This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 3: A Nature Reserve with a Hidden World
"Teacher Zhuang, please read this carefully before signing."

The voice of someone else brought Zhuang Lin back to his senses. Although he had already read part of the contract before, it was still necessary to look through it.

As for the "Actor Requirements" section, Zhuang Lin glanced through it and skipped it directly, and there would be someone to guide him later.

The confidentiality agreement is a more important part for Zhuang Lin.

Zhuang Lin had previously signed a simple confidentiality agreement for the information he had learned, which prohibited the disclosure of any information. Today, he finally saw the full confidentiality agreement of the Poluang Project.

The confidentiality agreement is five pages long and contains quite a bit of information.

In general, participants are not allowed to disclose any plan information in any form before or after the event.

The agreement is valid for sixty years.

Before the program begins, the household registration information of all participants will be deleted, and all relevant life files such as academic information, work history, etc. will be reset to zero.

Of course, all information will be saved or backed up by Party A who implements the plan.

When Zhuang Lin saw this, his gaze paused slightly.

Even with Zhuang Lin's limited understanding of Liu Shihao, he understood that since he dared to write so, he could probably do it.

In this era when information technology is not well developed, computers are not widely used in relevant units, paper documents occupy the majority and are unique to a considerable extent.

Most of the relevant information of all people is kept locally, without the convenience of any online query.

To give an inappropriate but very real example, if some scumbag men and women don't mind the trouble, they may even get married many times in different places across the country. If they are lucky, their bigamy will only be discovered after ten or even twenty or thirty years when the records are combined.

In other words, during the period when the plan was implemented, all the actors were genuine illegal immigrants!

In this situation, Zhuang Lin smiled and said to himself in a self-deprecating way, "Doesn't that mean everyone is the same as me?"

My gaze continued to move downwards, and sure enough, after the plan was completed, regardless of success or failure, Party A would provide everyone with new documents to enable them to live a normal life.

This information can be the original identity or something else, but it is not recommended to return to the original hometown to continue living.

Seeing this, Zhuang Lin felt relieved. Since others could do it, his illegal status could also be solved naturally.

There was no need to hesitate, and without waiting for others to ask or confirm anything, Zhuang Lin directly signed his name on the contract and confidentiality agreement.

No matter what the people inside the house were thinking or reacting, at this moment the several village representatives outside the house were all smiling.
-
A month later, at around nine in the morning, on a dirt road in the mountains, a team of livestock-driven carts were traveling on the not very smooth road.

Each ox cart in this team carried a lot of things, including various utensils and tools, and more were things like building materials, including but not limited to old wooden beams and bricks.

Zhuang Lin and Zhou Xianglin are also members of the team.

Although surrounded by greenery, the mountains and forests are deep, the mountain roads are rugged and the journey is long. The air is filled with the smell of livestock and the sweat of people. This makes the several well-mannered young people around Director Zhou feel a little uncomfortable, and they complain in low voices from time to time on the way.

What surprised Zhuang Lin was that the already quite old director Zhou Xianglin was also full of energy. Although he was sweating a lot, he did not look tired at all.

When Zhuang Lin looked at Zhou Xianglin, the other party happened to look at him as well. He wiped the sweat off his face with the towel draped over his shoulder and smiled.

"Mr. Zhuang looks gentle and refined, but he has a great physique!"

"I've practiced this a long time ago. From time to time, some students are absent. At times like these, I often have to walk the mountain roads to persuade them to study. I walk the mountain roads a lot, and I don't think they're that elegant, do they?"

Zhuang Lin told the truth and made a joke at the same time, and clenched his fist, making a simple knuckle crack.

An assistant nearby laughed.

"I also liked skipping classes when I was a kid, and my teacher would chase me home once!"

Zhuang Lin kept smiling and simply responded.

"The children here are different. When the old principal and I go to persuade them, we are also trying to persuade the parents."

"Persuade the parents?"

The assistant asked doubtfully, while Zhou Xianglin on the side seemed to be thinking about something, while Zhuang Lin gave a direct answer.

"The students want to come to school, but their parents won't let them. They need them to stay home to do work. If we don't persuade them, I'm afraid the children won't come back to class!"

