Chapter 77

When Zheng Dana said this, Wang Xiaoqiang no longer insisted and chatted with Zheng Dana for a while. Zheng Dana had long heard from Zheng Dazui about Wang Xiaoqiang's land contract and chicken farm, and couldn't help but praise Wang Xiaoqiang, commending his courage and initiative at such a young age. He also instructed Wang Xiaoqiang that if he needed any help in the future, he should feel free to ask, and promised that as his elder brother, he would do his best to help him.

Then, Wang Xiaoqiang went with Zheng Shuang to fill out the enrollment forms.

After completing the enrollment procedures, Zheng Shuang handed Wang Xiaoqiang his student ID and a set of driving textbooks.

Zheng Dana then ordered Zheng Shuang to drive Wang Xiaoqiang home and instructed her to pick him up and drop him off whenever he came to the driving school.

Zheng Shuang, who had already intended to do so, readily agreed.

Wang Xiaoqiang felt a bit uncomfortable, as he hadn't paid a cent for tuition and was now being driven around by the boss of the driving school. On the way home, he said to Zheng Shuang, "Zheng Shuang, you don't need to drive me around, it's too much trouble..."

"That won't do, my father told me to, I can't disobey..." Zheng Shuang replied straightforwardly, "Uncle Xiaoqiang, I don't find it troublesome, why should you?"

The term "Uncle" made Wang Xiaoqiang feel awkward, as Zheng Shuang was clearly several years older than him. He found it hard to adapt to being called "Uncle."

"Cough, cough... Zheng Shuang, please don't call me Uncle, it feels strange..." Wang Xiaoqiang said, coughing awkwardly.

"My father told me to, I can't not call you that..." Zheng Shuang said seriously, "Besides, if I don't call you Uncle, what should I call you?"

"You can call me Uncle in front of your father, but privately, just call me Xiaoqiang," Wang Xiaoqiang said after a moment's thought.

"Okay, Uncle..." Zheng Shuang's adaptability was strong, and she quickly called him "Uncle" again, but then quickly corrected herself, "Uh, Xiaoqiang, you're quite thoughtful, I didn't expect that from you..."

Zheng Shuang winked at Wang Xiaoqiang while driving, "No wonder girls like you so much..."

"Hey, don't be disrespectful, joking with your Uncle..." Wang Xiaoqiang tried to assert his seniority when Zheng Shuang joked with him.

"I'm not joking, I'm being serious. When I was helping you with the enrollment, I noticed Feng Xiaoyu secretly writing down your phone number from your application form..."

"So what?" Wang Xiaoqiang said nonchalantly, but the image of Feng Xiaoyu with her long hair and red dress, looking pure and sweet, came to mind.

"Tsk, that's nothing..." Zheng Shuang rolled her eyes, "If she had asked you directly, it wouldn't be a big deal, but she secretly wrote it down, clearly planning to call you later... Uncle, just wait for her to invite you, hehe~~~"

Zheng Shuang found it natural and comfortable to call Wang Xiaoqiang "Uncle."

"Ah, you girls love to gossip, you're no exception," Wang Xiaoqiang sighed, shaking his head.

Zheng Shuang drove Wang Xiaoqiang all the way to the entrance of the old village committee building in Sanmiao Village before leaving. Wang Xiaoqiang watched her car drive away and then returned to the old village committee courtyard. By then, it was already evening, and the setting sun painted the ground with a golden hue.

Liu Juyi, his sister-in-law, was feeding the chicks, her beautiful figure bustling about the courtyard, humming a tune. The pastoral scene was heartwarming.

Wang Xiaoqiang stood at the gate, feeling the warmth, when Dahei and Xiahei, the dogs, spotted him and barked happily to greet him.

Hearing the commotion, Liu Juyi turned around and saw Wang Xiaoqiang. She smiled at him, "You're back?"

Wang Xiaoqiang nodded and smiled back.

"How's the price of the mountain eggs?"

"Twenty yuan per pound, about what I expected. If sold individually, each egg is five yuan."

"That's a good price," Liu Juyi nodded in surprise, then pointed at the chicks and asked curiously, "Xiaoqiang, how did you hatch these chicks? I didn't see you buy an incubator..."

"Sister-in-law, don't ask about that, I'm still puzzled myself. They all hatched overnight..." Wang Xiaoqiang felt uneasy when asked and evaded the question, then seriously instructed, "But Sister-in-law, it's best not to spread this around, it's too strange and might not be good for our chicken farm."

Liu Juyi also found it strange and looked a bit shocked. She nodded seriously, "Don't worry, Xiaoqiang, I won't say anything."

Wang Xiaoqiang nodded, knowing that Liu Juyi was a thoughtful person and would keep it to herself.

"Sister-in-law, you take care of things here, I need to go back and cook," Liu Juyi said after feeding the chicks and seeing the evening sky, then left the courtyard.

Watching Liu Juyi's slender figure walk away, Wang Xiaoqiang sighed in relief, thinking how fortunate he was to have such a sister-in-law—diligent, virtuous, and thoughtful. If it were someone else, they might have spread the news.

Without a brooding hen or an incubator, hundreds of chicks hatched in just a few days. This unusual event would seem strange to anyone, and Wang Xiaoqiang felt a bit uneasy about it. He decided to temporarily stop hatching more chicks, as the old village committee courtyard was rarely visited, but there was always a chance someone might notice. He planned to wait until the chicken farm was built on Mantou Mountain and all the chickens were moved there before resuming hatching.

Thinking about this, Wang Xiaoqiang was glad he had chosen the remote location of Mantou Mountain for the chicken farm, otherwise, his strange behavior might have been discovered.

Compared to the rapid hatching of the chicks, the growth of the yam field, though unusual, wouldn't raise suspicion about Wang Xiaoqiang. The yam field was in plain sight, and people would only think he was lucky or that the land was fertile, or suspect he used strong fertilizers. Some might even accuse him of using chemical fertilizers on the herbs.

After the heavy rain, the autumn weather was favorable, and with the nourishment of the spiritual energy, the yam field grew exceptionally well. Wang Xiaoqiang would walk through the field every day to check on it. One day, from the second floor of the old village committee building, he saw three people gathered by his yam field, pointing and whispering.

Wang Xiaoqiang went downstairs and walked over, recognizing one as the village bachelor, Er Diao, and the other two as fellow land contractors, Huang Chunsheng and Wang Daba.

"Wang Xiaoqiang must have used chemical fertilizers, otherwise, how could the yams grow so well?!" Wang Xiaoqiang heard Huang Chunsheng say as he approached.

"Even with chemical fertilizers, they might not grow this well," said Wang Daba, who had a lifetime of farming experience and had grown yams before.

"In my opinion, Wang Xiaoqiang used growth hormones. They work well initially, but by the middle of the season, they fail, and by the end, the yams will all die. Wang Xiaoqiang will be in tears... hahaha~~~" Er Diao laughed excitedly.

Er Diao was not only a bachelor but also a loafer, lazy and gluttonous, openly running a gambling den at home, and living off his gambling winnings, barely making ends meet. He was envious of others' success and enjoyed gloating over their misfortunes. Today, after closing his gambling den, he wandered aimlessly and ended up at Wang Xiaoqiang's yam field, where he met Huang Chunsheng and Wang Daba, and the three of them started discussing and speculating about Wang Xiaoqiang's thriving yam field.

"Who's laughing there, afraid of the wind catching your tongue?" Wang Xiaoqiang approached the three men and said coldly.