Lin Jishang chuckled, "These matters can be easily discussed, as long as you are willing to sell."
They were in a small fishing village, where most of the villagers were relatives and the others were closely connected in one way or another.
Since they wanted to buy land, it was only right to speak in a polite manner.
"What, are you planning to pay a high price? You must know, we have the foundation for three houses here!"
"Why not come to your house to sit down and talk? It's not convenient to discuss things under this hot sun."
"We’re too busy. We need to finish building the new house quickly so we can move! This place is a treasure! Since we bought the foundation, our family has been making money hand over fist. The fish we catch has been more than others every day. Such a good location, we must build quickly and move in!"
Ye Yaohua stole an awkward glance at Ye Yaodong.
How had their land suddenly become a blessed spot? Hadn't only A Dong been getting lucky lately? They didn't seem particularly prosperous.
The three people across from them exchanged glances, sensing that this was going to be difficult.
"Has Uncle Ye gone out to sea? In that case, we will wait until he returns in the evening to visit."
They had come fast and would leave just as quickly!
The two Ye brothers stood watching their hurried retreat.
Once they were far away, Lin Xiuqing asked, "Do they really believe in this talk about good feng shui? It feels a bit absurd, doesn’t it?"
"Who knows if they’ve been fooled by some charlatan? It doesn’t matter, we’ll just say this is a good feng shui spot too, right? When the water rises, so does the boat!"
"Are we really selling? We’ve already brought so many materials down from the mountains and rivers."
"It's fine. If they really want to buy, let them pay a good price. Otherwise, we won’t sell. We can’t sell at a loss, can we? This is definitely a treasure of a location, after all. The wealth we've seen recently is proof enough. Some merchants believe in these strange things."
Ye Yaodong casually strolled over to a shaded tree and sat down, no longer in the mood to work.
He pondered that perhaps they could make a profit from the land after all.
If they could sell it for a high price, then of course they would sell! Why should they hold on to something without cashing in? It was just a different place to build a house, and there was plenty of empty land in the village; switching to another plot wouldn’t be a problem.
Lin Xiuqing began to believe that this land truly was a treasure.
Ye Yaohua thought the same. “This really is a good feng shui spot? Then we shouldn’t sell it; with such good feng shui, our family can only keep getting better!”
Ye Yaodong looked speechlessly at his second brother. “Do you really believe the nonsense I’m saying?”
“Didn’t he invite someone to check the feng shui just yesterday morning?”
“Before, some fortune teller said your son could be top of the class. Do you believe that?”
"Uh... no..."
His second nephew, when he grew up, would just be growing seaweed...
“See? That’s just it. These quacks have to be taken lightly. Since they call it a treasure, we can treat it that way too. We’ll mark up the price and sell it for more later.”
Things were tight at home; if they sold for a high price, they could make a nice profit, buy another piece of land, and still have some money left over.
Ye Yaodong had his eyes on a piece of land right in front of the beach—facing the sea, blooming in spring, a much better feng shui!
In his previous life, the village developed tourism, filling in the coastal marshes to build houses, and constructing a series of villas which later turned into guesthouses, bringing in booming business.
Now they hadn't filled in the beach, but there was still plenty of open land around.
If they claimed a plot early, they might get compensation for it down the line in a few decades when the city expanded.
At the start, when his father mentioned building houses to split the family, Ye Yaodong had just been reborn and his thoughts hadn’t been sorted through.
But it was perfect timing now!
He held back Lin Xiuqing, who was pushing a wheelbarrow and about to head back up the mountain to work. “Take a break; don’t work so hard. When mom brings the meal, mention this.”
“We can’t delay the work, though.”
“What do you think of building a house right by the beach? Just open the window and see the sea! Facing the ocean, blooming in spring—what could be better?”
Lin Xiuqing retorted impatiently, “Are you crazy? It’s not like I haven’t seen the sea before. When a storm comes, the waves crash—who knows if our house would get flooded?”
“Well, we just won't build too close to the shore. There’s a large area behind that’s empty, far enough that the waves won’t reach it. When the tide comes in or goes out, we could just check from our doorstep. We can go shelling anytime.”
She thought about it and realized he had a point; they could tell when the tide went out from home and could reach the beach faster than others.
“Well... if those three really come by in the evening, are we actually going to sell the foundation?”
“Let’s see what they’re willing to pay. We just started and have only finished the foundation. We spent 300 on that, and with the workers’ pay and food, it adds up. We'll see what Dad decides."
He didn’t have the final say in the matter; the money for building the house came from his parents.
“Got it.”
Knowing that someone was eyeing their homestead, Ye Yaodong also lost some of his eagerness to work.
Who knew if his father would actually sell?
He slacked off until they were done for the day, finally realizing that the fish catch had been poor.
They had only sold thirty-eight coins worth of fish, and after deducting for diesel, they were left with only twenty-two or three.
That was a huge drop compared to the day before.
When Lin Xiuqing returned with Ye Dajie and Ye Erjie, they didn’t catch a breath before they began gutting fish.
Ever since they got the boat, the amount of fish they processed each day could rival what others did in their entire lives.
Ye Fugu was also aware that someone had come by their land today asking openly about purchasing it.
He sat there smoking, pondering whether or not to sell.
"What do you think?"
Ye Yaodong sat with his bare torso propped on one leg on the chair, cooling himself with a fan. “Whatever. There’s plenty of open land in the village; where’s the harm in building a house anywhere? We don’t have to be hung up on this one spot since the house isn’t even completed yet—just the foundation is done and a few stones piled.”
Ye Yaopeng chimed in, “Let’s see what price they offer first. We’ve worked hard recently—can’t let it go to waste."
Ye Yaohua rubbed his hands together and said with a grin, “That plot is a treasure. They should be willing to pay up, right?”
“Why don’t we spread the word a bit more, say that our land is a feng shui treasure, and see if we can attract a few wealthy buyers to compete for it?”
Ye Father shot a look at Ye Mother, “What a bad idea. What if they call us out for lying and cause trouble? The people from Lin Jishang came to us on their own, nothing to do with us.”
“I’m going for a bath; who knows if they’ll come? After a day of labor, I’m starving.”
“Go take a bath. Once you’re clean, we’ll eat, and then wait to see what happens.”
In the end, by the time they finished their meal, it was almost dark when they finally saw those three arrive, much later than in the day.
“Uncle Ye, have you eaten?” Lin Jishang smiled as he greeted everyone.
“I’ve eaten. I heard you were looking for me earlier?” Ye Father lounged in the doorway, not even shifting in his seat upon seeing them, since they weren't pressing him for anything.
“Right, my uncle wanted to talk with you. My father isn’t home, so I brought him along. Can we go inside to talk?”
“Sure, let’s go in.”
All the Ye men followed inside, leaving the women and children outside in the cool air.
Curious neighbors kept asking what they were up to.
Ye Mother could only say she didn’t know, dodging the inquiries.
(End of Chapter)