Without waiting for others to ask, Zhuang Lin continued speaking. After all, due to the limitations of the times, it is normal for some people to not know much about things outside their comfort zone.

"For children in the mountains, there is no better way to change their destiny than to study. Parents may not all understand this, and even those who do understand may change their minds. But the old principal and I understand that we cannot let children drop out of school."

Zhou Xianglin was older after all, so he probably understood what was going on, and the assistant next to him couldn't help but ask a question.

"Does it happen often?"

Zhuang Lin replied without hesitation.

"Sometimes it happens every three to five days, and I have to bring some rice or flour to their door, otherwise I can't persuade them."

A person behind quickened his pace and came up, then came closer and interrupted with a joke.

"But Mr. Zhuang, there's a saying that goes, 'A greedy heart will lead to an elephant,' and there's another saying that goes, 'Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people.' You bring rice and flour to persuade students to study, so it's no wonder that students often drop out. Those people once got a taste of success, and it's like that all the time."

This statement is correct, but not entirely correct. It tends to think too badly of the mountain people and lacks in-depth understanding.

Zhuang Lin nodded in agreement, but then shook his head.

"That's true. I thought so, too. But later, as the old principal visited more often, I stopped thinking so. I exchanged sincerity for sincerity. The mountain people are just undereducated, not stupid. We are truly doing good for them, and they can sense it. As long as no one instigates or deceives them, it won't be so terrible!"

There is one more thing Zhuang Lin didn't say. He is not someone who can be manipulated by others. He knows how to adapt. He can have a good temper or a bad temper!

The person who just interrupted still said something cheerful. "This kind of mountain road is really tiring! Teacher Zhuang must have suffered a lot, right?"

You are quite pretentious, Zhuang Lin looked at him with a half-smile and a bit of indifference.

"The difficult mountain path you are walking on is walked by students every day."

Everyone around who was laughing stopped smiling, but Zhuang Lin grinned.

Laugh, keep laughing! I'll see who's tired again later!
However, there was one person's reaction that Zhuang Lin obviously took by surprise.

Zhou Xianglin, who was standing aside, waited for Zhuang Lin to finish speaking before speaking in surprise.

"Right, right, right! Teacher Zhuang, that's it, maintain that feeling from just now! A teacher possesses a righteous spirit while imparting knowledge and resolving doubts. That's exactly the feeling I want! Teacher Zhuang, no, Master Zhuang, you're truly gifted!"

Zhou Xianglin's eyes were burning.

"With this feeling, you only need to train your manners, and your identity will come naturally!"

"Uh okay."

Facing Zhou Xianglin's gaze, Zhuang Lin could only nod awkwardly, and then the people around him all couldn't help laughing.

The atmosphere was pretty good as everyone was talking and laughing, and occasionally helping to push some vehicles whose wheels were accidentally stuck.

From early morning until around two in the afternoon, Zhuang Lin, Zhou Xianglin and others who were relatively close to the front of the team saw a prominent warning sign standing upright.

The warning sign was erected not long ago, and the cement poured on the base is also new.

The content above is written in yellow block letters on a blue background:
"You are approaching the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve. To protect rare wild animals and plants, entry is strictly prohibited without permission!
—National Ministry of Justice Administration, March of the Jiachen Year 380 in the New Calendar.

Everyone, including Zhuang Lin, would subconsciously look at the warning signs for the protected area when passing by, but no one in the entire convoy stopped because their destination was deeper in the area.

Yes, although there are many differences between it and Zhuang Lin’s hometown in terms of geography and historical trajectory, there is also a Shennongjia here.

Coincidentally, the Liu family and the China Academy of Natural Sciences worked together two years ago to jointly promote the establishment of this national nature reserve.

The reserve covers an area of 62,000 square kilometers, which is many times larger than the reserve of the same name in Zhuang Lin's original world.

On the surface, the demolition and restoration of Muling Primary School, the original mountain village, and many similar villages within the reserve are simply for the purpose of establishing a large, fully connected reserve.

Of course, Liu Shihao's goal is not only to contribute to the protection of China's precious animals and plants, but also to use the nature reserve as a cover to complete his son's psychological treatment.

