Chapter 147: What's More Important, a Girl or Liyuan Farm?

Chapter 147: What's More Important, a Girl or Liyuan Farm?

Wang Yu watched the three families anxiously asking, but he sighed dramatically, "Everyone, I'm truly sorry. I have some very unfortunate news. Uncle Ma's family isn't satisfied with the original price and is now asking for an additional 300,000 yuan from Liyuan Farm. Now, they're angry and have decided not to sell their land. They've already started construction on another mountain."

The three families, who had been eagerly awaiting the news, suddenly froze, then one by one, they couldn't believe their ears.

"Leader, you must be joking!"

"That's right, everything was agreed upon, so why are they backing out now?"

"What is the Ma family doing? They were getting the most money, and they're still not satisfied."

After signing the contract yesterday, they had been excited all night, making plans for what they would do with the money. Now, they were being told that the land wouldn't be purchased?

Wang Yu sighed deeply, "I'm truly sorry, everyone. You know we have plenty of mountains in Youcheng. Why would Liyuan Farm need to come specifically to this one? Someone didn't understand this and still had the audacity to ask for an extra 300,000 yuan. They're just building a water channel; why would Liyuan Farm agree to pay that much?"

This news sent the three families into a frenzy.

"Does Ma Dacheng have a brain? Does he think his land is made of gold?"

"How can someone be so greedy? Now, he's hurting us too."

"Leader, can we get Ma Dacheng to sign the contract at the original price?"

"Right, we can ask him to sign."

Seeing that the three families were agitated, Wang Yu cut off their hopes, "I'm really sorry, everyone. Liyuan Farm has already started construction on another mountain. There's nothing we can do to bring them back here."

"Since the news has been delivered, I'll be on my way."

With that, he didn't stay any longer, leaving the village office and getting into his car with a smile.

His classmate, who had been filming the entire time, continued recording. The video wouldn't end here; there was more to come.

As soon as Wang Yu left, the three families were devastated, unable to believe that the money they thought was secure was now gone.

The villagers, who had gathered, were also in disbelief.

"Who would have thought Ma Dacheng would be so greedy?"

"That's right, it's too much. His greed has cost the other three families their money."

"Indeed, it was unexpected wealth, and he didn't know how to cherish it, hurting others in the process."

"..."

The villagers' words seemed to condemn Ma Dacheng while sympathizing with the other three families. However, their expressions betrayed a sense of schadenfreude.

Clearly, they were both afraid of their brothers suffering and envious of their brothers' success.

Condemnation was one thing, but schadenfreude was another, and the two didn't conflict.

However, their words only further agitated the other three families.

"Damn Ma Dacheng, let's go to his house and make him pay!"

"Right, let's find him, what a jerk!"

"He has to give us an explanation and compensate us!"

"..."

The three families stormed out of the village office, heading for Ma Dacheng's house, with the villagers following out of curiosity.

From the side of the road, Wang Yu watched this scene from his car and said to his classmate, "Hurry up and film this."

"It's already being filmed," his classmate laughed. "Wang Yu, the scene you've directed is truly spectacular. Can we send the video to Youcheng TV as well? I'd like to get some credit. You can post it on the official website, and the TV station can support you."

Wang Yu smiled, "Does anyone even watch Youcheng TV?"

His classmate looked embarrassed, "No one watches the TV, but we have some followers on social media, especially when we subtly piggyback on Liyuan Farm's popularity. Many of our followers are from Youcheng."

"Alright!" Wang Yu finally agreed.

To set an example, it had to be seen by as many people as possible. Director Zhao and Mr. Zhang wanted to prevent similar incidents in the future.

As they talked, the driver quietly followed the villagers, filming from behind.

...

Back at the Ma family's house, the father and son had a restless night.

Ma Xiao, in particular, had expected a call from the other party last night to discuss the matter.

But they hadn't heard a word.

Could it be that the other party really wasn't going to sign the contract?

This thought made him anxious. At the original price, he would have enough for his dowry and could marry his girlfriend. If they didn't sign, it would all be for nothing.

As time passed, he became increasingly worried.

"Son, do you think they really won't sign?" Ma Dacheng, looking exhausted, hadn't slept well all night.

Ma Xiao, though worried, remained firm, "They won't. They've already planned the land acquisition; they can't just change it on a whim."

At that moment, angry voices came from outside.

"Ma Dacheng, come out!"

"You damn fool, you've ruined us."

"Get out here!"

The angry voices were accompanied by pounding on the door.

Ma Dacheng and his son were startled. They quickly opened the door and saw the three families, looking furious, with a crowd of villagers behind them.

"Why are you here?" Ma Dacheng was confused.

The three families were enraged.

"Why are we here? Because of you, Liyuan Farm isn't acquiring the land anymore."

"That's right, they've gone to another place. Your greed has cost us our money."

"Pay up, or we won't let this go."

These words made Ma Dacheng's father panic as well.

