From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 714: Chapter 716: Knocking on the Door Again

Gu Letian worked in silence. Currently, he couldn’t muster the slightest interest in the people and matters around him. To him, being alone with no ties or attachments meant he was merely surviving day by day.

Gradually, the crowd in the market thickened, and several groups of people had already stopped by their stall to take a look.

Not being much of a talker, Gu Letian silently retreated to the back of the stall, letting Yu Laoda take the front to greet the customers.

Zeng Dawang, who was in the same situation as him, squeezed in next to him and started making small talk.

"If life gets better in the future, you should save up some money and go back to have a look. Who knows, there might still be someone left in your family."

Gu Letian glanced at him but said nothing.

Zeng Dawang didn’t mind his silence and continued, "If you don’t want to go back, then just live your life well. Save up some silver for a few years, then take a wife and have a few children. That can be considered carrying on the Gu family line.

"It’s not that I’m trying to sound unpleasant, but when you all fled the famine back then, even those who were lucky enough to survive are probably unable to fend for themselves now. So what if you managed to find them? You might as well just live a good life on your own."

If faced with these two choices, Zeng Dawang definitely wouldn’t choose to go back. The journey was long, and the travel expenses would certainly cost a lot of silver coins. If someone truly had that kind of money, they could already live a very comfortable life.

Gu Letian stared blankly at the pedestrians on the street, selectively ignoring the person speaking beside him.

He had heard such words far too many times; they always boiled down to the same two points.

Of course, he wanted to go back. But previously, he didn’t have a household registration and had to hide in the mountains with Yu Laoda and the others, making it impossible to gather any information.

Now that he had a household registration, he could openly enter and leave the county town. Did that mean he could finally start asking around?

"Le Tian, come help me string these copper coins together." Yu Laoda shoved the copper coins he had just collected into his hands. "Don’t string too many on one—just ten per string, otherwise I won’t be able to calculate it all."

Gu Letian sat there, silently stringing the copper coins. Having performed a one-man show for so long, Zeng Dawang also felt bored. He shuffled over to Lai San’s side and started chatting with him about other trivial matters.

「Meanwhile.」

Jin Qianqian found that ever since everyone bought land, she had been receiving far more visiting cards.

She had already distributed the drafted design plans so the craftsmen could just build according to the layouts. As for how the interiors should be decorated, that was naturally up to the buyers themselves.

Not only did these people send servants to keep an eye on the craftsmen at the construction site, but they even tried to pump her own attendants for information.

"I apologize for intruding today and delaying your affairs." Ever since her niece got engaged to Gu Yi, Lady Wu felt she was closer to Jin Qianqian than others, and she spoke much more casually.

As for Wu Haicong not giving her a good look recently, she didn’t mind. Rather than benefiting a few illegitimate daughters, she might as well give her own niece a leg up.

Jin Qianqian smiled. "You must have some important matter to attend to, visiting in such a hurried panic?"

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have sent a visiting card in the morning and shown up directly in the afternoon.

She had no idea where Mrs. Wu learned her etiquette, acting like this every single time.

"Mrs. Gu, it’s actually nothing too important." Lady Wu naturally caught the implied meaning in her words, but she had always been thick-skinned. "It’s just that my husband also bought a piece of land along with Mr. Gu."

"I know about this; many officials have bought land. What’s wrong? Could it be that Lady Wu disagrees and came to me for a refund?" Jin Qianqian joked.

"How could that be?" Lady Wu sat up straight. "Haven’t I come to you to ask for a favor?"

"I’m all ears," Jin Qianqian replied.

"Mrs. Gu, we can be considered relatives now. I won’t beat around the bush with you. I also want to purchase some land; is it feasible?" After interacting a few times, Mrs. Wu knew that Jin Qianqian disliked beating around the bush, so she laid it out directly.

"Hasn’t Mr. Wu already bought several acres of land? Is it not enough?" Jin Qianqian looked at her in surprise.

"Sigh, Mrs. Gu, you don’t understand the difficulties of families like ours. Although my husband bought so much land, it all belongs to the communal family estate. Even though I have three legitimate sons, there are still illegitimate sons and daughters below them. I have to plan for my own children."

Mrs. Wu had a generous dowry, but her three children were still young. As a mother, she always wanted to provide the best for them, so naturally, she wouldn’t complain about having too many assets on hand.

Unlike Jin Qianqian, who was wealthy and didn’t have to deal with those messy troubles in the inner courtyard.

"You should know that the best locations have basically all been reserved," Jin Qianqian said.

"Besides, if you want to buy land, you should go look for Prefect Wang instead of coming to me. I’m not in charge of this mess."

"I naturally know this. Prefect Wang’s place has been thronged with visitors these past few days. Around the land you marked off, a single plot is currently incredibly hard to come by."

Jin Qianqian paused. "...Then didn’t you come to the wrong place?"

Lady Wu leaned forward slightly towards Jin Qianqian. "I know all this. I don’t dare to covet the land in the center.

"Even if I tried to compete with them, I wouldn’t win. That’s why I wanted to use your connections and see if you have any brilliant ideas."

Jin Qianqian couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration. As the lady of the house and the biological sister of a local wealthy merchant, she did possess some foresight.

She had already thought of things that others hadn’t even grasped yet.

"You want to buy relatively remote land?"

"It doesn’t matter if it’s remote or not, as long as it’s practical," Lady Wu said with a smile. "Considering there will be massive construction in that area, it will definitely drive up the development of the surroundings. I figured it would be a good deal to buy some land and build a few courtyards on it.

"Of course, it’s not just for me alone. My Tian’er is holding onto her mother’s dowry. It would be great if she could follow along and purchase some properties too."

"You really know how to calculate," Jin Qianqian remarked.

Hou Tian’er was already engaged to Gu Yi, so she could be considered family.

Given this layer of connection, there was no way Jin Qianqian would let her own people suffer a loss.

"Aren’t we close relatives? If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t dare open my mouth." Lady Wu’s smile was a bit fawning.

"I really can’t handle you," Jin Qianqian sighed.

"It just so happens that I’ve redrawn a topographical map of that area. I will mark out two spots for you, and when the time comes, you can go to Prefect Wang to purchase the land yourself!"

Just as she sent Lady Wu away, the gatekeeper received another visiting card. Jin Qianqian had her subordinates politely decline it.

The cake was only so big, and everyone wanted a slice. Even if she could perform magic, she couldn’t conjure up more land.

The major local aristocratic families weren’t slow to react either. Just as the general public had nearly finished dividing up the plots, the remaining land had long since been pocketed by these influential families.

If someone truly wanted to purchase property there, they could only look towards slightly more remote areas like Lady Wu did. However, not everyone was so easily satisfied. Jin Qianqian didn’t want to take on unnecessary trouble, so she simply rejected them all from the start.

Gu Wenheng was also taking a headcount of his personnel, preparing to lead a group to inspect the areas surrounding Yi Province.

This time, not only did he want to know if anyone was feigning compliance while secretly disobeying, but he also wanted to grasp the current situation of each prefecture city in his own hands.

He couldn’t fully trust the records submitted by his subordinates.