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“Do you two know each other?” Su Yu asked Wang Jinhe while looking down.
Wang Jinhe nodded and replied, “We must have known each other since we both used to live in the village.”
Su Yu looked somewhat helpless, as this girl obviously knew what he wanted to ask.
“Wang Jinhe, I… I’d like to talk to you privately,” Xie Wanwan said. Ever since her parents arranged her marriage, she had been doing a lot of thinking and had set aside her emotions to examine the Wu family from an outsider’s perspective. After gaining a better understanding, Xie Wanwan felt some regret.
If her parents hadn’t insisted on her marrying Wu Xinlin, she would have been in deep trouble now.
After coming to terms with her feelings, Xie Wanwan focused on preparing her dowry, but during this time, she felt the most remorseful toward Wang Jinhe, as she had almost caused her a lot of trouble.
Now that she had seen Wang Jinhe, Xie Wanwan was both scared and unsure about facing her.
“Discuss it here?” Wang Jinhe looked at her nervous demeanor and could easily deduce what she wanted to say.
“Let’s… let’s go to my room,” Xie Wanwan suggested.
Following Xie Wanwan to her room, once inside, Xie Wanwan remained silent, leaving Wang Jinhe feeling exasperated. “What do you want to say? If you don’t speak up, I’ll leave.”
“Just wait a moment,” Xie Wanwan quickly stopped Wang Jinhe and appeared anxious and flustered.
“I…”
Seeing Wang Jinhe’s amused expression, Xie Wanwan bit her lip and said, “I’m sorry.”
“What did you say?” Wang Jinhe pretended she hadn’t heard anything and asked, looking at Xie Wanwan.
“I’m really sorry for pushing you into the river before. I… I don’t know how to make it up to you, but I’ll do anything you ask of me.” Xie Wanwan looked at Wang Jinhe, her tone sincere.
Seeing her like this, Wang Jinhe smiled and said, “I accept your apology. Is there anything else you want to say?”
Xie Wanwan wanted to say more, but she couldn’t find the words when she looked into Wang Jinhe’s eyes.
“No more,” Xie Wanwan shook her head.
“I’ll leave for now.”
She accepted Xie Wanwan’s apology, but she couldn’t forgive her because she didn’t have the right to forgive Xie Wanwan on behalf of the original owner of the body who had met a tragic end.
Xie Wanwan watched Wang Jinhe’s departing figure, her eyes filled with clear regret.
Outside, Su Yu waited, and when he saw Wang Jinhe come out, he hurried over. “What did she say to you?”
“Nothing, it’s all in the past now.”
Seeing that Wang Jinhe didn’t want to discuss it, Su Yu decided not to press further. He reluctantly nodded and said, “Since you say it’s fine, I won’t ask any more.”
They waited at the village chief’s house for a while until Xie Kui returned.
When he got home and saw the two of them sitting in the yard, he quickly approached and asked, “Why are you here? Is there something wrong?”
“Village Chief, I want to establish a distillery, and I’d like to purchase some land in Hululu Village. Furthermore, once my distillery is up and running, I would like the people of Hululu Village to come and help. Is that acceptable to you?” Wang Jinhe asked the village chief.
“Of course, how could that be unacceptable?” Xie Kui replied happily.
“You already have this intention, and we are very grateful,” Xie Kui said gratefully.
Wang Jinhe looked at Xie Kui and it seemed that he had a good relationship with Hululu Village.
Xie Kui sighed, “On behalf of the people of Hululu Village, thanks to you. They grow fruits in the village, but the fruit isn’t very profitable, and the annual harvest isn’t substantial. If your distillery can help them make money, that would be the best.”
Su Yu and Wang Jinhe exchanged a glance. “They also have fruits?”
“Yes, they do.”
“In that case, we should go and take a look. If the fruits are good, we might consider buying them,” Su Yu said to Xie Kui.
Xie Kui was thrilled, “Really?”
“Indeed, and it just so happens we need a batch of fruits. However, they must be of high quality; we won’t take any subpar ones,” Wang Jinhe immediately understood Su Yu’s intention.
Xie Kui cheerfully replied, “You can rest assured. The fruits here are definitely top-notch, and the people in their village are well-suited for fruit cultivation.”
“Alright, let’s go take a look together.”
Xie Kui led the two to Hululu Village, and it took them nearly half an hour to reach the destination. “We’re here, just up ahead.”
As soon as they entered Hululu Village, Wang Jinhe couldn’t help but feel that it was incredibly impoverished. Hululu Village was genuinely very poor.
“Is Hu Lin at home now?” When they arrived at the village chief’s house, Xie Kui called out.
Soon, a person who appeared to be about the same age as Xie Kui came out of the house.
“Xie Kui, what brings you here today? Is there something you need?” Hu Lin walked over to Xie Kui and inquired.
Xie Kui didn’t just come by himself today; he had also brought two young people with him. Hu Lin was curious about their purpose.
“I’m here because I have something to discuss with you. It’s about the young lady here, she wishes to continue purchasing land in your village, specifically the area she acquired last year. She’d like to acquire the adjacent land as well,” Xie Kui began with the land purchase.
“That’s no problem. The price is three to two silver coins per mu of land. How much do you wish to purchase?” Hu Lin looked at Su Yu and Wang Jinhe, asking for their desired quantity.
“We’ll buy as much empty land as there is near our house,” Su Yu said with confidence.
This time, Wang Jinhe, unusually, didn’t argue with Su Yu but agreed by nodding. “Yes, we’ll buy as much as there is.”
“There’s roughly thirty mu of land remaining, but are you sure you want it? You can’t cultivate grains on it, so you might incur losses,” Hu Lin commented, wanting to advise them.
“We’re not planning to use it for grains,” Wang Jinhe explained.
Upon hearing that they didn’t intend to use it for grains, Hu Lin felt more at ease. “If it’s not for grains, that’s fine, I can sell it to you.”
Su Yu handed a hundred taels of silver to Hu Lin and said, “The rest is for the village chief to buy some liquor.”
Hu Lin was taken aback. “This is too much.”
“You’ll need to grease some palms at the county yamen, so what’s left isn’t much,” Su Yu replied.
After handing over ten taels of silver for the county yamen, they would probably be left with only half. This amount wasn’t substantial.
“Take it; this kid is no stranger to money. You can help him spend some so he won’t have money with nowhere to spend it,” Xie Kui said, thinking about the dowry Su Yu had given. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the frustrating young man.
This brat was truly exasperating.
Su Yu shrugged, indicating it had nothing to do with him.
“He’s saying that just to protect his wife from being wronged.”
“Who talks like you do?” Hu Lin chuckled, amused by Xie Kui. Even if someone had money, it was their business. What did it have to do with them?
Xie Kui stopped joking and asked, “How are the fruits in the village this year?”
“The fruits are doing well this year, but no one wants them,” Hu Lin replied.