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墨書 Inktalez
"Leader, you can't be scared, can you? I didn't expect you to be so timid!" Yang Chen taunted.
Tai Man hated being underestimated. She held her head high and said, "It's just a cave; what’s there to be afraid of? Let’s go in."
Yang Chen led the way, with Tai Man closely following behind. Although Tai Man claimed not to be afraid, she felt quite anxious inside, genuinely worried that wolves or bears might jump out at any moment.
"Don't worry, there are no wolves or bears here, but there are snakes, ah..." Yang Chen suddenly turned around and shouted.
Ah...
Tai Man was startled by Yang Chen's sudden turn and instinctively kicked out.
Bang...
Her size 38 white sneaker landed solidly on Yang Chen's chest. He felt as if he had been hit by a car, flying backward and landing on the ground.
"My... my stomach, my waist..." Tai Man felt as if her insides had been displaced, and her waist hit a rock.
Covering her mouth in shock, Tai Man snapped back to reality when she heard Yang Chen's miserable voice. Realizing she had kicked him away, she quickly turned on her phone's flashlight and rushed to Yang Chen's side, asking, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Sis, your kick was way too strong! Did you want to kick me to death?" Yang Chen complained with a mournful expression.
Tai Man huffed lightly, "Serves you right; who told you to scare me?"
"I won't do it again. I just forgot that you practiced Taekwondo," Yang Chen said as Tai Man helped him sit up.
Seeing Yang Chen holding his waist, Tai Man asked worriedly, "Did you hurt your waist? Maybe we should go back; I can take you to the hospital for a check-up."
She certainly didn't want to be responsible for injuring Yang Chen.
Yang Chen stood up and moved around a bit, then rubbed his waist. "It's fine, I can still move, it's not a big deal. But you can't kick me like that again next time. If I hit my head, the Mayor of Hualin County would become a murderer."
"Killing you would serve you right. Playing the scary card, how childish is that? Do you want to sit down and rest for a while?"
Yang Chen straightened up. "Don't worry, I'm not that delicate. Let's keep going."
After walking for a while, the cave became chilly and eerie. Tai Man tightened her clothes and followed closely behind Yang Chen. "Where are you taking me?"
"You'll know soon."
After walking a bit more, Yang Chen stopped. "We're here."
He stepped aside, revealing a much wider cave ahead, filled with countless stone pillars standing and hanging within. Some pillars were milky white like frozen milk columns, some were reddish-brown, others light yellow, and some were pale purple—an array of colors dazzling to the eye.
Tai Man exclaimed in surprise, "These are stalactites! This is a cave!"
"That's right; the scenery inside is even more beautiful!" Yang Chen led Tai Man further in. At the end of the path, they saw stalactites draping over the walls like a flowing waterfall, equally vibrant in color.
Tai Man quickly took out her phone to capture the scene. "Such beautiful scenery! Why not develop it? This could be a tourist attraction!"
"Initially, there were plans for that, and discussions had already begun with some tourism development companies. However, during negotiations, large coal reserves were discovered nearby. The cave as a tourist spot was uncertain in terms of visitor numbers, but coal mining could definitely bring substantial benefits to the county. So in the end, they decided to mine coal instead, and the tourism project was halted," Yang Chen said regretfully.
Hearing this made Tai Man furious. "Short-sighted! Tourism projects are sustainable; once the coal is mined, it's gone forever! In the end, it will only leave behind scars and barren land!"
At that moment, Tai Man truly understood what Yang Chen meant when he spoke about the scars on beautiful land during their journey.
"Exactly!" Yang Chen looked around. "It's a pity that the former mayor wasn't as visionary as you; otherwise, this place might have become a resort destination."
“The Cave is still here, it's not too late for us to do something now.”
Yang Chen shook his head and said, “It's not that simple. Just repairing the road requires a large sum of money, and the county's finances can't cover it.”
“We can collaborate with a tourism company for joint development. We can outsource the management rights and let the tourism company fund the road repairs,” Tai Man said, blinking her wise big eyes.
“This simple solution has already been considered by the county, and we've even contacted some tourism companies. However, those companies gave up after their inspections because the project is too singular, and there's almost no chance of recouping the investment.”
Years ago, the county also thought about redeveloping the Cave into a tourist attraction, but unfortunately, no tourism company was willing to take on the project. Moreover, large areas surrounding it were abandoned coal mines, which severely affected the tourism experience.
After hearing this, Tai Man frowned and said, “It's such a pity that such a magnificent landscape is left abandoned and ignored! I know some friends in tourism development; I’ll contact them later to see if they can come for an inspection to check if there’s really no development value. If that doesn’t work, I’ll make a trip to the provincial authorities to see if they can allocate some funds for development.”
“That would be great! I brought you here for this reason.”
Tai Man snorted, “You made it all sound so mysterious. If you had this idea, you should have told me earlier. Let’s go.”
As Tai Man turned around, she didn’t notice a stone underfoot and tripped, falling awkwardly.
“Leader!”
Yang Chen reacted quickly, rushing forward to catch Tai Man, but ended up tumbling down with her.
Bang...
Yang Chen hit the ground first, with Tai Man landing on top of him. Her face pressed against Yang Chen's lips, her skin cold against his.
“Yang Chen, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Tai Man asked worriedly as she tried to get up.
"Don't move!" Yang Chen suddenly shouted.
"What's wrong?" Tai Man, not daring to move, looked up at Yang Chen beneath her, asking with concern.
Yang Chen gazed at Tai Man's delicate face illuminated by the colorful faint light and, for a moment, thought she looked like a fairy descended from heaven. Unable to help himself, he said, "Tai Man, do you know? You are really beautiful."
Huh?!
Tai Man was stunned.
Yang Chen recalled the feeling of his lips touching Tai Man's icy face just moments ago; it felt wonderful. He instinctively pouted, ready to kiss Tai Man's warm lips.
Tai Man pressed her hand against Yang Chen's mouth and questioned fiercely, "Yang Chen, what are you trying to do?"
Yang Chen jolted awake from his daze, shaking his head and making muffled sounds.
Tai Man released her hand and sat on Yang Chen, her eyes coldly staring at him, waiting for an explanation.
"I didn't do anything! I just saw that the leader was about to fall and stepped in to be your human cushion. Leader, are you okay?"
Tai Man clenched her fist. "What I meant was about you pouting. Were you trying to take advantage of me? You brought me here not just to show me the Cave, did you? You have ulterior motives!"
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