1014 New Urban Farmers Chapter 199: The Legend of the Small Town
Time flies. The cold winter months are here. In the middle of the month, a small town in Hubei province suddenly saw a surge in tourists.
This is the last stop and supply point before entering the Shennongjia primeval forest. The people here lead relatively peaceful lives, living off the mountains and farming.
But with the influx of tourists from outside the mountains, they can also prepare some local mountain products to sell to visitors, generating extra income. The local government only collects a small amount of tax, tacitly acknowledging this source of revenue. Therefore, the town has the most street stalls; first-time visitors are immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of stalls – it's practically a large market.
The stalls sell quirky ornaments, handicrafts, and some even have items that look ancient and worn.
"What's the story behind these historical sites?" a young man asked the tour guide curiously. The tour guide was a capable and strong man, but his skin was somewhat dark.
The dark-skinned tour guide grinned, a seemingly simple and honest smile. He was clearly one of the young members of the tour group. Pointing curiously to a broken jade piece on a stall, he casually replied, "Some people have dug up antiques in the mountains, so there are a lot of antiques here. They're sold, but there are far more fakes than genuine ones!"
"Oh?" The young man's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
The dark-skinned tour guide, seeing the young man's interested expression, couldn't help but feel disdain. "So this is a rich kid, interested in antiques? Are there really that many antiques to dig up here?"
Legend has it that immortals dwell deep within Shennong's home, capable of soaring through the air. However, those who told these stories are now mostly in their seventies or eighties, and the stories have become increasingly exaggerated and fantastical with each passing tale.
Thus, a belief arose among the people of this small town that immortals might exist in the unseen world, and that the jade tablets were something the immortals used to store information.
In ancient times, jade pieces were considered more valuable than those that were broken or old. It was said that these were broken pieces of jade discarded by immortals, which is why they were discovered by people.
He'd hosted about ten large groups of guests before, all planning to go mountain exploration. This group arrived yesterday, numbering twenty-two, and each one looked extraordinary. This young man before him was probably one of the key figures in the group, right? Most of the others had cold, ruthless eyes that sent chills down your spine when they were stared at.
"Mr. Zhang, perhaps you could buy a piece and try your luck. If you really find an ancient jade piece imbued with the aura of immortals, it might just ensure your safety and longevity!" the tour guide said from the side.
The young man nodded with a smile; he was Zhang Guodong.
Since returning to the provincial capital, Ye Yun has been pregnant and awaiting childbirth, and Zheng Le is in the same situation. He has focused his attention on the two women and their future child. He has even spent less time with Li Yun, but fortunately, she understands Zheng Le's situation, and their relationship has become even sweeter.
At the same time, the Li family called to say they wanted to take action, but Zhang Guodong sternly refused. He had no choice but to bribe Old Master Li again with a small jar of monkey wine and reluctantly agreed to wait until February of the following year, which was the dead of winter.
It turned out that Old Master Li had some free time and remembered the jar of Hou'er Ming wine that Zhang Guodong had brought on his first visit. He wanted to try it, and once he did, he immediately fell in love with it. However, there was only a small amount of wine, so he only took a sip each day, and it was finished in two months.
He was surprised to find that he felt much better after drinking the wine.
But he was too embarrassed to ask Zhang Guodong, a junior, about the wine directly, so he asked his granddaughter Li Yun indirectly. Li Yun was happy that her grandfather asked Zhang Guodong, so she told him everything that Zhang Guodong had told her.
Old Master Li hadn't expected that monkey-brewed wine could actually be produced in these mountains. His impression of Zhang Guodong improved. Such fine wine was indeed rare.
So Zhang Guodong wanted to postpone his trip, and after a moment's thought, Old Master Li agreed, saying that the dead of winter would be more convenient for exploration. Of course, there was also a lot of humor in the small jar of three-year-old monkey wine that Zhang Guodong had given him.
In December, Ye Yun checked into the hospital early to prepare for childbirth. In mid-December, she gave birth to a baby boy whose loud cry brought tears of joy to Zhang Guodong's eyes. He never imagined that Ye Yun would be his first daughter, and now he was a father! The feelings were complex, but mostly joyful. The little guy was nicknamed Zhang Hao and took Zhang Guodong's surname. Ye Yun's tears flowed freely. She had worried that Zhang Guodong wouldn't acknowledge his son, who had no official status, but it turned out she was overthinking it. How could Zhang Guodong allow his son to have a different surname?
