Chapter Bonanza (1/10)

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Cherry tomatoes had just been planted, but the crops in the field were already ready for harvest.

There were still plenty of cherry tomatoes, but after four or five harvests, the focus had shifted to eggplants and cucumbers.

The good thing about these two is that they’re large and easy to pick.

The only problem was that the seeds with a low infection rate that Tong Zhanyan had purchased from the Alliance had also reached harvest time, further increasing the number of crops that needed to be picked.

A group of over sixty people worked from just past nine in the morning until six in the afternoon.

That night, Tian Xinqing and the others, exhausted from the day’s labor, went to bed early.

Tong Zhanyan wasn’t much better off.

He didn’t sleep a wink all night.

They took the next day off, and on the third day, Tong Zhanyan harvested the seeds from the eggplants and cucumbers as well.

When Ning Langdong and the other two returned from the back gate, they saw the seeds—more than twenty cups in total, filling half the table—and immediately grimaced.

They were happy to come and help.

Sowing seeds isn’t difficult, but doing the same thing nonstop tens of thousands of times is a whole different story.

Just the thought of it made their muscles ache.

After letting them air-dry all afternoon and through the night, Tong Zhanyan soaked all the seeds in water first thing the next morning.

This time, however, he didn’t plan to have just the four of them do the work; instead, after soaking the seeds, he went to the back door and called Yang Hong and his four men over.

It wasn’t that he felt sorry for Ning Langdong and the others, but rather that the seeds for string beans, carrots, and chili peppers were nearly ready to be harvested, and they wouldn’t have time if they didn’t hurry.

Before arriving, Yang Hong and his four men were quite cheerful.

Two hours later, all five of them looked miserable.

Filling the pots with soil and covering them was manageable, but distributing the seeds was absolutely grueling.

As for the tasks of filling and covering the pots, after watching them work for a while, Tong Zhanyan sent Wang Yanzhou to handle them alone.

Wang Yanzhou was clumsy.

Feeling looked down upon, Wang Yanzhou furrowed his brow.

Ning Langdong and the other two kept their heads down, quiet as mice—the “Devil King” at school was certainly not like this.

Yang Hong and the other three were both envious and felt that looking down on such a sacred task as sowing was rather ungrateful, so their expressions kept changing.

With twice as many people, the work didn’t wrap up until past 7:00 PM.

After covering the last bit of plastic sheeting, Tong Zhanyan announced they were done, and the group immediately found a spot to collapse onto the ground, completely disregarding their appearance.

Live stream.

“Even so, we can’t go even if we want to.”

“Exactly.”

“And they actually complain about being tired.”

“Jealousy makes me ugly.”

…

That night, after washing up, Tong Zhanyan was lying in bed getting ready to sleep when his phone buzzed.

Qing Jiyue had contacted him: he’d managed to get the orange trees—four-year-olds, sixteen in total—and they’d be delivered first thing tomorrow morning.

Tong Zhanyan was quite surprised. It had been nearly a month since he’d asked, and he’d thought the matter was a lost cause.

Besides, there hadn’t been a single one before, and now there were sixteen all at once. Could Qing Jiyue have gone and robbed someone?

Qing Jiyue didn’t elaborate on the details.

Around 10 a.m. the next day, when Tong Zhanyan was called to the back gate, Old Xu and Gu Yunyang were directing more than ten trucks as they backed into the empty lot in front of the gate.

Each truck was loaded with a single orange tree.

Though they were said to be four years old, the trees were barely taller than a person, with pitifully few branches and an even thinner main trunk.

After the trucks were parked, Tong Zhanyan chose one nearby, climbed up, and took a look.

Probably to prevent the orange trees from dying, they had dug up a large clump of soil from the surrounding area along with them.

Tong Zhanyan was at a loss for words.

Qing Jiyue asked him how he planned to handle it.

Since the trucks outside couldn’t drive directly into the compound, he went to call for help.

Those orange trees were actually quite heavy.

Tong Zhanyan declined.

He contacted Ning Langdong at the small building, asking him to bring a shovel, pruning shears, and a knife. Then he climbed onto the truck and immediately began removing the soil and pruning the roots.

The soil around the roots was caked on like cement; without pruning, no amount of fertilizer would do any good.

After pruning and replanting, don’t expect them to bloom or bear fruit for at least six months. But once they get through that initial period and the roots and branches have regrown, they’ll start blooming and bearing fruit quickly.

For this reason, Tong Zhanyan pruned them quite ruthlessly.

