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On the way to Jinshan Resort, a luxurious sleeper bus moved slowly forward. Wang Ziyan, dressed in casual attire, held a colorful promotional brochure for Jinshan Ecological Park, reading it with great interest.
Since graduating, she had not seen Song Pearl again. The guilt she once felt for taking Song Pearl's job had long since vanished without a trace.
However, she still felt a bit awkward and shy about directly meeting Song Pearl.
The Animal Husbandry Research Institute was looking for a suitable partner to promote their research achievements by finding a location with advantages in animal husbandry as a breeding base. That was why she had been sent to inspect the Jinshan Ecological Breeding Park.
For some unknown reason, after returning to her hometown, Song Pearl had lost contact with her classmates.
Due to Song Pearl's personality, she had always been an inconspicuous student, and no one among her classmates paid much attention to her. Everyone was busy looking for jobs, and it wasn't just Song Pearl who didn't return to school. To this day, no one knew how she was doing.
She never expected that this place was actually run by Song Pearl!
Wang Ziyan closed the brochure and wondered what expression Song Pearl would have upon seeing her. She must have changed a lot after starting from scratch in the countryside. Surely, she wouldn't know that Wang Ziyan had taken the job that belonged to her?
"Jinshan Resort has arrived. Those who want to go to the Ecological Aquaculture Park can take the resort's shuttle," the attendant warmly announced as passengers disembarked.
Wang Ziyan boarded the shuttle heading towards the Ecological Aquaculture Farm. The road was quite bumpy, making it feel like sitting on a spring mattress; after some time, it gave her a sense of motion sickness.
It was still quite a famous resort, yet the road was so difficult to navigate... It seemed there weren't many tourists around!
Through the open window of the bus, she could see neatly trimmed greenery surrounding patches of vegetable fields.
The organic vegetables were growing well; she just wondered why they weren't using greenhouses?
Wang Ziyan examined the large vegetable and fruit gardens along the way with an expert's eye and felt somewhat dissatisfied. There were too few crops and fruits, leaving little profit margin. However, in such rural areas, it was already quite good. She wondered how the livestock farming was doing.
The car stopped at an intersection, and beside the road was a village with a strong local flavor. Wang Ziyan got off the car with her backpack.
"This is the Resort!" Even without sunlight, she shielded her eyes with her hand to look ahead. "How can there be such an incongruous village near the Resort? Is it a place for farmers who specialize in aquaculture to accommodate guests?"
While she was pondering, she noticed a large stone at the entrance of the village with the village name inscribed on it: Song Family Village.
So this is where Song Pearl's family is from. With that in mind, it wasn't so strange for this village to still be here!
Wang Ziyan walked forward leisurely while enjoying the scenery.
"Young lady, are you here for tourism or to wholesale agricultural products?" A farmer approached her to strike up a conversation.
"Me?" Wang Ziyan smiled brightly. "I'm here for a visit."
She was beautiful and stylishly dressed, but the villagers seemed unfazed. They had seen their fair share of visitors over the past couple of years.
"Feel free! If you need anything, just let me know!" the farmer said enthusiastically.
Wang Ziyan nodded and noticed the badge pinned to his shirt, which had his name and title on it. She couldn't help but laugh and asked, "Is this managed like a large farm?"
The farmer shook his head in confusion. She realized he didn't understand her words.
"Is there a Fish Pond in Song Family Village?" Wang Ziyan asked again.
"You must be talking about the fishing pond at the Resort, right? That's not part of Song Family Village anymore; it's now managed by the Resort. You can walk along this road to get there quickly. But you'll need a ticket to enter! You should go through the Resort, not the Ecological Aquaculture Farm!"
"Wow, they really have their standards!"
Walking along the wide cement road, Wang Ziyan hurried towards the direction of the Fish Pond, following the route indicated by a farmer. She didn't know why she was coming to this Fish Pond; it was just that Song Pearl often talked about her family's Fish Pond when they were in school, and subconsciously, she wanted to come and see it.
By the pond stood a well-decorated building, while right next to it was a courtyard with a blue stone-tiled house, which looked relatively shabby in comparison.
"Is that Song Pearl's home?" she recalled hearing Song Pearl describe it.
Indeed, there were some people fishing by the Fish Pond. Judging by their attire, they didn't seem like tourists but rather like locals who had grown up here.
Wang Ziyan's gaze fell on a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses and a sun hat, who had an elegant demeanor and a slender figure. He appeared relaxed, as if he were on vacation.
She stepped closer, and the middle-aged man glanced at her before returning his attention to his fishing rod.
At that moment, two BMWs and a Mercedes-Benz boldly drove along another route into the Resort.
Inside the Mercedes-Benz, Jin Weicheng lazily kept his eyes closed. His Secretary couldn't help but ask, "President Jin, we've already arrived at the Resort. Isn't it inappropriate for us to barge in like this?"
"What's inappropriate about it? Song Pearl should know I'm here!" Jin Weicheng replied without opening his eyes. "If she were sensible, she would have come out to greet me by now. Since there's no sign of her, I'll take the board members around for an inspection first."
