Chapter 2

In the early morning, just as the sky began to brighten, Wang Haiming got up. After a night's rest, Wang Haiming was no longer as angry as he was yesterday; he had simply remembered the grudge, and now he believed that being unable to do anything now did not mean he would be unable to do anything in the future.

"Mom, let's move back to the old house."

"Alright," his mother's expression was not too good, but she nodded and went back to cook.

When Grandpa was alive, Wang Haiming's father, as the eldest son, naturally inherited the old house. However, Grandpa did not neglect the other two sons and bought them two large plots of land. Uncle Three sold his plot and moved to the city, while Uncle Two lived on the land he bought. Wang Haiming's new home in the village was on a plot of land he bought himself. Back then, when Grandpa was labeled as a landlord, his father was too afraid to live in the old house, so he bought a new place.

"Mom, whose flowers are these? They're almost dead." Wang Haiming looked at the withered branches and shook his head helplessly. It was probably Little Sister's doing.

"Who else but your mischievous little sister?" Indeed, it was as he thought.

"Liángzi and Xiǎoyǎ will be back this afternoon. Let them help you, and we'll move in."

Water it a bit; I wonder if it can still survive. By the way, why not try watering it with some space water? In the drawer at home, Wang Haiming found a few packets of vegetable seeds. He might as well try planting some vegetables.

For simplicity and speed, Wang Haiming directly scattered the seeds, since the space was large.

"Is the old village chief at home?" "Oh, isn't this Haiming? Why aren't you working in the city? What are you doing back home?" Wang Haiming briefly explained the situation, and the old village chief sighed.

Originally, the Wang family was the only surname in Wang Village, and everyone got along well. Since Li Yihong came and opened a small cement factory, there has been pollution and frequent damage to crops. The villagers dare to be angry but not to speak, and I, the old man, can't do anything about it. Li Yihong doesn't even respect me; his brother is the deputy mayor. Oh, I'm getting senile, I haven't even asked you what you need.

"Uncle Village Chief, I want to sell our plot of land and house and move back to the old house. Can you ask if anyone in the village wants to buy it?"

"You want to move back?" The old village chief was a bit surprised. "That's quite far from the village, and it's not very convenient. Well, if you can't fight them, you can at least avoid them." The old village chief thought Wang Haiming was afraid of the Li family and insisted on moving back.

"Alright, I'll ask around and let you know if there's any news." "Thank you, Uncle. I'll be going now."

Sure enough, it was magical. Wang Haiming found that after about an hour, the chrysanthemums that were almost dead showed signs of life, and the withered branches were turning green. Xiao Jin was right; with the jade pendant, growing vegetables and raising fish was no problem.

Finding the plot of land, Wang Haiming discovered that the place left by his ancestors was quite large. Behind the old house was a large open area with some fruit trees sparsely planted. Further back was a large pond, about 200 meters long and 50 meters wide, but years of silt from the mountains had buried half of it.

Behind the pond were nine large hills, tightly connected in a circle, with a small hill in the middle, like a ball. When Wang Haiming was a child, he and his friends called it Nine Dragon Mountain, and the middle one was a big ball. According to legend, long ago, nine dragons came down to play with the ball, and when the Jade Emperor found out, he punished them by fixing them under the nine mountains.

Actually, calling them mountains is not accurate; the nine hills were only 300 to 400 meters high, more like hills. But the villagers called them Nine Dragon Mountain.

The old house had many rooms, but some were in disrepair. However, it was more than enough for Wang Haiming's family. With the help of his younger brother and sister, they managed to move by nightfall. After hearing that their mother had been bullied, the two were furious and wanted to confront Li Yihong, but Wang Haiming stopped them.

That night, Wang Haiming couldn't sleep, thinking about things. Since he had the jade pendant and the space, he might as well return home and grow vegetables and fruit trees. With this advantage, he would never worry about food and clothing, and it would be better than his current life. After so many years in the city, Wang Haiming was also a bit tired of it.

In the early morning, a thin white mist, like a light veil, was exceptionally beautiful. Wang Haiming got up at dawn, picked up his tools, and headed to the backyard. Since he had decided to do it, he needed to plan well. The front of the house was large, but Wang Haiming didn't plan to grow vegetables or fruit trees there; he would only plant some flowers for decoration. The ground in front of the house was a thick layer of gravel, unsuitable for growing vegetables. The backyard was large, about 200 acres, but the soil wasn't very good for growing vegetables or grains. However, with the space water, Wang Haiming believed these wouldn't be problems. He also planned to dig out the silt from the large pond to raise fish.

