The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 204: Buying Land to Be Neighbors

"Owner, this is the result of the discussion between Old He and me," Mrs. Hong said with a smile.

She had never lived in the countryside before.

Curious about country life, she fell in love with the green grass, blue sky, and clear river when she arrived at Qinghe Bay.

Settling down in Qinghe Bay wouldn’t be a bad idea in the future.

He Chao and Mrs. Hong exchanged smiles and said, "The air in the countryside is good, the space is large, and it’s beneficial for my wife’s health."

Indeed it was.

"So this time, my wife and I came here to ask you to help us buy a house in Qinghe Bay," He Chao said.

The intense affection in He Chao and Mrs. Hong’s eyes was a blow to two single people.

Tong Huaqiong’s mouth twitched.

Boss Qian wiped the sweat off his forehead; he felt his face heat up again.

Tong Huaqiong said, "It’s not difficult to buy a house in the countryside. In our village, you can buy a plot of land to build new or purchase an existing courtyard for sale. I’ll ask the village chief to help connect you."

Tong Huaqiong appreciated He Chao’s decision to buy a house in the countryside.

For the people on our land, no matter the era, much of our sense of security comes from having a fixed residence.

He Chao used to not have a house, living in a crowded courtyard after leaving the Zheng Family, enduring the petty annoyances of daily life. In such distressing times, she would certainly want to buy a stable home as soon as she was able to stand on her own feet.

What’s different about this era compared to Tong Huaqiong’s previous life is that having land in the countryside provides more security than in a city, especially during years of disaster and war, having land gives a chance for survival.

Tong Huaqiong asked He Chao again, "It’s a good idea to buy land. I wanted to persuade you to buy land earlier, but I want to ask, who will farm the land you buy?"

He Chao manages a shop in town and might be sent by her to explore markets elsewhere, not to mention usual times; even during busy farming season, returning to Qinghe Bay to farm might not be possible.

As for Mrs. Hong, she didn’t even need to ask.

Although Mrs. Hong’s health has improved, she looks like a frail beauty, unlikely to do farm work. Moreover, He Chao, being so caring to his wife, would not let Mrs. Hong do any work.

He Chao said, "That’s not a problem. I plan to rent out the land I buy."

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "As long as the land is good, it will be easy to rent it out."

Renting out the land is indeed a viable solution.

The key is that now, it’s not easy to buy land in Qinghe Bay.

Good farmland is not easy to come by these days, like the rare chance Tong Huaqiong got with those fifty acres at the West Mountain Foot.

If He Chao wants to buy land, he can only take his time looking in Qinghe Bay or the surrounding villages.

But that’s not a problem.

He Chao understood this situation and took the initiative to say, "There’s no rush about the land; after all, we’ll be living in Qinghe Bay in the future, so we can slowly look around the area." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Mrs. Hong also agreed with He Chao’s idea.

Now that she’s in the countryside, she feels an indescribable sense of relaxation.

Previously, she spent half of each year bedridden, always feeling guilty towards He Chao, believing she was a burden to him.

Now that her health is improving, her spirits are lifted. If she lives in the countryside, she wants to learn to manage the household and the crops, allowing He Chao to focus on opening a shop for Tong Huaqiong without distractions.

Tong Huaqiong said, "In our village, the village chief knows exactly where plots or courtyards are available for sale. He’ll be coming over this evening, so why not take advantage of the opportunity and invite him over today? After all, if you are to become residents of Qinghe Bay Village, you’ll definitely need to interact with him in the future."

Even in modern times, there is a household registration system.

If someone appears in the village without reporting, the village chief would have to deal with consequences from the authorities.

In times of war, neighboring villagers would have to be organized together for easier management.

If He Chao and Mrs. Hong want to become Qinghe Bay villagers, they’ll need to go to the county to register their household.

This isn’t difficult; after all, both of them are law-abiding people, and buying a house allows them to establish residency.

