Volume Four: Awakening of Insects - Chapter 140: Li Ying's Journey Afar

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After Feng Shuya was appointed deputy mayor, she still spent most of her time in Taosha Village. This was where her true career lay. Only by successfully developing and expanding the Great Serpent King Company could she truly soar in her political path. Therefore, she often visited Le’er to discuss matters with Li Ying. Her ascension to town mayor was now an inevitable reality.

Even after becoming mayor, she still had to leverage the achievements of the Great Serpent King Company. If the company could generate significant benefits throughout the county, it would be not only a major accomplishment for her but also a political achievement for her father, Secretary Feng.

Currently, snake breeding was naturally the company’s core business. But what about after expansion? Feng Shuya raised this question to Le’er and Li Ying.

“Hehe... I don’t have any long-term plans yet. Let’s just focus on doing snake breeding well first,” Le’er replied pragmatically. As a countryside youth, his vision was narrow, his ambitions modest; he took a cautious, steady approach. After investing in the company, he still kept one million yuan for himself.

However, Li Ying had a broader outlook. This was a time of great transformation, and seizing the current opportunity to build and expand the snake breeding business was only the first step for Great Serpent King. Even Boss Hong, far away in Foshan, invested in the company not for meager profits.

Boss Hong was very perceptive; he believed Sha Le’er would be a man of great fortune. He even brought a fortune teller to assess Le’er’s destiny. At the same time, he was confident that the Great Serpent King Company, relying on government support, would achieve great things in Longshan County.

“Breeding snakes well is our first step,” Li Ying said calmly, then looked at Feng Shuya. “Shuya, as long as the government supports us, we won’t let you down.”

Feng Shuya understood Li Ying’s meaning. This was also a deal: the government’s support would bring wealth to the company, and the Great Serpent King Company would contribute to Longshan’s economic development, laying a solid foundation of achievements for Secretary Feng and herself.

“Don’t worry about that. With my dad around, the government will definitely support your company.”

“What if your dad leaves Longshan County?” Li Ying smiled. “For example, if he gets promoted?”

“My dad’s not even fifty yet,” Feng Shuya also smiled. “Even if he gets promoted, it’ll be at the municipal level. You’ll still receive support. Besides, there’s me too.”

They were in the office at Snake Plateau Mountain. The dormitories there were already set up completely.

Only the headquarters office was here. Li Ying’s office was still at Le’er’s home.

Right now, talent was scarce, especially management personnel. Le’er was not fully competent as the farm director. Besides, he had many matters to attend to and couldn’t always stay at the breeding farm. Therefore, Li Ying appointed Luo Yinxian as deputy director, who also served as the current financial supervisor. Among all the staff, Luo Yinxian was the busiest. She handled almost all daily affairs.

She did quite well. Though she couldn’t breed snakes herself, she managed operations efficiently and was learning the breeding process, currently studying white mice and yellow mealworms.

White mice were very difficult to raise, with many procedures. Li Ying arranged for her not to directly handle breeding but to fully understand the procedures and maintain detailed control over each stage.

The first batch of 10,000 breeding white mice had already given birth to their first litter and were soon to have the second.

The farm’s first batch planned to breed 50,000 snakes. Boss Hong had already prepared more than 30,000 snakelets, leaving a gap of over 10,000, and Li Ying was preparing to go out to negotiate the purchase of snakelets.

Fifty thousand snakes required a vast amount of food. This batch was half-grown snakes, born last year. Initially, yellow mealworms could feed the snakelets, but the main food was white mice. In two weeks, one snake would need at least two white mice, so the total consumption of white mice every two weeks would be 100,000.

If white mice couldn’t be raised well, there would be no way to breed snakes. Of course, there were other foods—fish, loaches, eels, water snakes, yellow mealworms, and so on. Overall, the costs were enormous.

In June and July, another batch of snakelets would arrive—just born, numbering about 50,000. By then, the advanced batch of snakes would also begin laying eggs, allowing them to hatch their own snakelets.

Le’er stayed behind with Feng Shuya for dinner, while Li Ying prepared to travel far. This trip was not only to purchase snakelets but also to procure many supplies.

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Sha Qiang had not gone out or to Guangzhou in recent days, drinking heavily at home every day. Elder Sheng kept coming to see Le’er and Li Ying with Le’er’s uncle. Li Ying had no choice but to promise to investigate the matter after returning to Guangzhou.

Sha Qiang’s situation was nearly resolved. However, in the countryside, matters could never be handled too harshly, especially since Elder Sheng was a decent man and Le’er’s uncle spoke on his behalf. Thus, maintaining peace was best.

The next day, Li Ying set off on her journey.

