CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: BUYING THE DESERTED ISLAND

Zheng Guoxing led the two to the table in the corner to sit down. It was neither too early nor too late, and the restaurant didn’t have many customers.

As soon as Zheng Guoxing sat down, he said, "My brother-in-law asked the leader for you. The deserted island you’re interested in doesn’t even have a proper name, lacks tourism resources, and it’s unrealistic to develop real estate. It won’t have development value for at least thirty or forty years.

They’re calculating the cost according to the land ownership duration. I said you’re just going to clear the land and build houses without buying and selling land, so the longer the duration, the better, right?"

Chen Wenjun nodded vigorously, "Definitely."

Zheng Guoxing’s smile grew wider, "You’re reclaiming wasteland, which the government encourages. The current quote from the land department is thirty yuan per acre, and they can even help you install power lines. Can you accept it?"

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

Chen Wenjun started calculating on his fingers, "Thirty yuan per acre, three thousand yuan for a hundred acres, six thousand yuan for two hundred acres... We might still be a bit short on cash."

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

Embarrassed, Chen Wenjun pulled out a silly smile and scratched his head, "We don’t know the exact size of the wasteland on the island, so it’s hard to say. Can we wait until after it’s measured to decide?"

"No problem! Can you accept this price?" Zheng Guoxing was still most concerned about this.

Chen Wenjun hesitantly nodded, "We don’t really understand if this price is high or low. Anyway, we’ll buy as much as we can."

His words were ambiguous, making it difficult for Zheng Guoxing to decide.

Lin Qin immediately pointed to the goods, "Boss Zheng, let’s weigh the items first, okay?"

"Oh! Almost forgot the main business!" Zheng Guoxing and Chen Wenjun weighed the fish and shrimp together and found that Chen Wenjun still had half a bucket of snails unsold, so they simply bought them all for eighty-eight yuan.

As soon as they left, Zheng Guoxing immediately rode his bicycle to the land resources bureau to find Han Dongcai.

"Brother-in-law, I’ve told Chen Wenjun and his wife all the situation. They want you to find someone to measure the size of the wasteland. I heard him mumbling that they’re still a bit short if it’s six thousand yuan. Can you see if it can be any cheaper? I’ll try my best to facilitate this matter." Zheng Guoxing said in a low voice.

Han Dongcai patted Zheng Guoxing’s shoulder, "Good brother-in-law! Thank you, I’ll treat you to a drink someday!"

"No problem!"

After explaining the matter, Zheng Guoxing turned and left.

Han Dongcai quickly contacted people below to go to the deserted island.

Previously, he didn’t pay attention to this, and didn’t know that successfully facilitating a land deal could earn him a bonus, which also greatly helped his professional evaluations, so he had to be attentive.

In the afternoon, when Lin Qin and the others were fishing on the boat, they saw a small diesel fishing boat with five or six people heading to the deserted island they were interested in.

Lin Qin quickly went to find Chen Wenjun.

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

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

By the time their boat approached the island’s opening, those people had already gone in.

The two quickly disembarked, tied the rope to a large banyan tree, and went in.

The six people working all turned to look at the couple.

Chen Wenjun approached the nearest person, Huang Qingfeng, "Brother, what are you doing?"

Huang Qingfeng glanced at Chen Wenjun’s attire and knew he was a local fisherman, somewhat dismissive, "We’re surveying! If you have nothing to do, leave quickly, don’t delay our work."

Chen Wenjun’s expression didn’t change, he exchanged a glance with Lin Qin, and turned to leave.

The two got back on the boat, not at all angered by the other’s disdain, instead, they continued to work excitedly.

The next day, the two went to Guoxing Restaurant again and found that Han Dongcai was also there.

Before Chen Wenjun could ask, Han Dongcai came over to greet them.

He even personally made tea for them, "I’ve been waiting for you. Zheng Guoxing told me the situation yesterday. I immediately sent people to measure it. The data they reported is that the entire deserted island has a geological landform of crystalline granite with numerous hidden caves on the surrounding hills, which are unsafe and hold no development value.

The flat land suitable for agriculture is about eighty-two acres formed by sediments in the center of the island. There’s also a ring of uneven sloping land, which is larger, a hundred and three acres, but it can only be used for planting trees or vegetables and raising chickens and ducks, nothing else.

I communicated this with the leaders.

The current offered price is thirty yuan per acre for flat land and twenty yuan per acre for sloping land, with a seventy-year property right. I calculated for you, if you buy it all, it would be four thousand five hundred and twenty yuan in total, what do you think?"

Chen Wenjun drank a cup of tea, suppressing his inner excitement, and said to Han Dongcai, "Brother Han, my wife and I need to discuss a bit before we give you an accurate answer, okay?"

Han Dongcai immediately stood up, "Great, you discuss it well. I need to return to the office. If you decide to buy, come to me to apply, and I’ll handle the paperwork for you. You pay at the finance bureau, and then submit the receipt to me. I’ll arrange the property certificate for you.

Because it’s a deserted island, there’s also naming and other matters involved, so the application process is a bit more complex, the sooner the better."

The two nodded repeatedly.

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

With the money in hand, the two immediately made a trip to the tailoring shop at Friendship Square. Luckily, the clothes Lin Qin ordered were all done, and they paid the bill.

The two hurried back to the fishing boat.

Lin Qin put down the things, informed Lin Yi, and went with Chen Wenjun to the cabin, shutting doors and windows.

"This price is more than a thousand yuan cheaper than we expected! Buy! We have to buy!" Lin Qin was so excited she was gesturing enthusiastically, only she knew how hard it was to hold it all in along the way.

Chen Wenjun was equally excited, "Let’s take out the money from the past few days, add it up, and see the total amount."

Counting money was one of their favorite activities.

After organizing their accounts from the past few days.

Lin Qin slowly said, "We have six hundred eighty-four yuan and fifty-eight cents, plus the previous four thousand one hundred sixty-five yuan and twenty-six cents, altogether four thousand eight hundred forty-nine yuan and eighty-four cents.

The wasteland price is four thousand five hundred twenty, so we’ll still have a few hundred yuan left, that’s enough!"

"Alright, I’ll go find Han Dongcai in the afternoon, let’s apply first, and wait for him to notify us to pay." Chen Wenjun grinned widely, he would have gone right away if time allowed.

For the sake of buying this land, in the afternoon, Chen Wenjun unusually did not go fishing.

Lin Qin wasn’t in a hurry to fish either, instead, she heated up two pots of hot water, ready to thoroughly wash the two kids inside and out and dress them in new clothes.

Back then, no child didn’t like wearing new clothes.

Upon hearing that they could wear new clothes after getting clean, they couldn’t wait to strip down, even the usually shy Chen Ping’an was extremely eager.

Lin Yi helped boil water, busy inside and out, without having time to ask Chen Wenjun what he went to do.

It was only when Chen Wenjun returned that they found out he went to buy land.

Lin Yi’s expression was amazing, "What’s the situation? How did you suddenly decide to buy? Do you have enough money? If not, I’ve saved some here, you can use it!"

He was so excited he was stumbling over his own words.

Author’s note: This price is a reasonable estimate based on local land prices. In 2015, a two-thousand-acre wasteland along the ring road in our area was sold for over six hundred yuan per acre. This land was used for investing in hospital construction, a government-supported project, so there were certain discounts. The final land price was decided after negotiation between the development zone and the developers, so land sales prices are flexible and do not have a precise range.