Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Are You Out of Your Mind?

“Tsk, all spooky and superstitious.” Zhou Ran muttered under his breath as he instinctively headed for Su Qian’s front passenger seat.

He had just opened the passenger door when something seemed to occur to him, and he grinned. “Brother Lu Yao, after you.”

Lu Yao: “?”

Even Su Qian was confused by what Zhou Ran just did.

“Heh heh, I get it.” Zhou Ran wiggled his brows at Su Qian. “I’ll sit in the back. I won’t disturb you two.”

With that, he quickly slid into the back seat.

“What’s wrong with you this early in the morning?” Su Qian was speechless.

After they got in, Su Qian started the car and slowly drove away from the villa.

“You already checked out that farm?” Su Qian asked while driving, glancing at Zhou Ran in the rearview mirror.

Zhou Ran leaned forward, excited. “Of course.”

“I went yesterday. The farm hasn’t been rented out yet. I’ve already talked it over with the boss.”

Zhou Ran kept going, animated. “He’ll let us look first. If we like it, the price and terms are all negotiable. The boss is a straight shooter too. He said as long as we really want to rent it, everything can be discussed.”

Su Qian nodded slightly. “As long as the location is good, money isn’t an issue.”

…

“What? You rented out my farm for one hundred thousand yuan a year?”

On the farm, a middle-aged man stared wide-eyed in disbelief and roared at the young man in front of him.

Veins bulged on his forehead with anger.

“Dad, I… I did it for the good of the farm. This crappy land has been sitting idle forever, and I thought the price wasn’t low…” The young man wore loose, baggy clothes, a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

His eyes carried a lazy, reckless air.

“Not low? What the hell do you know!” the middle-aged man roared.

His voice echoed across the empty farm, startling a few birds from the trees.

“You little bastard!” The man shook with rage, grabbed a broom from the side, and swung it at the young man.

“Hey, Dad!” Seeing this, the young man threw away his cigarette and scrambled aside, hopping around as he dodged.

The swagger on his face dulled instantly.

In its place was a bit of panic. “Dad, don’t hit me. We can talk this out!”

The man chased him while swinging and cursing. “Talk my ass! That’s three hundred mu, and you rented it out for only one hundred thousand!”

The young man was chased into a sorry state.

He kept dodging while shouting urgently, “Dad, I’m doing it for our family-!”

He dodged Dad’s broom, wincing with pain.

He darted around the yard in a mess.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure ahead.

“Sis-!” When the young man saw that familiar figure, it was like grabbing a lifeline. “Save me! Dad says he’s going to beat me to death.”

The girl wore a simple T-shirt and jeans. Her jet-black hair was tied in a ponytail, neat and capable.

“Tang Chuan Chang, did you gamble again?” The girl frowned, staring straight at her brother hiding behind her.

She knew this brother too well. He never did proper work and always loafed around. The family had worried about him more than once because of his gambling.

“I didn’t!” Tang Chuan Chang insisted stubbornly.

“Shi Shi, you came at just the right time.” Seeing his daughter, the man finally paused his chase, panting hard. “Your useless brother rented out our family’s three hundred mu for a casual one hundred thousand yuan!”

“Tang Chuan Chang!!!”

When Tang Shi heard that, her eyes went wide.

She snatched the broom from Dad’s hands, spun around, and chased after her brother, Tang Chuan Chang, swinging as she shouted, “Are you out of your mind!”

Tang Chuan Chang was terrified.

When Dad hit, it might just be to scare him.

But when his sister hit, it was the real deal.

Sisters naturally had bloodline suppression over brothers.

Tang Chuan Chang ran around the yard with his head covered, shouting, “Sis, Sis, stop hitting me! Boss Zhang will be here to look at the land any minute.”

That only made Tang Shi angrier. “Did you take his money?”

She knew this brother far too well.

He must have lost money gambling, and that was why he rushed to rent out the farm so foolishly.

He was hoping to squeeze a bit out of this to fill the hole of his gambling debts.

When Tang Chuan Chang heard his sister say that, his body visibly stiffened, and his steps slowed.

He stammered, “Sis… I… I didn’t.”

But his darting eyes couldn’t hide the panic in his heart.

“Stop bullshitting me!” Tang Shi’s face turned red with anger.

Just then, the sound of a car engine came from far away, drawing closer.

Everyone’s attention snapped over.

Tang Chuan Chang acted like he’d found another lifeline. “Sis, Dad, it’s definitely Boss Zhang.”

[I’ve already taken the deposit. You want me to spit it back out? No way!]

“What do we do? I just agreed yesterday to a young man that I’d rent the farm to him.” Old Tang frowned. “How am I supposed to explain this?”

Tang Shi stopped chasing her brother and turned to her father. “Dad, you already promised someone yesterday that you’d rent out the farm?”

Old Tang sighed helplessly. “A young man came yesterday. He looked pretty honest and said he was interested in our farm and wanted to rent it and develop it properly.”

“I figured leaving the farm idle was a waste, so I talked with him. We were basically done negotiating, just waiting to sign the contract. Who knew this kid today…”

Old Tang pointed at Tang Chuan Chang. “He went and caused this mess, renting the farm out to someone else for only one hundred thousand.”

Tang Chuan Chang muttered to the side, “Good thing I was faster.”

If Dad rented it out, the money definitely wouldn’t end up in his pocket.

“Shut up!” Tang Shi snapped. “Look at the good job you’ve done. Now it’s a mess, and we can’t explain it to either side.”

Soon, a car slowly drove into the farmyard.

After it stopped, the door opened.

A middle-aged man in a well-fitted suit stepped out.

He wore a smile that looked friendly, but his eyes held a sharp kind of cunning that was hard to read.

“Oh, this is the Tang Family farm, huh?” Boss Zhang said with a smile as he looked around. “Younger Brother Tang, what we agreed on before, you have to make sure it gets carried out.”

As he spoke, his gaze landed on Tang Chuan Chang.

Tang Chuan Chang hurried over with a flattering smile. “Boss Zhang, of course.”

“Look at this farm. It looks a little rough right now, but the potential is huge. If you rent it, you definitely won’t lose.”

“Tang Chuan Chang, you don’t get to decide what happens to the family’s land!” Tang Shi couldn’t help snorting.

Only then did Boss Zhang notice the ugly expressions on Tang Shi’s face and Old Tang’s face.

“Little Tang, you didn’t talk it through with your family?” Boss Zhang’s smile stiffened slightly.

But he quickly put it back on.

Still, that sharpness in his eyes now carried a faint hint of irritation.