CHAPTER 1155: CHAPTER 1151: THE REASON BEHIND THE CONSPIRACY

But just as he stepped out of the utility room door, he immediately heard some noise coming from the backyard.

Chen Yang glanced at the sky outside and found it still quite bright; it wasn’t dinnertime yet.

Logically, Annie shouldn’t be back this early.

His mind was filled with suspicion, and he subconsciously walked toward the backyard.

Chen Yang initially thought someone else was in the backyard, but upon arriving, he realized it was indeed Annie.

"Hey, why are you back so early? Weren’t you going to play with Kexin at the village office?" Chen Yang asked in bewilderment.

Annie was teasing the dog Wangcai when she heard Chen Yang’s voice and immediately turned around.

Seeing Chen Yang, her smile widened even more.

"Chen Yang, you’re done so soon?" Annie ran lively to Chen Yang’s side, smiling as she spoke.

"Yeah."

Chen Yang nodded, still looking at her with a puzzled gaze.

She then explained, "I went to find Kexin, but Kexin wasn’t at the village office, so I came back. I saw you were already making elixir, so I didn’t disturb you and just played in the backyard by myself."

That makes sense; if she went to see Wu Kexin, she wouldn’t be back so early.

"I see."

Chen Yang nodded once, then thought Wu Kexin was likely in town handling last night’s matters, so he didn’t dwell on it.

He took Annie out for a walk to stretch a bit.

After a whole afternoon of making elixirs, it’s like working with a big screw in a factory, repeating the same motions over and over, which really stiffens the body.

Stretching out felt more comfortable.

The afternoon in Liuhe Village was very quiet, with almost no noisy sounds except for some bird calls and faint noises from a distance.

Chen Yang and Annie strolled around the village and unknowingly arrived near the orchard.

It was then that Chen Yang remembered he hadn’t checked the orchard today, so he thought of taking Annie to have a look.

But he hadn’t even opened his mouth yet when Annie suddenly suggested it herself.

"Chen Yang, shall we go to the orchard and take a look?" Annie tried hard to make herself appear natural, but the involuntary swallowing betrayed her.

Clearly, she was craving, wanting to eat some wild mandarins.

Chen Yang shook his head helplessly and agreed, "Alright, let’s go have a look."

The two of them went to the orchard together.

The place looked different every day.

Just yesterday, it was full of blossoms, but today, most of them had begun to wilt.

In their place were budding green fruits.

At this rate, it might take no more than a couple of days for all the fruits in the orchard to ripen.

The growth speed was incredibly fast, even faster than bamboo shoots after rain; in just one night, they looked fantastic.

"At this speed, they’ll be ready for picking in a couple of days."

Chen Yang seriously observed the bulging little buds and said.

At this point, Annie had already picked a few ripe mandarins herself and even started peeling and eating them.

"Isn’t that great? By then, Kexin, Ruoxi, and I can help you pick them. We don’t need wages; just give us some to eat." Annie said while eating.

Chen Yang glanced at the way she was eating and couldn’t help but laugh.

"Eating is not the problem; the main thing is you guys need to help me market them, or else I won’t know who to sell these fruits to."

Upon hearing this, Annie confidently patted her chest and said, "Don’t worry about that. With us around, your fruits will definitely sell out with no suspense."

"Alright, with your word, I’m at ease. As long as you help me sell them, you can eat as much as you want." Chen Yang replied.

Annie smiled sweetly and didn’t say anything else, focusing on eating.

The two stayed in the orchard for a while, and just as they were about to leave, Chen Yang’s phone rang from his pocket.

He took it out and saw that it was a call from Wu Kexin.

"What’s up, Kexin? How’s the matter with Director Yan going?" Chen Yang asked as he answered the phone.

"It’s almost settled. I’m still in town and don’t have a car to go back. Can you pick me up?" Wu Kexin said.

"Of course, I’ll be there in twenty minutes with Annie."

"Alright."

Wu Kexin responded and hung up the phone.

Chen Yang put away the phone, turned to Annie, and said, "Let’s go, Annie, to the town."

"What happened? Why are we suddenly going to the town?"

Upon hearing the voice, Annie immediately approached.

"To pick up Kexin." Chen Yang replied.

"Oh, okay."

Annie nodded immediately, picking a few more wild mandarins before leaving the orchard with Chen Yang.

The two left the orchard and immediately returned to the clinic, got into the van, and headed to the town.

Twenty minutes later, Chen Yang picked up Wu Kexin, not a minute more, not a minute less.

After getting in the car, Wu Kexin glanced at the time and, seeing how precise it was, couldn’t help but laugh, "Not bad, so punctual, not a minute more, not a minute less."

Chen Yang, while turning the car around, laughed and replied, "Of course, I’m always punctual."

Hearing this, both Wu Kexin and Annie couldn’t help but roll their eyes.

They thought to themselves, really, praise and you’re over the moon.

"Kexin, try some mandarins. I just picked them from the orchard for you." As soon as Wu Kexin got in, Annie handed over a few mandarins.

These were the ones she picked on their way out.

It looked like she intended to give them to Wu Kexin all along.

Having been out all day, Wu Kexin was delighted to see the wild mandarins as soon as she entered the car.

"Thank you, Annie." Not being polite, she took them directly, peeled one, and started tasting it.

As she ate, she couldn’t help but nod in approval, praising how delicious the fruit was.

Seeing Wu Kexin so satisfied, Annie’s eyes turned into crescent moons, smiling brightly.

Through the rearview mirror, Chen Yang saw the two women getting along so well, and he felt happy.

Soon, the car left the bustling part of the town and got onto the country road back to Liuhe Village.

Only then did Chen Yang remember the main issue and asked:

"By the way, Kexin, how did things go yesterday? Were those people really sent by Director Yan?"

Wu Kexin, sitting in the back, was laughing and chatting with Annie.

Hearing this, she immediately looked seriously at Chen Yang and nodded, "Yes, they weren’t lying. They were indeed sent by Director Yan."

Although Chen Yang had already suspected it yesterday, he was still somewhat surprised when he saw Wu Kexin nodding.

"Why would he do that? Is it just pure revenge?" Chen Yang asked.

"It’s not just revenge. He wanted to use that superstition to stop our construction. Then, once the issue escalated, he’d meddle with it and try to shift our investment to the county town." Wu Kexin replied.

Chen Yang was initially surprised; he thought that although he had conflicts with Director Yan, they weren’t significant, just some disagreements.

It shouldn’t have led to such revenge, especially using such underhanded means.

After hearing Wu Kexin’s explanation, he finally understood.

It turns out Director Yan had his eyes on his investments, wanting his invested university to be built in the county town, which is why he resorted to such lowly schemes.