Chapter 10: Identity Secured

After several days passed, Liu Heming found this life tiring for sure, but it also felt quite fulfilling. Especially when he saw the land he cleared getting larger and larger, he actually felt a small sense of accomplishment.

No doubt, another task had been added to his work: digging irrigation ditches.

That lake really had a mind of its own. Every day, at unpredictable times, it would gush out water. Sometimes it lasted just over half an hour. The longest time, it went for over two hours, flooding a huge area.

These days of hard work also brought some gains. At the very least, he had started getting used to this level of physical intensity. His muscles no longer ached, and the breaks he needed during work were gradually becoming fewer and fewer. The only downside was that his appetite had grown a lot. The huge supply of bread and milk he bought earlier was completely gone.

Today, he put on some clean clothes and gave himself a day off. He needed to buy some groceries. Also, Jack had returned from China, and he had some paperwork to settle here.

“Dexter, I hardly recognize you!” Jack stared at Liu Heming, who looked weathered by work, for a while before speaking.

“Ah, forget it,” Liu Heming waved his hand. “The land’s a mess like that, I’ve been stuck working there these days. Are the procedures all done? Has the money been transferred?”

“Yes,” Jack nodded. “Auntie and Uncle treated me very warmly. Today we just need to finalize some paperwork, and then you’ll officially have permanent residency in the United States.”

“However, immigration will be keeping an eye on your situation. The reason your wife gave is that you need to manage the ranch over there first, hence the temporary separation. Two years isn’t very long, just hang in there.”

“Honestly, during these days of work, I kept thinking about it. The whole thing feels like a dream,” Liu Heming sighed.

“By the way, what exactly does Sasha’s family do? She won’t set any more traps for me, will she? I am actually quite worried about that.”

“Dexter, I really think what happened between you and Sasha could be made into a movie,” Jack said with a laugh.

“Her family owns their own construction company, assets worth tens of millions of US dollars at least. And how you met her is even more like a legend. You were visiting for fun; she and her friends went to Las Vegas to play. They were playing Truth or Dare. She picked Dare, and that’s how she approached you.”

“The rest, I don’t need to say. You found a church, held a wedding. Presumably enjoyed a pleasant night, which led to Alex.”

Jack shrugged. Otherwise, why did he always feel Liu Heming’s luck was ridiculously good.

“I can tell you responsibly, I have absolutely no memory left of that day,” Liu Heming said bitterly.

“Oh, one more thing,” Jack spoke up again.

“Sasha chose to take a break from university after getting pregnant with Alex. From that point on, her relationship with her family got very strained. Her family has a lot of strict traditions. Her parents were very unhappy about her having a child before marriage.”

“They wouldn’t treat Alex poorly, would they?” Liu Heming asked, frowning.

Jack shook his head. “No, as far as the child is concerned, her parents adore her. They even set up an education fund for Alex. But it seems the relationship between her and her parents hasn’t improved much even now.”

“Wait a minute! How is your English so good now? I remember when you first arrived, you needed my help translating everything!”

Jack stared wide-eyed at Liu Heming, suddenly realizing this, and it gave him quite a shock.

Living here, it was habitual to speak English when meeting people. So he naturally used Liu Heming’s English name. Now it dawned on him: Liu Heming’s English had never been this fluent before! He definitely hadn’t been faking it back then; he genuinely couldn’t communicate properly.

“Ah, well, my English grades were actually pretty good,” Liu Heming fibbed a little. “But it was kind of academic English before. Now, I have no choice, I forced myself. When I work, I just keep talking all day, till my mouth gets dry.”

This matter really wasn’t easy to explain. Since they weren’t particularly close anyway, it was best to gloss over it.

Though Jack still felt a bit doubtful, he had to accept this explanation. After all, coming from their background, it was possible.

With his identity secured, to thank Jack for his help, Liu Heming, after finishing the paperwork, found a fast-food restaurant and generously treated Jack to a meal.

He had a bit under thirty thousand dollars left, but for a ranch, that wasn’t nearly enough. Forget other expenses, buying just a few cattle would probably leave him with almost nothing.

“Liu Yi,” Liu Heming asked after finishing his second steak and letting out a satisfied burp, “I want to rename my ranch. Is the procedure complicated for that?”

“It’s quite simple,” Liu Yi smiled and nodded. “You can register the name change at Xiangshui Town. They’ll send the documents over, and city hall will handle it naturally for you.”

“There will be a processing fee, but it’s much cheaper than traveling there yourself, and you won’t waste any time.”

“That’s good then.” Liu Heming chuckled. “I plan to rename it ‘Magical Ranch’. Even though I’m just an ordinary guy, I’m going to create my own miracle here.”

“I’ll tell you a secret,” he lowered his voice playfully. “One night, the ground sank on my ranch. A huge pit opened up. Now it’s filled with water. Having water on the ranch solves a huge problem for me.”

“Congratulations!” Liu Yi gave him a thumbs-up. “I wish you an amazing outcome.”

“Life isn’t easy for us here,” he continued. “Anyway, you have your own asset now. Work hard. If I ever get tired of my job, I’ll come find you, alright?”

“Hahaha!” Liu Heming laughed heartily. “You’d be most welcome! You have no idea, living all alone on that ranch, it gets so eerie I couldn’t stand it. Who knew there were so many wolves nearby? Howling every night. Even though I’m a bit more used to it now, sometimes they still really scare me!”

“After you go back this time, buy a gun at the gun shop,” Liu Yi said seriously. “There are really a lot of wolves in Montana. A few years back, they even had a wolf hunting season.”

Liu Heming was basically his fellow countryman, and Liu Yi still felt he owed him something, so he naturally thought to give him more advice.