After accompanying Ye Yun and her son Zhang Hao for nearly a month, they left the hospital and moved back to a newly purchased house by Zhang Guodong. Xiao Die and the nanny also lived there; it was a high-end community with no security issues.
Meanwhile, Zheng Le's belly was even bigger than Ye Yun's when she was pregnant. Zhang Guodong was a little worried, so he accompanied her to the hospital for a checkup. Too many checkups are bad for a pregnant woman's health, so they listened to the advice of some traditional Chinese medicine experts and only had one checkup around one month into the pregnancy. The doctor said she was carrying twins! And they were very healthy!
This result brought both excitement and some worry to the Zhang and Zheng families. Twins were considered very dangerous to deliver in the past, with a high mortality rate. Although she was in the hospital's intensive care unit, Zhang Guodong stayed there throughout her pregnancy, never leaving for a moment. Zheng Le, however, was quite optimistic. Whenever she saw her husband, Zhang Guodong, she would always ask if she had become ugly. Only when Zhang Guodong said she was even more beautiful would she speak with satisfaction.
Not long after Zheng Lecai woke up, she felt the little one in her belly moving around a lot and seemed to be in pain. Zhang Guodong saw that it looked like she was about to give birth and quickly called the doctor.
As expected, Zheng Le entered the delivery room.
The wait was a bit long, but the delivery went smoothly overall. Even the minor issues were resolved quickly. A healthy pair of twins, a boy and a girl, were born! Their cries were so loud, the sister and brother were even more adorable than the doctors had ever seen such healthy babies. Zhang Guodong happily distributed red envelopes (cash gifts).
The older sister's name is Zhang Xiaotong. The younger brother was born half an hour later and is named Zhang Xiaowen. As soon as these two were born, Zhang Guodong was pushed aside by his parents and Zheng's parents. Fortunately, the pale-faced Zheng Le took him in. He was touched but couldn't help but smile bitterly. From now on, would he still have a place in this family?
While Zhang Guodong spent half the time with Zheng Le and the two children, it seemed that the Li family was getting impatient. He was annoyed but also helpless, since he had more than one woman. Now he had to give in to the Li family. Li Yun was probably also very anxious.
But to Zhang Guodong's utter surprise, the destination of the trip changed!
The Li family's team consisted of twenty-two men—fifteen of whom were between twenty-eight and thirty years old—which gave Zhang Guodong a somewhat unusual feeling. Considering Old Master Li's past status, this bodyguard team was likely composed of elite guards trained by the Li family. Fifteen men—that was a large number; the Li family had clearly mobilized most of their security forces this time. Leading the team was Wang Daochengzhou, the second son-in-law of Li Yun's second aunt. He was an exceptionally composed middle-aged man, supposedly in the antique business, which Zhang Guodong found hard to believe upon meeting him.
There was also a young man in his late twenties who claimed to be Li Sanshu's adopted son, named Li Lizheng. Li Yun had previously said that Li Sanshu had no biological cousins, but suddenly a son appeared. This adopted son, whom Zhang Guodong had raised himself, made him reassess the Li family's influence.
Clearly, even if the third generation of the Li family is experiencing a period of decline, their power remains considerable. A family isn't just composed of blood relatives; it also includes members of factions and alliances—this is what makes it normal.
Two experienced guides, one middle-aged and one young, were also with them, along with two doctors whose skin was somewhat dark. Zhang Guodong could tell they were likely field medics; even these people were being used.
Wang Chengzhou and Li Lizheng, the adopted son of Li Sanshu, were quite indifferent to Zhang Guodong, even showing some disdain. Although Wang Chengzhou was very cultured and shrewd, he still displayed disdain for Zhang Guodong, a farmer by origin who sold vegetables.
However, Zhang Guodong, filled with doubt and speculation about the Li family's sudden arrival, was too lazy to say anything to them. After all, it was Old Master Li who said he would listen to Wang Chengzhou.
However, Zhang Guodong took these words with a grain of salt. It depends on the situation. Would you go and die if I told you to? He had no liking for these arrogant people.
All for that silly girl, Li Yun!
This is a remote border town in western Hubei Province. Zhang Guodong suddenly became interested in the town after listening to the local tour guide.
"Shennong Holy Land? Faith?" Hearing these words from the tour guide indeed surprised Zhang Guodong, even though the guide appeared indifferent. Clearly, he himself didn't quite believe it.
That's pure nonsense.
In the past, someone might have gone into the mountains and found some ancient artifacts, which were later passed down as items used by immortals. Of course, the scope of "items used by immortals" is too broad and "shocking." It's more convincing to say that "jade tablets used by immortals for communication" are actually communication tablets. Therefore, these broken jade tablets that resemble ancient jade are occasionally seen on street stalls.
