People in the countryside thousands of miles away have heard the saying: "Who says someone is rich? Take a stroll around Fuzhou City. Who says someone has a high position? Go look in Beijing..." Aren't they just rich young masters? There are plenty of rich people out there. Do they really think they're something special? Xu Zhengyang, in a bad mood, snorted coldly, said no more, handed the phone to Ouyang Ying, and then his expression returned to its usual kind and gentle one. He stroked his sister's hair and said, "Rouyue, let's go?"
"Huh?" Xu Rouyue stood up in a daze, then said, "Brother, are you really leaving? I'm tutoring, it's not right to leave without saying goodbye..."
"Okay, I'll call and explain later," Xu Zhengyang nodded and said.
"Oh, then I'll go back and pack my things." Xu Rouyue had no choice but to agree. She actually wanted to leave the capital as soon as possible, hoping to avoid any unforeseen complications.
Ouyang Ying sat there blankly, staring at Xu Zhengyang. She simply couldn't understand what kind of person Xu Zhengyang was. One moment he was so honest and simple that he seemed ridiculously stupid and timid; the next moment he would suddenly become sharp, cold, and domineering, without any fear.
Little did she know that Xu Zhengyang, who was used to running a small business, spent his days chatting with village women. Naturally, he always had a simple and honest smile on his face, which easily deceived people, making them trust him and even feel that they were taking advantage of this seemingly simple-minded young man. However, few people would think that this seemingly honest and simple young man actually had shrewd calculations and a fierce temperament, daring to raise his pliers in front of anyone at any time.
"Little sister Yingying, have you finished eating?" Xu Zhengyang felt a little embarrassed when he saw Ouyang Ying staring at him, so he reminded her.
"Huh? Okay, we're done eating." Ouyang Ying came to her senses and felt embarrassed. Why was she staring at him like that? She stood up in a flustered manner, saying, "I, I'll see you off..." As for the anger in her heart and the worry about what had just happened, they had long been thrown to the back of her mind.
...
Within the Yunhua Garden villa complex on Fuqing Road, rows of European-style buildings proudly sit amidst an artificial lake, lawns, green trees, and rockeries. At night, the colorful streetlights twinkle along the winding, crisscrossing roads between the villas, creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere that imbues the entire complex with an air of wealth and a unique, peaceful beauty.
If Xu Zhengyang, who had never seen much of the world, were to see this place, he would definitely use his meager cultural background to exclaim, "What a paradise on earth!"
Inside a villa in the middle, several young people sat around a sofa in the living room on the first floor. Beer and some simple snacks were laid out on the coffee table in the middle, which did not seem particularly luxurious.
Huang Chen, whose face was swollen like a pig's head, was one of them. He was in a bad mood. He gulped down a can of beer, took a few deep drags on his cigarette, threw the cigarette butt into the can, then squeezed the can flat and smashed it on the ground with a bang.
"Brother Huang, this matter can't just be left like this!" the man with the rooster-like haircut, a band-aid on his nose, said through gritted teeth.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Huang Chen glared at the man with the rooster-like haircut, his lips twitching as he said fiercely, "I really lost face today, getting beaten up by some country bumpkin. I'm going to kill him!"
The handsome young man in casual clothes sitting on the middle sofa shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Alright, calm down. What you did wasn't right either. If you were Xu Rouyue's brother, wouldn't you be furious to see your sister being harassed?"
"Yu Xuan, are you implying that I should just suffer this humiliation for nothing?" Huang Chen glared at Yu Xuan with dissatisfaction.
"Alright, alright, you're coming after me, aren't you?" Yu Xuan waved his hand and said, "Aren't you ashamed to argue with a country bumpkin like that? Take my advice, have Xu Rouyue apologize to you in a couple of days, and we'll call it even. You'll also leave a good impression of being magnanimous in Xu Rouyue's eyes..."
Huang Chen sneered, "What good impression did I make in front of her? Who does she think she is? I was just having some fun. Do you think I really treat her like some kind of goddess?"
“Exactly, what kind of woman can’t Brother Huang have?” The man with the rooster-like hair immediately chimed in, “That Xu Rouyue is just a cheap slut, an ungrateful thing.”
Yu Xuan shook his head helplessly, knowing that there was no use in persuading her. He simply lit a cigarette and took a couple of puffs. Suddenly, he raised his arm and put his arm around the charming girl sitting next to him. He looked down and asked with a smile, "Is Xu Rouyue really from a poor family?"
"Yeah, they're so poor they have to collect mineral water bottles at school every day..." Xia Dan said with a hint of disdain.
"Hehe, you weren't much better before, were you?" Yu Xuan joked.
