CHAPTER 1932: CHAPTER 911: SUCCESS COMES EFFORTLESSLY (PART 2)

Now Yan Fei’s face turned dark, "Wife, do you think buying a ranch is like buying clothes in our county? Can you cut the price in half just like that?"

Xu Xiaoyan laughed after she spoke, "I’m just saying, what’s with your expressions? Once we buy it, it permanently belongs to us, and our son can inherit it in the future..."

Talking about their son made her blush.

To be honest, she and Yan Xiaofei aren’t married yet!

Yan Fei laughed, and added in his heart, "Yes, of course, it will be for our son to inherit in the future."

He didn’t say it aloud to avoid making his wife blush even more. He knew his wife was occasionally open-minded, but she was actually quite shy.

Xu Xiaoyan thought permanent ownership was great because during the previous information gathering by Yan Fei, she’d heard about an incident. Apparently, a boss rented a ranch in a certain place, ran it for a few years, and then the local village chief changed.

Then the new chief started nitpicking, asking to shorten the lease term and wanting to raise the rent. In short, they just wanted to squeeze some money out of the ranch.

The key was, they weren’t afraid to be straightforward, directly telling the small ranch owner, "You’ve paid everything to the previous one, now I get none here, let alone the successor. If you don’t pay me now, the next one won’t be happy either."

Basically, it was a clear statement: if you can’t ensure each new chief gets a cut from the ranch, the success of your business... will be uncertain.

The issue was that when the small ranch owner signed the contract, consideration wasn’t thorough, or because of circumstances, they paid several years of rent upfront. According to the contract, their rent couldn’t ensure each chief received money.

Imagine, if they want to continue operating, who knows how much extra they need to shell out.

That’s why Xu Xiaoyan was particularly keen on permanent land rights. Although she studied law, she wasn’t foolish. Being with Yan Fei, she’d seen quite a few things, addressing specific problems specifically—sometimes, a contract isn’t the ultimate guarantee.

"So, is the five million in Australia currency?" Chen Yingjun had been waiting for this couple to finish their affection show before he couldn’t resist asking again.

"Of course, if it were in pounds, it’d be too expensive." Xu Xiaoyan nodded.

"Still not cheap." Chen Yingjun calculated the exchange rate in his mind. "More than twenty million!"

Buying three million acres for over twenty million, calling it expensive doesn’t really measure it—they haven’t visited the ranch yet! Maybe there’s nothing on the ranch now, probably not only are the livestock not counted, but even the pasture won’t have much.

It’s not that a ranch means everywhere is lush and green with pasture; some large ranches, due to climate and management reasons, practically count as wasteland.

Even cheaper ranches aren’t unheard of; those are empty lands released by the local government to attract investments. Buy them, there’s nothing there; the investment afterwards is the major expense—truly, as they say, "the main expense is still to come."

But given the ranch’s price and area stated in the newspaper, it’s hard to expect too much.

Of course, Yan Fei wasn’t expecting much either.

"That’s it, let’s finish eating and think about how to negotiate with them." Yan Fei felt a bit regretful. "It’s just not by the seaside, I guess we’ll have to buy more ranches later to reach the sea. Well, it’ll be like that!"

Chen Yingjun’s eyes widened, "Brother Fei, isn’t this ranch enough for you?"

Yan Fei chuckled, "The more we acquire, the better. Having more space would make it easier to raise more cattle. Ideally, we’d occupy the whole state’s land, but that probably won’t work; the local government would start keeping an eye on us. Haha..."

"Brother Fei, I have some money too, how about I partner with you?" Chen Yingjun tentatively suggested.

"Your money won’t be enough, not worth the hassle," Yan Fei directly rejected his proposal. "It’s best for close brothers to settle things clearly; I must guarantee full control after acquiring the ranch. If you’re interested, you can mess around a bit further away. Stay away from me, I’ll definitely get all the surrounding ranches later."

