Chapter 419 You call this wasteland a treasure trove?

"Whether I can grow them or not is my business," Su Yue said in a clear voice, holding up a megaphone. "Whether you can make money or not is your business. Lan Hai Daily Chemical Factory has signed a contract with the farm to buy as many sea buckthorn berries and aloe vera leaves as you can get. Cash on delivery, no credit."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the faces filled with suspicion.

"In addition, the first batch of farms will also include a chicken farm. The eggs and chicken will be directly supplied to the military canteen and the city's supply and marketing cooperative. I've already laid out the sales channels; all I need now is manpower. Anyone who wants to work here can sign up on the spot. If you don't want to work here, don't get in the way of others making money."

The crowd stirred.

Blue Ocean Factory is now a well-known name throughout the entire island.

If Director Su says he can accept it, then he definitely can.

"I'll do it!"

A loud shout came from behind the crowd.

Zhao Tiezhu's wife, Cuihua, pushed aside the people in front of her and squeezed in, panting.

Her hair was still a little messy, and there were mud spots on her trouser legs, so she had obviously just run back from the vegetable garden.

"Director Su, Brigade Commander Gu, I'm signing up!" Cuihua slammed a crumpled household registration booklet on the registration table. "I'm not afraid of hardship. As long as I can earn money to pay for my child's tuition, I'll do anything, even carry manure!"

Once there's a first one, there's bound to be a second.

"I'm signing up too! I'm just killing time anyway!"

"Count me in! My husband's allowance isn't enough, so I have to earn my own money!"

In less than half an hour, the red paper was covered with a dense array of handprints.

Gu Beichen looked at the list and put the cigarette in his hand back into the cigarette case.

“Let’s go.” He tilted his head at Su Yue. “To the fields. These women seem to be serious, we can’t let them down.”

The barren beach to the west.

Dozens of military trucks rumbled in, their beds filled with building materials and gypsum powder for soil improvement.

The engineers had arrived long ago.

"One, two! Heave-ho! One, two! Heave-ho!"

The shouts of the workers echoed through the sky.

Gu Beichen took off his shirt, baring his chest, and wielded a large iron pickaxe, leading the way in digging on the hardest piece of salt crust.

Sweat streamed down the grooves of his back muscles, glistening in the sunlight.

He was the brigade commander, and also the hardest worker on this construction site.

The dozens of military spouses were initially a little reserved, but once they saw the brigade commander personally joining in, they all became incredibly enthusiastic.

"Sisters! We can't lose to these big men!" Cuihua rolled up her sleeves, picked up a 50-pound bag of plaster powder, and rushed to the field. "This isn't just soil, it's our money for buying rice and flour in the future!"

Su Yue wasn't idle either.

She led several literate military wives, squatting by the newly turned furrow, holding test strips and thermometers in her hands.

"Remember this color." Su Yue pointed to the pale yellow color on the test paper. "After sprinkling the plaster powder, you need to plow the soil to a depth of 30 centimeters, and then irrigate to wash away the salt. Only when the test paper turns this color can you plant the seedlings."

"Director Su, can these seabuckthorn seedlings really survive?" A military wife carefully handed a seedling no bigger than the palm of her hand to Su Yue. "It looks dry and has hardly any leaves."

"This is called large-fruited sea buckthorn, an improved variety." Su Yue took the sapling, skillfully dug a hole, filled it with soil, and watered it to help it settle in. "Don't let its current appearance fool you, its roots are harder than wire. If it survives these two weeks, even a god couldn't pull it out."

For the next month, people were constantly on the barren beach.

During the day, under Su Yue's command, the military wives tended to this land with the meticulous care of embroidery. They dug drainage ditches, laid drip irrigation pipes, and spread organic fertilizer.

At night, the engineering company turned on the lights and worked through the night to build chicken coops and warehouses.

Gu Pingan and Gu Ningjing, the two little ones, have become regulars here.

