After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

The phone rang almost ten times before it was answered. A middle-aged man with a heavy local accent came through the phone, and there was the sound of mahjong tiles being rubbed in the background.

"Feed? Which one?" The man's voice was loud.

"The phone number on the 'For Rent' sign at the entrance. Is this abandoned orchard with red brick walls in Qingshigou your land?" Lin Fan asked calmly.

The clatter of mahjong tiles on the other side paused for a moment, followed by the sound of slippers on the floor, as if they had moved to a quieter place.

"Yes, yes, it's my land." The man's voice immediately became enthusiastic. "Boss, you want to rent land? I'm at the village committee, not far from there. Wait for me for ten minutes, I'll ride over right away!"

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the door."

Lin Fan hung up the phone and put it in his pocket.

In the early winter suburbs, the wind was much stronger than in the city. The surroundings were open, and the wind swirled the withered grass and yellow dust on the ground, making a rustling sound as it hit the body of the Wuling Hongguang van.

Lin Fan leaned against the car door and lit a cigarette.

Instead of rushing into the car to avoid the wind, he took advantage of the break and slowly walked along the two-meter-high red brick wall for a while.

The red brick wall was covered with withered ivy vines, and a thick layer of fallen leaves had accumulated at the base of the wall.

He pushed the wall with his hand; it felt very solid. A lot of cement had been used when the wall was built, and even after years of exposure to wind and sun, there were no obvious cracks or tilting.

Several barbed wire fences were strung on the top of the wall, and although they were rusty, they still sealed the space inside completely.

This is exactly what he wants. He doesn't need convenient transportation or beautiful scenery, just enough seclusion and isolation from the world.

Just as I finished my cigarette, the roar of a motorcycle engine came from the other end of the dirt road.

Lin Fan threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stubbed it out with the sole of his shoe.

A dark-skinned country man, wearing a thick, old cotton-padded coat, rode a dilapidated motorcycle along the bumpy dirt road. The wheels rolled over gravel, and he slammed on the brakes, stopping abruptly next to a Wuling Hongguang minivan.

The man pulled out the car key, got off the motorcycle, rubbed his hands which were red from the cold, and walked over.

He looked Lin Fan up and down, then his gaze swept over the dusty, mud-splattered Wuling Hongguang parked next to him.

Seeing that Lin Fan was dressed plainly and drove a car that didn't seem like that of a big boss, the man's enthusiasm waned slightly, but he still politely took out a pack of ten-yuan cigarettes from his cotton-padded jacket pocket, took one out, and handed it to him.

"Boss, is it you who wants to inspect the land? My name is Zhao Daqiang, and I am the village head of Qingshigou. I privately leased this land back then."

"Hmm." Lin Fan didn't take the cigarette, but pointed to the cigarette butt he had just stubbed out on the ground to indicate that he had already smoked it.

He turned and pointed to the tightly closed iron gate behind him: "How long has this place been abandoned?"

Zhao Daqiang chuckled dryly, put the cigarette handed to him into his mouth, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"It's been overgrown for almost four years." Zhao Daqiang was an honest man and didn't intend to lie. After all, the weeds were as tall as a person, and anyone could tell that no one had taken care of it for several years.

"Years ago, I heard that growing citrus was profitable, so I gritted my teeth and leased this land," Zhao Daqiang said, pointing to the red brick wall and sighing.

"Behind this Qing Shi Gully lies a barren mountain. To prevent wild boars from coming down the mountain to gnaw on the saplings, I spent a lot of money hiring people to build this three-meter-high wall, and we even put netting on top of it."

"After two years of planting, the soil was no good. The land was alkaline with lots of rocks underneath, so the fruit that grew was sour and astringent, and we lost everything. Later, no one was willing to take over, and it just remained barren. Even the shepherds in the village didn't want to come here."

Lin Fan listened quietly.

Zhao Daqiang took a couple of puffs of his cigarette and tentatively asked, "Boss Lin, what are you planning to do with this land? If you're going to do farming, I advise you to be prepared. This soil will take a lot of effort to cultivate, otherwise everything you plant will die."

"We won't grow anything. It'll just be a temporary open-air storage area," Lin Fan replied casually.

His gaze fell on the rusty iron gate.

"Is the lock on this iron gate still working?" Lin Fan asked.

Zhao Daqiang was taken aback. Several people had come to inspect the land before, and they would always ask if there was running water and electricity, and what the soil quality was like. But this person was different; he asked about the door lock first.

"It works! Of course it works." Zhao Daqiang quickly pulled out a bunch of keys from the inside pocket of his cotton-padded jacket, picked through them, and found a long key.

"No one usually comes here, but I come over every six months or so to put some machine oil in the keyhole."

He took the key, walked to the iron gate, put it into the lock, shook it twice, and then twisted it sharply.

With a "click," the heavy padlock sprang open.

Zhao Daqiang removed the lock and pushed the two iron doors open forcefully with both hands. The bearings of the iron doors emitted a teeth-grinding metallic scraping sound as they slowly opened to both sides.

"Boss Lin, come in and have a look. It's a very large place."

Lin Fan stepped inside.

The space inside is indeed very large, about twenty acres.

As far as the eye could see, there were only withered, yellow weeds taller than a person. Scattered among the weeds were a few dozen fruit trees that had long since died.

Lin Fan didn't stop at the entrance. He stepped on the fallen weeds and walked straight into the depths of the field. The dry grass made a crisp snapping sound under his feet.

Seeing this, Zhao Daqiang quickly stubbed out his cigarette and followed.

"Boss Lin, this place is flat. If you want to use it as a transfer point, just bring a bulldozer over and clear away all this grass and dead trees. It'll be very spacious; you could park a dozen or so large trucks without any problem," Zhao Daqiang enthusiastically explained from the side.

Lin Fan ignored all of that. He walked to the deepest part of the area, to the wall next to the back mountain.

He carefully inspected the base and corners of the wall. The red bricks were firmly laid, without any gaps or collapses caused by rainwater erosion.

"This wall hasn't been used to create a back door, has it?" Lin Fan asked, turning his head.

"Absolutely not," Zhao Daqiang assured, patting his chest. "It's just that big iron gate in front. This place is at the northernmost end of the village, a dead end. There's just a barren slope outside the wall; even the villagers who collect scraps don't usually go this way."

"What about the water and electricity?" Lin Fan asked casually, going all out with his act.

"The water pipes were cut off a long time ago. The electrical wires are still there, but there hasn't been any power for years, so we'll probably have to rewire them." Zhao Daqiang rubbed his hands awkwardly.

"If you need electricity, I'll talk to the power supply station and it'll be connected in a few days."

"No need to connect. I only use the truck to haul and unload goods; I don't need water or electricity."

Lin Fan walked back to the main entrance from the depths of the venue.

After visiting the site, he had a better understanding of the situation.

High walls, dead ends, no back door, no surveillance, and even villagers are unwilling to go near it.

Once that big iron gate is locked, this place becomes an absolutely hidden blind spot.

He can conjure up farm supplies at any time, transferring them to a truck and then hauling them back to the city. No one can trace the true origin of these top-quality ingredients.

I walked outside the iron gate.

"How much is the rent?" Lin Fan stopped and turned to look at Zhao Daqiang.