Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn

"Boss Qing, look at you, haven’t we been keeping in touch over the phone? Come on, have a smoke and calm down. Brother-in-law, bring over the bag of hairy crabs I asked you to carry here," Huang Tengchong’s ability to make his way in the world of business had its reasons: thick-skinned and sweet-talking, when it came to acting submissive, he was utterly convincing.

Seeing the bag of hairy crabs still dripping with water, and Huang Tengchong’s uncle visiting the patient at the bedside, the man known as Boss Qing’s mood seemed to improve. He waved his hand, indicating for someone to move the hairy crabs aside, "Boss Huang, do you think a few pounds of hairy crabs will shut me up? I have a hundred or so guys relying on me for a living. Now that Heizi has ended up like this, how do you expect me to explain to my men?"

"It’s all just a taste of something new, don’t be shy with my brother-in-law, Boss Qing. To tell you the truth, these few pounds of hairy crabs are no ordinary ones; they were bred in Mingkun Lake. As you know, in Beijing, there’s only that one Mingkun Lake, where the crabs are from Emperor’s royal garden. Those who eat them are practically becoming part of the royal family," the manager of the Milk Feed Factory who had finished checking on the patient, came back and relayed to Boss Qing the details about the hairy crabs that Huang Tengchong just told him.

"Mingkun Lake? The one in Yi Garden? Boss Huang, your connections are sky-high! That’s a national protected water source; you can breed hairy crabs there?" After hearing this, Boss Qing could not underestimate Huang Tengchong anymore. This guy was obviously not an ordinary aquaculture boss. He surely had some connections with higher-ups.

"Isn’t that the case? You know, my missus is quite demanding too. As long as there’s fresh water, we can breed hairy crabs. This year, our Huang Family will launch the Mingkun Lake hairy crabs, and next year, I plan to breed some in the city moat. By then, the prices will start in the thousands," the hairy crabs from the Miyun Small Reservoir had already been fished out, totaling about five thousand kilograms.

By the time Huang Tengchong and his party left the Miyun Small Reservoir, several trucks of hairy crabs had already been sent to Mingkun Lake. Huang Tengchong spent two hundred thousand to "lease" the lake area there, with a good-sounding reason enough to dignify it.

The aquatic plants in Mingkun Lake grew rapidly, so the garden followed the "advice of a foreign expert" and employed a green and pollution-free biological method to control aquatic plants, suggesting the introduction of hairy crabs into the lake, as they like to feed on the roots of aquatic plants.

This was the idea given to him by Aisha over an international call.

Since he couldn’t pass off as authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, there was no need to demean himself. Instead, he changed the crabs’ origin story. The crabs from Mingkun Lake—the buyers were after all interested in the reputation and novelty. Seeing Boss Qing’s reaction, it seemed the idea would be effective.

"Absolutely, working for Boss Huang guarantees no mistakes. But Boss Huang, regarding this incident, you should give some explanation. Otherwise, my brothers are going to starve," with Heizi going on a trip and ending up a cripple, his men dared not take on any work without clearing things up first.

"How about this, Boss Qing, I won’t pursue the last business that didn’t succeed. I’ll take responsibility for the treatment of the man, even finding an international expert if necessary, to get him cured. But I, Huang Tengchong, am not a fool to be taken advantage of. That matter should have been settled and those youngsters at the farm must have secretly sabotaged your brother’s work. Are you just going to let them get away with it?" The brother-in-law had been whispering in Huang Tengchong’s ear, saying that the bee sting was unusual, even more potent than the sting from the most venomous hornet in their village. Huang Tengchong realized he was out of options.

Hiring thugs was easy, dismissing them was hard. If it comes to that, he’ll just have to ask Miss Aisha one more time. With such poisonous bee stings, an expert like Miss Aisha should be quite interested indeed.

"Don’t worry, I have a plan. Tonight I am going to make another trip to that farmhouse. If I don’t clean up the place and the people involved, I, Boss Qing, won’t be able to hold my head up in Beijing anymore," vowed Boss Qing, slapping his thigh and calling out the names of seven or eight of his brothers, making preparation to head out to the farmhouse in Yanqing again later that evening.

Late into the night, past eleven, Xiao Xian sat alone on the balcony of Zeng’s villa, her gaze fixed in the direction of Yanqing to the northwest.

After speaking on the phone with Zhuo Feng earlier in the day, Xiao Xian was initially determined to decline Xuerou’s invitation and cancel the trip to Chengde to escape the summer heat. However, after sharing her thoughts, Zhang Yiyi insisted that if Xiao Xian wasn’t going, she wouldn’t go either.

Zeng Xuerou deduced she was worried about the couple, Zhuo Feng and his wife in Yanqing, and in a private conversation advised her that the flight tickets to Chengde had already been booked, and besides, the real target of those people was Xiao Xian herself. Were she to return to Yanqing, it would only result in even tighter surveillance. Nobody knew what had happened to Zhuo Feng and his wife, and it might easily lead to further misunderstandings. Xuerou reassured Xiao Xian to relax.

After weighing her options, Xiao Xian made a compromise. She decided to follow Zeng Xuerou to Chengde. Cancelling the trip without a good reason might cause her aunt to be displeased. As for the farmhouse in Yanqing, she had already sent Little White Jiao back there. In the tens of days during her absence, with Little White Jiao watching over things, nothing significant should go wrong. Today, the vehicle that followed them did so from a considerable distance and didn’t dare to get too close, presumably out of caution.

As she was mulling over these things, a streak of white light flashed before her eyes and an icy touch suddenly appeared on her hand – Little White Jiao had once again transformed into the shape of a bracelet.

Xiao Xian, puzzled, asked, "Why did you come back? Didn’t I tell you to stay in Yanqing? Don’t tell me you think Beijing is too hot and you want to join us to escape the heat."

"Your accusation is unjust, young master. I am a hard-working and loyal Jiao. Following your orders, I hid in the river in front of the farmhouse. But before it was even ten o’clock, I saw several people sneakily parking their cars in front of the farmhouse, preparing to climb over the wire fence," Little White Jiao said, shaking his head. He hadn’t decided yet in what majestic form he would reveal himself to those cowardly mortals when a swarm of bees suddenly buzzed out.

"Bees? Which bees, the ones from the farmhouse?" The greening around Yanqing was not bad, and there were many pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. However, based on Little White Jiao’s description, this swarm of bees didn’t seem quite right. Normally, bees wouldn’t attack humans unless they were provoked.

"To be exact, it was a hive of bees led by a hornet. Oh, never mind that for now, young master, your friend from the biker gang has arrived," Little White Jiao fell silent, earnestly resuming his disguise as the dragon pattern bracelet.

**

Thank you to "Happy Without Guilt 288" and "hhjxry13" for their fan tickets.

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