A small plot of land in a mountain village

"You can sign either of these two documents, and the contract will become effective immediately. If you're worried about any legal loopholes, you can have a professional check it before signing," Assistant Zhang said with a smile, seemingly sensing Zhang Niu's concerns.

Anyone who encounters this situation would have the same question in their mind.

"Old Zhang, what do you think about this?" he asked Chairman Zhang beside him.

Chairman Zhang just smiled and didn't say anything more. This was a matter for Zhang Niu to decide, after all, it was his business, and at most he could only offer his opinion.

Seeing that Chairman Zhang remained silent, I knew what he was thinking.

After pondering for a moment while stroking his chin, Zhang Niu said, "Then I'll choose the contract with added clauses!"

Zhang Niu felt uneasy about taking that mountain for free. It was like finding 100,000 yuan on the street; he wouldn't sleep soundly at night, afraid that someone would take it back someday.

Adding a pact to yourself is like locking yourself in the heart, bringing peace of mind and a sense of security.

Zhang Cheng seemed to have anticipated Zhang Niu's choice. He took out a pen, smiled slightly, and said, "Just sign your name at the bottom of the document. Make three copies: one for you, one for the homeowner, and one for me."

Chairman Zhang seemed quite satisfied with Zhang Niu's actions. Although it was free and didn't cost him any money, the owner of this property clearly put a lot of thought into it. This villa had only been open for a short time, while the other place had already been completed.

From the numerous clues, we can infer that the distant mountain was built for Zhang Niu. It is estimated that when construction began, it was to prepare for Zhang Niu's future development of the mountain resort. There must have been many complicated matters involved.

They probably know all about Zhang Niu selling scented cherries. Judging from this, the other party clearly has no ill intentions and might even be able to help a lot.

After signing his name in three places, Assistant Zhang smiled, thinking the matter was finally settled. He had initially thought it would require a lot of persuasion, but he himself was unfamiliar with the details of the contract.

Following Zhang Cheng's instructions, he signed his name in three places and handed the three documents back to Zhang Cheng.

He handed one of the copies back to Zhang Niu, saying, "Keep this one for yourself. If you have any problems, feel free to come to us. The matter is now settled, and we need to go back and report."

Assistant Zhang took out a bunch of keys from his bag. "These are all the keys to the rooms on that hilltop. They're all marked with room numbers, so there won't be any mistakes. If you're not comfortable with that, you can get new ones anytime." He smiled and handed the whole bunch of keys to Zhang Niu.

Looking at the whole bunch of silver keys, Zhang Niu wondered if he had really taken over that mountain so easily. It all felt like a dream.

"I forgot to mention, you just signed this contract, and you have to hand over this money every year. The account number is in the document, and you can make the payment in a few days," Zhang Cheng added as he stood up.

After seeing the two off in their car, Zhang Niu was still reflecting on what had just happened.

"Ah Niu, this is quite unexpected, isn't it!" Chairman Zhang walked out of the bamboo pavilion.

"Yeah, a fellow villager actually offered me a mountain, all ready and set up. I was completely baffled. They even gave me two documents to choose from. It's like a huge windfall."

"Do you have any recollection of it yourself?" Chairman Zhang then asked.

"Stop talking. All I know is that the hill was built by Assistant Zhang, who just left. I don't know anything else. I'm afraid only the village chief knows the truth. But it's pointless to ask him; he won't tell you." Zhang Niu looked helpless.

Zhang Niu could guess a lot about this matter, and he would probably only find out everything after meeting the homeowner! But the homeowner didn't have time to bother with him.

"Whose Audi was that just now? It looks brand new," the fat man who had just come out of the bamboo house asked.

As the fat man emerged from the bamboo house, he saw figures getting into a car, including a pretty girl and this brand-new Audi.

Zhang Niu chuckled. "Isn't this because we're in a hurry to deliver a gift?"

Giving a gift? Giving a gift so early in the morning? That's really unusual!

"They came over early this morning and brought over a hilltop. Would you like to go and take a look?"

After the fat man heard about this, he gave a thumbs up and kept talking about it. He said that the scenery and terrain of that mountain were quite good. Zhang Niu had wanted to rent it before, but someone else beat him to it.

"Go, of course we'll go! We definitely have to check that place out!" the fat man shouted excitedly, the first to chime in.

Fatty was always the most enthusiastic about everything. Whether it was picking honeysuckle in the mountains or raiding bird nests in the tall grass, he was always the first to take the lead, which Zhang Niu truly admired.

"Let's all go take a look!"

Zhang Niu had only glanced at his own Maotou Mountain briefly, but he had never actually gone there to see what it looked like. Now that it had become his own, the difference was quite significant.

We led everyone up Maotou Mountain, where there's a small path that leads through.

The ground was paved with cement and many saplings had been planted. It looked similar to Happy Little House, but Happy Little House was more vibrant and not as desolate as this place.

"Not bad, look at these bamboo houses, there are more than you have built. And look at the ground, it feels even better than over there." The fat man said as he walked, also very surprised by the place.

Eight bamboo houses stood in a row in front of Zhang Niu. They seemed to further enhance the atmosphere of bamboo houses, showing that Brother Ma's bamboo house building skills were quite good.

