Chapter 28: Nothing Escapes the Three Precious Halls

  "Is it here? The feng shui is pretty good..."

  After turning a bend, the scene in front of me suddenly became spacious. There was about three mu (about 0.2 hectares) of farmland before my eyes. Probably due to lack of people taking care of it, the field had grown with wild grass as tall as half a person. Even the irrigation ditch at the edge of the field was covered up.

  Through the dense wild grass, in front of us is the sparkling surface of Jianma Lake, reflecting the rising sun, shining with golden dots, and faintly visible are fish jumping out of the water, splashing circles of ripples.

  Behind the field is a very distinctive mountain peak, from the foot of the mountain to the waist is flat terrain, like a giant steamed bun, but on top of this steamed bun, there is a solitary peak about 100 meters high, forming an angle of about 80 degrees with the lower part.

  Just like on a rich mountain in an island country, a small JJ grows towards the sky, very meaningful.

  On the solitary peak, everything is lush and green, with many trees, medicinal herbs, and a small waterfall spraying down, pounding out a small pool on the lower hills, and then the water gradually slows down, forming a small stream that flows through the fields below, eventually flowing into the Sword Horse Lake, which has an area of 30,000 mu.

  Jianma Lake's water is crystal clear all year round, with a sweet taste at the entrance. This is because the lake water is formed by the convergence of thousands of springs from the Yunshui Mountain area, without any pollution, and can even be drunk directly.

  Zhou Yi walked to the creek and saw that the water ditch was also made of cobblestones, just surrounding the few acres of land in a circle before flowing into the lake. He scooped up a handful of water from the ditch and drank it, feeling sweet and refreshing, surpassing even the bottled mineral water sold at supermarkets. His heart delighted: "Now I'm set! Planting rice won't require me to worry about irrigation costs anymore, and with such good water quality, the rice will definitely be nutritious and fragrant, a top-grade product that money can't buy."

  "How's it going, Brother Zhou? Are you satisfied?"

  Li Yuanfang smiled and said, "These three acres of land are in our Yunshui Village. They are all first-class, with fertile soil that only needs a little renovation, and will definitely not delay this summer's planting."

  "Not bad, indeed not bad. But how can such a good place be neglected and left to decay like this?" Zhou Yi couldn't help but wonder.

  "Hehe, these three mu of land were originally owned by Old Yu's family head. Before he passed away, Old Yu was famous for being good at cultivating the land, and these few mu of land were all nurtured with human fertilizer and bird droppings, hardly ever using chemical fertilizers... But since Old Yu passed away last year, his two sons both live in the city, so this land has been abandoned..."

  Li Yuanfang smiled and said, "The son of Old Yu also wanted to rent out the land, but because the land is good, he asked for a high rent. Moreover, he specifically required that only good farming methods be used, and the person renting the land had to guarantee not to use chemical fertilizers to ruin the land... Hehe, although many people in our village have their eyes on this piece of land, there are really not many who can meet these three conditions at the same time. That's why it has been left idle like this."

  "It turned out to be like this......" Zhou Yi nodded: "I don't know how much the rent is for these three pieces of land?"

  "If it were ordinary fields, the annual rent for one mu would be around 800 to 1,000 yuan at most. But these three mu of land are top-grade good fields, so the Yu family's asking price is 1,200 yuan per mu. However, don't worry, little brother, with my face in this, I can help you bring it down to 1,000 yuan per mu for sure."

  "The price of 1,200 is reasonable, no need to press down anymore, and I'm sure I won't use fertilizer to spoil such good land." Zhou Yi smiled: "How long can we sign the contract?"

  "Hmm, looks like Brother Zhou you're a rich man? Alright, let's do it as you said, whether the contract is valid or not doesn't matter, with me as the guarantor, it's just a phone call away."

  Li Yuanfang smiled and said: "Let's pay half a year's rent first. The lease is for one year, we'll talk about it when the contract expires, okay little brother?"

  "No need to bother. I'll rent for two years and pay the rent all at once." Zhou Yi thought for a moment, "It's a total of 7,200 yuan, I'll go to the credit union to get it and then give it to you."

