PCJ – Chapter 378 A Ton of Impact

“Who’s rolling? Wang Yiyun, who do you want to roll? I came a bit late and didn’t hear what you said earlier. Can you say it again for me?” Zhang Yuanbao rode over on a bicycle, jumped off with flair, and pushed the bike aside, causing it to fall with a loud crash. His movements were so cool it was a mess.

The tall, arrogant upperclassman named Wang Yiyun was a third-year student at Yidushui Middle School.

As soon as Wang Yiyun’s gang saw Zhang Yuanbao coming, they immediately began to backtrack, planning to sneak away quietly. Wang Yiyun also wanted to flee, but he was being stared at by Zhang Yuanbao and didn’t dare to move.

“Stop right there. Stand there obediently, and no one move. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude! Wang Yiyun, who did you just say should roll away?” Zhang Yuanbao asked.

Wang Yiyun, looking miserable, replied, “Yuanbao, I was just joking, don’t take it seriously.” He dared not admit that he was talking about those new students; even he could tell that those new students were clearly on good terms with Zhang Yuanbao. He had never seen Zhang Yuanbao pay this much attention to anyone before.

“It better be a joke, Wang Yiyun. Open your eyes and see clearly—this is my younger brother, and everyone playing with my brother are his good friends. If you dare to touch a single hair on them, you’ll have to deal with me!” Zhang Yuanbao declared.

Wang Yiyun hurriedly said, “If I had known he was your brother, even with twenty-four guts I wouldn’t dare to act tough in front of them.”

“You guys come over and see clearly—this is my brother. From now on, at Yidushui Middle School, you can’t touch my brother or his friends. Even if someone wants to mess with my brother or his friends, you have to stop them. Got it? Forget it; it’s pointless to say this. If anyone dares to mess with my brother, they might as well hang themselves from the Big Dipper and ask for a long life,” Zhang Yuanbao suddenly realized he had done something very stupid. This situation could have easily been resolved by a beggar or a mute. But he was so used to showing off that he just did it on impulse.

“Yuanbao, what about us…” Before Yuanbao could speak, Wang Yiyun and the others didn’t dare to leave.

Zhang Yuanbao waved his hand, “Go on, hurry up and scram!”

“Jiaohua, didn’t I tell you to wait for me? We were supposed to sign up together!” Zhang Yuanbao said with some dissatisfaction.

“The county called and urged my dad to go, so I had to come over early,” Zhang Jiaohua replied with a smile.

Zhang Yuanbao immediately shared his experience, “To deal with those little bullies, just beat them into submission. They won’t dare to bother you again. These kinds of people can’t study well, have no hope of going to high school, and just gather gangs to bully others in school. They once wanted to teach me a lesson, but after I gave them a good thrashing, they became completely honest. Why didn’t you two fight back? Ah! I get it; Jiaohua must have wanted to tease them, just like a cat plays with a mouse, first toying with them and then giving them an unforgettable lesson at the end. Am I right? Did I guess right?” Zhang Yuanbao said proudly.

“We don’t have your low-level interests,” the mute shot back, making Zhang Yuanbao furious.

“Mute, don’t talk! Or you’ll be in for it,” Zhang Yuanbao flexed his muscles.

“If you’re capable, let’s compare basketball,” the mute retorted defiantly.

“Let’s compare basketball then,” Zhang Yuanbao said without much confidence.

It was inevitable that he would lose if they compared basketball, and indeed, Zhang Yuanbao lost cleanly to the mute.

Qi Xia watched in shock, originally thinking his skills were decent—after all, there were hardly any good basketball players at Yidushui. In this situation, he thought he would at least be considered a pro. But after witnessing the match between Zhang Yuanbao and the mute, Qi Xia was stunned. Compared to them, he was at a preschool level.

One after another, several students who graduated from Meizi’ao Elementary School arrived, all former members of the school’s basketball team. Qi Xia’s pride was utterly shattered.

“Jiaohua, you don’t know how to play ball either?” Qi Xia saw Zhang Jiaohua standing on the court and felt some consolation—there was at least one other person who didn’t dare to join in.

Just then, a pass on the court was deflected and shot like a cannonball toward Zhang Jiaohua. He casually reached out and easily caught the basketball, then threw it with precision, sending the ball straight into the hoop. Whoosh! The ball went cleanly through the basket.

Qi Xia was dumbfounded, as if hit by a ton of bricks, and weakly asked, “Jiaohua, did you just accidentally make it?”

“Qi Xia, it’s just that they practiced basketball earlier than you did. They’re all from our Meizi’ao Elementary School basketball team, playing every afternoon. Our basketball court at Meizi’ao is way better than this shabby one,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Can I practice with you guys in the future?” Qi Xia asked.

“Of course you can!” Zhang Jiaohua nodded.

