Chapter 98 of "New Urban Farmers": Arriving a Step Late (120 votes bonus chapter)

Ban Xiangyun and her husband went to work in the fields. Spring had just begun when a severe drought struck the mountains. It was the perfect time for the villagers to plow the land and sow some crops; everyone was out in the fields early in the morning.

The children were left to gather in the only private villa in the mountain village to learn pinyin, recognize characters, do arithmetic, play games, and it was similar to a nursery.

Grandpa Yi and Xiaohu don't need to get out of bed. Xiaohu follows his grandfather to learn knowledge and traditional Chinese medicine at the same time.

Li Ningguang came to say goodbye, and Zhang Guodong was also helpless. He had originally wanted to observe Elder Yi refining elixirs, but now his plans were disrupted, which put him in a difficult position.

"To go or not to go?"

The sudden appearance of Li Hongbo, Bai Jiawei, and others in Shiya Village disrupted everyone's plans.

Old Yi did not try to persuade the others to stay; he simply nodded slightly, exchanged a few polite words, and then looked at Zhang Guodong.

Zhang Guodong waited with a wry smile until Li Ningguang and the others left before regretfully saying, "Elder Yi, things can change quickly. I was a little embarrassed to ask you to postpone the alchemy session. Why? If you go and dig up trees from someone's mountain, they won't be hostile to you. Do you really want to wait until you've dug up the trees before coming back to observe the alchemy?"

Old Man Yi laughed heartily and said, "Go ahead. Bu Hu should also go and see if I can refine pills after he returns."

"Huh? Mr. Yi, it's you?" Zhang Guodong exclaimed in surprise, thinking he had misheard.

He encouraged himself to dig up trees—that's the whole thing.

Elder Yi smiled and said, "Since it's such a precious tree, it's unlikely they'll visit often. Letting them go even once will completely dispel that idea. Besides, Xiao Hu is going out of the mountains to study; he should have more contact with people from outside."

"Old Yi, you're so wise! Leave it to me, Xiao Hu, shall we go?" Zhang Guodong said happily. This old man is so adorable and open-minded.

Xiao Hu listened to his grandfather and followed Zhang Guodong out of the alchemy room to meet up with Li Ning and the other three.

Li Ningguang and his three companions brought their luggage, presumably intending to leave the mountain as soon as they had their harvest. However, Zhang Guodong's luggage was still at Xiao Hu's house, so they didn't leave immediately. Li Ningguang, on the other hand, didn't care about that; finding the cave was the priority.

Led by Xiao Hu, the pedestrians hurried towards the hole where the green fruit tree had been dug. Liu Dewang, on the other hand, felt superfluous and was somewhat sullen. He immediately dropped several levels in Li Ningguang's mind.

It was once a treasure, but now it no longer serves its purpose as a valuable asset.

The sudden ringtone of "Early Morning Sun" startled everyone, who quickly checked if it was their own phone ringing. A little nervous!

“It’s mine,” Zhang Guodong said upon looking at it. “It really is mine.” Song Ningguang nodded and said.

Who knew there was a cell phone signal on this ridge? We haven't received any calls for days. There's no signal in the mountains.

"Mom, what's up?" Zhang Guodong received a call from his mother, Ye Cuihua. Now that his father, Zhang Zhengrong, and mother, Ye Cuihua, both had cell phones and were about to welcome their first daughter-in-law, they were in high spirits and living a very comfortable life.

The climate of the water town of Chuandu was very different from the dry and cold climate of the north. The two elders adapted quickly there, and their skin and spirits improved a lot.

The air quality there is high, and the living environment is good, making it a good place to live.

"Guodong, your brother's wedding is set for April 25th. When are you coming? We're planning to hold it in Sichuan. Since there aren't many family members here in the provincial capital, you absolutely have to come!" Mom said domineeringly, her tone cheerful and in a good mood.

April 25th? That's less than a month.

"My brother's getting married? Haha, that's great news! Mom, whatever you say goes. Our Zhang family isn't short of money!" Zhang Guodong was overjoyed to hear this.

The eldest of the three Zhang brothers is getting married, which is a joyous occasion that his parents have been eagerly anticipating for a long time.

