Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 65: buying a Mountain

As they drove away, LongWei looked back at his younger brother from the corner of his eye. "TingFeng may be a problem. I'll need to keep an eye out for him. No, it's probably best to arrange a distraction for him. Perhaps even get him arrested." He thought.

Zimo sat quietly next to LongWei. He hadn't said anything for quite some time now. Worried LongWei placed his hand on his back and asked,

"Baby?"

"..."

"Baby, what are you thinking?" LongWei asked again.

"... I'm afraid your brother TingFeng will do something." He admitted as his hands shook.

"Baby, don't worry. I will make arrangements for him. I never bothered before because I planned to leave, but now I will deal with him so he cannot bother us." LongWei explained as he rubbed Zimo's back in comfort.

"..."

"Baby, do you trust me?" LongWei asked again.

"Okay, just be careful dear." Zimo said as he looked up towards LongWei eyes filled with sincerity.

...

LongWei and Zimo didn't reach the house until the sun had already set. They took many detours, backtracked a few times, erased their tracks, even made fake tracks. It have seemed excessive, but TingFeng had a truly malicious mind and LongWei wanted to control the situation and reduce the chances of an incident as much as possible.

Over the next few days, LongWei went out to hunt. He wanted to amass as much money as possible for when he spoke with Leader Xu about the purchase of the mountain.

When they spoke earlier, he said it would need to be discussed with the county official because the mountain was not his jurisdiction. However he knew someone in the government office who could help the process and would speak with him to negotiate on behalf of LongWei.

The final price wasn't said, but Leader Xu had mentioned it would cost several hundred silver. This was a rather cheap sum. the land was considered "wild" and wa essentially impossible to warm. In the eyes of the government it was only good for hunting or foraging. The government did not encircle taxes for these. Therefore, to have someone pay for the unclaimed land and owe taxes on it, even if only a small amount was a profit and something the government would be in favour of receiving.

LongWei wasn't as lucky during his hunting trips this time. He caught rabbits and some pheasant, but nothing larger. Despite this he should get almost one hundred silver from the sheer amount of rabbits he caught.

Seeing all the rabbits in cages, Zimo couldn't help but laugh.

"Rather than a hunter. Aren't we just rabbit farmer's at this point?"

"Baby, don't laugh. I tried my best." LongWei said showing an aggrieved face. As he urged Zimo from behind and rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Dear, sorry. I don't mean to make fun of your efforts, it's just funny to look at." Zimo said with a guilty conscious,  up when he looked back at LongWei again he caught a glimpse of a smile at the corner of his lips.

"You beast! You're just trying to make me feel guilty. Don't think I don't know your real goal." Zimo said pushing LongWei away.

"Oh? What's my real goal?" LongWei teased.

"That's... that's... enough I'm leaving." Zimo said storming off with the three little wolf pups trailing quickly behind.

LongWei watch his little puffed up birdie leave in a huff and laughed.

Two days later LongWei and Zimo travelled back down the mountain to meet with Leader Xu.

Knock... knock

"Coming." Came a voice from inside.

Soon the door was opened by the young boy they had previously met.

"We are looking for your father is he in?" LongWei asked the boy.

The boy nodded and led them into the house. "Father, there are guests here for you, he sated as he opened the door to his father's office.

Leader looked up from his desk. Noticing LongWei and Zimo he motioned for them to sit down.

"I'm glad you came so soon." Leader Xu said.

"Hearing this LongWei became alert. "What happened?"

"It's nothing big, but if not handled soon, it can become a problem. I went to the government office to speak with my acquaintance to discuss the purchase of the mountain or the purchase of land on the mountain. We quickly reached an agreement a five days ago." Leader Xu began to explain.

"I see, has something happened since then?" LongWei asked.

"I was sent a message from my acquaintance yesterday afternoon. It seems a request to purchase the mountain has been made by another individual. The claim was denied because a deal was already made., however e we're also given a deadline. If the purchase is not finalized within five days, the government will accept the other offer." Leader Xu stated.

"I see. Could you tell us the agreed amount? We brought the money to purchase the land, but because the final amount wasn't previously discussed we cant be certain of how much we can afford." LongWei said.

"The final cost would be five hundred silver. To purchase the mountain or fifty mu for one silver. It's not very expensive if you are only planning on purchasing a small portion for your home. However, things may become more complicated with this other buyer." Leader Xu said with concern.

"If it's only that amount it isn't a problem. We will purchase the mountain." LongWei said with a faint smile. With Zimo and his savings over the last few months they had managed to accumulate five hundred and twenty silver. Purchasing the mountain would certainly leave them with very little, but LongWei was confident he could earn everything back soon.

Surprised by LongWei's sudden claim, leader Xu reiterated. "This um must be paid in full."

"It's not a problem." LongWei said as he pulled out a large bag of silver and placed it on the desk he than proceeded to open the bag and removed twenty silver worth of coins and handed them to Zimo next to him.

Seeing the money placed on the desk, leader Xu could not help but laugh. "Good. Very good! Shall we sign the paperwork than?" He said as he stood up the prepare the ink and contract.

...