As he returned to the shore, the sun had completely vanished from the sky, with only a faint dim light scattering from the horizon.
Li Haochen disembarked, lifted the outboard motor from the inflatable boat, and dragged it towards the top of the beach. The fine, soft sand offered little resistance, making it easy to pull the boat up.
There was a faucet on the shore, with water flowing from the mountains. No one would scold you for using it carelessly, though occasionally passersby from the city, with their backpacks, would spout some self-righteous nonsense about wasting water resources.
Wasting? Not using it would be the real waste. It all flowed down from the mountain; could you stop it from flowing?
It wasn't that the villagers didn't understand the value of things. On the contrary, they understood it better than most city dwellers. But water, if you don't use it, it flows away anyway. Or you could build a reservoir to store it. For a village of just a few hundred people, building a reservoir costing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions?
That was a joke. Things without profit wouldn't happen.
He turned on the faucet, and the 4-inch water pipe immediately shot out a powerful stream, spraying far. The water pressure was quite good. Li Haochen covered half of the pipe opening with his thumb, and the water jet immediately became swift and thin, like a pressurized water gun. It splashed against the inflatable boat, quickly washing away the mud.
After washing his face, he tilted the inflatable boat against the shore, tied it with a rope, and headed home.
"Uncle Jun?"
Returning home and putting his things down, he picked up a few catties of sea snails and walked over to Li Dehai's house, which wasn't far. As soon as he entered, he saw Li Dejun also sitting on a wooden chair. The two of them chatted while smoking water pipes, which was the way rural men communicated.
"Haochen, you only got a few catties of sea snails after a day out at sea?"
"Uh, I just went to revisit, hehe!"
Li Haochen took the sea snails into the kitchen. As he was preparing to clean them, Li Dejun called him out. "Don't bother with those sea snails for now. Come here, I have something to tell you."
"Oh, is there news?" Li Haochen picked up a cloth from the stove, wiped his hands, and walked out. He poured a cup of tea and gulped it down.
"There's already an approval for the road. We have to wait for the transportation bureau to conduct a survey to determine the exact route. But the town mayor mentioned to me today that the municipal mayor wants to meet with you. Let me know when you're available so I can reply."
"Uh, the municipal mayor wants to see me?"
Li Haochen thought for a moment and agreed. After all, being the head of the city, it wouldn't hurt to be acquainted. Perhaps it could even lead to some special privileges, and Li Family Village could develop even better.
"Uncle Jun, we're going to the city tomorrow. We should be able to go in the afternoon."
"Alright, I'll go back and reply to my superiors shortly. Also, regarding those wasteland areas, I've discussed it with the village chiefs from nearby villages. There are no problems, but I feel they're too scattered and difficult to manage."
"Don't worry, Uncle Jun. I've already thought of it. We'll establish a cooperative, for mutual benefit and common development."
"Cooperative? That sounds feasible, but how exactly would it operate?"
"The village will provide the land, as well as the planting and management. I'll be responsible for the seedlings, and I can also sign guaranteed purchase contracts with each village."
Hearing about the guaranteed purchase, Li Dejun's eyes lit up. This boosted his confidence. He took a deep puff of his water pipe and hurried away.
Li Haochen knew where he was going. Watching his receding back, he couldn't help but sigh, "Dedicated to serving the people, bravely shouldering the responsibility on the path to poverty alleviation!"
"Yes, Dejun is like a tireless old yellow ox, constantly leading our village on the path of poverty alleviation. He's worked so hard for so many years."
Li Dehai also felt deeply moved and sighed.
"Dinner's ready."
"Let's go eat. I'll have a couple of drinks with my uncle, hahaha!"
"..."
The next morning, after waking up and washing up, Li Haochen went to his uncle's house for breakfast and then rode his electric scooter to the city.
It was indeed great to ride an electric scooter. Apart from not being very fast, everything else was good. The beautiful scenery along the way was fully visible, and there was no fear of traffic jams.
About ten minutes later, Li Haochen stopped outside a shopping mall. He went inside and came out a few minutes later with a small suitcase.
The suitcase wasn't large, just like the ones flight attendants often pulled, but it was perfect for carrying those thousand or so Yuan Shitou coins.
He opened the decorative pedals on both sides, placed the suitcase on the footboard, opened his phone's map, stepped on the pedals, and sped away like a gust of wind.
"Dearly Departed Navigation will guide you continuously..."
Following the navigation map's instructions, half an hour later, he arrived near the antique shop Zhang Zilin had mentioned. After parking his electric scooter, he looked around and, pulling the suitcase, walked into a nearby dark and narrow alley.
Inside the alley, tangled electrical wires blocked most of the light, making it very dim. A few stray cats lazily curled up, scratching their whiskers.
A few minutes later, Li Haochen reappeared inside the alley. His sudden arrival startled the stray cats, who arched their backs, bared their teeth, and their fur stood on end.
Li Haochen smiled, dragging the suitcase out. However, the suitcase felt heavy.
A girl, about four or five years old, upstairs in the alley, looked curiously at the dense electrical wires below. She ran over to her mother, who was cooking, and said, "Mom, I saw a superhero."
The woman dotingly rubbed the girl's forehead. "Is the superhero as strong as Mom?"
The girl tilted her little head and looked at her mother very seriously. After a few seconds, she smiled confidently and shouted, "Yes, Mom is the strongest!"
Coming out of the alley, Li Haochen walked along a peaceful path, dragging the heavy little suitcase. After a few turns, he entered a quaint courtyard. Under the eaves, a piece of black wood was carved with golden seal script that read "Boguzhai."
Just as he was about to go inside, a woman walked out. It was Zhang Zilin, wearing a form-fitting qipao that accentuated her feminine curves.
"Does it look good?"
"It looks good."
"Flattery. Come in."
Zhang Zilin gave him a charmingly coquettish roll of her eyes and turned to go inside. Li Haochen, following her, couldn't help but glance at her slender waist below, which was very alluring.
Entering, the interior exuded an ancient charm. The display shelves were filled with all sorts of porcelain, giving a sense of timelessness.
"Haochen, let me introduce you. This is Li Ye, Grandpa Li."
"Hello, Elder Li," Li Haochen said respectfully. In fact, he had already recognized the elder who had helped him appraise the pearls.
"Oh, hello, young friend."
After some pleasantries, they got straight to the point. Upon seeing Li Haochen's suitcase full of Yuan Shitou coins, Li Ye and Zhang Zilin gasped. "There must be at least a thousand of them, right?"
Li Ye adjusted his glasses, suppressed his inner shock, put on gloves, and picked up one coin to examine.
He worked quickly. In less than a minute, he placed it aside and picked up another. After examining seven or eight coins, a look of joy flashed across his face. "Young friend, and the quantity is so large, it will take at least two days to appraise all of them."
"Alright, I'll come back in two days then. Thank you for your trouble, Elder."
"Aren't you afraid I'll steal some or replace them with inferior ones?"
"I trust her!"