The Secretary forced a smile.
She strongly disapproved of this newly appointed general manager's approach. He hadn't informed anyone of his arrival yet complained about not being welcomed. This behavior was quite unusual; she wondered if there would be trouble later.
However, thinking it over, what was there to be afraid of? This Resort was a project that their Jin Mai company was about to invest in; soon it would be under their control. Whether they walked straight or sideways didn't matter—it was all up to them!
Just as she was pondering this, Jin Weicheng unexpectedly sat up and shouted, "Stop the car."
As soon as his car came to a halt, the two vehicles behind followed suit, and a group of imposing individuals stepped out of the cars.
"Let's wander around here and see if this place is suitable for redevelopment in real estate or if we should continue developing it as a tourist area..." Jin Weicheng said loudly to the group.
"Sounds good, this is quite nice. It’s suitable for investing in a resort."
"Yes, it's very nice. I think building villas and high-rises could attract some wealthy people who enjoy rural living to come here for vacation!"
"There are no shopping malls, no schools. It's far from the city; I don't recommend getting into real estate!"
The group that got off the vehicle began to discuss animatedly, and the not-so-wide road became lively.
"President Jin, where shall we go first?"
"I hear the fishing pond here is nice, and there are flocks of geese bathing nearby. Let's go take a look!" Jin Weicheng said as he put on his sunglasses and strode ahead confidently.
Over there, Wang Ziyan was already chatting with a middle-aged man.
"Elder, you don't seem like a local! Are you here for tourism?"
The middle-aged man looked up at Wang Ziyan and finally couldn't bear to reject the enthusiasm of a pretty girl. He politely replied, "No, I'm a resident here."
"A resident here?" Wang Ziyan looked at him again with some disbelief.
"What did you do before?" she asked again.
"Are you a reporter?" The middle-aged man shot her an annoyed glance and replied coldly, "Why are you asking so much?"
Wang Ziyan awkwardly took a few steps back; she really was making things uncomfortable for herself! What was she even doing at this Ecological Aquaculture Farm?
"Oh. I'm sorry." She replied awkwardly, a blush spreading across her face. "I heard that the Pearl Fish in the Fish Pond is quite famous. I wonder if it's easy to catch?"
"This?" The middle-aged man pondered for a moment. "It's all about luck! Besides the ones that are regularly delivered, no tourists have caught this kind of fish here!"
After he finished speaking, he picked up his fish basket and dumped the few fish he had caught into the pond before heading back with his fishing rod.
"Aren't you going to fish anymore?" Wang Ziyan followed him, her heart asking.
"I'm done fishing. I asked my daughter to come over for dinner this afternoon. I need to go prepare!"
"Your daughter?" Wang Ziyan looked at the middle-aged man in surprise as he walked into the yard. She thought this was Song Pearl's home; wasn't it?
"Do you know Song Pearl?" She couldn't help but ask.
"Song Pearl!" The middle-aged man finally looked at her seriously when he heard her mention Song Pearl. "You know Song Pearl?"
"Yes! She's my classmate!" Wang Ziyan smiled.
"Classmate? I haven't heard her mention any classmates!" The middle-aged man muttered under his breath. "Why don't you go find her at work?"
"I don't know where she works; we haven't been in touch for many years! But I do know she used to live here."
"It seems you were quite close with her!" The middle-aged man finally smiled sincerely. He said kindly, "In that case, come over for dinner! You don't need to look for Pearl; she'll be here soon. Since you two are good friends, she'll be very happy to see you!"
"Are you Pearl's father?" Wang Ziyan asked, somewhat incredulously. She remembered that Song Pearl's dad was a farmer who raised fish; this man looked nothing like a peasant!
"Yes! Do you think we don't look alike?" The middle-aged man asked with a laugh.
"That's somewhat true."
"Come on, let's go to the yard. This morning, Pearl just had a chicken sent over to me. It's a free-range chicken from the back mountain, and it's really fresh and delicious. I haven't had the chance to prepare it yet! You’re in for a treat this afternoon!"
The middle-aged man was very happy as he walked to the porch and picked up a colorful rooster with its legs tied. He waved it at Wang Ziyan and asked, "Miss, do you dare to kill a chicken?"
"I do this for a living; what is there to be afraid of!" Wang Ziyan's eyes lit up as she looked at the rooster. "This chicken is really beautiful!"
"Of course, mountain chickens are beautiful. Haven't you heard that a mountain chicken can turn into a phoenix?" The middle-aged man laughed as he went to find a knife and a basin.
"What did you do before? Were you in the chicken-killing business?" he asked.
"Uh..." Wang Ziyan didn't expect him to understand it that way. Taking the chicken from his hands, she said, "I studied Animal Husbandry, just like Song Pearl. My main research subjects are animals, so I'm not unfamiliar with dissection!"
"That's great! Just help me slaughter this chicken!" Wu Qiang said happily. (To be continued...)
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