Leisurely mountain village

"Really, Uncle, pinky promise~" the boy said with a smile, holding up his little finger.

"Haha, would your uncle lie to you? Pinky promise." Ye Huan also stretched out his little finger and pinky-promised Niu Niu.

Niu Niu then happily skipped and hopped along.

"Teacher Lu." When Ye Huan met Teacher Lu in the office after the meeting, she was the first to go up and shake her hand.

"Xiao Huan is back too, good..." Teacher Lu looked at her favorite student with satisfaction and patted his hand.

Then everyone moved to the private room in the restaurant that Xu Tingting had booked, and the dishes began to be served. The two large private rooms were combined to form one large private room with four tables, which was used to serve more than three tables.

They were at one table with their families, and Teacher Lu was also there.

The atmosphere was undeniably lively. Most of the classmates hadn't seen each other for eight or nine years, and they chatted with their high school friends and besties about their future lives.

There were tears and laughter, a myriad of human experiences.

Ye Huan hadn't been drinking, but she was driving. Xu Tingting's husband wasn't there yet; he'd come pick her up later.

Several classmates who had a decent relationship with Ye Huan during his school days came over to talk to him and chat for a while; there were seven or eight of them, both men and women.

Although Ye Huan was a good student, he didn't have the arrogance of the class monitor. He could get along with both good and bad classmates. The key was that back then, there were often troublemakers from outside the school who would steal students' meal money.

However, no one in their class dared to steal it. Ye Huan's name was first revealed when they registered for the first year of high school. On that day, the registration fee was almost stolen by a few thugs. That time, he didn't hold back and was really angry.

He fought five opponents, and one of them ended up in the hospital for a month, almost missing his school days. Later, his grandfather found someone who could help him, and it was finally ruled out as self-defense, so he was fine. Even so, he was a day late for school registration.

After that, the thugs around the school learned of his reputation. The second fight happened when someone stole a girl's meal money from him. He happened to be there and beat her up again. After that, no thugs dared to steal from her anymore.

After the classmates finished chatting, the dinner was almost over. There was no second round, so everyone made their own arrangements. Those who were close to each other found a place to continue, while those who weren't went straight home.

Ye Huan also called out to Lu Xiao and Xu Tingting's family, and they followed his car towards home.

Lu Xiao drove a Volkswagen Tiguan L. He went to university in the provincial capital and stayed there after graduation to work for a state-owned enterprise. His job was stable and his income was quite good.

So his parents in his hometown contributed some money, and he used his savings from the past four or five years to make a down payment on a house in the provincial capital. He didn't have much money left over, so he bought this car.

Lu Xiao's girlfriend is his college classmate. She is an ordinary civil servant in their local township. Moreover, she is a native of the provincial capital and her family is well-off. Her parents were able to approve of Lu Xiao because his job is decent and he is quite ambitious.

Most importantly, their daughter, who seems to have been bewitched by Lu Xiao, insists on marrying him. Her parents are relatively open-minded, so the two got engaged and plan to get married this National Day.

Chu Zeng was driving an ordinary Hongqi HS5. Ye Huan looked at it and realized it was probably the top-of-the-line model, around 25.

The three cars drove all the way to the town, and then came to the road at the entrance of the village. Ye Huan didn't dare to drive fast the whole way, since he was leading the way. So it took an hour and a half to get here.

"That's why the old folks say, 'If you want to get rich, build roads first.' This road is in terrible condition," Lu Xiao said to his wife in the car.

“Yes, I checked before. Liushu Village is the last agricultural administrative village in Yong’an Town. I heard that because the whole village is located in the mountains, it has been unable to be relocated for many years. No one is willing to spend a lot of money to move it away,” said Han Mei, Lu Xiao’s wife.

"The only road out of the village is in terrible condition and too far to get anywhere, which has completely hindered the government's plans to relocate people and build roads. No wonder Yong'an Town hasn't touched this place for so many years; the cost is indeed too high," Chu Zeng said to his wife in the car.

"It's probably because there's no urban pollution that Ye Huan was able to produce those exorbitantly priced organic vegetables and fruits. Last time you took my son and me to eat there, I was shocked after hearing about it," Xu Tingting said.

“That dish is so delicious. Dad, if you take me to eat it often, I promise I won’t be a picky eater anymore,” Niu Niu said.

Chu Zeng smiled and exchanged a smile with his wife: "That dish is expensive. My salary can't afford for you to spend like that."

Although it would be easy for him to make money given his current position, he is very eager to advance to a higher level, so he is still very careful about this aspect.

Xu Tingting patted her son's head, "When we get to your uncle's house, he'll make sure you're well-fed. Those delicious vegetables are grown by your uncle."

"Really? Uncle is so amazing! He can grow vegetables and raise pandas. Dad, can I raise a panda?" Niu Niu asked another question that touched his father's heart.

Chu Zeng looked embarrassed, while Xu Tingting laughed heartily, disregarding her image.

It took them an hour of bumpy driving to finally arrive. Ye Huan drove the car to the front of the yard, where there was a large open space. He and Ye Dafa parked their car there, and he planned to build a large garage later when the construction team had time.

"I had my mom tidy up the room for you, just make do for one night," Ye Huan said with a smile. The bedding was brand new; he had bought a lot of it. Ye Yingying, whom he had rescued in Shenzhen, said she would come to visit in September, so he renovated the house and bought a lot of things.

The old outbuilding in the courtyard was originally intended to be a bedroom, but now it's filled with too many cigarettes, alcohol, and gifts that Jiang Liming sent, so we had to clean out the two guest rooms upstairs.

Fortunately, after Ye Huan returned to his hometown and had money, he installed air conditioners in his house.

"That's great, thank you for your help," Chu Zeng said politely.

"We're all on the same side, don't talk about trouble." Ye Huan waved his hand.

Then the chat ended with Niu Niu and Jing Jing interrupting, "Let's go see Meng Meng."

"Alright, I'll show you around my cabin in the woods," Ye Huan said with a smile. Then, he quietly led Niu Niu ahead, while Xiao Bai and Zi Dian ran out to greet their master upon hearing the sound.

Ye Huan picked up the two little ones and said, "Slow down~" Amidst laughter and chatter, they went to the back mountain.

Across a hill, Lu Xiao asked, seeing the scene over there, "You still raise livestock?"

"Yeah, we need to eat them ourselves too. We'll consider selling the extras later. After eating at Gu's Restaurant once, they called me almost every day, asking me to send them chicken, duck, beef, and lamb. But I don't have the time for that." Ye Huan nodded.

These two are classmates I'm close to, so there's nothing to hide.

"They're all free-range in the mountains, drinking spring water and eating various medicinal herb leaves. I bought nearly 300,000 yuan worth of seeds of various medicinal herbs and sowed them there," Ye Huan explained.

"We divide the area into two zones. Once the seedlings sprout on one side, we move them over there to grow on the other side."