Chapter 108: The Great Flood of August

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“Why did the Supreme Demon Ring reincarnate with me?” Yang Tian was somewhat puzzled, but he didn’t dwell on it. After all, the car outside was waiting. He placed the ring at the bottom of his backpack, hoisted two large bags, and set off.

Yang Xueling, Yang Bao and his wife, and the Huang couple all rode in Zhang Qiang’s big truck, while Yang Tian still rode his motorcycle with Huang Juan.

The villagers gathered at the village entrance, waving goodbye to Yang Tian and the others.

“Oh, look at the little Baozi and Da Biao—they’ve made it and even gone to the city!”

“That’s right. As the saying goes, a good ancestor means a good future, and a full stomach in the morning means a full stomach at night. But I think it’s more like good children mean good fortune. If it weren’t for that little Tian in their family, the little Baozi would probably be stuck here in this poor mountain village all his life!”

“Hmm, Tian is such a promising kid. If only my Da Gouzi were half as talented as him!” Their eyes sparkled with envy.

Yang Tian and Huang Juan walked on, occasionally casting backward glances at Dayushu Village and its surroundings. Watching the familiar mountain village, hills, and the Bailang River fade into the distance, a tinge of reluctance stirred in their hearts.

But Yang Tian’s reluctance was only temporary. He knew clearly that even if they moved to the coast, this place would always be his attachment. Everything here would shine because of him, becoming world-famous with the birth of Dayushu Resort.

The bittersweet feelings about Dayushu were soon diluted by the joy of moving into their new home. That very day, Zhang Qiang and his wife hosted a feast at Golden Coast, celebrating the Yang, Huang, and Zhang families settling by the sea and helping Yang Bao’s family connect with key management at the Zhang Textile Factory’s coastal branch.

Yang Tian and friends gathered at Angie’s small food stall for a party, with Yang Tian treating. Chen Ming, Zhao Shilei, and Zhang Yunxiang were all present, while Yang Xueling and Zhang Xinyu attended as newlyweds. Yang Tian had wanted Zhang Zhi to go to Golden Coast, but Zhang Zhi preferred the lively company with them, so he came to the food stall. Even the mischievous Miss Zhang, Zhang Xiuxiu, stopped by to join the fun.

“Hey, that robot over there, come eat with us!” Zhang Zhi shouted when he saw Zhang Xiuxiu’s personal bodyguard, Xia Dong, standing nearby like a statue devoid of emotion.

“Hey, I’m talking to you. Come eat! Yang Tian is treating today. We need to eat him out of money!” Without Miss Zhang’s orders, Xia Dong wouldn’t budge. So Zhang Xiuxiu teasingly called out again, prompting Xia Dong to slowly walk over.

“Eat Yang Tian out of money? I don’t think you’ll ever manage that!” Zhang Zhi scoffed.

“How impossible! With this whole table of us eating fancy meals at Golden Coast every day, it won’t take a month before Yang Tian’s broke!” Zhang Xiuxiu retorted.

“Ha! Ridiculous! Sis, you’re clueless again. I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen Yang Tian broke, nor will I ever. Want to know why?” Zhang Zhi slapped the table laughing.

“Why?” Zhang Xiuxiu blinked her heavily mascaraed eyes in bewilderment.

“Because as long as a person’s wisdom never runs out, they can never be poor! That should make sense, right?” Zhang Zhi stuffed a piece of stinky tofu into Zhang Xiuxiu’s bowl.

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“You all treat him like a god. To me, he’s just a big blockhead! Last time in Paris, I booked a private box to watch Titanic with him. He refused to go, saying he didn’t like romance movies. What kind of person is that if not a blockhead? Totally lacking in humanity!” Zhang Xiuxiu pouted and complained.

“No way. He actually went with me to the college theater across from school to watch Titanic. I think he was quite focused!” Huang Juan softly defended. Zhang Xiuxiu was speechless, glaring fiercely at Yang Tian and silently cursing him. So he didn’t want to watch in the private box but would settle for that lousy college theater? That’s just looking down on me.

Unknowingly, Zhang Xiuxiu began to feel a twinge of jealousy toward Huang Juan but understood well that their relationship was irreplaceable.

August arrived, and Yang Tian’s new journey began. He started delving into urban greening knowledge. Well, it was more like reminiscing about what trees and flowers were most popular in the 21st century.

In Yang Tian’s memory, tall trees like camphor, weeping willows, and plane trees were favored, with osmanthus even more so, though harder to cultivate. Among shrubs, crape myrtle, wintersweet, and agave were popular. The main grasses were orchids, ginseng, and lucky grass.

None of these existed in present-day Binhai City. The only green spectacle there was the plane trees lining Huangshan Road—tall and majestic.

Recalling this, Yang Tian began preparing to find quality seeds or seedlings of these plants to contract the lands around Dayushu Village.

