I See through Everything

"Dazhong? I can ask him!" Jiang Guanghan didn’t actually have a very high opinion of his eldest son, Jiang Dazhong, who was always so wishy-washy—not at all like him.

Under the eaves, the smoke from a water pipe drifted.

Before the main gate, a light rain fell softly.

After saying a few words to his wife inside, Jiang Guanghan opened an umbrella and accompanied Jiang Dahai and his companion to his youngest brother’s house.

They passed through several small alleys.

ARF ARF ARF... The sound of a dog barking rang out beside them.

A German Shepherd with a glossy coat was baring its teeth, barking wildly at the group. Xiaofang, the driver and bodyguard, was startled and instinctively drew his retractable baton. But then he saw the iron chain around the dog’s neck and breathed a sigh of relief.

The dog’s cage was right by the entrance, so the three of them had to stop.

"Guangshun, are you home?" Jiang Guanghan shouted loudly.

After a moment, a stream of curses came from the second floor. "Who is it? Didn’t I tell you? I’ll pay you back when I get some money in a few days..."

A second-floor window slid open a crack. When the man inside saw it was Jiang Guanghan and Jiang Dahai, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his eyes lit up.

Seeing his reaction, Jiang Guanghan knew the old rascal was already scheming about Jiang Dahai’s money. He quickly whispered a warning, "Dahai, if Guangshun asks to borrow money later, don’t lend him any."

"I know." Jiang Dahai was well aware that his youngest uncle was a compulsive gambler.

A few minutes later, the large, rust-spotted iron gate creaked open.

The moment the German Shepherd saw its owner, it turned into a complete lapdog, panting with its tongue out as it wagged its tail and sidled up to him.

"Stupid dog, get back in your cage." Jiang Guangshun glared at the German Shepherd, which immediately scurried back into its cage, trembling. Then, he turned to his guests with a grin. "Second Brother, Dahai, come on in."

They walked into the house.

On the living room coffee table were several instant noodle containers with nothing but soupy dregs left, a half-eaten apple, and a few empty betel nut wrappers.

"The place is a bit of a mess. I’ll go make a pot of tea..."

Jiang Guanghan waved his hand. "No need. Dahai and I are here to discuss something with you."

"Oh? Does Dahai have some good fortune to share with me?" Jiang Guangshun asked with a fake smile.

Jiang Guanghan cut in before Jiang Dahai could speak. "You have that third-of-a-mu plot on the east side of Little Nanshan, with a dozen or so longan trees on it, right? The town government wants to acquire that land. If you’re willing to sell, just name your price. If not, at least give your Second Brother a clear answer."

"Oh?" Jiang Guangshun’s eyes darted about. He looked at Jiang Dahai, then asked tentatively, "What does the town government want the land for? Are they selling it to Dahai’s family to build a factory?"

"They’re building an office building," Jiang Dahai said without hiding anything. It wasn’t the kind of thing you could hide anyway, since the town government and the land bureau would eventually issue a public notice.

"I see. Well, that’s great news! I’ll definitely support it. But as for the price..." Greed was practically spilling from Jiang Guangshun’s eyes. "I won’t ask for too much. Three hundred thousand for the third-of-a-mu plot, and five thousand per longan tree. That’s not excessive, is it, Dahai?"

"Guangshun, are you sure about that price? Is that non-negotiable?" Jiang Guanghan asked, his face cold.

"I say, Second Brother, this is Dahai’s family buying the land. What are you getting involved for?" Jiang Guangshun clearly couldn’t stand his second brother.

Jiang Guanghan was so angry he laughed. "Fine, fine, fine. You can keep your plot of land and let it rot! Dahai, let’s go. Don’t waste your breath on people like this."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Guanghan grabbed the fruit basket Xiaofang had brought, took Jiang Dahai by the arm, and strode out the door without a moment’s hesitation.

Jiang Guangshun sneered and delivered a parting threat. "Hmph, Dahai, I’m telling you now—don’t even think about touching my land for less than four hundred thousand. Otherwise, I’ll go petition the higher-ups and report you for colluding with officials to bully a common citizen like me."

They left Jiang Guangshun’s house.

Jiang Guanghan cursed and muttered the entire way.

As they passed through a stone-paved alley, a voice called out from behind them.

"Uncle Han, Dahai, what happened? I thought I heard a commotion coming from our youngest uncle’s place."

Jiang Dahai turned and saw it was the village chief, Jiang Dalong. "Brother Dalong, I just went to talk to our youngest uncle about something."

"What about?" Jiang Dalong asked, his face full of curiosity.

"Don’t get me started. It’s about the land acquisition..." Jiang Guanghan began to explain.

Jiang Dalong’s eyebrows shot up. "Oh? The land over by Little Nanshan? My family has a seven-tenths-of-a-mu plot and a patch of lychee trees there, too. Is it within the acquisition area?"

"It is. I was actually planning to find you tonight," Jiang Dahai told him honestly.

"Do you have a map of the acquisition area?" Jiang Dalong inquired.

Jiang Dahai pulled a folded map from his pocket and handed it over. "This is the general area, though it hasn’t been completely finalized yet."

After taking the map and studying it for a moment, Jiang Dalong looked up. "Dahai, leave the families from the Seventh Branch to me. I’ll do my best to persuade them. We’ll go with the prices in your proposal."

"Thanks, then."

"Don’t mention it, we’re all family here." Jiang Dalong was well aware of the Jiang Dahai family’s influence.

If he didn’t cooperate with Hailufeng Company’s land acquisition, he could forget about getting re-elected for the next term. It wasn’t just about losing the support of Jiang Miao’s family; more importantly, Luo Heguang would absolutely make his life difficult.

Besides, Jiang Dalong’s family also raised five mu of Egyptian Catfish, which was a business that relied on Jiang Miao’s family for their livelihood.

In any case, for both professional and personal reasons, Jiang Dalong had no reason not to help.

After Jiang Dalong and the others stepped in to coordinate, many of the households within the acquisition area signed a preliminary agreement right away.

The few who were still hesitating didn’t hold out for long.

After all, too many people in the village depended on Jiang Miao’s family for their income.

Currently, Hailufeng Company had three business operations specifically set up to benefit the residents of Xinxiang Village.

The first was the cultivation and procurement of duckweed. Hailufeng Company had designated Xinxiang and Salt Town villages to handle the contract. The eel farm needed five to six hundred tons of duckweed every month, so dozens of families in the two villages specialized in growing it to sell to Hailufeng Company.

The second was Egyptian Catfish farming. In Xinxiang alone, about seventy households were raising them as contracted farmers for Hailufeng Company.

The third business was the procurement of pinecones, pine needles, and pine branches. This was specifically assigned to the villagers of Nanhu Village and Xinxiang, with Nanhu Farm purchasing a batch every month.

Any villager with financial ties to Hailufeng Company, provided they had half a brain, wouldn’t dare cause trouble over the land acquisition.

Aside from the family of the compulsive gambler Jiang Guangshun, there was one other household that was overcome with jealousy. Since they had already moved to the city and had no fields or fish ponds left in the village, they also decided to demand an outrageous price.

Unfortunately for them, Jiang Miao had no intention of indulging them. He simply excluded both of their properties from the acquisition area. Their plots were on the edge anyway. While it would leave two notches in what would have been a perfect square of land, at least he wouldn’t have to waste time arguing with people like that.

In reality, there were far too many people like that in the countryside.

The only reason Hailufeng Company had managed to persuade the vast majority of villagers so smoothly was because of family connections, coupled with the fact that its business operations were tied to so many of them. That was what made a large portion of the villagers reasonable.