Chapter 54

“Longxia Broadcast: Longxia Signs Strategic Food Cooperation with Cyberla.”

After a week of negotiations, Longxia and Cyberla signed a strategic cooperation agreement. Cyberla will supply Longxia with 700,000 barrels of crude oil, while Longxia will provide Cyberla with 200,000 tons of sweet potatoes and 50,000 tons of wheat. Given Cyberla’s small population, these food supplies, if used for residents’ consumption, would sustain the people of Cyberla for about six months.

According to the terms of the cooperation, the import price of sweet potatoes from Cyberla is equivalent to 7 yuan per kilogram, and the wheat price is 12 yuan per kilogram. These prices are higher than the pre-crisis rates, but international wheat prices are between 15 to 25 yuan per kilogram and are still rising. This represents genuine international aid.

Although Longxia is providing assistance to Cyberla, they have also signed some additional documents. Broadly, Longxia has secured the right to purchase Cyberla’s crude oil at a low price, as well as preferential import rights for the fishing industry. It is a mutually beneficial cooperation.

After the signing of the Cyberla contract, Longxia issued two agricultural policies:

Ministry of Agriculture of Longxia: Frostwind 003 is a hybrid corn between Fengshan and Liaoshan L6, with an experimental yield of 2,200 kilograms per mu. Longxia plans to use Suzhou and Zhejiang An as pilot regions for autumn corn, with the new variety to be sown before August 10.

Due to the global acid rain impact, Longxia will implement a poultry, egg, and meat security plan. Residents can purchase essential food supplies through the Longxia APP.

…

With the negative effects of acid rain becoming more evident, more and more economic crops are dying. This policy by Longxia ensures that residents have basic survival supplies.

“Living is so hard.”

“Thank goodness for the country’s research on new grains. Without the new crops, we’d be the second Cyberla.”

“I remember the drought two years ago. Cyberla donated 2,000 tons of freshwater fish to us. I have a good impression of that country.”

…

Longxia’s grain is being sold at lower prices than the international market, but in the long run, the benefits of the cooperation far outweigh the drawbacks. After chatting for a while, netizens turned their attention to the materials involved in this cooperation.

Sweet potatoes, 200,000 tons.

Wheat, 50,000 tons.

According to the details of the cooperation, all of these are Zhongzhi 002 sweet potatoes.

Netizens noticed a blind spot… Have the sweet potatoes ripened?

…

“I just got off the plane, I’m heading there now.”

At 9:00 AM on August 1st, Zheng Yunjie hurried out of the airport. He was a native of Kunshan. A week ago, a distant relative passed away, and he had been busy in Luohai for seven days. He had just finished his work yesterday and received a notification from the market group: the country was purchasing Longnan sweet potatoes, and anyone interested in selling could go to the agricultural bureau to complete the paperwork.

Three months ago, the Kunshan government had encouraged the conversion of flower fields into farmland. He had followed the policy and planted ten acres. After seeing the notification, he quickly contacted a neighbor who was also a business owner. The two of them decided to go check the sweet potato field today.

Zheng Yunjie hung up the phone and directly took a taxi.

Apart from acid-loving plants like acid wood, urban greenery had deteriorated. The pH of Harma rainwater was 4.1, and even acid-loving plants were affected by excessive sulfur dioxide in the soil, leading to the degradation and death of many plants.

As Zheng Yunjie looked at the streets of Kunshan, he felt a brief sense of disorientation. Kunshan had once been known as a city of flowers, but now, the beautiful scenery was no more. Luohai now looked more like a flower city than Kunshan.

At 9:50, he arrived at the entrance of the base. A slightly chubby man was waiting by the side of the road: “Over here!”

The man’s name was Qian Qian, and the two had been neighbors for seven years and had a good relationship in the market.

Zheng Yunjie paid for the taxi. Qian Qian looked at Zheng Yunjie’s suitcase: “You can drop your luggage off first. We’re not in a rush.”

