Chapter 13 - Gateways

Zi Yan’s house was in the Eastern District’s Yunyin Garden Neighborhood.

Back then she was still a popular celebrity, so the house that she bought was a grand residence.

The house was a high-ceiling duplex house. The total surface area of the first and second floor was about 400 square meters.

Back when Zi Yan bought the house, the house price of the houses in this area was 150k yuan per square meter. For the house, renovation, and furniture, Zi Yan spent a total of close to 70 million yuan. This house would be considered a grand residence anywhere in China.

Zi Yan had a lot of money back then, but after retiring, the money that she spent in the following five years was not trivial. Today, she only had around 10 million yuan left in her bank savings.

Perhaps that amount of money would be more than enough for ordinary people for their entire lifetime. However, in Zi Yan’s view, that amount of money was not enough.

She wanted to give Meng Meng an extremely good life. This was one of the reasons she came back out of retirement.

Of course, the biggest reason that she came out of retirement was because of her celebrity dream. She did not want to give up on that dream.

Back in the house:

“Meng Meng, did you had fun playing with Auntie Wang?” Zi Yan asked with a smile.

Upon seeing Meng Meng, the heaviness in her heart immediately lifted. Only when she was with Meng Meng, would she release the coldness on her face and put up a gentle and sweet smile.

Aunt Wang was a professional nanny who Zi Yan hired for a high salary. Aunt Wang name was Wang Juan and she was in charge of looking after Meng Meng and tidying up the house.

“Quite...quite a bit, but not as fun as when I was playing with daddy. I miss daddy already,” said Meng Meng as she pouted her little mouth.

“You will be able to see your father after he is finished with his work,” Zi Yan said petulantly.

Right now, Zi Yan was already thinking to herself that she must not let Meng Meng and Zhang Han see each other too much.

At this moment, Zi Yan was happily playing with the little girl, while across town, Zhang Han who was lying on a sofa, was slowly opening his eyes.

“Hmm......It is already 8 pm?”

Zhang Han sat up. He had been asleep since the afternoon. But even after having slept for such a long time, he still felt very exhausted.

Zhang Han’s stomach grumbled, reminding him that he needed to go eat dinner right now.

Zhang Han went to a restaurant nearby and ordered some blood-enriching food:

Black chicken soup, pig liver with stir-fried spinach, and a big cup of brown sugar water.

The black chicken soup was very fresh. But with Zhang Han’s taste, after he ate a few mouthfuls of the chicken meat, he immediately knew that the black chicken was not an authentic free-range chicken.

Free-range chickens, also known as stupid chickens, were chickens that were domestically raised without eating the kind of fodder that hurried their growth. Although the size of the fodder-fed chickens, ducks, and geese was much bigger, they lacked the proper nutrition, and what’s more, they had chemical substances that were harmful to the human body.

Free-range chickens were different. In every aspect, free-range chickens were much better than fodder-fed chickens. Especially in terms of taste, where free-range chickens were more fragrant and tender.

Another thing was that fodder-fed chickens, that were normally bought in supermarkets, when stewed in a pot for an hour, were easily overcooked. On the other hand, when a free-range chicken were stewed in a pot for an hour, its meat would still be firm. This is why free-range chickens were much better than fodder-fed chickens.

As a result, the price of a free-range chicken would normally be above 100 yuan, while the price of a fodder fed chicken would normally be around 20 yuan. Additionally, those markets that sold free-range chicken for around 50 yuan to 70 yuan each would usually be fake goods.

The black chicken that Zhang Han was currently eating was said to be a domestic raised free-range chicken on the menu. But when he knew this was wrong.

Honestly, Zhang Han didn’t really mind this. After he planted the Thunder-Yang Tree, he could just raise some himself. But before that, he would have to just make do with his current situation.

