Chapter 154 - 152: Discovery of an Ancient Tomb

Chapter 154: Chapter 152: Discovery of an Ancient Tomb

In addition to the completion of the Orchard and the Medicinal Herb Garden, South Mountain had also been cleared. The entire mountainside was now free of weeds and overgrown trees.

"Dad, the terraces over here have collapsed. They need to be repaired.

Then, on the western side where the sunlight is good, we’ll plant tea trees. Fruit trees will go in the middle, and on the eastern slope, some medicinal herbs."

"Alright, we’ll follow your plan. I’ll have people repair the terraces first."

Thankfully, the mountain cave existed. Otherwise, dealing with the situation here would have been quite difficult.

Small equipment could be airlifted in by large drones, but there was no easy way for people to get here—the mountain path was too treacherous.

Lin Feng stood on the summit. ’We can build some pavilions up here eventually,’ he considered. ’Once the mountain road is finished, tourists will be able to visit this area too.’

He planned to plant flowers and other plants in the valley, which would be perfect since the Clothing Workshop needed natural dyes.

He had already selected the tea varietals: West Lake Longjing and Huangshan Maofeng Tea. As soon as the area was prepared, the saplings could be brought over for planting.

When he returned to Lin Xian Village, he heard some strange news.

He found Hu Xia, who was livestreaming, and asked, "I just heard someone say an ancient tomb was discovered in the mountains. Is that true?"

"I’m talking about that right now. Those people were using drones to look for pandas. They didn’t find a trace of any pandas, but they found a few grave robbers."

"There are still grave robbers these days?"

Lin Feng couldn’t believe it. ’They must have a death wish!’

"Of course there are. It’s just not like in the novels. Some people will do anything for money."

Someone was filming with a drone at night. At first, he spotted a light source and thought it was someone else also looking for pandas.

Later, these people stayed in one place for a very long time. The drone owner thought they’d had an accident, so he flew it over to take a look.

One look and he knew something was wrong. The people below were digging, which didn’t look like they were searching for pandas.

At first, he thought it was poaching, or maybe they were digging up some valuable medicinal herbs from the mountains.

After he posted the video online, some sharp-eyed netizen immediately recognized what was happening: they were robbing a grave.

This user was no amateur, either. He was a streamer himself, one who often explored the wilderness looking for ancient tombs and educating his audience about them.

Actually, there are many ancient tombs in the country that aren’t protected at all because their historical value is considered minor.

His analysis suggested that there was very likely a major tomb located within the mountain.

After the drone owner learned of the situation, he hurriedly called the police, and then the story got out.

"Were the grave robbers caught?"

"No, the drone scared them off last night. But their faces were captured on camera, so they definitely won’t get away.

Right now, everyone is guessing who might be buried in the mountain. We’ve never heard of any high-ranking officials from around here."

Lin Feng was just curious. Learning that the tomb’s situation was still uncertain, plus the fact that it was some distance from Lin Xian Village, he didn’t pay it any more attention.

However, the news spread quickly. His mother even called to ask him about it.

Even his younger sister, who was away at school, sent him a message.

The county government was paying close attention to the matter. Word was they’d sent a team to assess the size of the tomb and determine if a preservation-focused excavation was necessary.

In the afternoon, Lin Feng heard more news, this time from Hu Zhiming.

"Our county’s officials almost got into a fight with the neighboring county’s."

Lin Feng was completely bewildered. "What happened?"

"You know the ancient tomb discovered in the mountains? The site is deep inside Da Shan, where the county borders are ambiguous.

Our county says the tomb is on our side, the other county says it’s on theirs, so they started arguing.

I heard that if the city hadn’t sent people over, the directors of the Tourism Bureau and the Cultural Relics Bureau were about to throw down with the other side."

"Unbelievable. It seems like everyone’s first instinct is to solve problems with their fists."

An ancient tomb, if the person buried inside was famous, would become a tourist attraction that could bring in huge profits.

His Lin Xian Village had already made some of the surrounding counties and cities green with envy. Now that an ancient tomb had appeared, of course they were going to fight over it!

