Chapter 491 - 462: The Olympics

Bailong Village’s tourism plan was booming. Coupled with the government’s road repair subsidies, the surrounding villages also reaped the benefits. They all got a piece of the action, each developing in their own way.

On a related note, the persimmon cakes from Shen Family Village were also promoted in Bailong Village and then taken to more distant places. Orders poured in, and they were swamped with work every year during the persimmon cake season.

When the residents of Shen Family Village saw that the persimmon cakes had made a name for themselves and that Shen Daniu’s family was raking in the profits, they were all green with envy. One by one, they also began contracting mountain land to plant persimmon trees.

Then there were Wang Mei’s parents. Since they were so good at raising pigs, they were advised to just open their own pig farm.

Wang Pengfei brought back all the money he had earned to support his parents in opening the farm. Now, he was a small business owner himself and had even gotten married.

It was getting harder to make a living out in the world. Wang Pengfei didn’t have a head for big business; he was good at trading goods between the north and south, and he’d made a good bit of money over the years. But now, that kind of trading wasn’t as profitable as it used to be. So, following Yun Xiaoqi’s advice, he used his money to buy a house.

Then he returned home to start the pig farm with his parents, striving to make it bigger and better.

With Yun Linhe and his family helping to make connections, many of the village’s restaurants started ordering pork from them. As a result, the pig farm’s business was thriving.

「In the blink of an eye, the summer of 1992 arrived.」

This was a special year.

After several years of training, Yun Xiaowu’s exceptional talent had earned him high praise from his coach. He often competed in various provincial meets to test the waters, gradually making a name for himself among other athletes.

Now, he was finally going to compete in this year’s Olympics—an international competition.

The entire family was taking this very seriously.

"You say we should go abroad, but what are we supposed to do if we can’t understand a word anyone is saying?"

"My brothers and I can speak it!" Yun Jiao said. "Oh, don’t you worry. Just leave asking for directions and all that to us. Your only job is to be tourists and enjoy the sights."

"Grandpa, Grandma, are you really not going? We get to fly on an airplane! Going abroad! We’ll be the only ones in the whole village to do it."

With his hands behind his back, Grandpa Yun said, "I’m so old. What would I go there for?"

The old couple was nearly seventy, but because country folk are always active in the fields, they still looked quite robust.

Granny Yun also smiled and said, "We’re getting old. Going abroad is for you young people. Just take lots of pictures for us."

"To put it bluntly, at our age, we never know when our time will come. Why would we go wandering around in a foreign country? What if something were to happen to us over there..."

"Grandpa, don’t say that," Yun Jiao chided.

The others also looked at him disapprovingly.

Grandpa Yun waved his hand. "What’s there to be afraid of? I’ve lived this long. I’ve had a good run."

"Dad!" "Grandpa!"

Grandpa Yun said cheerfully, "Alright, alright, I’ll stop. You all go ahead. Your grandma and I will be just fine here in the village. All the old folks go dancing and do exercises now. Life is good, so don’t you worry."

Almost no one in the village went fishing anymore. All sorts of facilities had been built, and the houses and everything else were getting better and better.

A fitness area was also set up for the village elders. They would go there to practice Tai Chi and the Eight Pieces of Brocade, both of which Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu had taught them. The village’s old-timers quite enjoyed it.

They would also play chess, share some gossip, or hike up the mountain together to burn incense for the immortals and exercise with Daoist Qingfeng.

All in all, their lives were comfortable and full.

Even so, before they left, Yun Jiao and the others made sure to ask many of the villagers to help keep an eye on the old couple.

Of course, they didn’t ask for this help for free; they brought gifts with them.

The families they approached all patted their chests in assurance.

"Don’t worry, you go on ahead. We’ll be watching the Olympics on TV, too."

In the end, the old couple came to the train station to see them off.

The village chief came along as well.

They took the train all the way to the Capital, where Yun Jiao and her family planned to fly out with the training team.