The branches were cut back to bare stems, leaving only a few leaves, and the roots were reduced to just one or two thicker ones—and even those were no longer than twenty centimeters.

When Tong Zhanyan finished pruning and handed the tree from the car to Ning Langdong, it looked just like a stick.

Beside them, Old Xu silently took out two heart-saving pills and swallowed them.

These orange trees belonged to him.

He had originally planted over two hundred, but after four years, only a dozen or so remained.

He had known earlier that Tong Zhanyan was asking around for orange trees. At the time, he had considered selling some to Tong Zhanyan, but worried that moving them might kill them, so he ultimately gave up on the idea.

He had originally planned to wait until the fruit ripened before giving some to Tong Zhanyan.

After the infection rate dropped, he made up his mind completely and started making arrangements the very next day after returning.

He had originally grown these orange trees in a greenhouse. To allow the excavator to drive in, he not only tore down the greenhouse but also forcibly cleared a wide road through the Alliance.

He had gone to great lengths to get those orange trees here, only for Tong Zhanyan to chop them down to stumps with a couple of swift swings.

Gu Yunyang was also taken aback. After the initial shock, he hurriedly looked at Old Xu. “Are you all right?”

“Go see if there are any more knives. Bring a couple over,” Old Xu said.

Gu Yunyang looked at Old Xu with concern, then silently walked over to Qing Jiyue.

A moment later, he returned with a pile of tools.

Old Xu took some of them, glanced at the stick in Ning Langdong’s hand, and climbed onto another vehicle nearby to lend a hand.

As the knife fell and he watched the orange tree he had carefully tended for four years tremble, Old Xu’s heart ached.

Gu Yunyang watched anxiously from the side for a moment, then took the remaining tools and headed toward another vehicle nearby.

With over ten trees and three people, it took only about forty minutes to cut them all down.

Old Xu and Gu Yunyang hadn’t pruned them as thoroughly as they could have, so Tong Zhanyan made some final adjustments to the branches they’d cut.

Finally, Tong Zhanyan handed over the money, and he and Ning Langdong each hoisted half the load onto their shoulders and headed toward the base.

After taking a few steps, Tong Zhanyan turned back.

“I heard you’re using my planting method?” Tong Zhanyan looked at the elderly man in front of him.

Old Xu paused for a moment.

He represented the Planting Alliance, yet now they were adopting Tong Zhanyan’s methods. Even if he didn’t care about saving face, being called out on it directly was inevitably a bit awkward.

The next moment, he answered honestly, “Yes.”

Tong Zhanyan nodded. “How’s it going?”

Old Xu wasn’t quite sure what Tong Zhanyan was getting at. “We just harvested the first batch of seeds a while back. We’re currently in the seedling stage for the second batch, and in a few days, we should be able to transplant them.”

After a pause, he added, “The seedlings aren’t looking too good.”

Even if they followed Tong Zhanyan’s methods to the letter, this was their first time growing them, so they inevitably lacked experience.

If they were struggling, the people out there were certainly struggling even more.

Tong Zhanyan asked, “So, do you want to come work for me?”

Old Xu froze for a moment, then his eyes widened in disbelief, and his breath caught in his throat.

Gu Yunyang, beside him, reacted the same way.

Tong Zhanyan laid down the ground rules upfront, “If you come, you’ll have to do as I say. You’re just here to work.”

As he was expanding his cultivation operations, he naturally needed more manpower.

He was definitely going to train Ning Langdong and the other two, but that was far from enough; he couldn’t possibly go running to Yang Hong and the others every time he needed a little help.

Even if the agritourism business took off later on, those people would eventually leave, so he still needed a core group of long-term, reliable staff.

He actually didn’t want to bring in Old Xu and his group because there were too many complications tied to them.

A major reason his base had developed to its current level in such a short time was precisely that no one was standing by, micromanaging him.

But these recent interactions had caused him to reconsider his opinion of Old Xu and his group.

Especially the sight of Old Xu’s retreating figure that night had deeply moved him.

These people were truly striving to overcome the challenges of cultivation.

He had never been averse to sharing his knowledge with others; otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept his livestream running all this time.

If it were merely about learning, it wouldn’t matter who did it, and those with experience might even pick it up faster.

Mr. Bai and Old Jin were much more nimble than the others when it came to harvesting.

Tong Zhanyan thought for a moment and added, “Only two spots.”

Old Xu’s weathered face flushed crimson. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

“Let me know when you’ve made up your mind.” Tong Zhanyan gave a slight nod and turned to leave.

Watching Tong Zhanyan enter the house and walk away, Old Xu finally came to his senses.

