Had Zhou Wanwan Tricked Us?

Zhou Wanwan's people kept spreading rumors, making everyone in Dongshan Prefecture feel like they were under attack.

Wherever Zhou Wanwan's people bought land, those powerful families followed.

In the end, those powerful families realized they had been tricked by Zhou Wanwan.

The Xie Family patriarch frowned and said:

"It's been three days now, and we've bought up all the land in the west, but Zhou Wanwan has only actually bought a very small amount."

I have a bad feeling about this, and the prices of these land plots are way too high.

"We weren't tricked by Zhou Wanwan, were we?"

"That little girl is very cunning; we've probably been tricked again."

Sure enough, Zhou Wanwan stopped taking land, and Madam Nie suddenly panicked. She immediately bought over a dozen large estates, covering thousands of acres, thinking of making a big splash.

She was certain that Zhou Wanwan wouldn't buy these lands without a reason, but after she finished buying them herself, she discovered that Zhou Wanwan hadn't even made a move.

She bought three plots of land in the west.

She couldn't sit still any longer and took Nie Rou directly to their door.

But they came up empty-handed; Zhou Wanwan had already gone to the White Deer Academy.

Madam Nie was extremely anxious!

She went directly to Nie Shi'an and said:

"I've been tricked by that brat! I bought so much land and estates, what am I going to do now?"

Nie Shi'an, you should go and ask Zhou Wanwan what she's trying to do.

Nie Shi'an sighed and said, "You've made things so tense, how am I supposed to face asking them?"

"I don't care, this time I spent a lot of money to buy so many estates Hotan."

"If you don't ask her, won't all these farmlands and fields be lost?"

Nie Shi'an was utterly speechless. "I've told you countless times not to go against Zhou Wanwan, why won't you listen?"

Madam Nie wiped away her tears and said:

"Am I the one who's going against her? It's clearly that brat who's going against me. Look at our Nie Rou, what kind of person did she marry?"

I thought Cui Hongyuan in the bag this time! But White Deer Academy won't even accept him."

Nie Shi'an looked at her and said, "That Cui Hongyuan is not cut out for studying. I've already told you, this marriage is not going to happen."

Madam Nie wept and sobbed:

"Then what do you expect me to do? Rou'er has lost her innocence and will definitely never be able to get married."

Are you going to let her be an old maid for the rest of her life?

Nie Shi'an looked at her and said:

"Can reputation feed you? But that bastard Cui Hongyuan is no good!"

Even if Nie Rou marries him, she won't have a good life. Besides, his family is so poor now.

I heard that their family bought land and an estate again this time, and now they are penniless.

Are you going to make Nie Rou marry into their family and become their slave?

Their family still can't afford the betrothal gifts.

The Cui Family is really poor right now, and this time Cui Family 've put all their effort into taking advantage of Zhou Wanwan.

Little did anyone know that after buying the land, Zhou Wanwan made no other moves.

The Cui Family is now in a state of panic. Madam Cui frowned and said:

Why did Wanwan buy so much farmland this Zhou Wanwan?

"Isn't it said that government officials will buy these fields at a high price?"

Cui Hongyuan shook his head and said, "Now those powerful families are buying a lot of things just because of this trend, but after inquiring, I found out that there's no such thing at all."

Madam Cui frowned and said, "If the officials don't accept it, won't all these tens of thousands of taels of silver be wasted?"

Old Master Cui glared at her and said, "You're like a brainless idiot all day long. Everyone else votes, so you vote too. Now look what's happened!"

For the past two weeks, there has been no news at all. Zhou Wanwan has been attending classes diligently every day and hasn't been bothered by anything outside.

But outside, everyone was in a frenzy, and the whole city was in an uproar.

Especially now that the situation outside is getting worse, Luo Xue walked in and looked at Zhou Wanwan, saying, "Miss, your bird's nest has arrived."

Zhou Wanwan took a sip of bird's nest soup and asked, "How's it going outside?"

"It's a complete mess. They've now realized that buying this land is utterly useless; they simply can't sell it."

We're in a bind. Should we just take all this land back now?

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said:

Why take their land? Just leave it there!

I'll take these lands back when no one wants them anymore.

Luo Xue thought for a moment and said:

"This year is a drought year, which is why these lands are selling for such low prices."

If the drought ends next year, the land prices will rise.

Zhou Wanwan laughed and said, "No need to rush. Start buying those manors Hotan in the east. I want to see if they follow suit."

It would have been simpler to bring water from the west.

But these people insisted on buying all the land in the west, so Zhou Wanwan planned another place.

This place is even more wonderful. Not only is the terrain and water conditions excellent, but there are also a lot of scattered villages here, one after another, densely packed.

When Zhou Wanwan came to discuss the acquisition, she didn't deliberately lower the price of the estate Hotan; she offered a fair and reasonable price.

The villagers were happy to sell when the price was right, and everyone was eager to sell their own estates Hotan.

This time, the powerful families in the city learned their lesson and didn't blindly follow the trend to compete for the spoils.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Wanwan decisively and efficiently took over the entire large area in the east.

After discussing and reaching an agreement with each household, a time was set for everyone to gather together and sign the agreement.

All the buying and selling procedures for the estates and farmland were completed smoothly in one go.

Of course, there were also troublemakers; a dozen or so people from different villages refused to move.

"This estate is our family's heirloom. You think you can buy it for five thousand taels of silver? No way!"

You must give us a high price! I won't ask for much, just 15,000 taels of silver, and I'll sell you this estate.

"Yes! Our estate is excellent too; it costs 50,000 taels of silver."

"I have 100,000 taels of silver in my estate. If you give me 100,000 taels right now, I'll give you everything I own on this estate."

The people sent by Black Wind Stronghold to communicate all laughed:

"Are you robbing us? We do want your estates, but your behavior is appalling."

Do you think your estates are worth that much money?

"Ha! We don't know what you want these estates for, but if you want them, you have to pay us a high price."

We're not stupid! You must have a reason for acquiring these estates."

The Black Wind Stronghold's manager laughed, "There are twenty-six estates in total. You must have conspired to sell them at a high price."

The village leaders looked at the Black Wind Stronghold's manager and said, "We have no other choice. The drought is terrible; we just want to find a way to survive."

"You Black Wind Stronghold have made so much money, you don't care about this little bit, so giving it away is fine."

"Exactly, do you think we don't know how rich Black Wind Stronghold is? Anyway, we won't sell unless you offer a high price."