A young man from another world returned to his hometown.

Chapter 2 Rural Affairs Guide

The news spread early the next morning.

I don't know who told them, maybe it was the big yellow dog at the village entrance. Maybe it carried their conversation away yesterday to inform them.

In short, the eldest uncle, the second uncle, and the third uncle arrived one after the other.

"Ayan, your uncle said you're going to open a Mixue Ice Cream shop in the market?"

"Um."

"What is that?"

"A chain milk tea shop that sells milk tea, lemonade, and ice cream."

My second uncle was silent for three seconds, his expression as if he had heard some absurd joke.

"Who will they be sold to?"

"They're just people from a few nearby villages."

Lin Yan casually remarked, "I can't exactly say that I opened a shop because I wanted to drink it."

"People from the village?"

My second uncle slapped my thigh.

"Hey, Lin Yan, you've been in the big city for too long, has your brain become like the city's? The village is full of farmers, you want to sell them milk tea? How much is a cup? Nobody will buy it."

My third uncle, Lin Xiong, was also an impatient person; he spoke directly.

"The countryside doesn't have that kind of spending power, Ayan, don't waste money on reckless things."

Lin Yan listened quietly, offering no explanation or argument, but simply nodding.

"I heard you, but please believe me, uncles, I've made money in the big city. This little bit of money is nothing to me. I dared to open this business because I had the confidence to do so."

The three uncles looked at each other in bewilderment. The second and third uncles wanted to persuade them, but then the eldest uncle spoke up.

"Since Ayan has an idea, let him do it. Anyway, no matter what, I'll always have a bowl of sweet potato porridge for him."

The main room was quiet for a while.

"You guys go ahead with your work, I'm going to talk to my cousin."

Lin Yan stood up, dusted off his clothes, and went out.

At the market, Lin Yan rode his uncle's old Jialing bicycle around and bought some local specialties: stir-fried snails, handmade rice noodles, fried bean cakes, fried oysters, and boiled beef. Actually, there were quite a few shops on this street, but half of them didn't have storefront signs.

Inside Lin Yecheng's small shop, welding machines flickered, and the air was filled with the smell of welding.

"Brother Yecheng."

A man wearing slippers and shorts looked up, removed his goggles, saw Lin Yan, and was clearly stunned for a moment before grinning.

"Ayan?! When did you get back?!"

Lin Yecheng is the eldest uncle's son, ten years older than Lin Yan. He went to a technical school and learned welding skills. He rented this room in the market and welded stainless steel doors and windows for people in several nearby villages and along the national highway. He had no signboard or decorations, and relied entirely on word of mouth.

Lin Yan put the bag on the table, and the two of them casually pulled up two low stools to sit down and start eating.

Lin Yecheng looked at the table and clicked his tongue.

"You little rascal, you still remember I like fried bean cakes."

"Brother Yecheng, your cooking is so delicious, who could forget that?"

Lin Yecheng laughed heartily, picked up a fried bean cake, took a bite, and sighed.

"Yes, there wasn't much to eat when I was a child. Now that I'm older and life is better, I like to cook delicious food."

"Brother Yecheng, how have you been lately?"

"Well, business is alright, pretty good, but I'm working for acquaintances, and nobody has any money, so we can't collect the payments."

As he said this, the two of them were eating, and they gradually started talking more.

Lin Yan didn't rush to talk about his own affairs, but simply followed the conversation and asked about the village's situation in recent years, so Lin Yecheng began to speak.

"You don't know, in recent years, many people from the village have gone out to do business, lost money, and come back in terrible shape."

He rinsed his mouth with tea and spoke slowly.

Do you remember Liu Laoqi from Liuwu Village? The one nicknamed "Tall Guy".

"Hmm, I vaguely remember."

"He saw that the purchase price of lychees was high in the past few years, so he borrowed money to buy the lychee forest on the back mountain, fertilized and sprayed pesticides, and spent a lot of money to raise it for a whole year."

And guess what? That year, there was a bumper lychee harvest, a bumper crop throughout the entire province. The buyers drove prices down to rock bottom; even the best Black Leaf lychees were only going for 80 cents a pound. He worked hard all year, and lost everything.

