Chapter 26

Half an hour later, Qin Yun and Liu Wensheng arrived at the farm. It was now three in the afternoon, and Zhou Yuanheng was leading a team inspecting the wheat on the farm.

“Haven’t eaten?” Liu Wensheng noticed the unopened meals by the field.

“We just took a walk inside.” Zhou Yuanheng came out of the field and then turned to the researchers behind him, “You guys eat first.”

“Commander Liu, Secretary Qin…” The researchers greeted Qin Yun and Liu Wensheng while picking up their lunch boxes and discussing the work from the past two days—

“Fengshan No.1 can’t crossbreed with Sanliang 15, we need to change direction.”

“Yanshan 17?”

“I feel Dongnong 58 might be worth a try…”

The farm is restricted to farm employees only, and non-farm employees have the [Infected] tag.

[Infected]: Non-farm employees are subject to random DEBUFFs, which increase over time. (Refresh period is 50 days)

[Infected] is calculated by cycle days. For example, if a researcher stays on the farm from the 1st to the 3rd, leaves on the 4th, and returns on the 10th, the DEBUFF is calculated as the fourth day. It won’t refresh until the 20th of the next month.

The farm DEBUFF becomes apparent on the third day, and non-farm employees are not harmed after leaving. Based on this feature, the Longxia Team studied a bug-exploiting method: researchers enter the farm in batches, leave after three days, and cycle again after fifty days.

Farm research is more efficient than in the laboratory, which is why every researcher cherishes their time on the farm.

“Why are you here at this hour?” Zhou Yuanheng asked while taking a couple of bites from his lunch box.

With the new agricultural policy just implemented, Liu Wensheng, who is responsible for the national grain reserves, is usually busy with paperwork at this time.

“The task is completed…” Liu Wensheng didn’t keep them guessing.

Qin Yun opened the System Interface.

“Do you want to use [Worn Farmland Protection]?”

“Yes.”

…

At the moment Qin Yun clicked, a thirty-centimeter-high brown fence rose around them.

The fence has three modes: [Hidden], [Standard], and [Open].

Qin Yun clicked [Hidden], and the fence completely hid underground. He then switched to [Open], and a circle of light blue film rose from the fence, slowly extending and eventually transforming into a barrier dome.

Qin Yun can set entry permissions for employees, and when the permissions are open, employees can enter through a small gate on the outside of the fence.

“Impressive.” Liu Wensheng tapped twice; these film not only have a technological feel but are also very sturdy. Not even an elephant could easily break through, let alone a pika.

The researchers still needed to study, so Qin Yun, after familiarizing himself, set everything to [Hidden] mode.

“The tech department will be busy.” Liu Wensheng remarked as he watched the fence slowly descend. With the Longxia Team exploiting the bug, other teams also dispatched researchers in cycle .

“Commander Liu!” After chatting for a while, an electronics major researcher came running from afar.

“Speaking of the tech department, here they come.” Liu Wensheng was somewhat amused. The researcher was from the tech group, whom he had met twice before.

“Commander Liu, there’s been a breakthrough in the high-pressure irrigation machine.” The researcher saluted first and got straight to the point.

“Let’s go!” Liu Wensheng didn’t waste any time and followed the researcher to the tech group’s location.

During this period, the tech group had been conducting research at Fengshan Lake. Half an hour later, they arrived at the tech group’s position.

“Commander Liu.” Sun Yiping was tinkering with the irrigation machine’s motor and greeted Liu Wensheng upon seeing him.

Sun Yiping is an academician of the Electronic Engineering Institute and is responsible for this tech group’s research.

“The details haven’t been optimized yet, but it works in general.” After a brief chat, Sun Yiping connected a fifty-meter hose to the motor and placed it in the water.

The motor and hose technology were modified based on the Basic Irrigation Machine. Due to differences in materials and performance, they had been researching for five months and even dismantled three irrigation machines for this…

During the explanation, Sun Yiping operated the remote control, and the hose rose from the water like a wedding arch.

The arch’s vertical height can be automatically adjusted.

After explaining the principle, Sun Yiping pressed the start switch.

The motor roared, and the surrounding lake water was all sucked into the hose. Then, a powerful stream of water sprayed from the nozzle at the top of the hose.

