Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Return to Hometown

After leaving Wang Ningmei's place, Ye Ling drove back to the villa.

Liu Qiao'er seemed to have gone to work already; there was a big bowl of noodle trash in the garbage can. Ye Ling couldn't help but laugh when he saw it, saying to himself, "This girl, she never forgets to eat, no matter the time."

There was also a note on the table, which read: "Gone for the night, don't touch me for three days!"

The corner of Ye Ling's mouth twitched. This little girl seemed dull, but she was quite sensitive!

After thinking for a while, Ye Ling made a phone call to Liu Qiao'er.

"Wife, I..."

"Don't call me wife!"

"..."

Liu Qiao'er snorted softly, "Whose bed did you sleep in last night? You didn't come back all night, and I was almost stolen away by a thief, yet you still have the nerve to call me."

"Something came up last night," Ye Ling explained helplessly.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly. I still have to go to work," said Liu Qiao'er.

"It's like this, I'm planning to go back to my hometown for a visit, and I don't know how many days it will be. Just wanted to let you know."

"Going home?"

Liu Qiao'er agreed with a sound, then added, "Do you need me to come with you?"

You could hear a hint of excitement in the girl's voice. Continue your journey on m|v-l'e -NovelFire.net

"No need," Ye Ling replied.

"Oh..."

"Ha-ha, don't be disappointed. You'll meet your mother-in-law eventually. No rush," he teased.

"Annoying, hanging up now!"

Looking at the phone that was buzzing with a dial tone, Ye Ling murmured, "She obviously wants to meet her mother-in-law but is too shy to admit it!"

After a quick packing, Ye Ling got in his car and headed for his hometown.

Fenghua Town, Lanshan Village, was roughly a four-hour drive from Donghai City.

But Ye Ling drove fast, and it took him less than three hours to get there.

Despite Donghai City's bustling development, Lanshan Village was just a small mountain gorge. It was very difficult to drive a Chery there; the road was extremely bumpy. Thankfully, two protective posts under the chassis saved the vehicle floor from damage.

Generally speaking, a route like this really required an SUV.

Relatively speaking, Lanshan Village was not even as developed as the village where Liu Qiao'er's family lived since her place could be considered a future port area with potential for growth.

Lanshan Village was surrounded by mountains on all sides, with just one muddy path leading to the village.

What surprised Ye Ling was the number of luxury cars he saw upon entering Lanshan Village. There were BMW X6s, Range Rovers, Mercedes GL550s, and others.

All were SUVs; there were very few sedans.

Beyond these vehicles, there were also numerous figures milling around, seemingly surveying something.

"By the looks of it, is development starting?"

Ye Ling's eyes lit up as he said to himself, "This is great, that kid Li Dazhu is about to strike it rich."

He parked the car at the entrance of the village, as the roads inside were simply too narrow for the car to pass through.

Many of the villagers were outside, watching the surveyors, and naturally, they noticed Ye Ling too.

"Auntie Li, Auntie Wang, Uncle Liu..."

Ye Ling smiled and nodded to them while the villagers praised him. After all, being able to drive back to such a small mountain village was certainly a matter of pride.

Even though the car was quite average...

"Lingzi!"

Just then, a robust voice called out.

Ye Ling looked up and saw a young man, about his height but much more robust, running towards him with excitement all over his face.

It was indeed Li Dazhu.

Li Dazhu was a simple and honest man, which was apparent from his name; however, he possessed a strong sense of business acumen, at least more so than his predecessor, Ye Ling.

After jogging over, Li Dazhu gave Ye Ling a vigorous bear hug, laughing heartily, "You little rascal, you've even driven a car back, impressive!"

"Don't beat around the bush, the village is being developed, isn't it?" Ye Ling rolled his eyes and said with a smile.

"It seems so," Li Dazhu laughed. "They are talking about setting up some medicinal herb base. It's been many days, and still, we have no idea if it can be pulled off."

"Looking at it this way, it should be almost a sure thing, and when that happens, you're going to strike it rich." S~eaʀᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Ye Ling blinked and then said, "Honestly, how much land does your greenhouse cover? With the current policies, industrial land must be at least 50,000 yuan per acre. On my way here, I could see your greenhouse. You must have easily a hundred and eighty acres, right?"

"Not much, about 500 acres or so."

Li Dazhu shook his head, sighing.

"500 acres should be worth tens of millions, what are you sighing about?" Ye Ling asked, puzzled.

"You don't understand. Although I have around 500 acres, a hundred of which I rent, and the rest I bought outright. But when those people heard about the development here, they immediately started making trouble to take their lands back. People really get greedy when they see money. Before the development, they all begged me to buy their land!" Li Dazhu said, somewhat angrily.

"This kind of thing is happening?"

Ye Ling raised an eyebrow and said with a sneer, "There should have been contracts when you bought the land, right? Just don't give it back."

"Damn, easier said than done. Those contracts are all pressed down in the village committee. The village committee is involved in this, too. That bastard Li Kun, I have no idea how much he has embezzled from me, and he's still not satisfied. He outright told me to give half of the money to the village committee, or else he won't give me those contracts," Li Dazhu said.

"Oh?"

Ye Ling furrowed his brows and then smiled, "No worries, let's talk about it after we go home. I haven't seen my mom yet."

"Right."

Li Dazhu hurriedly said, "You should hurry back and see your aunt. Zhao Qiang tried to hit her again last night, but fortunately, I stopped him."

Ye Ling's face immediately turned cold, and he rushed towards his home.

Ye Ling's house, to be precise, was Zhao Qiang's house, situated at the easternmost edge of Lanshan Village, very easy to find.

Over the years, due to Zhao Qiang's gambling addiction, the family not only amassed a significant amount of debt but also had nearly all of their possessions moved out.

Ye Ling knocked on the door, and a somewhat hoarse voice of a woman came from inside the yard.

"Who is it?"

"Mom, it's me, Ye Ling." Ye Ling clenched his fist.

The door immediately opened, and a middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair and a face full of wrinkles stood there.

It was Wang Shufen, the mother of the former Ye Ling.

"Mom..." Ye Ling said softly.

"Ye Ling, you're back."

Wang Shufen smiled, but the smile seemed somewhat forced.

"Get out!"

Just then, a middle-aged man burst out, reeking of alcohol—Zhao Qiang.

Pointing at Ye Ling, Zhao Qiang shouted, "You're not even my son. What are you doing in my house? Get lost!"

Wang Shufen's face changed, and she was about to say something when she heard Ye Ling scoff, "You don't need to kick me out. I'll leave on my own. However..."

"However, what?" Zhao Qiang slurred.

"However, there are some accounts that I think should be settled with you."

Ye Ling walked directly up to Zhao Qiang, locking eyes with him, and said with a cold face, "I heard you often hit my mom, is that true?"