Peach Garden Beyond This World

  One side is a dense rock wall, and the other side is a deep cliff. In between, there is only a four-meter-wide dirt road. One end of the dirt road connects to the national highway, while the other end connects to a small village called Haiwazi. This small village was the 17th village that Zhang Jin had investigated after he made up his mind to go to the countryside.

  Zhang Jin was sitting in the Range Rover he had borrowed from Xiao Fei, swaying back and forth on this dirt road like a drunkard. However, Zhang Jin's swaying wasn't because he had too much to drink, but because the road beneath his feet was really terrible. The twists and turns, ups and downs aside, the yellow earth surface of the road was as bumpy as a leper's head. Fortunately, the Range Rover was a city car with relatively strong off-road capabilities; if Zhang Jin's current ride had been one of those low-chassis business cars, it might have gotten stuck in some ditch or rut and been unable to move.

  Here, one can't help but sigh at the utility of having a good family background. Xiao Fei, who works in the emergency department, may not be able to compare with Zhang Jin's lucrative income from working in the pharmacy department, but it's hard to compete with someone whose father has money. So, low-income Xiao Fei drives a 700,000-800,000 yuan Land Rover, while high-income Zhang Jin can only drive a 200,000-300,000 yuan Pajero.

  This dirt road on the mountain is not easy to walk, but it's not long, just over ten kilometers. However, it took Zhang Jin a whole hour to cover this distance. During this hour, Zhang Jin endured the bumpy ride that made his butt ache and numb, and in his heart, he couldn't stop questioning his previous impulsive decision: "Am I crazy? Why did I think of going deep into the mountains? This crappy road is not meant for humans."

  But Zhang Jin's grumble came to an abrupt end after he drove around another bend, and he first stepped on the brakes with all his might, bringing the car to a stop. Then, with some excitement, he got out of the car and looked at the distant scenery, muttering to himself: "It was worth it, really worth it! It's simply a paradise on earth!"

  Zhang Jin's eyes were currently unfolding a beautiful natural landscape painting. Zhang Jin was currently located on the half-slope of a low mountain, although not high in position, but due to the relative height difference, still with an open view. At the foot of the mountain, slightly closer, was a vast expanse of green, which was vegetable fields and farmland. The May greenery was lush and vibrant, showing unparalleled vitality. As it was approaching noon, the dozens of blue-brick red-tiled houses scattered in the corner of the green land simultaneously emitted wisps of smoke, bringing life to this rural scene while also exuding a leisurely atmosphere.

  Farther away, it's a brilliant golden yellow that looks like just one line. Even farther away, there's an endless expanse of azure, indigo and deep blue. The gold is the beach, the blue is the sea!

  In this green and blue, where the smoke rises is the destination that Zhang Jin has been struggling on the mountain road for an hour - Haiwazi Village.

  The lush green crops surrounded by mountains in three directions, with dense forests connected to each other, complemented by the sparkling blue waters. This landscape of mountains, fields, sea and sky, with emerald green and azure blue intertwined, cannot be described simply as "beautiful". No wonder Zhang Jin was shocked by the beauty before him, almost unable to speak for himself. After all, Zhang Jin had lived in the city for nearly thirty years since childhood, although he had also visited famous scenic spots such as Jiuzhaigou and Zhangjiajie, but those places with more people than trees could not compare to the natural vitality of what was before him now, nor did they have this kind of serene living atmosphere.

  After appreciating the bird's-eye view of the beautiful scenery for a while, Zhang Jin couldn't wait to get back on the car and head towards Haiwazi Village.

  Half an hour later, in the same red-tiled and blue-bricked bungalow that served as the village branch.

  "Hey kid, are you kidding me? You want to contract land in our village?" Hai Jufu, the village branch secretary of Haiwazi Village, looked at Zhang Jin sitting in front of him with a surprised expression.

  Haiwazi village is beautiful, but it's actually a poor village. The reason for the poverty of the village is only one - inconvenient transportation.

  By water, it takes an hour to get to the nearest town by boat, and because of the gentle slope of the sea floor, only small boats with shallow drafts can dock. On land, the entire village is connected to the outside world only by the rugged mountain road that Zhang Jin took when he came. It's precisely because of this isolation that in the past decade or so, while governments at all levels across the country have been desperately trying to "attract investment" and various large and small factories have sprouted up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, Haidongzi Village has remained untouched until now, and even after several business inspections, the village didn't even have the courage to try to attract businesses. With transportation conditions like this, who would come? Even if a factory were built, how would you transport in the raw materials needed for production? How would you transport out the goods produced?

  So it's no wonder that Hai Jifu, the old branch secretary, was taken aback when he first heard Zhang Jin's plan and thought he had misheard, but then eagerly asked again with a glimmer of hope.

