Chapter 80

[My Plantation]: Excellent cultivation requires careful nurturing. (5,000 points per mu)

With the current inflation of points, Qin Yun went ahead and purchased 10,000 mu in one go.

“Confirm purchase?”

“Confirm.”

…

Under [My Plantation], a new label appeared—10,000 mu. Qin Yun opened the Farm Sandbox and dragged the icon to the lower right corner of the farm, an area that had been pre-designated for expansion.

“Confirm placement?” the system asked again.

“Confirm.”

…

A thunderous rumble echoed through the air. By the time Qin Yun and the farm’s research staff arrived, a vast stretch of brown land had appeared in the designated area. The soil looked rich and fertile, clearly distinct from the rest of the farm.

“Is this the plantation?” Liu Wensheng was stunned.

“Seems like it…” Qin Yun was equally surprised. It didn’t quite look like a typical plantation—it was even more level and orderly than the rest of the farm.

Qin Yun opened the [Plantation] details.

…

Name: My Plantation

Plant Types: 0/100 (1 million points per type)

Plant Count: 0

Note: Trees take ten years to grow. Please transplant native trees and begin systematic cultivation and improvement!

…

After reading the description, Liu Wensheng immediately contacted the Longxia Team. Five hours later, two off-road trucks rolled into the farm. Aside from staff, they carried twenty carefully wrapped fruit trees. Half were withered; the other half were healthy trees from other bases.

“Commander Liu!” The staff saluted Liu Wensheng.

“Mm.” Liu Wensheng signaled for them to begin transplanting the trees.

As one worker carried a cherry tree off the truck and stepped into the plantation area, the System Interface refreshed—

“Tree detected: Cherry Tree, Rosaceae family. Plant now? Note: Costs 1 million points.”

“Yes.”

…

Qin Yun clicked to confirm. The Plant Types counter updated to 1/100.

After transplanting the healthy cherry tree, the team moved on to a withered one. Once both were in the ground, Qin Yun opened the cherry tree details. This was an added feature unlocked by the [Plantation], allowing the Host to view the health scores of individual trees.

Qin Yun tapped to inspect.

Name: Cherry Tree

Health Score: 62

Name: Cherry Tree

Health Score: 5 (Recommended: Careful cultivation)

…

These were the specific scores of the two cherry trees. By real-world standards, the second tree was already dead. But according to the system… there was still hope?

The effects of Harma were irreversible. Since last March, Longxia’s economic crops had dropped by 72%. Apples that once sold for 5 yuan per jin were now priced at 35. Now, if the plantation could actually revive dying trees, it might bring new life to the entire nation!

“Check the other scores,” Liu Wensheng instructed the team to continue planting.

Due to time constraints, most of the trees were regional varieties like Huaniu apples and kiwifruit. Half an hour later, all twenty trees were in the ground. There were ten different species, each with both healthy and withered specimens.

Qin Yun checked the details.

3 points, 5 points, 10 points… The withered trees had low scores, but they weren’t completely dead.

“Not totally dead?” Liu Wensheng looked excitedly at Song Yueshan and the others.

“Not completely…” Song Yueshan examined the trunks. Most were gray and brittle—snap them with a squeeze. By Longxia’s standards, they were dead. But by the system’s standards, they still had a chance…

Over the next two days, Longxia established a Plantation Research Task Force. Their mission: observe the growth of withered plants and identify the potential for regeneration. That “potential” might be tied to the farm’s soil, or it might only exist within the farm’s bounds. But with global vegetation decline, even a sliver of hope was worth pursuing.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get any worse…” Liu Wensheng sighed after wrapping up his work. With global crop degradation, this summer was expected to be 10–20 degrees hotter than usual. In Longnan and Zhongnan, daytime temperatures had already reached 37°C, and after the summer solstice, they were expected to spike even further.

“Commander Liu!” Just as he was chatting with a colleague, a security guard ran in, visibly excited.

“What is it?” Liu Wensheng set aside his work.

The guard, panting, said, “We’ve found viable forage grass seeds!”

By mid-April, Longxia had publicly announced progress on forage grass seeds. Due to climate and soil issues, previous forage grasses only grew in desert regions. The farm had been working on improving them, and now, they had made a second breakthrough!

Liu Wensheng and Qin Yun dropped everything and rushed to the Seed Laboratory.

…

“These are the Longfeng Forage Grass varieties developed in the lab—twenty-three in total, including ryegrass, king bamboo grass, corn grass, and sweet elephant grass. We’ve already run tests; they can be sown nationwide…” Inside the lab, Song Yueshan pointed to the seeds in the glass chamber.

Though limited in number, these varieties covered 60% of the most common forage types across the country. Forage grass is essential for feeding livestock and also helps prevent soil erosion.

After reviewing the data, Liu Wensheng asked, “When can we start rolling this out?”

“By next week at the earliest,” Song Yueshan replied wearily.

Forage grass is a perennial herb that matures every two months. It can be directly sown. In mountainous or basin areas, aerial seeding by aircraft is viable. In short, once planted, greenery could return as early as September.

“Thank you for your hard work!” Song Yueshan, now seventy-two, had lost a significant amount of weight during the recent research push.

“I just review the data. The real work was done by the younger generation,” Song Yueshan waved it off. He wasn’t being modest—since the expansion of the experimental project, the lab had been divided into multiple research teams. The youngest researcher was only twenty-seven. To Song Yueshan, they were all like grandchildren.

