Chapter 186: Chapter 182: I’m Not Selling Anymore

“That’s good. At least Xie Tian won’t think you were hopelessly hung up on her.” Li Xiangyang looked at him. “Look at you, all lovestruck. Fess up, who was the woman you went on a blind date with?”

“Get lost!” Yang Dingbang retorted with a laugh. “You’re the one who’s all lovestruck!”

Li Xiangyang pointed at him. “Keep pretending. I’m a million percent sure something’s going on. Let’s see how long you can keep it a secret.”

“You’re right, I can’t hide anything from your sharp eyes!” Yang Dingbang said with a smile, grabbing his crutch and heading for the door. “I’ll tell you outside!”

Li Xiangyang nodded and went to get his bicycle.

Once settled on the back of the bike, Yang Dingbang told him that his blind date had been with Yang Xiaoman.

It dawned on Li Xiangyang. “Oh, so it was her!”

The two chatted and laughed all the way to Lin Lan’s home. Li Xiangyang brought the mutton inside and gave it to her, saying he had something to talk to her about when he got back, and then rode off with Yang Dingbang.

Lin Lan carried the mutton into the house and said to Wu Shufen, “Mom, Xiangyang brought over a leg of mutton. We can make mutton stew for lunch.”

Wu Shufen took the meat. “I heard from one of the relatives that Xiangyang’s father is home alone. After we stew it, we should send some over to him.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Okay! I’ll go cut some ramie leaves to feed the piglets.”

Wu Shufen quickly added, “Little Lan, it’s getting cold. You should loosen the soil around the ramie plants and add some fertilizer. That way, there will still be leaves to pick in the winter.”

“Oh! No wonder there have been fewer and fewer ramie leaves lately. I’ll go loosen the soil and add fertilizer right now.”

Lin Lan grabbed a hoe and a basket. She loosened the soil around the base of the ramie plants, sprinkled a circle of natural fertilizer, and then covered it back up with soil.

She used a sickle to cut a basketful of ramie leaves, which she then carried to the pigpen and poured into the trough for the piglets.

With four more piglets, their feed consumption had increased significantly. Thankfully, she had bean dregs from Yang Liying, as well as pea pods and pumpkin peels, to cook into the slop. Otherwise, just finding enough food for these pigs would have been a major problem.

She did a quick calculation. The Lunar New Year was just over fifty days away. Once the New Year’s Day holiday passed, she would sell one of the two fat pigs and slaughter the other. That would help reduce the amount of feed they were going through.

The thought of New Year’s Day being just a few days away reminded her of what Yang Meihua had said during a delivery. Right after the holiday, a work group would be coming to the production team to oversee the implementation of the household responsibility system.

The production teams near the provincial capital were serving as a pilot program for the new household-based contract responsibility system. If it proved effective, the system would then be expanded to every district and county.

According to the regulations, with the dissolution of the production team, all its accounts had to be settled. Team members would have to pay back any debts they owed before they could use the brigade’s oxen, threshing machines, plows, harrows, or waterwheels.

Lately, more and more team members had been gathering at the brigade’s sunning ground to discuss the new household responsibility system.

The crowd was a mix of excitement and anxiety. They were excited about the prospect of working for themselves, but anxious because they had no money. How were they supposed to repay their debts to the team?

As Lin Lan came out of the pigpen, she saw Zhao Dehai hurrying into the courtyard. “Third Brother-in-law, what’s wrong?”

Zhao Dehai’s face was a mask of fury. “Old Miao, the man who sold us the shop, showed up. He wants to pay extra to buy the property back.”

“Pay extra to buy it back?” Lin Lan frowned. “What’s going on? Tell me everything from the beginning.”

“I was working in the southern district…”

As it turned out, Zhao Dehai had gone to the shop in the southern district early that morning with carpenters and masons to start renovations. He, Woodworker Li, and Carpenter Chang were at the entrance dismantling the door panels when he heard someone call his name. He turned and saw it was Old Miao.

The moment Old Miao saw him, he said, “Brother Zhao, I need to discuss something with you.”

