200: Chapter 201 Returning Home in Glory and Receiving Red Envelopes: The Shadow Queen Frolicking in the Mountains and Forests

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

While funding the reconstruction of the new village, Shen Du had long since mobilized the resources of Jiyuan Technology.

He hired the most professional agricultural experts to re-plan and improve the soil of the vast stretches of barren hills and wilderness surrounding the area.

They planted precious medicinal herbs, cultivated cash crops of fruit trees, and engaged in specialized mountain forestry farming.

He covered all the initial startup capital and secured the market sales channels for the later stages.

He left every household in the village with a way to rely on the mountains for a continuous, self-sustaining income.

In this small mountain village of over a hundred households, Shen Du established the simplest of rules:

"As long as you are able-bodied and not a hopeless slacker, you will never have to worry about food or clothing in this life."

As the saying goes, when one attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Watching those men—who no longer had to leave their hometowns to work elsewhere and could now earn money while staying warm with their wives and children—display that heartfelt, simple smile on their faces,

Shen Du let out a long breath of white mist, feeling all the fatigue of the past few days vanish instantly.

In the afternoon, on the hillside behind the village.

The emerald bamboo covering the mountains and plains rustled softly in the winter breeze.

The air was filled with the crisp, cold scent unique to soil and vegetation.

His mother, Wang Hanmei, was dressed in a neat set of coarse cloth clothes.

Holding a specially made short-handled hoe, she led Shen Du and Hong Yun through the dense bamboo forest.

"Digging for winter bamboo shoots is a technical job; you can't just dig blindly like a dog digging a hole."

Leading the way, Wang Hanmei kept her head down, carefully observing the ground, and patiently shared her experience in her local accent:

"You have to follow the direction of the bamboo rhizomes underground. Look at the soil; if there's a slight mound somewhere, or small cracks, there's an eighty percent chance a shoot tip is straining to push its way up underneath."

As she spoke, Wang Hanmei spotted a slightly cracked mound of earth. She brought her hoe down precisely, moved the soil a few times, and sure enough, a yellowish-brown shoot tip was revealed.

"You need to angle the hoe slightly and dig the soil away along the edge; don't damage the root of the shoot underneath, or the bamboo shoot won't be fresh."

Shen Du stood to the side with his hands in his casual trousers pockets, smiling, not interfering much.

His gaze remained fixed from beginning to end on the woman beside him, who was crouched on the muddy ground, listening with rapt attention.

At this moment, where was any trace of the cold, aloof Hong Yun who had remotely controlled the dumping of tens of billions of dollars at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong?

She had rolled up the sleeves of her expensive beige down jacket high and was wearing a pair of clean black rubber boots that Wang Hanmei had specifically found for her.

Those slender, jade-like hands, which were meant to be typing on keyboards and signing billion-dollar contracts, were currently digging through the damp soil without a hint of disdain, helping Wang Hanmei to carefully dig out the plump winter bamboo shoot completely.

"Auntie, do you see one here too?"

Like a little girl who had discovered treasure, Hong Yun pointed to a crack not far away and, imitating Wang Hanmei, picked up another small garden hoe and began to carefully dig the soil.

Mud inevitably splattered onto the back of her fair hands, and even the hem of her down jacket was smeared with a large patch of yellow mud. But she didn't care at all.

There was not a shred of the delicate, pampered attitude of a wealthy city lady who feared getting dirty or tired. Instead, her stunning face was radiant with a pure, heartfelt joy.

"Oh, dear, slow down; there are stones in this soil, don't scrape your hands."

Seeing Hong Yun's serious determination, Wang Hanmei was secretly surprised.

In Wang Hanmei's original, fixed impression, her son had made it big now, and the beautiful woman he brought back—who looked like a movie star—must surely be a pampered city girl who had never done a day's work and couldn't handle the slightest grievance.

Yet the girl named Hong Yun before her not only showed no disdain for the muddy country ground, but she also displayed a natural resilience and work ethic while working.

"It's fine, Auntie; this is much more interesting than staying in an office in the city every day."

Hong Yun raised the back of her hand, subconsciously wiping away the fine sweat on her forehead, but inadvertently left a faint smear of yellow mud on her fair cheek.

Like a little kitten frolicking in the mountains, she tilted her head to look at Wang Hanmei, smiling exceptionally brightly.

Watching Hong Yun's unfeigned, simple manner, the smile in Shen Du's eyes deepened, and he felt his entire heart filled to the brim.

And in the look Wang Hanmei gave Hong Yun, that initial scrutiny quietly faded, replaced by a genuine sense of satisfaction and maternal affection.

Night fell, and dots of orange light lit up the mountain village.

In the bathroom, Shen Du washed away the mud and the chill from spending the afternoon in the bamboo forest. When he walked out wearing loose loungewear, wiping his half-dry hair, he found his mother, Wang Hanmei, standing under the eaves outside the door waiting for him.

"Mom, why are you standing outside in this cold weather?" Shen Du reached over, picked up a coat from the side, and draped it over his mother.

Wang Hanmei pulled the coat tighter around herself, but didn't go inside immediately; instead, she pulled Shen Du to sit on the wooden bench outside the door.

She glanced back at Hong Yun, who was inside helping to pick vegetables, lowered her voice, and spoke with the caution and concern of a mother.

"Du'er, tell Mom the truth. Are you really planning to marry this girl and bring her into the family?"

Shen Du's hand, which was drying his hair, paused slightly. He turned his head, looked into his mother's weathered yet still bright eyes, and nodded without hesitation: "Yes."

"The girl is truly beautiful, and she works steadily; she isn't delicate at all."

Wang Hanmei sighed, her eyes revealing the sharpness and keen insight of a mountain woman: "But Mom has spent most of her life looking at people… There are things hidden in her eyes. This girl, one look and you know she's experienced many ups and downs and has suffered great hardships. Mom is afraid you…"

"Mom, your judgment of people is as accurate as ever." Before his mother could finish, Shen Du smiled and interrupted her.

He draped the towel in his hand over the back of the chair and leaned back slightly. He looked up at the brilliant galaxy in the night sky of the mountain village, his eyes becoming incredibly profound.

"I know everything about her. Even her reputation outside in the past wasn't exactly good."

Shen Du's voice was very soft, yet it carried an unquestionable firmness and protectiveness: "But in that cutthroat world of capital where people are eaten without a trace and one can be shattered at any moment, I don't need a vase raised in a greenhouse who only knows how to cry."

He turned his head and looked at his mother earnestly: "She has shared both joys and sorrows with me. When I needed someone to step up the most, she staked her entire life and fortune on me, blocking countless open and hidden arrows for me. Mom, only a woman as resilient as this will be able to stand by my side and face the even greater storms of the future with me."

Wang Hanmei listened quietly, looking at the deep sense of responsibility and trust in her son's eyes. The lingering trace of worry in her heart finally vanished completely.