Chapter 176: Gong Tianhao’s Identity
Translator: Lonelytree
The news of extremely valuable flowers at Xiao Zhengyang’s family immediately spread through the village.
The entire village, young and old, came to see these few pots of valuable flowers.
They knew that these flowers were tea flowers, orchids, chrysanthemums, and so on.
Most villagers didn’t even return to have dinner. Instead, the whole family went up to the mountain to dig for wildflowers and weeds.
By the time Xiao Taiyang sent out the notice, almost half of the people in the village had already gone up the mountain.
Xiao Taiyang frowned deeply, but he comforted himself. ‘Since so many people are up the mountain, they should be fine.’ Almost half the village was gone, so they should be able to handle themselves. Furthermore, the villagers visited the mountain often. They knew the mountain well, so there shouldn’t be any accidents.
The frowning Xiao Taiyang returned to Xiao Zhengyang’s house.
“Village chief, what’s wrong?” Xiao Zhengyang looked at the village chief’s expression and was a little puzzled.
Xiao Taiyang took a deep breath and said, “More than half of the people in the village have already gone up the mountain.”
“Ah?” Xiao Zhengyang was a little surprised and said, “They move so quickly?”
“The pull of money is too strong!” The village chief said with a heavy sigh, “The orchid your family found in the mountain is worth tens of thousands. For rural people like us, we can’t even earn that amount in our lifetimes.”
The output for one Mu of land was about 1000 catties of rice. A hundred catties of rice was worth fifty to sixty RMB. Most families had two to three Mu of land. Paddy could be harvested twice a year. In total, they would earn around one to two thousand a year. However, most villagers planted paddy for self-sustenance. They rarely had extra to sell. Therefore, saving money was hard for rural people. Or else, most young people wouldn’t leave to work in the big cities.
Xiao Zhengyang comforted him, “Since so many people are up the mountain, nothing should happen.”
“I hope so!” Xiao Taiyang sighed. Then, the village chief thought of something and asked, “Zhengyang, have you sold these flowers?”
Xiao Zhengyang shook his head and said, “Yu ‘Er said to give these flowers to Old Master Gong. She said since the old master appreciates these flowers, he should have them.”
“Ah!” The village chief was really surprised when he heard this decision. “But these are flowers worth hundreds of thousands? Are you willing to give them away just like that? Can’t you sell them?”
“Why wouldn’t we be unwilling?” Xiao Zhengyang said, “Before Old Master Gong came, who knew that these flowers could be sold at such a high price? We don’t understand these flowers, so they are worthless to us. In fact, many villagers used to tell us that it’s better to pick off the flowers to make room for more vegetables. But now everyone in the village couldn’t wait to go and find flowers.
“Besides, it’ll be too shameful for us to sell the flowers. The old master came to eat and spotted the flowers on accident. He could not have told us about their real value and asked us directly to gift him the flowers. Do you think we wouldn’t give it to him?”
“Your family definitely would!” Said the village chief without thinking.
“You’re right! The flowers will be worth more when they are with people who know how to appreciate them.” Xiao Zhengyang said, “The old master could have swindled the flowers away, but he didn’t. He helped us discover the value of these flowers. Our family can’t keep them, so we want to give them to him.”
“Okay then!” The village chief nodded. Then he said with concern, “But aren’t you worried that the villagers might cause trouble for the old master? The old master has been kind to Taoyuan Village, so we mustn’t trouble him.”
“Hehe.” Liu Chunhua said with a smile. “Village chief, you have the same concern as second sister. However, don’t worry. Yu ‘Er said that the old master didn’t come from an ordinary background. Did you see the men in black who came with him? Yu ‘Er said they were Old Master Gong’s bodyguards.
“We’ve only heard and seen bodyguards on television. They are skilled and have the ability to leap over roofs and walk over walls. Ordinary thieves won’t be able to steal the flowers from the old master.”
