On the way, Song Zhou asked, "How is Haining Mountain coming along? Is Old Chen still there today?"
"He was there this morning. I told them a typhoon was coming and asked them to wait until it passed before returning."
"The workers didn't have any objections?"
"Probably not?" Lu Ao had not considered that. "They get paid for each day they work. They shouldn't object, right?"
Lu Ao had handed the development of Haining Mountain entirely over to Old Chen. He was only responsible for the final inspection.
Song Zhou said, "Since the workers haven't made a fuss in front of you, any objections they had must have been suppressed."
"That seems right." Lu Ao said, "No one has come looking for me since Old Chen took over. It's saved me a lot of trouble."
Lu Ao said slowly, "I went to take a look yesterday. The mountain is in pretty good shape. Most of the weeds and miscellaneous trees have been cleared, and the planting pits have been dug. The workers even picked out some goose manure and put it in the pits as base fertilizer. Once the typhoon passes, we can basically start planting the fruit trees."
"Sounds like Old Chen is pretty reliable?"
"Very reliable. You really can't judge a book by its cover."
Lu Ao found it rather unbelievable. He had not expected Old Chen to save him so much trouble. After all, someone unaccustomed to management could easily get bogged down in trivial matters after suddenly being handed such a large responsibility.
Yet Old Chen had never once come looking for him.
Lu Ao continued, "Old Chen is quite dependable. After the typhoon, I want to hand the fruit tree planting over to him too. Professor Zhao and the others at the agricultural research institute