Chapter 201: The Cement Plant (Part 5)

Hearing the gunshots ahead, Liu Tao and Director Da Jin could no longer contain their excitement. They followed the military cadres, ducking into the dense woods.

Hou Weidong had to look after Li Jing, so he fell behind the main group. All he could hear were the sporadic echoes of gunfire reverberating through the forest.

"Never mind, I’m not going any further." Li Jing had prepared herself for the hunt, but the mountain was thick with tall grass and dense trees. Several small cuts had appeared on her arms from the brambles, with tiny beads of blood standing out starkly against her fair skin. It wasn’t particularly painful, but the sight was unsettling.

Hou Weidong couldn’t leave Li Jing behind. Seeing the main group move further away, he said decisively, "Let’s stop here. They have real weapons. If we get too far behind, there’s a risk of accidental injury."

Li Jing sat on a broken tree stump, sucking the blood from the cuts on her arm. In this moment, she wasn’t the shrewd President Li; she was simply a young girl enjoying a spring outing.

Hou Weidong carried a military canteen, equipment he had prepared back when he was in Shangqinglin Village. The green paint had chipped off in several places. He tilted his head back and took a long drink, feeling immensely refreshed. After a few swallows, he noticed Li Jing hadn’t had any water and asked, "Where is your canteen?"

"I left it in the car. I didn’t expect it to be so hot in the woods." Li Jing was genuinely thirsty. She teased, "Why are you so heartless? You just drink for yourself without caring for the delicate flower."

Hou Weidong handed the canteen over. "Here, you drink."

Li Jing took the canteen but didn’t drink immediately. She held it, looking at it for a moment, and said, "This canteen looks very familiar. My father was a soldier too. When he returned from the army, he brought back one just like this. Whenever he took me out to play, he liked to carry this kind of canteen."

Hou Weidong had originally wanted to joke that this was an "indirect kiss," but hearing Li Jing’s words, the joke died on his lips.

After resting for a while, Hou Weidong held Li Jing’s hand, and the two slowly retreated from the forest.

Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting dappled shadows on the damp ground. If it weren’t for the oppressive heat, the atmosphere would have been quite charming.

They had entered with vigor, but now they retreated like defeated soldiers. Heading roughly toward the village office, they wandered east and west, gradually missing the path they had come in on. They descended a small slope and heard the tinkling sound of water. Soon, they came upon a small pool. The water was crystal clear, revealing the fine stones, small grasses, and sandy soil at the bottom. The surrounding natural stones had been smoothed and polished by the flowing water.

"I need to rest." Seeing the pond, Li Jing’s eyes lit up. Like a little girl, she made her request, sat by the water’s edge, and took off her shoes. She placed her feet in the cool water, and the natural chill opened every pore on her skin.

"Weidong, why are you standing there? Come sit here. I’m not going to eat you."

Hou Weidong sat down. At Li Jing’s insistence, he also took off his shoes, and their four feet rested in the clear water. Several slender mountain fish darted away quickly, but soon peeked back, curious.

"Do you have athlete’s foot?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Really."

Satisfied with the affirmative answer, Li Jing quickly kicked Hou Weidong’s large foot. After making contact, she pulled back just as fast. Hou Weidong retaliated, and she dodged here and there. In this moment, Li Jing completely shed her heavy outer shell, playing in nature with her true feminine self.

They played until they were exhausted and their clothes were damp, only then did they stop.

"When are you going to have children?" Li Jing’s foot rested against Hou Weidong’s broad sole. Gazing at the pond, she asked this seemingly random question.

Hou Weidong didn’t understand. "What did you say?"

"I told you before that I wouldn’t get married in this lifetime, but I do want a child." Li Jing covered her mouth, a smile on her face. "When I want to be a mother, I’ll borrow your seed. My child needs a father with good intelligence, emotional quotient, and physical health."

Li Jing spoke of "borrowing seed" as casually as borrowing an eraser, leaving Hou Weidong speechless. "Don’t make jokes like that."

"I’m not joking. I’m serious."

Neither spoke for a moment. Li Jing leaned over, resting her head on Hou Weidong’s shoulder. Hou Weidong hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arm around her waist.

In the forest, birds chirped. The sunlight filtering through the trees shifted slowly. A gentle breeze caused the grass to sway slightly, and there was even a faint, elusive mist.

Gunshots rang out again from far away, piercing the temporary tranquility. Li Jing sat up straight and looked down. "It’s been a long time since I enjoyed such simple times. If I ever want to come here to play again, you must accompany me."

By the time they returned to the village office, it was four o’clock in the afternoon. Only the Women’s Director, He Xiaoying, was left guarding the office. Seeing them return, she quickly brought out bottles of mineral water.

