"No way!" Thomas said, his tone so high it was hard to believe he was the same gentle man.
After all, this plot of land belonged to his ancestors and he wasn’t willing to part with it.
Mary too felt heartache but understood where her duaghter was coming from.
Cooking six hundred buns was a hassle and surely they wished to enlist other help and the only help they could add was Thomas but he was too busy with the land these days that he really couldn’t help.
It was harvest season and the family was busy harvesting wheat grown in their fields.
It wasn’t high quality but it was enough to sustain their family for a whole year and by next year, they would have aplenty again.
Elena seemed to have anticipated the refusal as she calmly put her chopsticks down and put on a serious expression.
"Let me explain why I think it’s a good decision."
"Dad, it would net us a good amount of money which we can invest and move to the town and then we three can cook together with you helping out."
"Brother also wouldn’t have to go back and forth everyday, tiring himself for the sake of our family."
"Also, Emma would be able to study in a better school."
"I think we should also sell the house and rent one in town. Slowly we can buy one there and then we can fully move there."
The idea coming from Elena painted a rosy picture for a second and even her parents were swayed.
But it wasn’t that easy to convince them.
"But what about our relatives, family, and neighbours? Who knows how the townsfolk would be?" They raised a concern and Elena shut it down.
"Mom, dad, let’s be realistic. I’ve been here for over a month and I haven’t seen any of these so-called neighbours or relatives offering any help."
"They’re more keen to laugh at us and make a fool of us. Remember when we started selling vegetarian buns to village folk for cheap, they came to demand recipes and whatnot."
"They didn’t seem to have any intention to help, but only cause trouble."
Elena fell silent after saying her piece, continuing her meal.
She knew she couldn’t sway them in one go but the benefits indeed outweighed the risks and the so-called relatives and neighbours were indeed of little help to hosting and helping them with Elena.
It really was laughable.
The reason they had stayed in the village for so long was because their family was here and now it seemed, they didn’t seem to care about them at all.
Reluctantly, Thomas agreed with a heavy heart.
"Okay, I’ll go talk to the village head tomorrow."
His first step was to get a price for the land instead of selling their house outright.
He could sell it later.
Their house was neat and tidy would surely fetch a decent price. Definitely enough to live on rent in town.
The problem was their household registration would need to be shifted to town and that would take time.
So he decided to sell the land first, pay a deposit and move to town before selling their house.
Unfortunately, their land wasn’t very fertile and was sandy soil.
It was given to him by his father who had given the better land to Thomas’s elder brother.
Thomas had never held a grudge because he was raised that way but Mary had been furious for a long time.
The two of them were kicked out not long after they got married.
Simply because Mary was sold by a peddler back in the day and had no family.
Or they all were probably sold somewhere but she had no idea about any of it. She couldn’t recall any family for as long as she remembered.
Elena, however, was satisfied with the current trend of events.
It worked just right for her as she could look for houses in town and take one on rent that she deemed suitable for her family.
She had no idea that Thomas was planning to buy one while she only thought of renting it.
The reason for that was because Thomas believed they would live in town forever while Elena only took it as pitstop in her journey.
She really couldn’t be bothered to discuss it with them.
They wouldn’t understand anyways.
The next day after finishing his harvesting, Thomas went to Village Head Luo’s house.
"Uncle Luo!" He called out and a boisterous old man opened the door.
"Oh, if it isn’t Thomas! What are ya doing here?" Village Head Luo asked casually and ushered him inside, not really wanting to hear the reason for the visit at the door.
Thomas hesitated for a bit before deciding to bring up the matter.
"Uncle Luo, as you know, I’ve been seperated from my family since 20 years ago... and now I plan to sell my land and house to the village."
"You must’ve heard of my unfortunate daughter. She was raised in luxury in the city and she really can’t afford to live here. We’ll move to town for her sake. There she’ll be able to live more freely."
Thomas shifted nervously after saying his piece, he knew the value of his field wouldn’t be much but it should be enough to pay a deposit, right?
He would borrow money if he had to but he wouldn’t let his daughter suffer.
"Hmm, I see." Village Head Luo got into deep thought, wondering about the matter before he said in a low voice.
"I understand your concern but are you really willing to part with this land?"
Thomas barely resisted the urge to say no and nodded stiffly.
"Alright then. The village will buy it from you for 1.5 Luni per mu for a total area of 300 mu, so it comes to 450 Luni and the transfer charges will be borne by the village."
Thomas almost had tears in his eyes as he heard the comforting words from Village Head Luo.
He profusely thanked Village Head Luo before heaidng home in a happy manner.
As soon as he returned, he ran into Mary.
She hurried forward to him and looked left and right before asking, "How much?"
"450 Luni," he replied.
"What? How much?" Mary asked, shaken.