Xianhuang Village sat against a large mountain.
A winding path led down from the slopes—to its right lay Xianhuang Village, and to its left was Liu Family Village.
Due to its geographical location, Xianhuang Village covered a very small area.
Furthermore, it was surrounded by mountains on its back and right sides, which meant it had no arable land from the very beginning.
Liu Family Village, however, was different.
With only a mountain at its back, the terrain on its other three sides was quite expansive.
Coupled with generations of ancestors clearing the land, their farmland was arguably the largest in the entire town.
At this moment, crowds of people packed both sides of the path at the foot of the mountain.
On the right stood the villagers of Xianhuang Village.
Save for a rare few men, it was exclusively a sea of women.
Opposite them were the villagers of Liu Family Village, who were mostly burly men with only a few women scattered among them.
From afar, it looked like a romantic scene of mountain folk singing folk songs across the hills to one another.
But looking closer, the atmosphere between the two groups was highly antagonistic, with both sides at each other’s throats.
“I’ve already said everything I should and shouldn’t say!”
Standing at the forefront of the Liu Family Village side was an old man around sixty years old.
He had small eyes and a pointed mouth, making him look like a rat.
Combined with the sleazy expression on his face, one couldn’t help but feel the urge to punch him.
But everyone present could only keep that thought in their heads.
This old man was Liu Jinshan, the wealthiest person in Liu Family Village.
Moreover, more than half of the land Xianhuang Village farmed belonged to his family.
He was the very picture of a modern-day local tyrant!
Seeing that Luo Yanran, Zhang Rou, and the others had arrived, Liu Jinshan smiled.
“The crop yields have been pretty good these past few years.
You farm my land, and you make money.
You can’t let me take a loss, right?
So the rent is definitely going up this time.”
“A rent increase is fine, but jumping straight to a thousand yuan is way too much!” Granny Tan, arguably the most senior figure in Xianhuang Village, stood at the front of the crowd and retorted.
Liu Jinshan laughed.
Asking you for a thousand is perfectly reasonable, in my opinion.”
“The people of Liu Family Village have wells when they farm, while we have to rely on the Heavenly Lord for a bit of rain,” Granny Tan argued.
“Besides, you know the situation in Xianhuang Village.
We’re a bunch of the old, the weak, women, and children.
Naturally, we can’t do manual labor as well as you guys, so our annual yield definitely won’t match yours.”
“I don’t care about that,” Liu Jinshan said in displeasure.
“Your low yield is your problem.
What does it have to do with me?
“Besides, if I don’t let you farm this land and give it to someone else, they can give me a thousand yuan.
Why on earth should I give it to you lot for five hundred?
I’m not a philanthropist.”
“Be that as it may, over all these years, besides paying you rent, we haven’t done any less to help you with other things,” Granny Tan added.
“Over the years, when you ran the sweater factory, we were all your free labor.”
“That was just the interest you owed me!” Liu Jinshan waved his hand dismissively.
“Old Granny Tan, you don’t need to play the sympathy card with me.
If I hadn’t been kind enough to rent the land to you, you women of Xianhuang Village would have died a long time ago.
You wouldn’t even have the strength to be alive right now!”
“You!” Granny Tan was instantly rendered speechless.
Seeing this, Zhang Rou stepped forward and said, “Uncle Liu, over all these years that Xianhuang Village has managed to survive, you have indeed helped a lot.
We are sincerely grateful to you from the bottom of our hearts.
“But a thousand yuan really is too much.
We’re not saying we won’t accept an increase—after all, we can’t stop you from making money.
But how about you raise it a little less?”
Liu Jinshan looked at Zhang Rou and chuckled.
“College graduates sure have a different way of speaking.”
As he spoke, the sleazy look in his eyes deepened, and his already small eyes narrowed into slits.
He smiled playfully.
“Rou has really blossomed into quite a beauty these past few years.
If it weren’t for the curse on Xianhuang Village, I’d really want you to marry my son.”
Hearing this, a look of displeasure instantly surfaced on Zhang Rou’s face.
She was discussing serious business with Liu Jinshan, yet he was teasing her.
“Dad, Sister Rou is pretty!”
Standing beside Liu Jinshan was a burly man.
Despite his large frame, he was dressed sloppily, chewing on his fingers, and his speech and demeanor screamed of intellectual disability.
Liu Jinshan glanced at the man.
The women of Xianhuang Village are all reincarnations of fox spirits.
Bring one home, and she’ll suck you dry of your yang energy!”
“But I want the pretty sister!” the man whined, biting his fingers and throwing a tantrum.
Liu Jinshan’s eyes darted around briefly before he said to Zhang Rou, “Either pay a thousand yuan and continue renting, or I’m taking the land back!”
“Uncle Liu, everything is negotiable, right?” Just then, Luo Yanran took a step forward and stood beside Zhang Rou.
“Oh, another great beauty.” Liu Jinshan shamelessly sized Luo Yanran up with a burning gaze and laughed.
“I heard a great beauty came to Xianhuang Village.
Seeing you today, it truly is a feast for the eyes!”
“Pretty sister!” Liu Jinshan’s son cheered happily after seeing Luo Yanran.
A flash of disgust crossed Luo Yanran’s eyes before she smiled.
“Uncle Liu, I know the rent is low and it’s delaying your profits, but we really do have our difficulties.
I heard your sweater factory is preparing to transition into a clothing factory.
How about we continue working for you, and in exchange, you lower the rent for us?”
Liu Jinshan thought for a moment and chuckled.
“I’ve already found people to help with the clothing factory.
Besides, you women are too clumsy.
How could you handle such high-end work?”
Pausing there, Liu Jinshan abruptly changed the subject.
“However, you’re right.
Everything is negotiable.
Lowering the rent for you isn’t entirely out of the question!”
“Oh?” Luo Yanran and the other villagers were all delighted.
Liu Jinshan smiled.
“Not only can I lower it, I can even waive your rent for three years!”
Hearing this, Zhang Rou grabbed Luo Yanran’s hand with a happy smile, then turned her head and asked, “Then what are your conditions, Uncle Liu?”
The corners of Liu Jinshan’s mouth curled up slightly.
He raised his hand and pointed directly at Luo Yanran.
“She marries my son!”
“What!”
The smiles on Zhang Rou and Luo Yanran’s faces came to a sudden halt.
“She’s an outsider, not a villager of Xianhuang Village, so I don’t have to worry about any curse,” Liu Jinshan said with a grin.
“As long as she marries my son, I’ll let you all continue farming my land, and I’ll waive your rent for three years.
If she can give me a plump baby grandson, I’ll make it five years rent-free.”
As Liu Jinshan’s words fell, Zhang Rou pulled Luo Yanran and took a step back.
But the other villagers of Xianhuang Village all cast peculiar glances at Luo Yanran.
Five years rent-free.
That meant the money they made over the next five years wouldn’t have to be given to anyone else, and they could finally live a better life.
And all this just required Luo Yanran to marry Liu Jinshan’s son…