Volume 1, Chapter 64: Night Talk

Trash was everywhere. Of the three drinkers, two were completely knocked out.

Guo Dong, who had always possessed the lowest alcohol tolerance, turned out to be the most sober of the three.

None of the five young people went home that night.

They sat or lay scattered around the small wooden cabin, spending the entire night there.

"Fangfang, if you're sleepy, go lie down in the cabin for a while!"

Meng Xiaohan sat beside Tian Fang. The banquet had drawn the two of them much closer.

They had become inseparable good friends who talked about everything!

"I'm fine, I'm not tired!" Tian Fang smiled, her gaze shifting to Meng Yingcai, who was slumped over the table.

Meng Yingcai was drunk, thoroughly and utterly drunk.

That night, he had said a lot—much of it things Tian Fang had never heard before.

It was only today that she learned about Meng Yingcai's past and realized just how much pressure he had been carrying!

"Sister Xiaohan, can this place of yours really develop and prosper?"

Meng Xiaohan hugged her knees, gazing into the pitch-black distance.

She understood what Tian Fang meant and smiled. "I didn't have any confidence in the past, but now, I have plenty.

Our village will definitely get better. One day, everyone will live a prosperous life."

Tian Fang smiled, imitating the other woman by pulling her knees up and burying her face in them.

"Before you guys came back, do you know what kind of life Guodong was living?"

Tian Fang suddenly raised her head, glancing at Guo Dong, who was walking away with Heizhe.

"His father was a gambler and left behind hundreds of thousands in debt when he died.

Not just in our village, but even in Lijiacou and East Village, he borrowed from almost everyone who could lend.

Large sums of tens of thousands, small sums of a few thousand—the pressure weighed Guodong down so much he couldn't even lift his head."

Meng Xiaohan's lips curled into a smile, as if recalling Guo Dong's miserable past.

"Whenever he went on blind dates, he always wore that exact same outfit. He used the same mobile phone for four or five years and couldn't bear to buy a new one.

As for the shoes on his feet, I've never seen him change them!"

Tian Fang listened in silence. The Guo Dong in Meng Xiaohan's descriptions was entirely different from the one she knew; it felt like they couldn't possibly be the same person.

"Yet he wasn't beaten down by reality. He pulled through!

Everyone advised him to go work in the city, but instead, he planted his family's entire two mu of land with honey peaches.

By the time the peaches were fully ripe, he was almost ready to give up.

After returning from that blind date, he planned to sell the peaches, pay back Uncle Hao first, and then go out to work with him.

Oh, by the way, Uncle Hao's surname is Meng, and his name is Meng Hao.

He had a pretty bitter life, too!"

Meng Xiaohan spoke with a smile, though perhaps feeling a little scared of the dark night, she edged closer to Tian Fang.

"Right on the very last day, we met Xie Minmin from the county town!

She bought all of his peaches at an exorbitant price of thirty yuan per jin.

Within three days, he had paid off every single cent of his debts!"

Tian Fang opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Then, my father took a fancy to his peach-cultivation techniques and wanted him to lead everyone to prosperity.

He didn't agree to it at first!"

Tian Fang could understand that; refusing at first was only natural. She asked, "And then?"

"Then my father threatened him, using me as a stake. As long as he could make the villagers wealthy, he would let me marry him!"

Ah?

Tian Fang hadn't expected such an ending.

"Sister Xiaohan, have you always liked him?"

Meng Xiaohan chuckled softly, turning her head to glance at the two sleeping figures nearby.

Seeing that they were truly asleep, she lowered her voice and said, "I've liked him since we were kids!"

Huh!

Tian Fang was dumbfounded once more. "Then you guys..."

"I always acted too strong, while he was rather insecure because of his family troubles.

He thought I didn't know, but he would often steal glances at me. I just pretended not to notice.

Let me tell you, every time he went on a blind date, I would be furious for days.

Whenever he came back from one, I'd deliberately go find him and provoke him with my words!"