“You’ve all worked hard!” Liu Wensheng formally commended the entire research team.

Over the next three hours, Liu Wensheng discussed seed deployment details with the researchers. Qin Yun shared some insights from the System Interface. Seeing he couldn’t contribute much more, and not wanting to get in the way, he quietly left the lab.

It was now 5 p.m., and the sun still hung high in the sky. All around the farm, staff bustled back and forth.

The farm had expanded from 5,000 mu to 100,000 mu. It now housed 3,300 full-time researchers and 7,200 auxiliary personnel. With a 300 billion point investment, the farm was equipped with 32,000 pieces of high-tech equipment. From a glance, the place radiated a cutting-edge research atmosphere.

Qin Yun wandered the farm for a bit and arrived at the Tech Lab.

“We should be using mechanical roller conveyors here…” Inside, Sun Yiping was leading a team in dismantling an irrigation machine. Ever since Aseptic Storage Technology made its global debut, the tech team had been working with renewed vigor.

Qin Yun stayed with the tech team until 6 p.m., then headed to the plantation.

Cherry trees, pear trees, lemon trees… The staff were busy planting. After a nationwide mobilization, the plantation now had eighty different tree species. The system showed: 80/100 unlocked.

Besides fruit trees, there were also common landscaping trees like phoenix trees and poplars. The plantation had strict requirements on variety, but no limit on quantity. Longxia had decided to plant twenty of each species to establish a broad reference baseline.

Qin Yun could monitor the health scores of all the trees. While this couldn’t solve global deforestation, it allowed real-time observation of the plantation’s condition.

As a glorified farm assistant, after running his daily system analyses, Qin Yun had finally found a place where he could truly shine.

While the farm buzzed with activity, on July 3rd, Longxia released a news bulletin:

[Longxia Agricultural Research Institute has successfully improved forage grass seeds. From July 5th to 20th, pilot planting will begin in Xinmeng Provinces. Nationwide planting will commence after July 20th…]

The Xinmeng Provinces were the country’s largest producers of meat and dairy. After the Harma floods, they suffered the most severe forage losses. Given the current limited supply of seeds, Longxia had decided to start with these two provinces before expanding nationwide.

“Woohoo! We can finally have some fatty beef again!”

“Can’t wait for nationwide planting! Our little lambs will finally have something to eat!”

“Longxia for the win!”

…

“Improved Pasture Grass” was a major news story from Long Xia Broadcast, and within just thirty minutes of airing, it shot to the top of the national trending list.

The moment people across the country saw the news about the pasture grass, they all felt one thing: pride!

Since the “Dead Meat” incident in May, the entire food industry had undergone a sweeping overhaul. These days, not only meat products but even niche vegetables had to clearly label their place of origin. People felt reassured and safe eating again. But as a result, when the public returned to the dining scene, they realized—there was noticeably less meat on the market…

Although Longxia had signed meat import agreements with places like Weir, with a population of 1.5 billion, foreign imports were just a drop in the bucket.

People missed the taste of meat. After a brief dip, pork prices had skyrocketed again. Now, a single jin of pork had surpassed 100 yuan—ordinary folks simply couldn’t afford it anymore.

Amid this wave of frustration, “Improved Pasture Grass” appeared like a lifeline.

Pasture grass meant feed, and feed meant pigs… People were already fantasizing about buying pork two months from now.

“This is such a relief!” Some meat-loving netizens were on the verge of tears.

First they couldn’t afford it, then they didn’t dare eat it, and now, watching the news about pasture grass, it felt like they hadn’t had a proper meal of meat in a whole year…

“We demand that Fengshan Farm resume trade!”

“This is an outstanding brand from Longxia.”

“Really miss Fengshan Cornbread…”

…

Searches for pasture grass surged domestically, while international netizens were left frustrated.

A month ago, Longxia had exported 100 million tons of Fengshan Grains worldwide—a truly exceptional grain brand. Based on typical business models, after building a strong reputation for Fengshan, Longxia would usually follow up with a second round of sales. Everyone had been eagerly awaiting the next release, with many even contacting supermarket chains in advance to prepare.

People waited and waited for Fengshan’s second wave of sales… Half a month passed, and there was no news at all.

“If this is a global marketing campaign, then it’s a successful one,” many media outlets commented on Fengshan Grains. They praised Longxia’s national spirit and the quality of Fengshan products, but at the end, subtly asked: When is the second round of Fengshan Grains going on sale?

As international interest grew, Longxia’s agricultural department had no choice but to address the issue seriously at an international conference: Fengshan Grains had limited production and would not be exported again in 3029.

When Longxia made the official announcement, international fans were heartbroken.

“This is devastating news…” international users lamented.

“It really is heartbreaking,” echoed Longxia netizens, flooding the comment sections.

Currently, products like Fengshan No.1 and Fengshan Sweet Potato were available on the market, but they sold out the moment they hit the shelves. Previously, people had hesitated about exporting Fengshan Grains, but seeing the international response now, they suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction.

Fengshan Grains—its quality was truly terrifying.

…

“I’m in Hulun Bebe City now, arriving in Bayanwu County at 7 p.m. tonight…” On July 4th, while the rest of the world was still sulking, Alatan stood anxiously by the roadside, clutching a briefcase and trying to hail a cab.

Alatan was the owner of a feed factory, and the reason for his urgency was simple: with Fengshan Pasture Grass now on the market, he needed to get to the Bayanwu Agricultural Bureau to line up and try to secure the first batch of seeds available tomorrow.