Chapter 186: Signing the contract

Gu Chen walked over and tilted his head to look at her. Seeing her expression, his heart immediately tightened.

'What's wrong?'

Wasn't his wife just fine?

Why did she look so bad after just a little while?

Ji Bianran shook her head, a little choked up, 'Thank you.'

Gu Chen was stunned.

He blinked, completely at a loss as to what had just happened and why she was saying thank you again.

But her tone was so sincere.

His intuition told him that something must have happened, but she just didn't want to talk about it.

Since she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't ask.

No matter what happened, he would always be there for her.

He reached out and took Ji Pianran's hand, 'Let's go, let's go eat!'

At this time, there were only people entering the courtyard, and no one leaving. In less than ten minutes, there were more than 30 people.

Everyone gathered together to chat and laugh, talking about this and that, who had the most sensible children, and who had the most filial daughter-in-law.

It was a real buzz.

Gu Chen took Ji Pianran by the hand and walked over. When they saw Gu Chen, everyone's attention was drawn to the couple.

'Chen, you've worked hard.'

'Yes, you've made so many delicious things, and we won't be able to eat these for the New Year.'

'Chen Zi's cooking is really good, we could smell it from afar, it was so delicious.'

'Yes, if my son had half of Chen Zi's cooking skills, I would be able to smile in my sleep!'

Everyone started praising Gu Chen one after the other.

There were sincere words and polite words.

On hearing this, Gu Chen smiled.

'Today, we owe it all to Auntie Zhang and Brother Li's wife. Otherwise, the two of us really wouldn't have been able to make it.'

He was never one to boast, and besides, treating everyone to a meal was nothing to boast about.

After all, the meal was secondary; the most important thing was to get the contract signed!

It was all for the sake of the land.

Auntie Zhang sat with Li You'e, about to eat, and upon hearing Gu Chen's words, her chopsticks paused in mid-air. She laughed and said, 'That's enough, I just washed some vegetables, nothing much. Hurry up and eat, I'm famished!'

Afterwards, she took a mouthful of vegetables herself and ate in respect.

She was really hungry, having not eaten a bite of breakfast, and having been busy until now, she was starving.

Everyone looked at Auntie Zhang and couldn't help but laugh.

People in the countryside are actually very honest, not so formal and not so calculating.

Gu Chen smiled and said, 'Come on, everyone, try the chicken.'

Everyone was already dying of hunger, and as soon as the hostess gave the word, they all started eating with their chopsticks.

The children were originally playing around, but when they heard that it was time to eat, they all returned to their families and sat waiting for the meal to start.

They want to eat meat too!

The children have small appetites and shout a lot, but in fact they are full after just a few bites and all play the wooden man outside the door.

The adults chat while eating, and the atmosphere is lively.

Gu Chen saw that everyone had eaten almost everything, so he stood up.

'Everyone knows why we asked you to come for dinner today. First, because Bianran is sick and has been delayed for two days, so I apologize to everyone.

'Secondly, spring has already sprung, and I think we can sign the contract today. After all, we've come all this way, so there's no need to make a second trip. What do you think?'

Gu Chen may seem carefree and unconcerned in his usual manner, but when it comes to business, he is unambiguous.

His attitude is serious, and his tone sincere and polite.

When he said this, everyone nodded, 'We came here to sign the contract!'

'Yes, in fact, if you had told me that Piran was in hospital, we would have understood. We are all from the same village, and you even invited us to dinner, which made us feel really awkward.'

'Yes, when Piran was in hospital, we didn't even bother to visit her. Now that she's better, the first thing she does is invite us to dinner, which is really embarrassing.'

Gu Chen had obviously spent a lot of money on the meal, and it was not a cheap meal.

Whatever is good is done.

Putting themselves in others' shoes, those who had eaten the meal naturally felt Gu Chen's sincerity.

The villagers are like this. Although their mouths are a bit harsh sometimes, none of them have any bad intentions.

Gu Chen smiled, 'That's good, that's good. In that case, I have the contract ready, let me show it to you now. If you have no objections, we can just sign it.'

What could everyone possibly object to? After all, they were all here for this matter.

They all nodded.

'Great, let's sign it today!'

'It wasn't really urgent, and I didn't expect you to be so quick. After all, Pian is still sick, and we wouldn't mind if it took a few more days.'

'Yes, we're fine with it, as you see.'

Gu Chen smiled, 'That's not possible. I called everyone here today just for this, and it's not good to trouble you twice.'

After saying this, he got up and went back inside, took out the prepared contract, and held 30,000 yuan in his hand, ready to exchange the contract for the money.

In fact, some people in the village could not read, and many had never signed a contract before.

Holding such a formal thing was more of a novelty.

'Okay, Chenzi, here you go!' Yang Yongxiang was the first to sign his name and give the contract to Gu Chen.

Seeing this, Widow Wu smiled.

'Can you read? Did you write your name in the right place?'

Yang Yongxiang felt a little embarrassed when she said this, and he snapped, 'I can't read, but I trust Chen Zi! What's there to read? Just write your name!'

'Hahahaha...'

Everyone started laughing again.

After laughing, many people signed the contract and handed it to Gu Chen, who looked at it and distributed the money to everyone according to the number of mu on it, with some getting 300 yuan, some 500 yuan, and some 1,000 yuan.

Naturally, the price was different as the land was not the same size.

Wu's widow had also signed the contract, and she handed it to Gu Chen and smiled at him, 'Four mu of land, 1,200 yuan.'

Gu Chen didn't expect Wu's widow to rent all the land to him.

He was a little surprised, 'Sister, you're not keeping the land?'

Most people in the village still make a living by farming, and Gu Chen really didn't expect to rent it all to himself.

Upon hearing this, Widow Wu smiled, 'You know that my husband died early. As a woman, I don't have the strength to farm the land, so it's better to rent it all to you and get 1,200 yuan in rent. What a good thing.'

It was obviously a good thing, but her tone always made people feel a little desolate.

Her husband died young, and it is indeed not easy for a woman. Everyone can see that, and when she brought it up again today, everyone sighed along with her.

'Just rent it, rent it all. This land was originally left to me by him, so just consider it him sending me money to raise my son!' Widow Wu rambled on, as if comforting herself.

'Cai Feng'er, this renting the land is such a good thing, why are you sad?' Auntie Zhang is kind-hearted and can't stand to see others sad.

'Exactly, in my opinion, you should give the child a new name. Beibei, Beibei, it sounds unlucky. How about Shunshun? It means smooth sailing in the future!'

Someone said this, instantly breaking the somewhat dull atmosphere. Everyone had been feeling sad for Widow Wu, but after hearing this, they laughed again.

'Yes, let's call him Shunshun, and hope for a smooth life in the future!'

Yang Yongxiang chimed in. The two families lived close to each other, so naturally they got along well.

'But all said and done, we really have to thank Chen Zi. She really helped us out a lot,' said Widow Wu, her eyes full of gratitude.

If it weren't for Gu Chen's sudden request to rent the land, I really wouldn't know what to do with it. It's a pity not to plant it, but if I plant it, I don't have the time.

Thanks to Gu Chen, she solved the family's problem.