Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  “Could you tell your uncle that I want to be the sole contractor of Nanshan hill for another 20 years. But please keep it from my parents for now,” said Wang Yao.

  “No problem!” Wang Mingbao said, “I guarantee you no one else can get their hands on your hill, not even Wang Jianli!” Wang Mingbao reassured Wang Yao.

  “Stop it!” laughed Wang Yao.

  Wang Yao knew his friend had enough confidence to keep his word. Wang Mingbao’s father used to serve as a senior officer in the army and then he became the vice mayor of the county after he had retired. His family was also the biggest in the village. Every word of his carried weight.

  After some chit-chat, Wang Mingbao left the hill.

  After walking around the herbal field, Wang Yao took a small shovel out of the cottage. He dug out a sealwort carefully next to the herbal field. Only the roots of sealwort had pharmaceutical effects. Usually the longer a sealwort grew, the bigger its root would become.

  “This is it?!” said Wang Yao to himself.

  After digging out the sealwort, Wang Yao was stunned.

  “Jesus, it’s huge!” He was amazed.

  Wang Yao had seen sealwort many times in the past. But this is the first time for him to witness an over 5 kilogram sealwort of over 40 centimeters long.

  “Did I really grow this?!” Wang Yao couldn’t believe it.

  Wang Yao was thrilled after seeing the size of the sealwort.

  Given the size and weight of the sealwort, I will definitely complete the task successfully. And the quality of the sealwort must be extraordinary by the look of it, Wang Yao thought.

  But unlike the dates, which can be tasted to check the quality, herbs can’t be eaten randomly. I should get it tested by authority, Wang Yao decided.

  Wang Yao took action immediately. He placed the sealwort into a bag after washing it, locked the door to his cottage and drove to town on his motorbike.

  After he arrived in town, he went to check the purchase price of fresh sealwort at the herb buyers shop.

  “16 yuan per kilogram,” the shop assistant told Wang Yao without lifting his head.

  “How come it’s so cheap? I saw online that sealwort is worth over 40 yuan per kilogram,” Wang Yao asked in confusion.

  “Over 40 yuan per kilogram? You are talking about dry sealwort. It’s rare that the fresh ones could be worth that much. They would have to be wild sealwort that was grown for many years,” the shop assistant said with contempt.

  “Thanks.” Wang Yao left as he thought the shop assistant was too arrogant.

  Then he went to the relevant department and spent several hundreds of yuan to test the quality of his sealwort.

  “Hello? Have we met before?” the lab assistant in charge of testing said after he glanced at Wang Yao.

  “Sorry, I don’t remember,” said Wang Yao.

  “Oh, now I can remember. I bought your dates; they are so delicious!” the lab assistant said with a smile. Wang Yao’s dates were very impressive.

  “Oh, I see,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

  “Do you still have any dates left for sale?”


  Not only was he a fan of Wang Yao’s dates, but so were all of his family members. Although the dates were more expensive than average, they tasted divine and were very nutritious.

  “Sorry, I don’t have any dates left. Could you please take a look at the sealwort?” Wang Yao asked.

  “Sure, let’s get back to business. So you grow herbs as well?” the lab assistant asked.

  “Yes, only a few,” Wang Yao replied.

  “Okay, let me see. Oh my god! Is this truly sealwort?!” The lab assistant was stunned by the size of the herb in Wang Yao’s hand.

  What a huge sealwort!

  “Did you grow it?”


  “No, it was from the hill,” Wang Yao replied.

  “Fantastic!” The lab assistant of over 30 years old gave Wang Yao a thumbs up.

  “Leave it here and come back to get the results tomorrow. Wait, leave your phone number,” said the lab assistant.

  “Sure, thanks,” Wang Yao said.

  After Wang Yao left his number for the lab assistant, he walked around the town and did some grocery shopping. He bought some clothes for his parents, which were all designer clothing and worth several thousands of yuan. Now he had money, so he didn’t hesitate to buy something luxurious for his parents. He went back to the village straight after he had done his shopping.

  “Mom, I bought you some clothes, come and try them on,” Wang Yao said as soon as he arrived at home.

  “How come you spent so much money on clothes!” Zhang Xiuying had a big smile on her face although she sounded like she was complaining. She picked up one of the clothes and tried it on.

  “It seems to be the first time I bought proper presents for my parents since 2 years ago.” Wang Yao felt a bit teary as he saw how happy his mother was.

  Wang Yao went to the herb field again in the afternoon. By the time he came back home it was already dark.

  After he had dinner, he counted 10,000 yuan from the drawer. He put the money in an envelope then walked to the door of the party secretary’s house in the village. He knocked at the door then went straight inside as he heard there were people inside the house. There was only one man in the house—looked over 40 years old, medium height, with dark skin and bright and piercing eyes. He looked very smart.

  The man’s name was Wang Jianli; he was the party secretary of the county. He had been in this position for three years and had a good reputation.

  “Hello uncle, are you busy?”


  “Here you are, Yao, please sit down,” said Wang Jianli.

  “Where is auntie?”


  “She went out to do some shopping,” replied Wang Jianli.

  “Uncle, I want to talk to you about Nanshan hill.” Wang Yao got straight to the point.

  “I went to your home and already discussed it with your mother yesterday. I think it’s a good thing to end the contract. Talk to the accountant tomorrow and see how much money should be reimbursed to you,” Wang Jianli lit a cigarette as he spoke.

  “Uncle, I don’t want to end the contract. I want to extend the contract to another 20 years!” Wang Yao said.

  “What?!” Wang Jianli was shocked.

  The door squeaked as they were speaking. A woman in her 40’s came inside.

  “Hi, auntie,” said Wang Yao.

  “Hello, Yao.” The woman turned to Wang Jianli and said, “How come you didn’t serve him a cup of tea?”


  “Don’t worry about it. I just came here to speak to uncle for a little bit,” said Wang Yao.

  “When I was in your house yesterday, your mother said something different to me,” said Wang Jianli.

  “But I was not home yesterday,” said Wang Yao.

  “Will your parents agree with your decision?” Wang Jianli frowned as he looked at young Wang Yao, who used to be the pride and joy of the village. Unfortunately, he was just a laughing stock now after he graduated from the university.

  “I will tell them,” said Wang Yao.

  “Please take my advice, Yao, end the contract. You’ll have a better future applying for a government job with your degree.”


  “Someone wants my contract?” Wang Yao changed the topic.

  “Yes,” Wang Jianli replied with hesitation.

  “How much does he offer?” Wang Yao asked.

  “20,000 yuan per year for 10 years.” Wang Jianli wanted to scare Wang Yao away.

  “Alright, I offer 20,000 yuan per year for 20 years,” Wang Yao responded.

  “What?!” the woman sitting next to him exclaimed, “Yao, you’ve got to have 400,000 yuan for 20 years. How will you get that much money?”


  “As for the money, I will sort it out,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

  “Your parents will not agree.” Wang Jianli lit another cigarette.

  “So I can’t let them know,” said Wang Yao.

  “That’s gonna be tricky,” said Wang Jianli, “I just had a meeting at the village committee. We had to discuss issues related to Nanshan hill.”


  That was fast! Wang Yao thought.

  “I’m willing to contribute an extra 20,000 yuan to the village apart from the 20,000 contract fee per year,” Wang Yao added.

  “What did you say?!” Wang Jianli almost dropped the cigarette in his hand.

  With the magical irrigation system he had, Wang Yao believed that as long as he was not foolish, he could earn at least several hundred thousands of yuan annually. After all, he made a few thousands of yuan only from several jujube trees. So, an extra 20,000 yuan apart from contract fee was not too much.