Making money, taking exams and supporting the family

chapter 78: The Pottery Bowl Trick

Because he had bought enough shrimp and crabs and had the opportunity for a long-term transaction, the peddler Wang Maozi proactively offered to help deliver the goods to the village.

This made things easier, so Lin Ze did not refuse. He directly asked Wang Maozi to deliver the goods to the village first and to find He Xiangfeng to help settle the bill. Lin Ze still needed to go to the government office to transfer the 50 mu (33,333 m², 8.25 acres) of land he had chosen.

He did not know much about land transactions, but the villagers were very knowledgeable. He had previously asked He Xiangfeng to help select the land, and it was already chosen, just waiting for payment to be transferred.

Lin Ze chose to handle this matter today because he did not want to draw attention. Therefore, he did not go with the village head, Li Laofu, but instead arranged to meet at the government office.

He did not buy all 50 mu of land in Heba Village. Buying such a large amount at once would be too conspicuous in the village. So, he bought 20 mu (13,333 m², 3.3 acres) in Heba Village and the remaining 30 mu (20,000 m², 5 acres) in the neighboring village. He had already been in the spotlight enough recently and thought it was better to keep a low profile.

The government office in Nanyang Town was different from the actual county government office. To put it simply, the town’s office was more like a modern township police station, specifically used to handle various matters requiring official oversight, such as land and property transactions.

Li Laofu was absolutely shocked by Lin Ze’s plan to buy 20 mu of land in the village. He was well aware of the Lin family’s situation and knew exactly how much silver Lin Ze received from the family division. In just a few months, Lin Ze was already setting up a private school and buying land. Such achievements would take a lifetime for the villagers to accomplish, yet Lin Ze had managed it in such a short time. How could this not be astonishing?

Even though Lin Ze was a scholar, none of the scholars from the surrounding ten miles had shown the kind of remarkable capability that Lin Ze had.

Despite his shock, Li Laofu was more pleased than surprised. Lin Ze was a person who remembered his roots. His success brought benefits to the people of Heba Village, so Li Laofu felt more joy than astonishment.

He also understood why Lin Ze wanted to buy land quietly without drawing attention. Lin Ze’s family was different from the villagers; they did not need land to boost their reputation. Villagers loved gossip, so it was better to keep a low profile.

In the government office, as long as one was willing to spend money, things could be done very efficiently.

After slipping a few taels of silver to the clerk handling the paperwork, it only took a quarter of an hour for the land transfer to be completed and stamped. Li Laofu happily took the village’s share of the profits back to the village.

Lin Ze remained at the government office, waiting for the village head of the neighboring village to arrive. Once the transfer of the remaining 30 mu was completed, he and Zhang Xiu went to stroll around the street to see if they could find anything good.

There was no other way. In ancient times, everything was backward. The streets were not like the modern ones with everything available. If they wanted to buy something new, they could only hope to find it during such festive and bustling times.

In this era, there were no televisions or movies, and traveling was not easy due to transportation issues. The only forms of relaxation and leisure were shopping, listening to storytelling, watching operas, and watching acrobatics during festivals.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the streets of Nanyang Town were very lively.

The couple strolled around the street for a while but did not see anything particularly novel or interesting. As soon as noon arrived, they headed straight to the restaurant.