“You brat, you need to be careful with your money. If you're having two parties this time, it'll cost a lot. I calculated that your brother can scrape together 40,000 yuan, and your dad and I have 60,000 yuan left, which should be enough. Weddings in the city are really expensive these days,” Ye Cuihua said, feeling a pang of regret.

If we were to hold a wedding banquet according to the customs of our hometown, even 100,000 yuan wouldn't be enough. In the city, 100,000 yuan is simply not enough to cover the cost.

Besides, they were a bit worried about what to do with the new house. They couldn't very well live at their eldest daughter-in-law's parents' house in the suburbs, could they? Even though it was a tourist destination, supposedly one of the prehistoric dinosaur excavation sites in China, where a large number of dinosaur bones and egg fossils had been discovered. The environment was very beautiful!

"Mom, you don't need to worry about these things. I'll take care of the house. Consider it a wedding gift for my older brother. Right now, we're just figuring out where to buy the new house. Maybe we can buy two at once," Zhang Guodong said with a smile.

Ye Cuihua exclaimed in surprise, "Although the housing prices here are not as high as in the provincial capital, a single house plus renovations, according to your older brother, would cost around 400,000 yuan. Three houses would cost over a million yuan. Why buy so many?"

She knew her second son, Zhang Guodong, was wealthy now. But she couldn't believe he now possessed tens of millions in cash. What young person doesn't need to spend money?

“Hehe, you guys can live there too. The living environment there is better than here,” Zhang Guodong said.

"No way!" Mom flatly rejected the idea. She certainly wouldn't want to live there for the rest of her life. There were no relatives or acquaintances from her family there.

"Mom, I haven't finished yet. If you get tired of staying there, just come back for a while. Living in both places is fine," Zhang Guodong said generously.

As a result, Zhang Guodong's boastful attitude greatly displeased his mother. "Just because you've made a little money, you think you're all high and mighty? A 100-square-meter apartment in the provincial capital costs 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, and with renovations, it'll be 600,000 to 700,000 yuan—it's very expensive!"

Zhang Guodong finally breathed a sigh of relief after repeatedly admitting his mistakes.

Ye Cuihua asked happily, "Does Guodong have a girlfriend?"

Zhang Guodong was taken aback. What person?

"No

"Still not admitting it? They even called your mother! They're a great catch and wanted to discuss your engagement to their daughter with us!" Ye Cuihua said, displeased.

The second son is always so secretive. He used to worry that Zhang Guodong wouldn't be able to find a girlfriend, but now that girls are coming to him, it seems like it's not a lie.

"Huh?" Zhang Guodong exclaimed in surprise. "Mom, didn't they say who it was?"

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind: Had Zheng's father taken action? I couldn't help but feel a headache coming on; I knew I would have to face this eventually.

"You don't know the other parent, Zheng Tianfu, who says he's Guodong from the provincial TV station?" Ye Cuihua asked suspiciously.

"We know each other! Of course we know each other!" Zhang Guodong gave a wry smile. But he couldn't tell his mother about the fake relationship; she was very concerned about it, and he was afraid of getting angry if he told her directly.

Zhang Guodong had no choice but to explain the extent of their relationship. His mother was delighted and said, "Since she is very beautiful, has good qualities, and is the only daughter of a leader in the provincial TV station, your father and I agree. After your older brother's wedding is over, we will go back to the provincial capital to finalize this matter."

In fact, the two elders have already done so.

The Zhang family is quite ordinary, but they never expected their beautiful only daughter-in-law to marry into such a family—the Zhang family is considered to have climbed the social ladder. The engagement is now just a matter of the two families meeting to finalize it!

Zhang Guodong was troubled.

He and Zheng Le had no feelings for each other, yet they got married? This marriage was too sudden! Besides, Zhang Guodong now has two close female friends, so he doesn't care much about marriage anymore.

As the saying goes, a beautiful woman is sought after by a gentleman, but the two of them had no romantic feelings for each other and were just ordinary friends. But now that they've suddenly reached the point of discussing marriage, Zhang Guodong is having a headache.

