The majority parts of those lands belonged to n.o.body. In the past few years, w.a.n.g Yao had gained himself a good reputation. Therefore, no one in the committee was against the proposal.

w.a.n.g Jianli visited w.a.n.g Yao in his home that night.

"h.e.l.lo, Jianli, please come in," Zhang Xiuying said.

"Evening, Uncle Jianli," w.a.n.g Yao said.

"Your proposal has been pa.s.sed by the committee. Come to the office to complete the paperwork tomorrow," w.a.n.g Jianli said.

"Thank you very much," w.a.n.g Yao said.

He didn't expect any big barriers for his proposal, but he was still surprised that the matter was settled so fast.

"It would be a waste to leave those lands empty anyway. By the way, what are you going to do with them?" w.a.n.g Jianli asked.

"I want to plant some trees there to improve the environment," w.a.n.g Yao said.

"Really?" w.a.n.g Jianli asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I just want to plant some trees," w.a.n.g Yao said.

"Fair enough," w.a.n.g Jianli said with a smile as he shook his hand.

He didn't really get why w.a.n.g Yao, such a capable young man, was willing to stay in this small village. He was different to most people of his age, and he was a really nice person. It didn't cost much for the villagers to see him in the clinic. Some of the villagers didn't even have to pay at all to get cured. So, w.a.n.g Jianli thought w.a.n.g Yao was worth his help.

w.a.n.g Jianli went home after chatting and smoking with w.a.n.g Yao's family and smoking.

w.a.n.g Yao left home soon after w.a.n.g Jianli's departure.

"San Xian, that piece of land at the foot of the hill will be ours, too," w.a.n.g Yao said as he pointed at the land.

Woof! Woof! San Xian was barking happily as if he understood what w.a.n.g Yao said.

"You'll have more s.p.a.ce in the future," w.a.n.g Yao said.

Should I get more help since the piece of land is so big?

w.a.n.g Yao thought he should have more animal friends to look after his land and hill.

"Maybe I should have a few more dogs?" w.a.n.g Yao asked.

Woof! Woof!

"What? You don't want company?" w.a.n.g Yao asked.

Woof! Woof!

"You want to stay single? Alright, fair enough," w.a.n.g Yao said with a smile as he patted San Xian.

The next morning, w.a.n.g Yao went to the Village Committee to complete the paperwork. In the afternoon, he didn't return to his clinic because Li s.h.i.+yu came with a big truck of trees.

"Dr. w.a.n.g, how many more do you need?" Li s.h.i.+yu asked.

"I need a lot," w.a.n.g Yao said. "See? That big piece of land will belong to me." w.a.n.g Yao pointed at a U-shaped piece of land at the foot of Nanshan hill.

There was a small reservoir near Nanshan Hill that had been contracted by one of w.a.n.g Jianli's brothers. w.a.n.g Jianli mentioned the previous night that the reservoir would also belong to w.a.n.g Yao after the contract ended in a month.

"Do you want to plant trees in majority of the land?" Li s.h.i.+yu asked.

"Yes," w.a.n.g Yao said.

He had a plan. He was going to divide the piece of land into blocks and plant different trees in different blocks. He was going to plant apple trees, pear trees, and cherry trees. Once the fruits were ripe, he could offer them to his friends and family.

"Do you want me to offer all the trees?" Li s.h.i.+yu asked.

"Yes," w.a.n.g Yao said "Is there a problem?"

"Of course not. I'll offer you the best trees with the most reasonable prices," Li s.h.i.+yu said as he patted on his chest.

w.a.n.g Yao would need a large amount of trees for such a big piece of land. This was a great business opportunity for Li s.h.i.+yu.

He thought it was pleasant to do business with w.a.n.g Yao, who always made payment straight away. Of course, that was partly because the trees provided by Li s.h.i.+yu were of high quality.

"These trees are all I need for now," w.a.n.g Yao said. "In the near future, here and over there will belong to me. I've contracted all the hills nearby." He pointed to the hills on the east and west sides.

"Are you going to plant trees all over those places?" Li s.h.i.+yu asked.

"I'm going to plant trees at majority of the places," w.a.n.g Yao said.

He planned to have trees and herbs in those areas.

"Good! Good!" Li s.h.i.+yu looked at those vacant lands as if he was looking at a big amount of cash waving at him. "That's great!"

"Well, shall we take the trees off the truck?" w.a.n.g Yao suggested.

"Sure." Li s.h.i.+yu asked his co-workers to take the trees off the truck.

At the same time, w.a.n.g Yao transferred payment to Li s.h.i.+yu's bank account through his mobile phone.

"I have to go now," Li s.h.i.+yu said.

"That's fine, see you later," w.a.n.g Yao said.

The trees were of different sizes, all meeting w.a.n.g Yao's requirements.

"Let's start to work, San Xian," he said.

w.a.n.g Yao had divided the area into different blocks and ordered two types of trees this time, white birches and elms. He was going to build a wall with the trees, a big wall of trees to almost block the entrance of Nanshan Hill. He only wanted to leave a narrow path leading to the hill.

