Chinese Superman

"Knock knock knock!"

The knocking sounded again, unhurried and gentle.

The couple froze instantly, exchanging a surprised and uncertain look.

Who could it be in the middle of the night?

"Quick, take the baby and hide in the inner room. Don't make a sound!"

Wang Tiezhu lowered his voice, took a deep breath, and walked towards the door, trying to appear calm.

Who is it?

Seeing Zhang Xiulan carrying the baby into the inner room, he asked in a gruff voice through the door.

"Tiezhu, it's me, the village chief! Li Defu!"

An old but steady voice came from outside the door.

Wang Tiezhu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pulled open the wooden door latch.

Two people were standing outside the door. In front of them was the old village chief, Li Defu, with his white hair and beard, carrying an old-fashioned flashlight. Behind him was a young girl, dressed in a down jacket and jeans that were popular in the city at the time, with a red scarf around her neck. She was dressed quite fashionably. She was Li Cuihua, the daughter of the old man.

Wang Tiezhu took a closer look under the lamplight and almost didn't recognize him.

This girl is not young anymore, how come she looks even more beautiful than before?

Wang Tiezhu had no idea that Li Cuihua was wearing makeup.

"Village chief, Cuihua, what brings you here in the middle of the night?" Wang Tiezhu stepped aside to let the two in, his heart pounding with anxiety.

The old village chief stepped into the house, his cloudy but sharp eyes habitually scanning the room. His gaze lingered for a moment on the bowl on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) that still hadn't been put away and bore traces of rice water.

"Tiezhu, just finished work? Still having a midnight snack so late?" the old village chief asked casually.

Zhang Xiulan's heart leaped into her throat as she held the child tightly.

"Such sharp eyes."

Xia Xinghan also held his breath and pricked up his ears to eavesdrop!

Wang Tiezhu felt a chill run down his spine. His usually dull mind was now racing. He chuckled dryly and came up with a lame excuse: "Ah...yes, yes! Xiulan...she said she was hungry, so I...I made her a bowl of rice porridge to tide her over."

Upon hearing this, the old village chief smiled and nodded, "You two are quite affectionate."

He paused, then asked, "Where's Xiulan? Is she asleep?"

"Okay, okay! Go back to your room and sleep, you've had a long day!" Wang Tiezhu quickly agreed, afraid that he would go to the inner room to check on him.

The old village chief didn't press further, but sat down at the table and changed the subject: "Tiezhu, I heard you were going door-to-door in the village just now, asking if you wanted to borrow milk powder?"

"Do you want to give this to the child? I'll ask Cuihua to ride her bike to town first thing tomorrow morning to buy a can."

Wang Tiezhu's heart tightened again, and a layer of white sweat instantly broke out on his back.

This old village chief is incredibly well-informed!

He stammered, forced to continue the lie: "Yes...yes, no...it's not for the baby. Xiulan...she said she wanted some formula to help her recover, so I...I just thought I'd ask..."

Xia Xinghan shook his head upon hearing this: "It's over. As expected, experience counts. Li Defu is quite capable. No wonder he became the village chief."

The two are simply not on the same level.

Xia Xinghan suspected that if Wang Tiezhu were to fall into Li Defu's trap again, he wouldn't even be able to keep track of what color his underwear was today.

Fortunately, the old village chief didn't seem to want to delve into it, and just gave a meaningful "oh".

Fearing he might find some clues, Wang Tiezhu quickly took the initiative and changed the subject: "Village Chief, what urgent matter brings you here in the middle of the night with Cuihua?"

The old village chief slowly explained the purpose of our visit: "It's nothing major."

"Hmm... just now, a lot of people in the village heard a loud bang coming from the direction of the hill behind your house, like a muffled thunderclap. I'm wondering if a meteorite fell? Or... if something else was unearthed?"

He emphasized the word "things" deliberately.

Wang Tiezhu's face instantly turned bright red.

A perfect shot!

Fortunately, his skin was dark from years of exposure to the wind and sun, so it wasn't visible in the dim light. He could only laugh it off: "A loud noise? Ah... there seemed to be some movement, but I don't know what happened. Maybe... maybe a rock rolled down the mountain?"

