Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn
Chapter 153 - 90: Returning with a Full Load (Part 2)

Chapter 153: Chapter 90: Returning with a Full Load (Part 2)

Everyone had left, leaving nearly a hundred red-bud trees pitifully deserted on the wasteland, waiting to wither under the harsh sun and wind.

"At last, they’re all gone," a figure emerged, pushing aside the tall wild grass to avoid encountering Qian Yongcai and revealing that Xiao Xian was still the eight-year-old girl, dressed in the clothes she brought from Ge Village.

"Listening to their conversation, it seems like Qian Yongcai got his just deserts ahead of time. Hehe, serves him right. But the old grandpa leading them looks pretty formidable, though he’s still only half as good as he thinks. You’re lucky to have met me; now I’ll ’wash away your bad luck.’" Xiao Xian grinned and took out a bottle of orange soda, which she bought from a nearby store for 50 cents. The golden soda went down her throat, and the bottle was filled with a reddish copper-colored liquid, unmistakably the "Universal Healing Medicine" harvested from young copper leaves.

Using it once meant exchanging it for copper, and Xiao Xian prudently used about twenty kilograms of brass in exchange first. It wouldn’t be easy to please if it got spoiled by constant high-quality tastes.

Xiao Xian’s movements were deft; she started by adding a small amount of the solution to the roots of the red-bud tree. The moldy area near the fine-scaled tendons melted away like snow before fire, and the tree’s sinews returned to their normal golden hue.

The black spots on the leaves lightened, and with an increased dose of "copper solution," they vanished completely.

After treating a hundred red-bud trees, Xiao Xian began to realize the efficacy of the "copper solution." Those saplings, given up for lost by forestry experts, grew about ten centimeters in a short time, their sinew systems became more robust, and even the veins on the oblong leaves appeared clearer, indicating vitality and significantly improved disease resistance.

"All settled, now on to returning what belongs to the owner. We all live off the land, just that those developers have made too much illicit money. A little scam from me isn’t too excessive, right?" Xiao Xian looked at the soaring apartments around her. Qian Yongcai had once boasted during a tree-purchasing drive, criticizing real estate tycoons for driving up housing prices, the real vampires.

The developers of Blue Sky Apartments were either lucky or unlucky to encounter a shady contractor like Qian Yongcai. Fortuitously, they had released a message in the Guiyang flower and bird market that same morning, looking to purchase suitable greening trees at high prices. By the afternoon, they received notices from several local flower and bird market traders; one claimed they had about thirty pots of high-quality red-bud trees freshly in stock. Another claimed they had cultivated fifty pots of red-bud trees, initially intended for government offices, but seeing the good price, decided to sell to them instead.

On the way to the flower and bird market, the forestry expert bought an exquisite red-bud tree from a street hawker selling flowers and birds. Altogether, they had exactly ninety-nine trees.

"The number seems auspicious, missing just one, but they’re much better than the ones imported from Spain last time. Look at the size and the leaves; they won’t get sick so easily," said the developer, who was an amateur in this field.

"How come the mainland can grow such lovely red-bud trees," the forestry expert mused, rubbing his chin with a mix of sigh and praise.

"The total cost comes to 61,000 yuan. After deducting the 39,000 yuan for the three owners, the money spent on buying the trees is 90,000 yuan. Hehe, much more worthwhile than selling to Qian Yongcai. Does this count as looting a burning house?" Xiao Xian showed off a few idioms she learned from Zhu Shijun. She didn’t feel the slightest guilt; the thought of "everyone for themselves" dominated her mentality for several years to come.

What the scheming developers of Lantian Group didn’t expect was that as they had just transported the trees away, a teenage girl received stacks of cash from three different owners.

Three completely different sellers and freshly refurbished red-bud trees wouldn’t make anyone suspect a little girl from Ge Village.

As for the hundredth red-bud tree, Xiao Xian kept it as a souvenir, placing it atop Little White Jiao’s head, just waiting for her command: "Let’s go home." Then, like a white rainbow swift as lightning, they darted towards the Southwest Mountain Area.

Guiyang became the first step on Xiao Xian’s journey of "ways to make a fortune." She was home before dusk, while Zhu Shijun was still on the return train, lost in myriad thoughts. To avoid Zhuo Feng, the old man paid special attention while buying tickets and kept vigilant at the slightest rustle behind him. It wasn’t until he boarded the train and sat on the uncomfortable hard seat that his tense nerves slightly relaxed.

Was what he was doing right or wrong? Subconsciously, Zhu Shijun wanted to keep Xiao Xian by his side, waiting for her to grow up, marry, and have a happy family. But after deeper reflection, he doubted his selfishness. Decades ago, he had forced Xiao Xian’s father into a certain lifestyle; was he going to make Xiao Xian retrace that path, imposing on her another way of living?

To live with the rise of the sun and sleep with its set, was he supposed to let Xiao Xian soil her hands with mountain dirt, living her entire life like the village women?

Better to go back and ask Xiao Xian herself. But she was still young. Wait another couple of years until the child was a bit older, then ask her. He could allow himself another two years of selfishness. Zhu Shijun looked out at the endless retreating fields and serpentine mountain ridges, and closed his eyes. (To be continued. If you like this book, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)