Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 332: 332: Buying Land

He quickly grabbed Di Yelei’s hand: “Today, while I had nothing to do, I made a special trip. I met the landlord and got a definite answer; they agreed to lower the price!”

In fact, because Old Man Li had escaped from the Land Officer’s home last time, just before that, he had patted his chest and assured Liu Sisi! Old Man Li’s escape and subsequent death made the Land Officer feel a burning sensation on his face, always feeling that he had let the young couple down.

He turned things over in his mind but found no solution, and it affected his eating and sleeping. In the end, the Land Officer’s wife came up with an idea!

Since the Di Family wanted to buy land, why not help them lower the price? This would at least make up for some of the loss. The Land Officer thought about it and agreed, so as soon as daybreak came, he went to the manor and bargained with the landlord, completely discarding his dignity. Finally, the landlord agreed to lower the price.

On arriving home, without any concern for the darkness, he rushed over to report the good news to the couple.

Di Yelei was delighted and exchanged glances with Liu Sisi: “How much did they agree to lower the price to?”

Land Officer said triumphantly: “I’ve looked around, and the farm has houses, hot springs, and high-quality farmland. They originally wanted 1000 taels of silver, but after a long time talking, they finally agreed to sell it for 680 taels of patterned silver. However, they said the transfer procedure at the government office should be completed as soon as possible, and you will have to pay for it. The most important thing is that they want cash.”

Though the Land Officer wanted to express his hard work, he held back since he knew helping the couple was a way of making amends.

Liu Sisi thought for a moment: “They want us to pay the processing fee? How much is that?”

Land Officer hurriedly said: “They’ve asked around, and to transfer this land property, it would cost around 50 taels of silver. Di Third Son is now working in the government office, so I think you should be able to get a discount. That’s why I agreed with them.”

Di Yelei thought for a moment: “Some of my colleagues are in charge of this kind of thing. If I go, it shouldn’t be that much. After all, I can just invite everyone for a small gathering meal at a wine-house afterward.”

As the couple discussed, Liu Sisi was calculating in her heart.

There were more than 500 taels of silver in cash at home a few days ago, and since they had spent some money on hiring a carriage today, they would probably need to sell some silver ornaments to collect the 680 taels of silver.

Once she made up her mind, she gave a practically imperceptible nod to Di Yelei.

Di Yelei, who was chatting with Mr. Land Officer, saw this and immediately said, “Uncle Land Officer, we can’t give you a definite answer right now! Think about it, this is a large sum of money. Even if we decide to buy, it will probably take some borrowing from one party to repay another.”

The words made the Land Officer’s face darken. That’s right!

He hadn’t thought about whether the couple had enough money.

“How about this? Tomorrow morning, Ye Lei will go out to think of a solution, and we’ll give you an answer by tomorrow evening. What do you think?”

Di Yelei added quickly.

Left with no choice, Land Officer got up: “Alright! You should gather the money first. If you are short by a bit, Uncle Land Officer can still lend you some!”

Naturally, he had thought this through.

He believed that though the Di Family had risen in status, it would still be challenging to come up with such a large amount of money all at once. If they couldn’t gather enough and were short of a hundred or so taels, he would lend them the money first. He believed that the couple would not renege, given their nature.

Di Yelei repeatedly thanked the Land Officer and sent him away before turning back.

He saw Liu Sisi still sitting in her original position, not moving.

“What do you think? Do you want to buy that land?” Di Yelei leaned over.

“What about the soil quality and house properties of that land? Is it the one selling the land? Won’t there be any disputes later on? Also, how do you measure the land, and how do you transfer it? How do you deal with the specific matters?”

Liu Sisi opened her mouth and threw out a bunch of questions.

It made Di Yelei laugh: “Sisi, sometimes I’m curious about what’s going through your little head?”

Liu Sisi’s face turned red: “I…” She genuinely couldn’t answer his question.

“Don’t worry! I will handle everything you’re worried about. Besides, I’m a government official after all. Once they bring the land contract to the government office for a signature, everything will be clear. By buying some land, at least we’ll have some income. Anyway, holding the silver now doesn’t do us any good.”

“I’m just worried.”

Her face turned red, and she got up, went for a walk, and returned with a cloth bag in her hands.

“If we really buy it, it’s going to cost at least 700 taels of silver. Let’s count and see if we have enough.”

As she spoke, she took out the silver coins and counted them one by one.

“The other day, Sister Qiao gave one tael of silver as an education gift, and there were eight taels of silver you gave me from selling furs. Now there is 563 taels in cash, but we still need 137 taels of silver. Let’s take some jewelry to pawn tomorrow to make up for this shortfall.”

As she spoke, she picked out some gold ornaments from the bag.

It would probably not be worth much to sell these silver ornaments, so it’s better to take two gold ornaments and exchange them for cash at the gold shop…

“No! Sisi, put away the jewelry,” Di Yelei shook his head: “Our family is now in troubled times. If we buy this land without borrowing a single coin, it will not be good for us in the eyes of those with ill intentions. It’s better to borrow some money from Uncle Land Officer. Additionally, I can mention it to my colleagues tomorrow, and it will be much more convenient when transferring the property.”

“Ye Lei, you’re more thoughtful. I…”

Liu Sisi’s face flushed, and she got up and left the room with the cloth bag, unable to continue.

Her shy demeanor made Di Yelei’s eyes deepen, following her movements intently, and feeling a surge of heat in his heart.