“Jue Di… how could it be Jue Di? It’s just land where grass doesn’t grow…”
Cheng Wancheng stammered, desperately wanting to argue but unsure how to proceed. Everyone in the village knew this land was barren; for decades, nothing had grown here. If someone claimed it wasn’t barren, that would be strange indeed. Cheng Wancheng knew in his heart that this land was indeed barren, yet he tried to deceive Shui Miao, only to be seen through by the young man beside her.
Seeing Cheng’s ill intentions, Shui Miao immediately felt annoyed, but considering Huang Yatou was absent and the expansion project in Jing Shuicun couldn’t be delayed, she restrained herself and said, “Even grass won’t grow here. It’s not even cemented ground, and you still say it’s not barren? Well then, tell me, what exactly would you call barren land?”
If it were up to Shui Miao’s temper, she might have beaten Cheng Wancheng up right then and there. “Alright, alright, Mr. Shui, this land isn’t even sold to you, it’s gifted by the village. You’re not farming here anyway. If it’s useful, use it. If not, just forget I mentioned it. Anyway, the agreement with Mr. Huang is already signed. If you break the contract, the village will just refund you the five million yuan, no need for you to pay any penalty. I didn’t even get a penny of commission, so why should I care so much?” Cheng Wancheng had his own calculations, hoping to get a big gift from Shui Miao in return.
Corrupt official!
The term “corrupt official” immediately popped into Shui Miao’s mind.
Previously, Shui Miao had never dealt with any officials, assuming that corrupt officials were just those who embezzled public funds. She never expected there to be hidden schemes even in land purchases. Understanding Cheng Wancheng’s implications, Shui Miao smiled slightly, thinking this was a good opportunity to interact with officials and accumulate experience for future dealings. She then asked Xiao Tudou and Xiao Liu to go have a look around, while she took Cheng Wancheng aside, turned off her phone in front of him, and said, “Secretary Cheng, I don’t like beating around the bush. Just name your price.”
Hearing Shui Miao’s words, Cheng Wancheng immediately beamed with delight, “Mr. Shui, you’re too polite. It’s not that I don’t want to give you good land, but I don’t have the authority! The villagers don’t like this land, so I thought no one would object. If you want it, I still need to discuss it with everyone. In principle, since Mr. Shui is investing in our village, we should fully cooperate. But our village is really too poor, with many elderly people, we have no choice!”
Cheng Wancheng was cunning and crafty, skillfully portraying himself as a good guy.
But Shui Miao knew, the moment he would start talking about money was coming.
Shui Miao smiled slightly and nodded, “Secretary Cheng, just say it directly. I understand.”
“Hehe, these days, young people who can understand our village’s difficulties are rare,” Cheng Wancheng said with a bright smile. Pausing for a moment, he said earnestly, “Alright then, I’ll take the initiative and give you this six-mu land nearby. You can give some money to each family of elderly villagers, and I’ll help you with the arrangements. You just need to give me fifty thousand yuan total. I’ll distribute the money to the villagers and negotiate with them, permanently renting this land to you.”
Fifty thousand yuan for six mu of land, permanently usable, was a great bargain.
Shui Miao thought for a moment and nodded, “Alright, fifty thousand it is. Once you’ve coordinated with the villagers, we’ll sign the agreement and pay you.”
“We can sign the agreement today. I’ll go discuss with everyone right now.”
Seeing there was profit to be made, Cheng Wancheng was especially enthusiastic. He immediately turned and ran to the village office. The village loudspeaker soon came on, and Cheng Wancheng summoned the village’s party members and the leader of the third team to an urgent meeting. This land was within the third team’s area. Cheng Wancheng planned to give some subsidies only to the third team villagers and distribute some benefits to the team leaders and party members, keeping the rest for himself—at least making more than thirty thousand yuan.
Secretary Cheng held his meeting.
