Volume 1, Chapter 65: The man, the woman, and the dog in the main room were all laughing so hard they were doubled over.

"Press your own fingerprint on it, and then stamp it with the village seal."

As soon as Lin Xiaoxu finished speaking, Wu Deshun cast a sideways glare at him.

Wu Deshun had originally intended to hastily handwrite a duplicate contract, fool Lin Xiaoxu, and trick him into leaving first.

Once that was done, he would completely renege on the agreement, slap Lin Xiaoxu with the charge of using a forged contract to illegally seize village farmland, and call the police to have him arrested and thrown in jail.

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that this fool Lin Xiaoxu would actually know that a contract required a personal fingerprint and the official village seal!

He truly lived up to his former reputation as the village's very first top student admitted to a prestigious university!

"Fine, fine, fine! I'll do whatever you say!" Wu Deshun actually pressed his own fingerprint onto both copies of the contract and stamped them with the village seal.

Lin Xiaoxu took both copies and carefully inspected them. Finding nothing amiss, he finally signed his own full name and pressed his fingerprint.

"Many thanks to the village chief, then!" Lin Xiaoxu tossed the ten red hundred-yuan bills onto the desk, took his copy of the contract, and left the village committee office with a radiant smile.

Wu Deshun stared fixedly at the receding, hazy figure. His heavily squinted eyes gleamed with a venomous and chilling malice.

***

In high spirits, Lin Xiaoxu folded the contract, tucked it into his trouser pocket, and strolled leisurely toward the orchard on the north side of the village.

However, the sight that met his eyes nearly caused him to drop his jaw!

No wonder Wu Deshun had agreed so readily. It turned out that the three-mu orchard on the north side had originally belonged to the late gambler Zhao Daming. It was far from any water source, the soil was barren, and the surrounding area was choked with weeds.

The hundred or so peach trees looked withered and lifeless, utterly devoid of vigor. Although there were fruits on the branches, they were only the size of an infant's fist—clearly suffering from severe malnutrition—and pests had eaten numerous small holes into them.

The honey peaches of the other villagers would be ready for market in about a week, but as for the honey peaches from his own plot, let alone selling them, people wouldn't even take them for free!

"Hehe! You can't outsmart me, Lin Xiaoxu!" Lin Xiaoxu was capable of channeling spiritual energy that nourished all things in heaven and earth; he could completely revitalize this patch of peach trees!

Lin Xiaoxu had already hatched a plan: he would use Zhao Daming's rotten orchard to reclaim the eight-mu orchard that rightfully belonged to his family.

He channeled spiritual energy into the palms of his hands. The next moment, his palms began to emit a nearly invisible aura that rapidly spread outward, nourishing more than half of the peach trees in the orchard.

Soon, the spiritual energy was completely absorbed by the peach trees. They turned lush and green, as if granted a new lease on life, and even their leaves shimmered with a vibrant green luster under the sunlight.

As for the infant-fist-sized honey peaches on the trees, they showed no obvious changes at the moment, which was related to the amount of spiritual energy Lin Xiaoxu had channeled.

Last time in the wild guava grove on the back mountain, he had channeled most of the spiritual energy in his Dantian, but this time he had only used a tiny fraction.

He did this specifically so Wu Deshun could have a good look tomorrow.

"Master, what are you doing?" A pitch-black figure scurried rapidly to Lin Xiaoxu's feet.

"Oh, you big black dog, instead of properly guarding the house, what are you running around here for?" Lin Xiaoxu made a kicking motion toward Big Black, but the dog nimbly dodged aside.

"Let's talk nicely, no need to use your hands and feet."

Big Black sat obediently on the grassy ground, its ears perked up, its mouth split into a grin, and its eyes narrowed into slits. One of its front paws scraped the air in a rather wretched and ingratiating manner.

"Go back home and bring a small hoe. I need to loosen the soil and weed the peach orchard."

"Yes, Master!"

Obeying the command, Big Black bolted away, disappearing in an instant. Three or four minutes later, it reappeared in the peach orchard with a small hoe clenched in its jaws.

Lin Xiaoxu took the small hoe and set to work in the peach orchard. For eight generations, his ancestors had been poor tenant farmers born and raised on the soil of Peach Blossom Village. An aversion to wasting food, leaving land idle, or neglecting vegetable gardens and orchards was deeply engrained in his bones.

After weeding, he also pruned the excess branches of the peach trees and carried water from the river to irrigate them.

He kept busy until the sun was close to setting, finally finishing the organization and upkeep of the three-mu peach orchard.

Upon returning home, dusk had completely fallen. "Xiaoxu!" Shen Yulian fluttered over, taking the small hoe from his hands.

Huh? Why was there no embrace? Lin Xiaoxu felt that Shen Yulian had skipped a step, and a trace of discontent welled up in his heart.

"Wash your hands quickly and come eat. You must be exhausted after working all day." Shen Yulian served up steaming, fragrant dishes. At the sight, Lin Xiaoxu's stomach immediately let out a thunderous growl.

"Hahahaha..." The man, woman, and dog in the main room burst into hearty laughter.

Early the next morning, after finishing breakfast, Lin Xiaoxu hurried over to the three-mu peach orchard on the north side.

He discovered that the more than half of the peach trees he had nourished with spiritual energy yesterday had all undergone astonishing transformations.

Those infant-fist-sized honey peaches growing on the branches had all grown immensely plump and full, reaching the size of a rooster-bowl rim.

Bright, rosy, crystal-clear, and round, they hung heavy on the branches like works of art carved from jade, and a rich, alluring fruity fragrance drifted into the surrounding mountain breeze.

"Master, can you give me one to eat? I'm drooling." The moment Big Black laid eyes on those honey peaches, it desperately wanted to take a bite.

Lin Xiaoxu casually plucked two honey peaches, tossing one to Big Black and keeping the other for himself.

The moment he took a bite, his eyes widened into large, perfectly round circles for a split second. Staring in utter shock at the peach in his hand, he realized the taste was every bit as good as the wild guavas from the back mountain.

Abundant and sweet peach juice surged richly within his mouth, instantly occupying every single taste bud on the tip of his tongue, while an indescribably sweet fragrance lingered persistently in his mouth.

As the peach juice slid down his throat, the sweetness nourished his throat inch by inch, leaving a cool, refreshing, and lingering aftertaste. His thirst, caused by the scorching weather, vanished instantly without a trace.

Once the juice flowed into his stomach, it miraculously transformed into a warm current flowing toward his lungs and heart. That sensation was simply exquisite!

Lin Xiaoxu licked his lips and fell into deep contemplation.

The original properties of the guava included preventing and improving coughs and colds, and moistening the lungs.

Honey peaches, on the other hand, possessed properties that harmonized the stomach, moistened the lungs, and resolved phlegm. Now, the honey peaches enhanced by his spiritual energy had pushed these effects to the absolute limit.

"The honey peaches in my hand share the exact same miraculous efficacy as the previous guavas. It seems they can completely replace guavas as a cash crop."

Wu Deshun thought he was being clever, believing that chopping down the entire guava grove would cut off Lin Xiaoxu's path to wealth. What an absolute idiot!