After a while, seeing that his father was still silent, Wang An spoke to Wang Dazhu again
"It's not worth selling those things right now. Just leave them there for now; it'll be the right time to sell in a few years when the market improves. With the money our family has now, I reckon it's enough to last ten years or so."
Hearing this, Wang Dazhu was no longer silent, but spoke with a hint of agitation
"That's over four hundred thousand! You're telling me it'll be gone in ten years? You spendthrift, do you eat money?"
Wang Dazhu's sudden excitement was unexpected. Just as Wang An was about to speak, Wang Dazhu spoke again
"Those township cadres only earn 400-something yuan a year, and I see them living perfectly fine. What the hell do you need? Spending over 40,000 a year!"
It had to be said that when it came to money, Wang Dazhu's calculating ability was quite strong. Although he wasn't exactly sure how much money the family had, he was roughly in the ballpark.
But to be honest, Wang Dazhu wasn't wrong. In this era, a sum of 40,000 yuan was something that even a formal employee would need 100 years to earn if they didn't eat or drink.
What Wang Dazhu didn't know was that China's economy would soon take off, and money would become less and less valuable over time.
Meanwhile, the salaries of formal employees would continue to rise.
Wang An knew these things, and since he had been a successful businessman in his previous life, he absolutely would not keep cash sitting idle.
If he didn't want to engage in trade, the fastest way to invest currently was undoubtedly contracting wasteland and barren hills.
After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, Wang An said unhurriedly
"Dad, while I was away the last couple of days, did the village hold a meeting? Did they say they were contracting out the barren hills and wasteland near our village to individuals?"
The reason Wang An asked this was that he remembered in his previous life, in the spring of the second year after the land was divided to households, the village began contracting out the surrounding barren hills and wasteland.
What remained vivid in Wang An's memory was that the first batch of contracted barren hills had a term of 70 years, and the wasteland had a term of 50 years.
As time passed, if one wanted to contract barren hills, the term dropped to 50 years, and wasteland dropped to 30 years.
By the 1990s, the regulations stated that the maximum contract term for barren hills and wasteland had become 30 years.
In other words, contracting now was practically a guaranteed windfall. Even if he grew too lazy to manage it in a few years and sublet it, he could still make money while lying down.
Hearing Wang An's question, Wang Dazhu said with a look of surprise
"How do you know about this? Do you have 'Wind-Listening Ears'?"
Hearing this, Wang An was truly speechless. "Wind-Listening Ears," huh? I might as well have "Thousand-Mile Eyes"!
Every single day with this guy!
However, Wang An only dared to think this; he absolutely didn't dare say it out loud.
Organizing his words, Wang An said
"I just guessed. What's the use of keeping those barren hills if they aren't sold? Selling them brings in some money; leaving them there is just a waste."
After Wang An finished, Wang Dazhu nodded and said
"Mm, they did say. It's just that the price is a bit expensive. The people in the village are all waiting and seeing; it seems like no one has any ideas."
Wang An knew that those who truly had "no ideas" were a tiny minority. The reason those people had no ideas was simply because they had no money.
One must realize that for a farmer, the most important thing—which could be called their lifeblood—was undoubtedly land. Therefore, it was impossible for them to have no interest.
Wang An hurriedly asked
"How much per mu?"
Wang Dazhu said, "Barren hills are 1 yuan per mu per year, contracted for 70 years. Wasteland is 5 yuan per mu per year, contracted for 50 years."
Once Wang Dazhu finished, Wang An began calculating in his head.
At 1 yuan per mu for barren hills, 1,000 mu would be 70,000 yuan.
At 5 yuan per mu for wasteland, 1,000 mu would be 250,000 yuan.
He calculated this way because he knew that in this round of contracting, there were only about 1,000 mu of each.
But if he did this, more than half of the family's 400,000-plus yuan would be spent just on contracting the land. Crucially, once the barren hills or wasteland were acquired, it would take a significant amount of money to actually cultivate them.
Furthermore, the cement and steel for the new house, as well as future renovations, would also cost a fair amount.
Not to mention, Wang An wanted to buy a four-wheel vehicle or a tractor...
Looking at it this way, it seemed like the family's money would be almost gone!
Holy crap, after all this bustling around, I'm about to run out of money.
It had to be said that while earning money was harder than eating shit, spending it was more exhilarating than having diarrhea!
After finishing the calculations in his head, Wang An asked Wang Dazhu
"Dad, do you have any thoughts on this?"
Wang Dazhu pondered for a moment, then steeled himself and said
"Of course I have thoughts. I was thinking of contracting maybe three hundred or two hundred mu. Xiao An, what do you think?"
It was clear that although Wang Dazhu was the head of the household, the vast majority of the family's current money had been earned by Wang An. Thus, as the father, Wang Dazhu lacked a bit of confidence.
This lack of confidence was naturally spotted by the cunning Wang An.
To be honest, Wang An didn't want his father to be like this. For Wang An, the purpose of earning money was to ensure his family could spend without any hesitation.
Otherwise, what was the point of earning money?
So, Wang An said with a smile
"Mom already said that you're the head of the house. You don't need to ask me about this; I have no objections at all."
Hearing this, Wang Dazhu visibly relaxed and said with a smile
"Then our family will contract 300 mu of wasteland. If we're too busy, we'll sublet it. I reckon we can still make a good profit."
Wang An was instantly delighted, but how could such a small amount of wasteland be enough?
After a pause, Wang An said
"Dad, if you ask me, since we're contracting land, we might as well go big. We'll contract as much as is available. Anyway, if you don't contract the land, the family's money will eventually be squandered by me sooner or later. If the money turns into land, it can't be squandered. Don't you think that makes sense?"
It had to be said that this twisted logic of Wang An's left Comrade Wang Dazhu completely bewildered.
After a long while, Wang Dazhu subconsciously nodded and said
"When we get back, let's discuss it with your mother and Xueqing."
After Wang Dazhu finished, the father and son fell silent simultaneously, as the horse carriage had arrived at the edge of their own fields.
As soon as they entered the field, they threw the hemp sacks tied to the back onto the ground and removed the rear board of the manure carrier.
Then, while Wang Dazhu led the carriage to measure the steps, Wang An got busy in the back.
Of course, once the carriage stopped, Wang Dazhu would walk to the back to help shovel out a few loads of manure.
Working together like this, the father and son quickly finished spreading the entire load of manure.
(End of Chapter)