Wang Yong was a Disciple from the Iron Spear Martial Arts School in the county town, and his specialty was the Capture Tiger Boxing technique. Seeing such a fine piece of unpolished jade like Chen Chuanwu, he couldn't help but be delighted.
"If Brother Wang finds him acceptable, then I'll leave this brat in your care!"
Seeing Wang Yong's expression, Chen Changsheng knew that the matter of the apprenticeship was settled. He quickly smiled and handed over twenty taels of silver.
"Brother Chen, rest assured. Although I am only a Second Level Martial Artist, under my guidance, it is not impossible for Chuanwu's skills to reach the Third Refinement Realm!"
"If he is truly exceptional, I will personally take him to the county town to be taught by my master. I definitely won't waste his Aptitude!"
Wang Yong accepted the tuition fee with a smile. Although the relationship between the two families was good, the rule of paying tuition could not be broken. After all, Wang Yong earned his living by teaching Disciples; once the rule was broken, he feared everyone would follow suit.
Furthermore, Wang Yong was truly putting in effort. In the Dao of martial arts, there are the Four Refinement Stages: Skin, Flesh, Bone, and Blood. Every Breakthrough to a new level is like ascending to a new heaven.
Wang Yong's promise to Chen Changsheng to teach his son to the Third Refinement Realm was already very extraordinary. One must know that even the Bailiffs who worked for the government in the county town were only at the level of the Third Refinement.
What's more, Wang Yong even intended to ask his master, who was in the fourth stage, the Blood Refining Realm, to help with the training. That was almost a legend of the Jianghu, the strongest type of expert below the Innate Realm. Ordinary people simply wouldn't have the Face to ask for such a favor.
"Thank you, Brother Wang. I don't have much to offer in thanks, so I'll send you a jar of strong chinese liquor every year from now on!"
"Haha, I've been craving your strong chinese liquor the most!"
Chen Changsheng thanked Wang Yong again. After a few words of casual conversation, they left Chuanwu at Wang Yong's house to study, and Chen Changsheng took his leave.
Having settled the matter of the apprenticeship, Chen Changsheng took Chuanwen to finish harvesting the wheat they hadn't had time to collect yesterday before heading home.
He kept enough grain for their own consumption and sold the extra wheat for 20 taels of silver.
Chen Changsheng took out his savings; there were a total of 250 taels of silver remaining.
The next day, Chen Changsheng woke up early and headed to the county town. To implement his plan to make money by planting tea, he first had to rent a piece of mountain land.
Their Longwei County was right next to the Jade Dragon Mountain Range, and Kaoshan Village was adjacent to a low hill—War Horse Slope.
This low hill was part of the foothills of the Jade Dragon Mountain Range. It had never produced anything of value, so the price was likely not expensive.
Upon entering the county town, Chen Changsheng made his way to the Yamen. He handed a piece of broken silver to the guard at the gate and said with a smile:
"Little brother, I'm looking for the Forestry Commissioner. Could you pass word for me?"
The Yamen guard tossed the broken silver in his hand, a satisfied look appearing on his Face as he threw a sentence back at Chen Changsheng.
"Wait here, I'll go check for you!"
After a short while, the guard returned with a middle-aged man wearing official robes.
"I am He Zhang, the current Forestry Commissioner of Longwei County. What business do you have with me?"
Chen Changsheng quickly stated his intent, telling him that he wanted to rent ten mu of mountain land on War Horse Slope.
Hearing this, He Zhang's lips curled into a smile. He hadn't expected anyone to rent a wretched place like War Horse Slope. It had no timber, no herbs, and no game; it was completely a wasteland.
However, since he was the Forestry Commissioner, even if it was wasteland passing through his hands, he intended to squeeze some oil out of it.
"Renting land, eh? According to the rates, one hundred taels for ten mu is the market price. I see you probably can't produce much silver, so how about I give you a hand?"
As soon as Chen Changsheng heard this, he knew the man before him was a rat looking to skim some grease. One must not offend such people; if handled well, they can help you get things done, but if offended, they will ruin everything instead.
"It's all up to you, Milord!"
Chen Changsheng very tactfully and quietly handed over fifty taels of silver to see what this greedy rat could accomplish.
He Zhang tucked the silver into his sleeve, and a smile immediately appeared on his Face. He hadn't expected this farmer to be so easy to deal with!
Since no one was renting that low hill at War Horse Slope anyway, he might as well give him a bargain!