The planned area and several surrounding mountainous areas are nominally "forest economic experimental zones" specially approved by the Liu family within the protected area.
-
After another half day's trek, Zhuang Lin and others climbed over a mountain pass and finally saw that their carriage team had finally arrived at their destination.

All the people who had just crossed the mountain pass, including Zhuang Lin, were stunned for a few seconds at this moment, looking at the land in the distance in a daze.

Outside the mountain pass are high mountains and deep forests, but in Zhuang Lin's sight, after going diagonally downward for a while, there is a completely developed paradise.

The terraces above are stacked layer upon layer, with both vegetable fields and fruit trees, and mountain streams flowing from top to bottom. The flat fields below are crisscrossed with paths, and together with the irrigation canals, they divide the fields into pieces.

From afar, you can see people irrigating farmland with waterwheels and working in the fields. In the favorable climate, the emerald green crops sway in the mountain breeze, and scattered large trees dot the fields like canopies.
When I came here, I knew it was a crescent-shaped valley, but I didn't expect it to be so big. At first glance, the fields were vast, and there were at least four or five village-like settlements.

All the buildings are arranged in an orderly manner, most of them have been completed, and a few are still under construction.

In order to reflect the reasonable sense of age of the fusion of old and new buildings at all levels, most of the materials of so many ancient buildings were dismantled from all over the country and transported to this place for restoration.
Smoke rises from some houses in the distance. The smoke rises upwards, and together with the mountain flowers blooming in the pleasant climate around, it creates a hazy look, adding a touch of dreamy color to the place.

It is the perfect combination of artificial landscaping and nature's wonders!
Zhuang Lin originally thought that some of the mountain villages he had seen during home visits were beautiful enough, but they were not comparable to the beauty before him.

Yes, this was designed by a master of set design who is considered an artist in this field. He spared no expense in sourcing the site and planning it, so it is naturally extraordinary!

The scenery of the entire area is so beautiful that it seems to be painted.

It really doesn't matter the cost!
Even if this kind of place couldn't ultimately break his delusion, it would still have an excellent healing effect on the Liu family's eldest son's spirit.
"I heard that when we first found this place, some places didn't even need to be changed. Even the fields were already flat, which saved a lot of effort. Otherwise, it would be difficult for large machines to get in here!"

"Yes, it doesn't look like it was formed naturally, yet one cannot help but marvel at the wonders of nature's power!"

While the assistant next to him was chatting, Zhou Xianglin smiled at Zhuang Lin.

"Every time I come here, I feel much more relaxed, both physically and mentally. The air in the reserve is good enough, but this place is definitely the best. Back then, Old Liu even asked an old Taoist to set up a formation, saying it could gather spirits and activate momentum, helping people recover their spirituality. Haha, but it took quite a lot of effort."

"Is that Taoist priest very powerful?"

Zhuang Lin couldn't help but ask, and Zhou Xianglin smiled and shook his head.

"I've spoken with that Taoist priest. He's just a fusty old man, good at memorizing books. I don't see any real skills. He just copied some fragments from an ancient book. But a big boss like Lao Liu is actually very superstitious. So he's also responsible for his son's illness!"

"If those masters are really capable, why don't they use their energy to cure Hongyu's illness?"

Zhuang Lin didn't dare to make up stories about Liu Shihao, so he could only smile.

Zhou Xianglin looked out at the valley again and added.

"But having him do that really adds a lot to the look. If he hadn't passed away shortly after doing this, I'd have wanted to ask him to help with the set design for my movies in the future."

"Ah? Dead?"

Zhuang Lin was stunned for a moment, while Zhou Xianglin nodded.

"Old Liu is often the most superstitious at times like these. He believes that this valley caused the old Taoist priest's death. He even donated a large sum of money to the Taoist temple, enough to make all the remaining Taoist priests rich. What do you think about this matter?"

"You're already over ninety years old, and it's hard to predict your health. Even if you look strong and energetic, a minor illness can easily cause you to collapse. Okay, okay, enough talk. Stop standing there and let's go!"

The carriages and horses continued to move forward, and Zhuang Lin was stunned for a moment before he caught up again.

(End of this chapter)