Getting Started

When Fan Ping returned from finishing his business, he did not know what had just happened in the room. Nobody told him because Fan Ling had a pretty negative reputation, so people simply looked down on her. However, Fan Ling was not someone who liked to rely on others nor did she feel like such a small event should be told to Fan Ping, so he remained clueless about the events that just occurred.

"Da-ge, you're done?" Fan Ling cutely asked when Fan Ping walked into the room.

Nodding his head, Fan Ping answered, "Yes. We can leave now."

With that, Fan Ling followed Fan Ping out of the room. Even though she really loved the oriental building and decorations, she no longer looked at them curiously as she previously did before.

Once Fan Ling entered the carriage with Fan Ping, she asked him, "Where are we going next?"

"Is there anywhere that you want to go?" Fan Ping asked for her opinion.

Hearing that, Fan Ling told him, "Da-ge, can we go outside and look for land?"

Earlier, Fan Ling had been mentioning a farm, so Fan Ping questioned, "Xiao Ling, you're really serious about owning a farm?"

Fan Ling immediately nodded with a serious face, "Da-ge, please invest in my farm and help me start up. Once I earn enough, I'll definitely pay you back. Consider it as me taking a loan from you."

Seeing her earnest and serious face, Fan Ping really felt like helping her to start up a business as she wanted. However, even if they were wealthy, money should not uselessly be spent.

"If Xiao Ling wants to start up a farm, then you need to tell me what your plans are to earn enough to pay me back and what the budget is that you want," Fan Ping stated.

"Da-ge, I don't know how much I need to spend. But, I do know what I want. How about Da-ge do the math for me?" Fan Ling requested. "Da-ge, it's not that I want you to do the work for me, but I don't know what the prices are for everything since I don't remember anything."

Fan Ping could tell that Fan Ling was serious about starting a farm, so he asked her, "If I don't help you, then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go find a job," Fan Ling honestly answered his question.

Asking Fan Ping or her family for money was the easy route and since she had access to easy money, then she would naturally go ask them. However, if they did not trust her, she would not mind leaving to go hunt for a job and earn enough to start a farm. Either way, she was still knowledgeable enough to know what was the easiest way to earn money at this time and age.

The only thing was that the job she had in mind… could possibly ruin her reputation once again.

On the other side, Fan Ping immediately agreed to help her as soon as he heard that she would go find a job. After all, if the daughter of a rich and noble family needed to go find work to earn money, that would mean that her family either did not find her important or they were about to go bankrupt.

Not only that…

'Mother and father would kill me if they find out that Xiao Ling ran out to find a job!' Fan Ping internally thought although he did not show his fear on his face on the outside.

Agreeing with Fan Ling, Fan Ping ordered the driver to send them to the outskirts of the capital city. In the city, there was no space for farmland to exist as every space was intended for the residents of nobles and merchants. Naturally, farming was a task for the poor and the common people - of course, they had to exist outside of the capital and could only enter once in a while to trade with other merchants.

When they finally reached outside the capital city, the time was already noon - the hottest time of the day. Although the farmlands outside the capital were the closest, they were still distant away because nobles hated seeing poor people in the city.

Normally, a normal young miss from a noble family would hate being outside at this time of the day, especially being out in the agricultural area where the poor were located. However, Fan Ling was different as she was not born a young miss, but struggled throughout her life and was only able to live in luxury after years of hard work.

This hard environment was something that Fan Ping was worried that Fan Ling would complain about. Only, to his surprise, she showed immense excitement at the sight in front of them.

After the driver parked the carriage, Fan Ping had him go find the village chief. If someone wanted to buy land from farmers or commoners, there was usually a leader they needed to find in order to discuss availability and the price. Although, some people did refuse to sell their land because they wanted to hold onto the memories of the land as their family had been living there for generations.

Once a few minutes passed, the driver finally came back with the village chief following right behind him.

"Eldest Master Fan, what can this lowly one do for you?" the village chief asked, sweating a little from the heat and from the nervousness of facing someone of high stature.

Fan Ping did not answer. Instead, he turned to Fan Ling and said, "You can tell him what you want, and he'll try to find something that will be fitting for you."

Still showing his respect, the village chief asked, "Eldest Master Fan, who might this be?"

'Could this potentially be the future wife of Eldest Master Fan?' the village chief wondered inside his mind.

This was a natural thought because as poor people, they never got to actually see famous figures in the capital. They merely heard about those people from hearsay and rumors.

Even though Fan Ling was incredibly famous for all the wrong reasons, people did not really speak of her appearance. Well, even if they did though, he would not assume that the young girl standing in front of him would be the infamous Young Miss Fan as that person was famous for being arrogant and wild - not at all showing the grace of a noble daughter.

On the other hand, Fan Ling gave off a quiet and peaceful vibe that the infamous person did not. Her aura was very comforting, something of which the infamous person was practically incapable of doing.

"She is my sister," Fan Ping answered his question.

Hearing that, the village chief immediately apologized with a red face, "Ah, I apologize Young Miss Fan. I did not realize…"

"No worries, I understand. Village Chief, I hope to buy four hundred acres of farmland," Fan Ling outright stated with a serious expression on her cute face.

Fan Ling felt that she needed to maintain a sense of seriousness after seeing herself in the mirror. She was too cute. Cuteness is indeed good when calling for favors, but when appearance is needed for official business, cuteness is practically useless.

'Beauty can be used to make money, but cuteness can only be used in the presence of beauty,' Fan Ling inwardly thought.

"F-four hundred?" the village chief almost exclaimed from the number.

Even though the current source of income came from farming rice and much other produce, there was no family that owned four hundred acres of land. At most, they would own twenty acres if they were rich people in the village.

"Yes, four hundred acres," Fan Ling stated again to affirm her answer.

"That.." the village chief struggled to speak.

"Is there an issue with that?" Fan Ping asked when he saw the village chief having a hard time thinking of what to say.

"Four hundred acres of land is equivalent to all the farmland we have in this village," the village chief started out. "I fear that it is impossible for me to sell four hundred acres to you as some of the village people might not even agree to sell their land. Although, we do have about fifty acres of vacant land at the moment."

"Village Chief, would you please ask them if they would sell their land to me if I allow them to continue living there and work in the fields?" Fan Ling requested. "However, instead of them selling their harvests to make ends meet, I will be paying them every week for the days that they are working in the fields. With so much farmland, I will naturally need a lot of workers."

Thinking for a moment to consider her request, the village chief finally nodded and said, "Alright, I will ask the villagers and give you their answers."

"Then, for now, we will buy the vacant lands," Fan Ling thanked him before telling him so.

When the village chief heard her statement, he questioned, "Does Young Miss Fan not plan to check the vacant lands first?"

The village chief was afraid that Fan Ling was uneducated on the matters of farming. How can one buy land without checking the soil first?

"Even if the soil is dry and used up, I will still have a way to grow something there," Fan Ling stated without showing any arrogance.

With that statement from Fan Ling, the village chief finally quoted the total price for the vacant lots.

"Alright, my pageboy will come here later today to pay the vacant lands," Fan Ping told the village chief.

Then, he went into the carriage and so did Fan Ling.