"Now that we know each other..." Xia Dan nestled in Yu Xuan's arms, her slender white fingers gently tracing his neck, and said in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Even before, I've never picked up mineral water bottles." Xia Dan wore a tight, sexy purple low-cut tank top, her proud, full breasts brushing against Yu Xuan's body, and her beautiful legs in black stockings under her mini-skirt pressed tightly against his legs.
Yu Xuan couldn't resist lifting Xia Dan's chin and kissing her sexy, rosy lips fiercely.
The man with the rooster-like hair was so captivated that he couldn't help but swallow hard, thinking to himself that this woman was really something, and he would find someone who met the same standard.
"Damn it!" Huang Chen seemed to get angrier the more he thought about it. After finishing a can of beer, he slammed it to the ground again.
Yu Xuan turned around in surprise, and said with a wry smile, "Huang Chen, that Xu Zhengyang is a mad dog. Judging from what he said, he's capable of anything if you push him too far. We're not the same kind of people. You don't need to mess with him. Even if you break his leg, he'll only slap you once, and you'll still be the one who suffers..."
"Hmm?" Huang Chen frowned and looked at Yu Xuan, not understanding what he meant.
“He has a cheap life…” Yu Xuan raised his right hand, extended his index finger and shook it gently, “Isn’t there a saying that goes, ‘Those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose’?”
Huang Chen lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.
Yu Xuan smiled and swallowed, recalling Xu Zhengyang's domineering words and unwavering, unyielding spirit on the phone earlier. He lowered his head slightly, looked at the delicate beauty in his arms, and muttered softly, "Poor mountains and bad waters... breed wicked people!"
"Come on, Xu Rouyue isn't someone who lives in some remote mountain village," Xia Dan retorted with a coquettish laugh as she snuggled into Yu Xuan's arms.
Yu Xuan was taken aback, then chuckled, neither confirming nor denying.
Volume 1 Land Chapter 27 Hasty Return to the Village
At dawn, the sky was already bright, but the fiery red sunrise seemed to be still asleep, lazily peeking half its head out from the eastern horizon, peering at the myriad scenes of the world.
Outside the Fuhe City Railway Station, people and vehicles were already coming and going in great numbers.
Xu Zhengyang dragged his suitcase out of the station exit, feeling a sense of relief for no reason, as if he had unloaded the more than 100 kilograms of grain he had been carrying on his shoulders.
Following behind him was Xu Rouyue, still dressed in the same outfit as yesterday, looking elegant and graceful, like a lotus in full bloom.
Sensing the occasional envious or somewhat envious glances from the crowd around him, Xu Zhengyang smiled slightly, slowed his pace, and waited until his sister was walking alongside him before saying, "Rouyue is a grown woman now. She's spent another year in the big city, tsk tsk, she really looks like someone from the capital, incredibly beautiful... Hmm, when she goes back to the village, won't Han the Cripple be completely dumbfounded?"
"Brother..." Xu Rouyue said coquettishly, taking Xu Zhengyang's arm. Her cheeks flushed, making her look even more charming.
The "Han the Cripple" naturally refers to Han Fusheng, the second son of Han Dashan.
Throughout the journey, the brother and sister showed no signs of drowsiness, chatting and laughing as time passed, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Fuhe City Railway Station.
Xu Rouyue told her brother about her experiences studying in Beijing for more than a year, as well as the situation of her friends Ouyang Ying and Xia Dan.
Xu Zhengyang, naturally, also mentioned some things that had happened in the village and at home over the past six months. He recounted the conflicts with Han Dashan's family as jokes, making his sister both embarrassed and angry, yet also very curious, asking what happened next... Of course, Xu Zhengyang wouldn't tell his sister that he had become the local earth god; his excuse was still that the earth god had appeared to him in a dream. Even if he didn't tell her, his sister would find out about it when she got back, so there was no need to deliberately hide it. Besides, the journey was lonely, so he just treated it as something to amuse his sister and help her relax.
At first, Xu Rouyue didn't believe a word her brother said about the local earth god, but it sounded funny. She wondered how her brother could have fooled everyone in the village. Especially when Han Dashan actually demolished the earth god temple and was preparing to rebuild it, Xu Rouyue couldn't stop laughing. It was so... satisfying!
But later, when her brother told her that the local deity had appeared to her in a dream, which enabled him to dig up antiques and sell them for so much money, Xu Rouyue became somewhat skeptical. No wonder her brother seemed so wealthy; he had really made a fortune.
However, the money came too easily, which Xu Rouyue found hard to accept for a while.
Moreover, it's all because of some kind of local deity.
"Are you hungry?" Xu Zhengyang asked with concern. He noticed a few people sitting sparsely at the small tables lined up at the breakfast stalls by the roadside, so he asked.
