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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nChen Kun and his staff left Nanshan hill after they helped Wang Yao transfer all the trees to the hill.

n“Boss, this Wang Yao doesn’t look like an ordinary guy, don’t you think so?” asked one of Chen Kun’s staff members curiously after they got on the vehicle at the foot of the hill.

n“I agree,” said Chen Kun. But he couldn’t tell how extraordinary Wang Yao was; he just felt Wang Yao was very different.

nWang Yao didn’t plant the trees immediately after Chen Kun and his staff left. Instead, he put the trees in different categories and checked the locations of where he was going to plant those trees. He had already dug the holes in those locations. He arranged the trees according to his plans.

nWhen Wang Yao was busy working on the hill, his parents carried hoes and shovels and walked towards Nanshan hill. They couldn’t sit still at home after knowing someone bought a vehicle of trees and had it transferred onto Nanshan hill. They had changed their view towards their son in the last few months, and they knew he was working on his career and had learned quite a lot through prescribing herbal formulas for people. They were actually quite supportive and ignored the gossip in the village. In fact, there hadn’t been any gossip about Wang Yao lately.

nAlmost ready! I should start now.

nWang Yao started to plant the trees after he had got everything ready. San Xian followed him around and wagged his tail when Wang Yao was the planting trees. As soon as he had finished planting the first tree, his parents arrived at Nanshan hill with tools.

n“Mom, Dad, why are you guys here?” Wang Yao was surprised to see his parents, as he hadn’t told him about the trees.

n“Almost all the villagers know about your trees as you made such a big scene. Why did you plant so many trees here? Are you going to exchange them for money?” asked Zhang Xiuying.

n“Better than exchanging for money!” Wang Yao said with a smile. In fact, Wang Yao no longer thought highly of money.

n“How do you plant the trees?” asked Wang Fenghua briefly.

nWang Yao was going to ask his parents to go home, but they didn’t seem to agree. He started to plant the trees together with his parents. He had to say; the older generation had more experience in planting trees than Wang Yao’s generation.

nIt took Wang Yao and his parents the whole afternoon to finish planting all the trees. Then, his parents went inside Wang Yao’s cottage to take a break and drink some water while Wang Yao continued to work outside. He watered the trees he just planted.

nAfter they finished all the work, they went home together. Wang Yao helped his mother prepare dinner.

n“Do you still have any trees to plant tomorrow?” asked Wang Fenghua when they had dinner.

n“Yes, but there aren’t many left. You and Mom don’t need to come to the hill. I can do it by myself,” said Wang Yao.

n“Okay,” said Wang Fenghua.

nWang Yao stayed at home and chatted with his parents for a short while after dinner before returning to Nanshan hill at night.

nIt was completely dark outside. The weather had become warmer, so Wang Yao didn’t walk fast. He stopped from time to time to look up at the sky. It didn’t take long for Wang Yao walk out of the village. A small hill appeared in front of him with a wide pathway he could walk through. After he passed the hill, another one appeared. He could see his cottage sitting halfway on Nanshan hill from a distance. Initially, there was nothing but a couple trees around his cottage. Now, there were more than 50 trees around his cottage, but they looked a bit messy.

nWang Yao stopped and looked at Nanshan hill from a distance for some time.

nGood! Everything is in the right place.

nThe trees looked random and messy at first glance, but they were planted according to specific orders. Those trees were the main frame of the Spirit Gathering Battle Array. At the moment, Wang Yao had completed one-quarter of the frame.

nAfter he had arrived at his cottage on Nanshan hill, Wang Yao took out the arrangement diagram he had drawn a few days ago and studied it several times to make sure he hadn’t made any mistakes. Then, he put the diagram away and took out Natural Classics to read. He went to sleep after he had completed reading the book.

n…

nThe next day, Chen Kun sent three more vehicles of trees to Nanshan hill. Wang Yao’s parents came to help their son again.

nInside the village, people started to talk about Wang Yao’s business with trees.

n“What happened to Fenghua’s family? They’ve got too much money and don’t know how to spend it?” one of the villagers gossiped.

n“They just wanted to clothe the barren hills with greenery. They are noble and unsullied people!” another villager said.

n“Really? I bet they’ll make a lot of money out of the trees,” said a female villager.

n…

nLate afternoon, a man was standing on top of the Nanshan hill, looking down. The trees around his cottage looked messy and disordered, but they had their secret function.

nThe first step has been completed! Wang Yao was slightly relieved.

nThis was his first time feeling exhausted after a few busy days. He not only felt tired physically, but also mentally. He didn’t just plant the trees randomly; he had to carefully choose the location to plant each tree so that the trees could work in coordination. This was his first try. Although he had planned and thought about it for a long time, he knew his plan couldn’t be perfect. The only thing he could do was to try his best.

nThe total number of trees he had planted was 72. It sounded like a lot, but it didn’t look like there were that many on such a big hill.

nChen Kun was going to transfer the rest of the trees to Nanshan hill, but Wang Yao asked him to postpone. Wang Yao needed to make sure the 72 trees he had already planted could survive before having the rest of trees transferred. It took him half a day to water those trees every day. He found that he didn’t have enough ancient spring water.

