I Have a Penglai Immortal Island

After a brief greeting, Secretary Liu downed half a mug of tea, fanning himself furiously, "The geological park management is dead set on shutting down the village's craft shop. This time it looks serious. They want to replace it with a cold drink shop, which would mean nothing for the village."

Accountant Xiong sighed, "Even though it’s barely profitable, every little bit helps. Now, even that is gone." The two of them looked worried.

Zhao Zhao interjected, "I came to give the village some money. I want to buy the vacant land east of the guesthouse to build a house. Can the village approve it?"

Liu Zhi responded, "The village can’t profit from that. While there’s plenty of vacant land on the island, new residential plots are not allowed by the state. That land isn’t designated for residential use, so you can’t buy it."

Zhao Zhao proposed her Plan B, "Can I swap it with our old house plot to the west? Same area, the western plot is flatter and more valuable, while the guesthouse plot is more remote and uneven. This way, I’m not taking advantage of the village."

The two village leaders exchanged glances and nodded, "That’s feasible. We can decide that on the island. We’ll hold a village committee meeting, and if everyone agrees, we can make the swap."

With her goal achieved, she was ready to leave but was held back for a long discussion about the island’s development. As a university graduate, she was asked to come up with ideas.

Jinshi Island, with its mountain-sea terrain, had limited arable land. The island’s income came mainly from fishing and tourism.

Nearshore fishing was depleted, and without decent boats, they couldn’t fish in the deep sea. Most young and able-bodied men worked elsewhere, leaving the remaining population reliant on tourism.

The island’s tourism had been struggling. The only unique attraction was the geological park. Although rare, the Cambrian geology didn’t attract many laypeople, and ticket sales didn’t benefit the villagers much. The main advantage was a few jobs.

Even when tourists came, the Dragon King Temple had ferries picking them up at the gate. The island’s inns and seafood restaurants had little chance, as most tourists preferred the bustling Dragon King Temple or the more commercialized Changshan Island.

"Our island’s southern coastline is as good as the Dragon King Temple’s. Being an isolated island is a selling point. We could clean it up and make a beach resort," Zhao Zhao suggested, thinking that a beach could draw crowds. The Dragon King Temple’s beach was packed in the summer.

"A beach resort isn’t easy. Besides the sand, there are many rocks underwater that would cost a lot to clear. We’d need a real estate tycoon to fund it. Where would we find one?" Secretary Liu dismissed the idea.

Back to square one, still poor. The beach at the Dragon King Temple was developed by a wealthy real estate developer.

After promising to create more jobs for the village in the future, Zhao Zhao finally left, drenched in sweat. The village leaders’ anxiety had rubbed off on her, though they seemed relieved. She felt the warmth of her hometown again...

On her way back, she took the dog to the beach. The big parrot stayed in the tree, chatting with sparrows and refusing to come down.

The beach was strewn with rocks of various sizes and seaweed washed ashore by the waves.

Zhao Zhao spotted a large and small figure collecting seaweed. In the past, villagers would collect seaweed to dry and sell as feed when there was no other work. Due to transportation costs, no one collected it anymore, as it brought in meager earnings.

"Auntie Caihua, why did you come to pick seaweed?"

"Zhao Zhao, my backyard vegetables have been sprayed with pesticides, so I came to pick some seaweed to feed the ducks. Otherwise, the vegetable leaves would be enough; there's no need to pick seaweed." Auntie Caihua straightened up and greeted.

"Is that your grandson over there? He's so well-behaved, helping with the work."

Auntie Caihua looked at the child in the distance, sighed, and said, "My grandchild is a year older than him, but he's not half as sensible. That's Daqiao's child, Yangyang. You just got back, so you might not know. His father died in a car accident over two years ago, and his grandmother has poor eyesight and can't go out. This child comes here by himself to pick seaweed to feed the chickens and ducks. I stayed a bit longer because I saw him here alone."

She looked at her again and added, "I don't know if you remember, his grandfather was Xiong Haishan, who died along with your father. Poor kid, children from poor families grow up early."

Zhao Zhao looked at the five or six-year-old child in the distance and softly asked, "Where's his mother?"

"His mother is helping out at Da Sen's family restaurant. There are still a few people who eat there on our island."

Still here, thank goodness.

"With the elderly and the young, Yangyang's mom can't go out to work. His grandmother's eyesight is bad, and no one looks after this child when he comes and goes by himself. How can you let a five-year-old be by the seaside alone?" Auntie Caihua, who loved to talk and was warm-hearted, pulled Zhao Zhao and spoke at length.

