Chapter 64: Chapter 66 Can't Afford to Eat
Chapter Sixty-Six
When Long Xiaoshan arrived at the entrance to the village, he saw a Santana parked there.
The people from the Santana had already got out, apart from Shen Yuerong, there were three people, one woman and two men.
The young woman was squatting there, her face pale, with a pile of vomit on the ground.
Long Xiaoshan approached and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Xiaoshan, the road here is really tough." Shen Yuerong's complexion wasn't looking very good either.
"Car sickness, this road is difficult indeed."
Long Xiaoshan looked around and went straight to the side of the field, he plucked a weed, crushed it, and a milky white substance oozed out of the stem like milk, held it to Shen Yuerong's nose, "Smell this, you'll feel better soon."
Shen Yuerong leaned over and took a sniff, a wave of freshness rushed into her chest, and indeed, the uncomfortable feeling lessened.
"Let little Song smell it too, little Song is a university graduate newly assigned from the county, she had a rough time."
Long Xiaoshan hurried over, came to the young female graduate, and passed the medicinal herb to her.
Little Song was dubious, Long Xiaoshan's attire was that of a farmer, his shoes were covered in mud, he was obviously a country bumpkin.
However, since the director spoke, it wasn't good for her to refuse, she said, "I'll do it myself then."
She took the mashed wild grass, sniffed it half-heartedly, intending to discard it. But suddenly, the nausea in her chest lightened, she paused, took a few more sniffs, the discomfort completely vanished, and she could even stand up.
"It's really effective, what kind of grass is this?" little Song asked in amazement.
"It's just a wild grass, it doesn't have a famous name, called grandma grass, can stop vomiting," Long Xiaoshan said.
Grandma grass.
Song Xi's face flushed with embarrassment, cursing in her mind.
These villagers really are crude.
"Xiaoshan is a little genius doctor, don't underestimate him," Shen Yuerong praised.
"What genius doctor, Director Shen, don't tease me," Long Xiaoshan was a clever man, he didn't act overly familiar with Shen Yuerong, "Let's go, I'll take you to see my farm."
The group followed Long Xiaoshan's lead and headed into the village.
The backwardness and dilapidation of Longyang Village greatly shocked Shen Yuerong.
Lotus Township was already poor, but before coming, she hadn't imagined that Lotus Township could be so rundown; however, compared to Longyang Village, Lotus Township seemed prosperous.
Here, there were basically no brick houses, all of them were those mud houses from decades ago, many even topped with thatched roofs.
The roads were also completely dirt.
Little Song doubted, "Can this place really attract tens of millions in investment?"
Actually, this was a doubt shared by the others too.
Just that out of courtesy, they didn't ask outright. Little Song had just graduated and was still green in matters of socializing, unable to keep her words to herself.
Long Xiaoshan responded, "The conditions are harsh now, but our village has a good environment, and the soil is special. I've studied it and frankly, other places don't compare to here. Look, here's the farm."
They had now come to the floodplain at the foot of Xishan.
Seeing the vibrant abundance of vegetables and fruits on the mountain brightened their eyes.
Shen Yuerong nodded repeatedly; regardless of anything else, the scale of the farm was indeed not small. There were several hundred acres on the mountain, plus the ponds below, at a glance, it was quite spectacular.
"Here they come."
At that moment, a large group of villagers had gathered on the stone beach below.
They were led by the couple Long Dashan.
As Shen Yuerong and the others approached, the crowd stirred.
"Prepare, go!" He Xiangyue shouted.
"Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!"
"Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!"
The villagers were there, shouting and clapping their hands.
Shen Yuerong heard this and let out a snicker, "Long Xiaoshan, what are you making a fuss about?"
Long Xiaoshan was also at a loss for words. He had asked his parents to prepare a bit, but he hadn't expected them to go this far. He hurried over and shouted, "Folks, stop shouting, Director Shen is here."
When Shen Yuerong walked over, it dazzled all the villagers on sight.
Shen Yuerong was dressed quite formally that day, a black blouse with gray suit pants and flat shoes below, with not a hint of sexiness, yet even so, her beauty and temperament were something the country folks had never seen before.
"My goodness, that's our director. Why do I feel like she's a big star?"
"Hello, everyone," Shen Yuerong greeted warmly and walked over to shake hands with Couple Long Dashan first.
"Di...Director!" Both were so nervous they didn't know how to react. They vigorously wiped their hands on their clothing before daring to shake hands with Shen Yuerong.
"Uncle, auntie, Xiaoshan is quite a talent. You've raised a good son," Shen Yuerong complimented.
"Not at all, not at all," they said while their eyes were already smiling.
It felt like an honor for the whole family.
Shen Yuerong exchanged a few words and then shook hands with each of the villagers.
Only then did she, led by Long Xiaoshan, walk into the farm.
Long Xiaoshan was giving a tour, and he guided Shen Yuerong and her entourage all around the farm. They saw the exceptionally luscious vegetables, the big prawns in the ponds, and the Yellow River carps and Songjiang bass.
Even someone who was not a farmer could see that the farm was impressive.
Inside, there were dozens of vegetables, more than ten kinds of fruits, and not only that, there were Yellow River carps and Songjiang bass, which are considered prized freshwater fish. He claimed they were thriving here too.
Now, that's no small feat.
Descending from the mountain and approaching the kitchen, everyone smelled a rich aroma.
It made one's mouth water uncontrollably.
"I've asked someone to prepare some refreshments, please have some," Long Xiaoshan said.
Having walked around the farm and climbed up and down, indeed they were all tired.
Without refusal, they sat down to a table full of dishes in a simple house – seven or eight kinds of vegetables and a plate of pickled fish, with Chun Tao bustling in the kitchen.
"These are all produced by my own farm. Please, have a taste," Long Xiaoshan said.
Everyone was already starving just from the smell and quickly started using their chopsticks.
After just one bite, everyone paused, and then, without a word, they started eating vigorously.
Even Shen Yuerong ate heartily, feeling that the dishes here were more delicious than those cooked by five-star chefs in the Capital City.
Ah!
Song Xi suddenly exclaimed.
All eyes turned towards her.
Song Xi said, embarrassed, "I feel like the flavor here is so similar to the dishes at the Lily Hotel in H County; I've been there once."
Long Xiaoshan smiled and said, "You really have a discerning palate. Indeed, the vegetables there are supplied by me."
"Really?" Song Xi exclaimed, "The food there is so expensive. A plate of green vegetables costs sixty-eight yuan!"
What!
The other two local officials who came along almost dropped their chopsticks in shock.
They were locals and hadn't dined at Lily Hotel. An older official said, "Sixty-eight yuan for a plate of greens, that's daylight robbery."
His salary was just over a thousand per month; he couldn't even afford greens. Enjoy reading at m,v lem|p,yr
"Brother Li, don't be so skeptical. The business there is too good. Last time I went with my parents, we had to wait for ages before we got a table, and greens are nothing. The priciest thing there is the big prawns – 1,888 yuan each, and they are limited in supply. Even if you have the money you might not get to eat them. I heard only the wealthiest in the county can afford to buy them." Song Xi's family was quite well-off, with her parents being county officials, so she was informed about these things.
"A shrimp for 1,888 yuan, is it made of gold?" lamented another official.
While they were talking, Chun Tao brought over a steaming red plate of huge prawns.