Chapter 135 Buy it together

Chapter 135 Buy it together

Of course, this village has its drawbacks. As a place with abundant water resources, it is more susceptible to flooding than other places.

However, this situation is extremely rare. They live in the north, not the south, where droughts occur far more often than floods.

Not to mention that even in years of good weather and abundant harvests, fields still need to be irrigated by humans in order to increase production.

After all, if you rely entirely on the whims of fate for your livelihood, your ability to withstand risks is far too low.

As the saying goes, when faced with two evils, choose the lesser. In order to maximize the chances of a good harvest, people tend to buy land that is close to a water source and has convenient irrigation, rather than land that can only be relied on by the weather.

After visiting the estate, Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan returned to the county town with the broker and his son.

Because they made their decision so quickly, the sun hadn't even disappeared behind the distant mountain ridges when the four of them returned to the county town.

While the light was still bright, the broker took Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan to the shop he had mentioned earlier.

The shop consists of two rooms, with a floor area that is neither too large nor too small, and it is located in a moderately prosperous area.

The shop had already been rented out by the local gentry, so when Xie Wanniang and her group arrived, the shop was open and open for business.

When Xie Wanniang smelled the aroma of food wafting from the shop, she immediately decided that after looking at the shop, whether she bought anything or not, she would have a good meal at this restaurant.

The restaurant was run by the owner's family of six. The owner himself was responsible for accounting, collecting money, and purchasing. His two sons were responsible for greeting customers, serving dishes, and cleaning. His wife, daughter, and eldest daughter-in-law were responsible for all the kitchen affairs.

To make doing business easier, they not only rented the two front shops used for entertaining guests, but also the second courtyard connected to the shops.

After the broker explained his purpose to the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper cautiously and quickly sized up Xie Wanniang, who was supposedly the buyer.

Xie Wanniang nodded slightly to him.

Seeing that she had a good attitude and a calm expression, the shopkeeper felt a little relieved.

He summoned his eldest son and asked him to personally take Xie Wanniang and the broker to see the shop.

After deciding to sell the shop, the local gentry immediately sent someone to negotiate with the family. They were willing to return the remaining rent and compensate the family with five taels of silver. Everyone would praise the gentry for his kindness.

The problem is that this family has been running their restaurant here for almost ten years. Now, if they are suddenly asked to move out, not to mention where they will find a new suitable shop in the short term, they don't know how much they will lose in terms of the old customers and regular customers they have accumulated over the years.

Therefore, the family still prefers to wait for the shop to change hands before renting it from the new owner.

They were even mentally prepared for a rent increase, and as long as Xie Wanniang didn't ask for an exorbitant price, they planned to renew the lease for another year.

A year should be enough time for them to find a suitable shop to rent or buy in the area.

Of course, they would have to borrow some money from relatives and friends to buy it.

After all, times were tough in the past, and their business wasn't easy. Plus, their family had spent a lot of money on medical bills for their elderly relatives...

If they weren't so desperate to scrape together 180 taels of silver in such a short time, they would have gritted their teeth and bought the shop yesterday when the local gentry sent someone over.

Xie Wanniang was completely unaware of the family's hardships and helplessness, but from the overly cautious and respectful attitude of the shopkeeper and his eldest son, she could easily tell that the family still wanted to continue renting the shop.

Xie Wanniang had no objection to this. As long as the tenants took good care of the house and paid the rent on time, it didn't matter who she rented it to.

After wandering around the shop for a while, and even after getting permission from the shopkeeper's eldest son, Xie Wanniang peeked into the rooms where they were staying.

Well, the house is old and has been through turbulent times, so some damage is inevitable. Fortunately, the family cherishes the house quite a bit. They not only used similar materials that were barely noticeable when repairing it, but they also kept the house very clean.

They even planted vegetables in the yard, and there were two fruit trees, but Xie Wanniang wasn't sure if they were there originally or if they planted them later.

She guessed that it was probably already there.

After looking at the two shops in front and the two courtyards in the back, Xie Wanniang nodded to the broker, "It's 1,500 taels in total, right? I'll buy it."

The broker was overjoyed, "Then I'll take you to exchange for red contracts right now."

Xie Wanniang hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement. Well, they could have the meal another day, but Jiang Yuan could no longer keep an eye on the money.

He had to guard the money box all the time, which was very hard work for him.

The restaurant owner, who overheard their conversation, hesitated to speak.

Xie Wanniang glanced at him and said, "Thank you so much for your help today. The food at your restaurant is so delicious. If I don't have time tonight, I will definitely come back tomorrow to try your food."

The restaurant owner was overjoyed. "Come on in, come on in. I'll have my wife make you her specialty dish."

Xie Wanniang smiled and nodded slightly at her, "Then we'll take our leave now."

The restaurant owner nodded and told his son to take Xie Wanniang and the broker to the carriage.

The two boarded the carriage. Xie Wanniang handed over the 1,500 taels for the purchase of the estate and shops, as well as the broker's fee and the hard-earned money for the minor officials and servants in the yamen. Accompanied by Jiang Yuan, Xie Wanniang went to the yamen with the broker.

This time, the person guarding the large sum of money was the broker's son. The young man sat in the coachman's seat, keeping a close eye on everything around him, afraid that if he wasn't careful, the money would be stolen silently by a petty thief.

The young man, who felt like every second was an eternity, waited for about 15 minutes before his father finally came out of the yamen.

The father and son parted ways with Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang and went straight to the gentry's house without stopping—they didn't want to keep the money for a second longer!

Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan were much more relaxed now. They only had two red contracts, sixteen gold leaves, and a small amount of silver and copper coins left.

The two had already carefully hidden the gold leaves and the contract while they were in the yamen, so now they only needed to carry some loose silver and copper coins to their meal.

Instead of going to Xie Wanniang's newly purchased shop, they chose a nearby restaurant they had visited before.

After enjoying a large bowl of mutton offal soup, Xie Wanniang reached for a donkey meat sandwich and ate it with the free dumpling soup provided by the restaurant.

A bowl of mutton offal soup was placed in front of Jiang Yuan, but he mostly ate donkey meat sandwiches and the plate of dumplings on the table.

The dumplings were filled with cabbage and pork, and Xie Wan's mother specially requested them for Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was different from her; a donkey meat sandwich and a bowl of mutton offal soup were not enough to fill him up.