Le’er and Luo Yinxian watched the car depart before returning home. The sun was rising, shining across the land. The sunlight was already harsh; the winter clothes had long been shed. Luo Yinxian wore a floral shirt and jeans. She had been quite tired these days but appeared spirited, with rosy lips and white teeth, her hair tied back in a ponytail.

“Le’er, are you going to the farm?” Luo Yinxian asked, and Le’er replied that he was.

“Why don’t you come with me?”

“You go first,” Le’er said.

Le’er, looking at Luo Yinxian’s full figure, felt uneasy walking alone with her, especially seeing her body like a ripe peach. That beautiful figure, every inch of skin he knew well, yet it stirred a restless feeling within him.

Luo Yinxian said nothing, only smiled and walked alone toward Snake Plateau Mountain. Watching her leave, Le’er finally breathed a sigh of relief but felt nervous thinking about spending the night together under the same roof.

“Jin’er, Lele, let’s go,” two small snakes swam up. The two snakes seemed very close, moving side by side, flicking their tongues almost simultaneously, then jumping onto Le’er’s shoulders—one on each side—licking his face.

“Let’s go play at Snake Mountain.”

Soon they arrived at Snake Mountain. Le’er first went to the office, where Luo Yinxian was writing something. She looked up briefly as he entered, then returned to her writing.

“Deputy Director Luo, let me make you a cup of tea,” Le’er cheerfully said, brewed a cup, and placed it on her desk.

“Thank you, Director,” Luo Yinxian coquettishly glanced at Le’er, startling him. “You making tea for me—I hardly deserve it.”

“You deserve it… hehe, I’ll go check upstairs.”

Taking the little snakes to the mountain, the snakes suddenly slipped away toward a stone plaque on the mountain.

“Uh, where are you two going?” Le’er hurried after them to find them right in front of a dark, ominous cave.

“Oh, what are you two doing here?”

The two snakes hissed at him, then slithered into the cave.

“Uh… you little rascals, why are you going in there? That place… that place… isn’t your home inside, is it?”

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Le’er recalled Li Ying’s explanation of the inscription on the stone plaque—this had once been a place where large snakes roamed. Could this be related to Jin’er? Was their snake nest inside?

Soon, the two snakes disappeared from sight, but Le’er was not worried. He trusted they would be fine.

“Le’er, you little rascal! What are you doing? What’s inside the cave?” Tao You Neng shouted from afar.

“None of your business, just get back to work!” Le’er laughed. “Jin’er and Lele went into the cave.”

Everyone knew Jin’er and Lele were the two snakes that followed Le’er every day—his treasures.

“What are they doing in the cave?” Tao Qiang was also around and casually asked. “Oh, could there be a snake’s nest in there? Is that their home?”

“I don’t know,” Le’er shook his head and looked into the cave again but saw no snakes, so he left. Tao Gaolong was also working nearby, but didn’t look up. Recently, he seemed like a different person—not only willing to work but working well, though he still spoke little.

Le’er took out cigarettes and handed one to each person, and everyone smoked together. The snakelets hadn’t arrived yet, so they were still helping build the snake pens. When the snakelets came, they would begin learning breeding techniques. Tao You Neng specialized in feed production, which was a major source of snake feed, using protein-synthesized feed.

After wandering for a while, Le’er went to the white mouse breeding area. White mice reproduced quickly; the first batch of pups had been born and would soon be selected for breeding stock again.

This was Aunt Ma’s territory.

Aunt Ma was very happy to see Le’er. Then he moved on to the yellow mealworm breeding area, where he happened to meet Tao Haiying. Tao Haiying only shot him a fiery glance and then ignored him.

Le’er’s role as farm director was indeed light on work. After wandering around, he returned to the office; Luo Yinxian had gone out. He sat down to read. The exams were coming soon; this time he had only one subject, Modern Chinese. Whether he would pass was uncertain, but he believed he had made significant progress.

After a while, Luo Yinxian returned.

“Le’er, do you want to eat lunch here or go home?”

“Here,” Le’er looked up. “Going home is too much trouble.”

“Shall I bring you your meal?”

“The canteen is too noisy.”

The canteen was indeed lively, with over a hundred people eating. Le’er had to pay with meal tickets, but Luo Yinxian covered his costs. The food was cheap and simple: unlimited rice, one meat dish, one vegetable, and a soup. Le’er ate two large bowls—about 300 grams of rice.

After lunch, there was rest time. Groups of two or three played cards. Le’er and Tao You Neng played a couple of rounds; Le’er’s card skills were excellent, quickly winning over ten cigarettes.

“Hehe… You’re running low on cigarettes, huh? I’ll stop playing with you.”

Le’er slipped away to the office as Tao You Neng grumbled behind him. With Luo Yinxian gone, he closed the door and resumed reading. He always felt something was off about Luo Yinxian but couldn’t quite pinpoint what.