Meanwhile, Shui Miao also got busy. Within a thousand meters nearby, no houses were visible. Shui Miao gave Xiao Liu some money to buy bamboo poles and canvas, choosing a place with grass, higher ground, and large trees to set up tents. They were ready to start the expansion work in the next few days.
Then, Wang Xiaomi drove, taking Shui Miao and Xiao Tudou to the bank to withdraw money.
Since she didn’t understand land matters, Wang Xiaomi had remained silent all along.
“Master, the earth spirit energy in that area is really, really strong. I really, really like it. Would you build a Taoist temple there? Let me be a busy Taoist there later, okay?” Relying on his keen sensitivity to earth spirit energy, Xiao Tudou had already sensed something.
“There’s no problem with that. Of course, the temple will be left for you to manage. You don’t need to worry about that. But…” Shui Miao stroked his chin, thinking, “I just can’t figure out what exactly blocked the well and cut off the earth spirit energy. It must be something powerful. After more than a hundred years, the earth spirit energy is still blocked. That thing must be very strong, maybe even poisonous?”
“Master, Master once told me about this. He speculated there’s a huge cave beneath the dry well. He once went down and found a giant stone at the bottom of the dry well. That stone originally had poison, but after so many years of evaporation and air corrosion, the toxicity of the stone no longer exists. However, there were some mysterious talisman characters carved on that stone. I think the reason why no grass grows on that land must be related to those talisman characters.”
“What else did Master say?” Shui Miao’s heart stirred, never expecting Xiao Tudou to know so much.
Xiao Tudou scratched his head, smiling, “Master also said that not long after his death, someone would come looking for me, take me to rebuild the temple, and make me the abbot!”
“Such a thing too!”
Shui Miao was greatly surprised; Master was indeed a divine calculator!
“Yes, absolutely true.” Xiao Tudou nodded hurriedly. Pausing for a moment, he suddenly recalled something else and quickly said, “Oh right, Master also said that the person who brought me here, the big stone blocking the dry well below, was his gift to you. It seems like that stone would be very useful to you?”
“If Master really said that, then it must be so.”
Shui Miao’s eyes turned, immediately asking Wang Xiaomi, “Xiaomi, what do you think?”
Wang Xiaomi had been listening and thinking. Seeing Shui Miao ask, she shook her head and said, “I don’t understand land or talisman characters at all. But if you want to retrieve that stone blocking the well below, I do have an idea. I think that stone must be some kind of treasure, otherwise it couldn’t suppress the earth spirit energy. Also, the reason why Master was so divinely calculating and powerful might be related to the talisman characters on the stone. So, in my opinion, our top priority now is to immediately bring in an excavator to lift that stone.”
“This matter needs to be handled carefully. Although the surface of the stone is no longer toxic, there might still be toxins beneath it. We can’t afford to be careless,” Shui Miao gently shook her head, thought for a moment, and then took out her phone to call Xiao Liu, “Xiao Liu, the plan has changed. I need to buy ten times more bamboo poles and canvas. I want to build large tents over the dry well area. Once you’ve negotiated the price, I’ll be right there.”
“General Manager, are you planning to build the tents first and then dig?” Wang Xiaomi was somewhat puzzled. After all, it was just a stone. An excavator could finish it in half an hour. There was no need for such a big fuss.
Soldiers liked to act directly, swiftly finishing the task before the villagers even knew, the stone already transported away.
However, Xiao Tudou and Shui Miao thought the same way. This matter couldn’t be rushed; it needed to be handled carefully. Besides, in the eyes of geomancers, moving earth was never a small matter. Xiao Tudou thought for a moment and suggested, “It would be better to buy some ropes and flashlights too. If Master could go down, then we can too.”
“Yes, I was thinking the same. Let’s go down and take a look first.”
Shui Miao felt excited, sensing that the talisman characters carved on the stone inside the dry well weren’t just simple characters, but perhaps heavenly scriptures or secret Taoist manuals!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage