Translator: Lonelytree
“Bang!”
Grandpa Qian put down his chopsticks heavily, giving everyone a fright.
Zeng Yulian, in particular, looked a little uneasy when she saw Grandpa Qian’s expression.
Grandpa Qian’s sharp eyes stared at his daughter-in-law, Zeng Yulian, and he said sternly, “Uncultured swine? So what if someone comes from the countryside? Do they steal from you? Why are you so prejudiced? Zeng Yulian, let me tell you. I was born in a farming family too. I’m also a country bumpkin. Does this mean you look down on me?”
Zeng Yulian’s face turned pale. She opened her mouth and called out, “Dad…”
Grandpa Qian continued, “You happened to be born in a better family. You were born in the city. But didn’t your parents come from the countryside? So, tell me, what right do you have to look down on the country people? The Xiao siblings relied on their own abilities to get into good universities. What about you? Tell me, what university did you go to?”
Qian Guoxin looked at his wife’s ugly expression and frowned. He called out, “Dad, that’s enough!”
Grandpa Qian glanced at him and harrumphed.
Qian Yifan didn’t feel very good when he saw his mother being scolded. He said, “Mom, you should stop having such biased prejudice. Besides, there’s no nobility or lowliness in making friends. Xiao Lingyu is my friend. I don’t feel good if you keep slandering my friend like this.”
Father Qian scolded his son sternly, “Qian Yifan, shut up!” The brat was the reason this all started. He continued, “Your mother may have gone too far sometimes, but she only cares about you. You can’t talk to her like this.”
Qian Yifan lowered his head and said in a low voice, “Dad, I understand.”
Qian Yifan’s father looked at his wife and said, “Yulian, the child has grown up and has his own social circle. As long as his friends aren’t criminals, you shouldn’t mind his life that much.”
Zeng Yulian felt wronged and said, “I… I’m just afraid that my son will be deceived by sinister people.” Obviously, she was talking about Xiao Lingyu. Zeng Yulian was annoyed because she was scolded by her family. She felt wronged.
Qian Yifan couldn’t help but defend himself again and said helplessly, “Mom, don’t need to worry about me. To tell you the truth, even if I like her, she might not like me. So you don’t need to worry.”
Zeng Yulian still felt uncomfortable, but she tactfully stopped talking. Otherwise, she would be reprimanded by her father-in-law.
Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Father Qian thought for a moment and said, “I’m not too sure about the mountain contract because I’m not in charge of it. However, I heard that it was a higher-up who rejected the request.”
Qian Yifan and Grandfather Qian looked at each other in confusion.
Qian Yifan said, “Dad, why don’t you find out what’s going on? At least I can give my friend some answers.”
Father Qian nodded and said, “Okay, okay!”
With his position, it wasn’t too difficult for him to find out what was going on.
While the men were talking, Zeng Yulian didn’t say anything else. However, she remembered this grievance she suffered due to Xiao Lingyu.
She was reprimanded by her father-in-law because of that country girl, Xiao Lingyu.
After Qian Yifan returned to his room, he gave Gu Ziye a call and told him the news that he had gotten from his father.
He said, “Don’t tell Xiao Lingyu yet. My father will ask around.”
Gu Ziye nodded. “Okay!”
…
Xiao Lingyu waited for two days before she finally got the answer from Gu Ziye.
“Wait. You mean to say someone has taken an interest in Taoyuan Village and wants to develop it into a tourist destination?” Xiao Lingyu’s parents and the village chief were obviously surprised to hear about this.
Xiao Lingyu nodded and said, “That’s right. My friend told me so. My friend said that this matter is still confidential. I reckon that someone will come here about this soon.”
Father Xiao frowned and said, “No one was interested in our village in the past. But the moment we wanted to contract the mountains, this happened?”
The village chief hadn’t heard any news in the past two days. Therefore, the news that someone wanted to turn Taoyuan Village into a tourist destination was a huge surprise.
This made him feel very complicated. He asked worriedly, “Lingyu, are they turning this place into a tourist hotspot? How are they going to do it? Why haven’t I heard any news?”
Xiao Lingyu said, “Village chief, father, if someone really wants to develop tourism here, I’m afraid that all the villagers will have to move to make way for tourist attractions.”
“Move?” Village chief Xiao and Xiao Lingyu’s parents were shocked. “Where would we move to?” They had settled in Taoyuan Village for life. They had taken root here.
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, “I don’t know how the development company will arrange for us. However, if they really want us to move, they will definitely give us a certain amount of compensation.”
After Xiao Lingyu said this, everyone present became silent.
A moment later, Mother Xiao asked again, “Yu ‘Er, does this mean that we can’t contract these mountains anymore?”
Xiao Lingyu smiled bitterly and said, “The person interested in Taoyuan Village is a big and powerful company. They can easily fund their projects. How can we fight with them? They have the money to make a better offer than we do.”
She had some connections in the county, but compared to those big, rich, and powerful companies, her connections were not enough.
Father Xiao was shocked and asked, “Then what should we do now? Give up just like that?”
Xiao Lingyu said, “Give up? How is that possible?”
She thought for a moment and said, “Since people want to turn Taoyuan Village into a tourist spot and stop my contract request, I’ll have to contract the mountains from other villages.”
“But, what about the move? Where are we supposed to move to? And what kind of compensation will we get?” Mother Xiao was very upset.
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, “I don’t know. Let’s wait. After a while, someone will definitely come and talk about this. We’ll know when the time comes. We’ll have to put the mountain contracts on the backburner for now.” Speaking up to this point, she reminded the village chief, “Village Chief, I heard about this from a friend. Please keep this matter a secret for the time being. Don’t make everyone in the village panic.”
The village chief nodded and said, “Yes, I know what to do.”
If it was really like what Xiao Lingyu said, with big companies wanting to turn Taoyuan Village into some kind of tourist attraction, the locals would be forcibly moved away. They needed the land to build attractions and amenities.
However, the villagers had lived here for generations. Where would they move to?
