Chapter 3: Fell into a Trap?

“Jack, do you think we fell into their trap?” Looking at the ranch in front of him, Liu Heming felt a headache coming on.

Two days had passed. He had shared two meals with his temporary wife and permanent child, and it made him incredibly happy.

His wife was indeed quite beautiful, but she would belong to someone else in the future. The child, however, was his own. After the initial strangeness, at least now the child did not resist him.

For these past two days, it was the lawyers from Sasha’s side who handled the procedures for him. Anyway, he didn’t know exactly how they managed it, but the result was that after filling out a bunch of forms, he could now live here openly and also owned this ranch in front of him.

Everything up to this point had seemed wonderful, and he was full of expectations for this ranch. Using the words he had heard back home, this ranch had mountains, water, and a forest.

According to the documents, it covered more than sixty acres and was located in Montana. In the supplementary agreement, Sasha’s side valued it at one hundred thousand US Dollars. He thought this just showed they had plenty of money and didn’t care, as long as he would agree to a smooth divorce in the future.

Over these two days, he had fantasized a lot about how to plan and utilize such a large piece of land. Then he would make money, buy pretty clothes for his daughter, get her good food, and take her out to play.

But reality poured a huge bucket of cold water on him, and even now, the gentle breeze around him felt like little knives cutting into his flesh.

There were mountains, there was water, and there was a forest. Although the water flow was quite thin, the trees on the mountains weren’t very lush, and the trees didn’t look too healthy, at least it wasn’t completely bad. The real problem was the land here. It was clearly abandoned for a long time, with weeds growing everywhere. It was called a ranch, but Liu Heming couldn’t see any signs of human activity here.

Then he looked at the only two buildings on the ranch. One was probably used for storing tools or as a warehouse, and it looked like wind could blow through from all sides. There were many holes in the wooden plank walls. Even if Liu Heming stayed inside, he would worry that a strong wind might blow it down.

The remaining building should be for living. There were some dried vines by the house, and some vines even stretched through the broken windows into the house.

This was the ranch he had fantasized about countless times in his heart. It would be more accurate to call it a wild piece of land. Otherwise, why would Liu Heming say he fell into a trap?

“Mr. Liu, I’m sorry, this was a mistake in my work.” Jack said with an unpleasant expression as he looked at Liu Heming.

The documents they brought along had old photos of this ranch, but those were from ten years ago. He hadn’t expected it to become so dilapidated.

“Hey, don’t get too upset, and no need for ‘Mr.’ this or that. Just call me Liu Heming or Old Liu.” Liu Heming waved his hand and said.

“From their perspective, no matter how shabby what they gave us is, it still counts as giving me a place to stay. As long as I can see my daughter, I have no complaints.”

“With land, we have no worries. It might be overgrown, but we can clear it slowly. It’s just that what I said before about treating you to a big meal will have to be postponed a bit.”

“Also, I have some matters back in my country that I need to entrust you to handle. The money for that, well, their side will pay for it anyway, so you manage the expenses as you see fit.”

Jack still felt somewhat guilty. In fact, when he drove over today, he had a bad feeling. The land here was much more desolate compared to other places, and the nearest town was very far from here according to the map.

Never mind anything else, just Liu Heming’s accommodation tonight was a problem. Who knows how long that house had been uninhabited? It clearly had been abandoned for a long time.

For him, this was indeed somewhat negligent; he didn’t verify the information carefully and made a wrong judgment.

After hesitating for a moment, Jack still said to Liu Heming, “There’s something I need to remind you about. In your future life here, you must pay all your taxes on time. If there’s any tax evasion, it’s easy for them to catch you. By then, they might deport you, especially since you still have a two-year probation period.”

“Also, given your current situation, it’s best if you avoid bank loans unless you are absolutely certain. And don’t even think about private loan companies, because you’ll find that no matter how much money you earn, you’ll never finish repaying them.”

Liu Heming nodded. “I will live very carefully these two years and not give them any excuse to catch me doing wrong. Here, I’m completely in the dark, so if I run into problems later, I’ll still call to bother you.”

“Don’t worry, we’re all trying to make a living out here. Actually, I’m already getting a bit tired of it. Regarding the child matter, they didn’t mention it to me back then. Maybe it’s because I’m Chinese; no matter how hard I try, I always feel like a second-class citizen here.” Jack smiled bitterly and nodded.

“Let me formally introduce myself. I share the same surname as you, Liu. My name is Liu Yi, and I’m from Beijing. In a bit, I’ll help you clean up this place. At the very least, it should be livable for you today, and I’ll also help you buy some daily necessities.”

“Thank you, brother. To be honest, even if you hadn’t offered, I would have asked you to stay for a while, otherwise I wouldn’t know where to go shopping.” Liu Heming gave him a big hug and patted his back firmly.

Helping him was an act of kindness. Liu Yi didn’t join those foreigners in cheating him, and that already made him quite satisfied. Otherwise, if he had signed the agreement blindly, he wouldn’t have his daughter.

Liu Yi smiled without saying anything, took off his jacket and put it in the car, then started working alongside Liu Heming.

Surprisingly, although the house looked very shabby, the inside was quite easy to clean, and the structure was stable. At least, Liu Heming staying here tonight wouldn’t be a problem.

However, it really had been a long time since anyone lived here. There was a lot of dust inside, and one leg of the bed was gnawed through by mice, leaving it tilted to one side.

There was even more garbage inside. Anyway, Liu Heming had one principle: if it’s not usable, throw it all away. He wasn’t exactly a clean freak, but those things really couldn’t be used anymore.

The two of them worked for over three hours before they roughly cleaned up the place. The detailed cleaning would have to be done by Liu Heming himself; after all, Liu Yi couldn’t turn into a cleaner and help him forever.

There was a tiny bit of good luck. In the tool shed, they found an old pickup truck. Who knows how many years it had been sitting there; if you threw it into The Walking Dead set, it wouldn’t need any extra makeup.

But this old pickup truck, after Liu Yi fiddled with the battery, actually started up normally. It really opened Liu Heming’s eyes.

Liu Yi also reminded him that although he could drive it secretly for now, he must get his driver’s license as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he ran into State Police on patrol, he would likely be in trouble.