Chapter 44

“It’s not easy…”

In the sweet potato seedling field, Liu Wensheng looked at the system update.

Today was June 5th. Since completing the [Useful Granary] mission, the system had been idle. Longxia had studied how to activate missions, but system tasks were random and had no fixed pattern for now. With three million acres of sweet potato seedlings planted in Yunyu, he and Qin Yun were checking the yield when the system updated unexpectedly.

After some discussion, Qin Yun clicked to view the system details.

Current mission: Establish a farm direct sales shop. (200 million followers)

Mission reward: Magical vegetable seeds.

…

The new mission was concise. If it had been before, Qin Yun would have been worried about the 200 million followers. But now… Qin Yun and Liu Wensheng exchanged a glance—it didn’t seem like a difficult task.

Half an hour later, Liu Wensheng returned to the Tulou to report, while Qin Yun stayed on the farm.

After nearly half a year of planting, now twenty thousand acres were all breeding fields. It was early June. After harvesting the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Anhui wheat, they could select excellent wheat for breeding elsewhere. In two months, the Zhongzhi sweet potatoes could also begin seedlings.

Qin Yun calculated that by September, the farm’s land could be planted normally.

“Woof.” Just as Qin Yun stepped out of the sweet potato field, a rustling sound came from his feet.

He looked down to see Xiaobai wagging his tail and looking up at him.

“Why are you here?” Qin Yun squatted and petted Xiaobai’s head.

Xiaobai was a white wolf picked up last October. The original plan was to release him in March this year, but this spring had been unusually cold. He and the wild soldier had circled the Uninhabited Zone three times, but couldn’t find any wolf packs.

Though a white wolf, Xiaobai was intelligent and hadn’t bitten or harmed anyone in nearly ten months. After careful discussion, Longxia decided to keep Xiaobai on the farm.

Xiaobai knew his special status and usually played alone. He only approached Qin Yun and Zhang Hu when they were alone.

It was 1 p.m. Qin Yun was about to play with Xiaobai when the wolf wagged his tail and stared toward the farm’s south area.

“Want me to come?”

“Woof!”

Qin Yun and Xiaobai headed to the south area together.

Half an hour later, man and wolf reached the wheat field’s edge. There was a large hole dug at the edge, next to a Pika basket. A large stone weighed down the bamboo basket, but something inside was moving.

Qin Yun lifted the stone.

The first thing to meet his eyes was a pair of small eyes staring back. The little eyes locked with Qin Yun’s before resuming movement in its mouth.

Qin Yun poked the eyes—it was a gray pangolin. The pangolin was biting the basket, and the basket’s bottom had been gnawed thin. If Qin Yun had come half a minute later, the basket would have been empty.

“Did you catch it?” Qin Yun asked Xiaobai.

“Woof!”

Xiaobai was proud of his catch.

Half an hour later, Qin Yun brought the pangolin and Xiaobai back to the Tulou.

“Earlier, Dai caught a skink; today it’s a pangolin,” Liu Wensheng reported in the office, looking helplessly at the basket.

Recently, Xiaobai had caught three Pikas, two skinks, and a hooded vulture… These were protected animals in Longxia. Those unhealthy were handed to the Gan Province Agricultural Bureau. Healthy ones were released by farm staff.

Maybe Xiaobai had gotten addicted to catching animals, coming out with new captures every few days.

This pangolin was about three months old. After inspection, Liu Wensheng handed it to Zhang Hu for release.

Xiaobai followed them out.

Watching the pair’s backs, Liu Wensheng sighed, “It’s going to rain.”

In the past half month, animals around the farm had clearly increased. Frequent visitors like Pika and hyenas, plus muskoxen and antelopes, led Longxia to surround the farm with steel wire fences for worker safety. These fences were outside the farm boundaries and could prevent some large animals, but agile ones like vultures and hyenas couldn’t be stopped.

For nearly two weeks, the Uninhabited Zone’s climate was humid; blankets hadn’t dried in two days, and some workers developed eczema.

“When the rain stops, it should calm down for a few days,” Liu Wensheng said.

The Uninhabited Zone was in northwest Longxia. Residents had long wished for rain, but the actual downpour was a disaster.

“Maybe mid-month,” Qin Yun guessed.

He was reborn in July, and before rebirth, northwest Longxia had already seen half a month of heavy rain. The timeline pointed to mid-to-late June.

After chatting a while, Liu Wensheng handed over a document. “This is the team’s registration data.”

It was the online store registration info, and Qin Yun signed directly.

That night, Fengshan Longbao’s official flagship store was successfully registered. The process was quick but fully within system rules.

Qin Yun opened the System Interface.

Current mission: Establish the farm’s official online store. (Completed)

Mission requirement: 200 million followers. (Incomplete)

With only the follower task remaining, Longxia decided to use the old method: direct advertising.

…

At 6 p.m. on June 10, Zhao Sheng entered Longxia Television Station. Zhao Sheng was the director and editor of Longxia News. With the entire nation focusing on agricultural infrastructure, Longxia News’ ratings had risen by three points.

“Organize the evening’s files,” Zhao Sheng instructed.

Staff hurried to comply.

The country’s major current events included: Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Anhui wheat planting, Yunyu sweet potatoes, and residents growing plants on balconies.

The Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Anhui wheat and Yunyu sweet potatoes aired from 7:05 to 7:15, balcony planting for fifteen minutes, and the rest was domestic policy and international affairs.

