Lu Fan returned to the hotel after practicing driving for half a day. He felt he had learned most of what Liu Mei had to teach and further lessons would be a waste of time. He had many things to attend to.
Moreover, he had a persistent, albeit vague, feeling of being watched, which made him uneasy.
After informing Bai Xuemei, she immediately had the driver take Lu Fan back.
Upon arriving home, Lu Fan was pleasantly surprised to find that the back mountain had been enclosed with iron fences. The chicken coop, pigsty, and rabbit hutch were all built, less than a hundred meters from the greenhouse. Furthermore, the hillside was planted with large-leafed ash trees.
Wang Laowai had already released the pheasants and rabbits onto the hillside to be raised, with only the wild boars and nine piglets remaining in the yard.
"Heh heh! Liu Ruyan really gets things done. So much work completed in just two days," Lu Fan chuckled, heading towards the greenhouse.
The greenhouse was bustling with activity. Liu Ruyan, Wang Yan, Taohua, and several village women were busy picking wild vegetables inside.
"Lu Fan! Come quickly and see how these wild vegetables are growing!" Liu Ruyan called out excitedly upon seeing Lu Fan enter.
"Ruyan! Why are there so many wild vegetables?" Lu Fan asked in surprise.
"I saw there was a lot of vacant space, so I bought some wild vegetable seeds and scattered them around. I didn't expect them to grow this tall in just two days. They're tender and juicy, and taste delicious," Liu Ruyan said enthusiastically.
"Haha! No matter how tender and juicy the wild vegetables are, they can't compare to our beautiful village head! Don't you agree, Lu Fan?" Aunt Wang said, winking and nudging him.
"Hahaha..." the surrounding villagers laughed along.
Liu Ruyan's face instantly flushed red, and she cast a seductive glance at Lu Fan.
Only Wang Yan and Taohua didn't laugh. Instead, they rolled their eyes at Aunt Wang. So what if they were tender and juicy? I'm still full of charm! Did I say anything? Humph!
"Aunt Wang! Village Head Liu is from the big city. In the past, she would have been a pampered young lady. Naturally, she would be more radiant than us who brave the wind and rain, searching through mountain gullies for food.
By the way, you must not let Village Head Liu do any heavy labor! If you tire her out and she leaves, we'll never find such a good and beautiful village head again," Lu Fan said with a smile as he walked over.
"Hahaha! It's you, kid, who can't bear to part with the beautiful Village Head!" Aunt Wang laughed heartily.
"Humph!"
"Humph!"
Wang Yan and Taohua simultaneously rolled their eyes. Why was this old woman speaking such truths? So annoying! As the saying goes, good things should stay within the family. Lu Fan is so outstanding, shouldn't he choose from the village women? Besides, we're not bad ourselves. It's just a matter of breaking the ice! Tsk!
"Xiao Fan! Don't talk nonsense!" Liu Ruyan's face turned red all the way to her neck. She quickly gave Lu Fan a look and then said, "By the way, our application for the Bufan Wild Vegetable Planting Base has been approved, and we've registered the Bufan trademark!
These wild vegetables are our village's first batch of Bufan brand products. I'll take some samples for food safety testing later! As long as there are no issues, our Bufan brand can be promoted." Liu Ruyan said with a little excitement.
"That's great! This is absolutely fantastic news! Everyone working for me today will have their wages doubled!" Lu Fan was instantly happy. They were about to have their own brand. With a flick of his wrist, a bundle of hundred-yuan bills appeared in his hand, which he tossed directly to Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan didn't stand on ceremony. She slapped the money in her hand a couple of times and stuffed it into her pocket. Everyone saw the money, and their motivation to work immediately surged as if they had been injected with adrenaline. This was a way to boost work enthusiasm.
With a flash, a group of people's eyes lit up. If they weren't mistaken, those were hundred-yuan bills! A bundle should be ten thousand! Holy cow! Villagers in the mountains, working hard for a year, might not even save up such a bundle.
"Also, does anyone know how to cook snake meat? We'll all eat snake meat tonight!" Lu Fan's hand flicked again, and a large piece of python meat magically appeared. Lu Fan had put the python meat into his storage ring last time and almost forgot about it. He was so happy today, why not take it out for everyone to try! Mountain people often ate such things anyway.