Yun Xiaowu and the others had just returned from another province.

Swimming requires excellent cardiopulmonary function, so for the six months to a year before the Olympics, they had been at a high-altitude base for intensive, isolated training.

"Jiaojiao!"

Yun Xiaowu had known his family was coming. He was a tall young man who acted all cool and cocky at the training base, but right now he was grinning like an idiot.

"Whoa, when did our resident tough guy turn into a happy puppy?"

"Didn’t you see? His family’s here."

"If my family came to see me, I’d be grinning like that too."

"Damn! Is his whole family this good-looking?"

In the world of athletics, looks don’t matter—only skill does.

So, there weren’t many handsome ones among them.

Yun Xiaowu’s face and physique were considered top-tier among all the athletes.

Countless male teammates were envious of his build.

Of course, plenty of female teammates had crushes on him too.

Yun Xiaowu swept Yun Jiao right into his arms.

"Fifth Brother, put me down! I’m too old for this!"

’She was twelve years old, for crying out loud.’

"So what? You’ve grown, but so have I, and I’ve gotten a lot taller than you. See? You’re still just a little pipsqueak to me."

Yun Jiao glared at him. ’Does he have to talk like that? He’s so obnoxious.’

"Heh heh... Dad, Mom, Uncle, Little Aunt..."

Yun Xiaowu greeted them one by one.

"I’m gonna go ask my coach for leave. We don’t leave until the day after tomorrow, so we can hang out for a day and a half."

With that, he ran off gleefully.

He didn’t even give them a chance to react.

Shen Yunlian sighed. "He’s a grown man now, but he still acts like a child."

But she said it with a smile in her eyes.

Yun Xiaowu quickly got his leave and came running back.

His coach was chasing after him.

"You brat, don’t you dare eat any junk food! If your weight isn’t up to standard when you get back, you’ll see how I deal with you!"

"Got it!" Yun Xiaowu yelled back.

He immediately turned to his family and started venting about how hard the training was, and how he sometimes got these inexplicable cravings for certain things, like spicy or sweet food.

But none of that was allowed.

"The food at the training base is good, but I always feel like something’s missing. I’m always craving food from the outside."

Yun Xiaoqi said, "I get it. You’re eating what’s in your bowl but thinking about what’s still in the pot."

Yun Xiao Ba added, "That’s ’the flowers at home aren’t as fragrant as the wild ones!’"

The others were speechless.

Wang Mei slapped them both on the back of the head.

"What kind of nonsense are you two spouting?"

Even Yun Xiaowu rolled his eyes.

Their time was limited, so Yun Xiaowu whisked them off... to climb the Great Wall.

The brothers, with Yun Jiao in tow, even started racing each other on the Wall.

And it was the kind of race where they were all trying to trip each other up.

As they ran, a real fight almost broke out.

"You black-hearted snake, Xiaoqi! How dare you step on me!" Yun Xiaowu yelled.

"Bullshit! I didn’t touch you."

"Brother Qi did it! I saw him!" Yun Xiaojiu chimed in.

"Little Nine, I saw you trip Xiao Liu!" Yun Xiaoqi shot back.

"That’s a lie! I didn’t..." Yun Xiaojiu protested.

"Brother Ba, let go of me!" cried Yun Xiao Liu. "I’m not fast to begin with, and you holding on to me is making me even slower!"

"Okay, I’m letting go," Yun Xiao Ba said.

The moment he let go, he shot ahead.

The other tourists, panting and wheezing as they climbed the Great Wall, could only watch as the group of teenagers roughhoused their way past them, disappearing into the distance with a WHOOSH.

"Jiaojiao, hurry up!"

Yun Jiao snapped a photo and tossed the camera to her dad.

"Coming!"

Then she quickly chased after them.

The other tourists couldn’t help but remark, "Ah, to have the energy of youth."

Meanwhile, other young people, also panting for breath as they climbed the Great Wall: ...