"Oh my God, what... what's that noise?"
Old Wang, who was pulling weeds on a field ridge near the village entrance, narrowed his cloudy eyes hard. He even forgot to raise the tobacco pipe in his hand to his mouth.
In the distance, a deep, powerful roar of engines drew closer, tearing through the morning quiet of Chen Family Village.
Then three brand-new construction vehicles, emblazoned with the large blue words "Yicheng Construction Group," lumbered onto the narrow village road like three steel beasts.
Their gleaming fronts reflected a cold light in the morning sun. Their sheer presence left the villagers, accustomed to tractors and three-wheelers, collectively speechless.
"Road... road repairs? Has the city finally remembered us?"
"Road repairs, my ass! Look behind them! There are heavy trucks coming too!"
A sharp-eyed young man pointed behind the convoy, his voice pitching high with disbelief.
"Holy shit! Those are pile drivers and excavators! Are they putting up buildings in our village?"
"The Construction Group! Isn't that the biggest construction company in Yicheng? They built loads of buildings in the city!"
Those words were like a depth charge dropped into a still lake.
All of Chen Family Village erupted!
The women chatting together forgot their neighborhood gossip, and the children chasing each other stopped in their tracks. Countless villagers poured out of their courtyards and followed the convoy toward the hills behind the village. It was even livelier than a New Year's market.
The convoy finally stopped on the huge patch of open ground beside the reservoir near the village entrance.
Bang!
A vehicle door opened, and a stern-faced engineer in a white hard hat jumped down, carrying a large roll of blueprints.
He looked around and bellowed in a strong, resonant voice:
"Get moving! Stop gawking!"
**"Survey team, mark out the