A Winning Start

The wild boar dug for an hour, creating a five-meter-deep pit, but found no trace of the settlers.

He didn't give up. He climbed out of the deep pit and lay down on the wasteland to rest for a while. He saw a slender woman with half her body raised, using her dozen or so arms to hold face powder and do her makeup.

This is a centipede, an old acquaintance of the wild boar.

The wild boar roared angrily, "I haven't left yet, how dare you barge in?"

Centipede laughed, "Old pig, look closely. I still have one foot outside the boundary line, so I'm not considered part of the Land Block. But speaking of which, you've been searching here all night, it's time to make room for someone else."

Old Pig snorted coldly, "What's the rush? There's still half a day left!"

According to the rules of the Local Earth God, only one alien can enter Land Block within a radius of one mile at a time to test the pioneers. An alien can stay in the wasteland for a maximum of one day and one night.

Before this, there were only two ways to get the wild boars to leave early: either the pioneers couldn't defeat the wild boars and were wiped out, and the wild boars won a great victory.

Secondly, the wild boars were no match for the pioneers, so they gave up the test and withdrew on their own.

Neither of these scenarios is likely to occur now.

Because no one is fighting wild boars.

Then we'll just have to wait.

The wild boar continued digging the hole until nightfall, when it was time to leave reluctantly.

"If you ask me, there are no pioneers here. The Local Earth God are just lying to us," the wild boar complained.

The House Centipede Woman sneered, "Go complain to the Local Earth God. Tell him there's no one here to clear the land, and maybe the Local Earth God will reward you handsomely."

The wild boar had no interest in arguing with the centipede. He glanced back at the wasteland, his eyes filled with resentment.

"If you're not capable, then get lost," the House Centipede Woman urged impatiently. "These pioneers who can perform magic tricks are all scheming. You definitely won't get anything from them. Wait until you encounter someone without scheming, then try your luck again."

The wild boar didn't go far, sitting by the boundary line, watching silently, wanting to know where the pioneer was.

The House Centipede Woman entered the Land Block. Unlike the wild boar, she didn't attack randomly. After carefully observing the terrain, she shook her body and released dozens of small centipedes.

Seeing this, the wild boar roared, "Only one person can go in at a time! You brought so many children; that's breaking the rules!"

The centipede sneered, "Open your eyes wide and take a good look. This isn't my child, it's my leg!"

The centipede was missing most of its legs; these little centipedes were all transformed from her legs.

No matter how small the movement on this ground, it will not escape the House Centipede Woman's sight.

Li Banfeng was bored out of his mind Portable Abode.

While Travel Cultivator's cultivation can be temporarily supported by elixirs, the nature of Travel Cultivator cannot be suppressed.

He wanted to go out for a walk.

The record player urged him to go out, "Husband, you've rested for so long, it's time to go out and buy groceries."

As Li Banfeng pushed open the door and stepped out, a strong sense of malice rushed towards him.

The House Centipede Woman, who was lying in the middle of the Land Block and had been resting with her eyes closed, immediately opened her eyes and crawled towards the direction of Portable Abode when she sensed the presence of a living person.

It's just that she has too many legs, which makes her slower.

Li Banfeng reacted quickly, immediately closing the door of Portable Abode.

The House Centipede Woman's search yielded nothing; she found no trace of the pioneers.

The record player sniffed the air and said to Li Banfeng, "It looked like a worm was trying to crawl in just now. Husband, let her come if she wants. Little Slave not picky."

"What's so good about insects? They have hard shells, lots of spines, and hardly any meat."

The Wife chuckled twice, "The one who eats meat is that slut Red Lotus, this Little Slave eats souls, I'm not afraid of the many thorns."

Li Banfeng wasn't worried about the worm; he was worried about being seen by the Local Earth God and being accused of cheating.

It's best not to go out and wander around aimlessly; it's a rare treat to have a few days of peace and quiet at home.

Li Banfeng sat at the table, picked up a cup of tea, and slowly flipped through the newspaper.

With only one day left until the Bai Le Men officially opened, Yang Yanzheng still couldn't get Ma Wu to come.

"Miss, I've been to Blue Poplar Village three times already, and the Fifth Young Master is definitely not in the village. He went to Xindi."

"What is he going to Xindi for? Hunting? He's already the boss of Blue Poplar Village, why would he still be hunting?" Chu Er was deeply skeptical.

