The Domineering Cultivator Farmer

Chapter 20: The Senior Officials Arrive

“Just you wait—I’ll settle the score with you later,” Long Fei roared at Zhang Yan, slamming his fist on the table. Without waiting for the stunned Zhang Yan’s reaction, he hurried out to consult with the others. “What? Zhang Yan actually went to Fang Yun to beg for the medicinal wine recipe and ended up angering him? That pig!” Long Fei had been discussing martial arts with the other three Heaven-rank martial artists in the Dragon Group when he heard this, and he flew into a rage on the spot. Back when Fang Yun had treated them, all of them had been unconscious. By the time they woke up, Fang Yun had long since left. Afterward, they’d been busy waging a campaign against invading foreign martial artists, and it wasn’t until now that the matter had finally come to a close. Just as he was thinking about when to go thank the man, that jerk Zhang Yan went and caused this mess. After all, a Heaven-level martial artist in his twenties was unheard of—he had an extremely high chance of reaching the legendary Saint-level. The thought that a future Saint-level martial artist was so enraged by Zhang Yan that he was about to leave the Dragon Group made Long Fei want to kill him. “Let’s not dwell on that for now. The most important thing right now is to figure out how to handle this situation,” an elderly man standing nearby said to Long Fei. “Right, right. I’ll go see the Commander right away and get his opinion.” Long Fei hurried out the door. “This is outrageous—utterly unacceptable,” the Commander said angrily upon hearing Long Fei’s report. “No matter what it takes, you must appease Comrade Fang Yun. We cannot let him harbor any ill will toward the nation because of this. Those guys from the Hidden Sects have been getting a bit restless lately; we absolutely cannot afford any trouble right now.” After thinking for a moment, Long Fei said, “According to our investigation, Fang Yun doesn’t seem to have any ambitions; he just leased a mountain in his hometown to run a herbal bath business. Moreover, he’s very dedicated to developing tourism in his hometown. Perhaps we could approach this from that angle.” “Hmm, here’s what we’ll do: Have some retired senior officials from the government go with you to visit Fang Yun. If the results are good, we’ll designate that place as a designated convalescent center for retired officials. Your main task this time is to reassure Comrade Fang Yun,” the commander instructed. “Yes, sir. I guarantee I’ll complete the mission,” Long Fei replied loudly. “I’m not sure how we should handle Zhang Yan, though.” “Comrade Zhang Yan is getting on in years and lacks the energy he used to have. Let’s have him take early retirement. As for the Liu family, you’ll step in to explain the situation and issue a warning to Liu Neng at the same time. I just don’t believe Zhang Yan would have had the guts to do this without the Liu family backing him up,” the commander decided with a wave of his hand. Long Fei almost burst out laughing. Zhang Yan wasn’t even fifty yet—he was in the prime of his life, just when he should be making his mark. With a single word from the Commander, the guy would be forced to spend the rest of his days at home. “You bastard!” In the ransacked study of the Liu family home, Liu Neng was flying into a rage. Just today, Long Fei had come knocking on his door and berated him mercilessly from the very start. As if that weren’t enough, not only had his son-in-law been forced into early retirement, but he himself had received a written warning. But Liu Neng had no outlet for his anger. “Heaven-level…” Thinking of the information Long Fei had secretly revealed to him at the end, Liu Neng couldn’t help but feel a wave of helplessness wash over him. Everyone knew just how terrifying the future growth of a Heaven-level cultivator in his twenties would be. It was entirely possible that, just as Long Fei had speculated, he would advance to the Saint-level. If someone like that were to truly anger him, he could wipe out the entire Liu family, and the state wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. This time, Liu Neng had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow his anger. “Niuniu, what have you been up to again? Why are you covered in mud? Go wash up right away—if Mom sees you like this, your little bottom’s in for it again.” Looking at her daughter, who looked like a muddy little monkey, Fang Yun felt a headache coming on. Now that the little girl had her grandparents backing her up, she was practically running wild at home, spending every day playing wildly with a bunch of village kids. Lately, she’d become obsessed with war games, and the little rascals would split into two teams, scrambling and rolling all over the mountain. Every time she came home, she was covered in mud. Every time Feng Xiu’er saw her like this, she’d pick up Niuniu and give her little bottom a few smacks. At first, it worked—she’d be quiet for a while after Mom spanked her. But now, maybe her skin has thickened, because the moment she turned around after the spanking, the little girl was already gone. “You, just go ahead and spoil her. That little girl’s turning into a wild child.” Feng Xiu’er, who had just stepped out the door, rolled her eyes at Fang Yun’s words. “Wah! Mom’s here—let’s run!” As soon as Niuniu saw her mother appear, she grabbed Fang Yun’s hand and ran back into the room. “That little girl.” Watching her daughter—whom she’d raised with such