“Just a few clothes.” Zheng Yunjie weighed the suitcase and indicated it wasn’t a big deal.

The two chatted for a bit and then headed toward the base. The Baixiang Base was located south of Kunshan. After the recent heavy rain, Kunshan had implemented the policy of converting flower fields into farmland, with each merchant allowed to plant no more than ten acres. There were over 8,000 merchants in the Baixiang Base, and now everyone was focused on harvesting.

“It’s still quite nice,” Zheng Yunjie said as he looked around.

Now, the 50,000 acres of flowers had turned into 50,000 acres of sweet potato vines. The leaves were thick and green, with some even featuring small white flowers. While the scene wasn’t as vibrant as when the flowers were in full bloom, it still exuded a natural, earthy charm.

The flower shop owner said, “There’s someone south of the base buying sweet potato leaves, 1 yuan per kilogram. We can pull out the sweet potatoes and still sell the leaves.”

Sweet potato leaves contain rich plant proteins and have detoxifying and beautifying properties. With the price of vegetables rising nationwide, many merchants were waiting to buy sweet potato leaves, planning to freeze them or turn them into dried vegetables to send to areas facing vegetable shortages.

Zheng Yunjie was stunned. “That much?”

He knew that sweet potato leaves were edible, but they were the source of production. Now, they were paying 1 yuan for the leaves, but once transported out of the province, they would sell for at least 3 yuan per kilogram.

“Vegetable shortage,” the flower shop owner said nonchalantly.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at their own base. Their base was located at plots 303 and 305. The land between them, plot 304, had already been harvested. It looked completely empty.

Zheng Yunjie walked around his own land and then went to plot 305.

“Nobody stole the sweet potatoes?”

Given the current food crisis, he had been worried about theft while on the way here. After inspecting the land, he found that the sweet potato vines were lush and green, with not a single sweet potato, or even sweet potato leaf, missing.

The flower shop owner said, “The market has hired administrators. Anyone who steals sweet potatoes will be administratively detained.”

Zheng Yunjie pulled out his phone. Indeed, there had been discussions in the market group about base management. He had been too busy recently to pay much attention.

Zhongzhi 002 yields 10,000 jin per acre. With ten acres, that’s 100,000 jin. The market price was 2 yuan per jin, and with the sweet potato leaves, one acre could bring in 25,000 yuan. After deducting labor costs, one acre would net 18,000 yuan, and ten acres would make 180,000 yuan.

“My God!” Zheng Yunjie was shocked.

180,000 yuan didn’t seem like much, but after accounting for land and labor costs, it was a net profit of 160,000 yuan over three months.

“We’re just following the national policy,” the flower shop owner said with mixed feelings. They knew growing sweet potatoes was a good business, but they hadn’t expected such a big surprise.

The two walked around the field for a bit and then went to the agricultural bureau. Currently, the retail price of sweet potatoes was 3.5 to 7 yuan per kilogram, and as a source planting area, 2 yuan was in line with the market price. After reviewing the contract, they both signed it.

Over the next two days, Zheng Yunjie and the flower shop owner hired workers and began harvesting in full swing.

After three days of busy work, Zheng Yunjie harvested 110,000 jin of sweet potatoes, while the flower shop owner harvested 112,000 jin.

“An extra 20,000 yuan.” The flower shop owner couldn’t stop smiling.

In the past two days, many vegetable buyers came by, and after bargaining, they sold 70,000 and 78,000 jin of sweet potato leaves, which turned out to be a considerable additional income.

“My family made 200,000, so the losses from the flower shop have been covered.”

“My family made 190,000, planning to plant another round next year.”

“The government transfers funds quickly; my payment has already arrived.”

…

The market group was filled with good news.

If the acid rain in the past three months was a disaster, then now was the best news. They were happy, but they knew that this bumper harvest was mainly due to the acid rain, food shortages, and various other factors. If the entire country plants next year, there probably won’t be such great news.

Nevertheless, this gave hope to Kunshan’s economy.