"How could they stop the land acquisition?" Ma Dacheng anxiously asked his son, "What should we do now?"

Ma Xiao was just as surprised and had no idea what to do. He could only turn to his father and say, "Dad, quickly call the county officials and tell them we're willing to sign at the original price. If we can get Liyuan Farm to come back, they won't have a reason to go elsewhere. They chose us initially because it was the most cost-effective."

He was genuinely panicked, never expecting his fears to come true.

Forget about getting 300,000 more to buy a BMW; if he couldn't even get the original amount, he wouldn't be able to gather the dowry. He would have to break up with his girlfriend.

Ma Dacheng didn't dare hesitate and immediately took out his phone to call Wang Yu.

Outside, Wang Yu was directing his classmates to take videos when he received Ma Dacheng's call. Seeing this, he smiled and answered.

"Leader, we've reconsidered and are willing to sign at the original price," Ma Dacheng said as soon as the call connected.

Wang Yu smiled and replied, "Uncle Ma, there's really nothing we can do. They've already decided to go to another mountain. There's no way around it."

"How could they go to another mountain when we haven't even finalized the deal?" Ma Dacheng was in a panic.

Beside him, Ma Xiao was even more anxious. He snatched the phone and said, "Leader, we're willing to sign at the original price for the farmland. Leader, please get Linyuan Farm to come back. We'll give you a kickback."

"Idiot!" Wang Yu hung up the phone without another word, not wanting to waste any more time.

Ma Xiao was left stunned by the sudden disconnect.

The three families seemed to understand what had happened, and their anger boiled over once more.

"It's all because of your family."

"Damn it, give me back my 100,000."

"And my 90,000."

Losing such a significant amount of money was like losing a family member, especially for the villagers.

In their rage, they began to fight, and someone threw a stone that hit Ma Xiao on the head, causing him to bleed.

"Make sure this scene doesn't get out," Wang Yu quickly told his classmates.

After all, the video would be posted on the official website to set an example for Linyuan Farm, representing the official stance. Bloody scenes were not appropriate.

"I get it, just blur out the blood," one of his classmates suggested.

The two of them then returned to the county. Soon, Wang Yu arrived at Zhao Han's office and handed over the video.

Zhao Han took the video and watched it. The content was clear: Linyuan Farm had decided to go elsewhere because someone was raising the price. The person who tried to raise the price ended up losing everything and even caused others to suffer, leading to their punishment by the villagers.

The video made it look like the entire village was standing against one family, not just three families against Ma Dacheng's family.

Once this video was released, anyone with similar ideas would think twice before trying the same thing with Linyuan Farm. However, in Youcheng, Ma Dacheng and his family would be thoroughly disgraced, as small towns are known for spreading news quickly.

Previously, a local Youcheng influencer had agreed to a three-on-one encounter with a wealthy fan, each paying her a few thousand yuan. The incident ended up damaging a hotel and even involved the police. The news spread the next day, even reaching the Tourism Bureau office, where it was said that one of the Bureau's employees was a classmate of the influencer.

Even the Tourism Bureau chief had heard about the gossip.

Zhao Han also picked up the phone and arranged for the video to be uploaded. However, the news spread faster than he expected. Many villagers had already posted videos on social media and local groups, spreading the story throughout Youcheng. This kind of news, especially involving Linyuan Farm, was highly attention-grabbing.

When the county's official website and Youcheng TV's social media account posted the video, it went viral, and it was even shared by various news outlets.

This was something Zhao Han and Zhang Lin hadn't anticipated.

They had only intended to set an example in Youcheng, but it quickly spiraled out of control.

...

At the county hospital.

Ma Xiao was unaware of the online commotion. He had passed out after being hit on the head and was taken to the hospital for treatment. He lay in bed for hours, his head still buzzing.

A police officer informed him, "Mr. Ma, I'm sorry, but the scene was too chaotic, and there were no witnesses. Additionally, there were no surveillance cameras in that area, so we couldn't determine who hit you."

"How could no one have seen it? There were so many people there," Ma Xiao was speechless. Was he supposed to just accept being hit without any consequences?

But the thought of Linyuan Farm not acquiring the land made the frustration of being hit seem trivial.

Thinking of the three families' angry faces, he felt even more fear.

He knew he had made a huge mistake. The three families had lost so much money; they wouldn't let this go easily.

After leaving the hospital, he didn't dare return to the village. Instead, he went straight to Youcheng and called his girlfriend.

"Ruyan, where are you? I'll come find you," Ma Xiao said as soon as the call connected.

"I'm at the Longguan Coffee Shop," Lin Ruyan's voice came through the phone.

"Okay, I'll be there soon," Ma Xiao frowned. He felt that her voice was unusually cold. When he arrived at the coffee shop, his world seemed to collapse. His girlfriend was laughing and chatting with another man.

He walked up to them, furious, and demanded, "Ruyan, what are you doing?"

