A small plot of land in a mountain village

"You're curious, aren't you? How come there are so many vehicles with military license plates in this garage?" Old Zhu, who had just gotten out of the car, saw Chairman Zhang looking at the military vehicles not far away.

"Hmm, quite a few members of the Liu family are military officers," Chairman Zhang said, turning around.

"This is the key to the Liu family's continued success. Once they achieve results, promotion is just a matter of time. Let's hurry up and get promoted!"

Now that we're at the sanatorium, we should head over there as soon as possible.

The sanatorium is a six-story building, which is not very tall. This was mainly because many people prefer to take the stairs, so the building was not built very tall.

After asking around downstairs, the two learned that Liu Guanfeng was on the fifth floor. When they got to the fifth floor, they saw soldiers standing at the door, patrolling back and forth.

Soldiers are meticulous in their duties and cannot go without prior notice. Helpless, Old Zhu made a phone call and was finally allowed to pass. Since many people came over frequently, the Liu family then brought in soldiers to guard the gate.

The fifth floor was completely silent; not a sound could make a difference.

"I didn't expect that the busy Secretary Zhu could still come. I really feel bad about it." Liu Feng, the second-generation leader, who came out to greet him, had rushed back from Beijing this time.

"I've been busy with other things and only just got here. Please forgive me." It's important to be polite in this situation.

Liu Feng, who was standing in front of him, was much older than Old Zhu, and a lot of his hair was already turning silver. However, in the capital, Old Zhu could only look up to him with such strength.

Liu Feng led Lao Zhu and the other man to a special care room. At this time, Liu Guanfeng was drinking porridge with his mouth open, and many of the ulcers on his face had stopped.

"Xiao Feng, your complexion is much better today than yesterday." Liu Feng noticed Xiao Feng's good complexion as soon as he entered the room.

Liu Guanfeng, who was sipping his porridge, looked up and saw his uncle with two other people behind him. One of them seemed to be a high-ranking provincial official, but he didn't recognize the person next to the secretary.

Liu Guanfeng now needs to be fed by a special person. His hands have almost no feeling left, and his overall physical condition changes every day. He knows the final outcome without anyone telling him.

"I feel a bit better today than yesterday." Although she was fully aware of her body, she still said with a smile.

Liu Feng was very anxious about Xiao Feng's condition and came up with an idea to spread the news, hoping that some reclusive master would come out to save him.

This is a last resort, a desperate measure, a way to hold onto the last straw, for good or bad, there is still hope.

"That's good. This is Secretary Zhu from the Provincial Party Committee, who has come to visit you," he said to Xiaofeng, who was lying on the bed.

Chairman Zhang looked around the room. The VIP room was indeed high-end, including a series of emergency equipment placed in a corner, and a beautiful nurse taking care of it.

He placed the wine bag on the sofa to the side. Liu Guanfeng in front of him was thin and bony, and his appearance was very different from before, especially the festering parts on his body.

As the summer heat intensifies, it's no wonder people say he won't live much longer. You can tell just by looking at him; even from a distance, Chairman Zhang can still smell a faint stench.

Needless to say, this must be the ulceration emanating from his body. Speaking of which, Liu Guanfeng is really unlucky, inexplicably contracting this strange disease.

"Thank you, Secretary, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit me."

"I heard about your illness, which is why I had time to come over. I wonder if you're feeling any better lately."

Lying in bed, Liu Guanfeng roused himself and said, "Thank you, Secretary. My condition is just so-so. Whether it's better or worse, thank you for coming to visit."

Liu Guanfeng was well aware of their intentions. Many people had brought in so-called miracle doctors who could cure all diseases, but it was all just empty talk; they had no real effect whatsoever. They were simply swindlers.

At this point, Old Zhu didn't know what to say. After chatting for a while, he got up to leave. The longer he stayed in the room, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Judging from his complexion, Old Zhu could tell that he was nearing the end of his life and probably wouldn't last more than a week. It was a real pity; the Liu family was about to lose another powerful official.

After seeing him out of the room, Liu Feng returned to the room himself, which was considered a polite gesture.

When someone is sick, it's usually like this: there aren't many people coming to visit this morning, and Old Zhu didn't run into anyone else when he came out. He guessed it was still early.

. . . . . .

The two kinds of poached chicken at noon were enough for Zhang Niu and Fatty to finish the whole meal in one sitting. No, we also had to include Little Dot.

Despite its small size, it has a huge appetite. When it comes to eating chicken, it doesn't hold back at all. Now, its chopsticks skills are much more dexterous, and it won't drop the chicken mid-air because it can't hold it properly.

The wooden bowls were filled with the best meat from free-range chickens. Their taste was no less than Zhang Niu's. One wooden bowl contained chicken meat, and the other wooden bowl next to it contained plum wine.

After eating a piece of meat and taking a sip of wine, he would pat his belly from time to time, which made Zhang Niu and the others laugh out loud. It was really funny that he patted his belly when he wasn't full.

That evening, Zhang Niu sat on the threshold, staring at the 108 seven-colored fruits. Since the fruits were hung up, the plant had stopped growing.

The fruit and its bags showed no signs of growing at all; they remained exactly the same as they had been that morning. Zhang Niu had indeed guessed quite a bit correctly.