The old village chief glanced at Wang Tiezhu but didn't respond to that question. Instead, he pointed to Li Cuihua beside him and said, "Tiezhu, you know about the glowing stone Cuihua found by the river the other day, right?"

"I know, I know! I was just talking to Xiulan about it."

Wang Tiezhu nodded quickly.

"Today, I've brought the person involved here, and by the way, I'll reveal a state secret to you." The old village chief lowered his voice, his expression becoming serious. "Cuihua, tell Uncle Tiezhu, what do the state researchers call that stone?"

Li Cuihua was a little shy, but she still said clearly, "Uncle Tiezhu, the experts from the country said that the stone is called a 'spirit stone'."

"Spirit stones?"

Wang Tiezhu looked blank, having never heard of this term before.

"Whatever it is, it's good stuff!" the old village chief chimed in, holding up two fingers. "Do you know how much the government gave Cuihua as a bonus? This much!"

He wagged his finger.

"Two...two thousand?" Wang Tiezhu asked tentatively.

"One hundred thousand!" the old village chief uttered.

"How much?!" Wang Tiezhu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his voice trembling. "One...one hundred thousand?! Just for one stone?!"

Zhang Xiulan, who was in the inner room, also quickly covered her mouth, afraid that she would cry out.

100,000 yuan!

Even after a year of hard work, the couple couldn't save more than ten thousand yuan!

"And that's not all!" the old village chief said with a hint of envy. "Cuihua was lucky; she picked up not just one, but four!"

Four pieces! That's four hundred thousand!

Wang Tiezhu felt his head buzzing; he was completely stunned by the number.

He looked at Li Cuihua again. No wonder this girl was dressed so fashionably; she had become rich overnight! He almost didn't recognize her at first!

Seeing his shocked expression, the old village chief said earnestly, "Tiezhu, do you see? The world is changing little by little! Some things that fall from the sky or sprout from the ground might be treasures that can be exchanged for a lot of money, but they could also be... deadly things!"

His voice turned low and serious: "We farmers are short-sighted and can't grasp things."

"The best course of action is to do what Cuihua did: report it promptly and hand it over to the state!"

"If the country has capable people who can distinguish between good and bad, they will be rewarded in full."

"But if we keep it to ourselves out of selfishness, and it causes trouble, it won't just affect one family; it could harm the entire village!"

After the old village chief finished speaking, he gave Wang Tiezhu a meaningful look, then took out a piece of paper with a phone number written on it from his pocket and placed it on the table: "This is the phone number above, it's on 24 hours a day. If... any 'stones' really fall from the mountain behind your house, or if you see anything 'unusual,' remember to call this number immediately."

After saying that, he stood up, called to Li Cuihua, turned on the old-fashioned flashlight again, and left.

Wang Tiezhu stood there blankly until they reached the door, watching their figures disappear into the night. It took him a long time to come to his senses. He mechanically closed the door, leaned against it, and gasped for breath.

Zhang Xiulan also came out of the inner room carrying her child.

The couple looked at the crumpled note on the table, exchanged glances, and saw shock, hesitation, and struggle in each other's eyes.

To fight or not to fight?

At this moment, Xia Xinghan, lying in Zhang Xiulan's arms, was also experiencing a storm of emotions.

"Spirit stones?!"

"Is this what I understand? A spirit stone containing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, used by cultivators for cultivation?! This world... actually has such a thing?! Could this not be an ordinary modern world, but a world with extraordinary power? Or... is the spiritual energy beginning to revive?"

Xia Xinghan recalled the old village chief's words; there was quite a lot of information there.

Just then, Wang Tiezhu stomped his foot, and the struggling look on his face was replaced by a resolute expression.

He strode to the table, grabbed the slip of paper, looked at the number on it, and his voice was a little hoarse with excitement:

"Make the call! We absolutely have to make this call!"

"For the sake of the children, and for the sake of our village! We'll hand it over to the nation!"