Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 549 Land Buying Frenzy

After walking for about ten more minutes, she stopped on a relatively gentle hillside.

This place is covered with dense thickets of shrubs, one next to the other.

Below lay a thick layer of rotting leaves and twigs, the color of which had changed from light brown to a dark brown that was almost black.

Xu Xiaoyan squatted down, brushed aside the surface leaves, scooped up some soil from below with her fingers, and rubbed it in her palm. It was loose, moist, and dark brown in color.

You can clearly feel the fine, slightly elastic texture of the particles on your fingertips. It disperses easily with a gentle pinch and doesn't feel sticky.

This is humus soil. Now that we've found the right place, the rest of the work is simple.

She took the backpack off her shoulder and placed it under a thick bush, then took out her work gloves and put them on, and took the entrenching tool out of her bag.

She planted the entrenching tool into the soil beneath her feet to test the depth.

The top layer, about ten centimeters thick, was found to be loose humus soil, and below that was harder yellow clay.

The humus soil was indeed loose; you could dig out a large chunk with almost no effort using a shovel. It contained small pieces of dead branches and decaying leaves, and emitted a rich earthy aroma.

She broke the clods of earth she had dug out into pieces by hand, picked out the larger stones and tree roots, and then put them into the snakeskin bag she had brought with her.

One bag, two bags, three bags... She dug more and more skillfully, and her movements became faster and faster. Dozens of snakeskin bags were neatly stacked to the side.

After digging up a certain amount, she straightened up to catch her breath, and then stacked the bags full of soil one by one.

Xu Xiaoyan counted them, and including the ones she had collected before, she had filled a total of forty-three bags. This amount was enough to improve all the land in the yard, which was more than two hundred square meters.

She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then focused her attention and stored all forty-odd heavy bags of humus and digging tools into her spatial storage.

After everything was tidied up, she turned around and started to descend the mountain along the way she had come.

The descent was much faster than the ascent, and my steps became much more steady after my body got used to the slope.

Although she was still a bit slippery, she had already mastered finding the right footholds, and the surrounding bushes rushed past her.

The wind blowing from the hillside carries the fresh scent of grass and trees, mixed with the aroma of cooking fires from the distant city, creating a unique and authentic atmosphere.

The descent was quickly completed, and the figures of the four soldiers at the North Gate became clear again.

Xu Xiaoyan slowed her pace, adjusted her breathing to make it appear more steady, and then strode towards the city gate.

When she passed through the security gate, she was told to stop for three seconds, and then a soldier signaled that she could pass. Xu Xiaoyan hurried back with light steps.

As she approached the street where her plot of land was located, she could see several figures gathered around her small building with its gray brick walls in the distance.

She didn't pay much attention at first, thinking it was just a passerby or a neighbor from the next block, but she realized something was wrong when she got closer.

Those people weren't just passing by; they were circling around the houses near her land, some pointing and talking amongst themselves.

Another woman in gray clothes even tapped on the wall with her finger, as if testing the thickness and material of the wall.

Xu Xiaoyan paused for a moment, then quickened her pace, a polite but distant smile on her face, and asked:

"Hello, ladies, what are you looking at?"

The women all turned around at the sound.

The middle-aged woman in the gray clothes looked to be in her fifties. She was stocky and had a round face with an overly friendly and warm expression.

Seeing Xu Xiaoyan approaching, he didn't feel embarrassed at all; instead, he smiled and took two steps forward to greet her.

"Oh, young lady, are you a resident around here? We just came from Qing City and are looking around."

Xu Xiaoyan didn't respond to her question, but instead politely asked, "Is there anything you need from this house?"

The woman in the gray coat sighed, her smile fading and replaced by a complaining expression:

"Oh, girl, you don't know, we arrived in the satellite city early this morning, thinking we should buy a piece of land and build a house to live in as soon as possible."

When I went to the transaction center, they said there were no plots of land larger than 200 square meters for sale, and that I would have to pay a purchase fee of 30 yuan per square meter!

Thirty yuan! Even if we only bought a small apartment—200 square meters—it would cost six thousand yuan for a family of three. How could we possibly afford that?

Another middle-aged woman next to her chimed in, "That's right, when the satellite city was first built, the land was given away for free!"

Choose any size: 400 square meters, 350 square meters, or 300 square meters. No charge whatsoever.

How come it's already thirty yuan per square meter after only a few days? This satellite city is really ruthless!

The woman in gray sighed again, her gaze sweeping over the small building that had already been built behind Xu Xiaoyan, her tone filled with obvious envy and regret:

"We thought, since the government can't afford to buy them, could we talk to the residents who got the land for free in the early days?"

Let's see if they're willing to sell it to us for a little less than the official price.

"Look at these 400-square-meter and 350-square-meter properties. They were all given away for free back then. Now they own such a large piece of land, and they can easily sell it for a fortune..."

As she spoke, her gaze slowly shifted from the house to Xu Xiaoyan's face, a tentative scrutiny in her eyes:

"Young lady, how long have you been living here? Do you know anyone who owns land? If you do own land..."

Xu Xiaoyan's smile remained unchanged, but she unconsciously took half a step back. She knew all too well what these people were up to, so she quickly waved her hand, her tone relaxed and natural:

"No, no, I'm still staying at the guesthouse. I just came out today to take a look around and see what's going on, just to join in the fun."

I'm still observing, but if I could find a suitable one, I would have bought it already.

She spoke naturally and sincerely. The woman in gray looked her up and down, and seeing that she didn't seem to own any property, she believed her to some extent and sighed.

"Sigh, you didn't buy any either? Then we're both unlucky. You know, the world changes so fast. In just a few days, the difference is like heaven and earth..."

Xu Xiaoyan chimed in with a couple of words, and then said some polite things like, "There's nothing we can do, we're just late."

Then, smiling, she said, "Aunties, you can keep an eye on things. I have something to do, so I'll be going now."

After saying that, she turned around and walked away, crossing two intersections as if she were walking on air. After making sure that no one was following her, she stopped next to a roadside tree.

It seems she can't go back to her own land today. Who knows if those people will be waiting there to try and get close to her or ask her for information?

Her house was just built. If someone sets their sights on it and knocks on her door every few days demanding to buy or rent the land, how will she live?