Chapter 423 This is planting gold bars!

The wheels of the Hongqi sedan rolled over the gravel road, kicking up a cloud of murky yellow dust, and finally came to a stop under the newly painted wooden sign of the Hongxing Farm.

The car door opened.

Vice President Li climbed out of the car, first covering his nose with a handkerchief, and then his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly when he saw the military wives shoveling chicken manure in the distance.

"Is this what you call... Celebrity Farm?" He pointed to a row of greenhouses not far away, his tone laced with casual mockery. "I think it's just a bigger vegetable garden."

The secretary quickly stepped forward, holding a notebook in her hands: "Dean, I heard that the sea buckthorn and aloe vera here grow quite well and can even supply that Blue Ocean Factory. But they're just local specialties, nothing special."

"Come on, let's go in and take a look." Vice Dean Li walked in with his hands behind his back, taking measured steps. "Since we're here, we should at least give the young people some guidance on their work."

Su Yue was weighing Cuihua with her.

Several baskets of freshly picked sea buckthorn berries were piled up like small mountains, golden and glistening in the sunlight.

Seeing Vice Dean Li approaching, Su Yue patted the dirt off her hands but didn't go to greet him. Instead, she turned to Cuihua and instructed, "This batch of fruit is very oily. Pack it separately and send it to Workshop No. 1 for purification. Don't mix them up."

Cuihua responded loudly, picked up a basket of fruit weighing over a hundred pounds, and walked away with such speed that the wind she created almost lifted the hem of Vice President Li's clothes.

Vice President Li was left standing there, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Director Su, what an airs you have." He chuckled dryly, a forced smile. "Even the arrival of the Academy of Sciences' supervisory team isn't enough to make you stop what you're doing?"

Su Yue then turned around.

She took off her work gloves and casually stuffed them into her pocket: "Vice Dean Li is joking. Farming time waits for no one. If these fruits are dried for too long, the oil yield will drop by two percentage points. That's real money. I'm just saving the country money."

"Saving money?" Vice Dean Li snorted, his gaze sweeping over the seemingly chaotic yet orderly sea buckthorn forest. "This wasteland must have cost a lot of money, right? Just this irrigation system alone doesn't look cheap. Don't tell me they're using poverty alleviation as a pretext for extravagance and waste."

"Whether it's a waste or not, you'll know once you see the ledger." Su Yue gestured for her to proceed.

The group walked inside.

The further they went in, the slower Vice President Li's steps became.

He had originally expected to see a dirty, chaotic muddy pond, or a few emaciated military wives dawdling at work.

But the scene before him was like a series of slaps in the face, leaving him somewhat dazed.

To the left, there was a sea buckthorn forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. Every tree was laden with thumb-sized fruits, their branches bending under their weight.

To the right is a semi-automated chicken farm. Conveyor belts are delivering freshly laid eggs, and several military wives are skillfully sorting and packing them, their movements so fast that you can't even see the afterimages of their fingers.

What shocked him even more were the trucks parked in the distance.

The four large characters "Lan Hai Daily Chemicals" were printed on the truck bed. Workers were loading boxes of sea buckthorn berries and aloe vera leaves onto the truck, while the driver handed Huo Wenxuan a thick stack of delivery slips.

"Director Huo, this is last month's settlement statement." The driver's loud voice echoed across the empty farm. "It totals 18,000 yuan. The money has been transferred to the farm's account. Please check it."

Eighteen thousand.

Vice President Li slipped and almost stepped into the ditch by the roadside.

He had spent his entire life in that lowly government office in the capital, earning a meager monthly salary of only a hundred or so yuan. This 18,000 yuan was an astronomical figure he never dared to dream of.

"This...this is for one month?" He pointed at the receipt, his voice trembling.

“This is the batch.” Huo Wenxuan walked over with the receipt, deliberately shaking it. “If you include the eggs and the vegetables supplied to the army canteen, the farm’s turnover last month was about 30,000.”

Vice President Li felt as if there was a wad of cotton stuffed in his throat.

This is hardly farming.

This is clearly planting gold bars!

"Not only that," Su Yue said, walking up to a sea buckthorn tree and breaking off a branch. "This forest helps prevent wind erosion and stabilize the sand, improving the soil. The pH value of the saline-alkali soil underneath has dropped to 7.5. Next spring, we can intercrop soybeans and peanuts."

She turned around and looked at Vice President Li, whose face was ashen: "Old Li, this is what you call 'dual circulation of ecology and economy'. We don't spend a single penny of the country's money, and we can still give the military hundreds of thousands of yuan in profits every year. Do you think this kind of extravagance is acceptable?"

Vice Dean Li opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He watched the busy military wives.

They wore matching work clothes, their faces radiating an unprecedented confidence. It was the confidence that came from being respected, needed, and able to support their families through their own abilities.

This kind of energy and spirit was something he had never seen in the lifeless government compounds of the capital.

"Good...good methods." Vice Dean Li squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, his well-maintained face twitching twice. "Since Director Su has managed logistics so well, then Commander Gu at the front can rest easy, right?"

When Gu Beichen was mentioned, Su Yue's eyes darkened.

"He has his battlefield, and I have my position," Su Yue replied calmly. "No need for you to worry about it."

...

The northernmost point of the island. Radar Station No. 3.

Gale-force winds whipped up massive waves that crashed violently against the black reefs, sending water columns soaring dozens of meters high. This is the windy pass of Hainan Island, a strategic location guarding the throat of the South China Sea.

Gu Beichen stood on the edge of the cliff.

His training uniform was soaked with seawater and sweat, clinging tightly to his body and outlining the taut muscles of his back.

"Lift the hoist!"

He held the walkie-talkie in his hand, his voice broken by the wind, yet still possessing an undeniable penetrating power.

The massive new radar antenna dome slowly lifted off the ground, pulled by steel cables.

Dozens of soldiers clung tightly to the cable, their rubber boots leaving deep marks on the slippery rocks.

This is a battle against fate.

The wind speed is twenty meters per second. If there is the slightest carelessness, that core component, worth millions and bearing the heavy responsibility of national defense security, will crash into the cliff and be shattered to pieces.

Gu Beichen didn't move.

He stood less than half a meter from the edge of the cliff, like a nail, firmly fixed there.

"Hold on! At three o'clock, pull back two meters!"

The steel cable slumped straight, making a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

Ten minutes.

Ten minutes felt like an eternity.

Only when the huge white sphere landed steadily on the base and the "click" of the latch locking it shut was heard, did everyone feel as if their bones had been removed, collapsing to the ground and panting heavily.

Gu Beichen wiped the salt water off his face.

He didn't sit down, but quickly walked to the base, took a flashlight, and carefully inspected every screw and every weld.

This is Station No. 3, which was destroyed by a typhoon.

Its reconstruction means that the air defense early warning range of Hainan Island will be extended southward by 300 kilometers. Those 300 kilometers represent the dignity of the nation and the guarantee of peaceful sleep for countless families.