Mingzhu's expression of watching the spectacle was so obvious that it was impossible to ignore, leaving one speechless.
"I haven't figured it out yet, why are you in such a hurry?"
Are you worried I won't be able to get married and will be a burden on your family?
"Hmph! If that's the case, then I'd rather you never get married. Then all your good things will belong to Zhouzhou, right, Zhouzhou?"
After spending a few years together, they became close, and Mingzhu was willing to joke with her.
"Hiccup~~Giggle~~~"
The child ate a bellyful of watermelon and then let out a small burp. His clear eyes looked around, clearly not understanding what had happened, but the burp made him laugh.
"They're just kids, they don't know anything about worries, how wonderful!"
"Yes, no matter what troubles I have, seeing my child makes all the hardship and fatigue worthwhile."
Looking at Mingzhu's satisfied smile, even though it wasn't the first time she had seen it, she still felt a little dazed. Was this what it felt like to have parents?
Cheng Chao was extremely busy, holding meetings, making plans, and keeping things confidential. With Jian Dan's connection, he conducted two more investigations before finally bringing Xi Ping'an into his circle of friends.
However, to be fair, having Xi Ping'an, the county party secretary, as a backer does make things much easier. Some inconveniences, especially the scrutinizing gazes from all sides, can be directly attributed to him.
It took him more than twenty days to finally find the time to come over. He planned to take over the pile of things in the Northwest first, which was the result of discussions between Cheng Jin and Xi Ping'an.
Gold mines are certainly desirable, but they are too conspicuous. Moreover, mining and refining require a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and also take a considerable amount of time. During this process, no one can guarantee that no problems will arise. If problems do occur, the consequences will be unbearable for anyone.
So what they discussed was to use the readily available gold and silver to establish security measures and hardware facilities in the area, and at the same time train a special security team, hoping that the hardware and software would complement each other and make the area an impregnable fortress.
In this way, when mining gold in the future, it can be done in a safe environment, so that there won't be holes today and cracks tomorrow, like a sieve.
Then all their careful planning and scheming would have been in vain.
Of course, Cheng Chao didn't fully disclose the gold mine to Xi Ping'an, only telling him, based on what the experts said, that it was in the mountains.
In his heart, the girl was still closest to him. The fact that she only told him her secrets was enough to show that. Their status was very clear, and he was determined to help the girl keep her secrets.
Of course, he wouldn't admit it, but there was also a hint of jealousy mixed in. He was originally the person closest to the girl, but when he saw Xi Ping'an ruffling her hair and Jian Dan being intimate with him without any reservations, and they shared memories, he felt like the girl was about to be taken away.
He was very fortunate that Xi Ping'an was a county party secretary. Compared to him, Xi Ping'an was too busy to keep up with him. He could come more often when he had free time, and the girl was still closer to him.
It must be said that it is somewhat naive.
However, their blissful moment didn't last long. They were told off by Old Han, who was patrolling the village, just as they reached the entrance.
"Xiao Jian's brother, are you here to see Xiao Jian?"
She went up the mountain.
Cheng Chao's initial enthusiasm immediately cooled down.
"Up the mountain? When did you go?"
Old Han can come up with anything without hesitation.
“When the shift changed in the morning, around 5:30, I arrived then, and I saw her leave a short while later. It was probably no later than 6 o’clock.”
Cheng Chao's face immediately darkened. He raised his arm to check the time; it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.
"She took the day off and didn't come to work?"
"No, that's not it. She had been busy weeding, and today was the end of her rounds. Everyone in the village was resting, so she went out early. The other villagers and educated youth also went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables."
"Look, haven't some already come down?"
Cheng Chao looked back and indeed, small groups of people were walking down the mountain, chatting and laughing. He glanced around and saw a familiar-looking male educated youth looking in his direction. He then said something to the person next to him and quickly ran over.
"Brother Chao, you've come to see Jian Dan?"
This is a wolf cub eyeing his sister; Cheng Chao simply can't give him a friendly look.
"Yes, with you guys?"
"...No, she had already left when we came out."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Chao didn't say anything, just nodded and headed towards the courtyard.
Ling Weidong sighed. Why isn't there even a sliver of hope left?
Cheng Chao was afraid of going astray, and besides, in the deep mountains, he was indeed not as free to come and go as he used to. He already had something to do today, and he didn't want to waste any more time in the mountains.
He just stayed in the courtyard and didn't dare go anywhere.
As it turned out, he thought it would be easy to come back soon, and indeed he had already sneaked into the deep mountains.
But by now they had already descended the mountain, and in the opposite direction from Cheng Chao.
As Cheng Chao entered the village, she descended the mountain via the side path she had used to transport grain last time, heading straight for the military camp.
The two went in opposite directions, completely unaware of each other.
Cheng Chao waited for several hours without stopping, tidying up the entire back garden. By the time almost everyone on the mountain had come down and it was getting dark, he still hadn't seen Jian Dan's figure, so he started to get a little anxious.
I couldn't wait in the yard, I still wanted to go up and greet her, it was already this late, she should be coming down now.
He had just climbed over the wall when the person outside, seeing the lock on the door, anxiously tiptoed to peek inside. Hearing the noise, they were startled.
"Hey, Company Commander, thank goodness you're still here."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
