Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

"Brother Chen? Why are you up the mountain so late at night?"

"What, just because you've taken over the contract doesn't mean I can't go for a stroll in the mountains?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant."

Lin Chen smiled and walked over, placing the things by the door with a casual and natural tone:

"Stop squatting on the ground eating steamed buns, tidy up the table, I brought two dishes, I'll have a drink with you."

"Okay, okay!"

Xie Yongqiang hurriedly began tidying up the dirty wooden table, moved the planning map onto the wooden bed, and moved the table outside.

Looking down at his own disheveled and dirty appearance, and then at the composed Lin Chen, Xie Yongqiang felt a mix of emotions.

The two sat down casually, and Lin Chen poured him a glass of wine. The glasses clinked together, producing a crisp sound.

Lin Chen stared at his evasive gaze and spoke directly:

"You've been loitering around my house all afternoon, why haven't you come in? Do you need something?"

Xie Yongqiang forced a smile:

"I...I was just passing by, it's nothing serious."

"Don't give me that 'I can't let it go' act. If you keep dawdling like that, I'm leaving!"

"No, no, no!"

Xie Yongqiang immediately reached out to stop him, sighed heavily, and looked dejected and helpless.

"Brother Chen, to be honest, it's getting colder and colder, the wasteland can't be cleared, and we can't buy saplings. This autumn planting is completely hopeless. My dad won't give me a penny, and he's even stopping my sister and the others from lending me money. I'm really at my wit's end. I thought about going to your house to ask for money, but I'm too embarrassed to ask at the door."

Lin Chen didn't immediately offer to lend money. He took a sip of his drink and said:

"Tell me first, how exactly did you plan this entire barren mountain area?"

When Xie Yongqiang started talking about his plans, his eyes lit up and he became very energetic.

He went inside, took out his things, spread out the crumpled blueprints, and skillfully traced lines on the hillside plots with his fingers.

"Brother Chen, look, the sunny slope has thick soil and plenty of sunshine, so we can plant Nan Guo pears and Jin Feng pears, local cold-resistant varieties. They can be planted in autumn, recover over winter, and quickly start bearing fruit. The shady slope to the north is cold, so I'm thinking of planting 123 small apples and Han Fu apples there. We can sell the early-ripening fruit for retail and stock up on the late-ripening large apples for wholesale!"

"This flat area can be used to build a simple warehouse."

Lin Chen actually listened and casually typed the blank space in the middle:

"And here?"

Xie Yongqiang scratched his head and gave a slightly embarrassed smile:

"I'm thinking that if the orchard gets bigger in the future, I might build an office building here or something..."

Lin Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud, pointing to the empty space in the center of the blueprint:

"Wow, you're quite ambitious. You didn't even have money to buy trees in the early stages, but you've already planned out the office building later. You've got quite the ambition."

Xie Yongqiang scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly, his face full of embarrassment:

"I just dream about painting, to have something to strive for. Right now, I'll be incredibly grateful if I can even keep the fruit trees alive."

"Daydreaming is not laughable; daring not to dream is."

Lin Chen picked up his wine glass, took a sip of baijiu, and said:

"You're alright, kid. You still have some drive. Just because you're so determined this time and dare to go head-to-head with your dad, I'll give you a hand. If it were like you used to be, I wouldn't have given you a chance."

Xie Yongqiang was overjoyed, his voice trembling slightly:

"Brother Chen, would you be willing to lend me 20,000 yuan?"

Lin Chen shook his head. Xie Yongqiang was a little disappointed. Yes, 20,000 was still a bit too much.

But Lin Chen continued:

"Is 20,000 enough? If you dig by yourself, when will you be able to plant trees? You'll be exhausted. It'll be tough until next spring. Here's what we'll do: rent a bulldozer. I'll lend you 30,000 as an investment. If you succeed, you can give me a share of the profits. If you fail, it's okay. I'm just supporting your business."

These words struck Xie Yongqiang so hard that he froze on the spot, his wine glass falling onto the table. He hurriedly stood up.

Everyone rejected him, tried to stop him, and was pessimistic about him.

His own father scolded him for not doing his proper job, his relatives mocked him for messing around, and the whole village laughed at him.

Only Lin Chen trusted him unconditionally, supported him with real money, and said he could do it.

He had been anxious and doubted himself, but Lin Chen's sudden support made Xie Yongqiang's nose tingle and his eyes redden instantly.

He tried to hold back for a long time but couldn't. Afraid of losing face, he quickly picked up his wine glass and downed most of the vat of liquor in one gulp. The liquor made him cough violently, and tears streamed down his face.

Lin Chen quickly snatched his wine glass away:

"What are you doing, drinking with your enemies? That's not how you drink! This is good wine!"

"It's not a big deal, don't make a fuss like a girl."

Xie Yongqiang wiped away his tears with both hands, grinning broadly.

Lin Chen smiled and patted his thin shoulder:

"After you finish drinking tonight, go straight down the mountain and go home to sleep. Your shack is drafty from all sides, and you'll catch a cold and it will delay your work. Let's get to work first thing tomorrow morning."

