Chapter 483 - 456: Dinosaur Village

Afterward, a steady stream of people followed the news, all wanting to see the dinosaur fossils.

Foreign experts and professors arrived in droves.

This severely disrupted the lives of Yun Jiao and her family.

Fed up with the constant interruptions, she went straight to the village chief. She also visited Uncle Lin at the military department and then met with Uncle Wang Jianlin to discuss a matter.

After that, she spent some time recovering a large number of fossilized skeletons from the seabed.

Others were excavated from within cliff faces.

She brought all these fossilized skeletons to the village.

On the day she brought them to shore, the entire village erupted in excitement.

No one went out to sea to work; they all gathered at the shore to look at the bones.

"These must be the bones you all were talking about from Jiaojiao Island."

"Good heavens, they’re huge! What kind of animal has bones this big?"

"I heard those experts say they’re some kind of prehistoric dinosaur. Anyway, they’re from a very, very long time ago. These creatures aren’t in the sea anymore, they’re all extinct or something. That’s why they want to study these bones."

"Extinct, huh? Good thing they are. Otherwise, it would be so dangerous for us, living by the sea and having to go out fishing."

"Just one of these bones is longer than two of me!"

"Good lord, and this... this tooth is huge!"

Everyone gathered around the pile of bones, chattering amongst themselves.

"Why did Jiaojiao bring all these bones ashore?"

Yun Jiao had finally finished hauling all the bones ashore.

As she emerged from the water, Yun Linhai quickly handed his daughter a towel.

She deftly wrapped it around her hair.

"Village Chief, there are still more bones. For now, you can have your people start assembling these."

The Village Chief nodded repeatedly, his face wrinkling into a huge grin.

"Yes, yes, of course. Jiaojiao, you’ve worked hard. Go on home, get some rest and a bite to eat. You can leave everything here to me."

After Yun Jiao left, everyone crowded around the Village Chief.

"Village Chief, what’s going on?"

"Do you have another announcement to make?"

The Village Chief cleared his throat. "Everyone, quiet down."

With the help of the Village Chief’s son, the village’s Party Secretary, the crowd fell silent.

Only then did the Village Chief pull out a bullhorn and begin to speak.

"As you’ve all seen, many outsiders have come to our village to see these bones, including some foreigners."

The villagers nodded. It was true. Their village was finally making a name for itself. It wasn’t often that foreigners visited such a remote place.

Even many people in the big cities had probably never seen a foreigner.

The Village Chief continued, "Jiaojiao came to see me, and we discussed it with government officials. We’re going to set up a dinosaur fossil exhibit right here and turn our home into ’Dinosaur Village.’ We’ll assemble these skeletons, set up a ticket booth, and charge anyone who wants to see the fossils a small fee of a few mao..."

The villagers listened, their mouths agape.

Wait, you can charge money for this?

You can make money this way?!

"Will people actually come? And pay money just to look at a bunch of bones?"

"Why wouldn’t they? Aren’t these bones the reason all those outsiders have been coming to our village lately?"

"Does that mean our village can make money without even lifting a finger?"

Wasn’t this a windfall, like a pie falling from the sky?

The Village Chief continued, "To prevent any short-sighted individuals with bad intentions from trying to steal and sell these bones, our village will need to form a patrol team to guard them. The pay will be three hundred yuan a month."

Upon hearing this, some of the village’s young people were instantly eager to volunteer.

Three hundred yuan a month just to guard some bones? They all wanted the job!

The Village Chief then went over a few other points, outlining solutions to potential problems that had been worked out during their planning meeting.

Finally, with a wave of his hand, he directed the able-bodied villagers to carry the bones to the designated area.

The task of reassembling the skeletons was naturally left to Mr. Mu and Yun Chenbei.

Bailong Village was once again bustling with vigorous activity.

Yun Xiaoqi recommended the martial arts masters who had taught him to the Village Chief, suggesting they could train the young patrol members.

Of course, the village would pay the masters a separate wage for their services.

Happy for the chance to earn some extra money, the masters readily agreed.

The Yun family was upstanding and kind, and the masters had always gotten along well with them.

The Village Chief, for his part, was overjoyed.

Yun Jiao and her family were truly the village’s greatest benefactors!

All this commotion in Bailong Village once again drew onlookers from the surrounding villages.

"What grand project is your village starting now?"

The question was tinged with jealousy.

The old Village Chief felt a surge of pride.

"Oh, it’s nothing much. Our Yun Jiao found some bones in the sea and brought them back to be assembled. We’re going to put them on display for people to see. In the future, anyone who wants to see these bones will have to give our village money. It’s called... an admission fee! Yes, that’s it, an admission fee."

"What?!!!"

The people from the other villages, especially the other chiefs, looked utterly shocked and incredulous.

"What kind of bones are worth paying to see? You people are shameless!"

The old Village Chief clasped his hands behind his back and took a puff from his pipe. "Ah, but that’s where you’re mistaken."

"People really do come from far and wide just for these bones. We’ve even had quite a few foreigners visit."

