Business transactions are all about mutual consent, especially when it comes to major deals like land—they involve large sums of silver, and the buyer and seller are neighbors who run into each other all the time. So as long as one party has reservations, the deal is basically off.

Lin Yue had always been someone who avoided trouble. Buying Zhou Xiulian’s fields might lead to disputes down the road—and since they were neighbors, it wouldn’t look good if things got messy. It’s better to solve the problem at its root. If he can’t buy it this year, he can try next year—there’s always someone in the village looking to sell land. If all else fails, he can just buy a few more mu of fallow land; it’s not as if his family is starving and depends on the rice from that one mu of land to put food on the table.

Deep down, Shen Guangchu felt closer to Shen Huaizhi’s family, but since Zhou Xiulian had spoken so earnestly this time, he decided to give it another try. “Yue, I know what you’re worried about. Here’s what we’ll do: tomorrow, when the other families come to the ancestral hall to hand over their land deeds, have Zhou Xiulian come too. You can discuss it with her then. If you really don’t want to, that’s fine. I’ll ask around for you—with over a hundred households in our village, there’s bound to be someone else looking to sell their land.”

“Uncle isn’t taking her family’s side—it’s just that the few mu of land she’s selling are really good, and they’re close to your place. One mu is right at your doorstep, right next to your family’s field. If you buy it, you can dig through the field ridge to let the water flow through, which will make planting rice much more convenient.”

Lin Yue nodded. He knew that plot too—it was slightly larger than his own—but since the water usually didn’t flow through her field, he hadn’t paid much mind. “Uncle Guang, let’s do as you suggest. Tomorrow, after signing the deed with the others, I’ll discuss it with her.”

Shen Guangchu turned to Shen Huaizhi. Seeing him nod in agreement, he smiled. “All right, then. I’ll go talk to her in a bit. By the way, it’d be best if your whole family came tomorrow. If you’re certain about buying it, Huaizhi, you and your cousin should go together to invite your Second Uncle Shen, Eldest Uncle Shen, Third Uncle Li, Second Uncle Zhou No. 2, and Great-Grandmother Liu to serve as witnesses.”

“At that time, have the families selling the land invite all the neighboring households who own land adjacent to the plots in question. Once we’ve confirmed there are no disputes over the boundaries, we can proceed with surveying the land and, while we’re at it, bury two new boundary stones to mark the new boundaries. Settling this now will prevent any confusion later on. Finally, we’ll record the measured area and the purchase price in the contract. After both parties have signed and affixed their seals, we’ll take it with us when we go to the county town so the officials can attest to it.”

Shen Huaizhi hadn’t been present when the Shen family purchased land previously, so this was the first time both Lin Yue and Shen Huaizhi had bought farmland. Neither of them had imagined the process would be so complicated; as their eyes met, they both suddenly drew in a deep, sharp breath.

Lin Yue noticed that Shen Huaizhi’s gaze had suddenly taken on a scrutinizing quality—which was unlike his usual manner—but since Shen Guangchu was still waiting, he didn’t have time to dwell on it

He replied, “Thank you, Uncle Guang. We’ve taken note. We’ll definitely be here early tomorrow. Is there anything else we need to bring?”

Shen Guangchu waved his hand. “That’s all. Oh, and Huaizhi, if you have paper and a pen, just bring them yourself. In the past, when people bought land, they’d have to hire a scholar to write the deed, but this time, thankfully, we won’t have to do that.”

Shen Guangchu had never attended school; he’d learned to read and write later on while working in town. He knew only a few simple characters—enough to understand the deed but not to write it himself. Previously, whenever the village needed a deed drawn up, they’d turn to Shen Mingzhi, who’d studied for a few years in his youth but, unfortunately, failed to pass the Tongsheng exam and never continued his studies. He now worked in town.

It was Shen Mingzhi who had drafted the deed when the Shen family purchased the land all those years ago. At that time, Shen Huaizhi had only been attending the private school for less than two years and was still very young; first, he was unable to write the deed, and second, the villagers didn’t trust him—he was just a little kid.

Shen Huaizhi hesitated a bit. “Uncle Guang, wouldn’t it be inappropriate for me to write it? Shouldn’t we avoid any appearance of impropriety?”

Shen Guangchu suddenly slapped his forehead. “You’re right. In that case, let’s ask your second cousin, Shizhi, to write it this time. But if you have paper and ink, bring them along. If you bring your own paper and brush, it’ll only cost one wen; if Shizhi has to bring his own, you’ll have to pay two more wen—that’s not worth it.”

“Thank you, Uncle Guang. It’s getting late, so we’ll head back now.”

Back home, Shen Zhengchu and Song Xunchun heard about this and agreed they’d done the right thing. “That’s exactly how it should be. Rather than buying her field and then having to go to her house to haggle, it’s better to buy from someone else. Aside from a slight difference in location, everything else is pretty much the same.”

It wasn’t that they were afraid of her; it was just that a business transaction isn’t the same as asking someone for a favor—there’s no need to compromise or make concessions. Whatever satisfies the family is the best choice.

The next day, as soon as Shen Zhengchu and his son returned from Shen Yunchu’s house, they immediately packed their things, and the whole family went to the ancestral hall together. They had thought they’d arrived fairly early, but when they got there, they found that everyone else was already present—even Shen Guangchu was waiting at the door.

The families found a few benches in a side room of the ancestral hall and sat down. Lin Yue then spoke up, “Uncles, aunts, and everyone else, we’ve already inquired about the prices for buying fields and land—not just in our village, but in several nearby villages as well. The market price is one tael and six qian of silver per mu for top-grade fields, medium-quality fields at one tael and three qian of silver per mu, and low-quality fields at one tael and one qian of silver per mu. Some exceptionally good fields can fetch as much as two tael of silver per mu. So this time, we plan to follow these rates. If any of you have any suggestions, please feel free to speak up so we can discuss them further.”

It had been nearly two months since Lin Yue had joined the family, and most matters concerning the Shen household were now decided by him and Shen Huaizhi. The Shen couple only stepped in to offer advice when the two were unsure, so this time as well, it was Lin Yue who was consulting with them.

Most of the people across from him had no objections—after all, everyone present was part of the Shen family. Only one or two stubborn old-timers couldn’t stand seeing Lin Yue, just a young ger, calling the shots at such a young age. They kept glancing at the Shen couple out of the corner of their eyes, trying to use their gaze to make them “come to their senses” and not let things slide like this.

As for other remarks, there were none—after all, they were still waiting to close the deal.

For farmers, farmland is their most important and precious possession. Rarely are they willing to sell it. While many people want to buy, very few actually do, because the price is high. Those without oxen at home cannot properly tend to the land they purchase, so it’s better to save their money for now. Consequently, it’s rare for both parties’ interests to align. Now that the sellers are finally willing to part with their land and a buyer has come forward, they certainly don’t want to let the deal fall through.

The families selling the fields had discussed the matter in advance. The price would be set at market value. As for the quality of the land, they would base it not only on the deed but also on this year’s harvest—after all, they had tended these fields with great care for decades, applying ample fertilizer every year. Some fields now yield several dou more each year than they did back in the day.

The details of their discussions were relayed by Second Uncle Shen, as he was the eldest among those selling land and was selling the largest plot—a full three mu.

Lin Yue had always been very level-headed. Even when buying sewing supplies in town, he would haggle to get the shopkeeper to knock off a wen. When it came to buying land, he would inevitably have to go back and forth several times before reaching an agreement. The fact that both sides were now willing to accept the market price was already quite an achievement.

“What all of you uncles, aunts, and elders have said makes sense. But as those of us who work the fields day in and day out know, harvests are affected not only by the soil but also by annual rainfall and weather patterns—not to mention pest and disease outbreaks. It wouldn’t be right to base our decision solely on this year’s harvest. If we’re going to use a reference, we should at least look at the harvests from the past three years and take the average.”

Suddenly, the people across from him could no longer contain themselves and began arguing all at once. “I think Yue’s idea works too. As for the harvest—talk about the last three years—I remember the last five years clearly. We can go by that too.”

“Hey, come on—how can that work? This year and last year were both fine. Sure, we had heavy rain this year, but the harvest wasn’t much different. The year before last, we had a drought for months without a drop of rain, and the harvest was terrible—how can we calculate it like this?”

“Exactly, I don’t agree.”

“It’s not so bad. If we’re not looking at three years but five, the harvest five years ago was even worse. With good years and bad years like this, taking the average is fine—no one loses out.”

While they were discussing this, the Shen family remained silent; they even stepped outside on their own to make room for them. After a long while, just as Lin Yue had started watching the ants on the ground, Shen Guangchu finally came out to call them in.

“Yue, come on in. They’ve reached an agreement and are willing to go with your plan—they just want to take the average yield over four years. What do you think?”

Yushui Village and Linshui Village were close by, so Lin Yue knew exactly what the weather was like each year. When he was at home, he worked the fields year after year and remembered his family’s harvests clearly. The harvest four years ago had indeed been decent—but that was all it was; it wasn’t exactly good. So, after a brief discussion with the Shen family members, he nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s go with the four-year average. Since we’re making this concession, when we survey the land later, I hope you uncles, aunts, and neighbors will do us a favor in return. It wouldn’t do for us to buy some land only to end up in a dispute with our neighbors.”

Surveying land may seem simple, but there’s a lot to it. Who knows if this plot encroached on someone else’s field boundaries when it was originally allocated? Re-surveying land is the easiest way to spark a conflict. If the owner of the neighboring field discovers that their land was once encroached upon, forget about the sale—a fistfight could break out right then and there. People like Lin Yue, who are buying the land, are extremely vulnerable to getting caught in the crossfire.

Lin Yue spoke quite loudly, and the people in the room heard most of what he said. Many of them immediately patted their chests and assured him, “Brother Yue, rest assured—your uncle and aunt aren’t that kind of people.”

It wasn’t until half a shichen later that the group had worked out all the details and set off for the fields with their measuring tools to take the measurements.

Since they’d already discussed every conceivable issue earlier, the transaction went smoothly: they purchased three mu of prime paddy fields, two mu of prime mountain land, and two mu of medium-quality mountain land, for a total of ten tael and six qian of silver.

They then signed the deeds one by one, affixed their fingerprints, and Lin Yue handed over the silver on the spot.

The deed for the paddy fields was signed in Lin Yue’s name—a decision Song Xunchun and his wife had made earlier. During Shen Huaizhi’s two trips to the Prefectural City, Lin Yue had spent a considerable amount of his silver, and they had long intended to reimburse him for some of it. Now, with the purchase of the land and the signing of the deeds, the time was right. Once they had the matter witnessed by officials at the Prefectural Office, the fields would officially belong to Lin Yue.

“Uncles, aunts, and everyone else, please count it over. If there are any discrepancies, speak up now. Once you’ve left, the transaction will be considered final—coming back to me later won’t count.”

Lin Yue spoke with a touch of jest, a smile never leaving his face, so everyone burst into laughter and exclaimed in unison, “What are you saying, Young Master Yue? I’d better count it all over again.”

“That’s right. I’ll have to count it again too. If there’s any shortfall, you’ll have to make it up to me, but if you’ve given me too much, I’m not giving it back.” 

“Haha, you’ve got some nerve, trying to take advantage of a young man like that.”

After counting the silver, the group didn’t rush off, because there was still one household whose paddy fields hadn’t been measured—Zhou Xiulian’s family. While they’d been discussing the matter earlier, the couple had remained silent the whole time. Now that everyone else had received their silver, it was unclear whether this family would still be willing to sell.