Lu Fan returned home with two fish to find two tables of people already seated in the yard. They were all village women who worked for him.
Both tables were laden with sumptuous dishes, accompanied by beer and liquor. Taohua and Wang Yan were helping Zhao Rongrong serve the dishes. Upon seeing Lu Fan return with two fish, Taohua smiled and came over to take them.
"Little Fan! The dishes are all ready. And these two fish of yours are too small; they won't be enough for so many people. I'll pack them away for you, and we can have them as a family tomorrow," Taohua said, giving Lu Fan a flirtatious wink.
"Alright! Whatever you say," Lu Fan replied with a helpless sigh, wondering when he had become part of Taohua's family.
His eyes swept through the crowd, and he spotted Liu Ruyan and Shen Xinyi chatting animatedly in a corner, their faces beaming. However, as Lu Fan approached, Shen Xinyi's pretty face instantly flushed, and she averted her gaze unnaturally.
"Lu Fan! Taohua made wild mountain vegetables today, and I tasted them. They were exceptionally delicious, so I asked Xinyi to come over too," Liu Ruyan said, unaware that Shen Xinyi had already seen Lu Fan upon her arrival.
"Sister Xinyi! Have you ridden my motorcycle since I bought it? Would you like to take it for a spin?" Lu Fan asked with a slight smile, knowing Shen Xinyi was still dwelling on their earlier encounter.
"No, but..." Shen Xinyi's gaze suddenly fell upon Second Senior Sister in the pigsty. It had been quite fun riding Second Senior Sister last time!
"Forget it! There are too many people today. You should give up! Come, let's go eat," Liu Ruyan, who had understood Shen Xinyi's intention to ride the pig again, quickly pulled Shen Xinyi towards the dining tables. A young woman in her twenties riding a pig would surely be ridiculed.
Both tables were full. Mountain folk were not particular about formalities; they simply started eating. Those who enjoyed drinking began to do so. Taohua sat beside Lu Changfu again, drinking liquor with Lu Changfu and Wang Laowai. Among the large group, only Lu Changfu and Wang Laowai were men, and both enjoyed drinking.
"Wow! These dishes are truly delicious! I wish I could eat like this every day!" Shen Xinyi exclaimed with delight after tasting the stir-fried fiddlehead fern with eggs.
"Miss Xinyi! If you like them, you're welcome to come often. I'll cook whatever you want," Zhao Rongrong said, beaming from ear to ear. Was this girl hinting at something with Xiao Fan?
"Thank you, Auntie! It's already been too much trouble for you. I've already come for meals several times," Shen Xinyi replied, her face flushing.
"It's nothing, nothing! You're always welcome. Hehe! Please eat, and have more if you like them," Zhao Rongrong said, serving dishes to Shen Xinyi and Liu Ruyan.
"Lu Fan! I think these wild mountain vegetables can be cultivated on a large scale, even in the gardens of every household. Since they are so delicious, they will surely be in high demand. The villagers will all be able to earn money," Liu Ruyan suddenly suggested.
"That's a great idea. I'll be the first to sign up," Wang Yan said, her eyes lighting up. Liu Ruyan was right; these delicious vegetables would sell well, and it would surely be profitable.
"Village Chief! I'll plant them too!" people at another table chimed in, having tasted the wild mountain vegetables. They had never eaten such delicious wild vegetables in all their years.
"I'll plant them too..."
"I'm signing up too..."
Those nearby immediately echoed their sentiments.
Liu Ruyan couldn't help but look at Lu Fan. Others might not know, but she did. Such deliciousness was surely related to the spiritual liquid. But could Lu Fan provide so much spiritual liquid?
"This... you can arrange it as you see fit!" Lu Fan nodded at Liu Ruyan.
The spirit gathering bottle needed to absorb jade to produce spiritual liquid, making it a money-burning machine. But it was also a money-making machine. He could always buy some jade.
Although Fan Xue'er had jewelry worth two hundred million yuan, it was left to her by Old Master Fan, and he couldn't touch it. Moreover, those were finished products, too expensive, and might not yield equivalent returns.
