In the north, Snow City.
Inside the office of the Jianghu Affairs Bureau.
Li Mingxi took out a stack of documents from a briefcase she was holding, presented them to Lu Shengming’s desk, and said, "Director Lu, I've already found the master of Long Xiaotian and his grandson."
"Their master's name is Cheng Xiaofan. He comes from a peasant family in a remote mountain village in Southern Province. He was admitted to a prestigious university in the capital and later worked as a senior executive in a company group."
"For some reason, not long ago, Cheng Xiaofan suddenly resigned from the company to return home and farm. He then gained extraordinary abilities, attracting even some legendary strange birds and beasts to his side."
As she spoke, she took out a CD from her bag and inserted it into a player.
Immediately, Li Mingxi lightly pressed a button, the screen flickered, and a live video of Cheng Xiaofan appeared.
In the video, Cheng Xiaofan was flying in the sky on the Heavenly Eagle, and there were also scenes of him riding a date-red horse and dancing on the waves in the White Python Lake.
As one scene after another appeared before his eyes, Lu Shengming’s eyeballs almost fell to the ground.
"Xiao Li, you're sure this isn't processed with special effects?" Lu Shengming asked, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
Li Mingxi shook her head and smiled, "Director Lu, these are all real live videos of Cheng Xiaofan, not processed with special effects at all."
"Also, I just downloaded Cheng Xiaofan's latest live video. It shows a groundhog helping him cultivate wasteland on the mountain!"
She immediately replaced the CD playing with a new one she had just downloaded and recorded.
After watching this live video of Cheng Xiaofan, Lu Shengming was stunned for a long time before snapping back to reality and saying, "Are there really such divine rats in this world?"
"If not, Cheng Xiaofan wouldn't be live-streaming it."
Li Mingxi fiddled with the hair falling on her shoulders, her brows slightly furrowed, and said, "What I'm more curious about is Cheng Xiaofan himself. He must exude some special charm, otherwise, these legendary divine birds and strange beasts would not have appeared by his side one after another."
"According to my investigation, after Cheng Xiaofan returned to Zhuxi Village, he developed super nutritious large cabbages, fruit ginseng, and immortal fish, among other things."
"His cabbage sells for thirty yuan per jin on the market, fruit ginseng for two hundred per jin, and immortal fish is outrageously expensive, selling for four hundred per jin."
"The problem is that he has signed an exclusive supply contract with a hotel, so others simply can't buy it!"
Lu Shengming said, "Are the things developed by this Cheng Xiaofan so expensive because they can help you become an immortal if you eat them?"
Li Mingxi smiled and said, "Some people say that his vegetables, even if they don't make you an immortal, make you feel like one. In any case, those who have eaten them will never forget it!"
"Not only are his vegetables exceptionally delicious, but they also have a remarkable effect on regulating the body's functions."
"When I consider the sudden improvement in the strength of Long Xiaotian and his grandson, I have a novel idea: could this be related to some kind of pill developed by Cheng Xiaofan?"
"Since Cheng Xiaofan can develop new varieties of vegetables and has a strong effect on regulating human functions, it's not impossible for him to develop miraculous pills."
Hearing this, Lu Shengming nodded and said, "Xiao Li, what you're saying makes sense."
"It's just that I can't believe that such a person can exist in real life."
Li Mingxi's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and she smiled, "Director Lu, I've been reading some online farming novels recently. I've found that in these novels, the male protagonists, due to various unavoidable reasons, return to the countryside from the city and occasionally gain ancient inheritances, thus creating a series of astonishing legends in the countryside."
"Generally, these people are very skilled, extremely creative, and prefer a leisurely life. They also gather some magical pets around them."
"I think this Cheng Xiaofan is such a typical character!"
Lu Shengming listened and laughed heartily, "Xiao Li, I think you've been poisoned by online novels quite a bit. Those are fictional stories after all. How can such things happen in real life!"
Li Mingxi smiled slightly and said, "Director Lu, but apart from this, how can you explain the phenomenon of Cheng Xiaofan?"
"..."
Lu Shengming was rendered speechless.
This was indeed something he couldn't explain.
Li Mingxi continued, "Novels are artificially fabricated, but some occasional events in real life can be even more bizarre and wonderful than novels!"
Lu Shengming chuckled and said, "Xiao Li, your generation's divergent thinking is something that a middle-aged uncle like me can't keep up with."
"From your perspective, what should we do about someone like Cheng Xiaofan?"
Li Mingxi smiled and said, "We can secretly create a file for Cheng Xiaofan. Let's not contact him for now. As long as it doesn't involve our Jianghu Affairs Bureau, let him develop freely and see in which direction he goes."
"If we really need to get involved, we'll discuss it then!"
Lu Shengming pondered for a moment and nodded, "Xiao Li, you're indeed wise beyond your years. That's a good suggestion. I'll listen to you for now!"
"However, you need to write a report for me, detailing Cheng Xiaofan's personal matters and his relationship with the Long family. It should be as detailed as possible so that I can report it to headquarters!"
"Yes, Director Lu, I know what to do!"
Li Mingxi responded and left the office of the Jianghu Affairs Bureau.
...
After finishing the live broadcast, Cheng Xiaofan began preparing lunch.
Returning to the boat, he had the Heavenly Eagle fly to the Lotus Lake and pick a few fresh large lotus leaves.
The old hen that Miao Xiuhua sent had been raised for three years, and she never had the heart to kill it. This time, however, she killed it and cleaned it thoroughly.
The chicken was not gutted. A hole was made at the back of its rump to remove the internal organs, and it was also cleaned inside.
The way to stew chicken in Zhuxi Village is usually not to gut it. This makes it convenient to stuff red dates, longans, eggs, and medicinal herbs into the chicken's belly, seal the opening, and stew the whole chicken.
After the whole chicken is stewed, you eat the meat and drink the soup, and then eat the contents of the chicken's belly.
One meal is enough for three meals. However, this way of eating can drive women mad, as eating it continuously can spoil their appetite.
But for people in the countryside, eating like this is a great tonic!
The intention behind Miao Xiuhua sending this chicken was very clear. However, Cheng Xiaofan would not let Bai Yiling eat it alone; he would eat with her.
Of course, there was also Naughty Bao, who was always eyeing it greedily.
It was estimated that Heavenly Eagle also wanted to eat some, but its behavior was very subtle, unlike Naughty Bao's vulgarity.
The way Cheng Xiaofan stewed the old hen today was different from the traditional method in Zhuxi Village.
He first prepared some glutinous rice, lotus seeds, and red beans, washed them together, added five-spice powder, a little bit of happy wine, mixed them well, stuffed them into the old hen's belly, sealed the opening, and then put it in the pot.
Afterwards, Cheng Xiaofan lined the pot with lotus leaves, added water, placed the whole chicken in the water, covered the pot with two layers of lotus leaves, and then put on the lid.
This way of stewing an old hen using unconventional methods was invented by Cheng Xiaofan when he was a child.
Then, he lit a fire in the stove. After five minutes of high heat, he reduced it to a low simmer.
At this time, Cheng Xiaofan instructed Naughty Bao to guard the stove and keep an eye on the heat. He then got off the boat and searched along the lake shore for wild onions.