Chapter 543 - 543 Buying a Sea Area
543 Buying a Sea Area
“If you’re lazy, I have my ways.”
Su Xiaolu narrowed her eyes and said fiercely to An Lie.
Since he had taken in a disciple, he could not let him slack off. Good things had to be ground out.
“Pfft…”
An Xiaoou couldn’t help but laugh. When she met Su Xiaolu’s gaze, she quickly lowered her eyes.
An Lie nodded obediently. “Don’t worry, Master. I will definitely learn well.”
“Yes, you keep your word and have a pure character. You have your firm beliefs, and I believe that you can do it. Do not be afraid of difficulties.”
Su Xiaolu put away her seriousness and praised An Lie with a smile.
An Lie was a little embarrassed. Sometimes, he was stubborn and unwilling to change himself. The most he heard was “idiot”. He also had firm beliefs, but Su Xiaolu praised him for keeping his own beliefs and being pure.
He really liked these words.
“Master, don’t worry. I won’t let you down. I’ll study hard.”
An Lie suppressed the excitement in his heart and said solemnly.
“Ahem, Young Master, shouldn’t we set off?”
An Cheng reminded.
Su Xiaolu shook her head. “We still have to wait. I have to do something first.”
An Cheng was a little anxious when he heard that, but he asked patiently and calmly, “What is it?”
“I want to buy a sea area and use it as a base.”
Su Xiaolu said calmly.
Hearing that she wanted to buy a sea area, An Cheng took a deep breath.
An Xiaoou and Mother An opened their mouths in surprise.
The current Su Xiaolu was like a shining golden pillar in front of them.
“Master, it’s very expensive to buy sea areas…”
An Lie came back to his senses and said weakly.
He could tell that Su Xiaolu was very rich, but he could not tell how rich she was. He had thought that Su Xiaolu came from a rich family, but he did not expect her to be so rich. She casually said that she wanted to buy a sea area.
This… was something that ordinary people like them did not dare to imagine.
“How much does it usually cost? I don’t know much about this. You grew up by the sea, tell me about it.”
Su Xiaolu looked at An Lie and said.
She did not know how much sea area her banknotes could buy.
An Lie’s family had lived here for generations and knew much more about the sea area than Su Xiaolu.
Every sea area had no owner, it could be said that no amount of money could buy a sea area.
However, the government could divide the sea area and rent it for a family clan to use. They could place a buoy on the sea surface to indicate that the sea area belonged to an individual. This way, many years later, the sea area would still belong to the government, and all the sea areas would be rented for less than ten years at a time.
Buying a sea area was actually renting a sea area. During the lease period, outsiders could not enter this sea area, and outsiders would not fish in such a place.
The rental price of the sea area varied. Some were expensive, and some were cheap. The closer it was to the coast, the more expensive it would be. Because it was close to the coast, one could farm sea prawns on the spot.
As for the deep sea, there were too many uncontrollable factors. Generally speaking, people would not buy areas in the deep sea.
After hearing An Lie’s words, Su Xiaolu pondered for a moment. “In that case, it’s a little troublesome.”
Recently, there had been a flood of white fish, and the white fish were products of the deep sea. If they bought them rashly, the government would probably be cautious. They would either ask for a high price or not sell it to her.
An Lie nodded. “That’s right, but there’s a piece of land near the sea that’s empty. That terrain is not flat, so it’s empty for now. Master, you can start there. Pretend that you were tricked by us into buying the sea area to build a harbor to lower the officials’ vigilance…”
As he spoke, An Lie was a little embarrassed. He had used this method to trick Su Xiaolu into going out to sea previously.
Su Xiaolu smiled and nodded. “Then let’s do it.”
Su Xiaolu looked at An Cheng. “By the way, you and your nephew will cooperate. Let’s join forces and put on this show. This show will be called ‘Rich young master who came from outside the capital to train who has a huge sum of money and wants to come here to make a fortune and achieve results’.”
An Cheng and An Lie looked at each other and were shocked.
Su Xiaolu looked like a silly Young Master who was easy to deceive and rich, but she was actually a scheming tiger.
The three of them discussed for a while before leaving together.
Ever since he entered the government office, An Cheng had displayed praiseworthy acting skills and kept bragging to Su Xiaolu. That place could drop hundreds of catties of big fish. A fish could be sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver. It was definitely a profitable place to buy it.
The crabs there were bigger than washbasins, and the prawns there were only bigger than a man’s fist.
An Lie nodded in agreement. Sea cucumbers were the size of a head, and seashells were the size of a palm.
Su Xiaolu occasionally interrupted and asked, “Really? That’s great.”
She even muttered, “I must achieve something and go home to impress them all!”
“I will become the richest person in Qinghai county…”
When the receiving Grandmaster heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched. At first, he was puzzled. Since when was there such a good place in Qinghai county? He casually asked where it was.
An Cheng said with a smile, “It’s that Godly Boat Ditch. Grandmaster, please do me a favor. This Young Master is going to do something big and rent that sea area of a hundred miles.”
He even stuffed silver into Grandmaster’s hands.
The Grandmaster’s face alternated between green and white. In the end, he maintained a polite smile.
An Cheng really gave too much.
This Young Master was from a wealthy family. To be able to take out so much money on his journey, he must be rich and imposing. He could afford to lose money.
“Tell me, how much does it cost?”
Su Xiaolu was very arrogant and smug.
The Grandmaster took the abacus and did some calculations. Then, he took a deep breath and said, “Young Master, that sea area stretches for a hundred miles. It’s at least 150,000 taels. If you rent it for ten years, it’ll cost 300,000 taels.”
As the Grandmaster spoke, he observed Su Xiaolu’s expression.
This was a huge sum of money. If this sucker could pay it, their Qinghai county would make a killing. If he couldn’t, they could still bargain. They would first report it to the higher-ups and probe the bottom line.
An Lie and An Cheng couldn’t help but twitch their lips.
The government had always been the best at scamming people for money.
They were taking advantage of Su Xiaolu because she was not familiar with the area, but this was exactly what they wanted.
Su Xiaolu frowned. “300,000 taels? Isn’t that a little too much? If I can’t earn that much back, won’t my life be over? How about this? I’ll give you a number. If you can agree, we’ll sign it. If you can’t, we’ll forget about it.”
“A 50% discount. 150,000 taels for 10 years. If you agree, I’ll sign it. If not, forget it.”
Su Xiaolu was very bold and looked like she could go any lower.
The Grandmaster also frowned. He lowered his head and said, “Young Master, wait a moment. Let me report to the county master first.”
If it was a rich sea area, this price was impossible.