After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, villagers began busy with the renovation of their new houses.
On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, Sister-in-law Niu accompanied Chen Fu to the Lin family to present the betrothal gifts.
Lin Guangde did not invite relatives and friends, so he was accompanied by his own family members.
He did not even notify Lin Erlai and Lin Wulai.
Seeing Chen Fu enter his second uncle's house, Lin Erlai regretted it immensely.
How could he not have guessed that Li Zhengguo's visit that day was for Chen Fu?
He had only thought that Li Zhengguo's eldest and second sons would not be interested in Hua'er.
Lin Erlai's wife urged her husband to go to work in the fields quickly.
Although the villagers were busy in the new village, they still cared about village affairs. Of course, they also knew about Chen Fu and Lin Hua'er's engagement, and were curious about Li Min's silence.
Li Min: "..."
Hmph! She was very busy.
More than half a month later, spring plowing began, and the villagers were extremely busy.
A large number of workers came to the village to install cable television lines and tap water in Kusan.
After half a month, the two groups of workers left Kusan, and another group of workers entered the back mountain with their tool bags, following Zhang Shitou.
The villagers of Wang'er Village were hired back early to do the work.
Several trucks of stainless steel materials were transported into Kusan and sent to the hot spring valley by cable car.
In late April, the two large and small reservoirs on the high mountain north of the lake valley were built, and the water pipes leading to the hot spring valley were also laid.
Large water pumps roared, lowering the water level in the lake by several centimeters.
Alum was added to the large reservoir, and after settling, it was introduced into the small reservoir and treated with chlorine dioxide.
This was already the best that could be done in the hot spring valley.
With a few more procedures, they could have directly set up a tap water plant.
...
Afeng, carrying her five-month-old daughter, planned to go up the mountain to make preparations before the opening.
Mother Li felt sorry for the baby to suffer on the mountain, but she could not let the child be separated from her mother, and Dama was about to give birth.
Tiantian and Meihua were busy with the nursery, and Xiaomai was called to the big mountain by Zhengguo in response to a phone call to accompany Cheng Bin.
Unable to help, she could only ask Zeng Jingliang to bring a washing machine up the mountain.
Grandma Li's suggestion was accepted by Zeng Jingliang, and having a washing machine would allow him to arrange his time more reasonably.
After he painstakingly got the washing machine up, he discovered that the tap water pipes were not yet connected.
He called down to inquire with the village committee...
The village loudspeaker sounded again:
On April 28th, water will be supplied uniformly to the mountain and the plains. The water meters in each household will be at 0, so there will be no need to record the initial meter readings for the first time.
After the water supply is turned on, charges will be based on the water consumption shown on the meter each month, at 1.20 yuan per ton, and meters will be read once a month.
After reading the meters, water bills will be posted on the notice board, and everyone is expected to pay their water bills voluntarily, otherwise the supply will be cut off.
This price is the price from the tap water company, and the hot spring valley charges according to the tap water company's price.
Please use water sparingly.
...
With the annual cable TV fee of 120 yuan, the villagers were not concerned about the water being charged.
When the water pipes on the mountain and the plains were all connected, and water flowed out with a simple turn of the faucet, the villagers were even less concerned about the water fee.
Their time was money, and by saving the time spent fetching water, they could do more.
Before May Day, Village Chief Li rushed back. With his return, the villagers' confidence returned, and they immediately divided their families into two groups.
One group went to the hot spring valley to welcome the opening of the new season, and the other went to the construction site of the new primary school to help.
There was no need for Village Chief Li to assign tasks; they arranged it themselves.
Li Zhengguo chuckled, he had truly become the mascot as Deputy Village Chief Ou and Party Secretary Yang had said.
On May Day, the third season of the Kusan hot spring valley tourist season began.
After the first day's tourists who had made reservations entered the mountain, more tourists poured in.
These tourists were there to persuade the Kusan scenic area to relax its visitor capacity.
Li Zhengguo, who was overwhelmed by their persuasion, only allowed a capacity of five hundred people.
Given the limited hot springs, accommodation, and dining facilities in the hot spring valley, they could not handle more.
Even with a capacity of five hundred, it did not significantly reduce the pressure of visitor flow.
Li Zhengguo was worried.
He was worried when business was slow, and he was worried when business was booming.
Tian Jing knew that the biggest pressure in the hot spring valley was accommodation.
