Chapter 36: Getting an Empty Promise

After the meeting ended, Liu Heming felt rather uninterested and planned to go home early to sleep. However, George and Anderson dragged him to the Small Supermarket.

The usually stingy Anderson even took out a pack of Beer from the fridge. He said generously that he would treat everyone, to celebrate for Liu Heming.

“Anderson, are you sure you’re not making fun of me?” Liu Heming asked gloomily.

“Haha, George, it seems your kind help has become a burden for our wonder boy. You should explain to him properly the weight of the Property Rights you’ve given him,” Anderson said with a hearty laugh.

“Dexter, you don’t think the compensation I gave you is meaningless, do you?” George asked with a smile after taking a big gulp of Beer.

“George, Anderson, I won’t hide it from you. Honestly, I really don’t see much meaning in it,” Liu Heming said honestly, nodding.

“Think about it—with Xiangshui Town in its current state, how much profit can there be? Even if things improve a bit, it won’t be that much better, right? Rather than this, it would be better to just permanently exempt my Land tax.”

He only found out after coming here that in the United States, private Land isn’t truly yours forever. Whether it’s a house or Land, you have to pay Land tax every year.

However, compared to the bustling areas of big cities, Xiangshui Town was a bit rundown, and the property tax was very low. Even paying taxes normally, his big Ranch would only total a little over seventy US Dollars a year.

But if you went to a big city, that tax would be huge, especially for those luxury mansions. Their annual Land tax could easily reach hundreds of thousands or even millions of US Dollars.

Liu Heming felt that this private property wasn’t as great as people made it out to be; it was kind of a trap.

George and Anderson clinked their Beer bottles together, the crisp sound pulling Liu Heming back from his wandering thoughts.

“Dexter, actually, my initial plan was to compensate you with cash,” George said, looking at Liu Heming.

“The town still has some tax funds saved up over the years—a bit over thirty thousand US Dollars. I don’t remember the exact number. But I felt that giving you cash compensation would be a raw deal for you.”

If Liu Heming hadn’t already given up on expecting compensation, he would’ve been kicking himself now. What he needed most was funds—after all, he already owed Sasha two hundred thousand US Dollars. And now, this was almost like the breakup fee she was supposed to give him.

“This time, my proposal was to give you Property Rights to the entire Xiangshui Town—30% of all Xiangshui Town’s assets. The total area of Xiangshui Town is 113,000 Acres, and the Land currently owned by the town collectively is 69,000 Acres.”

“If we reclaim the Land from those who have moved away from Xiangshui Town, our collective Land in Xiangshui Town will be around 110,000 Acres.”

“Even if some people still choose to keep their Land here, I think if the climate and groundwater situation continues like this, they won’t want to pay taxes to Xiangshui Town for nothing.”

“That means you now own at least 20,000 Acres of Land in our Xiangshui Town, and in the future, you might even get up to 30,000 Acres.”

“Pfft… Oh my god.” Liu Heming, who had just taken a sip of Beer, spat it out in surprise and cursed.

“Never mind what I just said, I was just too shocked,” Liu Heming quickly explained when he saw their looks.

He really hadn’t expected such an explanation. Did this mean he had hit the jackpot? 20,000 Acres of Land—did that make him a Major Landowner?

“George, but with such an arrangement, why did everyone agree? And won’t someone investigate, thinking you’re committing a crime in your position? Then sue both of us?” After a moment of joy, Liu Heming asked again.

“Dexter, there won’t be any trouble,” George said with a gloomy expression.

“If this were the old Xiangshui Town, not even 0.3% of the Property Rights would’ve been agreed upon by a single town resident, let alone 30%. Now, you only need to cover 30% of the town’s expenses each year.”

“In the past, Xiangshui Town was a prosperous, large town. But what is it now? A rundown town. The permanent population is so small, and though the Land has some value, it’s depreciating every year. If the natural conditions keep up like this, I doubt anyone would buy an Acre for even a hundred US Dollars.”

“I made this suggestion, and everyone agreed, because we have our own selfish reasons too. We don’t know how long this situation will last—three years, five years, ten years, or even longer. Even in normal years, we don’t get much rain here, and the yield doesn’t reach standard levels.”

“But now you’re here, and your Ranch has that Lake. It gives us hope for life. With the water from your Lake, we can survive, and Xiangshui Town won’t truly go bankrupt.”

“The proportion of Property Rights we’re giving you now seems high, but it’s worth it. The situation here might improve in the future, but who knows how long that will take? Whether we can last until then is another question.”

Liu Heming smacked his lips, unsure if he should be happy now. George’s meaning was clear: it was like using his Lake as an investment in Xiangshui Town, at the very least to meet the town’s normal planting needs.

He guessed the Lake was created by the System and should last a long time. But others didn’t know that, and even he couldn’t be sure that the water in the Lake would keep flowing without end.

From a long-term perspective, it seemed like he got a good deal. But for the current townspeople, they bought themselves insurance for their livelihoods. As long as the Lake didn’t dry up, they could still have some income.

“There’s one more thing George didn’t make clear,” Anderson added. “You own the Property Rights to this Land, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to use it. If you want to use the Land you own the Property Rights to, you still need to pay rent. Unless you directly exchange your Property Rights for Land.”

Liu Heming nodded; he understood that. But even if they gave him 20,000 Acres for free now, he wouldn’t dare take it. The tax on that amount of Land wouldn’t be small, and on top of that, he’d need a lot of money for planting. He wouldn’t have that much even if you sold him.

“Dexter, please understand me. I had no other choice,” George said somewhat awkwardly.

The issues Liu Heming could think of, George naturally understood even better. This time, they had given Liu Heming an empty promise. Whether he could actually benefit from it was another matter entirely.