"You're too kind, you look handsome now too."
Li Xingkong laughed heartily and stepped forward to shake hands with the old squad leader.
"Come on, let's get down to business first."
Without much formality, the old squad leader waved his hand, signaling Li Xingkong to follow him, and the two of them turned into a small office in the corridor.
The office was small, and it looked like it could only fit one person.
"Wow, class monitor, that's impressive! It's only been a few years, and you already have a private office."
Since everyone had been friends since childhood, there were no formalities. Li Xingkong entered the office and plopped down on the sofa.
"What? This is a public spot, but most people are usually out in the countryside, so there aren't many people here. One spot is enough."
Wu Ting took a bag of tea from his workstation, sat down on the other side of the sofa, and pulled over a bottle of water.
He reached under the coffee table and pulled out a complete tea set from somewhere.
"Come on, let me show you the skills I've honed over the years."
He skillfully poured hot water and scalded the tea; the movements were fluid and seamless.
It's obvious at a glance that he's practiced for a long time.
"Why are you drinking tea now?"
Li Xingkong took the tea that Wu Ting offered and sipped it.
He himself doesn't know anything about tea, so drinking it is no different from drinking water.
"I was just bored at home during those years of preparation, so I spent all my time thinking about it."
Wu Ting poured himself a cup, took a sip, and looked completely at ease as he savored the tea.
"It's not about the taste of tea, it's about the feeling."
Holding his teacup, he took a few more sips while picking up a file folder.
"Here's the document you requested. Here you go."
Li Xingkong took the document, opened it, and glanced through it. It was very detailed, containing information about the lessor, the land conditions, and even a rough topographical map.
That's why people say you're a professional at making documents; this document is so well-made. I only glanced at it, but I already had a good grasp of it.
Everyone has their own area of expertise; no industry has developed to the point where it should be underestimated.
"Great, awesome."
Li Xingkong took the documents and, as Wu Ting had instructed, signed them where necessary and pressed his fingerprints where required, quickly getting the important matter settled.
After finishing the documents, the two sat and chatted for a while.
Just as they were chatting, there was a knock on the office door.
Wu Ting put down his teacup and went to open the door.
"Hey, it must be that bastard Tang Cheng coming back. I'll open the door for him."
Li Xingkong didn't move. This Tang Cheng must be the friend who helped him.
Friends of friends are friends too, it's good to get to know them better.
As soon as the door opened, Li Xingkong saw the person standing outside.
He was a young man around their age, who looked very quiet, with short, stylish hair. He was about 175cm tall and quite thin, probably under 120kg.
"You little brat, I told you to come earlier, and now it's so late!"
Wu Ting stepped aside to let him in, then closed the door behind him and chuckled and scolded.
"This is just like playing a game. If you ask me to join a raid halfway through, I can't just abandon my comrades, can I?"
You can't judge a book by its cover. He looks like a quiet person, but once he opens his mouth, your impression of him changes.
"Here he comes. Let me introduce you. This is Li Xingkong, my classmate. He just returned from the Prisoner Continent."
Wu Ting pulled the two of them aside and began to explain, making it all quite formal.
"Hello, I'm Li Xingkong, from our village, an unemployed bum, haha."
Li Xingkong continued.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. He's made a fortune in the stock market; enough to live a life of luxury."
Wu Ting was ruthless in exposing their lies.
"This is Tang Cheng, my colleague. This guy's just here to gain experience; he'll be promoted soon. Hurry up and curry favor with him, or you'll regret it."
Wu Ting's introduction was quite direct, and it was clear that everyone present was someone he knew well, which was why he dared to joke like that.
"Where would I be? Don't joke around. My name is Tang Cheng, and I just came to the village this year."
After introducing Li Xingkong, he continued speaking with a smile.
"Don't listen to this idiot's nonsense. I don't have the ability to come down here and make a living. What I clearly said was, come down here and work hard. If you don't achieve anything, you'll be stuck in the countryside for the rest of your life."
From meeting standing up to sitting together for tea, it only took a few minutes, and the group had already become familiar with each other.
According to him, Tang Cheng had a good father who could have given him a smooth path in life, but he was stubborn and refused to do so. He secretly took the exam for a rural town, which infuriated his father, who threatened to make him stay in the countryside for the rest of his life.
His temperament was just like his father's; he was stubborn, and he was even more so. He came all by himself, but unfortunately, life in the town was completely different from his original life in the city.
Thanks to Wu Ting's help, he was able to settle down and live a peaceful life in the countryside.
"We're free anyway, let's go, eat and chat?"
Now that everyone's here, let's head over to a place to eat and chat.
"Come on, come on, now that we're rich, we'll eat you out of house and home!"
Wu Ting continued tidying up while responding to the conversation.
Eat as much as you want, until you can't walk anymore.
"Hahaha."
The three of them went out through the back door of the company and quickly made their way to the place where they were eating.
The speed at which restaurants in the countryside cook food can be summed up in one word: fast.
The three of them had just sat down when the dishes started to be served.
What are you going to do with all that bagged land?
Over drinks, Wu Ting asked a question.
After all, with so much land, and not even considering its quality, it would be a bit of a stretch to say it's just for farming.
But since you can't do anything else while farming, he was quite curious.
"I'll just grow some vegetables. I figured this out myself; I'll grow a lot and see how it goes."
Li Xingkong certainly wouldn't say he was going to cultivate immortality; that would make him look like a fool to the two of them. He tried to be as vague as possible, pretending he was just trying something new.
"If this thing succeeds, we'll be rich!"
Doing research for money—that reason should be sufficient, right?
"That's impressive, very capable, a true amateur scientist!"
Tang Cheng toasted Li Xingkong.
"Where would you find that? It's just a mess."
"Hey, you're not doing something addictive, are you?"
Wu Ting did speak up; he seemed to be overthinking things.
Farming requires sparse population and the potential to make money; his instincts immediately leaned towards that.
"Nonsense, I wouldn't do that even if you gave me a million lives."
As soon as Wu Ting spoke, Li Xingkong knew that he had been misunderstood, and this was no small misunderstanding; he would absolutely not touch this thing.
"It's something I came up with, but it's not addictive."
"Besides, we have helicopters patrolling here every year; if we wanted to plant that stuff, we would have been discovered long ago."
In Divine Land, helicopters patrol the land every year, not only to prevent fires but also to monitor for the cultivation of addictive substances. This happens every year and is nothing unusual.
"That's good. Let's avoid anything shady or unethical."
Wu Ting warned.
"Alright, I'll plant them here another day. If you're worried, come and take a look when you have time."
Li Xingkong was also somewhat speechless; how did he end up getting himself into this mess with his explanation?
"I'm going too! I've never actually farmed before."
When it came to broadening his horizons, Tang Cheng's eyes lit up.
"Alright, alright, everyone go."
Anyway, the Body Tempering Grass doesn't mind people watching it grow. I've already said that it's still in the research stage. We're all friends, so it's fine for us to go for a stroll around.