Chapter 447 Modern Arc 3 (Meng Wan x Song Tingzhou)

Chapter 447 Modern Arc 3 (Meng Wan x Song Tingzhou)

Meng Wan thought he would have trouble sleeping in a new place, but unexpectedly he slept especially soundly and wasn't woken until the next morning by the glaring sunlight. He squinted as he reached for his phone and saw several WeChat messages on the screen—one from Bi Yun, and others from the newly-added younger cousin from last night and his paternal cousin from a small county town in the central region.

"Bi Yun": Did you arrive yet? Are dragon fruits really ten yuan for fifty? How many bags are you air-freighting back?

"Zhang Yu": Brother Wan, food is left in the kitchen. Don't forget to eat when you get up. We're heading to the fields and will be back by noon.

"Meng Xi": Bro, we're family after all. There are a lot of things I don't know how to say. This New Year... are you still coming back?

Meng Wan casually replied to Bi Yun and Zhang Yu, but ignored Meng Xi entirely. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, changed into a t-shirt and shorts, and went downstairs. It was past nine now, and only he and his slightly senile great-aunt were home.

He had breakfast, sat with his great-aunt for a while, then strolled around the courtyard. Many families in the village had built two-story houses with large courtyards, which felt very different from villages in the north. Meng Wan watched with curiosity for a while, then sent Bi Yun a few photos of the banana grove he'd taken last night. She replied with a string of drooling emojis.

This is pretty nice, Meng Wan thought.

At noon, his maternal cousin uncle's family returned, and Meng Wan had already cooked lunch and fed the great-aunt. He knew how to handle people and charm the elders, so his uncle and aunt were both pleasantly surprised and a little moved.

Meng Wan said he had nothing to do in the afternoon and offered to go work with them. He was genuinely restless—staying home all day was even more boring, so he might as well go check out the famous fruit groves he'd never seen before.

The uncle's family grew sugar oranges—a full twenty mu (about 3.3 acres) of them. The hillside was covered in low trees with dense, crowded branches. When the wind blew, the entire slope looked like a green ocean rolling with waves.

In September, when autumn shoots were growing, it was time to dig trenches and bury fertilizer around the trees. Meng Wan threw himself into the work all afternoon, but ended up completely wiped out and couldn't get up the next morning. Still, his enthusiasm didn't fade—he planned to go help every afternoon once the sun started dipping.

People in Guangxi had always been hardworking, and once autumn rolled in, they were like busy little bees. Even with a guest in the house, they didn't have much time to play host. They could only wait for a rainy day to round up relatives and friends for a big meal with Meng Wan.

The people here were genuinely warm and didn't make a big deal about red envelopes or anything like that. Zhang Yu even took Meng Wan to a wedding banquet at a villager's house—a hundred-yuan red envelope got you all-you-can-eat, with fresh meat and vegetables, uniquely flavored and very much to Meng Wan's taste.

"The new party secretary really came to our village." Zhang Yu stood on the second-floor balcony, looking toward the village entrance.

Meng Wan leaned on the railing and looked with him, seeing only a long line of black cars rolling in. "Secretary? Is your village getting some new policy or something?"

Zhang Yu couldn't explain it clearly. "Not just our village—I think the whole county is planning some kind of canal?"

He said with a sigh, "I heard Luwu Town might be demolished. Too bad that kind of luck never lands on our town." Their village wasn't near the sea and was buried deep in the mountains, so all they could grow was oranges and bananas.

Meng Wan's mind started racing. "A canal? Why don't we go ask around? Looks like a ton of people are heading over."

The village office was right at the entrance, with senior exercise equipment set up on the plaza outside. A decent crowd had already gathered to gawk at the commotion.

By the time Meng Wan and Zhang Yu arrived, the leaders had already gotten out of their cars and gone inside to meet, leaving everyone outside chatting in small groups.

"Why does that leader have such a tall bodyguard with him?"

"Great-uncle, you're seeing things. That's not a bodyguard—the tallest one is the county party secretary."

"The leader is that tall? I thought he was a bodyguard."

"I misread it too. He's that young?"

Meng Wan couldn't catch everything—sometimes he needed Zhang Yu to translate for him. The younger folks were way easier to understand, but the older ones he couldn't follow at all. After listening for a while, he realized this wasn't the town leader he'd imagined—it was the county party secretary.

No wonder they rolled out the red carpet.

The south moved fast, with a new policy every other day. For the county party secretary to personally come down for an inspection, this had to be something big. Meng Wan thought about the 500,000 yuan he had—for rich people, that wasn't even enough for a watch, but for him, it was a serious chunk of change.

Should he go poke around and ask?