However, he could buy the raw jade that Old Master Fan had given to Lin Fang. It had produced half a bottle of spiritual liquid last time.
"Lu Fan! What are you thinking about?" Liu Ruyan asked urgently when she saw Lu Fan lost in thought.
"Nothing! Let's eat!" Lu Fan replied, shaking his head.
The meal was very enjoyable. After distributing wages to everyone, the women left happily.
Taohua, Lu Changfu, and Wang Laowai were drinking heartily, and no one disturbed them. Lu Fan escorted Liu Ruyan and Shen Xinyi to the village branch.
Wang Yan walked with them to the entrance of the village branch, sighed inwardly, and then headed towards her own home. With two beautiful women around this boy, it seemed she truly had no chance.
Seeing Liu Ruyan and Shen Xinyi enter the dormitory of the village branch, Lu Fan turned and ran towards Wang Yan's peach orchard.
Fan Xue'er had sent a message stating that another three hundred catties had been pre-ordered today, and with the sales from the hotel, selling five hundred catties tomorrow would be no problem. Therefore, he needed the yield from two more peach trees.
Upon arriving at the peach orchard, as Lu Fan was about to find two peach trees to water with spiritual liquid, he noticed two figures wandering among the trees.
"Holy cow... someone's here this late!" Lu Fan ducked behind a peach tree.
"Damn it! These peaches are clearly unripe. Where did Lu Fan get the peaches he's selling?" a voice came from within the orchard.
"Does that kid have another peach orchard somewhere else?" another voice inquired.
"Impossible! I've inquired thoroughly. Lu Fan only contracted Wang Yan, that little widow's, peach orchard."
Lu Fan smirked coldly. He recognized the two speakers as Xu Sanhuai and Fu Daniu from Eleven Ravine Village. With these two here, Li Erlengzi should also be around. Hmph! Three hooligans were released by Shen Xinyi? Their appearance was definitely not a good sign.
"Damn it! Forget about it. If we can't find ripe peaches, we'll just destroy this peach orchard. Then we'll have something to say when that old guy asks," Xu Sanhuai suddenly declared.
"Take money to resolve troubles. If we can't find ripe ones, we'll destroy the unripe ones," Fu Daniu agreed.
"Erlengzi! Haven't you finished yet? Hurry up!" Xu Sanhuai suddenly shouted.
"Okay... okay! Coming right up!" Li Erlengzi's voice came from within the peach orchard, and then he emerged, pulling up his pants.
"Sanhuai! Why are you calling so urgently? I was only halfway through my business," Li Erlengzi shouted as he ran over.
"Destroy all the peach trees here. Knock off the peaches and break the branches," Xu Sanhuai immediately instructed.
"So many trees, how long will this take us?" Li Erlengzi asked in surprise, looking at the orchard.
"Don't worry about it, just smash them! Smash as much as you can," Xu Sanhuai said, then kicked a branch of a nearby peach tree.
*Bang...* With a kick to the branch, a rustling sound ensued, and several unripe peaches fell to the ground.
"Five hundred yuan per peach, fifty thousand yuan per tree. If you can afford to pay, you can smash these peach trees as much as you like."
Suddenly, a voice startled the three men. They turned to see Lu Fan emerge from behind a peach tree.
"Holy cow... you're not sleeping in the middle of the night, are you? Trying to scare people!" Li Erlengzi flinched and retreated a step. This kid was ruthless; he still remembered being beaten by him until he could barely breathe.
Lu Fan snorted, looked at the seven peaches on the ground, and turned to Xu Sanhuai. "Seven peaches, three thousand five hundred. Pay up!"
"You... why don't you just rob people... no, you are robbing people!" Xu Sanhuai trembled all over, his face pale. Why did he have to encounter this jinx again?
"Hmph! I'm not just going to rob; I also want to beat you up!" As soon as Lu Fan finished speaking, he began slapping them.
Immediately, the peach orchard was filled with screams like those of pigs being slaughtered.