Ye Tiancheng completely ignored the Marquis's words. In his eyes, the man was nothing but a bastard and an idiot. Therefore, facing the current situation, he could only sneer dismissively.
Soon, the news spread throughout the entire village. Hou Dabao, the clan leader of Xiaohe Village, found the news utterly hilarious. He truly believed that contracting so much land and paying so much money would definitely lead to a loss.
The land transfer fee was still set at 2,000 yuan per mu, which was 200 times more than what typical contractors offered.
In such a poor and remote village, land was worth at most 100 yuan per mu. Therefore, to offer such a high price, Hou Dabao, as the clan leader and a cultured person, couldn't possibly believe such an outlandish story.
At this moment, Uncle Hou came over. Seeing that Clan Leader Hou Dabao didn't believe him, he said helplessly, "This is what that kid told me himself. Would he lie to me? I don't believe he would lie to me, so I ask you to believe him too. He will definitely do it. He hasn't told a single lie from childhood to adulthood."
"What you said is true, he hasn't told a lie since childhood. But can you guarantee that he's telling the truth this time?" Clan Leader Hou Dabao said with a cold smile. He refused to believe that Ye Tiancheng was not mistaken this time.
"There's no use saying so much. The only true situation now is that the truth will eventually come out. It means we just have to wait," Uncle Hou said, seeing Hou Dabao's disbelief.
"Alright, let's bet 100 yuan. If I lose, you give me 100 yuan, and if I win, I give you 100 yuan, is that okay?" Clan Leader Hou Dabao said to Uncle Hou, taking out 100 yuan from his pocket. For people in such a poor village, 100 yuan was two months' income, so it was a considerable sum.
"Betting is betting. I don't believe I will lose." Saying this, he took out 100 yuan from his pocket and threw it onto the table.
Seeing the 100 yuan, he was completely stunned because he regretted his rashness. But the water had already been spilled, and it could not be taken back. So, he could only go all the way.
"I see a flicker of regret in your eyes, hahahaha. You can still regret it now, otherwise, you won't have time to regret it later." The guy said this while gloating and mocking Uncle Hou. Just then, Ye Tiancheng walked in from outside.
Seeing the 100 yuan on the table, he immediately understood what they were betting on.
"Clan Leader, you're really interested. I'm here to sign the contract, regarding the land transfer fees for the villagers. Let's calculate how much land there is within a 2-kilometer radius around me. I'll pay the money now for the land transfer within my coverage area." Ye Tiancheng said to him.
Hou Dabao showed a playful smile upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's words. "Show me the money you have, and I'll see how much you can earn in these few years. Do you think I have any idea? You're still trying to show off to me."
"Slap!" With a crisp sound, a large pile of money appeared before him.
"Wow, there's so much money." Clan Leader Hou Dabao was instantly stunned.
"Kid, didn't you rob a bank? How do you suddenly have so much money?" Even Uncle Hou was stunned.
"I earned it. Don't worry, the Imperial Guards won't come looking for me." Ye Tiancheng said with great confidence, as if he wasn't lying at all.
Seeing that Ye Tiancheng was answering them very seriously and not lying, the Clan Leader and Uncle Hou temporarily believed him. Then, the Clan Leader took out an abacus and started calculating on the table. In a short while, all the calculations were done.
"It's a total of 200 mu. You need to pay 400,000 yuan..."
"Here's 80,000 yuan. I'll go to town this afternoon to get the remaining 320,000 yuan and give it to you." Ye Tiancheng pushed the 80,000 yuan towards Clan Leader Hou Dabao.
Hou Dabao wrote a receipt for Ye Tiancheng. Then, he stated that he agreed to the land transfer and was willing to let him do whatever he wanted with the 200 mu of land.
"You kid suddenly having so much money makes me feel uneasy..." As Ye Tiancheng was about to leave, Hou Dabao couldn't help but ask.
But Ye Tiancheng didn't answer Hou Dabao's question. He flicked his sleeves and left.
When he arrived in town and was about to leave after withdrawing 320,000 yuan, several men wearing tank tops and with tattoos on their arms blocked his way. The one standing in front was a burly man with two tattooed pythons.
The other subordinates also looked at Ye Tiancheng in a hooligan-like manner. Their intention was clear: they had seen him withdrawing money and wanted him to hand it over obediently, or else he would suffer severe consequences.
"I say, my brothers, it's so cold, aren't you cold wearing so little? Do you want to exercise and warm up your muscles?" Ye Tiancheng said to them with a playful smile.
"Forget it, just give us the money, and we'll buy it ourselves. No need for your trouble."
"What if I don't give it to you? Are you really going to fight me?" Ye Tiancheng looked at them with a cold smile, implying, "If you dare, come at me. Let's see who kills whom."
Seeing Ye Tiancheng's "dead pig not afraid of boiling water" attitude, these guys were all enraged and rushed forward. But before they knew what was happening, they were all lying on the ground in disarray, looking like they had fallen face-first.
These guys never expected Ye Tiancheng to be so powerful. In an instant, he had beaten them into a mess, and several of them were bleeding from their noses. The burly man stumbled, pulled out a folding butterfly knife from his waist, pointed it at Ye Tiancheng, and cursed, "Damn it! You dare to injure my brothers! This time you must pay 1 million yuan, or I'll break one of your arms as compensation."
