A small plot of land in a mountain village

When the two shop owners saw the fat man and his group arrive, they assumed they were buying banyan trees again. After a brief, hushed conversation, one of them looked up at Fan Ming and said, "We can't agree on a price, so we'll head back now."

Fan Ming didn't say anything. In his mind, the price he quoted was the average price for the general public. It was normal that he couldn't accept it, and he didn't care much about it.

The two men passed by the fat man.

"How come the boss has already left when I just arrived?" the fat man said with a smile as he walked up.

"They're just complaining about the high price," he replied casually.

"What brings you here today? You don't have any business to offer me, do you?" He stepped down from the mound of earth, took out cigarettes, and handed them to Fatty and Zhang Niu.

The fat man looked around but didn't see the banyan tree. "Why don't you come over for a stroll and take a look at the banyan tree you bought from Yunnan?"

Fan Ming was slightly surprised after hearing this. What was this fat guy up to today? This guy would never have bothered with these kinds of things before. This was like the sun rising in the west. It was quite rare.

He pointed to a patch of fruit seedlings in front of the fat man and said, "That banyan tree, over by the pond, I thought you brought a stranger here this time, not to buy my banyan tree, were you?"

Fan Ming stared intently at the fat man, as if trying to discern something.

"Still the same as always, you're absolutely right." Pointing at Zhang Niu, "This is a friend of mine. He just happened to be in the mood and came over to take a look."

It turned out to be a business associate brought by the fat man. That was what Fan Ming thought, but it was normal, and he didn't think too much about it. This was probably the fat man's intention!

"Buying a banyan tree is very welcome, but I'm really afraid of your bargaining skills." With a smile, he led the two to another side.

Along the dirt road, there were fruit saplings taller than a person all around, swaying in the wind.

If you listen carefully, you can also hear the sound carried by the wind, whoosh! whoosh! whoosh!

Zhang Niu glanced around occasionally, not saying much. Less talk, more observation—it's always better to be safe than sorry.

"Why would you go all the way to Yunnan to buy banyan trees?" the fat man asked curiously.

I'd also like to hear about this incident. What happened? How could you buy a banyan tree only to find it couldn't survive?

Fan Ming, who had just been smiling, suddenly turned into a dejected face. "I'm furious about this. It's all my fault for misjudging him."

Even buying trees, Fan Ming gets into this mess? This seems like something worth pondering.

"I heard it from someone else. They said there was a strange tree there that would emit a melodious sound like a flute whenever a breeze blew by. I was so amazed that I went to that little place to try it out, and it was indeed as they said. It took a lot of persuasion to buy it."

Oh, a banyan tree that rustles in the wind? This was something neither of them had expected. When they arrived, they thought it was just an ordinary banyan tree, only outstanding in appearance.

"A banyan tree that rustles in the wind? You're going to be rich! Why are you still looking so serious? Don't tell me you're being scammed. Such things have happened before. You have to do your research and observe carefully before buying anything."

He waved his hand and said, "I thought the same thing as you at first, but this tree is genuine. I even hired a local notary, so I came back full of confidence and planned to use it to invest in a garden community."

"It's nothing, why is that? Oh, you planted this banyan tree quite far away, we've walked quite a distance and still haven't arrived," the fat man said with a smile.

"It'll be here soon, it's just ahead, why are you in such a hurry? We'll see it soon anyway." Fan Ming wasn't angry, he still had a straight face.

"Could the problem have arisen after it was purchased?"

"Well, after we bought it and planted it, the banyan tree changed every day and slowly withered. I sent someone to that place to have someone come and take a look, and guess what they said?"

"That's simple. They'll definitely say your geology is bad, affecting this banyan tree." The fat man thought for a moment and understood what it was about. Most people like to shift the blame elsewhere.

"When people came across this tree, they immediately lay down on the ground and said that the tree spirit had run away, which was why it did not wither or die. People would laugh when they heard that."

"Pfft," Zhang Niu, walking beside him, couldn't help but laugh. This tree has a spirit? It's really funny.

However, on the other hand, that's not entirely untrue. Mountains have mountain gods, trees have tree gods, and rivers have river gods—these are things that the village elders often talk about.

There are also things related to gods; I never thought that people would still retain this spirit.

"So, this is utter nonsense and can't be taken seriously at all. It's just my bad luck. I had to sell it quickly. The banyan tree rustles in the wind. I haven't even told anyone about this. It's so embarrassing."

The fat man couldn't help but sigh; Fan Ming was really unlucky. Rare and unusual trees could generally make a lot of money.

Outside Zhangjia Village, there is a small hill covered with pine trees. There aren't many pine trees; they are scattered sparsely across the hillside. Unlike the straight, upright pine trees found elsewhere in the mountains, these pine trees are oddly shaped. It turns out that a tree garden bought dozens of these oddly shaped pine trees from the hillside and made a lot of money from them.

