guanghe Town would take more than an hour even if we took a carriage, and the journey there and back would take up most of the day. We will also need to go to Zhongning county town to finalize the contract, which would take another half a day, so we’d have to wait until tomorrow."

Chen Afu had the same thought, so she nodded in agreement.

Manager Luo thought for a moment and said, "That’s all we can do, then. However, I have business to attend to tomorrow and can’t accompany you, so I’ll have to ask my second son and Uncle Qing to go with you."

Concerned about Afu and her mother, two women, going alone and unfamiliar with Li Yaren, it seemed to be the best decision to have his son who was the junior manager in The Chus’ Mansion, Luo Fang, and Uncle Qing accompany them on the trip.

Now, Manager Luo was extremely grateful to Chen Afu and truly wanted to help her.

Chen Afu hurriedly expressed her thanks on hearing Manager Luo’s words.

With her striking appearance and Mrs. Wang’s modesty and lack of worldly wisdom, it would be much better to have Manager Luo’s son and Uncle Qing with them, going into an unfamiliar situation with Li Yaren.

Having settled the matter, the group said their farewells.

They exited through the back yard of The Chens. Next to the main house was a gate, from where they drove the carriage into the yard. The Chens had already laid out the food and drinks. In addition to their own homemade Luwei, they had intentionally purchased roast goose and beef squid soup from a wine-shop, and bought a few jugs of Xiao Yuanchun Wine.

Manager Luo and Uncle Qing were invited to sit in the parlor and were accompanies by Chen Shi and Chen Ayu. They enjoyed their food and wine.

Mrs. Wang and Chen Afu went to the kitchen to help.

After the guests had left, Chen Shi, feeling uneasy about the mother and daughter making such a long trip alone, insisted on accompanying them. He also said that if they did decide to buy the land, he would accompany them to Zhongning county town to finish the contract negotiation on the same day, so that everything could be settled within one day.

In that case, it would be even better. Chen Afu and Mrs. Wang hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

Chen Shi waved his hand and laughed, "What’s there to thank for? I am the one who owes you thanks. I made money from your prescription and I haven’t thanked you yet. When Afu gets married, I must give her a big gift."

Chen Afu wouldn’t be shy like Aman, and laughed, "Alright, I’ll be waiting for it."

Her words made everyone burst out laughing.

Mrs. Wang feigned anger and lightly smacked Chen Afu, scolding her, "You silly girl, how can you be so shameless?"

Early next morning, Mrs. Wang and Chen Afu dressed properly. They were both wearing semi-new clothes made of cloth, adorned with wooden hairpins. They waited in the shop with Chen Shi. At the outset of the morning, Uncle Qing arrived with the horse-drawn carriage.

Alighting the carriage was a young man in his early twenties. He was Luo’s second son, Luo Fang.

He laughed, saying that apart from the old Marquis Chu, everyone else in the mansion had left. The Marquis had asked Dabao to bring Qi Qi and Hui Hui to the mansion to play, because Yan missed them.

There was another reason that Luo Fang had not mentioned. Marquis Chu particularly loved birds. When he heard Yan’s good friend had two particularly intelligent parrots, he wanted to see them. He had patiently waited until today as the mansion was full of guests. Early in the morning he was already eager to see them.

He also added that a carriage would pick up Dabao from the Chu Mansion after late morning.

Dabao wasn’t awake yet. Mrs. Zhang hurriedly agreed to wake him up and tell him.

After exchanging a few formalities, they boarded the carriage. Chen Shi, Mrs. Wang and Chen Afu sat inside the carriage, while Luo Fang and Uncle Qing sat outside.

The carriage headed directly to the western gate, where Li Yaren was already waiting for them. After meeting up, they continued westward. It was the same route Chen Afu and the others had taken when they came.