Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 36 Buying a Desert Island
Zheng Guoxing led the two to a table in the corner. It was neither too early nor too late, and there weren't many customers in the restaurant.

Zheng Guoxing plopped down and immediately said, "My brother-in-law asked the leaders, and the deserted island you're interested in doesn't even have a proper name. There are no resources for tourism investment, and developing real estate is even more unrealistic. It has no development value for at least the next thirty or forty years."

They calculate the price based on the property rights term. I said you're just clearing land and building houses, not buying or selling the land, so the longer the better, right?

Chen Wenjun nodded vigorously, "Definitely."

Zheng Guoxing's smile widened. "The government encourages you to reclaim wasteland. The land and resources department is offering 30 yuan per mu, and they'll even help you install power lines. Is that acceptable?"

His eyes darted back and forth between Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin, waiting for their reply.

Chen Wenjun started counting on his fingers, "It's thirty yuan per mu, three thousand yuan for one hundred mu, and six thousand yuan for two hundred mu. We might not have enough money on hand."

"How much is it short?" Zheng Guoxing was even more concerned than Chen Wenjun.

Chen Wenjun gave an embarrassed, sheepish smile and scratched his head. "We don't know the exact size of the wasteland on that island, so we can't say. Could we wait until it's measured before deciding?"

"No problem! Is this price acceptable?" This was Zheng Guoxing's biggest concern.

Chen Wenjun hesitated and nodded, "We don't know if this price is high or low, but we'll buy as big as we can."

His words were ambiguous, leaving Zheng Guoxing unsure of what to do.

Lin Qin immediately pointed to the goods and said, "Boss Zheng, let's weigh the goods first, okay?"

"Hey! I almost forgot about the important business!" Zheng Guoxing and Chen Wenjun weighed the fish and shrimp together and found that Chen Wenjun still had half a bucket of snails that he hadn't sold, so they simply bought them all and paid eighty-eight yuan.

No sooner had they left than Zheng Guoxing rode his bicycle to the Land and Resources Bureau to find Han Dongcai.

“Brother-in-law, I’ve told Chen Wenjun and his wife everything. They asked you to find someone to measure the size of the wasteland. I heard him mutter that six thousand yuan isn’t enough. Can you see if you can lower the price a bit? I’ll try my best to make this happen for you,” Zheng Guoxing said in a low voice.

Han Dong patted Zheng Guoxing on the shoulder, "Good brother-in-law! You've worked hard, I'll treat you to drinks another day!"

"Easy to say!"

After explaining the situation, Zheng Guoxing turned and left.

Han Dongcai quickly contacted his subordinates to go to the deserted island.

He hadn't paid attention to this before, and he didn't know that he could get a bonus for facilitating land transactions, which would also greatly help with his professional title evaluation. So he had to take it seriously.

In the afternoon, while Lin Qin and the others were fishing on the boat, they saw a small diesel-powered fishing boat carrying five or six people heading to the deserted island they had their eye on.

Lin Qin quickly went to find Chen Wenjun.

"Should we go over and see what's going on?"

Chen Wenjun nodded, picked up the bucket and fishing net, and went back with Lin Qin.

By the time their ship approached the gap in the deserted island, the people had already gone inside.

The two quickly disembarked, tied the rope to the banyan tree, and followed inside.

The six people who were working all looked at the couple.

Chen Wenjun walked up to Huang Qingfeng, who was closest to him, and asked, "Brother, what are you doing?"

Huang Qingfeng could tell from Chen Wenjun's attire that he was a fisherman from the neighborhood, and he was rather dismissive, saying, "We're taking measurements! If you have nothing else to do, you should leave quickly and not delay our work."

Chen Wenjun remained expressionless, exchanged a glance with Lin Qin, and then turned and left.

Once on the boat, the two men weren't angry at all because of the other's disdain; instead, they excitedly continued working.