Doubts were useless; Yang Yanzheng really couldn't find Ma Wu.

"We shouldn't have let him have an easy life in the first place. We should have made him beg on the streets, and he wouldn't have so much of a temper!" In a fit of anger, Chu Er stabbed a hole in his face with a dagger.

After sulking for a while, Chu Er turned his anger on Yang Yanzheng: "Those useless people you hired, not one of them is any good! Ma Wu wasn't even up to any real level to begin with, and those good-for-nothings couldn't even handle him!"

At this point, Yang Yanzheng had to defend himself. "Miss, if it was just dealing with Ma Wu, those few people would have been enough. Who knew that Li Qi would suddenly appear out of nowhere, and that's why these people were wiped out."

"Li Qi..." Chu Er always reminded himself to pay attention to this person, but he always inadvertently overlooked him.

After a moment of silence, Chu Er suddenly laughed, "That's quite an interesting person. Let's invite him over on opening day."

"I invited him, and sent the invitation along with the main text. Li Qi wasn't in the village either; he went to Xindi with the Fifth Young Master."

Chu Er applied some face powder to his wound. "They both went together? Didn't they leave anyone behind to guard the place? Could there be some treasure in the new land?"

Just as he was pondering this, someone announced that Lu Yuanhai, the second young master of the Lu Family, had come to see him.

Chu Er frowned slightly, somewhat guessing the other party's intentions. He instructed the maid to make tea and asked Yang Yanzheng to invite the person in.

Lu Yuanhai was twenty-five years old, Chu Er always called him Brother Hai.

"Brother Hai, are you here today to give me a congratulatory gift? Don't say I'm greedy. When you opened your business, I gave you a red envelope with a thousand yuan. Now that my business is open, shouldn't you give me two thousand?"

Lu Yuanhai smiled and said, "Don't even mention two thousand, girl, I'll give you twenty thousand if you say the word."

Chu Er smiled tenderly and said coquettishly, "Brother Hai, you're not just trying to make me happy, are you? I'm the kind of person who takes things seriously."

Lu Yuanhai nodded and got to the point. "Girl, I really came here to give you money."

The Bai Le Men is a business of the Lu Family, and ultimately, the Lu Family's businesses will belong to the Lu Family. You should understand what that means.

"I don't understand," Chu Er lowered his head, rolling his eyes up at Lu Yuanhai, "The deeds to the Bai Le Men's property and land are in my hands, so why insist that this is your Lu Family's business?"

Lu Yuanhai sighed and said, "Little sister, I know what your second uncle has done, that's why I've brought you money."

"You gave him 800,000 silver dollars, and I'll give you that money back, still 800,000 silver dollars. I'll buy the Bai Le Men back."

"Eight hundred thousand?" Chu Er sneered. "You think you can just buy it back like that? I've put in so much effort and sold so many assets, how are you going to settle this score?"

"One million!" Lu Yuanhai said generously. "This is the maximum amount I can approve. If you're still not satisfied, I can go back and discuss it with Uncle Qiu. Huai Yuan, isn't that enough?"

"You've shown enough sincerity," Chu Er smiled, lit a cigarette, and took a drag. "But I don't want to sell. I wouldn't sell even if you offered me two million. Bai Le Men is mine; it belongs to Chu Huaiyuan now."

"Opening tomorrow, Hai-ge. If you think highly of me, come and support me. If you don't, just pretend we don't know each other."

Lu Yuanhai sat silently for a moment, then put on his coat and got up to leave.

He left, but the matter wasn't over yet. That evening, Chu Huaiyuan's older brother, Chu Huaijun, arrived.

"Huai Yuan, the Bai Le Men belongs to the Lu Family. It's best if we don't get involved in this. Lu Yuanhai came to me today and said that they are willing to raise the price to take back the Bai Le Men. You should do a good deed and return the Bai Le Men to them."

Chu Er refused to listen. "Brother, we clearly agreed when we divided the family property that if anything serious happened, I would listen to you, but for other minor matters, we would each make our own decisions. What? Has the rule changed today?"

"This matter at the Bai Le Men is a major event!"

"Business matters are my own business; you don't need to worry about them, brother!"

Chu Huaijun frowned, a little angry. "Fine, Second Sister is capable. Big Brother shouldn't be meddling in this. But there's one thing we need to make clear: Bai Le Men is something you took over, it has nothing to do with the Chu family."