care—cling so tightly to her father, Feng Xiu’er couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. “Fang Yun, come out and greet the guest!” Fang Zhong’s excited voice drifted in. Fang Yun, who was sipping tea at that moment, spit the tea out with a “pfft,” sending it flying a good distance. Imagining himself—dressed to the nines and exuding charm—slowly emerging from his room as the housekeeper cooed, “Fang Yun, come out and greet your guests,” Fang Yun couldn’t help but shudder. Once she stepped outside into the courtyard, Fang Yun understood why her uncle, Fang Zhong, was so excited. Five or six white-haired elders were getting out of several cars parked outside, and one of them was someone she used to see frequently on TV. The most prominent figure Fang Zhong had ever met in his life was the county magistrate; with such high-ranking officials arriving all at once, it would have been strange if he hadn’t been excited. Fang Yun could also see some villagers gathered in the distance, pointing and whispering. “You must be Comrade Fang Yun. Hello, hello.” “Um, you might as well just call me Fang Yun. The title ‘Comrade’ is really a bit…” Fang Yun recognized the man who had stepped forward to greet him—it was Long Fei, one of the four Heaven-level practitioners he had cured. “Uh. All right, then I’ll just call you Fang Yun.” Long Fei offered a wry smile; the title “Comrade” really was… well, he didn’t quite know how to put it. “Come, come, everyone, let’s go inside for a cup of tea.” Fang Yun hurriedly invited everyone inside to sit down and have some tea. “Fang Yun—Brother Fang—I’m here mainly to discuss the matter with Zhang Yan from last time.” Long Fei, a former military man with a bold and forthright nature, cut straight to the chase as soon as he entered the room. “Zhang Yan’s actions last time were entirely personal. The higher-ups have already dealt with him severely and forced him into early retirement. Please take back this ID.” With that, he placed Fang Yun’s ID—which Zhang Yan had taken last time—on the table. Fang Yun quickly refused. “Old Long, I’m not holding a grudge against Zhang Yan. I genuinely don’t want to be an advisor anymore. Right now, I just want to stay home and spend quality time with my family.” Six years of living in a cave had made Fang Yun deeply realize that nothing was more important than family. For those six years, he had longed for his family day and night—a feeling he never wanted to experience again. Now, he didn’t want to be away from his family for even a moment. “Then I won’t press you. I do have one more favor to ask of you, though. These are veteran leaders who’ve devoted their entire lives to serving the country. Now that they’re in their twilight years, they’re plagued by various ailments, and they’d like to convalesce here for a while.” Long Fei leaned in a little closer and whispered, “If the recuperation goes well, this place might become the designated convalescent destination for retired leaders.” Fang Yun couldn’t help but feel overjoyed—these people would be living When people see so many high-ranking officials coming here for recuperation, they’ll surely think the treatment here is excellent—otherwise, why would these leaders travel such a long distance to a small mountain village like this? By then, people will definitely be curious and come here to see what exactly attracts these officials. Thinking of the scene of throngs of visitors, Fang Yun said happily to Long Fei, “Old Long, I really can’t thank you enough. If there’s ever anything you need my help with in the future, just let me know.” “A favor for a favor”—that had always been Fang Yun’s guiding principle in life. Long Fei was overjoyed—this was exactly the outcome he’d hoped for. “We’ll be counting on you this time, young man,” the elderly men said in unison. When the higher-ups had originally arranged for them to go to a small mountain village for convalescence, the elderly men had thrown quite a tantrum, arguing that a remote mountain village could never compare to a specialized sanatorium in the capital. In the end, it was a single remark from Long Fei that convinced them to come and see for themselves first. At the time, Long Fei had remarked that, since ancient times, the countryside had been home to many extraordinary people. The group of elders believed Long Fei wasn’t speaking without reason. As soon as they entered this tranquil little mountain village, everyone felt a surge of vitality and an unprecedented sense of physical lightness, instantly filling them with anticipation for their recuperation. “I’m honored by your trust, gentlemen, and I certainly won’t let you down. You’ll definitely feel that this trip was well worth it,” Fang Yun said gratefully to the elderly men. “Don’t keep calling us ‘old gentlemen.’ Just call me Old Li. The one over there who looks so refined is Old Huang; the shortest one is Old Lin; and those are Old Zhang and Old Liu.” The elderly man who frequently appeared on television stood up, laughing heartily as he introduced the others to Fang Yun. “Old Li, Old Huang, Old Lin, Old Zhang, Old Liu,” Fang Yun greeted them one by one. “Everyone, why don’t you try some of the home-style farm food here first?” “We old-timers have tried just about everything. We’ll skip the meal for now—just take us straight to your herbal bath. Long Fei has been raving about how amazing it is, and we old-timers are really looking forward to it.” Old Li waved his hand, signaling for Fang Yun to lead them to the herbal bath first.