"If you collapse, I won't give you my 30,000 yuan investment."

Xie Yongqiang nodded forcefully, his eyes filled with an unprecedented determination:

"Don't worry, Brother Chen, I'll definitely work hard this time and achieve results. I won't let you down!"

Lin Chen smiled and shook his head:

"What embarrassment are you making me out of? You're doing this for yourself, for your future. Just work hard."

The autumn night in northern Liaoning was chilly, but for the first time, Xie Yongqiang's heart, which had been dormant for months, was filled with hope. He didn't know why, but after Lin Chen said he would support him, he suddenly felt confident and believed that he was on the right path. If he didn't succeed, it would definitely be his fault.

After drinking, Xie Yongqiang listened to advice and went down the mountain. He barely slept a wink all night, his mind filled with images of the barren mountain orchard.

Xie Guangkun smoothed his Nike-style hair on the kang (a heated brick bed), turned to the side, and asked in a low voice:

"Why did Yongqiang suddenly see the light? He suddenly came down the mountain and I'm completely lost."

Yongqiang's mother mumbled incoherently:

"I just heard from Yongqiang that Lin Chen invested in him and gave him 30,000 yuan."

"What the hell?!"

Xie Guangkun sat up abruptly and pulled the light cord to turn on the light.

"What are you doing? Why are you turning on the light in the middle of the night?!"

"You're still thinking about sleeping? Get up and join the meeting!"

Yongqiang's mother sat up and scolded:

"Why are you having such a pointless meeting in the middle of the night? Just turn off the lights and go to sleep. How do you have so much energy?"

Xie Guangkun sat cross-legged and said:

"What does Lin Chen mean by this? He was about to freeze, and Yongqiang immediately calmed down. Then he pulled this stunt."

"What could it mean? Lin Chen has the qualities of a good older brother! He has faith in our Yongqiang! Otherwise, why would he invest? Let me see you come up with 30,000 yuan all at once." Yongqiang's mother couldn't stand Xie Guangkun's attitude.

Xie Guangkun waved his hand, his eyes squinting:

"You're being too one-sided. Do you think it's possible that he's worried that Yongqiang will become a high-ranking official in the future and wants to keep him tied to the fields for the rest of his life?"

Yongqiang's mother rolled her eyes and said irritably:

"Get lost! I've spoiled the kid enough, and you're even more confident than me. How can you not understand things? Wang Xiaomeng's tofu shop can't hire our Yongqiang, and no one will hire him for manual labor on construction sites. As for Qi Santai, don't even think about it; it's hopeless. Lin Chen is just trying to help our Yongqiang out of kindness, and you still don't see that!"

"I……"

Xie Guangkun was about to say something when Yongqiang's mother interrupted him:

"What do you mean, 'you'? You don't have to support the children's affairs, but don't make things worse. The older generation of farmers all know the rules: before the ground freezes, in just over half a month, if you plant fruit trees then, they will sprout and grow tall as soon as spring thaws. The survival rate is double that of seedlings dug up and planted in spring, and they can grow for an extra half month. If you delay for even a day, the survival rate will drop!"

"I'm not listening to you anymore! Lin Chen has already invested, which means our child's approach will definitely work. You can cook for yourself starting tomorrow. My son and I are going up the mountain to work. Time for bed!"

After Yongqiang's mother finished speaking, she turned off the light and went to sleep. Xie Guangkun smacked his eyes, wondering when his wife had become so eloquent.

The next morning, Xie Yongqiang took a bus straight to town.

In the past, he was indecisive and hesitant in his work, but this time, with Lin Chen backing him up, he walked with his back straight and went straight to the agricultural machinery station to finalize a deal on a bulldozer. That afternoon, the bulldozer sputtered up to the barren mountain behind the village, where people were working. Lin Chen also brought him the money.

Xie Yongqiang immediately placed a full order for a batch of first-grade grafted fruit seedlings in the county, specifically requesting robust seedlings with their original root ball intact. These seedlings are resistant to transplanting and almost never die.

Bulldozers leveled the pile of rubble and dug standardized planting pits for fruit trees.

Machines are a hundred times better than manual labor, saving people the trouble of wielding picks and digging the ground.

For three whole days, the work was done meticulously, with neat rows of tree pits and a clean, spotless slope.

If Xie Yongqiang were to work alone, he wouldn't be able to achieve this result even in the spring.

Early on the fourth day, a large truck from the county nursery drove up the mountain road to the foot of the mountain. The truck was full of fruit seedlings, with thick black soil covering the roots and the branches were thick and the buds were full.

With the fruit trees in place, Lin Chen, having nothing better to do, helped with the temporary arrangements. Xie Yongqiang hired more than a dozen villagers, all of whom were uncles and aunts who had finished their farm work and were quick and efficient, paying them daily wages.

Some carried and moved the seedlings, some aligned them, some tamped down the soil, and some pulled water pipes to water them. Taking advantage of the weather where the nights were frozen and the days were thawing, everyone worked hard and made the most of the time to work around the clock.