The nozzle can be installed independently. The tech group installed one with a three-meter diameter, which, when viewed from below, looked a bit like a dragon sucking water from a movie… After watching for a while, the hose remained stable without tilting or falling, demonstrating excellent stability.

“This was designed based on the irrigation machine’s nozzle.” Although the hose looked like an oversized water pipe, it had various cartilage supports inside the fabric layer, making the design quite complex.

After demonstrating for a while, Sun Yiping looked at Liu Wensheng, “Can it help with the crops?”

The country is now vigorously developing the planting industry. While it’s manageable in plain areas, some mountainous regions are too steep and complex to irrigate easily. The main irrigation methods for mountainous areas are rainwater, water pipelines, sprinkler pipes, and drip tapes.

Rainwater depends on the weather, while water pipelines and sprinkler pipes are generally used for large-scale mountain planting. If there’s only three acres on a mountain top, it’s not worth the cost, which is why many mountainous areas remain uncultivated due to drought and irrigation issues.

“This is incredibly helpful!” After Sun Yiping finished, Liu Wensheng excitedly spun in place.

The simple and portable irrigation machine with strong water pressure could solve many irrigation problems if fully promoted.

“It’s still in the research stage…” Sun Yiping seemed to notice his thoughts.

Liu Wensheng didn’t mind and continued to ask, “What’s the maximum height?”

“One hundred and fifty.” If a hose is connected in front of the nozzle, not just one hundred and fifty, but even three hundred meters might be possible.

“Great!” Liu Wensheng gave Sun Yiping a thumbs up and then looked at Qin Yun, “What do you think?”

Qin Yun was deep in thought and didn’t hear.

“What are you thinking about?” Liu Wensheng asked again.

“Thinking about how to use it…” Qin Yun snapped back and asked, “Can this technology be used for high-rise firefighting?”

Currently, the highest extension of a fire hose is eighty meters, while most high-rises start at one hundred meters. If the irrigation machine can really extend to one hundred and fifty, it could not only facilitate rapid rescue but also reduce disaster relief costs.

Liu Wensheng, Sun Yiping: !!!

Why hadn’t they thought of that!

Qin Yun provided Sun Yiping with a new perspective, and they chatted until five o’clock before Qin Yun and Liu Wensheng returned to the farm.

Qin Yun opened the System Inventory.

[Sprouting Tree of Hope]: Plant a seed and harvest the hope of summer.

The introduction of the [Tree of Hope] was concise. Qin Yun directly clicked: Use.

【Congratulations to the Host for successfully planting the [Sprouting Tree of Hope], plant a seed and harvest the hope of summer…】

A gentle breeze blew by, and Qin Yun and Liu Wensheng looked at the system prompt, then at the calm lake surface, with only one thought in mind: Where’s the tree?

The two walked around the farm and finally saw a small sapling on the south side of the lake.

The sapling was about ten centimeters high, with two green leaves on it. If not for the system’s coordinate reminder, it looked just like an ordinary peanut seedling…

“Tree of Hope?” Liu Wensheng asked somewhat uncertainly.

“It should be…” Qin Yun opened the sandbox again.

The small sapling coincided with the sandbox coordinates.

After studying it for a while, they decided to leave the problem to the professionals.

“Never seen it.”

“It should be a new type of plant.”

…

Zhou Yuanheng and the researchers analyzed it carefully and concluded that it was a plant never seen before on Shuilan Star.

The [Farmland Protection] was still five thousand acres, and after careful discussion, they decided to use [Farmland Protection] next to the sapling.

Details of the Tree of Hope: Harvest the hope of summer.

Since winter wasn’t over yet, they planned to study it while waiting for the sapling to grow.

The next morning, Liu Wensheng returned to Jinghe. His purpose was simple: to apply for a farm advertising plan from the higher-ups.

Farm advertising helps boost Starlight Points, which in turn helps improve the farm… After sorting out this logic, promotion was a must.

…

“I’ll ask around and send it to you in the next couple of days.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll definitely be able to buy it…”

…

On January 5th, at the Lake Province “Voice of Song And Dance” program group, Wu Mingrui hung up the phone in frustration.

“Was that your sister-in-law calling?”

Colleague Xiao Li came over to ask. Wu Mingrui had been on the phone for half an hour, and the other party’s voice was so loud that not only he but the entire studio was curious.

