After a moment, under the watchful and stern gaze of his son Yao Kaiyin, Yao Xinggui approached Wu Hao. He opened his mouth, looked in Yao Kaiyin’s direction, and then sighed with a mix of fear and resignation, saying, “My son will handle the compensation.”

Hearing this, Yao Kaiyin immediately smiled smugly and said to Wu Hao, “Did you hear that? My old man said it himself. I’m in charge of the house and land matters. Now we can talk about the price!” While saying this, Yao Kaiyin was constantly thinking to himself, “Since this kid is so rich now, it would be a waste not to demand more compensation.”

After pondering for a moment, a number flashed in Yao Kaiyin’s mind, and a greedy look appeared in his eyes.

Sitting in front, Wu Hao easily guessed some of Yao Kaiyin’s thoughts from his expression. However, he did not get angry, as he wanted to see just how greedy this man could be.

“Go ahead, name your price.”

“Ten million!” Yao Kaiyin said, staring intently at Wu Hao. The surrounding villagers, upon hearing that he had doubled the previous price, were secretly cursing and contemplating whether they should also demand ten million in compensation.

“Haha! Ten million! That’s not much! I thought you’d ask for a hundred million! It seems your appetite isn’t that big after all!” Wu Hao laughed upon hearing Yao Kaiyin’s demand.

Hearing Wu Hao mention a hundred million, the surrounding people were visibly astonished, and even Yao Kaiyin secretly swallowed, wondering if he had asked for too little.

“No way, this kid is messing with me! Damn, there’s no way he’d actually give a hundred million!” Realizing this, Yao Kaiyin looked fiercely at Wu Hao and said, “Wu Hao, don’t play games with me. Ten million, not a cent less, or you won’t touch my house or land.”

However, Wu Hao’s smile only grew wider, “In that case, you can keep your land and house.” After addressing Yao Kaiyin, Wu Hao turned to the other villagers present and said, “If any of you think your land and house are worth ten million, you can keep living there too!”

The other villagers quickly came to their senses, feeling relieved. “Five million in compensation is already much more than before. Ten million, how could that Yao family fool say that out loud? Such an outrageous price, does he take us for fools?”

With this thought, the villagers reached a consensus. “We’re very satisfied with five million.”

Yao Kaiyin glared at them but said nothing further, knowing that the five million compensation was enough to satisfy them.

Initially, he also demanded this amount, but when Wu Hao agreed to their compensation request without hesitation, and considering that Wu Hao could invest 3 billion to build the village resort, he couldn’t resist asking for more.

Now, seeing Wu Hao and the other villagers’ reactions, he snapped back to reality. Previously, he had the confidence to cause trouble at Wu Hao’s house mainly because of the support of several other villagers. Alone, he wouldn’t dare to be so forceful.

“Fine, you win! Five million it is. Hurry up and give me the money!” Yao Kaiyin glared at Wu Hao, knowing that with no other villagers supporting him, and seeing Wu Hao’s determination, he had to settle. However, he already planned to find another way to extort more from Wu Hao later.

Wu Hao’s expression remained unchanged as he instructed Wu Sancai, “Uncle Sancai, please register their details first. I’ll notify the lawyer to sign the contracts with everyone later.”

“Got it!” Wu Sancai nodded, then called out to the villagers, “Everyone, come over and register. Give me your bank account details.”

The villagers quickly lined up to register and report their bank accounts. They knew that such a large sum of 5 million couldn’t be paid in cash directly.

Even if Wu Hao did pay in cash, they would be anxious about safeguarding it afterward.

After instructing Wu Sancai, Wu Hao glanced at the other villagers in the crowd. Besides those yet to receive compensation, many who had already been compensated came to watch.

Seeing Wu Hao offering 5 million to the later recipients, these villagers felt somewhat uneasy but held back due to various reasons. However, Wu Hao could guess their discontent with just a glance.

For those who had already received compensation, Wu Hao couldn’t retroactively give them the same amount as the later recipients. However, he planned to compensate them in other ways, such as investing in new village projects and providing shares to all villagers.

While he wouldn’t compensate them directly with cash now, there would certainly be many benefits in the future.

After the households finished registering, Wu Sancai told them to go home and wait for the notification. They would sign the contracts the next day, after which their compensation would be paid.

Once everyone left, Wu Hao privately asked Wu Sancai, “Uncle Sancai, what do you think about Yao Xinggui’s situation?”

Wu Sancai understood Wu Hao’s question immediately and after a moment’s thought, replied, “Although Yao Xinggui isn’t well-liked in the village and his son is a troublemaker, giving him the 5 million compensation directly might only be temporary. His son will probably squander it quickly.”

Wu Sancai sighed, “Though there’s a saying that pitiful people often have something detestable about them, and Yao Xinggui’s temper and poor relations in the village make him hard to sympathize with. But as village head, I can’t help but feel sorry for what he’ll face next because of his son’s behavior.”