On the sixth day, Li Weiyu and Chen An returned to the capital, and Li Zhengguo also went back to work.
The excitement faded, and Mother Li felt a bit lost, but the moment she thought about having more time to spend with her great-granddaughter, and another great-grandchild on the way, her disappointment vanished without a trace.
On the eighth day, Chen Fu received a call from Tong Xinhua about a class reunion. Chen Fu refused, saying he had to take care of his four sons and had no time.
Tong Xinhua then suggested holding the class reunion at Kusanli.
Even though the hot spring valley was not open, the old courtyard, the small Western-style buildings, and the greenhouses in Kusanli were all distinctive.
Chen Fu refused again, saying that when the Kusanli scenic area was closed, the village was also closed to outsiders.
Tong Xinhua was extremely disappointed and said they would arrange another meeting, and Chen Fu must not refuse next time. Chen Fu vaguely agreed.
Two days later, a county inspection team arrived to survey public opinion and livelihoods.
All the village officials went out to accompany the inspection team. One female official from the team suggested splitting into two groups, one for inspecting livelihoods and the other for surveying public opinion.
Those inspecting livelihoods would go directly to the greenhouses, while those surveying public opinion would go into the village to visit residents.
The female official was in the group surveying public opinion. Vice Village Chief Ou, who was accompanying her, clearly noticed that she was distracted and that the other two people in the group were the ones communicating with the villagers.
When several people appeared on the village road, and the female official suddenly rushed out, Vice Village Chief Ou seemed to understand.
"Chen Fu!"
Chen Fu, Lin Hua'er, and Li Min were taking the four children to the courtyard when he suddenly heard someone call him. He turned sharply:
"Tong Xinhua?"
"It's me." Tong Xinhua looked at Chen Fu with a charming smile, "I didn't expect us to meet so soon, did I?"
Faced with this smile, Chen Fu was a little dazed.
Lin Hua'er felt a sense of crisis. This woman was not only beautiful but also had a very infectious smile. More importantly, she had a great figure and dressed and behaved very fashionably.
This reminded her of her husband telling her to buy new clothes and lose weight.
As a sense of crisis arose, so did a sense of sadness.
Li Min's defenses immediately went up. This woman's smile and body exuded a seductive aura, a hormone that was clearly meant to entice men, and she undoubtedly had ulterior motives.
Seeing her eldest son stunned, she stood in front of him:
"Who are you? You just rushed out shouting. Didn't you see my son holding a baby?"
Tong Xinhua's smile remained unchanged. "Hello, Auntie. I'm Tong Xinhua. I..."
Li Min waved her hand dismissively, "I don't care who you are. Move aside quickly."
Then she pushed her eldest son eastward, "Hurry up. Don't let any strange women stop you."
Chen Fu gave Tong Xinhua an apologetic smile and then explained to his mother, "This is my classmate?"
"Classmate?" Li Min didn't stop walking. "Classmate in what? You've been out of school for twelve years."
"You never concealed your home address when you were in school. The Kusanli scenic area has been open for seven or eight years. Have any classmates come to find you all these years?"
"Even if the Kusanli scenic area can't raise your value, it shows that in the eyes of your classmates, you are just a useless old farmer, not even worth giving them pre-booked tickets."
"Suddenly, a female classmate comes to get close to you. Don't you find it suspicious?"
"However, if you insist on being foolish, your old mother will not stop you, only kick you out of the house."
"Mom, what are you saying?"
Chen Fu replied to his mother, then waved at Tong Xinhua, said nothing, and turned to walk east.
Watching Chen Fu's family leave, Tong Xinhua's smile slowly faded.
Even a naive village woman was so guarded. It seemed that Chen Fu was a dead end.
But it didn't matter. The Li and Chen families still had unmarried individuals.
When they arrived at the courtyard, Li Min told the younger sister-in-law about Tong Xinhua.
Tian Jing, who was playing with Xuanyuan with her mother-in-law, paused. "Whose relative is she visiting?"
"I don't know," Li Min shook her head. "But I can go and ask."
A moment later, Li Min returned, bringing news about the inspection team.
Tian Jing suddenly stood up. "Who is on duty at the nursery today?"