Chen Yingjun wasn’t offended by Yan Fei’s warning, he had a hunch before speaking; Boss Yan wasn’t someone easy to talk to. Not to mention, his money, while significant, would be nothing in such a large ranch.

Nearly right after Yan Fei spoke, Chen Yingjun continued, "Brother Fei, maybe later I can work for you! Just thinking about spending the days in such a large ranch makes me happy! Mainly, after coming here, I feared having nothing to do. Anyway, I’ve saved up a bit, whatever I invest here won’t leave me starving, mostly looking for something to do."

"Alright!" Yan Fei was agreeable to this request. "But you’re clueless, even if you come over, you can’t run the show directly. Start from the bottom, are you willing to do that?"

"Anything’s fine." Chen Yingjun was quick to respond. "You can let me start with herding cattle, I’m ready to work earnestly."

"You won’t be herding cattle, you lack the skill," Yan Fei laughed. "Start by learning English, and once you can communicate here, we’ll see. But your wife is alright; when she comes, she can help oversee some basic infrastructure."

Classmate Xiaochen’s wife, Du Minghui, has a much higher educational background—if using cultivation grades, Classmate Xiaochen is a new beginner who hasn’t even built a foundation, while she’s already at Golden Pill Great Success.

Du Minghui is a proper graduate student in architectural planning; if she wanted to join Yan Fei’s company, she’d be an asset both for the planned ranch and future island construction.

"Then I..." Chen Yingjun was immediately upset. "Wouldn’t I just be living off my wife?"

He could imagine that since Yan Fei said so, once his wife comes to the ranch, as long as she’s willing to work, she’d probably manage more than him.

Though a bit uncomfortable, he couldn’t do anything; he messes around too much in the past, academically less than his wife!

After the trio agreed, Yan Fei and Chen Yingjun sped up their meal, and after eating, they didn’t head home but went directly to find Wei Dabao.

Wei Dabao was slightly taken aback upon receiving the news, "Well, this information was actually published before, and I’ve deliberately looked into it. Their place is indeed large, but it’s a somewhat poor ranch, and the current owner isn’t interested in managing it. If bought, it’d require a lot of investment."

"The geographical location is not the problem, right?" Yan Fei asked.

"Certainly not." Wei Dabao was very sure. "From my understanding, the location is not bad; it’s just that historically, the ranch owner had no money to invest, leading to no development and poor management which he couldn’t continue."

"As long as the price is low and not due to geological conditions, everything else isn’t an issue." Yan Fei remarked nonchalantly. "Then it’s settled, contact them, and we’ll visit the ranch tomorrow; if it’s suitable, we’ll decide. After buying the ranch, there’s no need to worry about visa issues, right?"

Wei Dabao laughed aloud, "Absolutely, once you invest, you’re the big shot; afterwards, anything can be handled by the local official for you. You wouldn’t bother with them unless they come to you; see who gets anxious first."

"Then it’s settled!" Yan Fei confirmed. "How much do you think the price could be negotiated down?"

At this, Wei Dabao looked distressed, "Boss Yan, asking me to negotiate a deal of thirty or fifty thousand, I’d have some opinions. But a deal of three or five million, I genuinely don’t know. However, you can seek an evaluation agency, then have the ranch assessed."

"That’s good too, and get a lawyer to come along!" Yan Fei was lazy to fuss. "Just let him negotiate the price; after all, didn’t you say it’s been published before and nobody wanted to buy?"

"This I can assist with, and someone can be contacted for negotiation now." Wei Dabao noticed Yan Fei’s resolute attitude and didn’t say more. "Would you prefer negotiating at a hotel or directly here?"

Yan Fei saw that the restaurant was empty now and directly said, "It probably won’t take long, mostly just a matter of fees. We’ll trouble you to borrow your place again!"

Wei Dabao laughed heartily, "Alright, you few have a seat, I’ll prepare some drinks. I’ll contact an assessment company and a law firm right after; they’ll probably be here within an hour."