The village chief was stunned and asked, “Did Yu ‘Er really say that?” He looked at Xiao Zhengyang.
Xiao Lingyu had gone back to rest.
“Yes.” Xiao Zhengyang nodded and confirmed, “Village chief, you should know that the young men who came this afternoon are all Yu ‘Er’s friends. Yu ‘Er is the one who knows their situation the best. Yu ‘Er said that the old master’s bodyguards aren’t even ordinary bodyguards. We don’t have to worry about the flowers moving to his place.”
Xiao Taiyang nodded and said, “Oh, I see!”
Xiao Lingyu could be so sure about this because she had investigated Gong Tianhao. She heard about Gong Tianhao in her previous life. After Xiao Lingyu returned to the workplace in her previous life, the people she came into contact with became more and more important. She would occasionally hear the name Gong Tianhao from some big shots.
Gong Tianhao was unusually low-key. However, everyone knew the Imperial Palace Group. Imperial Palace was the richest company in the country. Their annual turnover was calculated in the tens of billions.
The total assets of the Imperial Palace Group exceeded 300 billion. No one knew how much they had. The outside world only knew that the Imperial Palace Group was ranked first in the world.
However, very few people knew who the person in charge of the Imperial Palace Group was.
The person in charge of Imperial Palace at public events was different every time. This made it impossible for people to tell who the real decision-maker was. In her previous life, Xiao Lingyu heard people say a young man called Gong Tianhao ran Imperial Palace Group.
Therefore, when Xiao Lingyu heard Li Yuanhang introduce the name Gong Tianhao, she felt that it was very familiar. Xiao Lingyu went online to look for Gong Tianhao’s info. She combined it with the info she had from her previous life, but even so, she only found a little info about Gong Tianhao. She found out a bit about Gong Tianhao’s family background and his powerful grandfather.
Therefore, as the grandfather of the richest man in China, how could Old Master Gong be assigned normal bodyguards?
Although the village chief felt that it was a pity that Xiao Zhengyang’s family had decided to give the flowers to the old master, it was their choice, so he didn’t say anything else. Besides, the grandson of Old Master Gong was a benefactor to Taoyuan Village.
…
The next day, before dawn, someone knocked on the door.
“Lingyu, get up, get up!”
Hearing the commotion, mother Xiao hurriedly put on her clothes and opened the courtyard door, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Qiuying, my Jun ‘Er was bitten by a poisonous snake. Can Xiao Lingyu drive us to the hospital?”
When she heard that, Mother Xiao’s expression changed. She immediately rushed to Xiao Lingyu’s room and shouted, “Yu ‘Er, get up quickly. Xiao Jun has been bitten by a poisonous snake. He needs to go to the hospital immediately!”
Xiao Lingyu, who was sleeping soundly, immediately shivered when she heard Mother Xiao. She hurriedly got up from the bed and said as she put on her clothes, “I’m coming!”
After that, Xiao Lingyu brought Xiao Jun and his family to the town hospital.
When they arrived at the town hospital, there was no serum that could save their lives, so Xiao Lingyu immediately sent them to the county hospital.
Xiao Jun was lucky. There was only one serum left in the county hospital.
Xiao Lingyu called the village chief and told him about this.
After the village chief heard the news, he immediately sent out a notice to warn the villagers to be cautious. The last vial of poisonous snake serum in the county had already been used up. If someone was accidentally bitten by a poisonous snake, then there would be no serum to save their lives!
When the villagers heard this, they were shocked.
Those flowers and plants were extremely tempting, but they were not more important than their lives. Moreover, it was indeed dangerous to go up the mountains at night.
Last night, more than half of the villagers went to the mountains to find flowers and plants. They dug up a lot of flowers and plants, but they did not know whether they were valuable or not.
The only appraiser in the village was the old man who arrived at their village yesterday.
Therefore, many people had been waiting at the entrance of Old Master Gong’s house early in the morning.
