The next morning, after picking lychees, Lin Hao strolled around the village.
As it turned out, he made a discovery.
Many villagers gathered around a Lychee Tree. An offering table stood nearby, and a Mage in a ritual robe chanted incantations.
Everyone discussed the matter. This was a precious Lychee Tree, but it was close to dying, so they had invited a Mage to perform Ritual Spellcasting.
“Master Wang, I hope you can help the lychee tree live on.”
“Exactly. This Lychee Tree is a precious variety that costs eight thousand yuan per kilogram.”
“Sigh, unfortunately, it’s sickly. Last year, it barely produced several dozen kilograms of fruit. This year, it has borne no fruit, and only two main branches remain alive.”
Lin Hao asked, “Why not graft it?”
Someone answered:
“A fruit tree produced through grafting wouldn’t taste the same as this one. There’s an underground spring here, and the soil is unusual.”
“Master, put in a little more effort. We’re counting on you.”
Everyone looked toward Master Wang. This lychee tree carried the hopes of many people.
Master Wang continued chanting, but no one understood what he was saying.
Master Wang had heard everyone’s request. After chanting for a while, he said, “It all depends on Heaven’s will. Heaven’s will has arrived, so it will sprout new branches and bear fruit again next year.”
Everyone applauded.
Lin Hao patted a young villager on the shoulder and asked, “Eldest Brother, how much does this Ritual Ceremony cost?”
The young villager replied, “Five thousand.”
“Five thousand?”
Lin Hao drew in a sharp breath. If someone else didn’t want to earn this money, he did!
At that moment, the master completed the ritual ceremony.
Lin Hao knew his opportunity had arrived. He stepped forward and said, “Friends, I have a way to restore the Lychee Tree’s vitality.”
Master Wang glared and said, “Young man, don’t make boastful claims.”
Lin Hao said, “I know genuine spells. I can make you see a change right here, but if I cure this tree, I want compensation.”
An elder stepped forward. He was the village chief. He said, “Young man, is what you’re saying true?”
Lin Hao replied firmly, “Give me a chance to demonstrate, and you’ll believe me.”
Several Village Elders whispered among themselves and urgently discussed the matter.
Master Wang had already finished the ritual ceremony, but it had produced no results. This was not what they wanted.
After hearing Lin Hao’s words, they did not quite believe him, but they could take a gamble.
Afterward, the village chief said, “Young man, I can give you a chance, but you must not harm the fruit tree. It means a great deal to us.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t harm it. On the contrary, I’ll help it be reborn.”
Lin Hao patted his chest in assurance.
Everyone watched Lin Hao, eager to see what method he had.
Master Wang did not leave either, staying nearby to watch the excitement.
Lin Hao stepped forward and placed his palm against the Lychee Tree’s Tree Trunk, quietly releasing Frost Qi.
Under the icy Aura, the insects hiding inside the Tree Trunk could no longer endure it. They crawled out one after another.
Everyone watched in silence. Some thought Lin Hao was pretending to possess supernatural powers because he had not even performed a ritual.
Master Wang shook his head. In his eyes, Lin Hao was a child, still wet behind the ears.
The Village Elders remained calm, but they also believed Lin Hao could accomplish nothing.
The village children, on the other hand, thought Lin Hao had come to cause trouble.
The ordinary villagers were there for the entertainment and did not expect Lin Hao to change the fruit tree’s condition.
Every one of their expressions fell within Lin Hao’s sight.
Several minutes passed before the Tree Trunk finally began to change.
Insects crawled out of the Tree Trunk one after another. They were plump, clearly having devoured plenty of wood.
Then, many animals appeared.
“There are so many insects. No wonder the fruit tree became like this.”
“My heavens, there are so many insects. There must be nearly half a kilogram!”
“So many birds are flying over.”
“Look, those birds are fighting over the insects!”
“The village chickens are coming too!”
“Damn, that’s my cat! It’s going to eat the birds. This won’t do.”
“……”
After Lin Hao forced out the insects, numerous animals gathered here, making the place lively.
The villagers were stunned. The insects were fat and large, attracting all kinds of birds.
The children watched Lin Hao with faces full of admiration, convinced that he knew magic.
The Village Elders were astonished. They reassessed Lin Hao and realized that the young man had not lied—he truly had a way!
Everyone knew that the fruit tree had insects, but they had no good solution. Ordinary pesticides could not reach inside, and they were afraid of harming the tree.
As a result, no one had solved the problem of insects damaging the fruit tree.
Today, Lin Hao had solved this difficult problem.
Master Wang stood dazed while everyone discussed Lin Hao and forgot about him.
The Village Chief smiled, his tone respectful, and said, “Young Master, I believe you now. You’re amazing!”
