Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

"What the hell did you say?" Zhang Wen shouted at Fang Wengen.

Fang Wengen frowned. "Zhang Wen, are you out of your mind?! I told you Laifu is here to buy land today."

"Village head, I'm sorry, I just blurted it out in my haste." Zhang Wen immediately realized that he was so shocked that he actually cursed the village head. It was all Yuan Laifu's fault!

How could that old bastard Yuan Laifu possibly still have money to buy his land? He heard Zhou Yuchuan and the others talking in the courtyard clearly! Zhou Yuchuan said that it might cost seventy or eighty taels to save his father.

Yuan Laifu's family had just bought an oxcart. Even if the scholar's daughter had given several dozen taels as dowry, after deducting the cost of the oxcart and the money Yuan Laifu still owed, it was impossible for them to have enough money to save their son-in-law!

"I bet Yuan Laifu is just here to laugh at me. He doesn't have any money to buy land!" Zhang Wen thought angrily. "Yuan Laifu, isn't this a bit much? If you don't have money to buy land, what are you doing here pretending to be a big shot?"

Yuan Laifu was delighted. "What if I had money to buy land? Would you sell it to me for three taels per mu?"

Sun Qingyou could tell from his childhood friend's expression that he really had the money to buy land.

Zhang Wen was seething with anger. He had assumed Yuan Laifu was also selling land like him, but it turned out Yuan Laifu was just there to laugh at him and show off by wanting to buy his land! But Zhang Wen remained cautious. "Ha! If you can take all my land, I'll sell it to you for three taels of silver!"

He had forty mu of land, and he originally planned to sell twenty mu. At five taels of silver per mu for fertile land, he certainly wouldn't be able to sell it for that price now. But if he could sell one mu for four taels of silver, that would be eighty taels. After paying for his two sons' medical treatment and daily expenses, he would still have more than ten taels left for Qingshu's private school education.

Even with the price being lowered, one mu should still fetch three and a half taels of silver, so twenty mu would be seventy taels of silver! Although the remaining money isn't much, Qing Shu has already paid his tuition for today, which should be enough to last until next year.

Assuming he sells all twenty acres of land to Yuan Laifu, that would cost sixty taels of silver! Even if Yuan Laifu's entire family sold themselves, they still couldn't come up with that amount of money!

A flash of excitement crossed Yuan Laifu's eyes, and he said arrogantly, "Of course I can eat it!"

Sun Qingyou noticed the excitement in his childhood friend's eyes and understood. "Since you two are at odds, I'll be a witness today."

Zhang Wen also realized what was going on. "I need the money to save my son. If you want to buy it, Yuan Laifu, you have to pay in cash. I need this money urgently. What if you're just making things up and playing me for fools?! Words are no proof. Let's put it in writing. If you, Yuan Laifu, go back on your word, you'll have to pay me ten taels of silver."

Yuan Laifu's eyes narrowed. Zhang Wen, as if he had caught Yuan Laifu red-handed, excitedly said, "Of course, if I go back on my word, I'll pay you ten taels of silver! Yuan Laifu, I'm asking you, do you dare to bet?! Do you have the guts?"

Yuan Sheng said, "Father, let's not do it!"

Zhang Wen was annoyed. "They're not even fully grown yet. Kids shouldn't interrupt when adults are talking."

Uh……

Ok.

Yuan Laifu seemed to be provoked and lost his temper, "Of course I dare to gamble! I'm just afraid you'll regret it."

Zhang Wen arrogantly said, "I regret it. I wonder who will be crying later!"

"Since that's the case, Wengen, just write it down." Yuan Laifu was too lazy to waste words with Zhang Wen.

Fang Wengen scratched his head. This Zhang Wen was really making a fuss. Selling land, selling land, and he even made a big deal out of it, and he even made a bet! Let him make it. Anyway, he and Sun Qingyou were the witnesses, and it had nothing to do with them.