The child in the distance seemed to have picked enough and was about to leave. He packed the seaweed into an old plastic bag, but after a few steps, the bag tore open, and the seaweed fell out. The small figure turned back to pick it up again...

"Auntie Caihua, you should go back. I'll take him home."

"Okay, I should go back and make dinner."

After saying goodbye to Auntie Caihua and waiting for her to leave, Zhao Zhao took out a basket she used for holding fruits from her space.

"Yangyang, is your name Yangyang? I have a basket here you can use."

The child looked at the plastic bag he could no longer carry, then at Zhao Zhao's basket, and straightforwardly said, "Thank you, sister."

Generational gap.

Upon closer inspection, the child was indeed good-looking, with big round eyes. Although he was thin, he still had some baby fat, meeting the standard of an adorable child. His clothes weren't new but were clean.

Zhao Zhao placed the plastic bag into the basket and picked it up. "I'm not your sister; I'm Da Linzi's sister. You should call me Auntie. Auntie will take you home."

"I know Uncle Da Linzi. Auntie, I can carry it myself." He held onto the edge of the basket with his small hands.

"You aren't shy at all. Children should listen to adults. Why did you come to the seaside by yourself? Does your mother know?"

This time, he didn't speak and changed the subject, "Auntie, why haven't I seen you before?"

"You have, when you were just born."

"Then I don't remember. That was a long time ago!" He sighed like a little adult and then asked, "Auntie, did you move to the town? Xin Xin's family moved to the town and doesn't come back often."

"No, I didn't move. Auntie lives at the small inn in East Bay. I went out to study and just came back."

"Will I have to go out to study in the future too?"

"Of course, everyone has to study."

"Then I'll have to bring my grandmother and mother with me."

"Auntie, can I pet your dog?"

"Of course, if you can catch it."

Gun Gun currently didn't even listen to Da Linzi and wouldn't let anyone else touch him. Soon, the child and the dog started a game of tag around her.

This little guy wasn't afraid of strangers and spoke clearly and logically, making it hard not to like him.

When they reached his home, an old lady with unfocused eyes was sitting at the door. Hearing the noise, she hurriedly asked, "Is it Yangyang coming back?"

Zhao Zhao called over Yaoguang, the large parrot, who landed on her shoulder in an instant. She transmitted a message to it: "Help me check if her eyes can be treated."

Yaoguang glanced at her: "Overuse, aging degeneration, treatable. Her eyes lack vitality, which the spiritual spring can cure."

Probably from crying...

Zhao Zhao decided to help this unfortunate old lady.

Yangyang had already run over and hugged her legs. The old lady held him in her arms, "My good grandson, where have you been all morning? You didn't go to the seaside, did you?"

Yangyang, hugging his grandmother, nervously changed the subject, "Grandma, an auntie brought me back."

He turned his head and saw Yaoguang, his eyes widening even more, "Auntie, is this your bird? Is it an eagle? It's so big and beautiful!" In his mind, the biggest bird was an eagle.

This little clever one, he didn't lie; he learned to skip the truth.

Yangyang's grandmother, not understanding, asked, "Which auntie?"

Zhao Zhao stepped forward and greeted, "Madam, I'm Zhao Zhao from the East Bay Inn. Do you remember me?"

Yangyang's grandmother was delighted, "Are you third child's Zhao Zhao? Why are you back? Did you graduate so soon?"

After chatting for a bit, Zhao Zhao lied, saying her school had a new research eye drop that could alleviate her symptoms. She promised to bring some next time and then took her leave.

Back home, she found a small bottle with a straw among her beauty tools, filled it with the spiritual spring, and the next day picked some rare fruits from the island to deliver to Yangyang's house.

The little guy tried jaboticaba and liked it very much, being successfully won over by the delicious taste. He straightforwardly said, "Auntie, is this from your backyard? I'm good at catching bugs. I'll go catch bugs for you." You just take care of the fruits.

Islanders rarely buy fruits, usually eating whatever grows in their backyard. In winter, they eat the apples they've stored. This little guy thought the jaboticaba grew in her backyard.

"There aren't any bugs to catch now, but Auntie has plenty of fruits. You can come to find me if you want to eat."

"Then Auntie, I'll help you feed the chickens. My mom said we shouldn't take things for free."

Zhao Zhao pinched his baby fat and teased him, "You are so well-behaved. If you want to eat fruits, just come to find me. We are family, no need to be polite!"

Hearing this, the straightforward little one suddenly became shy, "Auntie, that... when your eagle has babies, can you give me one?"

"This...

I'm afraid...

That's not possible."