Meng Wan figured the leaders' meeting would drag on forever and make them wait ages. But unexpectedly, in less than half an hour, the crowd filed out. His heart started pounding for no clear reason. He figured even if he flagged down their cars to ask, these big shots definitely wouldn't give him the time of day. Maybe he should bring some gifts and ask the village chief later.

But just when he thought he was out of luck, things took a turn—the county leaders didn't get straight into their cars and leave. Instead, they walked further into the village.

The man in the lead, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, was surrounded by the crowd. He was tall, walked with long strides, and his legs looked like they went on for days—he crossed the area where people were chatting in just a few steps.

Big shots in the government probably had that kind of presence. The crowd that had been buzzing just moments before went dead silent, and even the chatterboxes instinctively shut up.

The man, who'd already walked a few steps off, casually glanced back in a certain direction a couple of times and asked the village chief, "Who is that? He doesn't look like a local."

Wujin Village had its fair share of light-skinned folks, but someone as blindingly pale as Meng Wan really stood out.

The village chief followed his gaze, paused for a moment before reacting, "Oh, that's the Zhangs' daughter's son. He's from the north, here visiting relatives." Everyone in the village knew the Zhangs had a relative visiting—the chief had heard about it too, but hadn't expected him to be so handsome.

The man gave a slight nod, stole a few more glances, and didn't say anything else before moving on. He'd been specially sent down for this assignment—the moment he got off the train, he was picked up and taken to the city government, where he sat through meetings for days. Back in the county town, it was more meetings. After the inspection, he had to head straight to Luwu Town without a moment's rest.

This was actually the easy part. Once the Pinglu Canal project kicked off, he'd be swamped, barely able to catch his breath.

Sigh.

Meng Wan had no idea the man had looked back at him. He was on his phone looking up Lingzhou County but couldn't find much useful info. He was still muttering to Zhang Yu, "If we go ask the village chief later, will he tell us?"

Zhang Yu said in surprise, "What's the point of asking what the leaders came to the village for?"

He realized Meng Wan had an unusual level of interest in this matter and finally caught on. "Brother Wan, are you thinking about contracting a mountain here?"

Meng Wan ruffled his own messy, uncombed hair. "Why would I contract a mountain? I've never grown oranges."

His mind was in turmoil too. He just wanted to hold on to this spark of an idea—if an opportunity came up, he'd take it; if not, he'd head back to the capital and get to work.

Yes, that's right. He was still young. Having ideas was normal.

"Xiao Yu, you and your cousin don't have anything to do right now, do you?"

Meng Wan had already been planning to retreat and have his uncle bring him to ask the village chief in the evening. But unexpectedly, the group of leaders hadn't walked far before the village chief came jogging back.

Zhang Yu had just started, "We—" when Meng Wan cut in, "We're both free. Does the chief need something from us?"

The village chief subtly gestured toward the people waiting ahead. "See that? The county leaders want to go up the mountain to look at our village's fruit trees. You young people know how to chat—take the leaders up the mountain. We old folks won't go up."

What luck!

Meng Wan's eyes lit up. He'd been wondering how to get close to the county leader.

He pulled Zhang Yu and hurried over. The man in the white shirt at the front gave their joined hands a brief glance. "Who knows the mountain path well? Lead the way."

Zhang Yu naturally walked ahead to lead.

Song Tingzhou noticed Meng Wan lagging half a step behind him, so he deliberately slowed down to wait. After a few times, Meng Wan caught on and simply walked obediently beside Song Tingzhou.

"So you're here visiting relatives." Song Tingzhou spoke first. Seeing Meng Wan's confused expression, he gave a self-deprecating smile—the other man really didn't remember him.

"We were on the same high-speed train. You were sitting not far from me."

That was just a few days ago, and Meng Wan immediately realized. "Ah, I remember now! The handsome guy who helped me on the escalator—that was you, wasn't it?" He subtly flattered Song Tingzhou.

Song Tingzhou was caught between laughter and tears. "I'm not that much older than you. No need for such formal address."

He then added seriously, "I'm twenty-nine."

"Ah?" Meng Wan really hadn't expected the cadre to steer the conversation here, so he could only respond awkwardly, "Wow, then you're truly accomplished at such a young age!"

...Song Tingzhou was still looking at him.

Meng Wan tentatively added, "Uh... I'm twenty-two this year."

Song Tingzhou looked both pleased and not, his tone a bit complicated as he said, "Very young, you look like a high school student."

That made him seven years younger.

Meng Wan didn't know why, but he seemed to sense a hint of weariness and loneliness from this seemingly composed leader.

The mountains of Wujin Village were all gentle slopes, no steep peaks, pretty easy to hike. Orange trees covered the hillsides, and even though they weren't ripe yet, it was a spectacular sight. The young man beside him had average stamina, his lean, slender back gradually slumping, a thin layer of sweat forming on his face, making him look as lovely as a peach blossom.

