Chapter 180 - 176: The Golden Eagle’s Talent and Skills

Chapter 180: Chapter 176: The Golden Eagle’s Talent and Skills

Overnight, as the employees of Lin Xian Village came to work, the news they spread began to have an ever-growing impact.

Lin Feng had just finished getting dressed in the morning when he received a video call from his mother.

Liu Chunyan asked nervously, "Xiaofeng, people are saying the salaries at your place are really high this month, that everyone made tens of thousands. Is that true?"

"Mom, it’s true. We had a good month."

"Ah! But that’s so high! Now I’ll never get a moment’s peace."

"Mom, if anyone comes to you about it, just send them my way. If any of our relatives want a job, I can help arrange a position for them, as long as they’re good people."

Lin Feng wasn’t afraid of having relatives come to work, nor was he worried about them becoming parasites in Lin Xian Village.

If they didn’t work hard, he wouldn’t give them any special treatment and would absolutely kick them out.

His cousin Liu Xu and the person his uncle had recommended last time were doing great in Lin Xian Village. Not only did they not slack off, but they were even more diligent than the others.

Both of them had a strong sense of pride. Because they were relatives, they were even more concerned about their reputation and didn’t want anyone saying they only got in through connections.

Liu Xu was now leading a team to handle Lin Xian Village’s website maintenance.

The person his uncle recommended was an apprentice in the Restaurant kitchen, and he’d heard the man was a very diligent learner.

"Alright, I get it. Once our relatives hear the news, they’ll definitely come calling."

If the salaries weren’t so high, they might have been too embarrassed to ask. But now, as soon as they heard, they were sure to come knocking.

While Lin Feng was eating breakfast, his father contacted him about the same thing, wanting to give him a heads-up.

"Dad, what ended up happening with Cousin Liu Xu?"

He was asking about the situation where his cousin’s wife had threatened to divorce him for returning to his hometown to work.

His cousin had been busy working ever since he returned and hadn’t mentioned it.

"If the salary wasn’t so high, your uncle’s family would have had to be the ones to give in.

But now that Liu Xu is earning so much, you just watch. It’ll be her side of the family begging your uncle’s."

This world is a very realistic place; money can solve ninety-nine percent of all problems.

As long as you can make good money in the countryside, no one will dare look down on you. You’ll suddenly find you’re surrounded by nice people.

Take him, for example. When he first returned, rumors were flying all over the mountain foothills. Now, who didn’t have a good word to say about him?

Some of the people who had spread those rumors had even gone directly to his father to apologize.

"Yeah, my cousin is a bit passive. It’s a good thing my uncle is so assertive."

If his uncle hadn’t stood firm and insisted his cousin come work for him, he’d still be in the city looking for a job right now.

These days, for someone laid off at thirty-five, finding another satisfactory job is incredibly difficult.

A thirty-five-year-old man is under the most pressure he’ll ever face in his life: supporting his parents and his children, all while being weighed down by loans.

They aren’t like young people complaining about life online; they don’t have time to complain. They’re too busy hustling with every ounce of their being just to make a living.

If his wife is unsupportive on top of all that, the pressure is enough to make a man break down just thinking about it.

There’s no way around it. From a young age, they’re taught that a man must support his family. Their fathers’ generation all lived that way.

Lin Feng was discovering that after the salary news got out, things had gotten truly chaotic.

"Ugh! This is driving me crazy," Hu Xia said, glaring at Lin Feng.

Hu Zhiming said, "Brother Lin, the salary figures haven’t even been officially announced, and we’re already getting swarmed by people.

Once the paychecks actually go out, I have a feeling my relatives are going to pester me to death."

Lin Feng said, "You can just blame me. I’ll be the bad guy."

Hu Xia retorted, "Of course you’ll be the bad guy. Where were all these people before? We announced the previous job openings, but not a single one of them was willing to come."

Just last month, she had held several recruitment drives, and not a single person had shown up.

