Riding the wind of rebirth

"Don't worry, everyone. Xiao Miao and I will come back to visit often," Zhou Zhi said with a smile. "Once the fruit starts to ripen next year, we'll definitely still need to do business with them. Otherwise, it would be a huge loss if we worked so hard for two years and didn't even know what the fruit tasted like!"

The villagers, who had just been crying, were now all laughing.

Tu Liangzhi leaned closer to the microphone: "Egg elbow went to Chengdu and will help us find sales channels, so don't worry, even if he goes to Chengdu, we'll still be tied to him, we can't do without him!"

This gave the villagers the feeling that the child had left, but not completely, which was strange, and everyone felt inexplicably at ease and tacitly accepted it.

However, Zhou Zhi was still reluctant to part ways, so he asked Mai Xiaomiao and Azi to direct the workers to move things while he said goodbye to the villagers who came forward.

It wasn't until the afternoon that the truck finally set off for Xichang Railway Station. Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao got into the guard vehicle, while the villagers were still crowding around them, so they could only drive forward slowly.

After passing the town government, everyone gradually stopped. In the end, a group of children on horseback followed Zhou Zhi's car all the way over the top of the mountain.

"Brother Elbow! I'll come see you when the holidays start!" Ziqi Aguo, riding in front of Mujia Laha, cried out to Zhou Zhi, "I promise I'll study hard!"

Zhou Zhi choked up and couldn't speak, but he gave a thumbs up to the rearview mirror.

Mai Xiaomiao was already sobbing uncontrollably in the passenger seat, sobbing as she said, "I never expected that the villagers would gather here to see us off. They are so kind!"

"Actually, I should have visited the agricultural university's base, but I didn't dare to stay long," Zhou Zhi sighed. "I can only apologize online."

“The villagers are really nice. Even when I came here two years ago and visited their homes, they insisted on giving me one of the only two eggs they had left,” Zhou Zhi said. “The reason I stay here is because I see their lives getting better and their smiles becoming more frequent. That sense of accomplishment is stronger than anything else.”

"Yes!" Mai Xiaomiao nodded: "This kind of happiness is priceless!"

Just then, Zhou Zhi's phone rang. It was Wu Renzhong calling: "Zhouzi, Uncle Tu said you're planning to go back to Chengdu?"

"Yes, things are all on track in Lianhe Township, and the handover has been completed. I should go back and focus on my research. You haven't forgotten that I'm still a student, have you?"

"Don't rush off like this," Wu Renzhong said. "My brother-in-law wants to see you. When would be a convenient time for you?"

"I should be able to get to the city tonight, but it might take some time to ship the goods. A whole carriage of stuff needs to be sent to Chengdu West Station."

“I know you’ve accumulated quite a few odds and ends over the past three years,” Wu Renzhong said. “But you can leave the shipping to someone else. I’ll register you at the Qionghai Hotel first, and we can meet there for dinner tonight.”

"Who are they?" Zhou Zhi asked. "If there are too many people, then forget it. Xiao Miao doesn't like it."

“Just my sister and brother-in-law, and Shama,” Wu Renzhong laughed. “Don’t use Xiao Miao as a shield. You’re just afraid of trouble, aren’t you?”

"See you tonight then." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "The main thing is that now that you're in a high position, I have to be more careful."

"Get lost!" Wu Renzhong laughed and scolded, "See you tonight!" Although only half a month had passed since he saw his friends off, the grass by Qionghai Lake had already begun to turn yellow, while the main peak of Lushan Mountain, Shamao Peak, on the side of the hotel was still lush and green, forming a strong contrast with the other towering but bare mountain peaks surrounding Qionghai Lake.

“I wanted to ask this last time I came,” Mai Xiaomiao said as she got out of the car and strolled around the park-like hotel with Zhou Zhi in her hand. “Why is it that among all the mountains surrounding Qionghai Lake, only Lushan is covered with forests, while the other peaks are all bare?”

"It's a long story," Zhou Zhi said. "Because there are many cultural landscapes on the main peak of Lushan Mountain, including more than ten ancient temples belonging to the three religions, such as Guangfu Temple, Mengduan Temple, Sanjiao Temple, and Zushi Hall, which were built as early as the Han Dynasty. There are also earthquake stele forests, bronze and iron Buddha statues, bronze statues, pagoda-shaped incense burners and other cultural relics from the Ming Dynasty, as well as a museum of the Yi ethnic group's slave society, which is unique in the country. It is also close to the city and has always been well protected as a green barrier for Xichang City."

“Even the ‘Nine Dragons Han Cypress’ from two thousand years ago has been preserved. It is one of the ten oldest trees in Sichuan. We saw it last time.”

"But the surrounding mountains and lakeside are different. We once went through an era of reclaiming land from the lake and logging to increase production. At that time, people were still working hard to make ends meet, which left us with an ecological debt."

“Starting in 1989, various regions gradually became aware of this problem and have now begun to consciously carry out ecological restoration and protection, such as closing mountains to forests, artificial afforestation, returning farmland to forests, returning farmland to lakes, and wildlife protection, etc. However, the effects vary.”

“Because China is very large, the geographical conditions in different places are completely different,” Zhou Zhi said. “In fact, our hometown of Jiachuan has also experienced similar things. The forests in places like Bijia Mountain, Rongshan Mountain, and Fubao have also suffered from severe logging.”

"However, Jiachuan has a subtropical climate, so the vegetation recovers remarkably quickly. Any place can grow dense grass and shrubs if left unattended for just six months, and the soil erosion will not be too serious."

"However, the climate here is closer to that of the plateau, and the environment is relatively fragile. In addition, the wind is strong and the rainfall is concentrated. Therefore, once the vegetation is destroyed, the soil erosion will be very serious. Furthermore, the plateau climate makes the vegetation recovery very slow. This has resulted in the fact that even today, the surrounding mountains are still difficult to recover."

"Look at those valleys formed by those hills, there's still some greenery there. That's the result of years of persistent aerial seeding for afforestation. It's not easy at all. If it weren't for this, soil erosion and other geological disasters would be even more severe."

"So how can we solve this problem?" A steady voice came from behind.

"Hey, Secretary Li, hello." Zhou Zhi turned around and found Li Yutang and Wu Renzhong already standing behind him. He didn't know how long he had been listening, so he quickly greeted them: "I thought you were busy with work and wouldn't arrive so early, so I took Xiaomiao for a stroll by the lake. I didn't expect you and Renzhong to be here too."

"Hello, Uncle Li." Mai Xiaomiao also greeted Li Yutang along with Zhou Zhi.

"Hello, Xiaomiao," Li Yutang quickly replied, feeling a little embarrassed.

Li Yutang had met Mai Xiaomiao a long time ago. At the time, he thought she was just an innocent and cute ordinary little girl. Although Zhou Zhi had introduced her as the granddaughter of the head of the Computer Science Department at Sichuan University, Mai Xiaomiao was still quite young. Therefore, Li Yutang thought she was just a little girl who had come to China from abroad for a holiday and didn't take her seriously.

At the time, Zhou Zhi asked Mai Xiaomiao to call him uncle, and he accepted it because in his eyes, Mai Xiaomiao was a well-behaved nephew.

But then things started to go wrong.

He started receiving calls from high-ranking figures, asking him to pay attention to the young migrants in Lianhe Township, not to disturb their lives and work, but to take good care of them and prevent any mishaps.

Moreover, the people greeting them are getting higher and higher in rank. (End of Chapter)