The villagers knew their limits. They didn’t go forward to make a ruckus or ask the old man to get up. Instead, they waited quietly at the entrance.
There was another reason why the villagers didn’t make a ruckus. Before they got to the door, a man in black opened the door. His sharp eyes stared at them for a while. His entire body was filled with a fierce aura. He scared them.
Xiao Wang, the guard, looked at the group of villagers and then at the flowers and plants on the ground with fresh soil. He immediately understood their purpose.
However, as a guard, he still asked seriously, “Aunties and Uncles, what’s the matter?”
When the villagers saw Xiao Wang, they were so scared that they took a few steps back and stammered, “It… it’s nothing.” He turned to look at the flowers on the ground and said. “We… We just want the… old master to look at these flowers and plants. Are they worth anything?”
Xiao Wang said, “Our master is still resting. If you don’t mind, please wait here. I’ll inform the old master, and he’ll come if he’s willing.”
“No problem, no problem!” The villagers immediately nodded and said, “We’ll wait here!”
After that, Little Wang directly closed the courtyard door and smiled bitterly. ‘To think we’ll run into this trouble on our first day here.’
He thought about it and decided to give Young Master Gong a call. Young Master Gong should decide what to do.
At five o’clock in the morning, Gong Tianhao was still sleeping on the bed. When he heard the ringtone, he immediately sat up and picked up the phone. The ringtone was the one he set specifically for calls from his grandfather.
“Xiao Wang…” Gong Tianhao’s voice was hoarse and magnetic since he just woke up, “Let grandpa decide. Just make sure Grandpa isn’t too tired. Sorry for the trouble. Alright.”
Xiao Wang went to inform the old master and asked the villagers to wait for his instruction.
The villagers nodded repeatedly.
After the old master got up and heard Xiao Wang’s report, he quickly walked out of the courtyard. He was willing to help identify the flowers. He also wanted to see if he could find any more precious flower breeds. If he could, he would buy them on the spot. However, when he saw the mess of plants at the door, he walked around with disappointment.
“Grandfather, how are these flowers?” A villager asked anxiously.
Old Master Gong replied honestly, “These flowers are just ordinary flowers.” There were even weeds.
“How can this be?” A villager said unwillingly, “Grandfather, take a look again. Look at this one. Doesn’t it look the same as the one in Lingyu’s house?” They looked the same, so how could his be an ordinary flower? He heard the flower at Xiao Lingyu’s house was worth 50,000 to 80,000 RMB.
Old Master Gong said, “Fellow villager, your flower is also an orchid, but orchids are divided into many varieties. The top varieties are Ghost Orchid, Emerald Orchid, spring orchid, butterfly orchid, and so on. Some of them look similar, but their prices are vastly different.
“The orchid at Xiao Zhengyang’s family is called sword-leaved cymbidium. It has extremely high gardening value and medicinal value. It is very suitable for garden design, so its price is relatively high.
“However, this orchid of yours is just a very ordinary one. It’s worth about ten RMB.”
The villagers couldn’t really understand the talk about flower breeds, but they did understand the price difference.
After knowing it was just a normal flower, many people’s eyes were filled with disappointment.
“Sir, is this flower only worth a few dozen RMB?” The villagers looked at the orchid in their hands and felt very indignant.
Old Master Gong nodded and said, “Indeed!” Then, he thought for a moment and said, “Fellow villagers, how about this? I’ll use 100 RMB to buy this flower. Is that alright?” In reality, the flower was worth 30 RMB at most.
“Of course!” The villager couldn’t get 80,000 RMB, but 100 was better than nothing. At least it didn’t waste his trip up the mountain.
Old Master Gong turned around and said to Xiao Wang. “Xiao Wang, give him the money.”
“Yes!” Xiao Wang said very respectfully.
When the villager got the money, the others’ eyes glowed with envy.
Then, Old Master Gong tried his best to buy all the flowers he could.