That was just like a woman—never speaking of the feelings hidden deep in her heart.

Yet the moment she met a friend she could truly confide in, she immediately spilled out every single secret she had kept locked away.

Meng Xiaohan continued, "That very day, my father went specifically to see his grandfather, terrified that he would refuse.

Actually, I knew that as long as my father was willing to make that demand, he would definitely agree!"

"And then he agreed?" Listening as if to a fairy tale, Tian Fang's curiosity about the pair's history spiked.

"Of course he agreed. It was his only chance.

He's a man who knows how to seize an opportunity. The moment he sees even a glimmer of one, he bites down and refuses to let go."

Seeing how happy Meng Xiaohan was, Tian Fang caught her joy and asked with a smile, "What if the gamble had been lost?"

"Impossible!" Meng Xiaohan giggled. "I had already mapped out the entire plan back then.

All the land in the village, plus the fish pond, revolved around him.

With my full cooperation, even if he were foolish, he wouldn't have lost everything down to his last cent."

"And after that?"

"There was no 'after that.' The moment my father transferred the fish pond to the village, Guo Dong turned around and sold the fish at a sky-high price.

You have no idea—my father had managed that fish pond for years without ever making a profit.

The very second day after it was transferred to the village collective, grass carp that usually went for four or five yuan a jin were sold by him for fifty yuan a jin.

My father was so furious that he couldn't even eat a proper meal when he got home."

Whenever Meng Xiaohan mentioned this, she grew overwhelmingly excited, as if seeing her father get the short end of the stick brought her immense joy.

"No way, were those fish really that easy to sell? Could it be..."

Meng Xiaohan shook her head. "Perhaps we were all swindled by merchants in the past. The feng shui here is simply wonderful.

Backed by the great mountains, both the soil and the water are superior to other villages.

Chairman Liu was fighting over those grass carp!

Do you know why Chairman Liu was sucking up to him so much when we ate at Xianghe Hotel?

It was purely because he was terrified we'd sell the fish to his mortal enemy, Tianpeng Hotel."

Phew!

Tian Fang's head was spinning a little.

Seemingly remembering something, she suddenly asked, "I noticed Brother Guodong also knows traditional Chinese medicine. Since he had such a hard time back then, why didn't he..."

"You mean why didn't he practice medicine to make money, right?"

Meng Xiaohan shook her head with a bitter smile. "In a tiny mountain village, how much can a traditional doctor make?

Take his maternal grandfather, for instance—oh, his grandfather on his mother's side; we call them *laoye* here.

His grandfather was a veritable miracle worker. No matter what illness someone had, he rarely wrote prescriptions; a few acupuncture needles and the patient would be cured.

Because of that, his fees were exceptionally low!

And precisely because of this, he washed his hands of it and quit!

Then there's his grandfather on his father's side, who was also hailed as a miraculous doctor. He only wrote prescriptions, but the medicine was bitter and slow to take effect, so his business couldn't thrive either!"

"But in the big cities..." Tian Fang wanted to argue, but thinking of the situation here, the words died in her throat.

Meng Xiaohan looked at her and smiled. "Don't think too much about it tonight. Tomorrow, Chairman Liu and Sister Min will both be coming here to purchase vegetables.

By then, you and Brother Yingcai can come over and help out.

After tomorrow, you can make up your mind whether to stay or leave—I won't try to persuade you otherwise!"

"See that patch of vegetable field over there? Right now, the only ones with fixed prices are the baby cabbage and spinach; the rest will be quoted tomorrow.

When that time comes, you'll see whether our village truly has a future or not!

I dare say you'll be so shocked you won't be able to speak!"

Just as she was speaking, Guo Dong returned with Heizhe.

Having taken a stroll around the orchard, Guo Dong looked much more energetic now, and the slight drunkenness had completely vanished.

Seeing the two young women whispering secrets, he asked with a smile, "What are you two chatting about so mysteriously?"

Meng Xiaohan giggled. "I'm not telling you!"