Seeing Ye Tiancheng casually taking out 320,000 yuan, they knew he was a rich person, so they decided to extort him heavily.
Ye Tiancheng saw that these guys were prepared. He had often heard that people going to the market to withdraw money were robbed and extorted. It seemed like these were the people responsible.
Ye Tiancheng felt curious. He wondered why the usually imposing Imperial Guards couldn't manage even this.
"Some things are not as simple as you imagine. This place is full of complex matters. Because we have a good relationship with the Imperial Guards, and we share our profits with them, do you think the Imperial Guards will not manage us? So, we are influential people in this town. Do you understand the consequences for an ordinary person confronting influential people?" the burly man said, looking at Ye Tiancheng wickedly.
"I don't give a damn about all that. What you did before and what you're doing now are completely different. The people you provoked before were trash, but now you're facing a strong person. Do you think you're great just because you have a butterfly knife? I've been practicing with knives since I was one year old, and I've been doing it for over 20 years. I'm already tired of it."
Seeing that his imposing manner didn't scare Ye Tiancheng, those guys went all out. Each of them gripped their knives and charged forward. But the moment they charged, all their knives vanished without a trace.
These hooligans were instantly dumbfounded. Their skills, which they had honed for so many years, were rendered useless in an instant. So, they looked at each other in bewilderment, completely lost.
Seeing their state, Ye Tiancheng burst into laughter. In his eyes, these guys could be easily dealt with, but since heaven has compassion for all living beings, he decided to spare them for now.
"Get lost, as far away as possible. Don't let me see you in this town again. If I do, I'll beat you every time I see you. I don't care who you have a good relationship with, but in front of me, Ye Tiancheng, they are all made of paper, because I am a formidable one." This was the first time he spoke so dominantly, especially in front of several fierce individuals.
In the past, he wouldn't have dared to imagine having such courage. But now, everything had changed. What he needed to do now was to quickly return to the village and hand over the money to the Clan Leader, so that his mission could be successfully completed.
It was already past six in the evening when he returned to the village. The autumn weather was very cold and dry, and the evenings arrived relatively early.
When he reached the village entrance, it was already dark and hazy.
When he arrived at the Clan Leader's house, the Clan Leader was having dinner. Seeing that Ye Tiancheng hadn't eaten, the Clan Leader invited him to eat. Ye Tiancheng smiled and said, "I won't eat. Just write me a receipt. I've finally given you the 400,000 yuan."
The Clan Leader chuckled, rubbed his hands, and wrote a receipt. Ye Tiancheng took the receipt and went home.
When he returned home and walked into the courtyard, a fragrant aroma wafted into his nostrils. He secretly chuckled to himself, wondering who it was that was cooking. When Ye Tiancheng walked into the kitchen, he found Xiao Fang roasting a chicken.
Before Ye Tiancheng had even entered the house, he encountered good fortune with a woman cooking. But upon entering the kitchen and seeing Xiao Fang's roasted chicken, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
"It's just ready. Eat it quickly, and then we'll go plant the saplings."
"Of course. We'll complete the task even if it means working overtime." Ye Tiancheng walked over, unceremoniously tore off a chicken leg, and gnawed on it. He then took a few sips of boiled water. After finishing the chicken leg, he left. When he reached the field, the moon had just risen, making it possible to plant the saplings. Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but thank heaven for its help.
"Look at how smug you are. I don't understand why you're always like that." At this moment, he heard that guy pouting and laughing.
The one pouting and laughing at Ye Tiancheng was the Marquis.
"Why are you here, kid? I get angry just seeing you." Ye Tiancheng felt that he was lurking suspiciously near his shed, and must have some unspeakable secret. This was because his shed contained those strange pear trees.
He made his money from these few pears, so he didn't want anyone to come near this place. This was also one of the reasons why he had rushed to eat the chicken leg and leave.
Originally, the Marquis wanted to see what was in the shed, but upon seeing Ye Tiancheng arrive, they had to give up. Ye Tiancheng knew what the Marquis wanted to do but pretended to be oblivious and looked at him.
Only after the Marquis left did they feel at ease to plant the saplings.
After a night of hard work, Xiao Pang and Ye Tiancheng finally planted the saplings. However, the weather had been dry recently, and not a single drop of rain had fallen. Therefore, the planted saplings were unlikely to survive.
Just as Ye Tiancheng was extremely anxious, the Divine Stone inside his body spoke to him, "Little brat, you're still not mature. Why didn't you think about the rain earlier? If it rains, I can help you because I have the 'Rain Summoning Art'."
Because he felt the Divine Stone was joking, and he wasn't a deity, how could he control the clouds in the sky?
"Don't worry about that. Just repeat after me, and it will rain."
Ye Tiancheng didn't think much and followed him to practice the rain incantation.
Soon, many dark clouds gathered in the sky, completely obscuring the moon. At this moment, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky.
...
After a day and a night, all the saplings survived.
Ye Tiancheng was very happy because his hard work had finally borne fruit.