The seven-colored leaves that fell back then transformed into this plant, and it's estimated that most of their energy was used up. But what exactly are the effects of this fruit? That's a matter for Zhang Niutou and the others to figure out.

At night, this vine emits a faint glow, while its open fruit bags slowly close; it truly looks like a billiard ball now.

The seven-colored fruit inside was nowhere to be seen. Could it be ripe? This thought popped into my mind. Less than twelve hours had passed from birth to the closing of the fruit bag.

Just like the legendary fruit, as soon as the fruit bag closed, the little one appeared out of nowhere, his eyes burning with desire as he stared at the now-closed fruit bag.

When the little guy arrived, Zhang Niu remembered that this guy was a strange beast born from the space. He thought he should ask the guy if the fruit was ripe.

This makes me feel more at ease. If the fruit ripens, I'll pull out the vine. Then I think leaving it here without the fruit is a good choice; at least the room looks nicer.

"Do you know why the fruit bag is closed? Is it ripe?"

After hearing this, the little one on the shoulder nodded its head and pointed with its tiny paw at the fruit bag closest to the roof beam.

Looking up, the fruit bags all seemed unchanged, just the same. "Are you sure you're not mistaken? All these fruits are the same, there's no difference."

"Squeak squeak" "Squeak squeak"

The little one's repeated shouts made Zhang Niu take it seriously. Could there really be something special about the fruit bags on them? Since they were so serious, I had to take a look.

Standing inside the house, Zhang Niu couldn't reach the roof beams, so he could only move a table over. Anyway, the wooden door outside was already locked, so there was no need to worry about anyone coming in.

I put a newspaper on the table to avoid leaving footprints, which would be a hassle to clean later. I guess this table will only be used in winter.

I'm very curious about the fruit bag on the roof beam. I'm quite looking forward to seeing what's on it that the little one can see.

Just as it stood up, a gust of wind blew in. Damn it, how did this auspicious creature get in? That gust of wind was from flapping its wings as it emerged.

Jixiang stood in front of the vines, staring at the fruit bag, occasionally chirping. The little one was very excited when Jixiang came in and quickly climbed onto her back.

They pointed at the fruit bag with their paws and cheered. It seemed they were describing the fruit's effects.

Never mind, I'll take a look at the fruit at the top and see if there's anything wrong with it that Little One should point out.

With the table attached, there's just enough space to stand under the vines and see the fruit clearly. Getting closer, I realized this fruit really is different.

On the outside of the fruit bag, a small gold character appeared, its color very faint, but Zhang Niu still managed to see it.

There's a golden character on the outside of the fruit bag. What does it mean? Since this fruit bag has characters, I guessed the others would have characters too, and I was right.

The other fruit bags were mostly covered with medicine. I saw five bags in a row with the same characters. How could this be? The characters were all exactly the same. Is it really possible for such a coincidence to happen?

The little one seemed to notice that Zhang Niu had discovered something different about the fruit bag. He squeaked and made a gesture as if he was taking it off. After a while, the little one memorized these human-like actions.

"Take it off?"

Squeak!

He meant that he knew, so Zhang Niu asked more questions to make sure he was at ease. What if the fruit bag suddenly came crashing down? Wouldn't he be in trouble?

I tiptoed and gently touched it; it felt very cool. Just as I was about to twist it off, the fruit bag had already fallen into my hand. Did it just ripen and fall off on its own?

Jump off the table and point the fruit bag at the light bulb, just like looking at a light bulb with an egg.

Unfortunately, the light couldn't penetrate the fruit bag to see what was inside. Looking at the faint golden characters in my hand, it was strange that a character had appeared out of nowhere.

The golden characters seemed to have appeared naturally. There was no trace of carving; they blended seamlessly with the fruit bag. While Zhang Niu was still pondering, the little one chirped again.

The little one pointed to a fruit bag nearby. He seemed to want the bag, but he walked over anyway and noticed a faint "crack" character on it.

His own had the character for "gold" in it, while the others had the character for "medicine," but this one had the character for "crack" in it. Moreover, the little one kept squeaking and making noise, which made Zhang Niu more and more confused.

I just picked the split-word fruit and handed it to the little one. With a gentle scratch of his little paw, I found the same seven-colored fruit inside, now much smaller than my little finger.

The little one who swallowed the seven-colored fruit showed no change, which left Zhang Niu dumbfounded. The word "crack" had no effect? ​​What a joke.

Judging from how happy the little one is, this fruit should be effective!

The little one had just swallowed one when Jixiang flicked its sharp beak and popped a whole fruit bag with the word "medicine" on it into its mouth. This really didn't make any sense.

Zhang Niu was really curious to see what characters were written on the 108 fruits, so he went into the inner room, found a pencil and a notebook, and planned to write them down.

The result was quite unexpected. Apart from the "golden" character on the Zhang Niu fruit and the "crack" character on the Xiao Bu Dian fruit, all the other fruits had the "medicine" character on them.

All that hard work for nothing, and this is what I got in return. I slapped my forehead a few times, looking at the bag of golden fruit on the table. Since they ate it without any problems.

"Then it should be the same if I eat it!" With a determined heart, I took out the seven-colored fruit, closed my eyes, and swallowed it.

An unexpected incident has occurred!

PS: First update of the month (To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read the official version!)