The fat man walked over and patted Zhang Niu on the shoulder: "This place belongs to you now. Any plans?"

"No, I just arrived here. Look how empty it is. It's not as comfortable as my own place. It's rather deserted." He pointed to the empty space in front of him.

Zhang Niu's words make a lot of sense. The place is just a concrete area with only a few bamboo houses and three fish ponds, just as Zhang Niu described. If this place were renovated, it would be completely unrecognizable.

Opening the door to the bamboo house, it was completely empty inside, with no furniture, just a frame. It seemed that from now on, I would have to pay for the bed and furniture myself.

I climbed the bamboo stairs to the second floor. Standing in front of the bamboo railing, I gazed into the distance.

"The location is good, but it will cost a lot of money." Looking around at the empty space.

"Yeah, this place is basically just an empty shell. Look, there isn't even a bed inside, and the saplings are planted too sparsely. It doesn't look like anything at all." The fat man was very dissatisfied with the place.

Needless to say, Zhang Niu knew that you couldn't make money in this place without investing money; it was all just hype and untrue.

"That's all simple, but have you noticed this road?" Zhang Niu pointed to the cement road leading into the distance.

"A cement road? What's wrong with that? Isn't it great? It saves you the trouble of rebuilding the road yourself." The fat man looked at the cement road and didn't see anything strange about it.

"You're talking about the passage issue from your side, right?" Chairman Zhang concluded after examining the situation closely for a while.

"Yes, this cement road leading outside is very useful, but getting here from Happy Cottage is another problem." This problem only came to mind after seeing the cement road.

"I thought you were going to say something like, 'If there's no road, build it yourself.' I looked around on the way here, and it's all flat land from your side. It's just that there are thorny trees planted on the edge of your Maotou Mountain. Cut them down and fill in the gaps, and you'll be able to build a road all the way to this side. It'll be easy to get in and out from here, and it won't be a problem in the future."

The fat man's words made a lot of sense; that was the only way. They would build along the edge of the mountain, but they would still have to fill in a lot of valleys, which would cost a fortune.

"That's the only way then." She uttered these words helplessly. She had assumed the interior was already decorated, but it turned out to be completely different from what she had imagined.

"Besides repairing the road, we also need to plant saplings here. How about we transport some more osmanthus trees? I still have quite a few left," he said, starting to promote his business again.

Zhang Niu rolled his eyes; this guy was always thinking about his business.

Just as Fatty had said, the saplings on this site we took over all needed to be replaced with larger tree species, otherwise it would be difficult for the place to quickly become a lush, green oasis.

Coming down from the bamboo house, the rooms were basically empty, without even light bulbs. Zhang Niu felt like dying. Building a bamboo house without installing electrical wiring was truly unacceptable.

The pond with three mouths is even simpler. It's half full of water, and it's all stagnant water. You can guess without even asking that there are absolutely no live fish in it.

This is another troublesome matter. Does it mean we have to carry out another major renovation? Moreover, the Xiandu Mountain behind the bamboo house is also a hillside covered with weeds.

This place is practically empty shell. I'll have to put in a lot of effort to renovate it; this is such a hassle.

"Fatty, do you still have any saplings in your orchard? Reserve some for me. Look, we need to plant trees on the hill behind us! We can't leave it empty. And this pond can't always be stagnant. And these saplings too." He said with a mournful face.

"I know. I can help you contact the fruit seedlings, tree saplings, fish fry, and even the road repairmen. It would be best if you could take all the remaining ten or so osmanthus trees I have. It's all easy." Zhang Niu was speechless. Even when it came to this, he still had to haggle over the price. Only a fat man would do that.

"Fine, whatever you say. But the planting of these trees is a technical job, so your employees will have to do it. That way, I can save on labor costs." Since you're haggling with me, Zhang Niu certainly won't let you lose out, so he'll naturally try to get his revenge.

"No problem, but you need to clear this hill first." There's no time to help you clear the weeds for free; Fatty has his own methods.

"You two are really something, one setting the price and the other trying to buy it all up. It's quite a sight!" Chairman Zhang immediately started joking, finding the whole thing amusing.

Having seen everything they needed to see, the group returned along the road, taking the opportunity to check which way the cement road should lead. They needed to prepare early and renovate it as soon as possible so that the place could be lively during the summer vacation.

The path back was very flat, perfect for road repairs. It wouldn't take much time; at most, we'd just need to fill it with a few truckloads of gravel. Nothing else mattered.

At least this is something to be happy about. If it were the kind of thing that required cutting through mountains to build roads, Zhang Niu would probably be tempted to just grab a knife and start hacking people to death. It's just a waste of money.

The dirt road that is going to be renovated is about the same distance as the newly paved cement road outside the village, and the price will probably be about the same, if not more. Light poles will also be erected on both sides of the cement road. If they are not installed, will people have to walk through the dark all the way?

Xiandu Mountain directly asked Zhang Niu to name it Qingyou Xiaoju, which is a small branch of Kaixin Xiaozhu. He thought the name was quite good and matched the place well.

P.S.: I drank too much in this chapter and feel really unwell. (To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read the official version!)