If Xu Zhengyang hadn't been so anxious about Cao Gangchuan's situation, he would have immediately asked his sister to sit down and eat some steamed buns and a bowl of tofu pudding without even asking her any questions. Then he would have taken her shopping in Fuhe City and bought some things to take home to their parents.
On the way back, Xu Rouyue asked her brother more than once what had happened at home and why he was in such a hurry to come home. Moreover, it seemed that things had happened very suddenly. Xu Zhengyang also found out about the news very suddenly and strangely. Although he knew that his brother had a cell phone, he had not seen his brother answer the phone. He suddenly said that he had to go back at the dinner table... Xu Zhengyang did not explain why. After all, he did not want anyone to know that he was the local earth god.
So Xu Zhengyang pretended to be relaxed the whole way, chatting with his sister and appearing to be in a very good mood.
This made Xu Rouyue even wonder if her brother was really worried about Huang Chen's retaliation and wanted to leave the capital to avoid trouble.
"Brother, I'm not hungry." Xu Rouyue shook her head, a hint of excitement on her face. "I want to go home as soon as possible."
"Okay, let's take a taxi back..."
"Let's take the bus."
"Take a taxi!" Xu Zhengyang said firmly. He was in a hurry to get back, but worried that his sister might be suspicious, so he smiled and said, "After all, your brother is rich now, so I have to make sure my sister goes back to the village in style!"
Before Xu Rouyue could say anything more, Xu Zhengyang had already hailed a taxi, opened the car door, and let his sister get in.
In Xu Zhengyang's village, although there are quite a few wealthy families and even a few with private cars, it's rare to see anyone actually taking a taxi back. Besides the fact that villagers are reluctant to spend the money unnecessarily, it's also because most families in the village who are slightly better off now own motorcycles and telephones; they can simply get off the bus at the roadside, make a call, and someone will pick them up. Oh, and another reason is that taxis don't want to leave the highway and take the dirt road…
Paying an extra five yuan to deliver it to the village is not worthwhile for most villagers. They might as well walk back; it's only a few miles, no big deal! Country folks have developed strong gait!
So if someone occasionally takes a taxi back to the village, it's considered a luxury.
However, for a young man like Xu Zhengyang, this is a very prestigious thing, it means he's a real man with money!
Of course, Xu Zhengyang wasn't concerned about saving face right now; he was genuinely anxious to get back. He was very worried about Cao Gangchuan's situation. He knew that Guo Tian's family was powerful and influential in town; they could easily harm anyone they wanted. The case of Chen Chaojiang and Liu Bin breaking Guo Tian's arms and legs could have been considered self-defense—or at most, excessive self-defense resulting in serious injury—which would have warranted a much lighter sentence. This was because Chen Chaojiang and Liu Bin were surrounded and beaten by Guo Tian and seven or eight others.
However, in the end, the two were still convicted of intentional assault.
It's because Guo Tian has connections in his family.
To elaborate a bit more, about two weeks before that incident, Xu Zhengyang and his gang had a fierce brawl with Guo Tian and his group in Futou Town. Xu Zhengyang and his group won a great victory and then harbored a grudge. When they caught Chen Chaojiang and Liu Bin, how could Guo Tian and his group not retaliate?
Well, Guo Tian was seriously injured that day. Although they won a Pyrrhic victory after being ambushed and pursued, Chen Chaojiang and Liu Bin still felt they had suffered a great loss. They returned to the village to gather their men and stormed into the town, where another fierce battle ensued. This time, it resulted in both sides suffering heavy losses.
The young men on Guo Tian's side were beaten bloody by Xu Zhengyang and his men, but Xu Zhengyang's side was also arrested, detained, and fined by the police. Chen Chaojiang and Liu Bin were even sentenced to prison.
At this point, a mediator finally stepped forward to mediate, hoping to prevent further conflict between the young people on both sides and to avoid any fatalities.
After all, the ruthlessness and impulsive, even foolish, actions of the young people left both sets of parents feeling lingering fear!
After mediation, is the matter considered closed?
What annoyed Xu Zhengyang was that Guo Tian had really forgotten the pain once the wound healed. Was he feeling better now? Was he itching for revenge again? But Xu Zhengyang also had to admit that Guo Tian, like them, had gone through that impulsive age and suffered pain. He had learned his lesson and started using his brain to think about revenge.
Just like this time, Guo Tian seized the opportunity to throw Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao into jail. Although his idea was somewhat simplistic and naive, it wasn't impossible given his family's connections and power.
Xu Zhengyang even suspected that when Guo Tian used the construction team from Shuanghe Village, he was planning to cheat them out of their wages as a way to vent his anger.
...
