On the weekend, at the Northern City International Airport. Yu Zi and Xie Dongcheng walked ahead, dragging their luggage, while Wang Jing hurriedly followed behind them.

Yu Zi went to check in first, then handed the boarding pass to Wang Jing.

Wang Jing looked at it and exclaimed, “How come I’m the only one in economy class?!”

Yu Zi glanced at him, “You’re lucky I didn’t ask you for money for the ticket. Sit if you want, if not, take a taxi back yourself.”

Wang Jing quickly pocketed the boarding pass, “I’ll sit, I’ll sit. Why wouldn’t I sit.”

There were no direct flights from Northern City to Bai Cheng. They needed to fly to an intermediate city first and then transfer to a two-hour high-speed train.

Yu Zi and Xie Dongcheng sat in the front row because they were in business class, so they had more space than the back. Xie Dongcheng was also able to stretch out his long legs.

Wang Jing sat alone near the wing, looking worried.

Yu Zi hadn’t been out of the city for so long. As soon as the plane ascended into the sky, he felt a bit uncomfortable, especially in his right ear. After several treatments before, he had just begun to improve, but with the pressure dropping, he felt blocked again.

Xie Dongcheng noticed his unusual expression and took out a thin piece of something from his pocket, handing it to him.

“What’s this?” Yu Zi squinted, unable to see clearly.

“Chewing gum. It’ll make you feel better if you chew on a piece.”

Yu Zi took it and put it in his mouth, chewing a few times, and indeed, his ear felt much better.

“How did you know?” Yu Zi turned his head to ask him.

“Chewing gum?

“Yeah.” Yu Zi remembered that Xie Dongcheng had told him that he hadn’t flown much since he was a child.

“I checked it online last night.” Xie Dongcheng was still a little embarrassed, rubbing his earlobe.

With the relief from the chewing gum, Yu Zi barely made it through the three-hour flight. But after getting off the plane and enduring the bumpy high-speed train ride, his complexion became even worse. If it weren’t for Xie Dongcheng supporting him, he might not have made it to Bai Cheng.

Finally, as dusk fell, the three of them arrived at their destination.

Bai Cheng was a bit more rundown than Yu Zi had imagined. It was backed by a large mountain, with decent natural scenery, but the tourism industry was only average. Although it should be the peak season in summer, there were still very few people at the high-speed railway station.

Xie Dongcheng had booked accommodation online in advance, not far from the vineyard they were going to, on the half slope of Bai Mountain.

The booking website said it was a three-star hotel, but when Xie Dongcheng walked through the hotel gate, he felt like he had been deceived.

The dim reception desk had an ancient chandelier hanging from it, swaying as if it was about to fall from the ceiling at any moment.

The next moment they stepped into the front desk, Xie Dongcheng saw a black shadow run past the corner. He immediately turned to look at Yu Zi, luckily Yu Zi hadn’t noticed the black shadow, otherwise there might have been a scene at the front desk.

The front desk took their identity cards and checked the number of rooms.

“Two rooms in total, right?” the front desk looked up and asked Xie Dongcheng.

Xie Dongcheng nodded and then handed the room cards to Wang Jing.

Wang Jing looked shocked as he saw the two of them holding a room card for one room and walking towards the elevator.

After getting off the elevator, he followed behind Xie Dongcheng and whispered, “Are you two sharing a room?”

Xie Dongcheng turned to look at him, “What’s wrong?”

They each went back to their rooms to put away their luggage, then went downstairs to the adjacent restaurant to prepare for dinner. Wang Jing’s face still looked strange.

“I’ll go to the restroom,” Yu Zi said to Xie Dongcheng, then turned and went to the restroom in the restaurant.

Now, there were only Xie Dongcheng and Wang Jing left at the table.

“Cough,” Wang Jing cleared his throat.

“What’s wrong with you?” Xie Dongcheng saw him acting strangely.

“I know I shouldn’t ask,” Wang Jing deliberately lowered his voice.

“Just ask,” Xie Dongcheng couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush with him.

Wang Jing leaned on the table, covering his mouth with his hand, looking cautious, “Um, what’s the relationship between you two?”

Xie Dongcheng didn’t expect him to ask this, and was stunned for two seconds. But before he could speak, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

“We are a couple, what’s up?” Yu Zi flicked off the water droplets on his hand and pulled a chair to sit down.

Wang Jing’s face turned from green to red in an instant, and he quickly waved his hand, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I was just saying, you guys seem to be getting along like a pair of pants.”

Yu Zi snapped open the chopsticks on the table, and wood shavings flew into the air, “What’s it to you anyway?”

Wang Jing shook his head vigorously, instantly silent.

That night, Yu Zi didn’t sleep well at all.

The hotel halfway up the mountain had creaky bed boards and poor sound insulation. The wind howled in the middle of the night, and occasionally there were strange animal cries. He curled up in Xie Dongcheng’s arms and barely slept for a while.

Early the next morning, with dark circles under his eyes, Yu Zi got out of bed, walked through the corridor, and knocked on Wang Jing’s door with a bang.

