Looking at the elderly man across from him, who was breathing rapidly, Su Wei felt only boredom.
He raised his hand and glanced at the time.
Su Wei stood up and picked up the car keys on the table.
"It seems you haven't decided yet. Then take your time eating; this meal is on me."
After Su Wei finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the door.
Old Sam was dumbfounded.
Old Sam panicked as he watched Su Wei's retreating figure disappear through the door.
His life was in danger.
"Etc."
Old Sam suddenly stood up from his booth, knocking over the wine glasses on the table.
Clang.
Chapter 134 Taking sole control of Pilan Creek, the new landlord of the snowy plains (Please subscribe - includes map)
Shards of glass exploded on the wooden floor, scattering everywhere.
The noisy chatter in the restaurant vanished instantly, and a dozen pairs of eyes turned to look at them.
Ignoring the stares of those around him and the bleeding cuts on his hands from the glass, Old Sam stumbled out of the booth, nearly falling to his knees as he tripped over his own foot.
"Don't go."
A withered hand gripped Su Wei's sleeve tightly.
Su Wei stopped in his tracks.
He didn't turn around, but lowered his gaze to the trembling hand on his sleeve. The age spots and grime on the hand were glaringly obvious under the light.
"Let go."
Su Wei's voice was very soft, with little emotional fluctuation.
Old Sam withdrew his hand, but dared not stray too far, hunching over to block Su Wei's path. His chest heaved violently, and his breathing was loud.
"Five hundred thousand... no, forty-eight thousand."
Old Sam held up four fingers, his bloodshot, cloudy eyes staring intently at Su Wei.
" Little Su Wei, 480,000. That's a pretty good section of the Pilan Creek. Every summer, the returning red salmon turn the river red. It's a gold mine."
Su Wei turned to the side, avoiding the smell of alcohol coming from the other person's mouth.
"Mr. Sam, we are all aware of the situation in that section of the river."
Su Wei pointed to the snow-capped mountains outside the window.
" Pilan Creek is indeed nice, but of your eighty acres, less than ten acres are leveled, cultivated land; the rest is mostly gravel and scrub. That birch forest is over forty years old; unless it's cut down and replanted, it's not worth much."
Old Sam opened his mouth, and the muscles in his face twitched twice.
"Besides."
Su Wei didn't give him a chance to interrupt and continued speaking.
"That piece of land is near water, but it's too low-lying, and there's a risk of flooding every snowmelt season. To solve the problem, building dikes and drainage ditches would cost two to three hundred thousand US dollars, and that's a conservative estimate."
Before coming, Su Wei had already investigated the situation of that land.
Old Sam was speechless. He really didn't have the money to repair the dam; that piece of land would turn into a muddy mess every May, and it had been sitting there for two months without anyone paying attention.
"Four hundred thousand."
Su Wei reported the figures.
"This is the result calculated based on the premium of surrounding land prices. I know this money is important to you, so I didn't try to lower the price."
"But if you think I'm young and easy to fool..."
Su Wei shook his car keys.
"Then you might be disappointed. In this town, I'm probably the only one who can come up with a check for 400,000 this afternoon."
"Cash... checks..."
Old Sam muttered to himself, his body swaying slightly.
The casino only had three days left, and the hospital also notified us that a liver match had been found; without surgery, he would die.
Old Sam's imposing manner vanished instantly.
He slumped against the pillar, his once straight back collapsing completely.
"Four hundred thousand... in full?"
Old Sam's voice was terribly hoarse.
"Full payment."
Su Wei nodded.
"I'll cover the taxes and fees too."
"Make a deal."
Old Sam closed his eyes and squeezed out the two words from his throat.
"A wise choice."
Su Wei waved to the waiter not far away and pointed to the mess on the ground.
"Put the broken glass on my tab. Also, pack some king crab legs for this gentleman."
Even if he was a seasoned gambler, Su Wei wouldn't mind giving him a final act of decency since he had agreed to the deal.
2:30 PM.
A black Raptor pickup truck pulled up in front of a two-story red brick building in the town center.
The gold lettering of " Kodiak United Law Firm " gleamed in the post-snow sunshine.
Su Wei led Old Sam through the door and entered.
Even on weekends, there are still people on duty at the law firm.
They were greeted by a middle-aged lawyer named William, who had a high hairline and wore gold-rimmed glasses.
Land sales?
William glanced at Old Sam, who reeked of alcohol, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, before looking at Su Wei.
Is the property right clearly defined? Are there any debt disputes?
"They're all here."
Old Sam hurriedly pulled a brown paper bag from the inside pocket of his greasy leather jacket and slammed it on his desk.
"The land title, survey map, and the original purchase contract are all here."
William put on white gloves and picked up the documents to carefully read through them.
Su Wei sat on the leather sofa opposite him, took a mint out of his pocket, and popped it into his mouth.
The office was quiet, with only the rustling of papers turning and the ticking of the wall clock.
Old Sam was restless.
He kept rubbing his hands together, his gaze darting back and forth between William's face and the documents on the table, afraid that the lawyer might utter some unpleasant words.
A full twenty minutes passed.
William adjusted his glasses and looked up.
"The file is fine. However..."
Old Sam's heart leaped into his throat.
"However, the tax bureau's system shows that the property tax for this land is two years in arrears, plus late fees, totaling $2,400."
William looked at Old Sam.
This money must be settled before the property transfer.
"What?"
Old Sam jumped up.
"Impossible. I clearly... Let me think..."
He suddenly paused, remembering that he had indeed used his tax money to buy lottery tickets two years ago.
I have no money.
Old Sam shrugged and started to act like a liar.
"If I had the money, I wouldn't sell the land. This money... this money has to be paid by the buyer."
William looked at Su Wei.