Su Wei didn't even lift his eyelids.
"Deducted from the 400,000 yuan down payment for the house."
"No."
Old Sam was getting anxious; two thousand four hundred dollars was no small sum for him.
"It's agreed to be 400,000, not a penny less."
Su Wei chewed the mint in his mouth, making a crisp "crunch" sound.
"The contract clearly states that the seller must guarantee that the goods are free from any defects in title. Unpaid taxes constitute a defect."
Su Wei stood up and straightened his collar.
"Either deduct the money, or I'll leave now and you can explain it to the tax bureau yourself."
Old Sam froze.
He looked at Su Wei's face, which left no room for negotiation, and then at the contract in the lawyer's hand that hadn't been stamped yet.
"Buckle."
Old Sam gritted his teeth, his cheeks puffed out.
"Deduct it if you want. Sign it quickly."
Attorney William swiftly revised the terms and reprinted three copies of the contract.
The pen glides across the paper.
Old Sam's hands were shaking so badly that he signed his name crookedly.
It was Su Wei's turn.
He picked up the pen, his wrist hovering in the air, and wrote each letter neatly and powerfully.
" Su Wei."
The final stroke is completed.
Attorney William stamped the document with his seal, pushed the thick stack of documents in front of Su Wei, and took the cash check that Su Wei had prepared beforehand, handing it to Old Sam.
Congratulations to you both.
Old Sam snatched the check.
He counted the zeros over and over again, and after confirming that everything was correct, he grabbed the packaged crab legs without even saying goodbye to Su Wei and rushed out of the office.
Su Wei didn't care.
He picked up the document representing the land ownership from the table and put it into a waterproof bag.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Attorney William."
Su Wei extended his hand.
"It's rare to see a buyer as young and decisive as you."
William shook the calloused hand.
"If you need similar services in the future, please feel free to contact me anytime."
I walked out of the law firm.
The snowstorm outside had stopped, and the sky was a cold, steely blue. The air was biting cold.
Su Wei stood on the steps, looking down at the file folder in his hand.
That light, unreal feeling dissipated as my fingertips touched the rough texture of the file folder.
It's done.
Eighty acres.
Adding to the twenty acres he originally inherited, it made a total of one hundred acres of land.
The $400,000 in his account was spent, and in return, he received a piece of land that truly belonged to him.
Su Wei closed his eyes, and the map in his mind began to reassemble.
The once solitary rectangular territory now extends westward, swallowing up the birch forest and reaching all the way to the banks of the Pilan Creek.
That winding stream now flows through his territory.
From today onwards, this vast area, from the foot of the Pillar Mountain all the way to Emerald Lake and then to the entrance of the U-Shaped Valley connecting Pilan Creek, bears his imprint.
(This is a rough draft, created using mapping software that I struggled with for a long time but couldn't quite master. The 100 acres figure actually refers to this small area. Please don't take it too seriously.)
(The lakes and streams in the concept art generated by AI are very close together; I spent a long time adjusting them but couldn't find a solution. In reality, they are quite far apart, so please use this as a reference only.)
No annoying neighbors or prying eyes.
He could build a personal shooting range in the birch forest, construct a small cabin for smoking fish by the Pilan Creek, and even... when he has enough money in the future, he could actually buy a seaplane and park it in the river bend in front of his own house.
This was the prototype of a manor, and also the place he built for himself in this world.
The weight on my heart has been lifted, replaced by a sense of clarity.
The sense of alienation from wandering in this unfamiliar world seems to have faded somewhat as the land beneath my feet has expanded.
"Go home."
Su Wei opened the car door, and the Raptor's tires crunched over the snow.
With a roar of its engine, the black pickup truck sped into the twilight of the snowy plains.
The Ford Raptor roared across the empty highway, its tires crushing the thin layer of ice on the road and kicking up strings of glistening ice shards.
Su Wei gripped the steering wheel, feeling the subtle vibrations emanating from beneath the leather wrapping.
The scenery outside the car window rushed past, and the snow-capped mountains and forests that were originally just scenery now took on a different meaning in my eyes.
Four hundred thousand US dollars.
This money brought more than just a thick stack of documents; it gave them the confidence to stay grounded.
Half an hour later, the Raptor slowed down and turned onto the gravel road leading to the foot of Pillar Mountain.
The familiar two-story wooden house came into view at the edge of the horizon.
There was no smoke coming from the chimney, and the snow on the roof gleamed with a cool blue light in the setting sun.
Previously, this was his isolated island in the wilderness, surrounded by other people's territory.
Now, that sense of boundaries has disappeared.
Su Wei stepped on the brakes, and the pickup truck came to a steady stop in front of the garage.
He didn't rush into the house, but stood by the truck bed and turned to look west.
That was Old Sam's land—now it's his.
The birch forest stretches all the way to the U-Shaped Valley at the end of the line of sight, enclosing the most beautiful section of the Pilan Creek.
"We should go check it out."
Su Wei patted the truck bed, the urge to survey his territory pounding in his chest, impossible to suppress.
He opened the garage shutter door.
In the corner, the black and green Arctic Cat Thunder God 8000 snowmobile lay quietly.
Su Wei changed into his windproof polar suit, put on his goggles, and straddled the seat.
Turn the key.
"Boom!"
The distinctive high-pitched roar of the two-stroke engine exploded instantly, echoing in the empty garage.
Su Wei pulled down his helmet visor, pressed the accelerator with his thumb, and the tracks instantly gripped the ground. The front of the vehicle suddenly lifted up and plunged into the swirling snow.
Sixty kilometers per hour.
The wind howled outside the helmet, and Su Wei felt as if he were flying across the ground.
Instead of taking the usual main road, he drove straight over the dilapidated barbed wire fence between the two plots of land and rushed into the birch forest he had longed for.
The tracks kicked up fluffy powdery snow, leaving a long trail of white smoke behind them.
Su Wei slowed down, allowing the snowmobile to weave through the dense tree trunks.
This is the old forest that Old Sam mentioned, with trees that are forty years old.
It is indeed old.
The birch trees here are much thicker than those in the original Su Wei territory, with black veins covering their white bark.
They pierce straight up to the sky, their canopies intertwining to block out most of the light, making the forest somewhat dark.
In my field of vision, a few lines of light blue data flickered.
[ Gathering Module Triggered]
[Target: Alaska paperbark birch (mature stage)]