People from the village are so arrogant! the officers thought .
When a person thought he was superior to other people and tried to put other people under his feet, he was probably despised at the same time .
“Humph!” The officers left grumpily .
Being angry will damage the liver . Drinking too much alcohol will damage the stomach . Smoking will damage the lungs .
Wang Yao could tell none of those officers were healthy by just taking a glance at them and smelling .
They drank day and night without knowing horrible things would happen to them soon .
“Bye,” Wang Yao said .
The officers left the village in the car . Wang Jianli went back to the Village Committee with a cigarette in his mouth .
“Those villagers are so arrogant!” an officer complained .
“We should reduce the compensation, especially to the young man,” another officer suggested .
It was very hot that day . Wang Yao didn’t have many patients due to the weather . He had two patients in the morning and none in the afternoon . So, he spent some time cleaning the clinic .
It was nice and cool in the clinic’s courtyard . The temperature was about 86 degrees . Wang Yao felt very comfortable sitting in the courtyard .
He had a visitor when it was close to dusk . It was Wang Fengming .
“Hello, Uncle Fengming, how can I help you?” Wang Yao invited him into his clinic and made him a cup of tea .
“I do need help,” Wang Fengming said .
“What’s going on?” Wang Yao asked .
“Well, I’ve planted the seeds and seedlings you gave me . What should I do in such hot weather?” Wang Fengming asked .
“That’s it?” Wang Yao laughed “You don’t need to do anything special . You planted the seeds under the shade . I’ve checked the place . It should be fine . ”
The seeds were sensitive to strong sunshine .
“That’s good,” Wang Fengming said . In fact, he didn’t expect to make money by growing herbs . He just didn’t want to waste the seeds and seedlings .
“Is there anything else I can help with?” Wang Yao asked .
“No, not really,” Wang Fengming said .
He was not a talkative person . He left the clinic after having a cup of tea .
It was still light outside when Wang Yao left the clinic, even though it was already 6:30 p . m .
The number of people leaving their houses increased after dinner, when it became cooler outside . They got together to chat with one another .
Wang Yao took a look at them . He found the youngest ones were in their 40s . Most of the people were in their 50s and 60s .
An empty nest and aging population were two problems in society . They were more serious in the countryside .
Wang Yao had a walk in the village after dinner . Everyone he bumped into were seniors and kids around 5 or 6 years old . There were no young people like him .
“All the young men in the village have gone,” an old villager said .
“Yes . Look, Fenghua’s son,” another villager said .
“He’s the only young man left,” the old villager said .
Wang Yao heard the conversation among those old villagers .
Am I the only young man left?
He went up to Nanshan Hill . Some of the herbs were ready in the herbal field . He was going to take the mature ones and process them the next day .
Meanwhile, in the capital city of the province, a serious looking middle-aged man was talking to his assistant . “Have you done your investigation?”
“Yes,” his assistant said .
“Good, you can leave now,” the middle-aged man said .
His assistant left the room quietly after closing the door .
Bang! The middle-aged man slammed his cup on the table and sighed .
The sun came out early the next morning . It was going to be another hot day .
“I hate the hot weather,” Fan Youren said as he looked at the sun in the sky .
“Spring, summer, autumn, and winter should be different,” Wen Wan said as she sat under the shelter .
At this time of the year, their hometown would be scorching hot, much hotter than this quiet village .
“This is a really nice place,” Wen Wan said .
What was a good place? A good place was somewhere one didn’t want to leave .
“You like it here, but I don’t,” Fan Youren said .
Not many young people would like a place like Wang Family Village . Life there was boring .
“Is Dr . Wang in the clinic today?” Wen Wan asked .
“No . I saw his post on Weibo that his clinic is closed today,” Fan Youren said .
“I want to see Dr . Wang tomorrow . I think I’ve been recovering really fast . It’s time for me to get out of here,” Wen Wan said .
“Where do you plan to go?” Fan Youren asked .
“Anywhere . I know you are really bored here,” Wen Wan said with a smile .
“I was not serious, Mom . Forget what I said,” Fan Youren replied .