The most important thing now was to move the fruit trees in the backyard to the hills. Wang Haiming decided to create a large fruit base. Thinking was one thing, but doing it was another. Seeing his mother cooking, Wang Haiming quietly added some morning dew to the pot. "Mom, the rice you cooked today is so good, I'm stuffed." Wang Xiaoya hadn't finished eating yet but was already complaining.

"Mom, your cooking has improved." Wang Liang had two large bowls and was still not satisfied. "I can't move, I'm so full!"

Spring is the beginning of the year, and morning is the beginning of the day. Early in the morning, Wang Haiming started working. After some thought, he took out his phone and called.

"Hey, Xiaoming, where have you been? You didn't even call to take a leave, and the manager is furious. You know, Old Zhao has always disliked you, and your unauthorized absence will give him a chance to make trouble. You better be careful." "Thanks for your concern, Brother Zhang. It's fine; I don't plan to work there anymore."

"What? You're quitting? Do you know how good our hotel is? The salary and benefits are great. Think carefully."

"Alright, Brother Zhang, don't worry. I've thought it through. You can write a resignation letter for me and submit it. I'll be back in two days." After chatting a bit more with Zhang Wei, he hung up.

"Mom, why are you here? I told you to rest more." "It's fine; I feel much better these days." Despite the objections of the three, Mother Liu Mei joined the group digging up the fruit trees. Seeing his mother with gray hair and his younger brother and sister in washed-out clothes, Wang Haiming vowed to make sure his family lived a happy life.

"Mom, I won't go back to work in the city. I plan to develop things at home." Wang Haiming talked to his mother while working. "You earn over 3,000 a month, why quit? In Wang Village, if you get a good job outside, you usually don't come back, and if you're capable, you might even move your whole family out."

Mother Liu Mei was immediately angry when she heard her son wanted to come back, but thinking of his stubborn nature, she reluctantly agreed. However, she added that if there wasn't significant progress in a year, he would have to go back to the city.

Wang Haiming nodded and promised that he knew an expert from the Agricultural Research Institute who could sell new varieties of vegetables at high prices. He didn't mention the space, as it was too unbelievable and could cause unnecessary trouble. With the jade pendant and the space, he believed he could see results in half a year, not just a year.

Seeing the sun already high in the sky, the four of them had not made much progress. Wang Haiming realized that to achieve his plan, he needed help, and he would have to pay for it, as no one would work for free.

"Haiming, Haiming." Wang Haiming saw that it was the old village chief. He thought, "Could it be that there's already a result?" "Old Village Chief, why are you here?" He brought a chair for Wang Gui and let his mother and the others rest.

"The matter you entrusted me with has a result. You know the carpenter, his son works outside and has a girlfriend he plans to bring home to get married. Their old house is small and messy, and they can't build a new one in time, so I told them about your house. I came to ask how much you want for it."

Wang Haiming thought for a moment. The house was about four to five years old, but it was still in good condition since only his mother lived there, and it had a small courtyard. "Since we're neighbors, I won't raise the price. Let's say 100,000 yuan." "Good, good." Wang Gui had already discussed with the carpenter and was willing to pay up to 130,000 yuan. He was surprised that Wang Haiming didn't take advantage of the situation and left hurriedly, probably to tell the carpenter the good news.

"Oh, by the way," Wang Gui turned back after a few steps and said, "Haiming, don't call me Village Chief anymore; I'm not the Village Chief anymore." Then he walked away with a helpless look.

"Brother, I know this. Do you want to know why Uncle Wang Gui is not the Village Chief anymore?" Wang Xiaoya skipped over and said. It turned out that when Li Yihong first came, he started a cement factory. Wang Gui thought it was a good sign and recommended Li Yihong for the next election. However, Li Yihong was not the kind of person who would lead the villagers to prosperity; he often bullied them and became a tyrant. Because of his connections, no one dared to challenge him. Wang Gui felt guilty and thought he had let everyone down.

