Chapter 115: You and Me Under the Tree of Fate

The southern suburbs weren’t far from the city center of Linchuan.

Jiang Qin drove his Audi, carrying Feng Nanshu, brimming with confidence as he headed southwest, then unsurprisingly got lost.

Joking aside, he wasn’t a Linchuan local and didn’t have a car navigation system installed. Trying to find a small rural leisure base in the suburbs was truly no easy feat, not to mention Linchuan’s southwest was all mountains with countless forks in the road. Even taking a wrong turn at one intersection would lead to a world of difference in the final destination.

After a while, Jiang Qin stopped the car, feeling he couldn’t drive any further. Any more and he could retrieve the Great Vehicle Dharma.

“We’re here?”

“Mm, more or less…”

The little rich girl gazed out the window at the wheat stubble-filled fields after the autumn harvest, looking pensive, “Oh, so this is rural leisure.”

“…”

Jiang Qin couldn’t hold it in. He got out of the car, asked a passerby for directions, realized he had gone too far, so he turned around, went back to where he had turned in earlier, got back on the main road, drove back one kilometer, finally saw the intersection he had missed before, then took that turn, ultimately arriving at Nanzhao Town.

Jiang Qin’s impression of rural leisure was still stuck on fences, yards and dogs, but upon arriving, he discovered that wasn’t the case.

This place was actually a tourist town built around a huge lake, barely considered nestled between mountains and rivers, while rural leisure was just one of the town’s offerings, providing lodging and dining.

It happened to be the town’s Autumn Harvest Festival. The streets were packed with tourists from nearby areas, lively and bustling.

Jiang Qin glanced back at Feng Nanshu and found the little rich girl had already started peering out the window.

The car window glass reflected her exquisite face, also reflecting the eager curiosity in her beautiful eyes.

When they arrived at the rural leisure courtyard, Su Nai, Lu Xuemei, Shi Miaomiao, and Wen Jinrui were picking vegetables while Dong Wenhao, Lu Feiyu, and Chen Wenxing were stoking a fire in front of a large stove.

Seeing the black Audi drive in, they were filled with complaints about the boss and boss lady’s tardiness.

“Boss, you finally made it.”

“We accidentally took a wrong turn on the way, but no big deal.”

Jiang Qin parked the car, brought the little rich girl to the courtyard, and stood to the side watching everyone work.

Apparently this was one of the rural leisure experience offerings called “make your own dinner”.

Simply put, guests only needed to pay for ingredients and could use the ingredients and venue provided by the rural leisure base to experience the feeling of cooking on a rural stove.

Jiang Qin took the price list from Shi Miaomiao and glanced at the pricing, discovering that the prices of these ingredients were mostly marked up 2-3 times.

Damn, true capitalists.

Charging the price of a full plate of spicy chicken for just a plucked chicken, and not even needing to lift a finger, easily earning the middleman price difference – how brilliant.

“Boss lady, do you eat spicy food?”

“I can eat anything.” Feng Nanshu wasn’t picky at all.

Jiang Qin turned to look at her, “The rooms are all sorted out, right? Little rich girl, go put your bag down first, then come back out to play.”

“Okay.”

“Boss lady, I’ll take you!”

Shi Miaomiao stood up, rinsed her hands at the faucet, then led Feng Nanshu in the direction of the guest rooms.

Taking this chance, Jiang Qin called Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing over to discuss the milk tea shop matter at Linchuan University of Science and Technology.

The shop owner Gao Dawei was a stubborn mule, impervious to reason, but his location was indeed very good, highly advantageous for later promotions.

In other words, if there was a chance to get it, it could save a lot of effort later on.

Jiang Qin gave Wei Lanlan the phone number he got, telling the market team to take turns calling him, using war of attrition tactics to grind down Boss Gao’s temper.

“When you call, don’t say who it is. Just say you’re a sole proprietor wanting to do some small business, ask what his lowest price is, and chop off 30% from there.”

“That much?” Wei Lanlan was a bit taken aback.

Jiang Qin nodded, “His starting price was high to begin with. 30% isn’t too much.”

“What if he doesn’t agree?”

“If he didn’t agree even when I personally negotiated, you probably can’t get him to budge either. But still negotiate while scouting a few other locations as backups.”

Wei Lanlan nodded, took out her phone to save the number, then passed it to Tan Qing.

Jiang Qin then turned to look at Su Nai who was washing mushrooms and asked if she had any thoughts on the group buying website matter.

“Boss, I read the plan you sent me. I definitely can’t do it alone.”

“Then recruit another team. You have more experience with this. I’ll give you full authority. You’re completely in charge.”

Jiang Qin’s solution was direct and forceful. If manpower was lacking, hire more people. In any case, after raking in so much ad revenue, his wallet was very full now. His words carried more weight too.

Su Nai was quite excited to hear the words “full authority”, not realizing this was the boss’s way with words. He gave her all the work to do while making her feel incredibly empowered.

Soon after, wisps of cooking smoke rose from the small courtyard of the rural leisure base, ascending along the lush mountain ridges, gradually merging into the dusk sky, adding a touch of idyllic tranquility to this outing.

Dong Wenhao transformed into the head chef, wielding a large spatula, wanting to make everyone a hometown-style spicy chicken dish.

The streets outside were equally lively with crowds of tourists strolling along the lakeshore.

The little rich girl emerged from the guest rooms wearing a color-block sleeve sweatshirt, a sky blue Chanel single-strap bag, looking lively and absolutely stunning.

“Jiang Qin, let’s go for a stroll.”

Jiang Qin glanced back at the stove, “Old Dong, remember to call me when it’s time to eat. We’re going out for a walk.”

“Got it, boss!”

Jiang Qin took Feng Nanshu out of the rural leisure courtyard, merging into the crowd, heading towards the lake.

The Autumn Harvest Festival wasn’t a traditional holiday but one the town made up to attract tourists. However, there were indeed many agricultural snacks on the streets.

Such as roasted sweet potatoes, boiled peanuts, corn sticks, rice balls, popcorn and the like. There were also handmade lanterns, stools, and bamboo mats.

The little rich girl walked ahead. Her 5’7″ height stood out in the crowd, looking graceful and ethereal. Her clear, bright eyes darted about, full of curiosity for the goods displayed at the stalls.

When she was in Jizhou, she hadn’t even been to a small commodity city. This kind of rural town was naturally like another world to her.

But after walking a bit, Jiang Qin’s gaze suddenly froze. He couldn’t help stopping in his tracks.

At the end of the road stood a huge evergreen tree. Its bark was grayish-white, its crown lush and verdant, branches extending in all directions. Many fluttering red ribbons hung from its branches, a single red among a sea of green.

Damn, a tree of fate.

Jiang Qin was speechless. Why must there always be something like this wherever tourists gather?

He planned to take Feng Nanshu down another path to bypass it, not expecting the little rich girl to have long noticed this red and green tree.

“Jiang Qin, what’s that?”

“Uh, a best friends tree. A kind of feudal superstition.”

“Then I’ll go tie one for us too!”

“…”

A while later, Jiang Qin brought a pitiful-looking Feng Nanshu back to the courtyard, got the first-aid kit from the owner, and took out the iodine.

He gripped a cotton swab, dipped it in some iodine, then reached out to take off the little rich girl’s shoes and socks, dabbing it on the wound on her ankle a couple times.

“I told you not to go but you insisted. In the end you didn’t even manage to tie it.”

“Hurts, right?” Jiang Qin looked up at her.

Feng Nanshu nonchalantly looked elsewhere, “Actually it doesn’t hurt at all. It’s like an ant bite.”

“Then turn your head and let me see?”

“Okay, it hurts. But I’d dare to do it again next time.”

“…”

“Jiang Qin, we didn’t tie the ribbon. Can we still be best friends for life?”