"I do, I do...! This stuff is delicious when cooked well!" Taohua was the first to rush forward, taking the python meat.
"Xiao Fan! You're too kind! Not only are you young and knowledgeable, but you're also capable of earning money and generous with it. Xiao Fan, my daughter Erya is already fifteen, and she's beautiful and radiant. If you can wait a few years... it's okay if you can't wait. If you like her, I'll have her move into your house tomorrow. At worst, we can get the marriage certificate in a few years. What do you think!" Aunt Wang suddenly exclaimed.
"Pfft..." Liu Ruyan burst out laughing.
"Hahaha!" The surrounding villagers burst into laughter.
Lu Fan stumbled, almost falling.
"Aunt Wang! Is your Erya considered beautiful and radiant? She's fifteen and still wiping her nose on her sleeve! That's not radiance, it's a bit sticky!" Taohua immediately retorted, unhappy. Lu Fan was her little master, and the fortune teller had said their destinies were intertwined. Why was everyone else trying to snatch him? So, she pouted and said.
"Tsk! Regardless, my Erya is still a young maiden, which is better than a young widow or second-hand goods!" Aunt Wang immediately retorted unyieldingly.
"Who are you calling second-hand goods?" Taohua immediately jumped up, pointing at Aunt Wang and shouting.
"Oh, right, you're not second-hand goods, you're simply unwanted. Tsk! Useless junk!" Aunt Wang immediately retorted, refusing to back down.
"Aunt Wang... what are you saying? You... you're the one who's useless...! Your whole family is useless..." Taohua immediately jumped up and started cursing.
"Stop... stop, stop! Why are you two fighting already? From now on, anyone who argues, fights, or slacks off will be fired!" Lu Fan's head felt like it was about to explode. What was going on? Having too many of these women was truly troublesome!
Lu Fan's shout made Aunt Wang and Taohua fall silent. If nothing else, they had to consider the money. If they were really unable to work for Lu Fan in the future, it would affect their income significantly.
Working for Lu Fan these past few days was not tiring, with laughter and jokes every day, and they received thirty yuan each evening. That's nine hundred yuan a month earned right at their doorstep. Their husbands, toiling hard outside, couldn't even bring back two thousand yuan a month. Moreover, like today, when Xiao Fan was happy, he could double their wages, making it sixty yuan! Everyone wanted to get their hands on it!
"Sister Taohua! You go back and cook. There are many people today, so buy more food.
Xiao Fan! I have some things to discuss, let's go talk outside!" Seeing that the two had stopped arguing, Liu Ruyan took two bills from a stack of money and handed them to Taohua, then said to Lu Fan.
Taohua immediately took the money and walked away, humming triumphantly! See? Lu Fan trusts me so much that he lets me handle the finances.
Lu Fan followed Liu Ruyan out of the greenhouse. However, as soon as he stepped out, Lu Fan's ears twitched, and he frowned, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
"Xiao Fan! You don't have much of that spiritual liquid left. If we want to develop wild vegetable cultivation, the demand might be very high!" Liu Ruyan didn't know where Lu Fan got his spiritual liquid from, but she knew he had a way to get it. However, with pine mushrooms, immortal peaches, and now wild vegetables, that half bottle of spiritual liquid wouldn't last long.
"It's alright! I'll go into the mountains now and try to get more back!" Lu Fan nodded.
"This stuff comes from the mountains? Then you need to be very careful, the mountains are very dangerous," Liu Ruyan said worriedly. Everyone knew how dangerous the mountains were.
"Don't worry! Nothing will happen! I rely on these things to get rich, so I must get more back!" Lu Fan said, raising his voice.
Liu Ruyan said nothing and returned to the greenhouse. She was very confident in Lu Fan, even more so than Wang Cheng.
Lu Fan turned and headed towards the depths of the mountain.
Not long after Lu Fan left, a figure emerged from behind a large tree. It was the thin-fingered Soul Seizing Cang Weng.
Although Cang Weng was an old man with white hair, his agility was in no way inferior to that of a young man. With a flash, he chased after Lu Fan.
Lu Fan ran straight towards the tomb site of the Luoyan Sect. Cang Weng followed him at a distance. Lu Fan had just said he relied on something to get rich. Hmph! He wanted to see what treasure this kid was using to get rich! Hmph! His trip was not in vain this time!