At five o’clock, Zhang Musan and his group emerged from the forest. The cadres from the Armed Forces Department carried their rifles, while several village cadres used wooden poles to carry a wild boar. Zhang Musan held a colorful pheasant in his hand. Liu Tao and Director Da Jin had faces smeared with black and white streaks, resembling the camouflage makeup of special forces soldiers.

Seeing Hou Weidong and Li Jing, Zhang Musan chuckled. "You two didn’t follow us to hunt. You must have hidden somewhere to flirt."

Li Jing rolled her eyes. "President Zhang only cared about satisfying his own thrill and didn’t care about me at all."

The sentence was grammatically awkward, and Zhang Musan and the others noticed. Zhang Musan laughed heartily again. "Alright, alright. Next time, I will definitely pay attention to your feelings."

Li Jing quickly realized her slip of the tongue. She waved her hand as if to strike Zhang Musan, but stopped mid-air. She feigned anger. "I’m not talking to you anymore."

Having shared the experience of hunting, Zhang Musan became familiar with He Hequan and the others. He Hequan said to Zhang Musan, "President Zhang, let’s take the game home first. You can rest in the office for a while." Zhang Musan, still eager, said, "Let’s go together. I’m not someone who has been pampered. When I was an educated youth, I often helped the commune members slaughter pigs."

Several soldiers from the Armed Forces Department, taking advantage of the situation, left Shangqinglin with their Type 56 semi-automatic rifles. Zhang Musan, Hou Weidong, Li Jing, Liu Tao, and Da Jin went to the pig-slaughtering site.

A wild boar is still a pig. Aside from having more lean meat and a stronger gamey smell, it wasn’t much different from a domestic pig. He Hequan’s knife skills were excellent. Like the butcher Ding, he dissected the whole wild boar into legs, lard, meat, intestines, and head. Each part could be processed into a delicacy. Only the bloodstains on the ground recorded the brutal slaughter.

The boiling water in the large pot quickly released its aroma. Two yellow local dogs darted around the yard, full of energy.

Li Jing sighed, "Humans are the most cruel animals. Dislocating joints, peeling skin, chopping with knives, deep-frying—they can think of every possible method." Hearing Li Jing’s bourgeois remark, Zhang Musan laughed. "This is an old topic. There is an ancient saying that gentlemen stay away from the kitchen. In reality, it’s just covering one’s ears to steal a bell—self-deception."

Everyone then left the slaughtering site, sat back on the benches, drank cold tea, and chatted.

"The forest in Shangqinglin is too precious. It is a wealth bestowed by heaven upon the people of Qinglin."

In front of Director Da Jin of the Planning Commission, Zhang Musan didn’t mention the cement plant at all. Instead, he talked extensively about tourism. "Tourism is an emerging industry that can drive traffic, hotels, catering, and many other sectors. Many places now claim to be building tourist cities, but there are very few high-quality tourism projects. Most are artificial landscapes. None can compare to this forest."

Zhang Musan pointed to the distant dense forest. "Director Da Jin, I want to build a large hunting ground in this forest. Let’s call it the Wangri Hunting Ground. Natural dense forest, authentic and original. Once launched, it will surely become a tourism boutique."

Da Jin had always been involved in industrial projects and had no understanding or interest in tourism. He maintained a polite smile. When Zhang Musan finished speaking, he said, "The project with the most potential in Shangqinglin is still the cement plant. Secretary Zhu and County Mayor Ma are both very concerned about this. As long as you are willing to settle in Yiyang, there will be preferential policies regarding taxes and land."

At this moment, the sound of a car was heard outside He Hequan’s house. Soon, Zeng Xiangang, Tang Guiyuan, He Hongfu, and others walked in one after another.

Zeng Xiangang wore an eye patch and didn’t speak after entering the yard. Tang Guiyuan was naturally a quiet person who wouldn’t say a word even if beaten with three sticks; he entered with a smile. Only He Hongfu laughed and joked, "Madman, why did you come back so quietly? If Secretary He hadn’t called, you wouldn’t have known I was back."

Hou Weidong introduced them one by one. "The three villages in Shangqinglin have leaders who are all good friends. Hearing that President Zhang is inspecting Shangqinglin, I asked them to come over to report on the situation in their respective villages."

Village cadres are the lowest-level officials, and they are not full-time civil servants. Many people look down on village and commune cadres. However, entrepreneurs, who often need to deal with land leasing or expropriation, inevitably have to interact with village and commune cadres. Some difficult village cadres can create endless troubles for enterprises.

Zhang Musan had left the army and started from small businesses, dealing with village cadres very frequently. He understood best the principle that a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. Seeing that the cadres from the three villages of Shangqinglin had all arrived, and that they showed both familiarity and respect toward Hou Weidong, he couldn’t help but be amazed in his heart. "Li Jing once said that Hou Weidong has great prestige in Shangqinglin. It seems this is true. For a deputy town mayor to reach this level is truly remarkable."