VIP Volume Chapter 120: The Old Village Chief

"Pfft!" Ye Xiaoxuan nearly choked to death on a mouthful of porridge. Blushing, he jumped up and ran toward the kitchen. "Go back and wait for me; I'll be there as soon as I change my clothes!"

Yuan Caiyi was quite persistent. "I'll just wait right here in the courtyard!"

The village chief's house was a far cry from the branch secretary's. The courtyard wasn't as large, the renovations weren't as refined, and the house itself wasn't as grand. Of course, when it came to houses, Chen Jietang couldn't be compared to anyone now; his two-story building had been reduced to broken walls and ruins, making even the old shepherd's dilapidated shack look elegant by comparison.

Chen Jietang had quieted down lately, living in the old family estate on the west side of the village with his wife and son, brazenly imposing on his parents whom he had ignored for years. Having burned his family fortune to the ground in a single fire, it would be difficult for him to make a comeback.

So it is said, one cannot survive what one brings upon oneself. After greedily taking so much from the villagers, everything ultimately returned to dust. In this regard, one should learn from Yuan Desheng: a good man his entire life, he never harbored grudges against anyone.

Yuan Desheng sat at a stone table in the courtyard sipping tea. Seeing Ye Xiaoxuan approach, he smiled and gestured to the seat opposite him. "Come, Little San, keep your Uncle Yuan company. Girl, change the pot and make some fresh tea! Use that bag in the bamboo box."

Yuan Caiyi acknowledged him, though her expression was a bit strange. The tea in that bamboo box was her father's prized collection; even when Chen Jietang visited, he wasn't deemed worthy to drink it. Why did her father hold this kid, Ye Xiaoxuan, in such high regard today?

Ye Xiaoxuan didn't stand on ceremony. He plopped down onto the stone stool opposite Yuan Desheng and got straight to the point. "Uncle Yuan, you asked me here today to discuss building the highway, right?"

Yuan Desheng laughed. "Young people have such drive—thinking of something and immediately acting on it. That's excellent! Actually, I just wanted to chat with you, not only about the road but about other matters as well."

Yuan Caiyi walked over carrying a teapot, placed a cup in front of Ye Xiaoxuan, and poured for both of them.

Yuan Desheng looked at Ye Xiaoxuan and said, "Little San, you look at our village's economy—it's not exactly wealthy, but it's not destitute either. Aside from farming and orchards, there aren't many ways to earn money. If we want to develop, what can we rely on?"

Yuan Caiyi set the teapot down and sat on a nearby stone stool to listen. Yuan Desheng frowned and said, "A girl like you, what are you listening for? Go back inside!"

Yuan Caiyi glared at him. "Dad, if you say that again, I won't come back next month!" Yuan Desheng doted on his daughter and immediately shut his mouth, not daring to scold her further.

Ye Xiaoxuan laughed and said to Yuan Desheng, "Uncle Yuan, if you really want good ideas for making money, asking your daughter would be far more useful than asking me. She's the only real college student in our village right now!"

Yuan Caiyi blushed. "I'm not the only one; your sister Jiaran is too!" Ye Xiaoxuan smiled. "It's different. My sister went to a teachers' college directly from high school—that's a junior college, and she came back before she even graduated. You're a true, full-fledged university student!"

Yuan Desheng waved his hand. "Women have long hair and short insight; asking them is no better than keeping it to myself!"

Seeing Yuan Caiyi pout as if she were about to explode, Yuan Desheng quickly chuckled and said to Ye Xiaoxuan, "Little San, I really do want to do something for the village, but I've racked my brain and can't think of anything. Our village lacks so many resources! We’re lagging far behind the outside world."

Yuan Caiyi huffed, "Exactly! What century is this? The whole village has one computer, and it's at the school. It takes forever to get online; it's painfully slow!"

Ye Xiaoxuan looked at Yuan Desheng. "Who says we don't have resources? What about the land? We have the largest amount of arable land in the entire township!"

Yuan Caiyi looked at him and smiled. "I told my dad to give you more land to start a garden, and he said it would be a waste to ruin good farmland by planting fruit trees! Then I suggested letting Old Cucumber lease the land to grow vegetables, but he said he couldn't do something so dishonest as using public land to fatten up one person!"

Ye Xiaoxuan roared with laughter, looking at Yuan Desheng. "Uncle Yuan, let’s keep this between us. Listen to what I have to say, and if it sounds harsh, feel free to scold me, but don't take it to heart!"

Yuan Desheng glared at him. "I know what you want to say before you even open your mouth! You want to call me an old fossil, don't you? But do you know which official position is the hardest to hold?"

Ye Xiaoxuan shook his head. "I don't know. I've never been an official in my life. I was a class monitor once in the first grade, and they removed me in less than two days!"

"Pfft!" Yuan Caiyi laughed out loud from the side and shot Ye Xiaoxuan a look. "You deserved it! The teacher came in and you were supposed to call for everyone to stand, but you, the monitor, were asleep on your desk. If they didn't fire you, who would they fire?"

Yuan Desheng took out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Ye Xiaoxuan. Ye Xiaoxuan waved it off and, from nowhere, produced a piece of grass root to chew on. It was strange; he had never been able to learn how to smoke.

Yuan Desheng lit his own cigarette, took a deep drag, and said, "The hardest job is being a village official. You're at the bottom of the ladder and it's a thankless task! If you achieve something, the credit goes to those above; if you don't, you're the one who gets blamed. Our village is the largest contributor of public grain in the township, and I don't dare touch a single inch of that land!"

Ye Xiaoxuan nodded, somewhat understanding Yuan Desheng's concerns. His eyes darted around, and he stood up to reach for the teapot, leaning over as he said, "Actually, if we increase our tax revenue, we could offset the grain quota! That requires a process, so let's not talk about that for now. Even without touching the land, we have inexhaustible resources at our disposal!"

Even Yuan Caiyi was curious now. She leaned toward Ye Xiaoxuan and asked, "What resources?" Ye Xiaoxuan glanced at her, and suddenly, he couldn't look away.

It was a hot day, and being at home, she was dressed casually. The girl was wearing a white shirt with a white bandeau underneath, which kept things modest and convenient. As she leaned forward, her neckline dipped low. Ye Xiaoxuan, looking down from his standing position, caught an eyeful of the infinite beauty within.

"Cough, cough!" Ye Xiaoxuan cleared his throat twice, filled the cups for himself and Yuan Desheng, and remained standing, tapping his forehead as if deep in thought.

In reality, his eyes kept darting downward, wishing he could peer right into Yuan Caiyi's clothes. "The inexhaustible resource we have is water! Great Immortal Lake is right on the west side of the village; we could absolutely establish a fish farm!"

Yuan Caiyi curled her lip. "Is that the great idea? I thought of that long ago, but it's not practical! The Great Immortal Lake is too turbulent at night; whatever you try to raise just gets blown away!"

Ye Xiaoxuan craned his neck, staring at her chest, and replied distractedly, "Leave that to me. I guarantee it will work..."