Chapter Eighteen: The Time Was Ripe

"Where are we going to play?" Ziyan asked.

"Um... Ocean Park. Daddy said there are lots and lots of fish inside, and we can ride the Ferris wheel and, and the cable car." Mengmeng spoke with a look of longing.

"Oh." Ziyan responded, her gaze drifting slightly as her thoughts grew tangled.

She had originally planned for Zhou Fei and herself to take their daughter out to play, but with Zhang Han joining them, it seemed to have become a family outing.

Could this... count as a family?

Perhaps.

Ziyan was at a loss. She did not know how she should treat Zhang Han, but one thing was certain: she did not treat him like she treated other people. Otherwise, she would not always get angry with him.

Ziyan shook her head slightly and stopped thinking about it. After playing with Mengmeng for a while, she went to rest.

When Mengmeng went to bed, she was still looking forward to the family outing the day after tomorrow. Her excited, grinning expression said it all.

Having her father and mother play with her was when she was happiest.

Near eleven o'clock, Zhao Kai sent over five 3D images of the restaurant's renovations. Zhang Han chose the one he liked best, and Zhao Kai replied that construction would begin the next day.

The night passed without incident.

At nine the next morning, Zhang Han arrived at the entrance of the Lands Department on time.

"Mr. Zhang, you're here." Liu Meng greeted him with a smile.

"Mm." Zhang Han gave a faint nod.

"Come on, this way." Liu Meng smiled. "I'll take you to sign the contract."

After speaking, Liu Meng led the way. When they reached an office, his expression paused for a moment before he turned around and reminded Zhang Han in a low voice:

"Mr. Zhang, the person signing the contract with you is Director Wang Qishan. He's in charge of all the land around New Moon Bay. His temper isn't very good. If he says anything harsh, please bear with him."

"Oh." Zhang Han replied indifferently.

After knocking on the door, Liu Meng stood there and waited silently. A full minute later, a rough voice finally came from inside:

"Come in!"

As soon as the door opened, a beautiful young woman with a flushed face, who looked to be in her early twenties, walked out.

"Heh." Zhang Han grinned. This Director Wang certainly knew how to enjoy himself.

When he entered the room, he saw Wang Qishan sitting behind the desk. He was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a bald head, a thin face, and glasses for nearsightedness of more than four hundred degrees.

"State your business." Wang Qishan spoke coldly, as if he did not welcome visitors.

Liu Meng looked somewhat embarrassed and said softly, "Director Wang, it's what I mentioned to you yesterday. Mr. Zhang has come to sign the contract."

"Mm." Wang Qishan did not even raise his head. Without sparing Zhang Han a glance, he continued fiddling with the computer on his desk and said coldly, "Wait until I finish dealing with my work."

"Of course, of course." Liu Meng nodded repeatedly and gave Zhang Han an apologetic look. The two of them then sat on a sofa to the side.

After waiting for half an hour, Wang Qishan finally raised his head. He looked Zhang Han over a few times, then pulled a stack of documents from a drawer and tossed them onto the desk.

"The documents are here. Pay the money at Finance, then come back for my stamp."

"Yes!" Liu Meng bent slightly as he picked up the documents. He waved to Zhang Han and led the way out.

Zhang Han stood up and stared at Wang Qishan with slight displeasure for a few moments.

It took him half an hour just to get a document. What an interesting man. If he were in the Cultivation World, he would not survive a day.

"Mr. Zhang, sorry for the trouble."

Outside the door, Liu Meng smiled awkwardly.

"Let's go pay." Zhang Han replied indifferently.

After a million yuan was transferred at the Finance Department, they stamped the documents several times. When they returned to Director Wang's office, however, they discovered that Director Wang was nowhere to be seen.

They waited for an hour and a half before Director Wang returned, looking full of energy.

"Director Wang, the payment has been made. We're just waiting for your stamp." Wang Meng hurriedly stood up and said with a smile.

"Mm. Come in." Wang Qishan sounded as though he were speaking through his nose, which was always irritating to listen to.

After entering the office, Wang Qishan stamped the documents. He picked them up, looked at Zhang Han, and asked, "You're Mr. Zhang?"

"You already know the answer, don't you?" Zhang Han did not even lift his eyelids.

"Hm?" Wang Qishan's face darkened, and an angry flame rose in his eyes.

Liu Meng's face went pale with fright. He hurriedly tried to signal Zhang Han with his eyes, but Zhang Han ignored him. Looking at Wang Qishan, he said in an irritated tone:

"What do you mean, 'hm'? Hurry up and give me the contract! Stop dragging your feet!"

"What did you say?" Wang Qishan glared, his expression filled with menace.

"Are you deaf?" Zhang Han looked at his ears in puzzlement. "Your eyesight was already bad. It would be tragic if your hearing was bad too."

"Young man, are you talking to me?" Wang Qishan was already on the verge of exploding.

Liu Meng was so intimidated by the atmosphere that he did not even dare speak.

Zhang Han, however, stood up and walked to the desk. He snatched the contract from Wang Qishan's hand, stared at him for a long while, and spat out a few words:

"Your underwear fell off."

"You!" Wang Qishan pointed at Zhang Han with a trembling finger.

He had grown accustomed to holding a high position. People always fawned over him, so he had never had to bicker with anyone. Now he was so furious that he did not even know what to say.

"You can't even speak properly. How did you become a director?" Zhang Han shook his head and sighed. Then he pointed at the floor beneath Wang Qishan's feet.