Chu Er laughed and said, "Don't worry, even if the sky falls, it won't affect you, Big Brother!"

Chu Huaijun stood up and said, "Huai Yuan, let me remind you again, although the Lu Family is in trouble, they haven't fallen yet."

The Bai Le Men Song Queen Contest was about to begin at dusk the following day.

Chu Er selected twelve popular singers to perform in turn.

She selected sixty distinguished guests from various Lineage and prepared six bouquets of roses for each of them. Whichever singer she favored, she would give them flowers, and whoever received the most flowers would be the Song Queen of the night.

Besides these sixty distinguished guests, there are three hundred seats reserved for other prominent figures in Green Water City.

The remaining guests, whose status was slightly lower, were also given seats by Chu Er.

The band arrived early, the singer walked around the stage several times, and reporters and photographers also took their positions.

The Grand Ballroom on the second floor is ready, and a banquet has been prepared in the banquet hall on the first floor. There will be further hospitality after the competition.

Chu Er not only prepared a banquet, but also cleaned up the rooms on the third floor. The Song Queen can sing on stage and she can sing in the room. Today is the opening day, Chu Er has invested heavily, aiming for a great start.

According to Chu Er's plan, the competition will begin at 7 p. m.

By 6:40, not a single guest had arrived.

Chu Er was so anxious that his scalp tingled, and he ordered Yang Yanzheng to quickly send someone over.

Yang Yanzheng sent people out, but no one came even after waiting until 7:20!

The Song Queen competition has just fizzled out.

The band and singers were all waiting on stage.

Chu Er sat in the empty audience area, looking somewhat dazed.

At 7:30, a guest finally arrived.

Monkey Qiu walked into the Grand Ballroom and found a seat.

He was all alone.

The Grand Ballroom, which can accommodate thousands of people, only had one person present.

Chu Er looked at Qiu Zhiheng and asked, "Uncle Qiu, what do you mean by this?"

Monkey Qiu looked surprised. "I'm here to show my support. It's your opening day, I received an invitation, and I also brought you a congratulatory gift."

Chu Er gritted his teeth and said, "Uncle Qiu, I took over the Bai Le Men; it's mine."

Monkey Qiu was even more surprised. "I didn't say it wasn't yours. When does the competition start? I haven't even given out these roses yet."

In the new plot of land in Blue Poplar Village, the House Centipede Woman, almost frozen stiff, withdrew from the Land Block and sat shivering next to the wild boar.

The wild boar didn't wait there; it went hunting, ate and drank its fill, and was ready to come back and see what was going on.

The House Centipede Woman sniffled. "If you ask me, there are no pioneers here at all."

The wild boar scoffed, "Go ahead, go complain to the Local Earth God."

The House Centipede Woman failed. A golden eagle entered the Land Block, rising and falling, walking and stopping, seemingly able to find some traces.

The next day, at 7 p. m., the Bai Le Men was empty.

Chu Er didn't know what method Monkey Qiu had used to make everyone afraid to come to the Bai Le Men.

The Bai Le Men had just opened, but it was practically closed.

To say there's absolutely no difference wouldn't be accurate.

Singers, bands, waiters, and handymen—all of these require money.

Chu Er silently watched Yang Yanzheng.

Yang Yanzheng lowered his head and remained silent.

Wen Hongyan picked up the wine glass with her elbow and took a sip.

She now understood why Chu Er insisted on asking Ma Wu to manage the Bai Le Men.

However, it seems that even if Ma Wu were here, it wouldn't change anything.

This may be why he has been avoiding Chu Er.

The golden eagle dejectedly left the Land Block, and the halo along the Land Block's boundary line disappeared.

The initial assessment and testing phase is over!

Two hours later, Li Banfeng walked out of Portable Abode.

The reason he waited two extra hours was because Li Banfeng was unsure whether he had actually succeeded in clearing the land.

Looking up at the sky, there seemed to be a halo of light projected down into the night, but it wasn't very noticeable.

Li Banfeng wanted to change his angle so he could see things more clearly. After taking two steps, he slipped and almost fell into the pit.

Who dug such a big hole here? And why is it so deep?

This pit was dug by a wild boar.

Li Banfeng seemed to see some halos of light in the pit, which was more than five meters deep.

It's not a halo, it's a shimmering light.

There's water in the pit!

P. S.: Li Banfeng hugged the reader tightly and asked affectionately, "Whose opening was the most successful?"