Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

"Two thousand nine hundred taels of silver, and there are still five pieces left to sell." Mu Nan announced the amount of silver word by word, his voice quite loud, probably worried that his grandmother and mother wouldn't believe him.

Mu Xiao suddenly appeared out of nowhere and approached his older brother, asking incredulously, "Big brother, did you really sell it for so much silver?"

Mu Nan nodded. "Mm."

Wang Cuiying clutched her chest, "My goodness! Is He Shou Wu really that valuable?"

Mu Nan said, "Grandma, Mother, those He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) are older and larger, so they are more expensive."

Old Man Mu was calculating in his mind how much money it would cost to buy the mountains. He said, "Those two mountains are over 500 acres. If we buy them all, we won't have any money left."

Mu Nan nodded again, "Yes, we spent more than 300 taels of silver on buying cattle and other things. We still have more than 2,600 taels left. After buying those mountains, we didn't have any money left."

Zhou asked, "Is it necessary to buy so many mountains?"

Mu Nan answered definitively, "Yes, what we need is in those two mountains!"

Mr. Zhou said, "Then let's buy it! Anyway, that money is unexpected wealth."

Old Man Mu said, "If you're going to buy the front hill, then buy the area with the honeysuckle growing there too, since it's connected to the peach orchard anyway."

Wang Qing'er asked, "Father, are there still honeysuckle flowers on the front mountain?"

Mu Qin just came out of the kitchen and said, "Sister-in-law, there's a big patch of honeysuckle over there, and lots of other flowers too. It's so beautiful when they bloom!"

Zhou asked, "We were still in debt a while ago, and now you've suddenly come up with so much money to buy a mountain. What will people say when they ask?"

Mu Nan said, "Grandma, if anyone asks, just say that I went to Wulong Mountain a while ago, dug up some good things, sold them for some money, and bought those mountains to raise cattle."

Wang Cuiying asked, "Will this work?"

Old Man Mu said, "Why not? Anyway, they don't dare to go to Wulong Mountain, and no one has ever been there. Who knows what treasures are on that mountain?"

Mu Xiao chimed in, "That's right, ever since wild boars started appearing in the mountains that year, the villagers haven't dared to go to the mountains behind, let alone Wulong Mountain, the den of wild beasts."

Mu Nan then said, "Grandma, if my aunt's family wants to settle in the village, they need to own property and land. Aren't there several courtyards in the village? I'd like to buy one first so that my aunt's family can get their household registration sorted out!"

Old Man Mu chimed in, "I hadn't even thought of this until Mu Nan mentioned it. Mother, you should ask Little Sister if she'd like to settle down in the village."

Zhou said, "What right does she have to ask for anything? She's penniless and in that state, where can she go? If we buy the mountain, where will we get the money to buy a house or land for your aunt?"

Wang Qing'er quickly replied, "Yes, we can ask the village chief for a discount since we're buying so many mountains. The houses in the village shouldn't be too expensive either, and we can buy a smaller amount of farmland first."

Old Man Mu said, "Your grandfather bought those fifty acres of mountain behind the mountain for five taels per acre before. This time he bought more than five hundred acres at once. Let's see if we can get them for four taels."

Wang Cuiying dismissed it, "Four ounces? Would the village chief agree to that?"

Old Man Mu disagreed, saying, "Why would I disagree? Besides our family, who else in the village goes to these two mountains? Every year when they cut firewood, they complain that this side is too far and they cut it in the western mountain instead. Selling this mountain would be a great achievement for him; he'd be overjoyed."

"Then you should go ask Mu Nan now." Zhou was an impatient person, and once she decided to buy, she wanted to finalize it as soon as possible.

Old Man Mu agreed, "Alright, if it's four taels of silver per mu, let's finalize it as soon as possible."

"Dad, let's ask the village chief if he'll sell it for three taels per mu. We're buying several hundred mu at once, so let's set a low price first. If possible, we can save more money to buy more land." Wang Qing'er felt that since it concerned the village chief's performance, he should be able to get a lower price. There's always a bottom price for everything.

Everyone was speechless with astonishment; this was too ruthless!

"I'll take the silver notes with me. If they agree, we'll go to town today to get the land deed." Seeing that the discussion was almost complete, Mu Nan pulled Wang Qing'er back to the room to get the silver notes. It was better to settle things early so that he and his wife could have peace of mind. If his grandmother and parents changed their minds, he and his wife would have a hard time explaining it to them.

In the afternoon, Wang Qing'er went to pick peach blossoms as usual.

Old Man Mu and Mu Nan went to the village chief and told him they wanted to buy the two mountains. The village chief was a little surprised but didn't ask any questions.

But after hearing the price, he felt a little embarrassed. However, since the Mu family wanted to buy so much, after some haggling...

The final price was 10 taels of silver for three mu of land, totaling 700 mu of land and 2,330 taels of silver.

Originally, there were only 500 acres of mountains. Mu Nan remembered how Mu Qin's eyes lit up when she said that the mountain was full of flowers, so she bought the mountain that was covered with various flowers all year round.

In addition, Old Man Mu chose a small courtyard suitable for Mu Yan's family to live in, which only cost fifty taels.

In addition, I bought five mu of paddy fields and twelve mu of dry land, at fifteen taels per mu for paddy fields and ten taels per mu for dry land, for a total of one hundred and ninety-five taels of silver.

Seeing that they had bought so much, the village chief generously gave them ten acres of dry land to the left of the Mu family's courtyard.

Those ten acres of land were previously cultivated by a family, and the soil has been fertilized.

Later, the son of that family made a fortune in the county town, so he sold his house and land in the village and settled down in the county.

The family suddenly gained dozens of acres of land. Although five acres of paddy fields and five acres of dry land were registered under Mu Yan's name, they were still being cultivated by her family.

Half of the families in Aoshan Village were resettled there during the famine that year. After the disaster ended, many families couldn't get used to living there and moved back to their original places, so there is a lot of farmland in the village.

In the afternoon, Mu Nan took Wu Zihao and the village chief to the town to complete the house deeds, land deeds, and household registration for Mu Yan and her son.

The next morning, the town sent people to measure the mountain and draw a boundary line. The area enclosed would become the private property of the Mu family.

In the afternoon, the village chief delivered the land deeds for the mountain, which covered a full 700 acres, including the magnolia grove, peach orchard, and honeysuckle grove on the front mountain.

The back mountain includes the area with the Polygonum multiflorum, the area where wild boars roam, and the area with the Soapberry tree. In short, Mu Nan has enclosed all the things she wants within its boundaries.

That evening, after washing up, Wang Qing'er sat on the bed looking at the land deeds. The stack of silver notes was gone, and only a little over a hundred taels of silver remained.

I originally thought 2,900 taels of silver was a lot, but I didn't expect it to be so short-lived.

She sat there blankly for a long time, unsure whether her decision to buy the mountain was right or wrong.

So much money has already been invested in the scented soap before it even goes on sale. Will all that money be lost forever?

When Mu Nan returned to the room after washing up, he saw his wife sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the land deed.

"What's wrong? Are you so happy you've gone crazy?" Mu Nan sat down next to her and reached out to pat her head.

Wang Qing'er rolled her eyes at him. Where did he get the idea that she was happy?