“Hahaha… Nothing can be hidden from Uncle Lizheng!”

“You’re right about that! Since spring has passed, quite a few people have been selling land lately. Are you looking for high-quality farmland or medium-quality farmland?” Zhang Wenyuan asked eagerly.

“Is that true, Uncle Lizheng?” Zhang Zixuan asked excitedly.

He had heard Jianxiu mention this before, but he hadn’t put much hope in it. He never expected it to actually be true.

“Would I lie to you, kid? How much are you planning to buy?” Zhang Wenyuan asked again.

After saying this, he glanced at Zhang Zixuan before continuing:

“If you want to buy, you’d better act quickly. High-quality farmland is always in demand, even after spring—it’s highly sought after.”

In Zhang Wenyuan’s opinion, if you’re buying land, you should go for the best.

“Uncle Lizheng, to be honest, I’m not buying high-quality farmland.”

“Huh? Hiss… Is that so? Well, if you’re going for medium-quality farmland, that’s fine too. You can take your time choosing.”

“I’m… I’m not buying medium-quality farmland either.”

“Wh… what? What did you just say?” Zhang Wenyuan asked in disbelief.

Normally, if a family worked the land themselves, they would choose high-quality farmland.

Only high-quality land could be used to grow rice and wheat—two staple crops that people relied on for food throughout the year.

Some decent medium-quality land could also be used for these crops, but since it was less fertile, the yields were poor.

As a result, very few people bought medium-quality land for farming.

As for low-quality farmland, it was even worse—infertile and prone to drought, often just sandy soil.

Hardly anyone would buy such land.

Zhang Zixuan understood what Zhang Wenyuan was thinking, but he remembered what Jianxiu had told him.

So, he braced himself and said, “Uncle Lizheng, you heard me right. We’re buying low-quality land.”

“Zixuan, you’ve worked the fields before, so you know that low-quality land can’t grow much. If you don’t have enough silver, I could…”

“Uncle Lizheng, no, no, no! Jianxiu said she has a use for it. She just asked me to check with you first. As for the silver, don’t worry—we’ve already prepared it.”

Before Zhang Wenyuan could finish, Zhang Zixuan interrupted him.

It was clear how different people could be.

Old Madam Liu constantly called him her son, but all she truly cared about was the wild boar meat in his hands.

She never showed him any real concern—only ever trying to squeeze more out of him.

Yet, Zhang Wenyuan, who had no blood relation to him, immediately offered to lend him silver to buy land.

At that moment, Zhang Zixuan felt relieved that he hadn’t held back with Old Madam Liu earlier.

Even more so, he felt grateful that they had managed to escape that toxic situation.

“Hiss… Are you sure you want to buy it?” Zhang Wenyuan asked again.

“Yes. Are there any large plots available?”

“A large plot? How much are you thinking of buying?”

Zhang Wenyuan’s excitement was evident in his voice.

Most people bought just three to five acres, spending a few taels of silver. If the land wasn’t great, they could still grow some beans.

But what did he just hear?

Buying a large plot?

Thinking about this, Zhang Wenyuan hurriedly asked, “Zixuan, do you realize what you’re saying?”

“I do, Uncle Lizheng. Don’t worry—we have a purpose for the land!” Zhang Zixuan smiled.

“There is a large plot, but the seller insists on selling it all together. If you only want ten or twenty acres, they won’t sell.”

“How many acres in total?”

“More than a hundred acres. It’s the land owned by Landlord Fang—you remember, you worked there before.”

“You mean Landlord Fang’s land?”

“Yes, that’s the one!”

“Is he selling all of it?” Zhang Zixuan asked again.

“Yes, he put it up for sale a while ago. But the land is too poor, so no one has asked about it until now.”

“I see. How much per acre?” Zhang Zixuan asked.

“Since he’s selling it as a whole, the total area is ninety-one acres. If you buy it all at once, it’s just one and a half taels per acre. If you buy half, it’s one tael and eight coins per acre. He won’t split it further—you either take half or buy the entire plot.”

“That cheap?” Zhang Zixuan asked in disbelief.

He had expected at least two taels per acre.

“It is quite cheap, but even so, no one has shown interest. If you’re sure about buying, I can take you to see it tomorrow!”

“Alright, let’s go tomorrow and have a look!” Zhang Zixuan said with a smile.

Then, Zhang Wenyuan explained the actual conditions in detail.

The pros and cons—everything was laid out clearly.

Before leaving, Huang Yulan even packed a large bundle of glutinous rice cakes for Zhang Zixuan.

Even though he kept refusing, she still shoved them into his hands.

“Aunt Huang, then I won’t be polite!”

“Silly child, there’s no need to be polite with me! Come visit whenever you have time!”

“Okay, thank you, Auntie!” Zhang Zixuan said with a grin.

Even as he walked to the edge of the village, he couldn’t stop smiling.

“Well? Everything settled?” Jianxiu asked with a smile.

Seeing his expression, she could already guess that things had gone mostly as planned.

“Yes, we found a plot. Let’s go check it out tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow? That works.”

She had originally planned to make soy sauce at home the next day.

But thinking about it, the soybeans were already steamed today. If the weather was good tomorrow, she could just leave them out to dry.

The next day.

Before dawn, the two of them were already up.

Lately, Zhang Zifu had been driving the cart to take the children to school.

By the time Jian Xiu and Wang Xiuying finished laying out the soybeans to dry, Zhang Zifu had returned.

Actually, the land wasn’t far. By cart, it was just a fifteen-minute journey.

This time, Zhang Zixuan was the one driving.

“You said the land is at the foot of the mountain?” Jianxiu asked.

“Yes, I used to work there.”

“Is the soil damp?”

“A bit, but it’s mostly sandy.”

“I see…”

“We’re here. Uncle Lizheng, over here!” Sitting at the front, Zhang Zixuan waved when he saw Zhang Wenyuan.

Seeing the cart, Zhang Wenyuan wasn’t surprised.

In such a small village, the fact that the Zhang family owned a cart had already spread like wildfire the day they got it.

“Uncle Lizheng, we discussed it last night. We’ll take the whole plot. Can the price go any lower?”

As soon as Zhang Wenyuan got on the cart, Jian Xiu asked him directly.