Ch 170: A Word Awakens the Dreamer
The wind in Southern Yunnan is very strong, and the terrain is steep.
Especially the place where Jiang Zao and the others are going requires going into the mountain. The journey is bumpy. Even though Jiang Zao was mentally prepared, she couldn’t help but feel a churning in her stomach. She took a while to recover after getting out of the car so she wouldn’t throw up directly.
Qiao Li rarely displayed gentlemanly demeanor, handing Jiang Zao a tissue.
Jiang Zao took it without even looking, “Thank you.”
Then asked, “How much further?”
Qiao Li had been there several times and automatically acted as a guide, “About half an hour’s walk, if you don’t need to rest along the way.”
Jiang Zao said she was fine.
Qiao Li originally thought Jiang Zao was pretending to be tough, but he didn’t expect her to actually persevere, and without blushing or panting, looking completely well-adapted.
On the contrary, Qiao Li was a little tired.
Although he had walked this road several times, every time he had the urge to ‘build a road as soon as he had money’.
The jade mine pit finally arrived, with a few scattered workers mining, it was obvious that it hadn’t officially entered the right track yet.
Jiang Zao looked around and asked Qiao Li, “There should be quite a few jade mines around here, right?”
Qiao Li nodded: “Yes, I was only able to snatch these two, one large and one small, which are considered better than nothing. Some people have been working hard for more than half a year and have returned empty-handed.”
This wasn’t him deliberately showing off, he had to let Jiang Zao, this partner, know that he was also capable of doing practical things.
Jiang Zao spent a day wandering around the two jade mines. Apart from drinking some water, she didn’t eat a single thing until night fell, and then she returned to a guesthouse nearby.
The guesthouse had already been bought by Qiao Li and was considered an additional asset.
Jiang Zao sat down and drank a mouthful of hot soup, feeling her whole body warm up.
“I’ll give you credit for thinking things through, even buying a guesthouse.” Jiang Zao knew that Qiao Li’s abilities were far more than these.
In her previous life, he was the one who single-handedly saved the Qiao Family.
Moreover, this guesthouse was obviously renovated, and should have cost a lot of money.
Qiao Li was also hungry, eating large mouthfuls of food, never feeling that food could be so fragrant.
“Well, at the time I just thought it was too stupid to go around looking for a place to sleep, and if there were big clients coming over, they could just check in at night, all-inclusive with food, drink, accommodation, and transportation.”
He handed a steamer of shumai to Jiang Zao.
Pure beef, very fragrant.
Jiang Zao ate two in a row, and the empty feeling in her stomach finally disappeared.
“Have you found a polisher and cutter?” Jiang Zao asked.
Qiao Li nodded: “Almost everyone here knows how to do that. What’s hard to find is a jade carver. Most good jade carvers have fixed partners, and the people here are very xenophobic, forming several forces. It’s extremely difficult to snatch people from these forces.”
“If you can’t snatch them, join them. What’s so difficult about that? Tomorrow, buy some decent gifts and pay a visit. If you flatter them enough, it will be easier to talk about favors.” Jiang Zao said while eating.
A word awakens the dreamer.
Qiao Li suddenly slapped the table, “That’s right, how didn’t I think of that?”
Jiang Zao said with a smile: “Because you’ve been flattered and given gifts to since you were a child, and you’re used to looking at problems from a higher position, so naturally you wouldn’t think of these things.”
Qiao Li was slightly stunned, feeling that it made a lot of sense.
So he hurried to eat his fill, and then went out to buy gifts.
It was very remote here, and almost every household was closed at night. If you wanted to buy gifts, you had to drive to the town.
By the time he came back, it was almost dawn.
Jiang Zao slept very soundly that night, perhaps because she was too tired during the day. She didn’t even know that Qiao Li had knocked on the door.
The next day, at seven o’clock, her biological clock woke Jiang Zao up.
Picking up her phone, there were three missed calls and two WeChat messages.
They were from Fu Yanci and Zheng Xiao respectively.
Jiang Zao first sent a video to Zheng Xiao, but found that the internet here wasn’t very good and couldn’t send it, so she had to switch to making a phone call.
Lu Li answered the phone.
“General Jiang, Miss Zheng stayed up all night writing music and just went to sleep.” Lu Li’s voice was very soft.
Jiang Zao was very surprised: “She’s willing to touch musical instruments again?”
◈◈◈
“Yes.”
“That’s good.” Jiang Zao was relieved, “When Xiao Xiao wakes up, tell her that I’m fine here. I’ll go back when I’ve taken care of things, so tell her not to worry.”
Lu Li: “Okay.”
This person really is economical with words.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Zao called Fu Yanci again.
The other party answered very quickly.
Giving people the illusion that he was holding his phone at all times, waiting for a call.
But the person who answered the phone had a steady tone, neither hurried nor slow, “Hello, Zao Zao.”
Jiang Zao responded, “I’m sorry, I slept too soundly last night and didn’t hear your call.”
Fu Yanci said it was okay.
The two were silent for a moment.
Fu Yanci then asked: “It’s getting colder, remember to wear more when you go out today.”
Jiang Zao hadn’t gone out yet, but it was indeed quite cold in the room. When she took her arm out of the blanket, she immediately felt a chill.
“How did you know?” she asked while getting dressed.
Fu Yanci paused for a moment and said: “The weather forecast.”
Jiang Zao: “Thank you for your concern.”
Then a knock sounded on the door. It was Qiao Li asking: “General Jiang, are you up?”
“Oh, wait a moment.” After responding, Jiang Zao said to Fu Yanci on the other end of the phone: “I have to go, bye-bye.”
Fu Yanci didn’t even have a chance to say ‘bye-bye’ before he heard the mechanical ‘beep beep beep’ sound.
Jiang Zao put on her clothes, casually washed her face, and combed her hair before going to open the door for Qiao Li.
This appearance without any makeup had a unique sense of aloofness, causing Qiao Li to be slightly stunned.
After a brief moment of amazement, he asked: “I’m going to deliver gifts, are you going?”
Jiang Zao thought of what Fu Yanci had just said, “Yes, wait for me.”
She went back into the room and put on a trench coat before coming out.
“Let’s go.”
Qiao Li thought that girls were indeed delicate. Before he could even say the words, he sneezed several times as soon as he went out.
“Damn! How did the temperature drop so quickly?”
Jiang Zao was glad that she had listened to Fu Yanci, otherwise she would be freezing right now too.
“Do you want to go back and put on more clothes?” Jiang Zao asked.
“Achoo!” Qiao Li rubbed his nose, “I’m not that delicate, let’s go. I only found out last night when I went to town to buy gifts that a lot of people have been communicating with the local forces recently. If we go late, the day lilies will be cold.”
Fortunately, there was warm air in the car, and Qiao Li’s body warmed up a lot.
They first went to Village Chief Lai’s house.
Village Chief Lai’s surname is Lai, and he is very prestigious in the local area. It is said that he is from a family of village chiefs, and he has very good relationships with several nearby villages. His influence is deeply rooted and intertwined, and he is considered the backbone of the local people’s hearts.
Unfortunately, Jiang Zao and the others were one step late. When they entered the house, they saw a pile of gift boxes on the table, obviously someone had just been there.
Qiao Li’s heart skipped a beat, but since they had already come, there was absolutely no possibility of retreating.
“Village Chief Lai, my two jade mines are really short of manpower. Why don’t you help me and introduce some people? Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get your share of the benefits.” Qiao Li hinted.
Guess where Third Master Fu is now?