But he knew that Zheng Le wasn't the only one with a headache; he had an even bigger one.

The shock of a beautiful, famous woman marrying a man with whom she has no feelings was too great. Zheng Le couldn't sleep for several nights after learning that her parents had contacted the Zhang family.

I wanted to call Zhang Guodong, but I picked up the phone several times and then put it down again.

After all, she's not young anymore, being a woman. She needs to get married and have someone to rely on.

"Then let's do as you two say. But let's take care of my elder brother's matter first. I'll head over as soon as I finish what I'm doing here," Zhang Guodong said reluctantly, hanging up the phone.

Not far away, Xiao Hu curiously looked at Zhang Guodong's phone. He didn't follow Li Ningguang but walked to wait for Zhang Guodong.

Zhang Guodong waved his phone at him and laughed, "Do you like it? I'll give you a phone when you come down from the mountain so you can contact your family there!"

"You're a man of your word!" Bu Hu said happily. He was full of joy about everything outside the mountains.

"Of course! But we need to hurry and follow Zhan, or we'll be too late."

Thinking to myself, I haven't seen Bai Jiawei and her inspection team along the way. Weren't they supposed to be going into the village? Where are they now?

When Zhang Guodong caught up with Li Ningguang and the other three, they were almost at the place where Liu Dewang was digging up trees. The area was steep, densely forested, with strangely shaped rocks and a difficult path. Clearly, this was a primeval forest, and probably no one else besides the people of Shiya Village had ventured here.

Several eagles circled high above, their cries echoing among the cliffs.

It gives you the feeling that this place is extremely dangerous!

roar!

A roar echoed from a great distance. Was it a tiger? A bear? Or some other large carnivore?

"The boss will be here soon!" Liu Dewang said obsequiously.

When Xiao Hu fell behind, he felt he was useful again and eagerly led the way.

The difficult journey was somewhat manageable for Liu Dewang and Wang Zhen, who were carrying luggage, but Du Wenqiang, whose injuries had not yet fully healed, and Li Ningguang, whose body was beginning to recover, felt unwell and their faces turned pale.

But no matter how pale it is, we must get there as soon as possible!

Li Ningguang was panting heavily and felt a little dizzy. Despite being very weak, he praised, "De-de-wang! Faster!"

"The boss and the others shouldn't be ahead of us, right? Should we take a break?" Wang Zhen said, supporting Li Ningguang with some concern for his health.

“But we didn’t encounter them along the way,” Du Wenqiang said.

Wang Zhen glared at him and then looked at Li Ningguang.

This was what they were worried about. But their bigger question was: how did they know their group was going to the cliff? Could there be a traitor within the group?

But that thought was quickly dismissed. Who would turn down money? Especially when the other party has the power of the news. Nobody's foolish enough to cooperate with a news organization!

"Just hang in there a little longer, we'll be ahead of them soon!" Li Ningguang said quickly after catching his breath.

Zhang Guodong and Xiaohu, the last two, weren't carrying much except for a mountain knife. Therefore, they were much more relaxed than Li Ningguang and his group of four.

The group persevered until they reached the halfway point on the mountain where Liu Dewang had dug up the trees, but found no one there. Li Ningguang immediately laughed and said, "Haha, we've made it first!"

The cave, like its surroundings, is mostly composed of rock faults, likely the result of tectonic activity millions of years ago. A cave about the height of a person is clearly visible, unobstructed by dense forest or shrubs.

Liu Dewang grinned foolishly and took the lead, but when he reached the cave entrance, he hesitated and said, "Boss, it seems like someone has been here before?"

Pointing to the broken branch in front of the cave entrance, everyone's expression immediately changed. Were we too late?

"Haha, Mr. Li, what a coincidence!" The voice I least wanted to hear rang out; it was Li Hongbo's.

"We're really late!" Li Ningguang felt a bit dizzy. Even Zhang Guodong was quite surprised when he arrived and saw Li Hongbo and the others hiding.

This is an extra chapter! Thank you to everyone who responded to the call for Heavenly Path monthly tickets! Next extra chapter: Heavenly Path will release an extra chapter once the old monthly tickets reach Shi Zhang by tomorrow.