Wang Yan seemed unconcerned by Lu Changfu and Zhao Rongrong’s expressions. She placed several dishes on the table, deliberately positioning the Sautéed Pork Slices in front of Lu Fan, as if to say, "Eat more of this later."
“Wang Yan! What’s the meaning of this?” Zhao Rongrong asked, sounding displeased. “You’ve made so much good food so early in the morning. I don’t remember it being a holiday!” She didn’t want Wang Yan and Lu Fan to get too close. Her daughter-in-law was Liu Ruyan, and even though she was in the provincial capital taking care of the tea business, she was still their prospective daughter-in-law.
Lu Fan’s face felt a bit flushed. “Sigh! Why are you so excited, woman? Are you afraid others won’t know?”
“Uncle, Auntie!” Wang Yan exclaimed, her smile widening. “Today is a day to celebrate! Let me tell you, Bufan Group has broken the ten million yuan record for village income! This means each household’s income has surpassed one hundred thousand yuan on average. In just two months, the village’s income has exceeded a year and a half’s worth of normal earnings! As for how much Xiao Fan earned… hehe! I won’t say. I know his earnings are less than what Sister Ruyan makes in a day from tea! Xiao Fan’s income can no longer be calculated in tens of thousands per day; it’s in the millions and tens of millions daily! However, this is an unprecedented income record for our village! If this continues, Xiao Fan’s goal of having everyone in the village live in a villa can be achieved in just one year. From now on, Uncle, you’ll be the emperor of our village, and Auntie, you’ll be the empress. You won’t just eat six dishes a meal; you can have a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, just like Empress Dowager Cixi!” Wang Yan chattered on with a smile.
“Really… really? Xiao Fan! You can earn… earn millions a day?” Zhao Rongrong’s mouth fell open, and she swallowed hard. She had never imagined such a sum of money. With so much wealth, how would they ever spend it all?
“Mom! Sister Wang Yan is right. From now on, you two don’t have to do anything but enjoy yourselves! Forget six dishes; we can afford sixty dishes!” Lu Fan said, stealing a glance at Wang Yan. He was grateful for her quick thinking, otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how to explain things to his parents.
“We don’t eat that many dishes; it’s too wasteful!” Zhao Rongrong said, looking at the six dishes with a hint of heartache. “A lot of these will be left over, what a shame! You all eat more, and don’t leave anything.” The thought of sixty dishes made her even more reluctant.
“Eat, eat! Uncle! Eat your vegetables, Xiao Fan, eat your vegetables!” Wang Yan picked up a piece of Sautéed Pork Slices with her chopsticks and placed it in Lu Fan’s bowl. *Eat more, to nourish…*
After the meal, Wang Yan washed the dishes and cleaned up before heading to the village branch. Lu Fan also went into the back mountain.
After they both left, Zhao Rongrong sighed and looked at Lu Changfu. “Old man, I feel like there’s something going on between Lu Fan and that young widow, Wang Yan. We can’t let this child go astray! Ruyan is such a good girl; we can’t wrong her!”
“I… I feel the same way!” Lu Changfu replied. “How about we stop staying at Wang Yan’s house starting today?”
“Alright! We won’t go tonight. We can keep an eye on Xiao Fan at home! We can’t let this child be seduced by others,” Zhao Rongrong agreed.
At this time, Lu Fan had already arrived at the back mountain. The small wild chickens and rabbits in the back mountain had already reached a thousand, and their numbers were still increasing. The wild boars, all offspring of the second sister, were kept as breeding stock. The piglets born from mating with local domestic pigs were sent to Li Mantang’s village in Shidaogou for raising, and then sold as meat pigs to various restaurants.
Wang Laowai and his wife were busy in the breeding farm. They were grateful to Lu Fan, not only for healing Wang Laowai’s leg but also for giving them jobs. They earned money, and of course, they knew Lu Fan had also given Wang Yajie ten thousand yuan. Therefore, the couple worked tirelessly, trying to hire as few people as possible for Lu Fan.
“Uncle Laowai, Auntie Wang!” Lu Fan called out from a distance.
“Xiao Fan! What brings you here?” Wang Laowai and Jiang Hua saw Lu Fan and hurried over.
“Uncle Laowai! Didn’t I tell you to hire a couple of people if you got too busy? Why are you two still working so hard?” Lu Fan said, looking at Wang Laowai and Jiang Hua, who were busy and sweating. “There are so many chickens, rabbits, and pigs. It’s a lot of work!”
“It’s fine! We’ll just work a bit harder, and we can manage!” Wang Laowai chuckled.
“Oh! In that case, I think this is a lot of work, enough for four people under normal circumstances. I’ll pay you the salary of four people. If you two can manage it, you’ll get the full salary. If you can’t handle it, you can hire people. You decide how much you pay them. Consider this breeding farm contracted to you. If the scale expands, I’ll increase your pay. However, Uncle Laowai! It’s not just about making money; you need to take care of your health! Don’t overwork yourselves and ruin your bodies. In our old age, we need to have good health to enjoy life!” Lu Fan said and then walked towards the mountain.
“Good! Good! What a good person!” Tears welled up in Wang Laowai’s eyes. He was over forty years old, and no one in the village had ever looked up to him. Even adults and children spoke to him with a hint of mockery. It was Lu Fan who allowed his family to hold their heads high.
Lu Fan arrived at the back mountain, at the cave of the Luoyan Sect. With a thought, he released the three zombie蛊. Tu Tu, having just been refined into a zombie蛊, was far less powerful than the other two. Lu Fan learned from the talisman array that for a zombie蛊 to become powerful, it needed to be soaked in a special medicinal solution. This solution would prevent the zombie from decaying and make its body increasingly robust, even achieving the realm of bronze skin and iron bones. This was the most formidable aspect of the zombie蛊. Therefore, Lu Fan intended to refine the most powerful zombie蛊!
As the sky began to darken and the sun dipped towards the west, Lu Fan slowly emerged from the mountain. He had gone to great lengths to obtain three iron barrels. After filling them with the medicinal solution, he placed the three zombies inside. Each zombie needed to be soaked for seven days, and this process had to be repeated multiple times. It was a major undertaking. Furthermore, he had also taken the time to refine a batch of elixirs and the Jù Shén Dān! As he descended the mountain, Lu Fan felt quite weary. Refining elixirs was clearly more tiring than fighting.
“Xiao Fan! Where have you been? You went out all day and look so exhausted,” Zhao Rongrong said, rushing to greet him as he returned.
“It’s nothing! I’ll be fine after a rest,” Lu Fan replied with a faint smile.
“Xiao Fan! I’m telling you, we’re not staying at Wang Yan’s house today, and you need to stay away from that young widow, understand?” Zhao Rongrong said, pulling Lu Fan and looking at him with concern.
“Hehe! Okay! I’ll listen to you, Mom! Don’t worry,” Lu Fan said, hugging Zhao Rongrong and acting cute. *Sigh! We’re just cultivating… Alright! It really is just cultivating!*