Release that Man

Nature Village was only a village in name, so it could not be considered a real administrative unit. A real administrative village had its own records and jurisdiction in the national registry. A hamlet like Nature Village normally was made of just a few families. At this place, the country’s law came second to family rules. When it was at its smallest, Nature Village might only have several families in it.

The fact that there was no restaurant might not be that strange if Nature Village was smaller or was heavily self-reliant and closed itself from the world. However, this Nature Village was not as small as that. There were certain rules to the layout of the houses. Furthermore, the village had several convenience stores and other trade depots… After concluding everything, abandoning the appearance that ‘Nature Village’ was trying to create, instead of calling this place a village, it was more fitting to see it as a secret base.

…

After leaving the target ‘village’, Han Chu drove the car down the village road with no destination in mind. It felt like he was on a date to admire the countryside. He decided to examine the surroundings before coming to a decision.

Ye Shuang had no idea what the man was up to, so she glanced at her watch. “Brother Han, how long do you plan to keep driving? If you’re going to drive for some distance, do you mind if I get some sleep?”

Han Chu glared at her. “Is it time to sleep now?”

“Well, it’s because I see that you’ve not come up with the next step anyway.” Ye Shuang pouted.

“It’s not that I haven’t figured it out, but I am currently searching for it.” Han Chu frowned. “Nature Village might not even be marked on the map, so I’m looking to see if there are any other nearby villages…”

“For lunch?” Ye Shuang excitedly finished the sentence.

“…Are you that hungry?” Han Chu hissed through his teeth.

“I am.” Hearing that, Ye Shuang knew that her guess was wrong, but since he had brought it up, she was going to abandon her image. “I’ve been hungry for over an hour already. I have a fast digestive system. I was too embarrassed to have a big breakfast at Uncle Zhou’s place this morning… How was I to know that there wouldn’t be a place for me to fill up my stomach?”

“Fine, we’ll go for lunch.” Han Chu was too lazy to argue. He noticed the shadow of a house nearby and decided to park.

Ye Shuang was so shocked. “Brother Han, why are you so reasonable this time?”

“Am I that unreasonable normally?” Han Chu was speechless. After parking the car, he pulled out the key and opened the car door. As he stared at the muddy ground where his feet were, he explained, “There should be constant communication between villages, so they should know each other well. Most of them know about what has occurred in the nearby villages. If we start asking questions at Nature Village, the guards will show up, but we won’t face the same problem if we ask at the adjacent village.”

Stepping across the muddy road carefully, they reached the home. Even though this was a home and not a restaurant that served food, with money, anything could be achieved.

Less than half an hour later, greeted by a welcoming auntie, Han Chu and Ye Shuang were served piping hot food. A large basin of meat, a large basin of vegetables, a bowl of soup, and a large basin of rice… Facing such a spread, even Han Chu was holding the chopsticks, speechless.

Does she think she’s feeding a pig?

However, the auntie did not mean them any insult. Villagers were normally more down to earth and passionate. Also, it was Han Chu’s own fault for giving her a bit too much money. Therefore, the auntie, who thought that she was being paid more than she should, naturally did her best to cook up a large meal. She treated them like influential guests who had come to visit the village—it was fine if they could not finish. The key was there had to be a lot—the food had to spill over the table. After all, the leftovers could be shared among the auntie’s family.

Han Chu very subtly skipped over the braised meat, which was dripping with oil, and his chopsticks leaped over the table to pick up a piece of fish. As he chewed on the food, he casually asked, “Big Sister, we have a relative who married somewhere around here. I think it’s called Ten Miles Village, do you know how to get there?”

The auntie was told to join them, but obviously, it made her feel uncomfortable. She busied herself by helping them with the food. “Ten Miles Village? The place is not that far. Later, I’ll give you the directions. You just need to follow it, and you’ll arrive.”

After he gave his thanks, Han Chu added like it was an afterthought, “Do you know who the village head is there? We don’t know many people here, and we worry about our relative—we hope to pay the lead a visit to ask him to look after our relative.”

“Village head?” The auntie fell into thought like she was given a very hard problem to solve. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve heard them mention someone like that. However, the villagers there often mention someone by the name of Master Five. I believe he has quite a good reputation, so you can go visit him I suppose.”

“Master Five?” Han Chu astutely showed a confused look to signal for the auntie to continue.

The auntie laughed. “Actually, the title village head in places like ours are just a formality. Not everyone will use that, the decision makers are normally the eldest in the village. I hear that Master Five is the one who manages everything at Ten Miles Village… Actually, if you want to know more, you can ask the villagers there when you arrive.”

Ten Miles Village was actually Nature Village, which Han Chu and Ye Shuang had just left. Initially, they had thought that they would get more information from the nearby village, but after chatting with the auntie, they realized that the village was surprisingly secretive. Even though villagers were very welcoming, they did not have a fixed topic during conversation, and they were not there with a purpose to figure certain information out anyway. Therefore, even though they had close and frequent interaction, what they discussed was everyday stuff and would be led astray whenever the topic reached something sensitive.

Therefore, when Han Chu came here to ask for information, he realized that those people did not know about Nature Village’s basic information.

Actually, that was not entirely true because at least Han Chu now knew about the presence of this Master Five.

After a few brief conversations and confirming that he was unable to find out anything more from the auntie, Han Chu silently switched the topic away. From Ten Miles Village, he talked about the nearby specialty food, and from there, he talked about the type of produce that was suitable for the nearby soil, and then, he moved onto the people who had left the village recently… After discussing everything that could be discussed within the twenty miles radius, Han Chu was satisfied with his job. It was time to call it a day. He moved his chopsticks and then… realized that everything was empty.

“Hmm, you’re done discussing?” Ye Shuang gulped down the glass of water and then burped as the food settled in her stomach.

The auntie, who was distracted by Han Chu, stared at the carcass of the food on the table with widening eyes. She had no idea how the food had disappeared—that meal was enough for her family of five to last for a whole day!

“Brother, your wife sure has a good appetite. She’s eating for more than one person, isn’t she?” The auntie looked at Han Chu with a complicated look in her eyes. Finally, she understood why Han Chu had given her so much money. The wife’s appetite was like a black hole.

Han Chu was silent for three seconds. He put down the chopsticks expressionlessly. He sipped at the water, the only thing he had to quench his hunger. “Ha ha…”