Now that they see the high salaries in Lin Xian Village, they all want to come and cash in. ’In their dreams!’

"Oh, right. From now on, any new employees we hire must first go pay respects to the Earth God."

Lin Feng didn’t want to hire anyone who was morally corrupt, let alone a hidden criminal.

"You don’t have to remind me. Starting this month, all employees will be required to pay their respects to the Earth God."

It wasn’t just Lin Feng who didn’t want bad apples among the staff—Hu Xia wanted it even less, since she was the one managing most of Lin Xian Village’s employees.

Hu Xia never expected this. She had refused to work at her family’s factory, only to end up getting roped into this by Lin Feng.

’It was all because of the Jade Grapes.’ If it weren’t for being able to eat them, she would never have come to Lin Xian Village.

Thinking of the Jade Grapes made Hu Xia happy. Many grapes were already growing in the Jade Vineyard; it looked like they could be harvested in another month or two.

Hu Xia watched Zhao Shiyun walk over, noticing she seemed completely untroubled.

She asked, puzzled, "Shiyun, has no one asked you about getting a job at Lin Xian Village?"

Zhao Shiyun took out a bag of small, fruit-based snacks she had just picked up from the Restaurant.

"Nope. Even if someone were to ask, they’d go to my mom. They wouldn’t dare approach me directly."

Hu Xia realized how silly she’d been. Zhao Shiyun had never had many friends, and her relatives really wouldn’t dare approach her about something like this.

Otherwise, that old patriarch of her family would make them face consequences they couldn’t handle.

"You’re so lucky! This bag of little bear fruit snacks is mine now. So good!"

"You’re always snatching my snacks. Can’t you go get your own from the Restaurant? It’s not like they’d say no."

"But we’re best friends! Best friends share. In a little while, I’ll take you to the greenhouse to pick some cucumbers."

Zhao Shiyun’s eyes instantly lit up. She licked her lips; the cucumbers and tomatoes from the greenhouse were delicious.

She was always too embarrassed to go pick them herself, so Hu Xia always had to take her.

"Then let’s go pick cucumbers and tomatoes in a bit," she said, glancing over at Lin Feng.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he didn’t seem to mind at all.

"Brother Lin, why won’t the Golden Eagles eat the food I offer them?"

"They don’t know you, so of course they won’t eat food from you."

"But they’re always flying way up in the sky. There’s no way for me to get to know them."

"Don’t even think about asking me for help."

Speaking of the Golden Eagles, both had recently leveled up, awakening Talents and Skills. Their bodies had also started growing again.

[Pet: Golden Eagle (Chasing Wind)

Level: 2 (10/1000)

Age: Eight years

Sex: Male

Talent: Robust

Skill: Swift Flight

Constitution: 5

Loyalty: 100 (100)]

[Robust: Body exceeds the normal size limits of its species, growing to twice the size.]

[Swift Flight: Increases flight speed.]

[Pet: Golden Eagle (Ao Xue)

Level: 2 (10/1000)

Age: Eight years

Sex: Female

Talent: Stable

Skill: Elegant Posture

Constitution: 5

Loyalty: 100 (100)]

[Stable: Possesses superior balance.]

[Elegant Posture: Appears elegant and beautiful no matter the action.]

The [Mountain and Forest Guardian] title was a great help in increasing his pets’ Loyalty. Without it, their Loyalty would never have maxed out.

He was a little disappointed by the Constitution increase after the two Golden Eagles leveled up; it had only gone up by one point.

However, the Golden Eagles’ level-up did show him that Talents and Skills were related to a pet’s maturity.

Furthermore, the younger a pet was when a contract was formed, the greater its growth potential.

The two Golden Eagles flying around Lin Xian Village had already attracted a great deal of attention from tourists.

However, the fact that he had tamed the Golden Eagles hadn’t gotten out. Otherwise, he would have been all over the news again.