According to international reports, Mali and Sierra Leone had suffered widespread respiratory illness and casualties caused by acid rain altering the climate, leading to excessive sulfur dioxide inhalation.

This issue hadn’t appeared domestically, but the health bureau had issued a nationwide notice urging residents to ventilate homes and wear masks in public. Acid rain in Harma not only affected plants but also impacted economic and health aspects.

“Director Zhao, here’s today’s advertising material.” At 6:50, a tall, thin assistant brought in a stack of documents.

“Send it to the advertising team,” Zhao Sheng waved his hand.

With the current food crisis, major companies were tightening their belts. Advertising fees on Longxia News were high, so companies that previously signed quarterly contracts switched to weekly ones. Due to the frequent changes in advertisements, Zhao Sheng used to review them, but now, once approved by higher-ups, ads were directly handed to the advertising team.

The assistant went to the advertising group.

Zhao Sheng organized the evening’s program schedule. As he focused, a familiar voice sounded—

“The Uninhabited Zone is a forbidden area for life; the land here is barren and desolate, and every plant is a symbol of life…”

Zhao Sheng: !!!

The Fengshan Flour commercial was directed by Yuan Qingxing and narrated by Wang Nian. Hearing Wang Nian’s familiar voice, Zhao Sheng immediately looked up.

On the advertising team’s live screen, the Fengshan Farm commercial was playing. Unlike before, when the ad mainly promoted flour, now…

“Fengshan Farm is a tech-based farm. To better serve customers, the farm has launched the Longbao flagship store. Follow the store and you can purchase a bag of Fengshan Sweet Potato Flour for one yuan. Limited quantity, welcome to order.”

Zhao Sheng stopped listening. Only two words filled his mind: Fengshan Farm, one yuan purchase.

He recalled six months ago when Fengshan Farm was an obscure small brand. Then came Longxia News, national variety shows, celebrity endorsements…

Fengshan Farm burst onto the scene, becoming the pinnacle of domestic advertising.

During Fengshan Farm’s peak popularity, many media outlets tried to dig up dirt on the farm, but Fengshan Farm’s strong backing left nothing to find.

The Fengshan ads swept across national media like a storm, then quickly disappeared. When they reappeared, it was with Fengshan Flour’s reputation, donations to the Central-South disaster area, and the Fengshan Sweet Potato Flour Challenge.

Fengshan Farm was not only mysterious in background but spoke entirely through strength.

After six months of quiet, Fengshan Farm appeared again. Judging by the news… launching an official online store?

“Dear viewers, good evening and welcome to…” As Zhao Sheng drifted, Longxia News began its regular broadcast.

He sat drowsily for half an hour until the show ended, then immediately opened the Longbao app.

The Longbao app splash screen showed: [Fengshan Farm Flagship Store].

Zhao Sheng clicked in directly.

The Fengshan homepage displayed a lush green wheat field, with design and interface conveying two words: premium, valuable.

He opened the product details—

Product for sale: [Fengshan Sweet Potato Flour]

Specification: 1KG.

Price: 1 yuan.

Stock: 197.8 million.

Sold: 2.1 million.

Details: This product is a farm pre-sale item, shipping uniformly on June 15th. (Note: Only farm fans can purchase; each ID can buy only one.)

…

“Wow, one yuan!”

A staff member behind him gasped in surprise.

Everyone looked over. Realizing the setting was inappropriate, the staff quickly lowered their head to check their phone. Zhao Sheng glanced around and saw many employees quietly opening the Longbao app.

Zhao Sheng switched to Weiwen and searched: #SweetPotatoFlourChallenge#.

“The tastiest sweet potato flour!”

“Duck blood sweet potato soup, very warming.”

“People in the Longbei area shed jealous tears…”

…

There were plenty of extravagant praises under #FancyChallenge#.

Zhao Sheng carefully compared and saw the #FancyChallenge# packaging was exactly the same as Fengshan’s official website. Hesitating for a moment, he followed the store and placed an order.

After ordering, he found it amusing.

One yuan with free shipping, what else could you want?

“Ahhh, everyone rush to grab this deal! Fengshan Farm Flagship Store, sweet potato flour one yuan with free shipping!”

“No thresholds at all, plenty of stock, just follow and you can buy!”

“Same sweet potato flour as Central-South, nationwide sweet potato flour No.1!”

…

While Zhao Sheng handled his work, information about #FengshanOneYuanSweetPotatoFlour# trended on hot searches.

With the economy developed, various welfare deals appeared nonstop. But merchant tricks were deep—netizens sometimes waited two hours and still couldn’t snag a discounted soda. Now Fengshan Farm let you grab freebies just by following! And two hundred million freebies!!!

Everyone watching Fengshan’s event had only one thought: Hello, are you doing charity?

…

Host name: Qin Yun.

Current mission: Establish Fengshan direct sales store and gain 200 million followers.

Mission progress: 2.7%

…

While everyone was dazed, inside Fengshan Farm, Qin Yun opened the System Interface. Seeing 2.7% progress, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

Before the broadcast advertisement, Longxia had seriously considered whether this event was against the rules.

But after a system update, Qin Yun had commercial activity permissions. Flash sales at one yuan counted as commercial activity…

Now the fact proved that one yuan flash sales were legitimate.

As for the two hundred million freebies…

In a food crisis, nothing was more precious than time. Longxia had been in a tense atmosphere for half a year. Now there was an opportunity to hold some events to ease the mood.