From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Originally Xianhong Farm wasn’t on Wang Jianming’s inspection itinerary. According to the prearranged schedule, after Secretary Wang finished inspecting Da Heng Theme Park, he was supposed to go to the town government for a meeting to discuss existing problems. But after his visit to Da Heng, when he passed by Xianhong Farm, he specifically asked what this place was.

Qin Zhengyang reported that this was Xianhong Farm on Weishan Island, founded single‑handedly by the locally famous farmer‑entrepreneur Tong Guangsheng.

Wang Jianming said he wanted to take a look at the farm. Qin Zhengyang took out his phone, ready to call Wang Jinwu to tell him that they were coming for an inspection so he could get prepared for reception. Before the construction of the national‑level tourist resort area on Weishan Island, Xianhong Farm could be called the island’s "face," the place that was shown to any higher‑ups who came to inspect. But now, as one large enterprise and investor after another has moved in, Xianhong Farm has also lost its former halo.

According to the future plan, the land of Xianhong Farm is also within the scope of acquisition. It’s foreseeable that the farm’s land will keep shrinking. Tong Guangsheng is quite helpless about this—he can’t just hoard the land and not develop it, can he? So recently he’s already started acquiring land in Ancient Spring Town, shifting his focus. Judging from the current situation, if he can keep one third of the existing land in the future, that’ll already be pretty good.

Of course, the government hasn’t shortchanged him. They’ll pay him a sizable compensation.

Ever since his son came back, Tong Guangsheng as a person has become much more mellow. In the past, someone taking his land was basically like taking his life. But now he’s long since learned to let go. Money is something outside the body; having the whole family reunited is the greatest happiness. Tong Guangsheng could have retired in glory long ago. The reason he hasn’t given up Xianhong Farm is also because there are quite a few people on the farm who need to support families. If he suddenly walked away, these people would lose their jobs.

But Wang Jianming stopped Qin Zhengyang. He said to Xu Chunliang, "Xiaoxu, come with me and we’ll go take a look, just the two of us. No need to alert the farm."

Everyone around heard this. What did Secretary Wang mean by that? Was he planning a kind of undercover visit? And he specifically emphasized having Xu Chunliang go along. The one whose heart was most anxious was Jiang Zhiming. It’s over, Secretary Wang and Xu Chunliang are way too close; there’s an eight‑or‑nine‑out‑of‑ten chance he himself is going to be out.

Xu Chunliang nodded, followed Secretary Wang’s wish, and had the driver drop them off at the farm gate. The two of them walked in together.

Xu Chunliang had no idea what medicine Wang Jianming was selling in his gourd. Anyway, the man was the leader; whatever he wanted to do, Xu could only accompany him.

Wang Jianming was holding up an umbrella now. Looking ahead, he said, "Xianhong Farm is quite large."

Xu Chunliang said, "Weishan Island used to be poor. Most locals lived off fishing; very few people farmed. Xianhong Farm was the first to lead the common folks into large‑scale planting and large‑scale breeding, and it played a very important role in driving the local economy."

Wang Jianming laughed. "You’re quite familiar with Xianhong Farm, are you?"

Xu Chunliang nodded. "Very familiar."

Wang Jianming said, "The founder here is called Tong Guangsheng, right?"

Xu Chunliang said, "So you’ve heard of him too."

Wang Jianming said, "A big hero, isn’t he? Is he around?"

Xu Chunliang said, "He is!" He lifted his head and saw two children playing soccer on the grass by the lake in the distance—one was Tong Nianzu, the other was Huang Zichun. This child was originally Huang Si Po’s granddaughter, later adopted by the Tong Family. Now both kids are on vacation, and they’ve been staying at Xianhong Farm these days.

Tong Guangsheng was sitting in an electric cart, watching the two children, and shouted, "Stop playing, get in the cart, the rain’s getting heavier." These days, his biggest interest is playing with the kids.

Xu Chunliang raised his voice. "Uncle Tong!"

Tong Guangsheng narrowed his eyes and looked over toward the voice. Of course he recognized Xu Chunliang, but he didn’t know the one next to Xu. Tong drove the cart over to meet them. "Chunliang, weren’t you on reception duty today?"

Xu Chunliang said, "We just happened to be passing by, so I came to see you first."

Tong Guangsheng drove up in front of them and called out, "Get in, the rain’s getting heavier."

Wang Jianming and Xu Chunliang got into the cart. This electric cart was open on all sides. Because Wang Jianming had given prior instructions, Xu didn’t spell out his identity, only said that Wang Jianming was his friend.

Tong Guangsheng felt that Wang Jianming looked somewhat familiar, but for the moment he couldn’t recall where he’d seen him before. He drove the cart over and coaxed the two little ones onto it as well.

The two children were very close to Xu Chunliang. One on each side grabbed his hands and chattered away nonstop.

Wang Jianming didn’t put on any official airs at all. Sitting beside Tong Guangsheng, he said, "President Tong, your farm is no small operation."

Tong Guangsheng laughed. "When I first came here it was all barren hills and wilderness. Transport to Weishan Island was inconvenient, logistics costs were high—who would come invest here? Ah, the world changes too fast. I never thought this place, where not even birds wanted to shit back then, would actually become a hot spot for investment."

Wang Jianming laughed. "What do you think of Weishan Island’s future, President Tong?"

Tong Guangsheng said, "To tell you the truth, as someone born and raised here, I both look forward to Weishan Island’s rapid development and fear that very development."

Wang Jianming said, "You hope your hometown gets better and better, yet you’re worried that development will bring too great a change to this island and it will lose its original character."