Plus, with County Magistrate Liu’s son calling Tong Huaqiong "godmother," no one would dare obstruct He Chao from establishing residency in Qinghe Bay.

He Chao smiled and said, "That sounds great!"

He Chao came prepared.

Before coming, he already thought of meeting the village chief, and he brought some silver, planning to compensate the village chief according to market rates, since finding a middleman for buying residential land requires payment.

At this point, Boss Qian coughed twice to make his presence known.

Tong Huaqiong gave him a sidelong glance.

If it weren’t for his noise, Tong Huaqiong would have forgotten about this person.

It’s unclear why Boss Qian followed them to Qinghe Bay when He Chao and Mrs. Hong were buying a house and land.

Tong Huaqiong looked at Boss Qian and asked, "Boss Qian, what are you doing in Qinghe Bay? Are you also planning to buy a house and land?"

Boss Qian visibly shrank under her gaze.

But he quickly straightened up again.

Since confessing his feelings to Tong Huaqiong, this was the first time she initiated a conversation with him.

And she spoke to him willingly.

What does this signal? It signals that he still has a chance!

Boss Qian said earnestly, "Manager Tong, you guessed right. I do want to buy residential land in Qinghe Bay as well."

Tong Huaqiong: "..."

Seriously, she was just asking casually, yet he really came to Qinghe Bay to buy residential land.

He Chao and Mrs. Hong were also quite surprised; Boss Qian hadn’t hinted at this at all beforehand.

He Chao asked, "Boss Qian, don’t you have houses in town and reportedly in Pingchuan County and the provincial capital as well? Why are you thinking of buying residential land in Qinghe Bay?"

Boss Qian said, "This is my first time in Qinghe Bay, and, you know, the village is really nice. It has mountains, water, and farmland, giving off a pastoral vibe, which I quite like."

Pastoral vibe or not, Tong Huaqiong’s eyes almost rolled to the back of her head; just wait until Yan Pozi jumps up to fight with you, and you’ll know country life isn’t all that idyllic.

"No wonder Manager Tong returns home every day. If I had a house here, I’d also want to come back," Boss Qian said.

Boss Qian glanced around Tong Huaqiong’s house.

To be honest, it was a bit plain, with mud walls and simple furniture, but it was clean and tidy.

He noticed when he entered the courtyard that it was quite large, but given the current number of people in Tong Huaqiong’s household, it felt a bit cramped; half of the house was thatched and the other half was mud-walled.

Boss Qian admired Tong Huaqiong even more, that a widow could live so well in such an environment.

Tong Huaqiong said irritably, "A house in town would be better than one in the countryside. Why buy a house in Qinghe Bay?"

She hadn’t been to Boss Qian’s house, but it was said to be second only to Huang Yuanwai’s mansion in town.

Familiar with Huang Yuanwai’s mansion, she could roughly imagine the luxury of Boss Qian’s house in her mind.

Boss Qian said, "Manager Tong, the town isn’t as peaceful as the countryside. I hit it off with Manager He; since he’s buying here, I’ll buy too. We can be neighbors and play chess and drink tea together in our later years."

Boss Qian wanted to say that no matter how large a house is, it’s still lonely without someone special.

Of course, he only dared to think it; he figured declaring it would definitely have Tong Huaqiong throwing him out.

Tong Huaqiong thought, why don’t you say we’ll do square dancing in our old age then?

He Chao laughed; that’s why he and Boss Qian bonded so quickly.

Good buddies should be neighbors.

He Chao said, "That would be great, owner, let’s tell the village chief that Boss Qian and I both want to buy, and ask him to handle it for us. I heard from Dashi that the wasteland behind your house isn’t being used; see if we can buy it from you, and we can be neighbors."

Tong Huaqiong started regretting introducing them here; who wants to be neighbors with Boss Qian?

An old pervert with ulterior motives.

Mrs. Hong noticed Tong Huaqiong’s hesitant expression and cautiously asked, "Owner, is the wasteland behind your house hard to sell to us?"