nWoo! The wind on the hill caused the leaves to rustle.

nWang Yao stood on the hill silently and felt the changes around him. The trees he had planted had started to have an impact on the aura nearby. In fact, sometimes an old tree over one hundred years old could affect the local environment in some places.

nThe wind was changing. The air was changing, too. After the trees had fully grown and Wang Yao had completed setting up the Spirit Gathering Battle Array, the changes would become more obvious.

nWang Yao received a phone call from his parents asking him to go home for lunch when he was working on the hill in the morning. Wang Yao hadn’t gone home for days, as he had been busy looking after the trees. He had all three meals in his cottage every day. His parents came to help him during the day.

nWhen Wang Yao arrived at home, he found his youngest uncle was visiting again.

n“Hi, Yao, long time no see!” he stood up and greeted Wang Yao as soon as he saw him.

n“Hi, Uncle,” Wang Yao greeted back with a smile.

nTwo visits in such a short time was a bit unusual for his youngest uncle. Wang Yao knew this uncle well; he knew there must be a purpose of visiting. They sat down and started to chat, and Wang Yao briefly knew why his youngest uncle was visiting. His youngest uncle took some of the Stone flower decoction made by Wang Yao a few days ago and found it worked really well for him.

nHis pain beneath the ribs was reduced the first night after he had taken the decoction. He felt warm beneath his ribs the next day as he continued to take the decoction, as if he had a heat pack on his stomach. After he had taken all the decoction, the symptoms had almost gone away which made him really happy. He went to the hospital to have another check yesterday, and he found that the stones in his gallbladder had disappeared. His doctor was very surprised and kept asking what he had been eating.

n“Thank you very much, Yao,” said his uncle.

n“You are welcome. I just did what I should do for family,” said Wang Yao.

nHe just came here to thank me. It seems I misunderstood him. thought Wang Yao.

n“Yao, tell me what you put in the decoction,” asked Wang Yao’s uncle. Wang Yao became alarmed again.

n“Why do you want to know?” asked Wang Yao.

n“One of my wife’s relatives has stones in his gallbladder, too. He heard that I recovered after taking your herbal decoction, so he wanted me to ask if you could also give him some,” said his uncle.

nWang Yao was speechless. He rubbed his forehead and remembered that he had asked his uncle not to tell anyone about the decoction. It didn’t take his uncle long to forget about it completely.

n“I don’t have any herbs left for the decoction I gave you,” said Wang Yao after some thinking.

n“What do you mean?” his uncle was surprised.

n“I mean I have used all the herbs on the decoction given to you. There’s nothing left,” said Wang Yao.

n“I see, what herbs did you use? Can’t you buy some more?”

n“I don’t know the name of the herbs. I didn’t recognize them when I got them, and I didn’t ask.”

n“Can’t you ask the manager from the herbal store?”

n“I got them by accident, and I heard they were wonderful, so I kept them. Who can I ask?” replied Wang Yao simply.

n“Well, remember to tell me when you think of the name.” His uncle was disappointed.

n“Sure, I will,” said Wang Yao.

nAt lunchtime, his uncle even asked Wang Yao’s father for drinks.

n“You just recovered from gallstones. I don’t think it is a good idea to drink alcohol at the moment, and you should drink less in the future,” said Wang Fenghua.

n“I’m fine. There are no stones left in my gallbladder,” said his uncle.

n“Uncle, you’ve got to be careful with your diet, otherwise you’ll probably have gallstones again. My herbs won’t be able to cure you next time,” said Wang Yao.

n“Okay, okay, I’ll be careful in the future. But can I drink a little bit this time to celebrate?” begged his uncle.

nEventually, both his uncle and his father had a small glass of wine. Wang Yao shook his head hopelessly. He only reminded his uncle not to drink because he was a family member. He wouldn’t be bothered if it was someone else. Typically, once on a shore, one prays no more.

nWang Yao’s uncle drove his motorcycle off when it was close to 1:30 pm.

n“Mom, Dad, I’m heading to Nanshan hill now,” said Wang Yao before leaving home.

n“Wait a minute,” said Zhang Xiuying.

n“What is it, Mom?” asked Wang Yao.

n“Well, forget it.” Zhang Xiuying changed her mind and gestured for Wang Yao to leave. Then, she turned around and walked towards her room.

n“Mom, what is it?” asked Wang Yao again.

n“Did you lie to your uncle just now?” asked Zhang Xiuying hesitantly.

n“Lie to him? What are you talking about?” said Wang Yao.

n“You still have the herbs which can break down the gallstones, don’t you?” asked Zhang Xiuying.

n“How did you know?” said Wang Yao in surprise.

n“I was just guessing. I just didn’t feel right…So you do have some herbs left?”

n“Well, I do, but there’s not much left. There should be enough for family members, but definitely not enough for everyone in the village. You know my uncle and his wife. They just couldn’t keep a secret, so I had to lie about it,” said Wang Yao.

n“Okay, you are right. They’ll only cause trouble,” said Zhang Xiuying.

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