Translator: Lonelytree
Most of the villagers were ashamed. The remaining villagers looked at these people who demanded 400 RMB per Mu with disdain.
Xiao Chengbang looked at those people and sneered, “You people dare to ask for 400 RMB per Mu?! In that case, why don’t you rent the mountain land yourself?”
“What can we do renting it?” Some villagers responded very quickly.
“Xiao Laigou, in that case, shut up!” Someone was angry. “Don’t you have a hundred Mu of mountain land behind your house? Why don’t you find someone to rent it for 400 RMB? You’ll immediately make a fortune! Laigou, you’ll get an annual rent of 40,000 to 50,000 RMB. But, we’ll see who will come asking to rent the land from you!”
“Laigou, I have claims in the mountains too. How about I rent it to you? Instead of 400 per Mu, you just have to give me 200 RMB per Mu. Then, you can rent it out to others for 400 per Mu. You’ll still gain a huge profit, right?”
Xiao Laigou refused, “Do you think I’m stupid to rent your mountain land for 200 RMB per Mu? It’s not even worth that much!”
“That’s right. Even you think that’s stupid, then why do you think Xiao Lingyu would rent your place for 400 RMB per Mu? Do you think she’s that stupid?”
“That’s just funny. I can say that no one here is cleverer than Lingyu. So, Xiao Laigou, if you want to have that sweet dream, go back to sleep!”
“Haha…”
The villagers burst into laughter.
Xiao Laigou’s face turned red. He knew that he was in the wrong, but he still said unwillingly, “Xiao Lingyu has already made a fortune. She should share the wealth with us.”
“Even if that’s true, it’s not through a method like this.” The village chief retorted seriously, “You want her to sacrifice her interest to improve yours? Does Xiao Lingyu owe you?”
Xiao Laigou was completely silent. Almost the entire village was on the side of Xiao Lingyu’s family. No matter what he said now, he would be countered by them.
Since Xiao Laigou and people like him stopped speaking, the village chief asked again, “Does anyone else have any questions?”
Someone immediately asked, “Village chief, after Xiao Lingyu goes down the mountain, can we still go up the mountain to chop firewood, hunt, and gather herbs?”
After all, this was a source of income for many families, so of course, they would be concerned.
The village chief said, “We’ve asked Xiao Lingyu about this. She said that you could. She contracts the mountain to develop and farm. As long as people don’t purposely go and destroy her crops, they can still go up the mountain to gather herbs and firewood. If anyone is caught with deliberate destruction, they will be punished severely.”
Many villagers were confused. If Xiao Lingyu wanted to open up a farm, she would need to start with deforestation. In that case, what firewood could they gather from the mountains in the future?
“Village chief, what exactly is Xiao Lingyu’s plan for the farm?” A villager asked in puzzlement.
The village chief replied, “Xiao Lingyu contracts the mountains to plant fruit trees. She won’t plant too many trees, so she won’t need to level out the forest. As for the specifics, we’ll have to ask Xiao Lingyu herself.”
Xiao Lingyu’s family had been sitting in the front and didn’t say much. Even when the villagers asked her to pay 400 RMB per Mu, she didn’t say anything. However, there were some things that only Xiao Lingyu could explain clearly.
Xiao Lingyu said, “Most of the vegetation on the hill will be preserved. The villagers can continue to go up the mountain to chop firewood, hunt, and gather herbs. However, I also need to stress that even after I have contracted the mountains, what happens to you while you’re on the mountain is not my responsibility.”
This was a precaution for a culture that would become popular in the future, faking injury for compensation.
The villagers weren’t aware of this yet, but in the next few years, many people would purposely injure themselves in front of businesses to demand compensation from the bosses.
If something happened to one of the villagers on the mountain, they would definitely cause trouble at her house since the mountains belonged to her. When something happened, she had to take responsibility. Therefore, no matter what, this clause had to be written into the contract.
The village chief and the villagers had some doubts regarding this.
In the future, someone really did have an accident and came to cause trouble at Xiao Lingyu’s place. Xiao Lingyu immediately showed them this clause in the contract. People admired Xiao Lingyu’s foresight.
After hearing that they could enter the mountain to chop firewood after Xiao Lingyu had rented the mountains, the villagers did not have much of an objection.
They had already analyzed the various benefits. Xiao Lingyu would pay to rent the mountains. The rent would be shared by everyone, and it was a large sum of money. Why would they say no to money?
Plus, after Xiao Lingyu contracted the mountain, she would need a large number of people to develop and organize the mountains. Naturally, Xiao Lingyu would need to hire people. This was another sum of income.
As long as people were not stupid, they could see that this was a good thing.
However, some people had a disease called jealousy. It was caused by greed.
They had long been jealous of Xiao Zhengyang’s sudden wealth. Usually, they did not dare to offend Xiao Zhengyang’s family because they had a favor to ask of them.
But now, it was the other way around.
Xiao Lingyu wanted to contract the mountains, so Xiao Zhengyang’s family had come to beg them. They knew that without the consent of the majority, Xiao Lingyu would not be able to contract the mountains. They held power over Xiao Zhengyang’s family.
Hence, someone started to speak again. “Lingyu, actually, we don’t have any other opinions. It’s just that you plan to rent the mountains for 150 RMB per Mu. Isn’t that too low?” It was this question again.
Xiao Lingyu looked at the person who spoke with a faint smile and asked indifferently, “Then seventh uncle, how much do you think I should pay for the rent?”
This seventh uncle immediately said, “Actually, we don’t need much. Like what Xiao Laigou said, we wanted to rent it for 400 RMB per Mu. But since it’s you, we’ll rent it for 200 RMB per Mu.”
Xiao Lingyu chuckled. “Seventh Uncle, do you know how much the Liu family village charges for their mountains?”
Ah?