  When Zhang Jin confirmed that the old branch secretary had heard correctly, Hai Jufu became somewhat excited and hastily asked: "No problem, no problem." The old branch secretary first nodded in agreement, then carefully asked again: "I don't know what kind of factory you want to set up, boss? Can your factory hire people from our village to work? How many people do you need, I'll go spread the word.

  Don't worry, all of you are young and strong, capable of enduring hardship and working hard. Let me tell you, in our village, the young people these days have all gone out to work for others. Although most of them went to Shenzhen, Huizhou and Dongguan, which aren't far from their homes, who doesn't miss their family, who is willing to leave their home?

  Lao Zhi Shu's enthusiasm made Zhang Jin somewhat overwhelmed, and he hastily interrupted his endless words, saying: "That Hai uncle, I came here to contract land not to open a factory! I just like the scenery of your village and want to rent a few acres of land to take care of it myself. You see..."

  Although the hope of revitalizing the village's industry was shattered, Old Branch Secretary still agreed to Zhang Jin's request with a pat on his chest. Anyway, most of the strong laborers in the village had left their homes to work elsewhere, and those who stayed behind were either considered useless or were old, weak, women, and children. The land cultivated every year was also decreasing, and idle land was abundant. Besides, even if it's just a small mosquito, it's still meat, right? Zhang Jin's contract fee was at least some income for Haiwoshi Village, which had never had much revenue to begin with.

  "Come on, come on, I'll take you around to have a look. When the time comes and you see which piece of land you like, just tell me, as long as it's not someone else's cultivated land, you can choose whichever one you want, don't worry about the price." As he spoke, the old branch secretary, who was over fifty years old, stood up eagerly and pulled Zhang Jin out of the office. This old branch secretary may be advanced in age, but still had a vigorous energy like that of young people.

  Looking at the eager old branch secretary, Zhang Jin smiled and shook his head, not declining, and followed him out. But in his heart, he thought: This old branch secretary really doesn't understand negotiation skills, how can he be so anxious? Doesn't he know that only by putting on a "daughter is not worried about marriage" attitude can he catch the golden turtle son-in-law?

  Like this, Old Branch Secretary walked ahead, constantly pointing at the idle land on both sides of the road and introducing it. This piece of land is so fertile, what crops are best planted; that piece of land is close to the water source, how convenient it is to irrigate...

  On the surface, Zhang Jin was nodding along sporadically, but in reality, he was constantly using his Master-level Tamer and Master-level Gardener abilities to search for the most suitable place to showcase his skills.

  Finally, when Old Branch Book led Zhang Jin to the end of the village on one side, Zhang Jin's eyes lit up and he pointed to a large irregularly shaped wasteland of about six or seven mu, tentatively saying: "Uncle Hai, do you think this piece of land is suitable for me?" As he spoke, Zhang Jin gestured with his hand to indicate the scope of what he wanted.

  The old branch secretary looked at Zhang Jin with a mixture of surprise and struggle on his face. After hesitating for a while, he finally seemed to have made up his mind and said: "Little Zhang, this land is indeed barren and unwanted by anyone. To be honest, I don't want to cheat you. The truth is that the part of the land near the village is decent fertile soil, but excluding those two or more mu of land, the rest is all rocky and barren, not even suitable for growing thin crops. You see, except for a few old crooked trees, there's not even much wild grass."

  Lao Zhi Shu's sincere words made Zhang Jin have a deeper understanding of the old man, so he also opened up and said: "Hai Uncle, I won't hide it from you, my intention to take over this land is not to get rich. It's just that I'm tired of living in the city and want to live somewhere else for a few years. For these few mu of land, I have an idea - I want to grow some vegetables and fruit trees on the two mu of fertile land for myself to eat. As for those rocky lands, I plan to dig a two-mu fish pond and raise some fish. The remaining land will be used to build a house for myself to live in, and also set up a big yard to raise some chickens and ducks. Can you let me take over this land?"

  Zhang Jin's excuse was half true and half false, but it also rounded out the conversation. At least Hai Zhi Shu firmly believed in Zhang Jin's words. Although Lao Zhi Shu himself wasn't a rich man, from what he saw on TV, rich people seemed to have many special hobbies. Spending some time in the countryside was nothing. In his eyes, Zhang Jin, who drove a beautiful Jeep, was already considered a rich man.

  So Hai Ju Fu nodded happily and guaranteed that there would be no problem, patting his chest. The piece of land was not a homestead in the village, nor was it arable land, but just a wasteland. It's easy to use this wasteland to open up a residential area and fish pond! After all, this not only doesn't harm anyone's interests, but also creates income for the village, so I'm sure the villagers won't have any objections and will be happy to see it happen.

  So, Zhang Jin's land contract was settled. When Hai Jufu took over a stack of red tickets from Zhang Jin and solemnly stamped the village committee's seal on that contract, the six or seven mu of land would be Zhang Jin's territory for the next ten years.