As darkness fell, the four people, having eaten and drunk their fill, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed). Ai Guo said, "If every day were like this, I wouldn't trade it for being a god."

Old Ma and Aunt Ma were overjoyed, but An Moxue ruthlessly interrupted his unrealistic dreams, "Stop daydreaming. Do you even have the ability? Now that you've eaten and drunk your fill, come on, let's process all the meat."

Ai Guo asked curiously, "How do you do it?"

"Have you heard of 'jarred meat'? It's made by rendering all the fat into oil, rolling the lean meat in the oil, then putting it in a jar, pouring in the rendered lard, sealing the jar, and storing it in a cool place. It can last for years without changing its flavor. This meat is reserved for the craftsmen who build houses. Otherwise, how can we ensure they have meat to eat every day? Besides, it's all physical labor, so their food can't be bad." An Moxue said as she got off the kang (a heated brick bed).

Ai Guo followed him down and asked, "What can I do?"

"Cut the meat, start the fire. Help your aunt."

As they spoke, all four of them got off the ground and busied themselves with their tasks. Ai Guo saw An Moxue take out a basket and start filling it with pieces of meat, and asked with some confusion, "Didn't you say you were going to make braised pork? What are you doing?"

An Moxue continued working with her hands, saying, "Giving gifts. They should all be asleep by now."

Ai Guo immediately understood and said, "Then hurry up so you can come back and help."

An Moxue carried a basket covered with a dark cloth and came out of the house.

Only Old Ma, Aunt Ma, and Ai Guo remained in the house, while Gale and Lightning raged in the yard.

An Moxue returned quickly, and Old Ma asked, "Didn't your Uncle Guo ask you anything? Why did he let you come back so soon?"

An Moxue smiled and said, "I did say that, but it's agreed that we won't go anywhere tomorrow; we'll leave the time for him."

Old Ma said, "Okay, the three of us will go back to the county together tomorrow, and you can stay at home."

The four of them worked until very late before they finished packing up all the things the two had brought back.

The next morning, An Moxue was practicing boxing in the yard when Village Chief Guo walked over slowly with his hands behind his back.

Hearing the knock, An Moxue hurriedly went to open the door, then said with a wry smile, "Uncle Guo, is it really necessary? Are you afraid I'll run away?"

Village Chief Guo glanced at her and said, "There's no way to be accurate with that. You're like a dragon that appears and disappears without a trace. If we can catch you, we can't let you go."

Hearing him say that, An Moxue really didn't know what to say, so she quickly agreed with him, "Yes, yes, you're right. In your eyes, I'm already a hard-to-catch prey."

Village Chief Guo laughed and scolded, "You little rascal!"

The two entered the courtyard, and Village Chief Guo said, "Your aunt invited you to her house for lunch. Now tell me about what you told me last time. How's it going? When will it be settled?"

An Moxue handed a stool to Village Chief Guo, and the two sat down facing each other. Then she said, "Look, didn't I already get Uncle Ma back to build the house? Don't worry, just wait. When the time is right, the people will come, we'll go through the formalities, and then we can start construction. You should first prepare enough raw materials, and make sure everyone's skills are up to par. In particular, the young people's learning cannot be neglected. In the future, when we grow bigger and stronger, we'll have to rely on their accumulated strength!"

Upon hearing her words, Village Chief Guo asked, "What's the problem? How much longer do we have to wait?"

An Moxue said, "Because of our country's policy issues, the procedures are already underway there, but we can't come directly. We need to go to Shanghai first to reach a cooperation agreement, and then expand our business here, seeking cooperation from the local government. However, we don't want to keep the autonomy in our own hands, so that no one will interfere or try to take advantage of us! The initial stage may be a bit troublesome, so it may take a while."

Village Chief Guo sighed, "Sigh! Why is it so difficult to get things done? I just want the villagers to live a better life."

An Moxue comforted him, "Uncle Guo, don't worry! It's only a matter of time, I'm here for you! But how's the matter of the reasonable planning of the mountain forest that I mentioned to you? Has the village approved it?"

Village Chief Guo said, "You mean the matter of planting medicinal herbs?"

"Yes, and fruit trees too, fruit trees in the forest, and medicinal herbs under the forest."

“What are we going to do with the crops now that they’re planted? And they don’t show results in the same year; some take three to five years. It’s a good thing, but the village doesn’t have the money! Don’t even think about asking the town.”

An Moxue blinked and asked, "If I said that we would invest together with the weaving factory, what do you think the villagers would think?"

Village Chief Guo raised an eyebrow and said, "That's great! The villagers couldn't be happier."

"Look, we have a weaving factory, medicinal herb cultivation, and fruit trees. Even if the fruit doesn't sell well in the future, we can open a fruit canning factory. That's my plan. If the village environment is good, I also want to develop it into a rural tourism resort in the future, making our village both unique and beautiful, and allowing people to make money from home. What do you think?"

“This is a good idea, but everyone wants to go to big cities. Would anyone want to come to our poor, remote place for tourism? What would they come here for?” Village Chief Guo was really puzzled.

"That's why I suggested growing fruit! With specialty fruits, wild vegetables, and local specialties, how could we not attract people? Look at the 'Aiguo' (a type of medicinal herb) that my Uncle Ma brought back this time; that's a perfect example. These city dwellers haven't seen the beauty of mountain villages before, so it's still quite novel for them. Of course, this will be several years from now. Only when the orchards are established and the medicinal herbs are grown on a large scale, will the houses in the village be able to be built in a planned and distinctive way. We need to make people want to walk around the village after seeing our houses. Do you think there will still be idle people or poor people in the village at that time?"

Village Chief Guo slapped his thigh and said, "That's good. I'll listen to you, whatever you say. Just do it as soon as possible!"

"Uncle Guo, don't worry. I've never failed to do what I said. It's just that the samples left by my Uncle Ma are for them to weave and practice more at home. Practice makes perfect. I plan to assign tasks based on piecework and distribute them according to their work."

"What do you mean?"

"The more you do, the more you earn. More work, more pay; less work, less pay; no work, no pay."

"This is great, it'll definitely stop those slackers. How many days will you be staying this time?"

"Leave before the start of the school term."

"Alright, I've finally got some free time, so stay a few more days. I'm off now, don't forget to come to my house for lunch." Village Chief Guo said, standing up and walking outside.

An Moxue stood up to see me off and asked, "Okay, Auntie, what delicious food are you going to make for me?"

"I don't know either, but it's definitely something you like to eat. With your aunt, you have a much higher status than me," Village Chief Guo said sourly at the end.

An Moxue chuckled to herself, thinking that she must tell her aunt that Uncle Guo was even jealous of her.