Leisurely mountain village

"Here I am." Less than three minutes later, Ye Huan called out. Chu Zeng stared wide-eyed at Ye Huan, who was two meters away from him. Was he trying to be really hurtful?

"Not bad." Ye Huan quickly took out the fish; it wasn't big, about a pound of crucian carp.

Looking back at Chu Zeng, he was no longer fishing; he was squatting by the river digging for earthworms.

Ye Huan ignored him, replaced the worms with earthworms, and soon caught another one that was almost the same. He squatted by the lake, cleaned the fish, rubbed it with the prepared sauce, marinated it for a while, and then grilled it.

"Haha, I found one!" Chu Zeng's laughter rang out, sounding quite excited. Then you could see him struggling with the fish in the lake, dragging his fishing rod. It looked like a big one.

Ye Huan carried a net over to help; if there was a big one, lunch would be plentiful.

Seeing that Chu Zenghai was having a hard time, Ye Huan asked, "Big guy?"

"Not small." Chu Zeng was in a state of excitement, constantly walking back and forth along the lake. Ye Huan was looking at the lake with a net, and soon saw fish surface and then go back down.

"A green snail, wow, that's big! Brother Chu, keep it up!" Ye Huan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing it. "Judging by the appearance, it weighs at least eight jin (4 catties), not bad, not bad."

Upon hearing that it weighed no less than eight jin, Chu Zeng became even more enthusiastic and began to walk it more frequently. After about ten or twenty minutes, with Ye Huan's assistance, the big guy was finally caught.

"Haha, honey, come and see!" Chu Zeng said smugly, holding a large fish in both hands as he called to his wife.

Xu Tingting ran over and exclaimed, "Wow, what a big fish! Honey, did you catch it? That's amazing!"

"Okay, honey, take a picture for me, haha, I have to post it on WeChat Moments, hahaha!" Chu Zeng laughed loudly, striking various poses for his wife Xu Tingting to take pictures.

"Alright, I'm superfluous." Ye Huan smiled and shook his head, ignoring the couple, and went upstairs first.

"Uncle, I want to ride a giant panda," Niu Niu said as she ran over to Ye Huan.

Ye Huan looked at him, then at Fu Wang, "Fu Wang, can you do it?"

"Meow~" Fu Wang nodded. It's nothing. You probably don't know who my ancestors carried on their backs, do you? If I told you, you'd be scared to death.

Ye Huan smiled, as long as everything was alright. He picked up Niu Niu and gently placed him on Fu Wang's back. Fu Wang stopped squatting and just walked slowly on all fours.

Xu Tingting, who had just come up, exclaimed again, "Son, don't move, Mom will take a picture of you." Then she snapped a series of photos, making Chu Zeng wonder if he even needed to post them on his WeChat Moments.

After a walk, Jingjing was quiet, and the two children laughed heartily.

After marinating the fish, Ye Huan checked the time and started grilling it in another place. He placed the fish diagonally on the charcoal fire and flipped it over every few minutes.

By the time the fish was cooked, the lamb was almost done. The lettuce, scallions, garlic, cucumbers, and tomatoes were all washed and brought from home, and the fruit was also washed, cut, and packed in a convenient container.

Now the lamb is neatly arranged on the mat. After the lamb is roasted, Ye Huan divides it into pieces by hand and piles them on a large piece of tin foil. "Dinner is served."

Viewers in the live stream exclaimed with envy upon seeing this, and tears welled up in their eyes.

"I want to order takeout, who can stand this?" One netizen's eyes were red with emotion.

"I'm already eating, just grilled lamb skewers."

"I love this kind of life so much, but unfortunately I have to go to work now, ugh!"

Ye Huan had already forgotten about the live stream. He told everyone to eat and drink well, but since the two of them had to drive back in the afternoon, they didn't drink alcohol. Instead, they drank Ye Huan's secret-recipe happy water.

It's basically a drink made by mixing Lei Bi (a type of mineral) with spiritual spring water and some fruit juice. Surprisingly, with the addition of spiritual spring water, it tastes pretty good and is quite popular.

Lu Xiao unceremoniously grabbed a lamb leg and started gnawing on it, saying, "It's so delicious, Brother Huan, this wild lamb is really good."

"Of course, this is also called the Yellow Goat. They don't come here below 600 meters; they need an altitude of 600-5000 meters to live, and they really are a breed that forages for herbs in the forest," Ye Huan said. (Blue Star, fictional; any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental.)

"I never come across these when I'm hiking in the mountains. Whenever I want to eat them, I have to ask Disco to catch them."

Lu Xiao gave a thumbs-up, not to Ye Huan, but to Wild Wolf Disco.

"This fish is so fresh, there's not a trace of fishiness." Xu Tingting took a bite of the grilled fish and, as if discovering a new continent, recommended it to everyone.

“This lake is fed by pure natural mountain spring water and rainwater, so the fish are of good quality, as expected,” Chu Zeng said. “It really is a wonderful place.”

The two children ate non-stop, but Ye Huan still controlled the amount, lest they eat too much and get sick.

"We'll go pick fruit in a bit. Tingting, you and Hanmei take the kids back to pick strawberries. The vegetables are already picked; just load them into the car when we get back," Ye Huan said.

"You're making us feel bad by taking both food and money," Xu Tingting said with a smile.

"It's no big deal. It's not worth much. Since it's not allowed to be sold freely now, most people eat it themselves. Those who are close to each other in the village often share some."

"Alright, I won't stand on ceremony with you." Lu Xiao nodded; the relationship was close enough that polite words would seem insincere.

Happy times always pass quickly. Lu Huan told Xu Tingting and the others to go back and pick strawberries first, while he would clean up the trash.

Chu Zeng and Lu Xiao went to pick fruit, while Ye Huan cleaned up the place and went back.

Around 3 p.m., with their car packed full, Ye Huan waved goodbye to them and said, "Be careful on the road, drive slowly on the way out of the village."

"Uncle, I don't want to go home." The cheerful Niu Niu forced out a few tears, which amused Xu Tingting and the others.

Finally, Ye Huan agreed to let him come over to play anytime before saying goodbye to Jingjing, Mengmeng and her son, and Xiaobai.

After the guests left, the house returned to its usual quiet state, though not exactly quiet.

There was still some time, so he strolled over to where Jingjing's house was being built and saw that the entire structure was up. "Wow, that's pretty fast."

Then I chatted with the team leader and asked him how to fill in the road at the entrance of the village.

"If we're just filling it in, we can only use gravel, not sand. A heavy rain will wash it back to its original state," the captain said.

"Not only do we need to fill it, but we also need to compact it with a road roller. Even so, it will still loosen over time, but it can last for a year or so."

Ye Huan nodded. It was similar to what he had thought. Moreover, he believed that in a year or two, he would be able to build a road without worrying about offending the town officials.

His ability doesn't mean he's ignorant. Doing too many things that embarrass others will only make him more enemies. Besides, he's not alone; he has a large family and friends living here. There's no need for him to strain relations with the government.

Please urge me to update, thank you.

Thanks to Brother Void Bull for the update reminder.