Because of excess blood loss, Zhang Han forced himself to eat the entire black chicken. He also drank the soup, and the entire cup of brown sugar water, and ate the entire plate of pork liver with stir-fried spinach. After eating and drinking everything, Zhang Han’s stomach felt bloated.

Zhang Han sat in the restaurant to rest for 10 minutes. After paying the bill, Zhang Han left the restaurant, then gave Zhang Li a call and headed towards her rented apartment.

The rented apartment was 88 square meters and had two rooms and a living room. The decoration of the rented apartment was comforting and well taken care of by the two women.

In Zhang Li’s bedroom, Zhang Han opened his mouth and asked, “Xiao Li, do you know of anyone in the Lands Department?”

“Nope. Brother, why is your complexion so pale? Are you sick?” Zhang Li asked with concern.

“Most probably caught a cold while I was sleeping. Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing at all.” Zhang Han smiled and shook his head.

“Why did you ask if I knew anyone in the Lands Department?” Zhang Li asked curiously.

“I want to……rent a mountain.”

“Pfff……” Zhang Li almost got choked by her saliva. Opening her eyes wide open, she said, “I didn’t hear wrong, right brother? What do you want to rent a mountain for?”

“Don’t make a fuss about nothing.” Zhang Han lightly tapped Zhang Li’s shoulder and said, “I just want to rent a mountain to plant some things.”

“There is no need to rent a mountain to just plant things, right? In Xiangjiang, do you think you can rent a mountain just because you want to rent it? What’s more, even if the mountain can be rented, the price of renting the mountain would also definitely be absurdly high. Brother, you are already being too rash,” Zhang Li said with a tone of hating iron for not becoming steel.

[恨铁不成钢 – Hating iron for not becoming steel: To be disappointed in someone for not being able to meet their expectations.]

“You will understand when the time comes. About the mountain, I need to rent it for sure. So, do you have any friends who work in the Lands Department?”

“I don’t know anyone who works in the Lands Department…Wait! Let me go ask Li Anna.” Zhang Li ran out of the room.

Li Anna was the other tenant of the rented apartment. She attended school at Xiangjiang University for four years. After she graduated, she worked as an office worker in a large company, and knew a lot of people.

Li Anna was roughly around 1.6m tall. Her height and her plump face gave her a look of adorableness. Li Anna was fond of males that were tall. Upon seeing Zhang Han who was 1.8m tall, her eyes lit up as she greeted:

“Hello, Big Brother Zhang.”

“Hello.” Zhang Han nodded his head.

“I heard that, Big Brother Zhang, you wanted to rent a mountain? Which mountain did you have your eyes on?” Li Anna asked with a smile.

Although she was fond of males that were tall, it did not mean that she would fall in love just after seeing a tall male. In this world, how many instances of love at first sight exist?

“Crescent Mountain.”

“Crescent Mountain?” Li Anna’s complexion slightly changed. She didn’t expect this. Her tone became somewhat serious, “Crescent Mountain is not that simple. Even the officials of Xiangjiang are not sure if they are going to develop Crescent Mountain. After all, Crescent Mountain was right next to Crescent Gulf. Even if they wanted to develop Crescent Mountain, they still have to undergo land bidding. Forgive me for speaking bluntly, but if you want to rent the mountain by yourself, you are really expecting too much already.”

Zhang Han frowned. “Then what about renting for short-term? Renting between one and five years would do.”

The spiritual water that was found within Crescent Mountain was enough for Zhang Han to not give up on it.

“If it is really impossible, I will just occupy the mountain by force. How can the laws of the profane world be able to restrict me, the grand Hanyang Immortal Monarch?” he thought.

Of course, he, Hanyang Immortal Monarch, actually had to be well-behaved.

“Short-term?” Li Anna slightly went into a daze, “If you are looking to rent Crescent Mountain for the short-term, it might be possible. Let me call my friend and ask about it first.”

“Thanks.”

Li Anna took out her phone and called her friend right in front of Zhang Han. She was indeed a person with a warm heart.