In late August 1998, the Yangtze River basin suffered three widespread heavy rainfalls, causing a century-level flood in the middle and lower reaches. As a riverside city, Binhai bore the brunt. The area around Dayushu Village was submerged, houses collapsed in clusters, and crops in the fields were utterly destroyed.

The fifth season of greenhouse vegetables managed by Yang Ming and Su Fang was wiped out before maturity, resulting in total loss of tens of thousands of yuan in investment. Yang Ming was deeply troubled, and Su Fang fainted on the spot.

After the flood receded, Yang Ming and Su Fang hurried to the city to find Yang Tian’s family, who were enjoying urban life in their new home.

Yang Bao and his wife were surprised to see them. Their smiles seemed insincere, and the couple wondered about their intentions. On the day they moved to the city, they hosted a feast with relatives and friends, but Yang Ming and Su Fang had not attended. Why did they come now? Yang Bao was stunned, and Li Xiuying privately worried about what scheme the two were plotting.

Yang Tian and Yang Xueling, watching TV inside, exchanged glances. Yang Xueling pouted, knowing that the uncle and aunt’s arrival was hardly good news. Yang Tian smiled calmly. He already anticipated this moment at the end of last year. Good begets good, evil begets evil. Retribution is only a matter of time. Yang Ming and Su Fang were about to pay the price.

“Come in quickly. Sit down!” Li Xiuying smiled and welcomed Yang Ming and Su Fang inside.

“Oh, Daming, look at little Baozi—he’s getting more capable by the day. Look at this house, so luxurious!” Su Fang began her fake praise.

“Yes, little Baozi is the factory director now, making lots of money every year. You’re a real big boss now!” Yang Ming joined in the flattery.

“Brother, sister-in-law, you must have a reason for coming today?” Yang Bao, having lost faith in Yang Ming and Su Fang, spoke bluntly.

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“You’re smart, little Baozi. Nothing escapes you! It’s like this: the flood this year destroyed our vegetable greenhouse, and we lost over a hundred thousand yuan. You know, we borrowed and scraped together all that money. Now it’s gone. How can we pay back the debts? Your nephew, Yang Yang, is still in university, and tuition and living expenses cost money. We... we don’t know what to do!” Su Fang cried loudly, as was her usual tactic—before finishing three sentences, the tears started flowing.

“For disaster areas, the government provides appropriate subsidies!” Yang Bao’s tone softened as he tried to comfort them. Though he hated Yang Ming and Su Fang for their past treatment of Yang Qingtang, hearing about their plight weakened his harshness.

“When will the government subsidies arrive? We owe so much money... how can we survive?” Su Fang sobbed louder.

“What do you want to do?” Yang Bao asked directly, clearly willing to help.

“Little Baozi, you’re a big boss now with money in hand. How about this: buy back the vegetable greenhouse? We only want half the price we sold it for—forty thousand yuan. We really don’t want to do greenhouses anymore!” Yang Ming explained their purpose, his face full of sorrow.

“Forty thousand?!” Yang Bao glanced at Li Xiuying, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He seemed tempted. Although he was now a factory director, he still had affection for that vegetable greenhouse and would be thrilled to get it back.

“No way! After this flood, the government plans to requisition the land around Dayushu Village. We won’t be able to run greenhouses anymore. What’s the point in spending so much to buy it back?” Seeing Li Xiuying almost swayed, Yang Tian quickly intervened. It was time to deal with Yang Ming and Su Fang.

“The government’s land requisition comes with compensation—you won’t lose out!” Su Fang shot a glare at Yang Tian, then smirked.

“Compensation? You know how long the government takes to pay? Also, while compensation for houses is generous, for farmland it’s much less because villagers are moved to city factories for work. So buying that land back is a bad deal. Mom, Dad, we can’t buy it!” Yang Tian said with a smile.

“You’re still just a kid, you don’t understand. Go away!” Yang Ming grew anxious as Yang Bao’s family hesitated, standing and sternly scolding Yang Tian.

“Uncle, that’s your mistake. When we sold the greenhouse before, I had a say. Now, buying it back, I don’t? My parents both work at the textile factory and have no time to farm. So we won’t spend forty thousand yuan on a piece of waterlogged wasteland!” Yang Tian replied firmly.

“You... little Baozi, just help us out. We really have no other choice!” Yang Ming and Su Fang knew their sob story wouldn’t work on Yang Tian, so they turned to press Yang Bao’s family.

“Yes, little sister, our family is barely scraping by. You and little Baozi, please help us. I know you’re good people and will help!” Su Fang tried to persuade the kind-hearted Li Xiuying. “We can buy it back but can only pay twenty thousand. If you agree, sign a note; if not, forget it!” Yang Tian stepped forward and said decisively to Yang Ming and Su Fang.