The permit for his private zoo should be approved soon. Then he would be able to keep other protected animals.

Meanwhile, in the Jade Vineyard, Chen Mingming was feeling conflicted. He had also heard about the salaries at Lin Xian Village.

He also knew that the Lin Xian Village agricultural company was constantly looking to hire technical specialists, but no one had been applying.

It was a perfect match for his field of study, but he hadn’t graduated yet, which was why he felt so conflicted.

"Senior, the salaries at Lin Xian Village are so high. I’m going to go apply directly.

Otherwise, once the news gets out, tons of people will be competing with us for those spots."

"But I haven’t graduated yet, and there’s still the professor’s research..."

His junior whispered, "The professor’s research is completely useless. These Jade Grapes, just like that Land God Temple, are simply beyond the reach of current technology."

Having gotten into a university, and then a graduate program, their expertise in the field was certainly not lacking.

After studying the Jade Grapes for so long, they had already realized there was no point in continuing their research.

The vegetables they grew using fallen leaves from the Jade Grapes grew a little better, but they had no special properties whatsoever.

It was just that they had already invested so much time, and it wasn’t easy to simply walk away.

"You should really think about it, Senior. I’m going to go find Manager Xia and ask about the agricultural technician position."

His junior didn’t want to miss this chance. Job prospects for her major were already very limited.

If she missed this opportunity, she was certain a better one would never come along.

After his junior left, Chen Mingming thought for a long time and finally decided to try applying as well.

In their field of study, producing research breakthroughs was difficult, and finding a job was even harder.

Just as his junior had said, he wasn’t young anymore. He had to start thinking about his own future.

His parents had supported him through school; he couldn’t keep living off them forever. Besides, if he missed this opportunity, he would almost certainly regret it.

The salaries were just too high. Even the cleaning staff were making more than elite professionals in the big cities.

Chen Mingming had no idea that even Zhou Yongqiang had been swayed by the news of Lin Xian Village’s salaries. When he first heard the numbers, he found it hard to believe.

Their wages were higher than his salary as a university professor, and that was despite him having his own company.

Compared to the wages in Lin Xian Village, even running his own company suddenly lost its appeal. He began to wonder if he should apply for the agricultural technician position himself.

In truth, Lin Xian Village was short on high-end technical talent for many of its positions.

For example, the livestock farm, the Orchard, the Medicinal Herb Garden, and the Farmland were all ventures that required technical support.

It was just that during previous recruitment drives, skilled professionals never paid any attention to Lin Xian Village; the place was simply too remote.

Even with its booming tourism industry, the gap in the standard of living compared to a big city was just too wide.

Of course, when enough money is on the table, no problem is truly a problem.

It wasn’t just the people at the vineyard who were getting ideas after hearing the news; even the construction crews working in Lin Xian Village were starting to think.

The pay was just too enticing. Two months of the lowest salary there was equivalent to what they earned in an entire year.

They began approaching some of the more accessible Lin Xian Village employees with questions, while also keeping an eye on the village’s job postings to see if any suitable positions opened up.

Of course, some of them thought about the very project they were working on. Once the valley was developed, Lin Xian Village would definitely need people to maintain it, which meant hiring more staff.

This was a golden opportunity. These workers began preparing immediately, tackling their daily tasks with renewed diligence.

During their breaks, they would even go into the village and help out the Lin Xian Village staff.

Compared to the outsiders, however, the impact on the existing Lin Xian Village employees was even greater. Some who had previously been content to just get by were now working with much more enthusiasm.

Competition for leadership roles grew more intense, as those positions received larger bonuses. No one was going to turn their nose up at more money.

Take the security team, for instance. Before, they hadn’t been very proactive. But after the salary announcement, it was like they were all pumped full of adrenaline every day.

Previously, the night shift had to be assigned. Now, anyone who wanted to get ahead was actively volunteering for it.

Everyone knew there was still a vacant captain position on the night shift team.