Chapter 102: The Reservoir’s Remarkable Transformation (Please Subscribe)

If you do not want to go, then do not go. There is no need to force yourself; after all, they are not any proper relatives.

After waiting a little while without hearing any reply from his son, Zhong Tian began to have his answer. It was understandable enough that the boy did not want to go.

“Are they giving money?” Zhong Di blinked and asked in return.

To him, it hardly mattered. The thought had just crossed his mind, and from now on he would set his own standard for any consultation.

This was the first time such a situation had arisen, and Zhong Di was somewhat surprised at first, but he soon understood.

The fruit set in their date orchard was there for all to see. In times like these, the moment something unusual appeared, word would spread far and wide.

The reason it had taken so long to surface was nothing more than his youth. No one believed it. But these relatives were different; letting them take a look would cost nothing, so they were perfectly willing to try.

That was why he asked his father first. If there were no charge, then people would be coming every day asking him to look this way and that, and he would be doing nothing else.

That was a different matter from the technical articles he wanted to post online. In one case, he only had to spend a bit of time, freely and on his own terms; in the other, people would be taking up his time. These were not the same thing.

“It wasn’t mentioned. How about I ask for you?” His father on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before asking tentatively.

He had only thought that his son might refuse. He had never imagined that his son would ask whether they were paying.

“Forget it. Let’s not charge this time. If anyone asks you again next time, just say there’s a fee, then report it to your sister. I’ll tell her about the rest later.”

After chatting with his father for a few more words, Zhong Di hung up. Agricultural guidance services had to be offered; he could not let this ability go to waste. But the opening had to be handled well.

After that, he would screen requests on a regular basis and take them when he had time. He would not keep anything to himself. A visit every so often would not only raise the technical level of the family he went to see, but would also improve the surrounding area by a large margin.

As for pricing, Zhong Di planned to set it according to the person. Those with money at home would pay more; those without would pay less. The minimum could be as low as one yuan. How he looked, how much he looked, and how much he charged would all depend entirely on his own judgment.

As for what others might say behind his back, let them talk.

The final arrangement was for the afternoon. Someone would come to pick them up, so Zhong Di did not need to find the place himself.

On this point, this distant relative had at least done things properly. If Zhong Di had still been expected to go and find the place himself, he truly would not have wanted to go.

It was not that Zhong Di wanted to put on airs. Rather, they were not paying, there was no real bond between them, and all they had was a hollow, uncertain connection. On what basis was he supposed to go over there?

When he drove the electric tricycle back to the orchard, Zhong Di found that both his parents and his older sister were already there, busy with miscellaneous chores.

With the orchard in this state, only the usual odd jobs remained. Those jobs, in truth, could be many or few, done diligently or lazily.

Take cleaning the various enclosures, for example. If you were diligent, you could clean them once a day; if you were lazy, once every three days would not be unreasonable.

This was not indoor livestock raising, where failing to clean for a single day would breed large numbers of germs and endanger the animals.

“You child, why are you spending this money? Isn’t it just seaberry and wild hemp? If you need them, Mom will get them for you. Look at this—what you spent is more than my monthly salary.”

No sooner had Zhong Di gotten out of the car than his mother gave him a scolding. In her eyes, the boy simply did not know how to live, did not know how to save money.

As she went on and on, his father tried to smooth things over with a few words. On this matter, his father saw farther than his mother did.

“All right, we’re taking the morning off today to rest. There’s not much to do for fun anyway, so let’s go fishing at Uncle Qian’s place, then come back at noon for a big meal.”

Looking at the orchard’s condition, Zhong Di let out a breath. It had not been easy getting to this point, so how could they not rest a little and let everyone’s hard work be worth something?

“Didn’t we just rest yesterday? Why are we resting again today? And don’t we still need goji berries? We can go pick them ourselves and avoid spending money to buy them.”

As soon as she heard what Zhong Di said, his mother was the first to object.

“Mom, yesterday doesn’t count as resting. Come on, let’s go.” Zhong Di did not argue. His mother’s habit was not something that could be changed in a day or two. It would have to be done gradually.

“Shao Hong, drive the truck. Pack up and let’s move.”

“Okay.”

Shao Hong naturally had no objections. He had slowly grown used to Zhong Di’s habit of taking them out for fun whenever he felt like it. Going out fishing and the like was pretty enjoyable too.

Once Zhong Di and Shao Hong had finished packing, their mother said nothing further and got into the vehicle with them.

Shao Hong drove, Zhong Di sat in the front passenger seat, and his parents and older sister sat in the back. It was still early. They had gotten up at eight in the morning, bought flatbread, and come back—hardly any time had passed.

Altogether, it had only taken a little over an hour to get back. Noon was still a long way off.

Before long, the group arrived at Qian Weining’s reservoir. Qian Weining had said before that even if he was not there, they could come and enjoy themselves freely, and he had even given Zhong Di a card for unrestricted entry.

The highest level of access, in fact, allowing him to bring as many people as he liked. At first Zhong Di had found it rather puzzling. They were only coming to have some fun, so why issue a card at all?

Only today, upon arriving, did he realize that the entire reservoir, along with a stretch of more than a kilometer around it, had undergone a tremendous transformation and was now enclosed by iron fencing.

After showing his card, Zhong Di was respectfully let in by the staff. The truck was parked in the temporary lot.

Inside were all manner of facilities, including yurts and some hastily built little shops offering cigarettes, liquor, and the like. There were even places to eat.

The food was centered mainly on river delicacies, mostly seafood and freshwater fare, and there were also places where people could cook for themselves.

Aside from that, there were shops selling swimsuits, fishing gear, and more.

All told, it offered a full range of eating, drinking, living, and entertainment. It had been built at remarkable speed. What was lacking, however, were permanent facilities; everything was temporary. For constructions like this, as long as there was money, time was no issue.

Unlike Zhong Di’s place, where they still had to wait for cement to dry, build houses, and finish the decoration and all the rest.

Though it was a place for leisure, its nature was entirely different from Zhong Di’s. This place had clearly been built specifically for fishing.

There were not many people in the reservoir. Even those present seemed to be working on various pieces of equipment, and they were obviously staff.

Only a handful of people were idly fishing by the ponds.

It looked as though the place had only been renovated, and was not yet officially open. Zhong Di guessed that the fishing tournament was only the beginning, and that the rest would be opened up one after another.

“Shao Hong, bring the gear. Let’s start fishing too!”

Zhong Di looked around. The place had been renovated well, but overall the natural feel had not been destroyed. At most, there was simply a bit more liveliness.

“All right, fishing it is. We’ve got our own fish pond now. If today’s haul is good, we’ll take the catch home and throw it into the pond.”

That had been Zhong Di’s original idea for digging the fish pond. Besides fishing for fun now and then, he could also pull up a fish to eat whenever he felt like it.

“Zhong Di, how come you have time to come today?”

Just as Zhong Di was about to return to the car for the fishing gear, he suddenly heard Qian Weining’s voice.