She suggested leveling the mountain on the south side of the hot spring valley and building two more buildings on the mountaintop.
The cave on the north end, which was a rock cave, had been developed into a small attraction, so only the southern end could be utilized.
Li Zhengguo thought about it and decided to first invite people to survey the site to see if it was suitable for leveling and building on it.
This survey actually yielded a great surprise.
He quickly asked Zhang Shitou to keep the surveyors steady and called County Mayor Ji, who had been re-elected for the third term.
County Mayor Ji could only continue to contribute his remaining energy in this position due to age restrictions.
County Mayor Ji was also happy for Kusan when he heard that there was a large and deep karst cave below the mountain south of the hot spring valley.
He promised Li Zhengguo that he would report it to his superiors and apply for development rights for Kusan.
That mountain itself was land that Kusan had applied for.
Li Zhengguo quickly informed County Mayor Ji of the pressure on the hot spring valley and asked him to apply for more land south of this mountain for building houses to alleviate the accommodation pressure.
County Mayor Ji naturally agreed. Kusan's tourism boom in the past two years had not only driven the economy along the northern city line but also steadily increased the county town's economy.
After reporting to County Mayor Ji, Li Zhengguo personally accompanied the surveyors to eat, drink, and have fun in the hot spring valley.
Two days later, he received a call from Deputy Village Chief Ou. After confirming that County Mayor Ji had expeditiously applied for the development rights for Kusan, he led the surveyors down the mountain.
He also gave the surveyors two wild pheasants and dozens of wild eggs as an apology for delaying their time.
When he returned to his office, he began to list subsequent work arrangements.
Deputy Village Chief Ou peeked in and asked what development rights County Mayor Ji had applied for Kusan.
He heard that County Mayor Ji had successfully applied for the development rights and the extra land, and told him to inform Village Chief Li that he could proceed.
Li Zhengguo continued writing without looking up: "Kusan may need to take out a loan again."
"Why?"
Deputy Village Chief Ou also felt a sense of relief without debt. After two years of ease, would they need to borrow again?
Li Zhengguo continued to write: "I said 'may'. If the village has enough money, it won't be necessary, and if not, they won't be able to borrow much."
"Because below the mountain south of the hot spring valley is a large karst cave."
After finishing the work arrangements, Li Zhengguo explained to Deputy Village Chief Ou what a karst cave was.
"The formation of karst caves is the result of long-term dissolution by groundwater in limestone areas..."
"...Therefore, I don't know what it's like inside, nor do I know where the entrance is."
"I plan to excavate the entrance from the ground level of the hot spring valley. Once the entrance is opened, we will know if it is spectacular or ordinary inside."
"But no matter what, it has to be opened. More attractions mean more income."
The most expensive cost for developing the hot spring valley was the cable car. Entering the karst cave from the hot spring valley only required expenses for opening and tidying the cave.
The initial investment should not be too much, and it could also generate income from a new attraction ticket. Deputy Village Chief Ou and Party Secretary Yang were also very happy.
When Tian Jing learned of the survey results, she was also surprised:
"We never thought of digging into the southern mountain, nor did we pay attention to that mountain. We didn't expect it to be a treasure mountain."
"I wonder where the original entrance leads."
Because the formation of karst caves is related to groundwater. Karst caves are also divided into water caves and dry caves.
Dry caves are not truly dry, but they do not have rivers.
Water caves have rivers. Considering the terrain of Kusan and the Ku River, this rock cave should be a water cave.
It's just unknown where the flowing river comes from and where it leads.
Li Zhengguo shook his head: "I don't know. I've already made arrangements. The geological survey bureau will send people to cooperate with us next week."
"Tomorrow, I will go to the tourism bureau and other relevant units to handle the procedures. I'll be busy again."
Tian Jing did not need her husband's guilt; she also had things to do.
In the evening, Village Chief Li compensated Group Leader Tian with his actions.
Facing Group Leader Tian, who overslept again, Ouyang Meihua giggled wildly.
Tian Jing got angry and told her to move out.
Ouyang Meihua refused to leave; Dama was about to give birth, and she had to take care of her daughter during her confinement.
Tian Jing personally tidied up her things and threw them into the front yard.
The rooms in the first and second courtyards were far apart, and there was a gate between the two courtyards.
Ouyang Meihua: "..."
Even the courtyard gate could not block her hearing. But if she spoke, she would be sent home by Tian the Great.