“It was my mom…” Wu Mingrui sighed. He is the deputy director of “Voice of Song And Dance,” mainly responsible for stage setup and guest conflict coordination. Although he’s the deputy director, he’s pretty much a jack-of-all-trades in the studio. This call wasn’t work-related; his mom called to ask about flour.

“It’s the first time the old lady asked me for something, so I have to fulfill it.” Wu Mingrui started chatting with Xiao Li.

During the New Year holiday, the station gave each employee two boxes of nuts and two bags of flour. The flour was Fengshan No.1, and he knew Cui Ning and Duan Yu had advertised it, but how good could a bag of flour be? That afternoon, he took it back home. Then… his mom started making hand-pulled noodles three times a day. He and his wife didn’t like noodles, but they enjoyed the Fengshan noodles.

The three of them got along very well.

Yesterday afternoon, his mom called, saying they were out of flour, and she couldn’t find it online. Was there any left in the city?

Wu Mingrui readily agreed.

He thought buying flour would be simple, but there was none online, and the unit’s warehouse was empty…

“Xiao Li, do you live alone?” Wu Mingrui looked at Xiao Li.

“Yes.”

“Have you used your flour?”

“No, I haven’t…” Xiao Li was a bit frustrated, “I sold it on Idle Cat.”

Now, a week after the Longxia advertisement, Fengshan No.1’s search volume has skyrocketed, driven by the “Longxia Broadcast.” Coinciding with various units receiving benefits, many netizens posted pictures and shared posts, with content like ‘Fengshan No.1’s dough is chewy,’ ‘the noodles are smooth,’ and ‘the taste is fragrant.’ Some even made glutinous rice-style bread, all receiving rave reviews.

If only one or two netizens gave feedback, it might seem like marketing, but when thousands praise a flour brand, coupled with the “Longxia Broadcast,” netizens couldn’t help but be curious.

They don’t trust reviews but trust the “Longxia Broadcast” and Longxia Academy of Sciences

Many netizens posted Fengshan No.1 purchase requests online. The purchase price for Fengshan started at 50 yuan/bag, rose to 100 yuan/bag, and now has reached 230 yuan/bag, with prices becoming increasingly competitive.

“I sold mine for one hundred and twenty.” Xiao Li wasn’t upset about selling the flour but about the low price.

Seeing that Xiao Li didn’t have any, Wu Mingrui had to ask other colleagues. After asking around, he finally bought a bag of flour for 200 yuan.

“It’s too difficult…” Wu Mingrui felt a bit heartbroken, but thinking of his mom’s happiness and the flour’s taste, it was worth it.

“Director Wu, the advertising boards are here!” Just as Wu Mingrui sat down, a colleague called from a distance.

He went to the door to sort out the advertising boards.

“Voice of Song And Dance” is a celebrity competition show, now in the semifinals. To maximize benefits, the show’s advertisements are signed on a term basis. Now in its seventh episode, “Voice of Song And Dance” has changed advertisers three times.

This time, the advertising boards were quite heavy, and as Wu Mingrui helped, he asked, “Who’s the advertiser this time?”

The boards were wrapped in hard paper, so he couldn’t see the logo inside.

“It should be Bailan Face Mask,” a stage crew colleague guessed.

In the next two hours, Wu Mingrui assisted the stage crew in setting up the stage. Once everything was almost ready, he instructed the staff to unwrap the advertisements. Upon seeing the advertising boards, not only Wu Mingrui but also other colleagues were a bit stunned.

Product Name: Fengshan No.1.

Sponsoring Company: Fengshan Agricultural Production Company.

These advertising boards included background boards and small boards on the judges’ table, each shaped like a flour bag, with a large ‘Fengshan No.1’ logo in the center.

Fengshan No.1 is a delicious flour, a flour whose popularity has recently skyrocketed, but no matter how delicious, it’s still flour… Wu Mingrui quickly calculated Fengshan Agriculture’s costs.

“I heard Fengshan’s background is quite mysterious. They contacted the station directly and invested this amount!”

“This much?”

“The price for one episode.”

…

In this daze, Wu Mingrui saw two advertising team colleagues passing by.

He clearly saw their hand gestures, indicating this amount: ninety million!

“Voice of Song And Dance” is a phenomenal variety show, but an episode’s advertisement is worth at most thirty million. Now… their advertisement isn’t worth ninety million.