Zhao Dehai’s heart sank. He feigned confusion and looked at him. “Brother Miao, what is there to discuss?”

Old Miao pulled him aside, a look of urgency on his face. “Boss Zhao, I’ve changed my mind! I don’t want to sell anymore. I’ll give you back the money you paid, plus an extra two hundred yuan. Just give me the property back. I’ll even cover the transfer fees!”

He had returned yesterday afternoon and heard the news that private businesses were going to be permitted. His storefronts were in the best location in the southern district. ’If I just spend a little to fix them up,’ he thought, ’I could rent them out and earn back what I sold them for in less than two years.’

Zhao Dehai frowned at him. “There’s no such thing as taking back something you’ve already sold.” He gestured toward the craftsmen at work. “Take a look. Do you remember the state it was in when you sold it to us?”

“You claimed only the roof tiles were bad. It wasn’t until we bought it and had workers go up there that we discovered most of the purlins and rafters were rotted through. The roof in the backyard is just as bad, and some of the walls and pillars have been eaten by termites. By the time we’re done, the money we’re spending on repairs will make this place more expensive than buying a house that was in good shape to begin with.”

Old Miao looked up. The roof had been completely re-tiled, and two workers were busy repairing the door panels.

Seeing the house being brought back to life, he was overwhelmed with regret. ’If only I’d put a little effort into maintenance instead of just trying to get rid of it!’

Thinking about the market that was about to open, he gritted his teeth. “Just calculate what you’ve spent on materials and labor. I’ll reimburse you double.”

Zhao Dehai stared at Old Miao. “You wouldn’t be here without a reason. You must’ve heard something. We’ve put so much effort into getting this place fixed up, and we have no intention of selling.”

Old Miao’s eyes darted around. “I’ll buy it back at a higher price, how about it?” he said through clenched teeth.

Zhao Dehai shook his head repeatedly. “Impossible. We need it.” ’The grand market is opening soon,’ he thought. ’I’m counting on this place to open my tofu shop!’

Old Miao pointed a trembling, furious finger at Zhao Dehai. “You tricked me into selling you this house! I’m going to report you!”

Zhao Dehai looked at him with disdain. “You’re a grown man. Aren’t you afraid your tongue will rot off for spouting such lies? If I’d known what kind of person you are, I wouldn’t have taken this house off your hands for free, let alone buy it.”

“You just wait!” Seeing that neither threats nor persuasion would work, Old Miao spat out the words and stormed off.

After Old Miao stormed away, Zhao Dehai turned to one of the craftsmen. “Brother Li, I need to head back for a minute.”

The other craftsman looked at him with envy. “Dehai, I heard him say you actually bought this place? You must be making good money selling tofu!”

“Master Chang, you have no idea. My wife and I work from dawn till dusk just to scrape by, and we’ve sunk every penny we have into this place. And as you can see, it’s already nothing but trouble.” Seeing the envious looks from Woodworker Li and Carpenter Chang, Zhao Dehai gave a bitter smile and a respectful nod. “I’ll be back.”

Zhao Dehai recounted the whole story with vivid detail, his face etched with worry. “He said he’s going to report us. What should we do?”

Seeing his brow deeply furrowed, Lin Lan smiled. “Third Brother-in-law, you don’t need to worry. We bought the property fair and square and have the deed from the Housing Management Office to prove it. Even if he comes knocking, a sale only happens if we agree to it. He can’t force us if we refuse!”

’The price of the shop, plus the cost of all these repairs, isn’t actually cheap at all,’ she mused. ’It’s just that everyone got excited when they heard about the new market and forgot about that.’

Zhao Dehai nodded, but he recalled Old Miao’s parting threat and was still worried. “Do you think he’ll try to pull some dirty tricks on us?”

Lin Lan reassured him, “Don’t worry. We live in a society with laws now. If he dares to try anything, he’ll be the one going to jail!”

Zhao Dehai suddenly remembered they weren’t without connections. “That’s right! Ding Bang is with the Public Security Bureau. We don’t have to be afraid of him making trouble.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep