Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 106 Big loss

As Cheng Qi spoke, he led his people forward to greet them.

Xie Chongjun's view was blocked for a moment, but soon he heard his steward report: "Xie... Yuyan has arrived."

The first thought that flashed through Xie Chongjun's mind was that Xie Yuyan had received the news and was rushing to seize the land. Just then, Cheng Qi, who was blocking his way, dodged aside, and Xie Yuyan's face appeared before him.

She was elegant and refined, with a relaxed expression, and never showed any fear or timidity.

Xie Chongjun's second thought was, why wasn't she surprised, angry, or afraid?
Just as a third thought was about to form, Cheng Qi interrupted him with her words.

"My boss."

Boss?

Xie Chongjun looked around at Cheng Qi and saw only Xie Yuyan and the steward and servants she had brought. Where was Cheng Qi's employer?
"Have all the written agreements been completed?" Xie Yuyan's clear and melodious voice rang out.

Cheng Qi bowed and said, "Eighty-five mu of land were sold to Master Xie, and fifteen mu were given to Yang Zongdao. Master Xie selected the land for Yang Zongdao, and it has nothing to do with us. The record was handed over to the clerk of the county government, and I have also counted the money."

Xie Yuyan said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Cheng Qi smiled and said, "Serving the master is not hard work." Not only was it not hard work, but he was also very happy. When Seventh Master handed over the land to Madam Xie, there were not 100 mu of land. Madam Xie was planning to scheme against Xie Chongjun, so she made him buy all the nearby corners and edges. Those were woodlands, mountains, and sandy lands, which could not grow any crops. So, the total cost of 100 mu was less than 200 guan.

Now it's worth 7,000 strings of cash.

Even including the money spent on buying land in Sanhe Village and the money Xie Danianzi spent on buying two other plots of land, the total cost was less than a thousand strings of cash.

This is truly a highly profitable business.

Not to mention, Xie Chongjun was the one who got the short end of the stick.

Xie Chongjun had never suffered such a great loss before.

Xie Yuyan's words to Cheng Qi confirmed that she was indeed the boss Cheng Qi had mentioned.

Xie Chongjun, however, is still in a daze.

This is not right.

If Xie Yuyan had bought this land long ago, why would she sell it now? The coal mine in Sanhe Village has problems, and she can only turn things around by acquiring this land.

That's why he came to steal it.

No, no.

"She's your boss?" Xie Chongjun asked Cheng Qi, unwilling to give up.

Cheng Qi turned her head, her face full of smugness: "Yes."

"You're saying the hundred acres of land we bought belong to her?"

“Yes, she’s the boss,” Cheng Qi said, afraid that he hadn’t explained himself clearly enough. “Our boss is Xie Yuyan, the wife of the sixth son of the third branch of the Yang family. She is also known as Madam Xie.”

"The seven thousand strings of cash you gave me all belong to my master."

Xie Chongjun felt a buzzing in his ears and subconsciously said, "That's impossible."

Knowing that Xie Chongjun was having trouble accepting buying Xie Da Niangzi's land for the time being, and not because he didn't believe what he said, Cheng Qi still deliberately said, "Why is it impossible? Would I lie to you?"

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Everyone was astonished as Xie Chongjun.

Yang Zongdao, in particular, had an ashen face, his cloudy old eyes wide open, as if he were about to suffocate. All this silver, all the silver in the room, belonged to Xie Yuyan. The money his family had scraped together had all been given to Xie Yuyan.

The silver he took from the third branch of the family was not sent back home; it was sent directly to Xie Yuyan.

No, it's not the same.

The money given to the third branch of the family before was for doing business with them. If they made money in the future, they would share the profits with them. What he gave away now was fifteen acres of mountain land.

Yang Zongdao's vision went black in waves.

Xie Yuyan deliberately lured them to buy land, raising the price to 60 guan per mu.

