251 Starting to Rent Land
When Gu Qingming heard Mo Ronghua’s words, she was a little stunned and said, “Mr. Mo, are you going to negotiate with the villagers?”
Mo Ronghua nodded and said, “That’s right! I heard from your grandmother that you want to contract 200 acres of land, but I’m worried that the elders in the village won’t rent out their land. I was wondering if you want me to help you negotiate with the villagers?”
For a business king, negotiating with the villagers was just a small case.
Gu Qingming was stunned at first, but then she smiled and said, “Mr. Mo, you must be joking. How can I trouble you for such a small matter? I can negotiate with the villagers myself!”
To Gu Qingming, this was also a small case.
Being rejected by Gu Qingming, Mo Ronghua was not angry. However, he stared at her belly and asked worriedly, “But your stomach is so big now. Can you take it?”
Although negotiating was not physically exhausting, it was also very brain-wrenching. Throughout the entire process, she might be exhausted.
Gu Qingming shook her head and chuckled. “Thank you for your concern, Mr. Mo. This is just a small matter. It won’t make me too tired.”
Mo Ronghua frowned slightly and looked at Gu Qingming. He said, “Mingming, you can call me Uncle or Uncle Mo. We feel a little uncomfortable hearing you keep calling us Mr. and Mrs. Mo.”
At this point, he paused for a moment and said seriously, “Don’t worry, we won’t force you to be with my Yan’er. We won’t interfere in your relationship anymore. If it’s really fated, you’ll naturally be together. However, before that, I hope you won’t reject us and treat us as ordinary elders. Is that okay?”
Gu Qingming thought for a moment and nodded. “Okay!”
It was hard to say how her relationship with Mo Junyan was now.
However, no matter what, the two people in front of her were the child’s biological grandparents. If she was too distant, she would not know how to explain herself if the child again in the future.
Moreover, Mo Ronghua was the king of the business world. He was rich, powerful, and had a noble status. Now that he was facing her, he could no longer put on airs. Not to mention that the other party was an elder!
A gentle smile appeared on Mo Ronghua’s stern face.
He said, “Actually, if it weren’t for the fact that we like you as our daughter-in-law, my wife and I would have acknowledged you as our goddaughter. Rou’er and I only have one child, Yan’er. My wife has always wanted a daughter. She said that a daughter is a considerate little cotton-padded jacket. It’s just that when she gave birth to Yan’er, she strained her body. After recuperating, she became a little older. I don’t want her to suffer the pain of giving birth again. My wife liked you very much the moment she saw you and really wanted to treat you as her daughter.”
Gu Qingming smiled and said, “Thank you for Uncle Mo and Auntie’s favor, and thank you for liking me. Actually, I like you very much too.”
Mo Ronghua’s words were a great temptation to any girl, including the socialites in the upper class of the capital.
Everyone in the business world knew what it meant to be Mo Ronghua’s goddaughter.
That was money and power. It was just slightly lower in status than being the Mo Family’s daughter-in-law.
Oh, no, it should be explained this way:
If the daughter-in-law who married into the Mo Family was not loved as much as the goddaughter, then this goddaughter’s status was higher than the Mo Family’s daughter-in-law.
However, compared to letting Gu Qingming be their goddaughter, they definitely liked Gu Qingming more as their daughter-in-law.
A daughter-in-law was a real family. To put it bluntly, a goddaughter was someone else’s daughter.
Of course, Mo Ronghua and Madam would choose Gu Qingming as their daughter-in-law.
…
In half a month, the oranges from his three uncles, which weighed more than 100,000 catties, had been sold out.
The oranges left behind were all ordered by customers. They were to stay on the tree for a while longer and would be plucked once the fragrance was stronger.
However, they could not keep the oranges on the trees forever. They had to be removed before the frost.
The frozen oranges would not taste good then. There was no moisture, and the sweetness and fragrance were not strong enough.
After the navel oranges were sold out, Gu Qingming and her uncles started to rent the land.
The young people went out to work, leaving behind old people and children who could not farm much.
However, a large portion of the middle-aged stayed at home. They were unwilling to go out to work, so they still had to farm the land at home.
This was a little difficult.
At night, the three uncles discussed this with Gu Qingming.
“Mingming, we went to the village to test the reaction of the villagers. Those families who are young and work outside, leaving only the old and children behind, are fine. They are willing to rent it out. Anyway, some land is desolate there. If they can rent it out, they can earn some rent.”
“But these lands only add up to 40 to 50 acres. It’s too far from 200 acres.”
“The problem now is that those families who are not too old or too young are not willing to rent out the land at all!”
People at this age were middle-aged people. They had a lot of strength and could work more. Of course, they were unwilling to rent out the land.
What were they going to do after renting out the land? They had nothing to do.
They would rather farm their land.
Even if they could not earn money from planting rice, they could plant other things, such as vegetables, watermelons, and peanuts. No matter what, they could earn some money. That was better than renting it out for only a few hundred dollars a year.
What’s more, many people had sold their watermelons at a high price this year. Many people were tempted and were waiting to plant watermelons the next year.
Of course, these people were unwilling to rent out the land.
If Gu Qingming wanted to rent 200 acres of land, she had to do the thinking work of these people.
Money and benefits might be able to move them, but how much would it cost?
Shi Liqiu suggested, “Maybe we can do this. We can rent 50 acres of land in this village and think of a way to surround it. If the land from the outer village can be rented, we can surround it with dozens of acres of land. This way, it will reduce a lot of trouble!”
Shi Lichun nodded and said, “I think this method is feasible! The surrounding villages’ land is next to our Stoneback Village. It’s not much different from renting our village’s land. Mingming, what do you think?”
Gu Qingming nodded and said, “As long as I can gather the land and manage it, it doesn’t matter if it’s outside the village!”
Most importantly, it was convenient for her to use the spiritual spring water!
“Alright, since Mingming has no objections, we can go to the outer village to ask. We’ll make plans after that!”