These days, there are quite a few shop owners in the countryside who buy unusual tree species. You can usually get a lot of them, and some will even buy them if they are planted in front of their doors.

After buying the strange tree and making some modifications, its value increased a hundredfold, like a pearl hidden in a grain of sand, which was discovered by others.

"arrive"

After passing through a grove of orchards, we stopped in front of a pond. Not far from the pond stood a banyan tree, more than ten meters tall, with many branches and leaves cut off.

With its outstretched trunk and hanging giant tendrils, the Yunnan banyan tree is a living, breathing specimen with its unique appearance.

"This should be that banyan tree!" the fat man said, looking up.

"Yes, we bought this banyan tree almost a month ago. Look." He said, walking to the banyan tree and kicking it a few times with his feet.

Many dry leaves fell down in quick succession. Soon, a large pile of withered leaves accumulated under the tree, all of them having lost their former color. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was a problematic tree.

There was a large pile of leaves in the distance, probably swept up by the employees.

The towering leaves truly did resemble what Fatty had described, providing ample shade. A quick sweep revealed that Zhang Niu knew he couldn't possibly wrap his arms around the trunk alone.

"What a pity." Even the fat man couldn't help but feel sorry for this good tree. Putting aside its melodious sound, the tree's appearance was also top-notch.

It seems these heroes share similar views and hold the same opinion.

Such a tree trunk would be perfect for planting in my own spot, but I feel it would be better to plant it near Happy Little Abode, where it's easy to plant.

Zhang Niu set a goal in his mind: this banyan tree probably withered because it had exhausted its life force!

Judging from its appearance, this banyan tree has indeed had many branches cut off. If it hadn't been cut off, this tree would probably have been able to block out the sky.

"We'll take this tree." The two fat men were still lamenting the loss of the banyan tree when they heard Zhang Niu's voice.

Fan Ming then remembered that the friend the fat man had brought was the one who was planning to buy the tree. He had been so focused on talking to the fat man that he had forgotten about Zhang Niu standing next to him.

"The price of this tree is still the same as what those two people said before, 80,000 yuan." When talking about business, Fan Ming's face showed the expression of a businessman.

The fat man originally wanted to haggle, but this banyan tree was indeed worth the price. If it could return to normal, the sound of the wind blowing through it would be quite enviable.

"Price isn't the issue; I just don't know when it will arrive." Zhang Niu was accepting of the price of 80,000, but he was actually attracted by the sound it made when it was blown by the wind.

I haven't heard this voice before, but it can't be bad!

Watching the ordinary-looking boy buy the banyan tree, she finally felt relieved. If she had come any later, the banyan tree would probably have been used as firewood.

"I don't know. Where does your friend work? Is he in the same line of work as us?" he asked the fat man.

Before the fat man could speak, Zhang Niu said, "Opening a mountain resort in the countryside isn't about lacking trees, and country folk have many methods; they might even survive. Besides, my place is near the mountains. It's possible the survival rate will be even higher."

Fan Ming really underestimated Zhang Niu. With a resort, Zhang Niu certainly catered to wealthy customers.

"My friend here has a lot of folk remedies; he guarantees this tree will survive," the fat man over there began to boast.

Fan Ming's face lit up with excitement, but he had invited many villagers to look at this banyan tree, but they all had the same problem. He had spent a lot of effort, but he had not achieved his goal.

That's when the idea came to mind: sell the banyan tree, because keeping it would only lead to it withering away.

"I can deliver this tree to you today. Growing a banyan tree is very simple; I'll help you plant it then," he said calmly.

Fan Ming felt a pang of heartache, realizing that he had lost a considerable amount of money after selling the tree. The money really did pass through his hands quickly, shrinking significantly. At least he could still sell it back a lot of money now.

If I wait until I turn into dry firewood, I don't even know where I'll go to cry.

Zhang Niu was thrilled to hear that the banyan tree could be delivered that afternoon. It was a very prestigious thing for him to have the tree brought back to life in his hands.

"Okay, my place is very close, it won't take much time."

"Should we just transport this tree like this, or do we need to trim the branches to lighten its load?" Fan Ming asked as he took out his phone.

In Fan Ming's mind, the banyan tree they bought had many branches that were starting to wither, so it needed to be trimmed to make it look better. It was also for Zhang Niu's own good.

Upon hearing Fan Ming's words, Zhang Niu immediately said, "Let's forget about modifying the branches. It's fine as it is now. There's no need to make any further changes."

Since the other party didn't want it, Fan Ming naturally wouldn't say anything more, which also saved a lot of time.

Pruning the branches was indeed not a good thing for Zhang Niu. There weren't many branches to begin with, and if he pruned them, the banyan tree would really become bare.

With the water in his spatial storage, the pruned branches wouldn't be able to be pulled back out quickly; it would take time. Hearing about the pruning, Zhang Niu immediately stopped him. (To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read the original version!)