Sixty strings of cash! Where can you find such a price?
He thought he had taken all the money from Xie Yuyan, but then Xie Yuyan received seven thousand strings of cash.

If he doesn't take out the money, is he just going to sit back and wait to get his share?
How much is that?

Now it's all gone, all gone. Yang Zongdao felt like he was about to faint, but then he remembered something and said in a trembling voice, "The method for making lotus root charcoal..."

And this, he bought it for five hundred strings of cash.

Upon hearing this, Xie Chongjun also looked at Xie Yuyan.

“That method is real,” Xie Yuyan said, “However, different types of coal powder require different methods, and I don’t know which one you bought.”

"Want more? I have at least a dozen similar methods, one of them..."

Cheng Qi replied, "One thousand strings of cash."

Xie Chongjun gritted his teeth: "You cheated."

“Master Xie, please don’t speak nonsense,” Xie Yuyan said, looking at the clerk in the county office. “With officials present, the price was agreed upon, and no one forced anyone to buy or sell. As for who Cheng Qi should give this money to, that is none of your business, Master Xie.”

Xie Chongjun felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. He couldn't control his rising anger and wanted to immediately step forward and grab Xie Yuyan by the throat.

He had just taken a step forward when he saw seven or eight men surrounding Xie Yuyan.

"What? Master Xie, you don't want this land anymore?" Xie Yuyan asked.

Xie Chongjun remained silent, but Yang Zongdao, standing beside him, felt a glimmer of hope: perhaps Xie Yuyan could take the land back.

Xie Yuyan spoke calmly, "Five hundred coins per mu, would you sell?"

Five hundred coins, not fifty strings of cash.

A stream of hot blood flowed from Yang Zongdao's nostrils, dripping onto his clothes.

"father……"

As Yang Mingli shouted, Yang Zongdao fainted.

Xie Yuyan brought many members of the Yang clan with him.

The lady ordered them to bring the carriage, but they didn't know why. They waited outside for a while, and finally there was movement inside the house. They all looked up and saw Yang Mingli and his servants carrying Yang Zongdao out.

Why is Yang Zongdao here?

The Yang clan members were unaware of this, and no one stepped forward to help.

Today, Yang Zongdao led his clansmen to coerce the third branch of the family. The eldest daughter-in-law had already said that she would not help them with a single penny from now on, and naturally she would no longer consider them as her clansmen.

Looking at those familiar faces, Yang Mingli thought of how they had led their clansmen to the Third Branch of the family early that morning to demand an explanation, only to end up like this. He couldn't bother questioning his clansmen; he could only lift his father onto his family's carriage and hurriedly rush to find a doctor.

Inside the room, Xie Chongjun continued to stare at Xie Yuyan, his mind filled with too many questions, and he desperately wanted to know the answers.

Xie Chongjun knew he shouldn't speak at this moment, but he couldn't help but ask, "Are there no coal mines underground?"

"You tampered with things in Sanhe Village...?"

Where else did you buy land?

"Tell me, what's going on?"

Xie Yuyan showed no intention of responding, and turned to instruct Cheng Qi: "Have someone come in and carry the silver. Now that this land has been sold, you will come back to the Yang family with me."

Cheng Qi responded.

Xie Chongjun wanted to send someone forward to stop him.

But at that moment, someone in the room finally couldn't hold back their laughter.

After taking a look, Master Xu realized that Master Xie had been tricked. Thinking about how eagerly they had signed the documents, a burst of laughter rushed out of his throat.

“I say, Master Xie, if she doesn’t want to answer you, why do you keep asking? It’s really wrong to bully a woman.”

"When asking others for advice, one should be polite."

"I don't know about anything else, but I understand one thing."

“You think this land is worth sixty strings of cash per mu, but Madam Xie thinks it’s only worth five hundred cash per mu,” said Master Xu. “Businessmen are bound to make mistakes sometimes. You should ask Madam Xie for advice on why this land is worthless, so you won’t suffer losses in the future.”

(End of this chapter)