Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

"Excuse me, sir?" Tan Yong asked politely, even though he didn't know Wang Dong.

You can tell from the clothes Wang Dong is wearing and the bicycle he's riding that he's not an ordinary countryman.

It's worth noting that out of more than a hundred households in the entire Tanjiazhuang village, only five or six owned bicycles. As for the Zhongshan suit that Wang Dong was wearing, it was something you only saw on town officials; even their village secretary had never worn one.

"Hello, old comrade..." Wang Dong said with a smile, explaining his purpose.

“I am an investor from Beijing. I want to rent land in Huai County to grow greenhouse vegetables. I heard that your family has a total of 14 mu of land in the village, so I came to ask if you have any ideas about renting the land to us.”

As soon as Wang Dong spoke, Tan Yong refused without hesitation: "My family doesn't rent land..."

"Our entire family of seven depends on the harvest from these dozen or so acres of land to make a living. If we rent the land to you, how will we survive?"

"Comrade, you should look elsewhere... My land is reserved for growing crops, I can't possibly rent it to you..."

Wang Dong was not angry at Tan Yong's refusal, nor did he give up on persuading him. He continued, "Old comrade..."

"you misunderstood……"

"I'm not renting your land for free; I'm paying you rent..."

“I had already calculated at home that renting out the land to us would not only prevent us from losing money, but we could also earn an extra two or three hundred yuan a year. The more land we rent to us, the more money we would earn.”

Tan Yong had no intention of renting out his land, but after listening to Wang Dong's introduction, he suddenly became interested.

He was desperately short of money.

The second and third children need to go to school, and the eldest child needs to get married... all of which require a lot of money.

Just as the second son analyzed in the fields today, if there are no other ways to make money, relying on the family's ten-odd acres of land, it will take the eldest son at least eight or nine years to get married.

If renting out his dozen or so acres of land to the young man in front of him could really bring in a higher income, Tan Yong, who had no other way to make money, would definitely choose to give it a try.

Staring wide-eyed in disbelief, he asked Wang Dong, "Comrade..."

"You didn't comfort me..."

"If we rent our land to you, our family can really increase our income."

Wang Dong readily replied, "Old comrade...would a big boss like me, who came all the way from Beijing, lie to you..."

"If you don't believe me, I can explain to you in detail why renting out your land to me can earn you more money..."

"I wonder if you could invite me in for a drink of water, sir? I'd like to have a good talk with you about this matter..."

“Old comrade, you can call your family members over and listen to what I have to say about this. Many hands make light work. Let the family members discuss this together and see if renting the land to me can really increase your income.”

“I heard from others that your second son got into high school. He’s one of the few high school students in the village, so he should be considered an educated person.”

“Let him come and listen, and let him do the math for you, to see how to make the most money by tending to your ten-odd acres of land.”

Old Man Tan Yong, fearing he would miss this lucrative opportunity, immediately called out to Wang Dong, "Comrade... come in quickly..."

After saying that, he called out to his wife, who was preparing to cook inside the house, "Honey, wife..."

"Quickly take out one of the cups we used to serve guests during the New Year, wash it clean, and boil water to make a cup of tea for the guest..."

"Give us a few more handfuls of peanuts from home..." "Eldest brother, second brother..."

"Come over here and listen..."

“If renting land can really make more money, you won’t have to worry about money for your studies and weddings.”

Both of them overheard their father's conversation with Wang Dong at the gate of the yard. They were more eager for the family to increase their income than Tan Yong, since all the family's money was spent on them.

Upon hearing their father's call, they all moved faster than the next, quickly carrying chairs from the main room to the courtyard and inviting Wang Dong to sit down.

The second son's reaction was even more exaggerated. He moved the table from the main room to the yard, took out his notebook and pen, and walked seriously beside them, looking like he was helping his father and older brother with their accounts.

After Wang Dong sat down, Tan Yong anxiously asked, "Comrade..."

"What exactly do you mean by 'renting land'?"

Without wasting words, Wang Dong replied directly, "After the autumn harvest, rent your land to me for at least five years."

"Whatever I plant on those lands within the next five years has nothing to do with you."

"Five years from now, if you still want to rent to me, you can continue to rent; if you don't want to rent anymore, you can take it back at any time."

"During this period, I will pay you forty yuan per mu of land per year in rent..."

"Ten acres of land can yield four hundred yuan in rent per year."

Tan Yong works tirelessly on his family's dozen or so acres of land every day, and no one knows better than him how much income those acres bring to his family. Upon hearing this, he frowned and replied with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Forty yuan is too little..."

“If we farm our own land, we can sell the grain we harvest from one acre for at least fifty yuan.”

"Moreover, if we rent the land to you, we won't have any grain to pay the grain tax. We'll have to take 20 yuan out of the 40 yuan rent per mu to buy grain to pay the grain tax, and we'll also have to spend money to buy grain for our own food. No matter how you look at it, we're losing money."

At this point, Tan Yong directly asked Wang Dong, "Comrade..."

"According to your logic, renting out our land to you didn't increase our income; in fact, we lost more than ten yuan per acre, which adds up to more than a hundred yuan less for ten acres?"

The eldest and second eldest sons, who were listening in, also looked puzzled. They couldn't understand how renting the land to Wang Dong would increase their income.

Wang Dong smiled and replied, "Old comrade...don't be in such a hurry."

"Besides the rent, you have other income from leasing the land to me..."

"I've rented so much land from you, I certainly won't let it just lie there overgrown with weeds. I'll definitely use it to grow crops and vegetables..."

"Whether it's growing grains or vegetables, we need manpower..."

"As long as you rent me more than five mu of land, my family can arrange for someone to work in my greenhouse... One yuan a day, lunch included..."

"Although I can't guarantee that I'll have work every day, I can definitely work 200 days a year."

"If you rent me ten acres of land, I can give you two job openings..."

"You can work here and get paid, and you can also take care of your family. It's much more worthwhile than earning 30 or 40 yuan a month outside."

"If one person works 200 days a year, that's 200 yuan in wages. If two people work, they can earn 400 yuan. After deducting the 100-plus yuan loss from rent, they can still make over 200 yuan in profit. Isn't that increasing income?" (End of Chapter)