Lin Hao folded his arms and said, “And then?”
The Village Chief exchanged glances with several elders and continued, “Young Master, heal the fruit tree, and we’ll give you five thousand yuan—no, eight thousand yuan!”
“Eight thousand yuan?”
Master Wang was envious. The villagers had raised the price; when they invited him, they had offered only five thousand yuan.
Lin Hao remarked, “I’m starting to think I don’t want to cure it anymore. It’s tiring.”
Everyone laughed.
It seemed that Lin Hao had a temper and wanted to raise the price.
The village elders had all seen plenty of the world. They had traveled more roads than others had eaten salt.
Therefore, they understood Lin Hao’s little schemes.
The village chief’s expression turned solemn. “How about this, young master? As long as you let us see clear results, we can raise the price to ten thousand yuan!”
“Ten thousand!”
Master Wang was speechless. He had no idea how many Ritual Ceremonies he would have to perform to earn that much.
Lin Hao nodded. “All right. Everyone is witness. If you go back on your word, Heaven will punish you.”
“Don’t worry. Our village has simple, honest customs. We won’t break our word.”
“That’s right. Theft hardly occurs in our village.”
“In our village, we don’t even lock our doors at night, and we don’t worry about anything happening. Everyone is family.”
The village elders all hurried to speak up.
Since that was the case, Lin Hao believed them.
Then Lin Hao told them to prepare a basin of water. He was going to perform ritual spellcasting.
“Can he perform Ritual Ceremonies too?”
Master Wang was curious and wanted to see how Lin Hao would do it.
Once the water was ready, Lin Hao watered the fruit tree. He even climbed up the tree to water it, soaking the entire fruit tree.
Afterward, Lin Hao began Spellcasting.
He was casting the Rain-Bringing Technique!
Rain fell over the fruit tree, and the tree absorbed it.
The fruit tree became lush and verdant. Some bark split open, and new buds emerged.
Everyone stared at the fruit tree. It looked new, with buds sprouting across it—a stark contrast to its former, nearly dead state.
“Damn, it recovered?”
“Is this magic?”
“It isn’t magic; it’s a spell!”
“This young master is the true master!”
“Young master, you’re amazing!”
“This is incredible. It’s green and full of vitality again!”
“Lychees worth eight thousand yuan per kilogram will appear again next year!”
……
Everyone was excited. The precious Lychee Tree had recovered, and some people were moved to tears.
The village chief wiped away his tears and said, “young master, thank you. We will honor our promise and give you ten thousand yuan as compensation. By the way, what’s your name?”
Lin Hao said, “My name is Lin Hao. You don’t have to call me Young Master. Call me by my name.”
Everyone burst out laughing. He was rather particular.
Before long, they brought out a stack of banknotes and handed it to Lin Hao: a full ten thousand yuan.
Master Wang was about to cry. Watching someone else earn money hurt more than being beaten to death.
The key point was that this opportunity had once been right in front of him.
After receiving the money, Lin Hao thanked everyone.
Just then, a man walked over and said, “Lin Hao, so you were here.”
Lin Hao asked, “Uncle Lin, is something the matter?”
Before Lin Yaoyang could speak, the village chief asked, “Lin Yaoyang, did you bring Lin Hao here?”
Lin Yaoyang said, “What? Did Lin Hao cause trouble? If he caused you any losses, as long as they aren’t too severe, I can compensate you.”
The village chief smiled and said, “No. Lin Hao is our village’s benefactor. We’re going to prepare a feast and entertain him today.”
Lin Yaoyang was puzzled. He glanced back at Lin Hao, unable to understand what good deed the kid had done.
Lin Hao said, “Uncle Lin, let’s go to town today. I want to deposit this ten thousand yuan into my card. It’s inconvenient to carry it around.”
Lin Yaoyang’s face was filled with astonishment. He had only recently arrived in the village, yet he had already obtained ten thousand yuan. Not bad at all.
“Where did the money come from?”
Lin Yaoyang asked. His appearance gave his words a fierce edge.
The Village Chief explained, “Lin Yaoyang, don’t misunderstand. We gave this money to Lin Hao because he cured our village’s fruit tree.”
After hearing the whole story, Lin Yaoyang admired Lin Hao a little more. He felt that Lin Hao was someone blessed with financial luck.
Lin Yaoyang changed his mind and said, “Lin Hao, you don’t need to pick fruit today. Go record the data and handle the accounting. There’ll be a beautiful woman working with you.”
Lin Hao smiled. “Then thank you, Uncle Lin.”
He knew he had to earn status through his own efforts, not gain it through someone else’s sympathy.
Therefore, when Lin Yaoyang began to regard him more highly, he assigned Lin Hao easier work instead of the most exhausting manual labor.