At Yu family's dinner, everyone was discussing viewing houses the next day.
When they arrived, Tian Jing had noticed there were new developments nearby.
She suggested, "Let's buy a villa. They're spacious and keep a distance from the neighbors."
Seeing everyone looking at her, she waved her hand, "Don't worry, we're not short on money."
"You," Shen Jianrong shook her head and chuckled, "always trying to buy people with money."
Tian Jing grinned at her, "If a problem can be solved with money, it's not a problem at all."
"Haha, exactly, exactly," Old Mr. Shen agreed. "Since it's not a problem, let's stop discussing it. We'll go find villa developments tomorrow."
Before the dinner plates were cleared, someone arrived.
Seeing the visitor, Old Mr. Shen called out to his two orderlies,
"Xiao Wang, Xiao Xia, hurry and drive this old man away, he's so annoying."
Xiao Wang and Xiao Xia dared not drive anyone away and pretended not to hear.
Old Mr. Shen personally blocked the visitor, "My Zi Yu is already engaged, you're too late."
Old Mr. Gao pushed him aside and walked directly into the living room, his eyes quickly locking onto a pair of unfamiliar people at the dining table.
Then he walked towards Tian Jing and extended his hand:
"Captain Tian, hello. My surname is Gao, you can call me Old Gao, or call me Uncle Gao along with Jianrong."
Old Mr. Shen, trailing behind him, swiftly intercepted his hand:
"You old fellow, it's better if you retract your paws when facing a beautiful woman."
With his hand blocked, Old Mr. Gao turned to retort to his old rival:
"Old fox, do you believe I'll call everyone over?"
"Do you dare?" Old Mr. Shen was unconcerned:
"Captain Tian is a person, not an object for everyone to fight over."
Old Mr. Gao shook off his hand, "You're just so annoying, always threatening people when you talk."
"Heh heh," Old Mr. Shen sneered, "I learned this from those ten-odd years of hardship. Back then, wasn't I forced to the countryside by threats?"
"You're just petty, always bringing up the past," Old Mr. Gao casually pulled up a stool and sat down. "Back then, wasn't everyone helpless?"
Having said that, he ignored Old Mr. Shen and said to the composed Tian Jing:
"Old Shen is petty. He found you but didn't tell us."
"We were all planning to go to Ku Shan village after the fifteenth of the first lunar month to find you."
Tian Jing had no good impression of this patriarch of the Gao family.
She had already confirmed her identity, yet he still maintained such an arrogant posture, trying to put her in her place?
"Then why didn't you tell others? Aren't you trying to take some advantage from Uncle Shen, or snatch it away?"
"It's too late for you to say anything now. Uncle Shen has already seized the initiative."
"Hahaha," Old Mr. Shen laughed heartily. "Old Gao the scoundrel, yesterday, I already hinted to your daughter-in-law. You're too slow."
"Little Tian has already agreed to plant fifty plants for us."
Only fifty plants?
Old Mr. Gao was displeased.
If he was displeased, everyone else would surely be displeased too. If he renegotiated the terms...
"Captain Tian, ginseng is not a vegetable that can be harvested multiple times a year."
"Fifty plants, how long will it take to cultivate them to over thirty years old?"
"After we've waited for so long, we'll have to wait for the next batch. But we're all getting old, we can't wait any longer."
"How about this, you cultivate them as best as you can, and we'll buy them at a high price."
"I won't sell," Tian Jing said coldly, crossing her arms and looking at him. "Every three years, I will give fifty plants to the Shen family."
"Ah hahaha," Old Mr. Shen's laughter was like thunder. "Wonderful, wonderful! Thank you, Old Gao the scoundrel."
Old Mr. Gao was not only choked by Tian Jing but also stunned by her generosity.
He was even more infuriated by his old rival's arrogance.
He knew he had misjudged and used the wrong approach with this beautiful woman:
"Captain Tian, you don't know, Old Shen is a cunning old fox."
"He proposed that whoever finds you and asks you to plant ginseng for them will be the leader of our group, and the ginseng Gubeng Pill would be distributed externally by this leader."
"We were all gearing up, but he had already gotten to know you through Zi Yu. He..."
"You are mistaken," Tian Jing interrupted him, pointing to her side. "This is my husband, Li Zhengguo."
Old Mr. Gao finally looked at Li Zhengguo and nodded slightly, "Hello."
Li Zhengguo also nodded faintly, "Hello."
"Heh," Tian Jing sneered. "Old Mr. Gao, you hold a high position and never pay attention to insignificant people."
"Then let me reintroduce you. This is my husband, Li Zhengguo. Thirty years ago, he and Yu Jinghai were both Shen Uncle's guards."
"What?" Old Mr. Gao exclaimed, startling and standing up abruptly. Then he glared at Old Mr. Shen:
"You, you, was the place you were sent to back then Ku Shan village?"
"That's right," Old Mr. Shen said leisurely, watching the enraged Old Mr. Gao:
"The year I returned, everyone came to visit me and care for me."
"I mentioned Ku Shan village by name more than once. None of you remembered, did you?"
"Why? Because back then, Ku Shan village was just a poor mountain village."
"For a dilapidated mountain village to pass by your ears was already an honor for the name Ku Shan village, wasn't it?"
"But Ku Shan village was where I found warmth."
"Because Little Li was there, and because Little Tian was there."
"Without them, there would be no me, and certainly no Shen family today."
"The name Ku Shan village is deeply etched in my heart."
"Little Li is capable. After he became the village head of Ku Shan village, he and Little Tian developed Ku Shan village into a place you all envy."
"You only know the current Ku Shan village, and never thought that the name Ku Shan village sounds familiar, did you?"
"Little Tian introduced Little Li to you, and you still didn't remember who Li Zhengguo was, did you?"
"Insignificant people and insignificant places are unimportant to you, aren't they?"
Old Mr. Gao's face became a spectacle:
"No wonder you supported Ku Shan village; no wonder you found a grandson-in-law we all envy."
"And no wonder you proposed the gamble, you were angering us."
"You are mistaken," Old Mr. Shen shook his head. "I am not angry, I am grateful to you all, because I met the noble people of my life."
"For over twenty years, I have waited patiently until this day. Hehehe."
Old Mr. Shen's cold laugh sent a shiver down Old Mr. Gao's spine. "Will... will the higher-ups agree?"
"Heh heh." Old Mr. Shen let out another cold laugh:
"Little Tian's son was reported to the authorities through me."
"The poverty alleviation plan was also proposed by me, and the seedling nursery was my suggestion."
"The ginseng Gubeng Pill can only be trusted by the higher-ups when it is in my hands, do you understand?"
"Now that Little Tian says the ginseng will only be gifted and not sold, it must be in my hands."
Old Mr. Gao slumped back onto his stool. "I heard that twenty-four years ago, the border war that was prepared in advance, it was you who discovered it and guaranteed with your own head that the other side had already made their move."
Old Mr. Shen glanced at Li Zhengguo subtly and nodded in agreement:
"Yes, I discovered it from the clues gathered by my subordinates and informants."
Old Mr. Gao fell silent.
That war, which captured over 30 important cities and towns in the opponent's north with little effort, and forced the opponent to publicly declare surrender before withdrawing from their territory, was fought beautifully and satisfyingly.
The trust the higher-ups had in Old Shen was something they could never match.
Now, Old Shen had also firmly tied Captain Tian, who had always been on the outside, to their side...