"Good thing," Zhang Guodong laughed, a very hearty laugh.
What good are worldly blessings to him?
"Have you forgotten who I am? I'm not interested in trivial matters!"
What a joke! What could be busier than earning crystals? Money? It's of little use to him anymore. Crystals and magical artifacts are what Zhang Guodong likes now.
"I knew you'd get that look!" the fat man said calmly and methodically.
There is indeed a small desert in Ningyun County, under the city's jurisdiction, covering about 30 square kilometers. However, it's already a desert; to contract it out would be a fool's errand.
Zhang Guodong was puzzled: Had oil been found in the desert?
The fat man continued, "I also heard that some people in several neighboring villages have contracted some land to grow new varieties of grain, which are said to be at least one or two grades higher in quality than the existing varieties."
Zhang Guodong was surprised.
"I spent a lot of money to get some of those new grains. I had them tested, and although they can't compare to the quality of Jiahao's signature vegetables and seafood, they are still far superior to the current crops!"
"Oh?" Zhang Guodong was somewhat surprised.
"Who has such great ability? What is the output? What kind of products are they?" Zhang Guodong asked.
"The yield isn't high, only enough for a very small number of people to taste and eat, but those who have tried it rave about it, even willing to pay a high price for it. However, the seller is only willing to sell less than a hundred catties. I spent over 20,000 yuan to buy this less than half a catty through connections! It's a variety similar to dryland rice. The grains are crystal clear like jade, and even the raw rice smells fragrant. The seller calls it 'Crystal Rice!'" the fat man said.
"Crystal rice? Never heard of it!" Zhang Guodong thought for a moment, seemingly having no recollection of it.
After a detailed conversation with the fat man, a thought suddenly popped into Zhang Guodong's mind. Were these people who contracted small plots of land plantation cultivators?
If a plant cultivator wants to grow plants on a small scale, the quality will inevitably be far superior to that grown by ordinary people. However, if the area is large, it becomes impossible to achieve perfection.
It's important to understand that crops are typically cultivated on small plots of land. Cultivators can nurture their plants while tending to them. The abundant spiritual energy gathered during cultivation can also be absorbed by the crops, resulting in superior growth.
Another method is nurturing with life-giving demonic energy, but this is only for cultivating individual precious crops such as medicinal herbs. Ordinary cultivators, whose levels are not high enough, simply cannot cultivate precious crops on a large scale.
Therefore, Zhang Guodong suspected that this was plant cultivators growing crops.
If that's the case, the area naturally can't be large, just a small plot, at most one acre, which is basically the limit for a level 20 crop cultivator. A level 30 cultivator needs two acres, and a level 40 cultivator needs four acres! Whether there are experts above level 50 who will manually cultivate food is unknown.
Generally speaking, top masters are cultivators on another level; they don't need to lift a finger, as they have plenty of people to serve them.
"Wait a minute!" the fat man chuckled. A moment later, he went to the drawer and took out a sealed glass bottle.
Zhang Guodong looked at the bottle and saw that it did indeed contain some white particles.
Upon opening, a distinct aroma of rice wafts out; the grains are indeed rice, glistening like jade. They resemble tiny crystals, no wonder it's called "Crystal Rice"—a fitting name.
"How about it?" the fat man asked Zhang Guodong with a smug and provocative air.
"Not bad, although it's still quite a bit inferior, it's much better than ordinary precious rice. Eating this kind of rice regularly will definitely prolong your life!" Zhang Guodong nodded and said.
Upon seeing this, he immediately understood the origin of this "crystal rice." It must be a high-grade rice cultivated by cultivators.
After looking at it, the fat man carefully put the cup of rice away. Zhang Guodong scoffed at this.
“While this rice is good, it doesn’t need to be so precious, does it? Even the rice grown on this land outside is just as good, if not better, than this ‘Crystal Rice’!” Zhang Guodong said.
"Really?" The fat man's eyes lit up.
There were some fruit trees outside, but the fruit on them was unripe, still growing even in the dead of winter. There were also some vegetables behind the yard, which he had naturally eaten. But those were vegetables, not a staple food. The feeling was naturally different.
"It's cooked! But if you want to eat it, you'll have to get Li Yun and the others' permission first. I can't be bothered with that!" Zhang Guodong said. "Tell me about that little desert. What's its connection to your dad? And is it related to these people too?"
The topic returned to the main point, and Zhang Guodong cut straight to the chase.
In just a few months, the new year's National People's Congress will convene, marking a major reshuffle of the Chinese political leadership. Wang Yunyi, as a member of the Standing Committee of the Xiqin Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Provincial City Party Committee, naturally aspires to advance further.
But to take another big step forward, relationships with superiors and subordinates, as well as political achievements, are all factors to consider. Therefore, the fat man's father was determined to find a solution to the most pressing desert issue in this final period of time.
Contracting out the management is definitely a good idea. It also happens that some people are developing new varieties of rice and corn. This presents an opportunity.
If this can be accomplished, it will be a great help.
Upon hearing this, the fat man took notice. Zhang Guodong was providing the Jiahao Hotel with high-quality goods; where did these things come from? They must have been grown and raised.
The city's intention to lease out the desert land for free presents a huge challenge for ordinary people. Who doesn't know how difficult desertification control is?
But Zhang Guodong is no ordinary person; what if he can actually achieve something?
This fatso started egging Zhang Guodong on.
"Anyway, it's a free contract, and quite a few people are already interested. If you're interested too, I'll handle it! The city said that as long as it's beneficial to combating desertification, you can build your own estate or farm in the desert—it's all your business! The government will give it the green light!" the fat man boasted. "Interested?"
"Interested!" Zhang Guodong nodded with a smile.
"So, is this settled?"
“I’m only interested in these people. As for the land to be contracted, I haven’t considered it yet. Anyway, it’s more than 30 square kilometers, which is far too much for them to handle. What’s the rush?” Zhang Guodong rolled his eyes and said.
"Damn, all that talk was for nothing?" the fat man grumbled, plopping down on the floor. "How could I not be anxious? My dad's anxious!"
Zhang Guodong was laughing without a care in the world.
In the end, Zhang Guodong was tricked by the fat man and promised to continue contracting the area for twenty years. Of course, if the desert he contracted showed no improvement within those twenty years, then it wouldn't be free anymore, and he would have to pay the contracting fees.
Originally, Zhang Guodong only wanted to visit those special contractors. But then he thought, since his future cultivation would involve dealing with plants and crops, acquiring a piece of land wouldn't be a problem.
Furthermore, the difficulty of cultivating crops in the desert is unimaginable. It might even be very rewarding for him. Growing plants in the desert is a very resilient endeavor. This illustrates how different environments influence each stage of plant growth in different ways.
Zhang Guodong felt that Huang Jisanren's words made a lot of sense.
So they agreed.
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