After finishing the call, Li Anna smiled and said:

“He said that you can call him tomorrow morning at 7 am and meet up with him to talk about it. Seems like there is hope for renting Crescent Mountain, Big Brother Zhang. Just contact him tomorrow. His name is Liu Meng. His phone number is 555-XXXX.”

“Alright, thanks. Have you eaten dinner Anna? Let me treat you to supper?” Zhang Han said with a smile.

Zhang Han’s polite words and bright smile gave Li Anna a pretty good impression of Zhang Han. However, she still shook her head and said with a smile:

“I’m not eating supper. Eating food at night is an easy way to become fat. Big Brother Zhang, you don’t have to be that courteous, I’m very close to Zhang Li.”

“Alright, alright, don’t be that nice. I have to go work already. Are you staying here, brother?” Zhang Li asked.

Zhang Han stood up and said, “I will be going back to Milan Neighborhood.”

Downstairs, after bidding farewell to his sister, Zhang Han drove that purple-blue jeep and went back to his house in Milan Neighborhood.

When passing by a supermarket, Zhang Han went into the supermarket and bought brown sugar and red dates. Back home, Zhang Han boiled up a pot of brown sugar red date drink and drank three cups of it. This was to help him gain some energy.

Sleeping early, and after waking up at 7 am, Zhang Han dialed Liu Meng’s phone. The two of them decided on meeting at a Starbucks near Milan Neighborhood at 8 am.

Liu Meng reached the Starbucks punctually. “Hello, Mr Zhang.” Upon seeing Zhang Han, he passionately stretched out his hand.

“Hmm.”

Zhang Han slightly nodded his head. After finish shaking hands, he sized up Liu Meng. Liu Meng wore a formal attire, had a thin build and tanned skin. From Liu Meng’s actions and bearings, it could be seen that he was a slick person.

“I heard that you wanted to rent Crescent Mountain?” Liu Meng asked.

“That’s right.”

“There may be plans to develop Crescent Mountain in the coming years. Would you consider renting other mountains?” Liu Meng said with a smile.

“Nope. I just want to ask whether if it is possible to rent Crescent Mountain or not.”

“Then, I want to ask, what are you intending to rent the Crescent Mountain for?” Liu Meng asked.

“To plant some things.”

“This matter is not easy to deal with. However, since you are a friend of Anna’s, I can help you ask about it. But, even if it can be rented, there will also be a lot of restrictions. For example, that you can’t cut down the trees or modify the mountain. I’m not sure if you are able to accept this kind of condition?” Liu Meng said.

“I can accept it.” Zhang Han nodded his head, then said, “If you have any other requests, you can feel free to give them now.”

This sentence was what Liu Meng wanted to hear. After all, he did not want to help Zhang Han for free. Now, he became much more enthusiastic. After talking until 9 am, Liu Meng stood up to bid farewell and said that he would give a definite answer to Zhang Han that night.

During the afternoon, Zhang Han went to buy some high-quality beef, kelp, and other foods which were able to indirectly enrich his blood. After buying these foods, he then went to a Chinese medicinal store to buy some Chinese medicine to further enrich his blood. Zhang Han intended to spend the entire day at home nourishing his body. After losing so much blood, it was necessary.

If he didn’t, he could die from the blood loss. This would be the joke of the century.

Elsewhere, at Imperial Entertainment Company, Zi Yan and Zhou Fei were sitting in the private room listening to songs.

Listening to one song after another was very tiring.

But, the main reason for it being tiring was because the songs in the music library were sometimes very ordinary or, very often, rubbish.

However, Zi Yan and Zhou Fei had no choice. These were the only songs available.

They had to choose so that Zi Yan’s excellent voice could raise the quality of these songs. This was a difficult path, but Zi Yan was willing to persist.

After an entire day, they only finished choosing 30 songs that were decent. After they finished picking out 100 songs that were decent, they intended to pick out the better ones from that group .