Chapter 50 Discovering the Boundary Monument of Old Tea Mountain

Wang Shufen showed a genuine smile on her face, but she still tried to refuse: "Oh, how can I do this! Such a precious thing! You should keep it for Fubao..."

"Don't be so polite, sister-in-law! Fubao is still young and can't eat this. You have helped us mother and daughter so much, and I would feel bad if you don't accept this little gift."

Shen Lingning held down Wang Shufen's hand as she tried to resist, with a firm attitude.

Wang Shufen accepted it reluctantly, the smile on her face became more genuine, and she took Shen Lingning's hand and gave him some instructions about family matters.

Just then—

"Mom! Mom! Aunt Shen! I found the secret base!"

The voice of a little boy, so excited that his voice became out of tune, came from far away and rushed into the yard like a small cannonball.

It was Damao, Wang Shufen’s eight-year-old son, followed by Aunt Sun’s grandson, Sun Huzi, and several other little friends.

Wang Shufen comes here often recently, and her son is not shy. After eating the White Rabbit milk candies made by Shen Lingning a few times, he comes over every day to play with Fubao.

He was running with sweat all over his forehead, his little face was red, his eyes were surprisingly bright, and he was holding a crumpled paper airplane tightly in his hand.

"What are you yelling about? You're so unruly!"

Wang Shufen habitually scolds her son.

"Really! Mom! In the back mountain! On the cliff!"

Big Mao panted, gestured excitedly, and pointed at the paper airplane in his hand: "I chased the 'deserter', and it flew behind the old vine! I crawled in to look for it, pulled away the vines, and saw a big rock!

There's words engraved on it! And it's painted red! Just like the sign at the camp entrance!"

"What's the inscription?"

Wang Shufen was talking to Shen Lingning when she was interrupted by her son Damao, and her brows furrowed slightly.

He asked absentmindedly, "What kind of stone? Look how sweaty you are!"

She used her sleeve to wipe the sweat off Damao's face.

Da Mao panted heavily, his face flushed with excitement as he tried to recall: "It's... right over there on the cliff in the back mountain! There's '1952' on the stone! And the word 'tea'!"

He gestured, trying to describe what the "big rock" looked like.

"'1952'? 'Tea'?"

Shen Lingning's heart jumped suddenly, as if hit by something.

She immediately squatted down, her eyes level with Damao's, and spoke in a soft and steady voice, with a subtle urgency: "Don't be impatient, Damao, speak slowly. Are there any other words? Did you read them clearly?"

Hu Zi, the grandson of Aunt Sun, who was standing nearby, couldn't contain his excitement any longer and started shouting, "I saw it! There's a 'field' at the end! Yes, 'tea plantation'! And it starts with the word 'army'... 'military reclamation'!"

That’s right, ‘1952 Military Reclamation Tea Plantation’! Written in red paint! Only half of it is visible!

Hu Zi spoke more confidently than Damao, and also brought out the key information "military reclamation" and "red paint".

"Military Tea Plantation?!"

Shen Lingning's head buzzed!

These four words exploded like thunder!

1952?

Military reclamation?

Tea plantation?!

Just yesterday, Aunt Sun warned us that the road to private contracting had been blocked. The word "military reclamation" is like a sharp blade that can break through the high wall!

She stood up suddenly, her movement so fast that it created a gust of wind.

Suppressing the excitement that threatened to burst through her chest, she took a few deep breaths of the mountain breeze that carried the scent of earth and grass, trying to calm her pounding heart.

She patted Damao and Huzi's sweaty shoulders firmly, saying, "Good boy! Well done! Come on! Take auntie to see that stone! Go now!"

Shen Lingning didn't even bother to explain more to Wang Shufen, nor did he care about the obvious surprise and hesitation on her face.

As she hurried out, she shouted quickly to Aunt Sun, who was still tilling the soil in the yard, "Auntie! Please help me look after Fubao! I have something urgent to do and will be back soon!"

Before he finished speaking, the man had already rushed out of the yard with the two half-grown children.

Wang Shufen and Aunt Sun were left standing in the yard, looking at each other.

Wang Shufen's brows furrowed even more tightly as she muttered, "Military Reclamation Tea Farm? This girl... is so impulsive, what is she thinking about?"

Aunt Sun also looked confused. She shook her head, put down her hoe, and walked towards Xiao Fubao under the eaves.

Fubao was sitting in a small bamboo cart, holding a piece of fine grass and a few freshly picked wild flowers that he couldn't name, and was trying clumsily to tie them together.

Seeing her mother running out like a gust of wind, she just raised her little face and glanced at her. There was no emotion in her eyes like black grapes, and her little mouth moved silently, as if she was mumbling something in "baby language" that only she could understand.

If Shen Lingning were here, she would have heard her inner voice, muttering, "I can make Mom run faster than a rabbit... Well, either Dad crawls out of the ground, or she finds a sapling that can grow golden leaves!"

Eight-year-old Damao is a "living map" of the mountains.

Like a nimble little goat, he took a shortcut, slipped through a bush, and jumped over a creek with ease.

Hu Zi followed closely behind, turning back from time to time to call out to Shen Lingning: "Aunt! This way! Follow closely!"

Shen Lingning didn't care to appreciate the newly green vegetation and wild flowers dotted all over the mountain, nor did he care that his trouser legs were scratched by thorns.

He just stared at the two children in front of him, running after them with one foot deep and one foot shallow. His breathing was a little rapid, but his eyes were surprisingly bright.

After crossing a ridge covered with dense vegetation, Damao stopped in front of a steep cliff.

Pointing to the area below the cliff that was covered by large dead vines and dense bushes, he said, "Aunt! It's right there! There's a hole behind the vines, and the stone is right at the entrance!"

The terrain here is steep and sparsely populated.

Shen Lingning pushed aside the withered vines and thorny brambles that were almost as thick as her arms, and a whiff of damp earth and rotten leaves hit her face. Hu Zi had already rushed in and shouted, "Auntie! Come in! The stone is here!"

Shen Lingning bent down and went in. Inside was a small cave entrance half covered by vines.

With the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the vines, one could clearly see a half-broken stone tablet, crookedly inserted in the rubble and soil. Most of it was still buried, and the exposed part was covered with thick moss, soil, and cobwebs.

Shen Lingning's heart was in his throat.

She didn't care that the ground was wet and cold, nor that it was dirty. She immediately knelt in front of the stone tablet, stretched out her hands, and wiped the surface of the tablet with all her strength.

The cracks between her nails were soon filled with black mud and moss fragments. The cold stone tablet hit the blisters on the palms of her hands, causing a stinging pain, but she was completely unaware of it.

As she wiped, the mottled, deeply engraved words on the stone gradually emerged. The moss and dirt were wiped away, and although the red paint had long since faded and peeled, the strokes deeply engraved on the stone were still clearly visible in the dim light:

"Military Tea Plantation World in 1952"

Shen Lingning's fingers were tightly dug into the cold words "Military Reclamation", and his knuckles turned white from the force.

Ecstasy instantly overwhelmed her like a surging wave!

Military reclamation!

Troop assets!

Historical basis!

This is no longer a forbidden area for private "contracting", but a revolutionary tradition that she can inherit openly!

Shen Lingning calculated quickly in her mind. She suddenly looked up, her eyes seemed to penetrate the cave entrance covered by vines and look at the barren back mountain.

A clear and groundbreaking plan instantly formed in her mind - to resume military reclamation production!

This will be the fulcrum for her to move everything!