On August 5th, the Ministry of Agriculture of Longxia issued good news: [Longnan harvested 3 million tons of sweet potatoes, setting a new record for Longxia’s grain reserves.]

Longxia’s Longnan area covers twelve provinces. Given the land area in Longnan, sweet potato yields could exceed 10 million tons. However, due to limited sweet potato seeds, only 3 million tons were harvested. Now, with enough sweet potatoes and seedlings, they could already imagine a bumper harvest next year.

“200,000 at home, that’s impressive!”

“Ah, I want to go home and plant crops, no one can stop me!”

“My family has a mountain behind the house. Can I plant sweet potatoes there? Wheat will work too!”

…

Netizens turned their attention to the sweet potato harvest. As they looked at the good news from the Longnan region, they all felt one thing: sour, too sour!

Before the food crisis, they knew that contracting land could make money, but they didn’t expect it to be this profitable. Now, with 200,000 yuan in three months, it was like an instant leap from poverty to wealth!

Longxia’s top 10 new industries, opportunities for the next three years, opportunities in the acid rain…

Many influencers online shared financial viewpoints. Starting a business is risky, but now, in the food crisis, regions like Mali and Cyberla were on the brink of food collapse. Even if the acid rain stops, crops cannot be grown instantly. Against this backdrop, people realized that as long as you farm, you’ll have income. Even if the domestic market becomes saturated, there’s always the possibility to export.

For residents’ diets, livestock feed, and industrial feed… all require grain.

In the next three years, growing grain won’t result in losses!

Netizens became more excited, with many quitting their jobs and returning home.

They wanted to farm, to inherit the family land!

“So impressive!” Some urban residents were a bit envious. In the past, everyone was scrambling to move to the cities, but now, with the global crisis, returning to the village to inherit the family business seemed like a better future.

“Looking for sweet potato seeds, wheat seeds, Frostwind corn seeds!”

Netizens also began posting about seeking seeds. Their desire to plant was burning fiercely.

Sweet potato planting: April to mid-May.

Spring wheat planting: February to early April.

Winter wheat planting: September to early October.

Spring corn planting: …

Autumn corn planting: …

…

Netizens shared their seed planting schedules.

These were Longxia’s general planting times, though some regions might experience earlier or later planting due to different climates. At the end of last month, after Frostwind 003 was announced, Suzhou and Zhejiang An had already begun planting autumn corn.

They couldn’t catch up with autumn corn planting, but next month they could plant winter wheat. When the winter wheat matured, they could then plant spring wheat and sweet potatoes. In any case, as long as they solved the land problem, they could plant whatever they wanted.

Now that Longnan’s sweet potato harvest was in full swing, Longfeng 001 had also seen a buying frenzy.

With the encouragement of Suzhou and Zhejiang An wheat, Zhongzhi sweet potatoes, and Frostwind 003, everyone was filled with hope for Longxia’s grain.

While netizens excitedly planned, on August 7th, Natal issued an international proposal: [Suggest that Longxia increase the acid rain seed improvement program and expand suitable land for seed adaptation into full land improvement.]

Longxia’s seeds are hybrids of Fengshan seeds and local seeds. Local seeds are highly dependent on climate and soil conditions. For example, the local wheat seeds are suitable for planting in Longbei, while Longfeng 001, developed by the Agricultural Research Institute, is a hybrid of Fengshan and local seeds, suited for areas like Suzhou and Zhejiang An with mild temperatures, but not suitable for coastal provinces.

“Wow, are they planting our seeds in Natal?”

“3028’s big speechless incident…”

After reading the proposal, some netizens instantly realized. Longxia’s Longfeng 001 and Zhongzhi 002 were not secrets. If someone wanted to steal the seeds, they wouldn’t be able to hide it.

At that moment, with Natal issuing the proposal, netizens immediately understood that Natal had taken Longxia’s seeds. Not only had they taken them, but they had also planted them in Natal. The result… Longfeng seeds didn’t adapt well to Natal’s climate, and the seeds couldn’t grow there.