Ping An had a small water bottle hanging around his neck and followed behind the soldiers, handing them towels.

Ning Jing squatted down next to Su Yue, helping to count the saplings. Her little face was rosy from the sun, like a ripe apple.

"Mom, will this grow into a fruit?" Ning Jing asked, pointing to a sea buckthorn stalk that had just sprouted new buds.

"Yes." Su Yue wiped the sweat from her forehead, smiled, and pinched her daughter's cheek. "Not only can you eat fruit, but you can also turn into face cream and lots and lots of money."

The miracle happened after a rain.

That morning, Cuihua was the first to run to the field.

Upon arriving at the location, she stood there motionless, as if struck by lightning. After several seconds, she suddenly let out a scream, a sound that seemed to tear her throat apart.

"They're alive! They're all alive! Come and see!"

The military wives dropped their cooking spoons, grabbed their children, and ran frantically to the fields.

On the originally gray and lifeless salt flats, patches of tender green have sprouted.

Those unassuming sea buckthorn seedlings sprouted new branches and stubbornly straightened their backs in the sea breeze.

In the intercropped furrows, the spinach and romaine lettuce had grown to the length of a finger, a lush green expanse that was enough to make one's heart tremble.

That is the color of life.

It is also the color of hope.

Three months later.

The first batch of fast-growing vegetables is ready for harvest.

Several military trucks were parked at the farm gate, and the quartermaster was grinning from ear to ear, holding a purchase order.

"Good heavens! This spinach is even fresher than the ones I used to scramble for at the supply and marketing cooperative!" The quartermaster casually plucked a stalk, didn't even wash it, and started crunching it in his mouth. "Sweet! So sweet!"

Cuihua and several military wives were being weighed.

"Two thousand catties of spinach, five hundred catties of romaine lettuce. And two baskets of freshly laid eggs." Su Yue held the ledger in her hand, her abacus working rapidly. "According to the market wholesale price, it's a total of three hundred and twenty-four cents. Quartermaster, pay up."

"Here you go! Right away!" The quartermaster pulled out a stack of ten-yuan notes from his bag and counted them on the spot.

Su Yue took the money and turned to face the group of military wives who were staring at her expectantly.

These women had rough hands and dark faces, but the light in their eyes shone brighter than the stars in the sky.

"Pay wages!"

Su Yue shouted.

Cuihua took her thirty-five yuan (base salary plus commission), her hands trembling like a leaf.

She held the money up to the sun and looked at it again and again, then burst into tears.

"Honey! See this! This is the money I earned! I can support the family now!"

Crying is contagious.

For a moment, the ground was filled with cries mixed with laughter.

Gu Beichen stood on a high slope in the distance, watching this scene.

The wind blew past the hem of his clothes.

A jeep drove up along the newly paved gravel road; the license plate belonged to the military region headquarters.

The car door opened, and Commander Zheng stepped out with two cadres dressed in Zhongshan suits.

"Great! What a wonderful example of military-civilian collaboration!" Commander Zheng looked at the lush farm and patted Gu Beichen on the shoulder. "Beichen, you've given me another big surprise. This isn't just a farm; it's a treasure trove for our military region!"

One of the cadres, who was wearing glasses, pushed up his glasses, took a camera, and started snapping pictures of the sea buckthorn forest.

"Is this an extension of the 'Blue Ocean Model'?" the cadre asked Su Yue, turning to her. "Industry supports agriculture, and agriculture supports industry. Director Su, you've played a very big game."

"You flatter me, sir," Su Yue said neither humbly nor arrogantly. "I just wanted to find some food for everyone."

“This is more than just a meal.” Commander Zheng pointed to the chicken coop under expansion in the distance. “The province has decided to make your farm a model of ‘supporting the military and giving preferential treatment to families of servicemen.’ You two have to attend the all-army logistics work conference next month and give me a good explanation of how this saline-alkali land has turned into a gold mine!”