Song Tingzhou's gaze unconsciously kept drifting toward Meng Wan, once, then again.

Before meeting him, he never thought he'd be this shallow.

In today's society, same-sex relationships were no longer taboo, and he had never deliberately hidden his orientation. It wasn't that he hadn't had good-looking classmates confess to him during his student years, but back then he was all about his studies, and after graduating, all about his career. The last time he felt this flutter was in middle school watching a horror movie—the fear had long faded, but the feeling of his heart pounding was just like sitting next to that young man that day.

"Are you a county official?"

Meng Wan's slightly breathless words brought Song Tingzhou back to reality. He lowered his eyes, a bit displeased. "You?"

Meng Wan was quick on the uptake. "My name's Meng Wan. What should I call you, sir?"

Calling him "sir" made it sound even more distant.

Song Tingzhou pursed his lips. "Song Tingzhou, the new County Party Secretary of Lingzhou County. Call me Tingzhou, or just call me 'Brother'."

Calling him "Tingzhou" felt too audacious, so Meng Wan smiled and said, "Brother Zhou."

His brow relaxed, and a soft light flickered in Song Tingzhou's eyes. "Mm, Xiao Wan."

Zhang Yu sneaked a glance back and felt the vibe behind them was off.

If even someone as clueless as him could feel it, how couldn't Meng Wan? He toned down his smile, his expression not as eager to please as before. "Brother Zhou, actually I wanted to ask if the county's visit to the village this time means there are any plans for the area?"

"If it's not convenient to say, just pretend I didn't ask. I just wanted to see if there's anything here worth developing, like a small business or something." Meng Wan carefully added.

Song Tingzhou pushed aside a branch in their way. "There's nothing I can't say. The county will issue an official notice in a few days, everyone will know. Have you heard of the Qinzhou Pinglu Canal?"

Meng Wan happened to have looked up some information about it that morning. "I saw it online. It's said to open up a link between Guangxi's inland and the Beibu Gulf, making Guangxi's inland a shipping hub that links rivers to the sea and connects to ASEAN, so that rivers reach the sea, seas connect to oceans, and oceans link to the world."

His eyes lit up. If the Pinglu Canal were truly successfully completed, it would definitely boost port-side industries, logistics, and trade. Meng Wan couldn't think much further than that, but he figured if Qinzhou really took off, opportunities would be everywhere. He didn't know much about business, but he could find opportunities and learn along the way. Luck favors the prepared, after all.

Song Tingzhou was looking at Meng Wan again—the Meng Wan who was sleeping, the Meng Wan who was talking, the Meng Wan glowing under the sun.

Meng Wan, what a good name. For the first time, he experienced the sweetness of silently reciting someone's name and feeling a secret thrill.

"The Pinglu Canal is a major national project." Song Tingzhou's gaze was gentler than before as he explained to Meng Wan, "Any township in Lingzhou County involved in the Pinglu Canal will need to be redeveloped, but the Wujin Village area isn't part of that."

Zhang Yu, leading the way ahead, let out a disappointed "Ah" as his face fell. Even though he felt such good fortune wouldn't come to his family, he was still disheartened to hear it.

So it was true!

Meng Wan was overjoyed, speaking faster. "This... this is a huge project, isn't it? It must require a lot of investment, right? Can it really be done that quickly?"

Song Tingzhou didn't reveal more, only saying, "It's bound to be a huge investment. Not only will the government invest, but after construction starts, the county will also be bringing in investors. You interested?"

He'd always been level-headed in his work. People below him would send cars, houses, or cleverly slip gold bars into his trunk, but he never let anything slip. That's why the higher-ups felt safe sending him to Lingzhou County.

Yet now, when Meng Wan asked, he immediately began thinking about whether there were projects suitable for small and mid-sized businesses to participate in, even starting to calculate how he could let Meng Wan get a piece of the action within compliance.

"I'm just a nobody, I definitely wouldn't qualify for the investment program. When the time comes, I'll look for opportunities to do a little business in Lingzhou County or the coastal areas." Meng Wan wanted to, but he had never done business and didn't have that kind of money. Even if Song Tingzhou said he'd give him a chance, he wouldn't dare go for it. Besides, they weren't related or anything, and this young county party secretary had already been really down-to-earth by talking to him this much. Asking more would be pushing his luck.

"You're a good guy." Song Tingzhou, out of nowhere, started encouraging him.

Meng Wan had been a bit on guard around him at first, but after a few exchanges, he felt Song Tingzhou wasn't that kind of guy. On a whim, he invited him, "Brother Zhou, do you have anything pressing later? If not, how about coming to my uncle's place for a casual meal after we go down the mountain?"

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