Rich and Willful

The contract fee for land was relatively cheap, but there was no private land in Huaguo. All land belonged to the state, so Chen Mo still needed to ask about the maximum permitted lease term.

"Uncle Delin, what's the longest lease term possible?" Chen Mo asked.

"The longest term for arable land is thirty years, which is the maximum set by regulations. Hilly land can potentially be negotiated, with lease terms ranging from thirty to seventy years," Village Chief Chen Delin said.

"Alright, then I'll lease these fields for thirty years. For the sloping land, arrange it for the maximum term. Is that alright?"

"No problem, but a seventy-year maximum term may require a slightly higher fee, or the town won't approve such a long lease. Also, you can pay the contract fee annually," the Village Chief said.

"No need. I'll pay it all at once, so no one can criticize us. How about this? For the 220 mu of fields and wasteland, I'll calculate it at 30,000 yuan a year. For a thirty-year lease, that comes to 900,000 yuan. For the 860 mu of sloping land, calculate it at 50,000 yuan a year. For a seventy-year lease, that comes to 3.5 million. I'll pay 4.5 million yuan total for all this land!" Chen Mo said.

Paying the entire contract fee in one go did not mean he was foolish or had too much money to spend. He was thinking of the villagers. If he made good use of the leased land and it generated economic benefits, it would be troublesome if the village started gossiping. So Chen Mo had deliberately raised the price from the beginning. There was no downside to that. In the end, it was all to save himself trouble in the future. Paying more now would shut some people up. He had money, so he could do as he pleased.

"4.5 million?"

"4.5 million, paid in full!"

"You won't have any financial difficulties?"

"No. I prepared the money before coming back, and I borrowed some from friends as well, so it won't be a problem."

"That's a good thing! As long as you've thought it through, do whatever you want. If you run into any difficulties, tell me. Your Uncle Delin may not be able to help much otherwise, but I can still help you run around for loans and such." Uncle Delin said this because if it were anyone else, he absolutely would not have said such a thing. Loans required someone to vouch for them. Only because they were close and Chen Mo was his junior would he offer such help. Otherwise, no one should expect such a good thing.

"Alright! Then it's settled. The contracts are already prepared, and we can sign them right now. Once you pay the contract fee in full, I'll go to town and register it for you. Then there won't be any problems." Uncle Delin was straightforward. Hearing Chen Mo speak so decisively and seeing that he did not seem short on money, he had some doubts but did not show them. After all, if Chen Mo could not take out the contract fee, the village would not sign a contract with him.

He opened the filing cabinet, searched for several minutes, then took out the land lease contract. After filling in the Village Committee's information according to the template, he handed it to Chen Mo and had him fill in the relevant sections. These were standard contracts. Apart from the lease term and contract fee, additional clauses could also be added at the end.

After thinking it over, Chen Mo wrote a breach-of-contract condition in the additional clauses. Unless there were circumstances of force majeure, neither party could violate the terms of the contract. Otherwise, the party that breached the agreement would compensate the other party two hundred times the total contract fee as liquidated damages.

After Chen Mo wrote that clause, Uncle Delin looked at him somewhat speechlessly. The two stared at each other for several minutes before Uncle Delin finally sighed.

"If you lease all this land, you'll definitely need workers. The villagers should be given priority," Uncle Delin said.

"That won't be a problem, but the condition is that they must be willing to work and endure hardship. I won't support idlers, and poor families should be given priority," Chen Mo said.

Uncle Delin nodded, placed the contract in his desk drawer, and said, "Then the contract is settled! Once you pay the money to the Village Committee as soon as possible, I'll go to town to get it stamped, and that'll be that."

"Thank you, Uncle Delin!" Chen Mo said with a smile. The clause he had just added had actually gone a little too far. If Uncle Delin had not accepted it, there was no way it would have been approved.

"As for the other households' homesteads around your family's Old House, I can call them over, and you can negotiate among yourselves. The Village Committee can notarize it, then you can sign a transfer agreement," Village Chief Uncle Delin said.

"Alright!" Chen Mo replied.

"Nowadays, village homesteads are generally the width of two rooms, but the ones by the Old House are the width of four rooms. As for the buildings on the Old House land, there's nothing much to discuss. It's mainly a transfer of the homestead rights. At present, it's generally around 30,000 yuan per household," Village Chief Uncle Delin continued.

Chen Mo nodded and remembered Uncle Delin's words. He was telling him the going price for homestead transactions, and Chen Mo would remember the favor.

