Chapter 310: Awe‑Striking Shanwan Village, the Legendary Handcrafted Flower World

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

The light filtering through the paper windows carried a cool, gray‑white hue.

The conversation last night that decided Lin Yueqiang's future still seemed to retain a trace of nervous and excited afterglow, but at this moment the Lu Family courtyard had already returned to its usual tranquility.

Lu Qingshan opened his eyes; beside him Lin Yue'e was still asleep, his brows relaxed, no longer bearing the old sorrow. He gazed at his wife's sleeping face, feeling a softness in his heart.

He rose silently to dress, moving as slowly as possible.

As soon as he pushed open the door, a sharp breeze tinged with pine wood rushed in, invigorating him.

At the courtyard entrance, several figures were already waiting, stamping their feet and exhaling white vapor. It was Zhao Tiezhu, Liu Fugui, and a few others.

"Brother Qing Shan!" Zhao Tiezhu called out in a deep, resonant voice, his simple face full of smiles.

Liu Fugui scampered up cleverly, rubbing his hands and laughing. "Brother, let's go to the canteen for a meal; there are meat buns this morning! The kitchen squad leader Old Wang said they're set aside just for you!"

Lu Qingjun also stepped out of his room, stretching lazily. "You guys are really early, even more diligent than the chickens."

The group chatted and laughed as they walked toward the village's collective canteen.

In the early morning, Shanwan Village was still shrouded in a thin mist; occasional clucks and barks drifted through, and from every chimney rose curling cooking smoke, making everything seem so peaceful and full of life.

The conversation naturally turned to the big Wild Boar they had hunted a few days earlier.

"Brother Qing Shan, do you remember when that big Wild Boar was dragged back to the village? Man, it scared a lot of people!" Liu Fugui gestured, spitting. "Those tusks were almost as long as my forearm! Shiny and slick, like knives!"

Zhao Tiezhu nodded heavily beside him, his face full of pride. "Still, Brother Qing Shan is the best; just standing there, 'bang bang' a few shots, that big fellow collapsed like a small hill, barely even a hum."

Zhao Fei, who was walking ahead, turned back, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Lu Qingshan, full of admiration. "Brother Qing Shan, are you as impressive in the Capital City and... that Hong Kong Island?"

When those words were spoken, everyone fell silent, all turning to look at Lu Qingshan, their gazes filled with curiosity and yearning.

Hong Kong Island, Capital City. To them, those were distant places only heard on radios and seen in newspapers, the legendary Handcrafted Flower world.

Lu Qingshan smiled faintly, yet said nothing.

His brother Lu Qingjun jumped ahead, puffing his chest proudly, drawing everyone's eyes. "You have to ask me about this; I was with my brother the whole time."

"My brother is busy with big matters out there; he has no time for these trivial things," Lu Qingjun cleared his throat, assuming the pose of a storyteller. "Let me tell you, in Hong Kong Island, the skyscrapers are as tall as mountains, piercing the clouds! The streets even have two‑story‑high iron boxes (double‑deck buses) that, even when packed, run faster than our village dogs! At night, the signs on the walls light up in all colors, flashing—what are they called… oh right, neon lights! They illuminate the sky as if it were day!"

He narrated in a colorful, animated way, leaving everyone dazed, even forgetting to walk, and from time to time letting out bursts of awe.

"Goodness, a two‑story‑high iron box? How much electricity does that use!"

"Running that fast, won't it hit people?"

Lu Qingshan simply listened quietly, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. He watched his brother's animated expression and the brothers' yearning faces, feeling warmth and peace in his heart.

There was a time when he was the "Lu Laizi" everyone in the village avoided; not even a word of respect reached his ears. Now his brother is proud of him, and the brothers honor him. That feeling of being trusted and relied upon is what he has longed for in both lives—a true man's stature.

When they arrived at the canteen, the steaming aroma of food hit them, the scent of cabbage‑and‑pork‑filled buns rushing straight into their noses.

Lu Qingshan ladled a bowl of thick porridge, took two large meat buns, and just as he settled into a seat and took a bite, he saw Li Jianqiang carrying a lunchbox, almost jogging over, a fine layer of sweat glistening on his forehead.

"Chief Lu!" Li Jianqiang's eyes shone with uncontainable excitement as he sat down beside him, slamming the lunchbox onto the table with a "clang".

Zhao Tiezhu and the others, who had been listening to Lu Qingjun brag, jumped in surprise, turned to look, and upon seeing the factory's chief engineer, politely fell silent.

Lu Qingshan finished the last sip of porridge, then ate another meat bun in a couple of bites, preparing to finish the remaining one, when he nodded at Li Jianqiang's flushed face and asked calmly, "Engineer Li, take your time—what's got you so excited?"

The calmer Lu Qingshan remained, the more Li Jianqiang couldn't hold back. He lowered his voice, but his excitement bubbled like boiling water, gurgling out, "Chief Lu! It's done! It's really done!"

He was still a little breathless from running, but the light in his eyes shone brighter than the canteen's bulbs.

"Done?" Lu Qingshan paused his chewing, his gaze sharpening for a moment before settling back to calm, "Which one is done?"

"It's the one you mentioned last time, the new idea for optimizing the taste of the Vitality Herbal Drink! Using... using several common mountain berries for a second‑fermentation extraction to replace cane sugar, providing a complex sweetness and flavor!" Li Jianqiang was so excited he nearly slapped his thigh. He pulled a crumpled experimental record from his pocket, spread it before Lu Qingshan, pointing to a series of data, his voice trembling, "We tried hundreds of ratios, and at 3 a. m. today the final set of data came out! Perfect! Taste, flavor, and cost control all met your expected standards, and even... even exceeded expectations on some metrics!"

When those words were spoken, not only Lu Qingshan but also Lu Qingjun, Zhao Tiezhu and the others, who had their ears perked up to eavesdrop, inhaled a gasp of cool air.

Although they didn't grasp terms like "second fermentation" or "complex sweetness," they understood words like "replace cane sugar" and "reduce costs." Everyone knows how pricey sugar is these days. If they could truly replace it with seeds of wild mountain fruits on a large scale, imagine the savings!

Lu Qingshan stared at the data‑filled sheet, his heart stirring. This wasn't just about saving money; it meant his "Vitality Herbal" would possess a unique, hard‑to‑replicate core competitive edge!

He placed the remaining half of the meat bun on the table, stood up, and told Li Jianqiang decisively, "Let's go to the factory to see the sample."

"Ah! Good!" Li Jianqiang sprang up, forgetting his lunchbox.

"Brother Qing Shan, this..." Lu Qingjun also rose, his face full of curiosity and excitement.

Lu Qingshan glanced back at them, a smile on his face, pointing at the meat bun and Li Jianqiang's lunchbox. "Qingjun, you and Tiezhu can eat slowly, don't waste it. After the meal, everyone can go about their own business."

"Alright!" the crowd answered boisterously.

Watching Lu Qingshan and Li Jianqiang stride away, the canteen's youths murmured among themselves, their eyes full of awe and longing.

Liu Fugui leaned toward Lu Qingjun, lowering his voice, "Brother Jun, what's Brother Qing Shan up to this time? It already sounds impressive!"

Lu Qingjun puffed out his chest proudly, grabbed the remaining meat bun, took a huge bite, and blurted incompletely, "Need I say more? When my brother makes a move, there's no small matter! Just wait and see!"