The two young people dressed in fine clothes attracted some curious glances from the villagers.
When they reached the hillside, Lola began to pant while the man seemed to be not tired at all.
"I"ll carry you!" The man walked to her and crouched down. Lola patted him on the back and shook her head.
After they continued for a while, they could see the panoramic view of Echo Bay Village from the height.
There were rising smoke, towering mountains, and flowing rivers and waterfalls -- what a pleasant scenery! If you took a picture and add retro effects, it would become a landscape painting.
There was no one else around them, as all the villagers had probably gone downhill. The man walked into the gra.s.s and spotted a plant in the weeds. He drew near and sniffed it.
"Look! Wild codonopsis! There are... Panax pseudoginseng and Fallopia multiflora!" Harry walked further and discovered a lot of Chinese medicinal herbs.
"You know medicinal herbs?" As the man mentioned a few Chinese medicinal herbs, Lola stared at him in admiration.
"Well, I have learned a little from Chuck"s grandmother before." Chuck"s grandmother was a doctor who studied Chinese medicine every day. When Harry was a kid, Chuck"s grandmother taught Chuck and Harry to recognize Chinese medicinal herbs.
After he graduated from university three years ago, he got busy and had no time to learn from her.
Harry looked around and noticed that many common medicinal herbs, such as Angelica dahurica, Coptis chinensis, and honeysuckle, had been taken away.
Maybe the medical skill in the village was limited, so other rare medicinal herbs hadn"t been found yet. There were plenty of herbs on the market, but wild ones like these were rarely seen and thus expensive!
After the tour in the mountain, Harry had a lot of discoveries. He had been talking on the phone when he returned.
After lunch, Lola and Nicole were playing with the children and adults in the village.
Harry asked a young man to take him to the village head"s house.
At dusk, Harry came back.
In the early morning of the third day in the village.
Many villagers came to the house of Lola"s grandparents, some with freshly made local specialities, some with pickled wild boar meat, and some with dried fruit.
Upon seeing Lola come out, they crowded around her with broad smiles on their faces, which startled her.
Mrs. Zhang said, "Lola, here"s a little gift for you. Please accept it!"
Mrs. Li said, "Yeah, you have made such a big contribution to the village and let us see hope in our children. Thank you so much!"
"You"re really the fairy coming down from the heaven! This is the pastry I just made. Have a taste!"
...
Well... What was going on here?
She looked at Harry, who just smiled and accepted all the specialities from the villagers.
These natural food would be good for Lola and Nicole!
Lola smiled and thanked the villagers politely. At this time, Carl came over. She quickly pulled him and whispered, "Father! What"s going on here?"
Carl looked at her daughter in confusion. She did not know? "Harry has donated ten million to the village in your name, to build schools and village roads. Don"t you know?"
Looking at the man who was eating pastries, Lola got mixed feelings.
She smiled at the villagers and said, "Aunty, you are too kind. It is Harry who makes the donation. You can thank him!"
Mrs. Niu said happily, "Hey, aren"t you a couple? It"s the same to thank either of you!"
Harry nodded with satisfaction. Mrs. Niu was silver-tongued!
Lola was a bit embarra.s.sed to look at the man who pretended to know nothing. He should have told her about it, so that she wouldn"t have to wonder what was going on!
Carl helped Lola send the enthusiastic villagers back and Lola returned after she saw that everyone left.
"Harry, why don"t you tell me?" She asked as the man was sniffing a jar of honey.
"There"s no need to make a fuss. It"s only ten million." The man continued to look at the jar of honey, and said, "You can bring this honey back. Nicole will like it."
Lola reluctantly took the honey he handed over, walked to the living room and put it on the table.
"Father, we"ll leave tomorrow. Why don"t you come with us?" She didn"t bring up this matter until today. She hoped that her father had already thought it through.
Carl cast a glance at her and lit a cigarette. "I know your purpose. It is good to live here. I"m not going! Your grandparents are very happy here. They won"t get used to the life out of the village. So, Lola, just come to see us when you have time!"
Carl was very pleased that his daughter had grown a lot. He was even more relieved that she had found her biological parents. Besides, she had a considerate man and a lovely daughter by her side.
"These were enough." he thought with satisfaction.
"Father..." Lola turned to her grandmother.
Her grandmother smiled, "My girl, your grandfather and I have been here all our lives. We"d better not go anywhere else. Just like your father said, come to see us when you are free!"
Lola"s grandmother held her tender hands tightly. She was really a good girl!
Unable to persuade them, Lola could only give up. As Harry said, she should come to see them instead of forcing them to go with her.
"Father, please bring my grandpa and grandma to A Country to visit us some day!" Lola sat down beside Carl, held his arm and pleaded with a spoiled tone.
Carl patted his daughter"s hands. "All right! I"ll go when I have the chance!"
Lola, Harry and Nicole left the next morning. Lola was unwilling to bid farewell to her family, eyes turning red.
Harry sighed secretly, grabbed her hand and took her to the front pa.s.senger seat. Seated in the child car seat, Nicole rolled down the window to wave goodbye to her grandpa.
Many villagers came to see them off, carrying a lot of local specialities.
After they put the specialities into the car trunk, the car slowly pulled away. Looking back, Lola saw several children running after the car.
Lola shed tears when they were out of sight.
Harry pulled over and wiped away her tears. "You"re not a kid. Don"t cry!"
He drew out two tissues to clean her face. "Mommy, you can"t cry. You"ll look ugly when you are crying!" Nicole"s words made her smile through tears.
"Well, mommy won"t cry. Nicole can"t cry either in the future!" Wiping away her tears, she pushed the man and motioned him to drive.