"I said your underwear fell on the floor. You're not young anymore, so how can you still be this careless? If you have a hobby of collecting other people's underwear during an affair, you should at least put it away properly. Letting it fall on the floor like that—if someone saw it outside, your reputation as a director would be ruined."

Hearing this, Wang Qishan hurriedly lowered his head. When he saw the lace underwear by his feet, his face instantly flushed red. When he looked at Zhang Han again, there was already a trace of panic in his eyes.

"Has my contract been signed?"

Zhang Han chuckled faintly. With mental fortitude like this, he could still become a director? He must have gotten the position through connections.

"It's signed." Wang Qishan answered instinctively.

Upon hearing that, Zhang Han took the documents and left without looking back.

As for Liu Meng, he kept his head lowered the entire time, as if saying, I didn't see anything. I didn't hear anything.

He hurried after Zhang Han out of Director Wang's office.

"Mr. Zhang, you... you're really bold." Liu Meng said with a wry smile. "If you hadn't noticed the underwear, the contract probably would have fallen through today. Even so, once Director Wang realizes what happened, he may make things difficult for you, given his petty nature."

"Make things difficult for me?"

Zhang Han's expression remained calm as he said lightly, "Then let him."

"This..."

Liu Meng sighed helplessly. He could also sense something extraordinary about Zhang Han and felt that Zhang Han was not afraid of Director Wang. He was probably someone with connections too. But after renting New Moon Mountain and offending Director Wang, he had already put himself at a disadvantage.

If Liu Meng knew what Zhang Han was thinking, he would probably have laughed scornfully.

He was the dignified Immortal Lord Hanyang. How could he fear a mere director?

Liu Meng escorted Zhang Han all the way to the main entrance. Before Zhang Han got into the car, Liu Meng smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, New Moon Mountain will belong to you for the next year. You can plant things on the empty land up there, but you'll have to handle security yourself. After all, quite a few hiking enthusiasts like to visit New Moon Mountain."

"Got it." Zhang Han nodded, got into the car, and drove away.

Zhang Han was no longer a hotheaded youth. He did not rush to New Moon Mountain, which he had just rented, to begin renovating it. Instead, he went to the restaurant under renovation.

Before he reached the restaurant, he could already see two trucks loading some goods outside it from a distance.

As soon as he entered, Zhao Kai came up to him and greeted him enthusiastically.

The restaurant had already been stripped. The first floor had become an empty hall, while not much work had been done on the second floor. Everything that needed to be demolished had been cleared away, and five people were working at the same time.

It seemed they had hired quite a lot of labor to finish the project within a week.

On the first floor, eight workers were working simultaneously while Zhang Han stood to the side and watched quietly.

They began by laying tiles in separate sections. The technicians on the eastern TV wall were carving the jadeite, while the western side had begun laying the floor tiles and the kitchen wall tiles.

The amount of tile needed and the areas requiring cuts had already been prepared during the day. After dark, another group of workers took over and continued working.

With workers operating day and night, the progress was naturally fast.

It was not until around three in the morning that Zhang Han got up and left.

"It's time!"

Sitting in the Jeep Wrangler, Zhang Han looked at New Moon Mountain ahead of him, a smile curling at the corners of his lips.

He drove quickly, reaching the foot of New Moon Mountain in ten minutes and the summit after another twenty minutes.

Under the bright moonlight, New Moon Mountain looked hazy and tranquil. Zhang Han made one final survey of his surroundings.

He already had a detailed plan for its transformation.

"Let's begin!"

Zhang Han inhaled deeply, took the Thunder Sun Tree from his ear, and thrust it directly into his vein. The loss of blood made his face increasingly pale, but his eyes remained completely calm.

After absorbing enough blood, Zhang Han felt his connection with the Thunder Sun Tree deepen. He pulled out the jade needle-shaped Thunder Sun Tree, and a flash of azure light shone in his eyes.

"Go!"

Zhang Han flicked his finger, sending the needle-like Thunder Sun Tree into the ground beneath his feet!

"Rumble!"

The entire New Moon Mountain trembled!

Even people around New Moon Bay heard the deep, muffled boom!

"Merge!"

Zhang Han closed his eyes. From beneath his feet, wisps of pale light continuously drifted upward and gathered around his head.

At that moment, Zhang Han's consciousness had merged with the Thunder Sun Tree. Under Zhang Han's direction, the Thunder Sun Tree began to operate.

There was not the slightest disturbance visible aboveground, but beneath the surface, the jade needle-like Thunder Sun Tree was quietly undergoing a world-shaking transformation.

The jade coating on the Thunder Sun Tree faded, revealing the original grayish-brown color of its wood. Roots as fine as strands of hair spread outward!

Gradually, the hair-thin roots thickened to the size of fingers, then arms, and finally barrels. The Thunder Sun Tree's diameter reached more than three meters!

The roots continued to occupy New Moon Mountain. Once they had claimed the entire mountain, the Thunder Sun Tree began growing upward!

"Crack, crack..."

The Thunder Sun Tree, now three meters in diameter, burst from the ground before Zhang Han.

In just five seconds, it grew to a height of more than thirty meters!

Five seconds later, its branches began extending outward, as though it were a flower about to bloom!

Soon, the Thunder Sun Tree finished growing. From a distance, one could see it standing atop New Moon Mountain like a mushroom. Its leaves were brilliant and abundant, making it resemble the World Tree from a game!