Zhang Fangcao's application for medical parole was approved after half a month.
Li Min received this task, and it felt like being doused with a basin of ice water.
She ran to the outer courtyard of the quadrangle to find the village chief's young brother.
Indeed, the outer courtyard of the quadrangle had been lent to the village for temporary office space. The reception room in the inner courtyard of the quadrangle was used as an adult literacy class.
The village committee offered rent, but Grandpa Xiao refused. He considered himself a part of Kushan, and lending the venue to the village committee for temporary use was only right and proper.
Facing his furious younger sister, Li Zhengguo calmly replied, "You are the most suitable candidate in the entire Kushan."
"Nonsense!" Li Min jumped with anger, "There are only two of us in my household, myself and Brother Suozhu, and we have twenty greenhouses to manage. Brother Suozhu works late into the night with a lantern, who sees it?"
"You see it."
"Young brother! Village Chief Li!"
Li Min raised her voice, "You are deliberately targeting me."
Li Zhengguo's expression turned cold, "Are you disobeying the village committee's arrangement?"
With such a label attached, Li Min was too indignant to speak.
Secretary Yang beckoned to her with a smile, "Come, come, Comrade Li Min, if you have something you don't understand, come to me."
After Secretary Yang reasoned with her, Li Min left the temporary office with a smile.
...
Doctor Yang arranged for Zhang Fangcao to stay at the old clinic.
Her father and mother wanted to take her home, but she acted as if she didn't see them, sidestepped them, and followed Li Min to Chen's greenhouse.
"Li Min, are you happy to have me as an extra helper?"
Li Min turned to look at her, "How many years has it been since you last farmed? Don't ruin my seedlings."
"Don't worry, I'll learn slowly."
As the two women walked further away, Zhang's father sighed, "Forget it, let her be."
Zhang's mother wiped her tears, "I just wanted to take her back and cook her some good food."
"She is now very cautious and particular about what she eats, so don't do anything rash."
"I know. Forget it, as long as she's happy, anything is fine."
Villagers envied Zhang Fangcao's ability to help, but it was only envy. If they were asked to guard it, they certainly wouldn't do it.
...
The village became even more chaotic.
Because the construction team had arrived.
They started building a five-story building at the entrance of the village.
The villagers of Wang'er Village again got work as laborers for the construction team.
The old village chief offered his opinion, "Zhengguo, seeing you make so much money, no matter how pure our hearts are, we can't sit still."
"Don't rush, don't rush, the benefits are coming. If I don't get our own village in order first, the larger plan ahead cannot be executed. Your desire to have a share of the pie will also not be realized."
"Still not rushing?" The old village chief's voice rose, "Three years have passed, and your village is changing with each passing day, while we haven't seen any change at all."
Li Zhengguo held up two fingers, "Wait another two years, and the grand plan will begin then."
"First, you should level the village roads and focus on civilization and hygiene."
The old village chief tilted his chin up, "Do I need you to tell me that? I already organized the village according to your village's methods, and we are just waiting."
Li Zhengguo smiled, "As expected, Old Village Chief has foresight."
"Then, when you have time, please tidy up the tributary of the Ku River that surrounds your village."
"Clean up the banks, level the riverbed pebbles, and dig open the places where the flow has stopped, so that the water can come alive."
The old village chief leaned closer to Li Zhengguo and asked in a low voice, "Why?"
Li Zhengguo stated frankly, "Because the only thing your village can utilize is that narrow stream-like tributary. Are you prepared to pay for it yourselves?"
The old village chief pressed, "What if we pay, and what if we don't?"
Li Zhengguo said directly, "If you pay, after paying a certain amount of taxes, all the remaining income will belong to your village."
"If you don't pay and our village invests, after taxes are paid, you will at most earn site rental fees."
"Then, you will also earn from outsiders who might buy some local produce from villagers."
Outsiders?
Attracting investment?
It didn't seem like it, as the funds were self-sufficient.
The old village chief's eyes rolled, and he guessed, "Tourists? Tourism?"
Li Zhengguo nodded, "Yes!"
"What... what do we have here that can attract tourists to visit?"
"The secrets of heaven must not be revealed," Li Zhengguo shook his head, "I've already said too much. If it gets out, others will snatch away the opportunity."
"Are you investing yourselves, or are we?"
The old village chief dared not decide, "This, I need to go back and discuss. To be honest, if it weren't for my ability to get close to you, I would have already stepped down."
Li Zhengguo was displeased, "Why step down? If it were someone I didn't like, I wouldn't bother with you anymore. Can't you see how busy I am?"
The old village chief beamed, "Yes, yes, I understand, I'll go back and hold a meeting now."
...
While Kshan was in a state of busyness, the county's elections were also underway.
Undoubtedly, Vice County Chief Ji became the County Chief.
The application for the ownership of Laoyingzui could finally be submitted.
When Li Zhengguo received the notification, the first batch of watermelons had already ripened.
After reading the notification, he suppressed his excitement and continued to haggle with Zeng Shengchun.
"It's been three years, if you don't raise the price, I'll find another buyer."
Zeng Shengchun nodded, "Raise, raise, raise, how about 0.2 yuan per jin? You always threaten me."
At a price of 0.2 yuan, Li Zhengguo was quite satisfied, "You just transport goods back and forth and earn hundreds of thousands. Such a good deal, if I weren't familiar with you, would I look for you? Ungrateful."
"Yes, yes, I'm grateful to you. No, I should thank Sister Ouyang, if she hadn't sold the watermelons to me that year..."
Li Zhengguo quickly interrupted him, "Stop, stop, I notice you're becoming long-winded."
Zeng Shengchun changed the subject, "How long can your village maintain its watermelon cultivation?"
Li Zhengguo didn't answer directly, "Don't worry, we'll continue for now, your supply market won't be interrupted."
Zeng Shengchun persisted, "About how long? I don't believe you'll consider this kind of frantic work as a long-term career."
Li Zhengguo looked at him suspiciously, "You, there's something wrong with you."
Zeng Shengchun admitted, "You guessed right, give me an approximate time, and I'll prepare to leave too."
"If it weren't for... if it weren't for the continuous supply from you, which makes me reluctant to let it go to someone else, I would have decided not to do it this year."
"Three years, can you last?"
"Yes!"
Li Zhengguo seemed to hear Zeng Shengchun gritting his teeth, "If you can't last, I can really find someone else. You also know I have connections."
"Don't worry," Zeng Shengchun shook his head, "It's not about the market, it's a family matter. My family is waiting for me to give up my struggle."
Li Zhengguo didn't understand, but it was inconvenient for him to ask, "Okay, if you can't keep it up, tell me."
"Mhm, mhm."
...
The five-story building on the east side of the village was completed quickly, with the help of machinery and manpower, in just two months.
As it was only a dormitory building, from the foundation to the roof, it was all quite simple.
The construction team continued to move forward, starting the construction of the villagers' small Western-style houses.
With the construction of Western-style houses, the villagers wanted to pay attention but had no time. They went to the construction site during their breaks to watch.
They couldn't understand what they saw.
With messy foundations, even after the workers explained which part was the bedroom and which was the living room, the villagers were still confused.
It felt very profound.
This also made the villagers even more convinced that they were right to follow Village Chief Li's lead.