"Who is he?"

Lin Ruyan didn't hide it, "A blind date, what else? I didn't want to come, considering we're still dating, but look it up online. Who in Youcheng doesn't know that Ma Xiao raised his prices and was greedy? His character is terrible."

This made the man across from her laugh, seizing the opportunity to speak up loudly, "Ruyan, is he the same Ma Xiao the Youcheng TV news and official website talked about, the one who tried to raise his price but was rejected by Liyuan Farm, leaving him with nothing?"

This drew the attention of everyone around, and they immediately started pointing and whispering about Ma Xiao:

"That's him, smart but outsmarted. Think about it, how would Luyuan Farm let him raise his price?"

"Greedy and now his reputation is ruined."

"I just saw a video in a Youcheng group, and here I am, seeing the real person."

"..."

These comments made Ma Xiao feel uneasy. He immediately took out his phone to check, and almost immediately, he found videos of himself in his friends' circles and Youcheng groups.

Several people from Youcheng groups even tagged him and sent him links to the videos on Xiangyin.

When he clicked on them, he discovered that Xiangyin had videos about him, and they were linked to Luyuan Farm, gaining a lot of attention. Many people were cursing him.

Ma Xiao's head started buzzing. He felt like the sky was falling. Everyone wants to be famous, but he didn't want this kind of fame.

What had he done to deserve this kind of online exposure?

...

At Luyuan Farm, Zhang Lin naturally saw the videos about Ma Xiao.

Liyuan Farm's account didn't post those videos, but the official Xiangyin account of Youcheng TV did, capitalizing on Luyuan Farm's popularity. With this boost, the videos went viral, and many news media accounts shared them.

News about stubborn holdouts and price hikes easily grabs attention.

Knowing that Ma Xiao had lost both his wife and his fortune, countless people mocked him. He was publicly shamed not just in Youcheng but across the country.

This showed that most netizens had a strong sense of right and wrong and couldn't stand such despicable behavior.

This was exactly what Zhang Lin wanted. By making an example of Ma Xiao, he hoped that no one would dare to try the same trick in the future.

Next, he needed to bring the mountain spring water to the farm and build a reservoir to meet the conditions for constructing a special mountain spring wellness center.

The water channel wasn't a major project, but it was long. If he had Liu De and the others do it, they were just farmers, not professionals, so he needed to hire an external construction team.

Since the mountain spring water project would be built through the game, he didn't want to trouble the county government. The best option would be to hire Youcheng Construction, but if he did that and they suffered losses, they might demand to take over the mountain spring wellness center project, which he would have to refuse. That would complicate things.

So, he thought of Huang Tao and called him immediately.

When the call connected, Huang Tao's voice came through, "Zhang Lin, what can I do for you?"

Zhang Lin got straight to the point, "Huang Tao, besides the restaurant project, can you take on any other projects?"

Huang Tao replied awkwardly, "Zhang Lin, to be honest, you know I used to make prefab houses, and my capacity for such projects is limited. I've already invested everything in the farm restaurant. I can't take on more projects just for the money; that could lead to quality issues and damage our friendship."

"Is that so!" Zhang Lin was actually pleased, as Huang Tao was one of his few friends. But now he had to find someone else.

He didn't have many connections in this field.

Huang Tao seemed to understand Zhang Lin's dilemma and quickly added, "Zhang Lin, I know a few construction team bosses. If you trust me, I can act as a middleman and bring them to the farm. Of course, I'll personally oversee the work to ensure there are no problems. If anything goes wrong, I'll handle it at my own expense."

"Why wouldn't I trust you? I'll wait for you at the farm!" Zhang Lin didn't hesitate, having already trusted Huang Tao multiple times.

"Alright, I'll take care of it right away!" Huang Tao hung up and immediately opened his contacts, dialing a number.

When the call connected, a breathless voice came through, "Boss Huang, why are you calling now? I'm busy with a girl."

Huang Tao was speechless, "Boss Cheng, you really know how to enjoy yourself during the day. Do you have time to come over? I have a place to take you."

Boss Cheng was taken aback, "Boss Huang, wait until the afternoon. This girl is quite a talker, and you can't make me leave in the middle. I'll get sick."

Huang Tao teased, "Oh, forget it then. There's no shortage of people willing to take on the Luyuan Farm project. I'll call someone else."

"Wait, Luyuan Farm?" Boss Cheng's voice became urgent, "Boss Huang, don't give this opportunity to anyone else. I'll come right away."

"Don't, you'll get sick if you leave in the middle." Huang Tao continued to tease.

"Even if I get impotent, the Luyuan Farm project is the most important. Wait for me, Boss Huang, I'm on my way." Boss Cheng's voice grew more anxious. What a joke, the chance to work with Luyuan Farm was more important than any girl, no matter how talkative she was.

After all, how many people in Youcheng would kill to get a connection with Luyuan Farm, begging and pleading to no avail!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end