Before seven o’clock in the morning, Wang Jing led them onto a shuttle bus in the mountains, ready to go to the vineyard. The shuttle bus swayed on the mountain road, braking and accelerating, and Yu Zi, lacking sleep, almost vomited on the way.

“We’re going to the largest vineyard here today, but the owner isn’t here, so we can only go in and take a look first.” As soon as they reached halfway up the hill, Wang Jing turned back to remind them.

“The owner isn’t here, and you still brought us here?” Yu Zi gave him a sideways glance.

“The boss suddenly had something to do today and won’t be back until tomorrow. I just got the message…”

Five minutes later, the shuttle bus stopped in front of a large stone. The driver turned his head and said to them, “Here we are.”

Yu Zi peeked out and saw five big characters carved on the huge rock: Baiyun Wanli (Thousands of Miles of Cypress).

Wang Jing probably had made an appointment with the vineyard in advance. After greeting the security guard at the entrance, he let them in.

Yu Zi was curious why a vineyard would be called Baiyun Wanli. After entering and walking about a hundred meters, he understood the meaning of this name.

At the end of the vineyard on the east side, there was an observation deck facing the foothills, and a vineyard of thousands of mu was built on the hillside, which was quite spectacular. From here, you could see the clouds for thousands of miles around the mountains, like a fairyland.

And when Yu Zi walked into the vineyard, he was even more surprised.

He grabbed Xie Dongcheng’s wrist excitedly and said, “Pinot Noir.”

Xie Dongcheng didn’t understand what he was saying, “What Pinot?”

Yu Zi pointed to a nearby vineyard, “That’s Pinot Noir. This grape variety is very delicate. It has high requirements for the planting environment and is prone to disease. But its aroma is very delicate, and many top wines are made with it. I didn’t expect to find it here!”

Following his gesture, Xie Dongcheng looked over. There was a deep purple fruit, with small berries tightly clustered together, shimmering like gems in the sunlight.

Yu Zi remembered the French vineyard he had visited before and felt that this place was extremely similar to that one. The climate and terrain were almost identical, no wonder it could raise such a difficult variety. This was a rare treasure land, but it was treated by wine merchants as a cheap bulk distribution center, which was simply a waste.

Wang Jing seemed to guess what he was thinking, walked in front of the two of them, and explained, “That’s how it is in Bai Cheng. The local economy is not good, unlike other cities with large-scale development. Most of the vineyards here are privately funded and there are not many good investment channels. They can only do bulk sales at low prices to distributors.”

As he spoke, he also pointed to some small vineyards dotted at the foot of the mountain, “Look at those, most of them have already closed down. They’re just renting out the land now.”

This seemed to be a huge wine industry base, and the wines produced here were sold all over the country. Some even fell into the hands of counterfeiters, repackaged and disguised. Yu Zi guessed that those counterfeit wines were produced like this.

The bare hillside was covered only with vineyards, with no other vegetation. It was summer, and as time passed, the sun rose higher and the temperature rose steadily.

Yu Zi’s forehead was already sweating, and his face was turning pale.

He looked up for a moment and saw a mountain goat walking on the mountain road below. The goat took a few steps and then rested, seeming to be injured. It took several minutes to disappear from their sight.

“How is this vineyard doing?” Yu Zi supported his body with his arms, took a step forward, and asked Wang Jing.

“Six of one, half a dozen of the other, it seems like the boss went out to raise money today. Anyway, it’s barely surviving, not making much money,” Wang Jing shook his head.

“Can we arrange a meeting with the boss here tomorrow?” Yu Zi asked him.

“We can. The owner of this vineyard is a woman. I’ve already made arrangements. When she comes back, I’ll make sure to introduce you to her first thing,” Wang Jing said, still puzzled, then asked again, “But what exactly are you planning to do?”

Under the scorching sun, Yu Zi replied softly, “I want to revitalize this vineyard.”

Yu Zi took a few steps forward, enduring the heat as he inspected the vineyard. On the other side of the vineyard, there were two gray buildings, which Yu Zi guessed to be the wine cellar. Unfortunately, the boss wasn’t here today, so the cellar wasn’t open to them.

Wang Jing and Xie Dongcheng followed him about two or three meters behind.

Wang Jing watched Yu Zi’s back and couldn’t help but mutter to Xie Dongcheng, “Is your boss okay in the head? Throughout history, only wealthy young men with nothing to do built vineyards for leisure. I’ve never seen anyone hoping to get rich by starting a vineyard. There are so many high-quality vineyards in the country, why does he think he can compete?”

After realizing their relationship, Wang Jing whispered to Xie Dongcheng again, “Are you just going to let him go crazy like this?”

Xie Dongcheng glanced at him. Wang Jing suddenly felt that this gaze was extremely similar to Yu Zi’s usual one.

Xie Dongcheng lowered his voice and asked him back, “Did you manage to gather the 150,000 yuan?”

Wang Jing was stunned for a moment, “Alright, I admit you guys are impressive.”

Under the blazing sun, Yu Zi stood in front of the two, but his steps seemed increasingly unsteady.

Xie Dongcheng noticed something was wrong and quickly caught up with him.

But before he could reach Yu Zi’s side, he saw Yu Zi fall straight to the ground with a thud.