“Shall we go to the beach? I want to see the ocean,” Wen Wan said .
“Sure,” Fan Youren said .
Meanwhile, Wang Yao collected some mature herbs . He required the roots and stems of certain herbs, such as gentian and parsnip; leaves from certain herbs, such as pinellia; and leaves, stems, and roots from the rest of the herbs .
He picked the herbs, removed the soil from them, rinsed them, and dried them in the sun .
The majority of the herbs needed to be processed before using them to brew decoctions . Most of the herbs could be dried with sunshine . Some of them needed to be fried . Only a small amount of the herbs could be taken directly .
Wang Yao decided to save all these herbs for himself . He had a lot of patients coming to the clinic every day, so he required a lot of herbs . In addition, he wanted to save some for his pharmaceutical company . The first batch of products had to be from himself to guarantee the quality .
He worked in the herbal field for the whole morning .
It was very cool on Nanshan Hill . The weather was pleasant all year long .
It was totally different in Ji, which had a reputation of being one of the hottest cities in China . It was already 87 degrees . Lunch time was the hottest time of the day .
As the leader of a province with fast economic development and growing population, Guo Zhaofun was extremely busy . However, he declined all the meetings and visitors to squeeze some time in the afternoon to meet a special person .
“Dad, why did you ask me to come in such a hurry?” Guo Zhenghe asked .
He had come all the way from south Xinjiang to Ji since his father called him .
HIs father had a warm smile on his face . “Sit down . How is your work in Xinjiang?”
“Not bad . I just signed a contract with a company that will invest in Xinjiang . You know the county I’m working in is isolated . The traffic is very inconvenient, and the development is far behind . The place is too poor . ” Guo Zhenghe made his father and himself a cup of tea .
“What project is it?” Guo Zhaojun asked .
“The company manufactures batteries,” Guo Zhenghe said .
“Lead batteries?” Guo Zhaojun asked .
“Yes,” Guo Zhenghe said .
“It will cause pollution locally,” Guo Zhaojun said .
“I know . I’ve asked the company to have the necessary equipment in place to deal with the polluted water,” Guo Zhenghe said .
“Good . We sacrificed our environment to develop the economy in the past few years,” Guo Zhaojun said . “Now, we have to deal with the consequences . We have to fix the environment . The Central government has emphasized that we must ensure our environment will not be further damaged and pay extra attention to workplace safety . They won’t compromise the environment, so you need to make sure you are doing the right thing . ”
“I see, Dad,” Guo Zhenghe said .
“Now, I need to speak to you about something else,” Guo Zhaojun said .
Guo Zhenghe sat up . He knew his father didn’t ask him all the way here to talk about his work . He had guessed what his father was about to say .
“Are you seeing anyone in Xinjiang?” Guo Zhaojun asked .
“Of course not,” Guo Zhenghe said with surprise .
There were girls expressing interest in him in that isolated county . However, he believed they were just interested in his family background . He had no interest in those girls . He wouldn’t even waste his time dating any of them casually .
“Are you still thinking about Xiaoxue?” Guo Zhaojun asked .
“Well, yes,” Guo Zhenghe admitted .
“Your mother has spoken to your Auntie Song, and I’ve spoken to Xiaoxue’s father,” Guo Zhaojun said . “Both of them want to respect Xiaoxue’s decision . I heard Xiaoxue is seeing someone else . I think you probably have already known that . ”
“I know, but they haven’t gotten married yet,” Guo Zhenghe said with a smile .
“You can’t force her to marry you . If you really want her to like you, you must not do anything shameful . I want you to be an honest person,” Guo Zhaojun said .
Guo Zhenghe looked down and kept silent . He knew what his father was like . “I’m sorry, Dad . ”
“I’m the leader of this province and responsible for the people here,” Guo Zhaojun said “Changing the plan of a highway, even just a little bit, would cost several millions to compensate those people who are involved . Who’s going to pay the money? The money belongs to the government . You are using government money for private purpose!”
He was disappointed in his son, who had done something shameful behind his back .