The next day, the two went to the Guoxing Hotel again and found that Han Dongcai was also there. Before Chen Wenjun could ask, Han Dongcai came over to greet them personally.

He even personally brewed tea for the two of them. "I've been waiting for you for a while. Yesterday, Guoxing came over and told me about the situation. I immediately sent someone over to measure it. The data they reported after their calculations showed that the entire deserted island has a geomorphic granite geological landform. There are also many dark caves on the surrounding hills. It's unsafe and has no development value."

The only flat land that can be reclaimed is the sedimentary flat land in the center of the island, which is about 82 acres. There is also a ring of undulating slopes, which is larger, about 103 acres, but you can only grow some trees or vegetables and raise some chickens and ducks there. You can't do anything else.

I also discussed this situation with my supervisor.

The prices offered are 30 yuan per mu for flat land and 20 yuan per mu for sloping land, with a 70-year property right. I've calculated it for you; if you buy the whole thing, it will cost 4,520 yuan. What do you think?

Chen Wenjun drank a cup of tea, suppressing his excitement, and said to Han Dongcai, "Brother Han, my wife and I will discuss this first and then give you a definite answer, okay?"

Han Dongcai immediately stood up. "That's perfect. You two can discuss it properly. I have to go back to my unit. If you're sure you want to buy it, come and apply to me. I'll handle the paperwork for you. Then you can go to the Finance Bureau to pay the money, and finally hand over the invoice to me. I'll process the property ownership certificate for you."

Because it's a deserted island, there are also naming issues to consider, so the application process will be more complicated and should be completed as quickly as possible.

The two nodded repeatedly.

After seeing Han Dongcai off, they quickly sold the goods to Zheng Guoxing.

After receiving the money, the two went straight to the tailor shop in Friendship Square. The clothes Lin Qin had ordered were ready, and they paid the bill.

The two quickly returned to the fishing boat.

Lin Qin put her things down, told Lin Yi, and then went to the back cabin with Chen Wenjun, closing the door and windows.

"This price is more than a thousand yuan cheaper than we expected! Buy it! We have to buy it!" Lin Qin was so excited that she was dancing with joy. Heaven knows how much she had been holding back all this time.

Chen Wenjun was also excited, "Let's take out the money from these past few days and calculate it again to see how much it all is in total."

Counting money is one of their favorite things to do.

After the two of them sorted out the accounts from the past few days.

Lin Qin slowly said, "There are 684.58 yuan, plus the previous 4,165.26 yuan, which makes a total of 4,849.84 yuan."

The price of the wasteland is 4,520 yuan, and we'll still have a few hundred yuan left over, that's enough!

“Okay, I’ll go find Han Dongcai this afternoon. Let’s apply first, and then we’ll wait for Han Dongcai to let us know when to pay.” Chen Wenjun grinned. If he had more time, he would have gone there right now.

To buy this land, Chen Wenjun unusually skipped his afternoon fishing trip.

Lin Qin didn't rush to go fishing. Instead, she boiled two pots of water to wash the two children thoroughly and dress them in new clothes.

These days, no child dislikes wearing new clothes.

Upon hearing that they could change into new clothes after washing, they couldn't wait to strip naked. Even the shy Chen Ping'an was incredibly impatient.

Lin Yi was busy helping to boil water and didn't have time to ask Chen Wenjun what he was doing.

When Chen Wenjun returned, he learned that they had gone to buy land.

Lin Yi's expression was priceless. "What's going on? Why did you suddenly buy it? Do you have enough money? If not, I have some saved up here, you can take it!"

He was so excited that he stammered.

"The author notes: This price is a reasonable estimate based on local land prices. In 2015, a plot of 2,000 mu of wasteland along the ring road in our area was sold for over 600 yuan per mu. This land was intended for investment in the construction of a hospital and was a government-supported project, so there were certain preferential policies. The final land price was determined through negotiations between the development zone and the developer, so land sales prices are flexible and there is no fixed range."

(End of this chapter)