When they arrived at the village head's house, they happened to run into Li Qiang, the village head, who was about to go out. At first, seeing Qian Hua and the others, he thought they were coming to pester him again about the pesticide station. He wanted to avoid them, but was stopped by Aunt Qian Hua's loud voice.
"Li Qiang! Don't run. I'm not here about that today!"
Hearing this, Li Qiang stopped in his tracks. Then he noticed a young and unfamiliar figure behind Aunt Qian Hua and her daughter.
Yuan Tiantian also saw Li Qiang, a little old man in his sixties who looked quite energetic.
"Hello, Village Head."
Yuan Tiantian stepped forward to greet him. Then Aunt Qian Hua introduced her and briefly told Li Qiang about her background. Only then did Li Qiang know that she was the granddaughter of Aunt Xia Cui.
"What's the matter?"
Li Qiang wanted to go to the fields. It had been hot these days, and he was worried about the lack of water there. He planned to take care of it.
"We're here to contract the hill behind the village."
What? Contract the hill behind the village?
Li Qiang instantly widened his eyes. He was quite shocked and looked at Qian Hua with a puzzled look. Didn't she tell this girl that the soil there was not suitable for planting? The hill was desolate, with few wild fruit trees and mostly waist - high weeds.
"Li Qiang, what are you standing there for? Why don't you invite them in?"
Aunt Qian Hua understood what Li Qiang's look meant. Of course, she had told Yuan Tiantian about the situation of the hill, but Yuan Tiantian said she didn't mind and had a way. Aunt Qian Hua decided that she must help Yuan Tiantian get a reasonable price.
The four of them entered the house. Li Qiang's wife, Xia Yanghua, was out shopping for groceries.
At the square table, Li Qiang still asked Yuan Tiantian uncertainly, "Are you sure you want to contract the hill behind?"
Yuan Tiantian nodded and then asked Li Qiang, "Village Head, how big is it approximately, and what's the price?"
At this time, Li Qiang was sure that Yuan Tiantian wasn't joking. Although he smiled on the surface, he regarded Yuan Tiantian as a fool in his heart. He knew that Aunt Qian Hua must have told her about the hill, but she still wanted to contract it. At this point, a thought crossed his mind. He pretended to ponder for a while.
"The hill is 10.3 mu in total. There have been quite a few people interested in it, so it's quite popular. The price won't be too cheap."
"The unit price is 5000 yuan per mu, and the contract period starts from 10 years."
As soon as Li Qiang finished speaking, Aunt Qian Hua couldn't bear it anymore. "You're robbing people! You said there were many people interested. Yuan Tiantian may not know, but don't we? No one really wanted it. There was a man who came to take a look in the first half of the year. He didn't even want it at a unit price of 1500 yuan. Now you're asking for 5000 yuan, and you say it's popular? Keep it and sell it slowly by yourself!"
After scolding, Aunt Qian Hua was about to pull Yuan Tiantian away.
Li Qiang looked unhappy and stared at Aunt Qian Hua disapprovingly.
"What do you women know? Can I tell you about all the people who came to inquire?"
Aunt Qian Hua was so angry at his shameless behavior. No wonder he could get along with Xia Yanghua, a woman who loved to take advantage. They were both bad eggs.
Seeing this, Yuan Tiantian looked at Li Qiang with a half - smile and then said calmly, "Village Head, I really want to buy it. But if you're not sincere about selling, this deal may fall through. We both know what that hill is like. If you really don't know, I can spend some money to invite relevant experts to test it. Then it'll be even harder for you to set the price."
"Think it over before you quote the price."
After hearing Yuan Tiantian's words, Li Qiang trembled. He mustn't let her invite experts. He almost managed to deceive the last customer, but then the customer invited a geological expert to test the land. The expert said that the soil on the hill was not suitable for planting, and the customer finally gave up. He couldn't let this happen again!
"2500 yuan per mu per year!"
Li Qiang gritted his teeth and quoted the price. He knew it was a bit higher than before, but he explained brazenly, "Prices have risen a lot in the past six months. It's state - owned assets, and I can't just lower the price. This 2500 - yuan price is the best I can do."
Aunt Qian Hua wanted to retort, but Yuan Tiantian stopped her.
"I'll accept this price, but I have a condition. If you agree, we can go to the town right now to sign the agreement. If you don't, forget it. I'll go to the neighboring villages to inquire. Maybe I'll have some luck there."
After Yuan Tiantian finished speaking, Li Qiang quickly asked, "What's the condition?"
He couldn't let this chance slip away!
"You have to seriously help with the matter Aunt Qian Hua asked you about."
Not only Li Qiang but also Aunt Qian Hua and Li Xinyu looked at Yuan Tiantian in surprise. They didn't expect that Yuan Tiantian's condition would be this. Aunt Qian Hua was very touched when she realized this, but she thought Yuan Tiantian shouldn't spend so much money just for her matter.
"Xiao Yuan, we..."
Yuan Tiantian quickly interrupted Aunt Qian Hua. "Auntie, it's okay. I have my own considerations. It's not just for you. Don't be like this."
Li Xinyu looked at Yuan Tiantian with a complicated look. She had heard from Zhao Qian that Yuan Tiantian was very arrogant and looked down on others. But now it seemed that was not the case at all. A person who was so willing to help others couldn't be that arrogant.
Some things had to be experienced in person. One couldn't just believe one - sided words from others.
Li Qiang naturally agreed. An extra 1000 yuan per mu meant an extra 10,000 yuan per year for 10 mu, and 100,000 yuan in 10 years. He was creating income for the village! The higher - ups would surely praise him. Li Qiang was very happy. The matter was settled. Then, seeing that it was not yet lunchtime for the town officials, Li Qiang quickly took Yuan Tiantian there.
The staff in the Land Office warmly welcomed Yuan Tiantian when they heard she wanted to contract the land.
"You want to contract for the maximum term? That's 50 years. Are you sure, girl?"
Yuan Tiantian nodded, but finally said, "Can I pay the fee for this long - term contract on an annual basis? I can only come up with a deposit of 250,000 yuan for now."
"I'll pay the rest year by year."
Naturally, Yuan Tiantian wouldn't pay the contract fee for 50 years all at once. She would just pay the amount equivalent to about 10 years as a deposit.
The staff quickly nodded. "Sure, sure. Since you're contracting for such a long time, we'll give you a discount. We'll wipe out the 0.3 - mu fraction."
Maybe it was because of her financial ability that the matter was settled quickly. When Yuan Tiantian got all the procedures done, it was only about 10:30. Li Qiang was left by the staff in the Land Office and was invited to have lunch with them. They also invited Yuan Tiantian, but she declined.
She still had to go back to make lunch.
With the land contract certificate in hand, Yuan Tiantian felt relieved. Seeing the 50 - year term on it, she felt even more at ease.
She didn't reject Li Qiang's inflated price. Besides helping Aunt Qian Hua, the more important reason was that she was making a plan for the future. When the land's geology changed with the help of the purification seeds, even if someone wanted to take it back later, she would have something to say. At present, she still had to find someone to evaluate the original land quality so that she could be well - founded if someone caused trouble in the future.
She had the money, the original land quality evaluation, and the 50 - year land contract.
In the future, no one would be able to pick on her successfully!