The Village Chief put on an enigmatic expression. "You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. This stuff is extraordinary. Come on, I’ll take you to see for yourselves and broaden your horizons."

And so, the other village chiefs and their cadres were led by the old chief to the area designated for the dinosaur fossils.

By now, one of the fossil skeletons was already half-assembled.

Even from a distance, they could see the massive, menacing skeleton.

Everyone who saw it for the first time was taken aback.

"Wh-what are those things?!"

"Monsters! They’re monsters!"

Seeing their dumbfounded and horrified expressions, the old Village Chief was immensely satisfied.

After all, as the skeletons were gradually pieced together, his own villagers had been given quite a shock too.

The pile of bones had been intimidating enough.

Now that it was taking a three-dimensional form, it was even more terrifying.

Everyone couldn’t help but feel relieved that these prehistoric creatures were extinct. How could anyone have survived otherwise?

"You all see it now, don’t you? You tell me, would people pay to see this or not?"

His words snapped the others back to reality.

After a moment of stunned silence, they all grew excited.

One of the visiting chiefs grabbed the old chief’s hand.

"Old brother, we’ve always been on good terms, haven’t we? Your daughter even married one of our village lads, which makes us in-laws. With a treasure like this, why are you being so secretive? Our villages are so close, and seeing yours booming, we’re eager to follow your lead! Are there... more of these bones?"

Great. The man’s intentions were so obvious they might as well have been abacus beads clattering against the old chief’s face.

He tried to pull his hand back, but the other man’s grip was too tight.

The others even crowded around enthusiastically.

"Old friend, back in our younger days, we were the closest of brothers..."

"My dear in-law, my daughter is your son’s wife..."

Great. Now they were all trying to pull the family connection card.

The Village Chief: ...

He felt a headache coming on. "What are you all grabbing me for? I’m not the one who found these bones. Besides, you can’t just put them up anywhere. We had to go through a lot of trouble to get a permit from the government. Without it, even our village couldn’t display them."

But no matter what he said, they wouldn’t listen.

They dragged him over, first staring covetously at the skeletons.

It went without saying that tons of people would want to see this.

Didn’t that mean Bailong Village could just sit back and collect money?

Damn it, why didn’t such a good thing ever happen to their villages!

Suddenly, the sharp-eyed chief from the next village over spotted Yun Jiao.

"Little Yun Jiao! Jiaojiao..."

A grown man, he put on a voice so saccharine it was enough to give anyone goosebumps.

Yun Jiao was completely baffled.

"Grandpa Sun?"

She actually recognized the man.

But his enthusiasm was a bit much; it was so over-the-top it made her skin crawl.

"Oh, Jiaojiao, why don’t you ever come visit our village..."

Yun Jiao finally understood. ’He’s after the dinosaur fossils.’

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Grandpa Sun, you really can’t just take these dinosaur fossils wherever you want. We had to apply to the higher-ups."

Village Chief Sun’s face immediately fell with disappointment.

Yun Xiaoqi said, "Why are you so fixated on getting one of these for your village? You could do something else."

Village Chief Sun looked at Yun Xiaoqi. "What else could we possibly do?"

Yun Xiaoqi stroked his chin. "If I remember correctly, Grandpa Sun, your village has a lot of coconut trees, and they’re quite large, right?"

Village Chief Sun nodded.

Yun Xiaoqi snapped his fingers. "Then play to your village’s strengths! With so many coconut trees, you could partner with a beverage company to develop a coconut water drink, or turn them into snacks. Once the crowds start coming here, you can bring the coconut water over to sell."

Village Chief Sun asked, "But how would we develop that? Can you even make a soft drink out of coconut?"

Soft drinks were the most popular beverage at the time.

Yun Xiaoqi said, "You can give it a try. Make a soda, or maybe add milk. Some people might even like plain coconut water. We’re used to drinking it because we live by the sea, so it’s nothing special to us. But people who don’t live near the coast might find it novel and really enjoy it."

As he listened, Village Chief Sun’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Wow, you young folks are the clever ones. Why didn’t I ever think of that? I’ll go back right now and get some people to try it out!"

’If this really works out,’ he thought, ’our village might be able to make a living from it.’

"Wait, Village Chief Sun! If you really develop something, make sure you sign a contract. Get the beverage company to agree to buy coconuts from your village first. Otherwise, if another village swoops in and reaps the benefits, you’ll have no one to blame but yourselves."

Village Chief Sun said at once, "Right, right, you’re absolutely right."

He looked at Yun Xiaoqi with a newfound respect.

"You’re Xiaoqi, right? You’ve got a bright future, young man!"

Yun Xiaoqi chuckled and accepted the compliment.

The other village chiefs immediately crowded around him.

Yun Xiaoqi proceeded to give them ideas tailored to each of their village’s unique circumstances.

If their village truly managed to create a successful dinosaur fossil attraction, the surrounding villages would naturally benefit as well.

The most direct benefit would be infrastructure. If the project took off, the government would allocate funds to build roads, and the surrounding villages would likely be included in the construction plans.