"Dama and Xiaomai."
"I'll go take a look."
Tian Jing quickly ran towards the nursery.
Outside the nursery gate, Dama and Xiaomai blocked a group of people trying to enter.
Zhou Chenbin, who was accompanying them, explained to the inspection team that this courtyard was not under Kusanli's jurisdiction.
The leader was about to give up, but a man behind him questioned,
"Village Chief Zhou, this land belongs to Kusanli, so how is it not under your jurisdiction?"
Zhou Chenbin explained, "It's rented out to others."
"Rented out?" The man seemed unsatisfied with this explanation.
"Even if it's rented out, there should be routine inspections, otherwise, how would you know what they are planting?"
At this moment, Zhou Chenbin understood that the purpose of this inspection team today was impure, otherwise, they wouldn't have come so abruptly without prior notice.
He looked at the man coldly and said, "The Kusanli seedling planting base is famous throughout the country. I didn't expect the inspection team to be so ignorant."
"Speaking of which, you haven't shown your credentials, nor the theme and questionnaire for this inspection."
"You?" The man's face was filled with anger. "What are you..."
"Shut up!" The leader reprimanded the man and smiled at Zhou Chenbin, "This inspection was personally notified by Deputy County Mayor Tong. As for the questionnaire, it's with the other group."
After mentioning the deputy county mayor and evading Zhou Chenbin's three demands, the leader prepared to leave, but was stopped by someone calling out, "Wait!"
A group of people followed the sound and saw a beautiful woman walking towards them step by step.
As she walked, they felt a heavy burden on their shoulders, pressing their backs down.
"Captain Tian," Dama and Xiaomai called out joyfully.
"Captain Tian," Zhou Chenbin and Zhang Shitóu called out guiltily.
Tian Jing nodded faintly and stood before the group. "Please show me your credentials and the core content of this inspection visit."
The man who had been aggressively questioning Zhou Chenbin, bearing the heavy pressure on his shoulders, asked, "You, who are you?"
"Where is your politeness?" Tian Jing sneered, "Before asking others, shouldn't you state your identity and name?"
The man was about to speak again, but the leader glared at him and said to Tian Jing, "We are a temporary inspection team composed of personnel seconded from various government units."
"The core purpose of this inspection is to examine Kusanli's development path, to learn from it, and to promote it widely in rural areas across the county."
"Oh?" Tian Jing raised an eyebrow. "Then do you know how much Kusanli has invested?"
"Yes," the leader nodded. "Deputy County Mayor Tong brought in an investor."
Tian Jing's eyes flashed, and she asked, "Then do you know that most of Kusanli's income comes from the scenic area?"
The leader nodded.
Tian Jing asked again, "Kusanli's scenic area is irreplaceable. Don't you understand this?"
The leader shook his head. "This is not our responsibility. We just need to write a written report after the inspection."
Tian Jing waved her hand, and the pressure on these people disappeared. "You can go. I will report truthfully to the higher authorities regarding your attempt to enter this place for inspection, knowing that it is a seedling planting base."
The expressions of these people changed.
From the appearance and disappearance of the pressure on their bodies, they knew that Captain Tian's status was beyond their reach.
And Captain Tian's words made them inwardly exclaim that they were finished.
The leader quickly explained, "We didn't know this was a seedling planting base. We were just curious because we saw it was a large courtyard at the end."
Tian Jing shook her head. "Your hasty assembly, your purpose, and your movements are all suspicious. I will not overlook any suspicious details."
"If you want to prove your innocence, explain yourselves to the investigators who will come for you."
Seeing that Tian Jing left no room for maneuver, the man's eyes flashed, and he said,
"As far as I know, the nursery stops planting in winter to let the land rest. Captain Tian, why are you so nervous? Could it be that you are planting some illicit plants inside?"
"You're the one."
Tian Jing pointed her hand, and the man immediately felt restrained.
"Let me go, let me go!" the man shouted. "Even if you are the captain of the special team, you have no right to detain me."
Tian Jing sneered, wondering who sent such an idiot.
The people around the man immediately scattered. They hadn't expected to have someone with impure intentions mixed in among them.