  "That's great, little brother is really a happy person!" Li Yuanfang smiled and said: "I'll find a few people to help you clean up, when you come back from the city, this land will be almost usable."

  ***

  Went to the Agricultural Bank credit union to withdraw money and gave it to Li Yuanfang, then opened an introduction letter for Kong Dachuan from the village, Zhou Yi jumped onto the agricultural tractor of Liu Erhei, the head of the village, and drove out of the mountain in a bumpy ride.

  Riding a tractor on the bumpy yellow earth road feels like taking a free roller coaster ride for a long time, even with Zhou Yi's physical quality far surpassing that of ordinary people, he was shaken until his buttocks were sore, and his whole body felt as if it had come apart.

  "It seems like I have no choice but to buy a car, otherwise it will be very inconvenient in the future."

  The idea of buying a car didn't come from the I Ching, but if you want to take this road, you must have an off-road vehicle. A good off-road vehicle costs at least 300,000 to 400,000 yuan. He really can't afford it.

  Making money? For Zhou Yi, it's really not that difficult. To say nothing of other things, with his current culinary skills and medical skills, if he really wants to make a name for himself in big cities like Kyoto or Hai Du, it won't take one or two years before he has a house that's out of this world, an imported bulletproof car, and a girlfriend who is domestic but definitely authentic...

  Seven years of living in Kyoto has made Zhou Yi unimpressed with big cities. Going to a big city is just looking for trouble, not only traffic jams but also mental congestion. He'd rather eat coarse grains and vegetables, as long as he can take root in the mountains, connect with the masses, and have rural areas surround the city...

  But buying a car is also an urgent matter, which makes Zhou Yi feel a bit headache.

  Just as they were about to leave the mountain, Zhu Xiaohua's phone call came: "Old Three, are you still hiding in the mountains? Today is weekend, don't come out and hang out with brothers, do you want to be a black mountain old monster?"

  "Ugh, just listening to you, I can tell you're not sincere. Why didn't you come pick me up in a car? You think it's easy for me to make this trip? Sitting on that tractor, my butt is almost bruised into a flower..."

  I really want to scold this guy's face, it's been several days and he just thought of calling over, and we're even close friends.

  "Hmm, I heard a commotion, so you're making your move? Haha!"

  Zhu Xiaohua burst out laughing: "Old Three, once you arrive in Chudu, head straight to the Jiamai Hotel, Big Two is here!"

  "What's up, Second Brother is here?" Zhou Yi was suddenly delighted. Da Er (Second Brother) was the second of their five brothers, a tough guy. Since graduating from college, he went on to graduate school, while the other four scattered like birds and beasts. In recent years, they only kept in touch with Zhu Xiao Hua more often, but hadn't seen each other for several years, occasionally exchanging phone calls that didn't last long before they all got busy again. To be honest, Zhou Yi really missed him.

  "Is Da Er still working as a journalist?"

  Zhou Yi was very excited. After graduating, except for Lao Wu who became a ship doctor on an ocean liner and himself who just mixed up as a doctor in a nursing home, Zhu Xiaohua and others were all considered to be not doing their proper job. D'Er was working as a journalist in Fen Nan City, while Lao Si had gone abroad, but it's unknown how he's been getting by, and basically lost contact with the brothers.

  "Not done yet."

  A loud and clear voice came over the phone: "Old Three, you'd better come quickly, I've come to Chu Du specifically to find you this time."

  "Looking for me specifically?"

  Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment and couldn't think of what Da Er wanted him to do.

  "It's a long story, let's talk about it when we meet. Haha, I didn't expect you to be so low-key..."

  Deeply hidden and not revealed? The sophomore's meaningful words left Zhou Yi even more bewildered: "Let's go, what a coincidence! I'm also heading to Jia Mei. Wait for me, or we'll lose each other!"

  He didn't bother to think much either. This time in sophomore year, it was clear that nothing could be done without entering the Three Treasures Hall. When they met, they naturally understood each other. Thinking too much is called self-disturbance by mediocrities.

  PS: Thanks for the rewards from 'Fang Tianyu' and 'Qi Jian' brothers, you guys are awesome! Wishing you a lifetime of good fortune :)