Lin Yan didn't speak, but twirled the teacup in his hand.

"The person is still working away from home and hasn't finished paying off their debts yet."

Others lost money opening restaurants, losing money in fish farming partnerships, or crashing their trucks after only two years of driving them. Everyone dreamed of making a name for themselves, but without enough education, being a boss isn't that easy.

The small fan next to the welding machine whirred and whirred, blowing hot air outwards.

"What's the current situation with those lychee groves in our village?"

Lin Yecheng paused, looked up, and sized him up.

"That lychee grove..."

Lin Yecheng sighed.

"That was a complete mess."

He put down what he was holding and began to speak earnestly.

A few years ago, several nearby villages joined together to contract their lychee orchards to a large company, promising to invest in building a cold chain transportation and fruit processing plant. They made grand promises, saying that it would drive the entire town to develop the lychee industry. Several village chiefs and secretaries happily signed the contract.

As a result, the boss picked lychees there for two years, and the factory construction plans remained hanging on the wall without even a foundation being laid.

Later, for some unknown reason, a project in a neighboring county took away his funds, and he disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a mountain of debt. He owed the villagers who helped him pick fruit wages and also owed the village land rent, totaling several hundred thousand yuan.

"The contract hasn't been terminated yet, and we can't contact the big boss. The village committee is just passing the buck, and nobody dares to take on this mess because if they do, they'll have to figure out how to deal with those debts. Who would be so foolish as to be a sucker?"

Lin Yecheng shrugged.

"Now each village is handling the land back to its own village."

After listening, Lin Yan silently turned his teacup without saying a word. With his current wealth, he could easily buy up all the land in the town, or even the entire county. However, he didn't want to help people pay off their bad debts. Besides, to be honest, those who come knocking on your door are not good business opportunities.

Why are you asking this?

Lin Yan put down his teacup and spoke calmly.

"I plan to go back to the countryside after graduation."

"I know, I heard it from your uncle yesterday."

Lin Yecheng raised an eyebrow.

"and then?"

"Opening a Mixue Ice Cream shop in the market town sounds good, and I think the lychee orchard is also a good option. I feel like I could even lease out the lychee orchard in our village."

Lin Yecheng stared at him for a full four seconds, then slowly turned his head away.

"Ayan."

"Um."

"The Mixue Ice Cream you're talking about, is it the Mixue Ice Cream that sells milk tea?"

"right."

Lin Yecheng took a deep breath, as if trying to organize his thoughts.

"Okay, I'm being serious, and I'm not trying to discourage you. Our entire town, if you count everyone, has a maximum of 30,000 people. And that's just the number on the household registration. Who actually lives here? After the New Year, seven out of ten will go out to work. What about the elderly and children? Who are you going to sell your milk tea to?"

Lin Yan did not answer immediately.

"Even if you actually find a place to open a shop, the people here are reluctant to spend the money. Let me tell you, the people here are very stingy when it comes to buying things."

Lin Yan nodded after hearing what he said.

"Brother Yecheng, you're absolutely right."

"Then why are you still driving?"

"I mainly wanted to help Sister Jiaqing."

Lin Yecheng was stunned for a moment.

"Jiaqing?"

"Um."

Lin Yecheng thought for a moment.

"Well, we can do something else too..."

Your brain is just like your dad's.

Sigh... this place is only so big, there's not much of a place to choose from. If you want foot traffic, you either have to open a shop in front of a middle school or in front of a clinic.

"Okay, I've got it."

Lin Yecheng looked at him and, seeing that he wasn't just saying it casually, couldn't help but ask another question.

"Ayan, are you serious?"

"Um.

"Brother Yecheng, once I get things up and running, you'll come and help me out."

Lin Yecheng, with a toothpick in his mouth, lazily raised his chin.

"Okay, I'll wait. But Ah Yan, how much money have you actually made in the big city?"

"Making such a big fuss as soon as you get back!"

"Not much, just a few small goals."

"What?! What small goal?!"

Lin Yan waved and walked out the door with a smile.

"Let's go!"