"How old are you two? Why are you making such a fuss? You're wasting my paper."

With a few quick strokes, Fang Wengen finished writing the bet agreement. Two witnesses were present: he signed it, and Sun Qingyou pressed his fingerprint on it.

“If you two are sure, then put your fingerprints on it. You can still back out now.” Fang Wengen shook his head.

Zhang Wen seemed to be bolstering his confidence, saying, "I'm not afraid anyway, I won't go back on my word, I'll just press it." As he spoke, he pressed his handprint.

"Oh, oh, oh, as if I'm scared." Yuan Laifu also pressed his handprint.

Zhang Wen thought Yuan Laifu would be afraid and would renege on the bet. The bet was already in writing and would be valid even in court. Why wasn't Yuan Laifu afraid at all?

He glanced at Yuan Sheng again, who also looked calm and composed.

Damn it, could this be a scam?

Zhang Wen originally planned to sell twenty mu of land, which would fetch sixty taels of silver. Did Yuan Laifu have sixty taels of silver? Or... did Yuan Laifu think he was only selling a few mu of land?

Since things had already come to this point, Zhang Wen could only close his eyes and charge forward. Damn it, "I'll sell thirty mu of land!" Thirty mu of land, at three taels per mu, that's ninety taels of silver, which Yuan Laifu definitely couldn't afford!

Yuan Laifu was taken aback. Had Zhang Wen lost his mind? His family owned a total of forty mu of land, and he was going to sell thirty mu directly?

Old Zhang's two sons are so capable, they should have saved a lot of money. He thought Zhang Wen only sold a few acres of land.

Then he thought, "No way! No way! Is Zhang Wen deliberately making things difficult for him? Does he think he can't afford the ninety taels?"

Ninety taels, which is only the income my son earned from selling braised meat for two days!

Seeing Yuan Laifu's surprised expression, Zhang Wen laughed heartily. With ten taels of silver in hand, he said, "Yuan Laifu, you're dumbfounded! You overdid it! Give me ten taels of silver!"

Yuan Laifu was speechless. He used to think Zhang Wen was a steady person, but why was he so impatient today? He even seemed a bit crazy. Yuan Laifu turned to Yuan Sheng and said calmly, "Son, get the money."

"Alright, Father." Yuan Sheng took out a one-hundred-tael silver note directly from his sleeve.

What?

Zhang Wen was stunned! How could Yuan Laifu possibly have so much money! This was a hundred taels of silver!

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

His own thirty acres of land? Sold them all at a low price?

A mu of good fertile land costs five taels of silver, yet he sold it for only three taels per mu?

Those fertile fields were made so rich by him and his sons repeatedly shoveling manure and applying fertilizer. Now all of it has gone to Yuan Laifu for profit.

No, the silver notes that Yuan Sheng, that scoundrel, produced are fake, absolutely fake. Yuan Sheng isn't a god of wealth; how could he just produce a hundred taels of silver notes whenever he wants?

Zhang Wen said angrily, "Yuan Sheng, Yuan Laifu! Do you know that counterfeiting banknotes is illegal?! You'd better kowtow to me and admit your mistakes right now, or I'll go to the yamen to report you and have you rot in jail!"

Fang Wengen frowned. Was it really a counterfeit banknote? He, as the village head, might be implicated. "Brother Laifu, bring me your banknote, let me take a look."

Faced with Zhang Wen's accusations, Yuan Laifu remained calm and composed. He figured the guy had probably suffered quite a blow, so he let him process it slowly. "Okay," Yuan Laifu said, handing the silver note to Fang Wengen.

Fang Wengen had seen banknotes before and knew how to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit ones. He carefully examined the seal and secret code, and confirmed that it was a genuine banknote.

Immediately, Sun Qingyou also took it to check. As the richest man in Shanhou Village, Sun Qingyou had seen the world.

"This is a genuine silver note."