Wang Haiming looked at himself in the mirror and thought, "I'm still quite handsome." In the afternoon, he decided to go to the city to resign and settle his salary, as he needed the money. He had 100,000 yuan in his account, originally intended for a down payment on a house, but now it was useless since his girlfriend was gone. However, Wang Haiming didn't feel sad; what was meant to be his would eventually be his. Looking at the mountains and rivers, Wang Haiming realized he preferred his current life to the fast-paced, high-stress life in the city, where he had to squeeze onto crowded buses, live in dirty and cheap rental apartments, and eat unhealthy fast food.

"Hey, my acne is gone." Due to the greasy kitchen, Wang Haiming had developed a row of acne, but now it was all gone, and his skin was quite smooth. What surprised and embarrassed him the most was that his pants were a bit short. He measured with a tape measure and was shocked to find he was 1.78 meters tall, having grown 5 cm from his original 1.73 meters. He was happy, though, to see he could still grow at his age.

"Xiaoming, are you really quitting?" As soon as he returned to the hotel, Zhang Tie came over, asking many questions, showing his concern. Wang Haiming was genuinely grateful to Zhang Tie, who had taken care of him when he first joined the hotel and taught him many things, becoming both a mentor and a friend.

Before Wang Haiming could answer, a loud voice shouted, "Wang Haiming, you bastard, you finally came back. I'm telling you, you're fired. Take your salary and get out." He threw an envelope and kicked Wang Haiming out of the kitchen. "Brother Zhang, stay in touch." Wang Haiming didn't care and quickly left.

In the past, Wang Haiming would have retorted, but now he felt it wasn't worth it. If a dog bites you, do you bite the dog back? Wang Haiming knew the reason was Zhao Yan. Manager Zhao Gao, Zhao Yan's uncle, had always tried to break up their relationship. He had finally introduced his niece to the son of the Lianxing Glass Company's CEO and was afraid Wang Haiming would cause trouble.

"Are you just going to stand there? Get back to work, or do you want to lose your salary?" Another round of shouting came from the kitchen. "Hey, isn't that Brother Haiming? I heard you quit. Is it because of Zhao Yan?" At the hotel front desk, Wang Haiming met Li Na, who used to joke with him. She was studying accounting but somehow ended up working at the hotel. Her cheerful and outgoing personality made her popular among most of the staff.

"Not at all. Do I look like someone who is heartbroken? The line of people who like me could stretch to New Street." "You're just boasting. You don't have to pay taxes, but tell me, where are you going to work?"

"Me?" Wang Haiming was taken aback and smiled. "Well, I'm going home to farm." "I'll believe it when I see it." "Really, I plan to start a leisure farm in my hometown, a kind of self-employment." "Hehe, I didn't see that coming. Brother Haiming wants to be a boss. How about I be your boss lady?" "Sure, come with me now," Wang Haiming said, pretending to grab Li Na's white hand.

"Pervert, trying to take advantage of me." Li Na blushed and whispered. "Wang Haiming, stop." Just as Wang Haiming was about to leave, a clear voice called out. "You came, why didn't you come to see me?" Zhao Yan, looking angry, was upset about the jokes between Wang Haiming and Li Na.

"Why are you quitting? Do you know how many people are eager to work in our hotel? You worked so hard to get in. I've already talked to my uncle, and he agrees. If you stay for the year, you'll be promoted to head chef." "No need. I've already resigned. I'm going home to farm. I believe I can make a name for myself even in the countryside. Since we've broken up, it's better not to contact each other."

As Wang Haiming spoke, he exuded a strong confidence, a carefree and unyielding spirit that made Zhao Yan a bit dazed. She remembered why she had liked him in the first place—his confidence, strength, and willingness to fight. But by the time she came to her senses, Wang Haiming was already gone.

"Sister Nana, who was that just now? His clothes aren't great, but he's so handsome and has such good manners." Another front desk worker, just back from the restroom, started gossiping. "Oh, that's the Haiming you've been dreaming about. Are you smitten? He hasn't gone far; go after him." "You pervert, don't make fun of me. But when did he become so handsome?" Ignoring Zhao Yan's dazed look and the two front desk workers' chatter, Wang Haiming went to the city's largest fruit tree nursery and bought a bag of sticky corn seeds, as well as seeds for vegetables like rape and eggplant.