"Uncle Delin, I'd also like to ask you about something else," Chen Mo said.

"Go ahead!" Uncle Delin said.

"I want to ask, if I lease Gourd Valley, how would the contract fee be calculated?" Chen Mo asked.

"You're something else, kid! Not only can you come up with 4.5 million in Contract Fees, but you also want to lease Gourd Valley. You should know that'll cost a huge sum!" Uncle Delin said in surprise. He had never expected that Jianguo's eldest son, who had gone away to study for a few years, would have so much money.

"Hehe! Uncle Delin, I actually have to borrow some money even to scrape together the 4.5 million contract fee. As for leasing Gourd Valley, someone else is putting up the money to work with me. I'm only contributing some skills and labor," Chen Mo explained with a smile. The contract fee for Gourd Valley would definitely not be low, so it was better to keep a low profile.

"I see. What kind of person is the one Cooperating with you? Do you know him well?" Uncle Delin asked.

"Don't worry, uncle! He's my classmate. We attended university together for several years, and his family runs chain restaurant businesses. That's why, when I came back, I thought of working together on something related to agriculture," Chen Mo said.

Hearing Chen Mo say that, Uncle Delin was reassured. There had been many scams in the countryside several years ago, so people were now quite wary of such things. But after hearing Chen Mo's explanation, he merely nodded and did not ask further. Besides, things were different from years ago. Leasing land now required real money. If you could not take it out, then forget about trying to pull off some good thing with empty hands.

Don't expect those old schemes of bluffing people or using loans to get something for nothing to work anymore. People today were no longer as easy to fool as they had been back then.

"I still need to ask around about the lease price for Gourd Valley. A few years ago, someone came to the village wanting to lease it, but for various reasons, it never went through. Still, I know the price the town gave back then." Uncle Delin did not hide anything. He told Chen Mo whatever he could. They were relatives, after all, and he had watched the kid grow up.

"Gourd Valley has two valleys, front and back. Together with the surrounding mountain land, it totals 14,000 mu. Back then, the town set the lease price at twenty yuan per mu, which came to 280,000 yuan a year," Uncle Delin said.

"What about the lease term?" Chen Mo cared greatly about that. He did not react much to the annual contract fee of 280,000 yuan. More than ten thousand mu for only 280,000 yuan was already dirt cheap. In coastal areas, the lease fees for mountain forests had risen to more than a hundred yuan per year, so this price truly was not expensive. Especially for Chen Mo, who had tens of millions in capital, an annual contract fee of 280,000 yuan was nothing.

"The maximum term is seventy years," Uncle Delin said.

"Then, Uncle Delin, please help me ask around and determine the contract fee. If it's suitable, I'm preparing to lease Gourd Valley too. And Uncle Delin, you have to help me get some favorable terms. My classmate may be putting up the money, but I have shares too. Besides, we're still in the startup phase, and there's a lot of land. Paying everything at once may be difficult, so I'll need you to help us out and put in some effort!" Chen Mo said.

"No problem. This will also generate income for the village. The town doesn't have much authority, only the right to make suggestions and supervise, so the village has the final say. Don't worry. I definitely won't let you miss out on any benefits you deserve. But you also need to look after the village. When you need workers, give the villagers more consideration," Uncle Delin said.

"Uncle, listen to yourself. Looking after the village is only right. As long as they're willing to work and endure hardship, I'll definitely consider the villagers whenever I need workers. But as I said before, priority goes to those who need it most and can work hard. I won't take anyone who slacks off or tries to cut corners." Chen Mo felt it was best to lay out the unpleasant terms first. Otherwise, it would be bad if Uncle Delin developed a grievance later.

"You kid, playing tricks in front of me? Be careful or I'll beat you. You studied for a few years and now you've started playing tricks!" Uncle Delin glared, carrying a bit of aura.

"Hehe! Uncle Delin, I'm just taking precautions in advance. We all live in the same village and see each other every day, so it's better to set the rules from the start. Don't you agree, Uncle Delin?" Chen Mo said with a smile.

"You kid! Fine, I can't argue with you!" Uncle Delin said with a laugh. It was not that he could not argue with Chen Mo; he simply did not care about such things with a junior. He understood Chen Mo's thoughts and could understand them, so there was no need to say more.

"I'll coordinate and handle this matter for you as quickly as possible. Within the next couple of days, just wait for my news," Uncle Delin said.

"Alright! Then I'll have to trouble you." Chen Mo said gratefully.

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