Hu Zhiming continued, "But what happened next was even more ridiculous. As soon as the city officials arrived, the leaders of the two counties instantly teamed up to oppose them."

"Are they afraid the city will snatch the tomb away?"

"It’s not just fear. According to my dad, the city really does intend to take it.

That place is in the deep mountains. After the tomb is excavated, the artifacts will have to be transported out.

According to the city’s plan, everything would be transported to the municipal museum for preservation and display.

How could the two counties possibly agree to that? If the city takes everything, they get no benefit at all."

Lin Feng was left speechless. ’Counties, cities, provinces... they’re all the same,’ he thought. ’Everyone just wants to boost their own economy.’

After chatting about the matter for a while, the two of them moved on to discussing the water plant.

"Brother Lin, a lot of people want to pre-order our mineral water right now. This small water plant can only be a temporary solution.

According to the county, they want us to build a large water plant down the mountain by the county road, preferably one that can produce 2,000 cubic meters of mineral water per day."

Lin Feng considered this. ’Two thousand cubic meters of water is two million liters,’ he calculated. ’That’s enough to produce four million 500-milliliter bottles. That’s no small factory.’

’Just think about Nongfu Spring and all those foreign mineral water brands,’ he mused. ’This industry is a real money-maker. No wonder the county is so anxious.’

Once the water plant was up and running, the county’s tax revenue would increase significantly.

At the current rate, Wuyuan County’s economic growth was sure to make a name for itself next year.

"Let’s build it then. Are you going to manage this water plant, or should we hire someone?"

Hu Zhiming quickly replied, "Of course we’ll hire someone. I don’t want to be in charge of such a big plant. I’d be worked to death."

"Then go find your sister in a bit. Have her help recruit a manager for the water plant. In the future, the plant will be a separate company."

"Okay, I’ll go find my sister in a bit. I’m sure a lot of people will want to be the manager."

Anyone with a bit of influence who knew about the special water in Lin Xian Village would surely be interested in the factory manager position.

At the very least, after becoming the manager, they wouldn’t have trouble buying water from Lin Xian Village.

Just as Lin Feng had thought, as soon as the news that Lin Xian Village was building a water plant and recruiting management personnel was released, many people sprang into action.

"Dad, just forget about it. Zhiming and I work here, so we definitely won’t let you run out of water to drink.

Besides, are you planning to give up the family business?"

"Haha, I was just saying. But there really are a lot of people who want this factory manager job," Hu Yousheng said.

Hu Yousheng heard that after the water plant was built, it could produce 2,000 tons of mineral water per day. That was millions in revenue every day!

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t jealous. These were astronomical profits.

Unfortunately, jealousy wouldn’t get him anywhere. At this point, aside from the powers that be, no one dared to make a move on Lin Xian Village.

Besides, after what happened at the Land God Temple, people were even more hesitant to try anything funny.

Hu Xia also knew that the main task of this factory manager was to oversee production. They wouldn’t have to worry about sales at all.

Just the pre-order calls she had received so far were enough to account for the factory’s entire daily output.

Since the news got out, quite a few people had come to her to inquire about the situation, especially people from Wuyuan County.

The company’s email for receiving resumes had received over two hundred applications in just half an hour.

Hu Xia went to find Lin Feng. "Why are we hiring an outsider to be the factory manager? We could just have Uncle take care of it."

Lin Feng froze for a second, not registering who "Uncle" was, but he quickly realized she was referring to his father.

"My dad? Is he up for it?" Lin Feng asked, a bit hesitant.

"Why wouldn’t he be? Managing the water plant is simple. He just needs to ensure the factory maintains normal production.

Besides, we can just hire a few more people to assist Uncle, right?

The people applying for the job now definitely have ulterior motives."

Lin Feng thought for a moment and said, "You handle the recruitment first. We don’t just need a manager, but also some technical staff.

As for my dad, I’ll go ask him in a bit and see if he’s willing."

"Okay. If we assign a vice-manager to assist Uncle, there shouldn’t be any problems."

The profits from the water plant were huge. It was necessary to place a trusted person inside to keep an eye on things and prevent people from lining their own pockets.

However, Lin Feng wasn’t worried. He could see exactly how much well water was being used each day.