End of May
early morning.
The air was filled with the fragrance of earth, and the sunlight shone through the morning mist onto the stilted houses, as if draping the ancient buildings in a golden coat.
The slope at the top of the mountain.
Near the orchard, the clear chirping of birds echoed in my ears.
Chief Tang arrived at Mu Chen's house early in the morning and, together with Chief Mu, gathered the core Miao people of the orchard. They held a small meeting right in front of Mu Chen's house.
The two chieftains repeated everything Mu Chen had told them, vowing that they would not let anyone who dared to disobey them lightly.
After Chief Tang finished speaking, Chief Mu added, "Listen up, everyone. Last night, Ah Chen specifically told us that we must not forget the etiquette of the Miao people, but since these people are all wealthy from the provincial capital, we should not get them drunk with the welcoming wine."
"If I get him drunk, how can I talk to Ah Chen about serious matters?"
"Also, please don't crowd around too much. If you want to watch, just watch from a distance!"
While they were discussing important matters, in the more spacious courtyard next door, Arui, who had already gotten up, was helping the aunties with her younger sister, Duoduo.
Seeing the scene at her brother's doorstep, Arui's heart pounded.
Because she had never seen such a scene before.
"Aduo, it seems the two chieftains are assigning tasks for the next few days. Why hasn't my brother arrived yet?" Arui asked Aduo in a low voice.
Ado said, "The elder brother is in charge of everything; he doesn't have time to do the things below."
"Oh---Why don't I see the prince?"
"I didn't see it either."
"Aduo, come here quickly." Suddenly, the clan elder called out from the other side.
Ado dropped what she was doing and ran over.
At noon, just after lunch, Duoduo and Arui were washing the new teacups they had just bought in front of the courtyard when they saw Azhuang arrive with several strong Miao men from other villages.
These people were either carrying chickens and ducks or carrying eggs.
"Aduo, where is your brother?" Azhuang asked.
Ado stood up. "It looks like he's feeding the geese downstairs. Should I go call him?"
"I'll go."
Ah Zhuang walked to the side and shouted a few times towards the bottom of the house.
A short while later, Mu Chen arrived.
"Ah Kang? It's you guys!"
A Kang and his group of three or four people arrived, but they were all stunned by the magnificent house of Mu Chen's family.
After Mu Chen invited them to sit down, they secretly glanced at the various appliances in the house.
"What are you doing with all this? We're outsiders, please sit down."
As soon as Mu Chen spoke, the Miao boy behind A Kang immediately said, "They're all raised at home, they're not worth much, A Chen, don't look down on them."
“Ah Chen, these duck eggs were laid by our family’s local ducks.”
"I am deeply sorry to have you doing this to me. Thank you, brothers."
Mu Chen told Duo Duo to accept them all, then took out some cigarettes from his pocket and gave one to each of them.
These are cigarettes that cost five yuan a pack. Although A-Kang and his friends couldn't afford them, they had lived in the county town before and naturally recognized them.
"Order everything, don't be shy."
Ah Kang and the others were indeed reserved, and it was also true that they were afraid of Muchen.
Because yesterday, Ah Chen single-handedly subdued those savage men from Geni Village, and their journey here has confirmed that.
Seeing that Ah Chen was still very polite to them, Ah Kang and the others, although they were all a few years older than Ah Chen, dared not say anything out of line.
"Ah Chen, don't you smoke?" Ah Kang asked.
"I haven't learned how to do it yet! You guys light it up, don't worry about me."
Since Ah Chen doesn't smoke, they felt embarrassed and in the end, Ah Chen lit cigarettes for them.
At this moment, A'duo came over carrying a large pot of rice wine, while A'rui was still holding a bowl.
As she put the bowl down, Arui secretly glanced at her brother.
Unfortunately, the prince said nothing.
Ah Chen poured rice wine, and everyone clinked bowls together.
Ah Kang pulled out the plan he had painstakingly written and handed it to Mu Chen with both hands, "Ah Chen, this is what I came up with, take a look."
"Your handwriting is quite good."
Mu Chen asked A Zhuang to greet A Kang and the others, while he looked at them carefully.
However, when they saw Ah Chen frown, the group, who had been full of confidence, all became worried.
Mu Chen finished reading the three or four pages in less than five minutes.
He then began by saying, "A project plan should have writing steps and a structure. It should get straight to the point, clearly and simply expressing the ideas, plans, and expected goals."
"Also, both the table of contents and the project overview must be clearly written!"
"Financial planning is also essential."
…
Mu Chen pointed out a lot of problems in one breath.
Ah Zhuang, who was standing next to him, was completely confused.
Duo Duo blinked her bright eyes. She only knew that her brother was very serious when he got serious, but she didn't understand a word he said.
Arui understood something, but what her brother said was too profound.
As for the Miao men from the same village as Akang, they probably aren't in much better shape.
On the contrary, A-Kang kept pondering Mu Chen's words, and finally said, "Then... I'll rewrite it."
"No need for that. I know pretty much what you're thinking. It's basically what I told you yesterday. But why is your investment amount five thousand yuan?"
Ah Kang hurriedly said, "If it's too much, three or four thousand is fine too. I'm confident I can get this business up and running."
Three or four thousand?
Ah Chen smiled.
This smile immediately put those who came with A-Kang at ease, but A-Kang himself had a strange feeling, because he didn't know whether A-Chen thought it was too much or too little.
Five thousand yuan can do a lot of things.
Anyway, Ah Kang can't even come up with a hundred yuan right now.
At this moment, the clan elder strode over and said, "Achen, your friends have already arrived at the crossroads of Quedong Village."
Mu Chen patted A Kang on the shoulder, telling him not to rush and to talk about it later. Then he got up and walked to the edge of the courtyard, looking down at the mountain.
Su Qian had prepared for this trip to the Miao village, but the sight before them still left them all wide-eyed.
Twelve rounds of welcoming wine.
Starting from one kilometer away from Mu Chen's home, the Miao girls, dressed in their finest attire, set up checkpoints and lined up in formation.
The Miao people played the sheng (a type of reed pipe instrument) and drums, and sang and danced.
They would block the road with jars of fine wine and cow horns as cups, offering drinks to express their warm hospitality.
"This is truly a case of guests not even arriving at the host's house, yet already half-drunk on the wine; such hospitality is rarely seen in the world!"
The middle-aged man next to Su Qian was the first to stop her from drinking. He politely accepted the ox horn with both hands, and that was it—he downed half a jin in one go.
"President Yan, you can't touch the Miao girls' horn cups, otherwise you have to drink them all," Su Qian quickly reminded him.
Even so, when this group of five or six people, dressed in fashionable clothes, arrived at Mu Chen's house in three cars, President Yan was already completely bewildered.
Even the young men and women who came with Su Qian had flushed faces when they got out of the car.
"Guests from the provincial capital, this is the thirteenth round of welcoming wine, the last one before you enter the host's house."
A young woman stood on the embankment of the courtyard, which was a meter higher than the cement, and spoke loudly in her not-so-standard Mandarin.
"ah..."
"Oh my god, there's still one more step! I thought we were done for." Su Qian's assistant was on the verge of tears.
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