"War Horse Slope is currently quite derelict, and the county wants someone to take it over. How about this: you pay one hundred taels of silver, and I'll rent you thirty mu of land?"
He Zhang said with a smile. Hearing this, a flash of joy appeared in Chen Changsheng's eyes; the greedy rat really did get things done.
By giving just fifty taels, he had gained an extra twenty mu of mountain land. One must know that War Horse Slope only had sixty mu in total, so he had essentially taken half the mountain.
"Thank you, Milord! This humble one will follow your every command!"
Chen Changsheng quickly nodded in agreement. Seeing that Chen Changsheng knew how to handle things, He Zhang stroked his beard and said with a smile:
"Come, follow me into the Yamen to collect the Land Deed, and then you can go home and fence off your land!"
Chen Changsheng followed He Zhang to an office in the Yamen, paid the silver, received the Land Deed, and left the county town with a smile.
He finally had land, and thirty mu at that. His plan to make money had taken a solid step forward!
Afterward, Chen Changsheng spent another twenty taels at the flower and plant market. Using his knowledge of seed selection, he picked out a bag of green tea seeds and jasmine seeds.
Once everything was prepared, Chen Changsheng left the county town and returned to Kaoshan Village!
"Second son, come on, follow your father up the mountain to fence off the land!"
Returning home, Chen Changsheng cheerfully pulled Chuanwen away from feeding the chickens.
"Husband, how many mu of land did you rent?"
Yi Lian heard the voice and came out carrying the child to ask.
"Haha, I had good luck this time. I rented thirty mu of land and only spent one hundred and fifty taels!"
Chen Changsheng was in a good mood, so he recounted the situation of meeting the greedy rat He Zhang in detail.
Upon hearing this, Yi Lian advised him to have as little to do with such greedy rats as possible.
Chen Changsheng felt otherwise. In his view, there are no fish in clear water; besides, a cat that catches mice is a good cat, regardless of whether it's a greedy cat or an honest cat.
War Horse Slope was right behind Kaoshan Village, only a few hundred meters away from Chen Changsheng's house.
Chen Changsheng prepared his tools and set off to fence the land at War Horse Slope.
There weren't many people in the village to begin with, so any bit of news spread everywhere.
When everyone heard that Chen Changsheng had rented thirty mu of mountain land, many felt jealous and said that Chen Changsheng was a spendthrift, trading a large amount of silver for mountain land that couldn't grow grain, and that he would eventually squander the entire family fortune.
Chen Changsheng turned a deaf ear to them, focusing only on leading Chuanwen to fence the land. They cut some wood and built a simple fence to enclose the thirty mu of mountain land.
"Hmm, this fence is still too simple to keep out thieves. Chuanwen, what do you think about us raising a dog to guard the house?"
Looking at the thirty mu of mountain land, a sense of pride surged within Chen Changsheng. He would carve out another territory and a new source of wealth for the Chen Family.
"Great, great! I like big dogs! Father, let's pick a majestic one!"
Chen Chuanwen was only eight years old and couldn't understand Chen Changsheng's feelings, but he couldn't hide his love for pets. He had wanted to raise a dog for a long time, but because there wasn't much grain in the house before, he didn't dare to add another mouth to feed.
Just as the two of them were dreaming of the future, a sparse group of young men came up the mountain.
"Chen Changsheng, instead of farming properly, what kind of mountain are you renting? Is this mountain something a poor ghost like you can afford to rent? Don't wait until next year when it's time to pay the rent and you can't afford it, and your whole family has to go begging!"
A burst of ridicule mixed with contemptuous laughter came their way. Chen Changsheng looked back and saw that the speaker was Liu Ergou, a relative of the Headman Liu Family in Kaoshan Village.
This Liu Ergou spent his time drinking, eating, gambling, and visiting brothels. He had squandered his family's property and made his father so angry that he fell ill. Liu Ergou didn't even seek treatment for him, letting his father die of illness. His reputation in Kaoshan Village was utterly rotten.
Fortunately, he was the nephew of Headman Liu and usually ran errands for the Liu Family, which allowed him to survive. Because of the Liu Family's protection, he hadn't been cursed to death by people pointing at his back.
Chen Changsheng didn't want to argue with such a person; getting involved with someone like him only brought trouble.
"I'm not exactly renting a mountain, just marking out some land to plant some tea. In the future, I'll inevitably need Brother Ergou to pass a message to Headman Liu's household, so that Old Master Liu can buy my tea products."
Chen Changsheng said with a smile. Let them look down on him as they pleased; in the end, the facts would slap them hard in the Face!