In short, this town has a somewhat mysterious atmosphere.
Some people believed in the legend of immortals, so they organized trips into the mountains to try and find a connection with them, but in the end, nothing came of it. Even if some people didn't leave the mountains, no one cared.
Many of them are not locals.
Two men, roughly the same height, appeared relaxed but were actually tense. The occasional glint in their eyes suggested they were like hidden arrows. Anyone who got close to them felt a chill.
Keep out of reach of strangers!
They were the young man's guardians, assigned to protect someone who was likely Miss Sun's future son-in-law. However, on this trip, the guardian's son-in-law and godson seemed indifferent to the young man before them.
"What exactly does Mr. Bu Wu/Zhang Guodong do? Young Master Dong and his second son-in-law seem quite indifferent. Yesterday, they only sent the two of us to accompany them," one of them said softly, glancing at Zhang Guodong.
The man called Xiao Wu frowned. He said, "We're just carrying out a mission; don't ask too many questions about the Chang family's affairs!"
Xiao Wu's warning caused his expression to change slightly. He nodded. This was discipline! The consequences would be severe if someone overheard. Fortunately, the mission here was clandestine, and not many people were paying attention to them.
Little did Zhang Guodong know that he heard it clearly and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
The dark-skinned tour guide, thinking Zhang Guodong was genuinely interested, immediately introduced, "Mr. Zhang, if you're interested, I can help you with the introduction."
Zhang Guodong shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm a bit tired today, let's go back and rest."
He wandered around, stopping briefly at some stalls before moving on, but nothing caught his attention. Zhang Guodong could easily identify ordinary jade pieces, and even antique jade wouldn't be difficult for him to find.
Unfortunately, none of the many stalls interested him.
He couldn't help but recall the piece of mutton-fat jade he had found on Golden Monkey Mountain; it hadn't emitted the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy. He also had no way of actively probing whether the jade piece truly contained any information.
Some cultivators in the sect have developed spiritual senses that allow them to perceive information within jade tablets, but he is completely helpless when it comes to these jade tablets.
Not long after Zhang Guodong returned to the hotel, Wang Chengzhou called him over.
Wang Chengzhou's room wasn't empty except for him. Li Lizheng was also there, but when he saw Zhang Guodong enter, he just glanced at Zhang Guodong indifferently, holding a wine glass in his hand without saying a word. There was also another person present, a cold-looking man in his early thirties.
This man was Zhang Guodong, the captain of the fifteen guards. Wang Chengzhou addressed him as "Captain Tang" with a respectful tone. Captain Tang, however, merely nodded and rarely smiled.
When Zhang Guodong entered, Captain Tang hesitated for a moment, then nodded to him.
This made Zhang Guodong feel uneasy, but he asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Wang Chengzhou gestured for Zhang Guodong to sit down. To be honest, Wang Chengzhou was quite puzzled by the old man's decision to let an outsider get involved.
But Zhang Guodong, whom the old man had mentioned, was one of the team members.
"Since you're part of the team, you're entitled to know the purpose of this expedition!" Wang Chengzhou said in a deep voice, a sharp glint in his eyes. A chilling aura emanated from him. "But I hope you keep this to yourself. If word gets out, no one can save you, and it might even bring disaster to your family!"
Zhang Guodong's brow furrowed slightly, but relaxed in an instant. He really disliked hearing such words!
"Don't worry! I have absolutely no interest in the Li family's affairs and I can ignore them. If it weren't for that silly girl Li Yun, I wouldn't have come even if you had invited me!" Zhang Guodong sneered.
Wang Chengzhou frowned slightly, a hint of anger in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. He thought to himself, "The old man is right; this young man is incredibly arrogant! Hmph, someone like that might die quickly in the mountains! There's no need to get angry with a dead person."
Looking at Li Lizheng's calm demeanor, he sighed, admiring the good son his third brother had adopted. This boy had been raised like a son by his third brother and sister-in-law since childhood, but had never appeared before the third generation; only the second generation knew about him. After graduating from university, he followed Wang Chengzhou to study "archaeology," becoming an invisible figure within the Li family.
Captain Tang glanced at Zhang Guodong with slight surprise and curiosity in his eyes. He wouldn't say anything about the combination of the Chang family and this young man, but he was curious about the coldness between them along the way, which was very disadvantageous for an exploration group.
Note: Only this one chapter of 4,000 words today. To be continued tomorrow.
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