As we mentioned before, when Xu Zhengyang and his sister returned to the village in a taxi, they truly astonished the villagers on the main street at the entrance of their alley. "Wow, these two siblings actually came back in a taxi! Have they struck it rich?" Subsequently, some villagers began to privately suspect that Xu Rouyue really was…
Xu Zhengyang naturally noticed the villagers' stares and gossip, but he didn't expect them to doubt the rumor about his sister again. Furthermore, Xu Zhengyang didn't notice any other unusual expression in the villagers' eyes.
When Xu Neng got home, he had just finished breakfast and was about to go to work. When he saw his daughter was back, he decided not to go to work. Missing half a day of work was no big deal. What was rare was that his daughter, whom he hadn't seen for half a year, was back home. He had to have a good chat with her at home.
Seeing their daughter growing more and more beautiful, dressed like a city girl, the couple were overjoyed, but they couldn't help but wonder: their family was poor, yet this girl dressed so well; could it be that something was really going on?
Fortunately, Xu Zhengyang had already thought of this, so after sitting down inside, he immediately started telling her about how his sister made money as a tutor in Beijing, as if he had personally seen his sister tutoring children and pocketing her wages.
Upon hearing this, Xu Neng and Yuan Suqin finally felt relieved. Overjoyed, they were also heartbroken and shed tears thinking about how hard their daughter had worked outside. Yuan Suqin, wiping away her tears, smiled happily, holding her daughter's little hand tightly and unwilling to let go, sitting on the edge of the bed asking her all sorts of questions.
Xu Rouyue also shed tears, her face full of happiness and joy. She snuggled up to her mother, acting coquettishly as she recounted her life in the capital.
Xu Neng moved a small stool and sat under the window, smoking and chuckling to himself with red eyes.
Xu Zhengyang was a bit of a headache. He was anxious to go out and find out what was going on with Cao Gangchuan. He found that Cao Gangchuan's name could no longer be found in the local records. It seemed that he had been detained in Futou Town Police Station, which was outside the jurisdiction of Huaxiang. Perhaps he had even been taken to Fuhe City.
But now that the family has just been reunited, I can't really find an excuse to leave immediately.
Just as he was worrying, his father, Xu Neng, probably also felt bored watching his daughter and wife chatting, so he made conversation by saying to Xu Zhengyang, "Zhengyang, you just left yesterday, and those two kids, Gangchuan and Xiaohao, were arrested by the police. Yesterday afternoon, I heard from the villagers that it seems they went to town the night before last to steal the safe from Haigang Construction Company... You have a good relationship with those two kids, go and check on them."
"What?" Xu Zhengyang deliberately feigned surprise and ignorance, then immediately nodded and said, "I'll go ask what's going on right away."
“Hmm, watch your words. The police came to our house last night and asked you some questions, saying they wanted to investigate something…” Xu Neng reminded him. It was clear that he didn’t care much about the police coming to his house to ask about things. Honest and kind-hearted, he believed that he had nothing to hide.
"Okay, I understand." Xu Zhengyang turned and left, but his heart sank.
The police coming to my house is not a good thing. Is it just a simple investigation into Cao Gangchuan?
This is bad! The timing of my trip to Beijing and the theft at Haigang Construction Company is too coincidental. If someone with ulterior motives finds out and uses it, it will be a real problem. Why did you go to Beijing the day after the incident? It seems you and Cao Gangchuan are good friends, and the police station has records of both of you. You seem to be a very loyal and righteous group.
Frowning as he thought about these things, Xu Zhengyang walked to the door, then suddenly turned back and said, "Dad, Mom, Rouyue hasn't eaten yet. Quickly make something for her to eat and get some sleep. She didn't sleep a wink on the train all night..."
Volume 1, Land, Chapter 28: Behind the Conspiracy
In fact, regardless of the religion, in most cases, its foundation lies in the human need for some kind of spiritual support to rely on and depend on in the helplessness of real life or the innate fear of death, to give oneself a little hope, a little peace of mind, a kind of... self-deception.
Of course, this requires some kind of propaganda to make people go from doubt to belief, and then to placing their hopes on it.
It's like when atheism has already spread to every corner of the world, there are still a large number of people who are half-believing, half-doubting, or even knowing it's false, yet still comforting themselves by pursuing that ethereal and illusory spiritual existence.
Admittedly, many people are pursuing a kind of spiritual transcendence and have truly achieved goodness of heart.
Sitting on a bench in the main room of Cao Gangchuan's house, listening to Cao Gangchuan's mother's sobbing, Xu Zhengyang suddenly thought to himself that perhaps God... is actually created by human beings' own faith.
To paraphrase a famous saying with a slight modification, it should be: There was originally no God in this world; as more people believed, God came into being.