Xintian County Town.

After sending Zhang Jiaohua to Meizi’ao, Zhang Youping hurried back to the county town. The reason Zhang Youping rushed back was that there was an urgent meeting called by the county. Since the meeting was closely related to the tea industry association, Zhang Youping also attended the county committee meeting.

In the county committee meeting room, Zhang Youping was the only one who wasn’t an official; he was just an ordinary farmer. However, no one in the room dared to underestimate Zhang Youping. On the contrary, everyone greeted him enthusiastically. Zhang Youping was the most successful farmer entrepreneur in Xintian County, and this “most” didn’t require the addition of “one of” anymore. Biyu Xianyin Tea not only brought endless wealth to Zhang Youping’s family but also boosted the development of the entire tea industry in Xintian County.

“Comrades, let me announce some good news. The provincial tea expo will be held in our county next year. This is a condition for the vigorous development of our county’s tea industry and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take our tea industry to the next level. Everyone here knows that the development of our county’s tea industry has driven the rapid economic development of our county. This year, the county committee and government proposed to promote tourism through tea and vigorously develop our county’s tourism industry, taking our economy to new heights. Holding the tea expo in our county will be an extremely important opportunity for our economic development strategy…” County Party Secretary Deng Junshan passionately delivered a speech.

The specific work was naturally assigned by the county mayor, Luo Changjun. He had finally become the real tea county mayor this year. The previous county party secretary, Zhou Baoying, had been promoted to vice mayor of Zijiang City due to the achievements in tea industry development in Xintian County. Deng Junshan also advanced to become the top leader of Xintian County.

“…I hope everyone present will work together and strive to prepare well for the tea expo. We cannot slack off in tourism development either. We need to strive to shape the tourism industry based on tea culture before the tea expo. We should take advantage of the tea expo to promote our county’s tea tourism…”

Luo Changjun distributed the specific work arrangements to each participant. After the meeting ended, he called Zhang Youping aside, “Youping, don’t leave yet. I need to discuss something with you. Call your brother and sister-in-law and let them know you’ll have a meal with me in the cafeteria today.”

“As a farmer, isn’t it inappropriate for me to eat in your county officials’ cafeteria?” Zhang Youping joked.

“Oh, Youping, you’re getting slicker as the president. Our cafeteria doesn’t have food as good as your association’s restaurant. As long as you don’t mind, that’s fine,” Luo Changjun replied with a smile.

“I’ve lived through days when I ate nothing but rice; would I mind your county officials’ cafeteria?” Zhang Youping’s demeanor was already very different from before.

“By the way, why didn’t you bring Jiaohua to enroll in County No. 1 High School this time? The conditions at Yidushui Middle School can’t be that great, right?” Luo Changjun asked, puzzled.

“It’s worse than you can imagine. It’s simply unbearable. One class of boys shares a single dormitory, and it’s cramped with beds. As soon as you walk in, there’s a musty smell, and soon it will likely turn into a stench. But this kid is very stubborn; once he sets his mind on something, nothing anyone says matters. I didn’t dare to mention this to Qiaoye when I came back, so don’t say anything to my sister-in-law,” Zhang Youping hurriedly warned Luo Changjun.

“Do you want me to speak to the education bureau to have them take care of Jiaohua a bit?” Luo Changjun was indeed willing to use his connections for Zhang Jiaohua.

“No need. Raising boys in poverty and girls in wealth is the way to go. Let this brat suffer a little,” Zhang Youping said quickly.

“That’s fine. But you might not find it easy to make this kid suffer,” Luo Changjun recalled Zhang Jiaohua’s cleverness and knew that no matter how tough the conditions were, they wouldn’t be a problem for him.

“That’s true,” Zhang Youping nodded.

“I’ll still notify the education bureau. Now that the county’s finances have become more generous, we should increase our education investment appropriately,” Luo Changjun said.

Zhang Youping understood Luo Changjun’s intention. Luo Changjun was planning to have the education bureau improve the teaching conditions at Yidushui Middle School, “After Biyu Xianyin Tea develops, it will also contribute to our county’s education.”

“Youping, as long as you have this idea, it’s enough. For now, let’s not spread the funds too thin. Keep focusing on developing the Biyu Xianyin Tea Group. The better Biyu Xianyin Tea develops, the more it will drive the entire county’s economic growth. Biyu Xianyin Tea should not only become the leading enterprise in Xintian County’s tea industry but also a leading enterprise in Xintian County, even Zijiang City, and even the whole province,” Luo Changjun praised.

“Lao Luo, are you going to eat or not? I’m starving,” Zhang Youping complained.

“Youping, I used to wonder which of you or your brother and sister-in-law that Jiaohua inherited those quirky traits from. Now I know—it’s from you,” Luo Changjun laughed.