Tong Guangsheng glanced at Wang Jianming. "Xiaowang, your powers of understanding are pretty good."

Wang Jianming laughed. "Thank you for the compliment, President Tong."

Sitting in the back, Xu Chunliang was somewhat amused. If Tong Guangsheng knew that the man sitting beside him was the new Party Secretary, he probably wouldn’t be calling him that.

Tong Guangsheng said, "Don’t ’President Tong’ this and ’President Tong’ that. You’re Chunliang’s friend, so just like him, call me Uncle Tong."

Xu Chunliang coughed; this felt a bit inappropriate.

Wang Jianming didn’t feel anything was wrong: "Uncle Tong, I heard from Chunliang that you used to be a battle hero?"

Xu Chunliang had never told him that; most likely Wang Jianming had done his own homework beforehand.

Tong Guangsheng said, "That’s nothing. Nobody is born to be a hero. Defending our country is our duty; fighting bravely and killing the enemy on the battlefield is what we’re supposed to do. Heroes, heh... the ones who survived ended up being called heroes, the ones who died all became martyrs. The real heroes are my comrades who sacrificed their lives."

The electric cart drove straight to the villa entrance. Tong Guangsheng told the two kids to go bathe and change first, then had the guests sit down and personally brewed a pot of Pu’er for them.

Tasting a sip of Pu’er tea, Wang Jianming said, "Uncle Tong, you have a tea factory in Dian Nan?"

Tong Guangsheng said, "Taking over that tea factory was more of a chance encounter." He looked at Wang Jianming and said, "Xiaowang, where are you from?"

Wang Jianming said, "My hometown is Xiangxi."

Tong Guangsheng nodded. "Xiangxi, huh."

"You’ve been there?"

Tong Guangsheng nodded and said, "I’ve been there once."

"Do you have friends there?"

Tong Guangsheng said, "My political commissar was from there, his surname was also Wang. He died in the Zhe Yin Mountain campaign. Respecting his family’s wishes, we brought his ashes back to his hometown for burial. Back then it was me and another comrade who delivered them."

Xu Chunliang’s heart stirred. From the start he had felt it was a bit odd that Wang Jianming came alone to Xianhong Farm. Listening to his conversation with Tong Guangsheng, he suddenly remembered that Wang Jianming’s father, Wang Zhengyi, had died in the Zhe Yin Mountain campaign. Could the commissar in Tong Guangsheng’s mouth be him?

Wang Jianming took from his pocket a brass whistle made from a shell casing and gently placed it in front of Tong Guangsheng.

Seeing the whistle, Tong Guangsheng’s lips tightened involuntarily. He reached out, picked up the whistle, and looked at the inscription on it. His lips began to tremble. He raised his head to look at Wang Jianming. No wonder the moment he first saw him he felt he looked familiar—too similar, he looked too much like his commissar. Tong Guangsheng said, "You’re Guangming?"

Wang Jianming’s childhood name was Guangming; few people besides family knew that. Wang Jianming nodded and said, "Uncle Tong, it’s me!"

Tong Guangsheng reached out with both hands and gripped Wang Jianming’s shoulders with such force that Wang Jianming actually felt a bit of pain. Tong Guangsheng said excitedly, "Good kid, where have you been all these years? Do you know, I later went to Xiangxi to look for you. I heard you’d gone to the Capital City, and after that there was never any news of you."

Wang Jianming said, "Uncle Tong, not long after my dad died, my mom also passed away. I went to my grandpa’s place in the Capital City. It was only in the last couple of years that I managed to get word of you."

Looking at Wang Jianming, Tong Guangsheng’s eyes were reddening. "Child, seeing you grown into a man, I’m so happy. Come on, tell me—where have you been all these years? What work are you doing now? Are you married? Do you have kids?"

Xu Chunliang sighed inwardly at how things came full circle; he hadn’t expected this layer of connection. Wang Jianming had hidden it well enough—saying he’d come to Xianhong Farm for an inspection, but in fact he was here to visit his Uncle Tong. No wonder he didn’t let anyone else come along; he didn’t want others to know about his relationship with Tong Guangsheng.

Having him come along showed that he trusted him.

Xu Chunliang didn’t disturb the two as they caught up; he went off to coax the two kids to play so they wouldn’t come over and interrupt.

Wang Jianming no longer hid anything and told Tong Guangsheng about his experiences over the years and his current job.

When Tong Guangsheng heard that he had become the top leader of Dongzhou City, he was even more gratified. If the commissar knew his son had turned out so accomplished, he could Rest In Peace.

Meeting the son of an old comrade, Tong Guangsheng was extremely stirred. He immediately had preparations made for lunch; he wanted to give Wang Jianming a proper reception.

Wang Jianming told Tong Guangsheng he couldn’t stay for lunch today. His mission on Weishan Island was to conduct an inspection, and there were still many comrades waiting for him. It had already been decided they would eat a working meal in town at noon.

Knowing that his status was no longer what it once was, Tong Guangsheng didn’t insist. He asked Wang Jianming to find time soon to bring his family over as guests.

Wang Jianming readily agreed.

Once they were almost done talking, Xu Chunliang drove the farm’s Range Rover and took Wang Jianming back to town.

After they left the farm, the rain didn’t show any sign of easing; instead it came down even harder. Wang Jianming said, "Xiaoxu, before we came over I still wasn’t sure that Tong Guangsheng was my Uncle Tong, so I didn’t tell you in advance."

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "That whistle was made for you by him?"