There had been some trees around that area, most of which were old hawthorn trees. Some of them were even older than w.a.n.g Yao. He was not going to touch those old trees. He would let them continue to grow. He was going to plant new trees in vacant areas only.

As the piece of land was U-shaped, a large amount of trees would be required. The distance from east to west was nearly 1,640 feet. It would take thousands of trees to block that area.

w.a.n.g Yao also wanted to block the entrance of Dongshan Hill and Xishan Hill. However, he was in no hurry.

He planted dozens of trees in the afternoon at the foot of Nanshan Hill. He dug a small creek to attract the water from reservoir to the trees he had just planted.

A small piece of green appeared on the U-shaped land.

I shouldn't interfere with that piece of cultivated land. w.a.n.g Yao looked north as he was standing on a tree. The land he was looking at was the most level piece of land in the village. There was a small river running in the middle. That piece of land was the most suitable for growing wheat and corns.

But, the other areas will be wasted.

Woof! Woof! San Xian suddenly barked as he saw two people walking on the footpath in the distance.

"How are you feeling? Tired?" one of them asked.

"No, I'm fine, Bro," the other one said.

The two people were Zhong Xiuchuan and Zhong Anxin. They had a walk after evening dinner and came toward Nanshan Hill.

w.a.n.g Yao jumped off the tree, which was several feet tall.

"Hmm?" Zhong Liuchuan heard the noise w.a.n.g Yao made and looked up. However, he only saw trees.

"San Xian, go back to the herbal field now," w.a.n.g Yao said.

San Xian ran off immediately.

"Wow, brother, what is that?" Zhong Anxin asked.

She saw an animal as big as a small lion in distance running up the hill rapidly.

"I think it's a dog," Zhong Liuchuan said.

"Wow, it's huge!" Zhong Anxin was amazed.

"Yeah, it is huge," Zhong Xiuchuan said. Although they were still far from Nanshan Hill, he could tell San Xian was a very big dog.

Soon, they saw w.a.n.g Yao appear on the path.

"h.e.l.lo, Dr. w.a.n.g," Zhong Liuchuan said.

"h.e.l.lo, having a walk?" w.a.n.g Yao asked.

"Yes. We just finished dinner and wanted a bit of exercise," Zhong Liuchuan said.

"You look well. How are you feeling?" w.a.n.g Yao asked Zhong Anxin. 

"Much better. I don't feel any pain in my belly, and I feel stronger," Zhong Anxin replied.

She had two treatment sessions in the past few days. The unhealthy yellowish color on her face had almost disappeared. The color of her eyes had also returned to normal. She looked much better.

"Good, you guys take your time. I have to go now," w.a.n.g Yao said.

"OK, see you later," Zhong Liuchuan said.

w.a.n.g Yao went home alone.

"Hmm? Auntie and Uncle are here?" He found visitors in his house.

"Yes, we've been waiting for you," Zhang Xiuying said.

It just occurred to w.a.n.g Yao when he was having dinner that his cousin, his youngest aunt's son, was about to take the university entry exam. This cousin was doing very well at school. He was among the top 20 students in his year.

"Which university is Zhen Fang applying?" w.a.n.g Yao asked.

"Not sure. It depends on the results of the university entry exam," w.a.n.g Yao's youngest aunt said.

"Zhen Fang is a good student. He'll be fine," w.a.n.g Yao said.

His aunt and her husband didn't stay long after dinner. They just chatted with Zhang Xiuying for a short while. w.a.n.g Yao gave them quite a bit of food before they left.

"You don't need to give us all this," w.a.n.g Yao's aunt said.

"We don't need so much food. We won't be able to eat all of it. Take it with you." Zhang Xiuying placed all the food inside the trunk of the car.

"Your auntie's husband has been having some problems at work," Zhang Xiuying said after her sister had left.

"What happened?" w.a.n.g Yao asked.

"You know your auntie's husband is a very quiet person," Zhang Xiuying said. "The management recently changed in his workplace. All the new managers are much younger. He has been transferred back to the front line."

"He doesn't want to work at the front line?" w.a.n.g Yao asked.

"No, working at the back is less busy," Zhang Xiuying said.

"I see. Mom, ask auntie if her husband really wants to go back to his previous role. I might be able to help him," w.a.n.g Yao said.

"You know any of the managers there?" Zhang Xiuying asked.

"Not really, but one of my friends knows someone there," w.a.n.g Yao said.

He had gotten to know quite a few people lately. However, he wouldn't ask for help from one of his patients.

"OK, I'm ringing your auntie now," Zhang Xiuying said.

w.a.n.g Yao waited at home instead of leaving for Nanshan Hill.

"He said he prefers his previous role," Zhang Xiuying said after hanging up.

"OK, I see," w.a.n.g Yao said.

He left home for Nanshan Hill after confirming the information with his mother.

It was very windy that night.

w.a.n.g Yao took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table in his cottage. He had made adjustments to the draft. He had been working on the arrangement of the U-shaped land for days.