Chapter 43

Yu Ze arrived quickly. At first, he didn’t understand why he had brought a cart, but when he saw a pile of packages—addressed to him—he couldn’t help but exclaim in Mandarin slang, “This girl is really generous! If she weren’t so young, I’d definitely make a move… Ow!”

Wen Jiunian frowned and, without hesitation, kicked him.

How could he talk without thinking?

Yu Ze clutched his sore backside and looked at the culprit, Wen Jiunian, who simply said indifferently, “Take your stuff and get lost.”

Yu Ze wanted to argue, but seeing Wen Jiunian’s face dark as ink, he wasn’t sure which part of what he said had offended him. However, Wen Jiunian was always hot-tempered, and since he couldn’t predict his moods, Yu Ze dared not provoke him further.

Besides, the two of them were standing at the entrance, and he didn’t hear Wen’s parents’ voices. That meant Wen Jiunian had sent them away.

No one could save him now.

Gritting his teeth, he muttered, “Fine, I’m leaving!”

He quickly loaded the packages onto the cart and headed out. Just as he was about to ask Wen Jiunian to thank Lin Nanzhi on his behalf, he turned around—only to be met with the loud bang of a door slamming shut in his face. He was speechless.

“I’ll thank her myself then,” he muttered.

It’s not like I don’t have her contact info.

Rolling his eyes, Yu Ze pushed the cart while pulling out his phone. He found Lin Nanzhi’s QQ and sent her a message:

Yu Ze: [Thanks for the fruit, girl.]

Lin Nanzhi had just finished eating. She was kneeling in the mourning hall, keeping vigil in place of her godmother, when she heard her phone chime. She didn’t plan to respond immediately.

Just then, her godmother returned, smiling. “Your friend is looking for you. Go ahead and take care of it. I’ve already eaten, so you don’t need to keep kneeling.”

Since it was only natural for the deceased’s daughter to keep vigil, Lin Nanzhi didn’t refuse. She nodded, got up, bid farewell, and left the hall before checking her phone.

The message was from Yu Ze.

She quickly replied: [You’re welcome. If anything, I should be thanking you guys for all the trouble I’ve caused you.]

[You and Wen-ge have taken great care of me, and the cost wasn’t even high. I don’t have much to give, but the fruit is homegrown and tastes pretty good. As long as you don’t mind, that’s enough for me.]

Yu Ze: [Of course not! Taking care of you was the right thing to do. Don’t worry, I appreciate the gesture and will eat every last bite.]

Lin Nanzhi: [Mm, there’s a small box in there. The fruit inside was prepared especially for you—there’s a surprise if you eat it.]

Hearing that, Yu Ze was immediately intrigued. He quickly told Lin Nanzhi he’d check it out and then started searching for the small box. He found it right on top. The moment he stepped into the elevator, he opened it.

Inside was a red fruit—something that looked like a peach but also resembled dragon fruit. He couldn’t tell what it was and assumed it was a new variety. He wiped it on his clothes and took a bite, immediately narrowing his eyes in delight.

It was delicious!

With a crisp texture like an apple, the juice filled his mouth with a refreshing fruity fragrance. It was so good that he couldn’t stop after one bite.

He took another big bite.

Before he knew it, he had finished the dragon fruit-sized fruit in just a few bites.

As he pushed the cart home, he sighed—there was only one? Not nearly enough. He also wondered about the surprise Lin Nanzhi mentioned—he didn’t feel anything special.

Was the surprise just how delicious it was?

As he reached his apartment building, he suddenly noticed a strong, unpleasant odor. He wrinkled his nose, wondering if the sewage system was clogged again. But as he stepped into the elevator, he realized something was off—everyone around him had moved far away, covering their noses.

He glanced at his reflection in the elevator’s metal panel—his clothes were filthy…

He raised his arm to sniff—almost gagging on the stench.

Thank god he reached his floor. He bolted into his apartment, running straight to the bathroom without even greeting his parents, leaving them baffled.

After scrubbing himself clean, Yu Ze looked in the mirror—and was stunned.

His acne scars were gone. His skin had improved. Even a childhood scar on his forehead had disappeared. He even felt like he had grown taller. Most importantly, his entire body felt incredibly light and refreshed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

He hurriedly grabbed his phone to message Lin Nanzhi, but she didn’t reply. Unable to contain himself, he texted Wen Jiunian instead.

Meanwhile, at Wen Jiunian’s house, the whole family had eagerly eaten the fruit Lin Nanzhi sent. As they watched TV, they suddenly noticed an awful smell. Looking at each other in realization, all three of them simultaneously ran to the bathroom.

The changes Wen Jiunian noticed were even more dramatic than Yu Ze’s.

He was already fair-skinned, but his complexion became even better. His dark circles from sleepless nights disappeared, and his whole body felt light. Other than that, he didn’t feel much. But the changes in his parents were astonishing.

Both in their forties, almost fifty, his parents had dull skin, some white hair, and wrinkles. Yet now, their skin had brightened, most of their wrinkles had vanished, and they looked at least ten years younger.

The two of them stood in front of the mirror, admiring themselves.

When Wen Jiunian saw Yu Ze’s message, he wasn’t surprised.

He casually replied:

Wen Jiunian: [It’s probably a new fruit variety. Zhi Zhi meant well—don’t overthink it.]

Yu Ze: [What kind of person do you take me for? Of course, I won’t say anything! In fact, I need to thank Zhizhi for making my dream come true, hahaha…]

Crazy. Wen Jiunian glanced at his phone in disdain and didn’t bother replying.

Little did he know, Yu Ze was practically ecstatic. At 178 cm, he had always regretted not reaching 180 cm. Now, after eating the fruit, his bare height was exactly 180 cm. No wonder he was over the moon.

Lin Nanzhi, however, had no clue about any of this. She went to bed early and only saw the messages the next day. She simply replied, “It’s a secret,” before putting her phone away and heading up the mountain.

While she was in the capital, the workers had called to inform her that the graves had been relocated. She had then contacted a construction team to drain the water and expand the original pond. She had also provided the blueprints. Today, she was there to check if they had followed the plan correctly.

To that end, she had even spent a fortune on a drone. She operated it, scanning the construction site from above, and nodded in satisfaction before turning to the contractor. “Uncle, everything looks good, except for this spot. The trees here can be transplanted elsewhere. Move this section to the center of the water, pile the dirt over here, and make this part a little deeper…”

“Got it! Don’t worry, we’ll have it done by today!”

“Great. Once it’s done, I’ll call in the workers for the next steps.”

“Relax, little boss, we’ve got this.”

Lin Nanzhi nodded, then took out her phone to contact another team to reinforce the edges—she didn’t want the area to collapse later. She also planned to start construction on the houses soon.

After winning fifty million in the lottery, she had given some to her father and some to her mother, but she still had forty million left. That was more than enough for a lifetime. However, wanting to develop her village, she planned to build a tourist area.

She had the small lake drained and expanded, reinforced the banks, and planned to build guesthouses to attract local tourists.

But it was a massive project. From getting approvals to actual excavation, a month had already passed. By the time it was ready to open, it would take at least six months—if they were lucky.

Still, she wasn’t short on money. She would take it step by step.