All the blood in his body rushed to his head, and his eyes grew hot and moist in that moment.

Tong Zhanyan had always gone to great lengths to avoid getting dragged into the vortex of power and interests, yet at this moment, he had reached out to them of his own accord…

On the way back, Ning Langdong silently took two more orange trees from Tong Zhanyan’s shoulders and carried them himself.

Tong Zhanyan found it both amusing and exasperating.

In the evening, once the wounds on the orange tree trunks had dried, Tong Zhanyan planted them.

He planted them right next to the previous orange grove.

After finishing his work, Tong Zhanyan took advantage of the twilight to check on the corn and pumpkins.

Both crops had long since reached harvest stage, but Tong Zhanyan hadn’t picked them yet, as older pumpkins and corn were better for feeding the pigs and chickens.

This also made them easier to store.

The corn, having been planted later, was still a bit underdeveloped, but some of the pumpkins that had bloomed early were already ready to be picked.

Tong Zhanyan wasn’t in a hurry, as he still needed to conduct an assessment.

This batch of pumpkins was the third to be planted; by this stage, the seed viability had gradually improved, and the infection rate had begun to decline.

However, the reduction this time was minimal—around 1%.

In other words, there might still be some with infection rates exceeding 50%.

Tong Zhanyan had no intention of keeping any with infection rates over 50%, not even for feeding chickens or pigs.

Early the next morning, Tong Zhanyan got to work.

The results were pretty much as he’d expected: among the first batch of fourteen pumpkins, three had infection rates exceeding 50%.

Of the remaining eleven, only one had a reduced infection rate of 44%; the rest were at 49% or 50%.

Tong Zhanyan instructed Ning Langdong to take the three with an infection rate over 50% to the entrance to see if Gu Yunyang and the others wanted them.

He immediately cut open the one with a 44% infection rate to extract the seeds, using half the flesh to feed the chickens and the other half to feed the pigs.

Pumpkins have a strong seed-producing capacity; a single one can contain anywhere from 100 to 500 seeds, and since that pumpkin was quite large, it had at least 400.

Tong Zhanyan was quite pleased.

The viewers in the livestream were also quite pleased.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a pumpkin you actually have to carry.”

“I always feel like everything in Senior’s livestream is different from everyone else’s. I always thought pumpkins were about the size of the eggplants at his farm, and the eggplants were only as big as a child’s fist…”

“That’s nothing. Go check out the one from the fourteenth seedling—that’s what I call big. I even doubt if one person could lift it.”

“I saw that one too. When it’s fully grown, it’ll weigh at least ten jin.”

“A single pumpkin weighing ten jin…”

“Crops go for at least two or three hundred credits per gram. Ten jin… how much would that cost? No one could possibly afford that.”

“Don’t worry, because the senior isn’t planning to sell any of them. These are all for feeding the chickens and pigs. Smile.”

“……”

“That familiar feeling of heart palpitations.”

“You up there, don’t say a word.”

…

The chickens and pigs were certainly enjoying their meal.

After a few days, the crops in the field were ready to be harvested again.

This time, there were quite a few tomato seedlings ready to be pulled up, so Tong Zhanyan fired up the shredder right away.

He had the shredded bits hauled over to the septic tank.

The septic tank had long since dried up.

Tong Zhanyan poured the leftover residue from the barrels into it as a catalyst, and finally covered it with a thick layer of plastic sheeting to trap heat and accelerate the process.

The septic tank wasn’t completely sealed; ventilation holes were left open.

During this harvest, Tong Zhanyan also collected seeds from the string beans, carrots, and chili peppers.

This was already the third time they had been sown. Tong Zhanyan had set aside the seeds in exactly the same quantities as he had for the cherry tomatoes; all three combined amounted to over forty cups.

The string bean seeds were large, and they alone accounted for half of the total.

The next day, Tong Zhanyan set about preparing for the sowing.

This time, he didn’t just call on Yang Hong and his four men; he also summoned the other ten.

The number of workers had doubled again, yet the task took even longer.

By the time they were completely finished, it was already past nine o’clock at night.

The next day, Ning Langdong and the other two could barely drag themselves out of bed.

Once the work was done, Tong Zhanyan didn’t rush them; instead, he went out to the fields himself.

Just past ten o’clock, as the three of them came downstairs, they looked up and saw Tong Zhanyan harvesting seeds again—and this time, he was working on over ten different varieties.

The three of them stopped in their tracks, feeling an immediate urge to turn around and go back upstairs to sleep.

Those were the low-infection-rate seeds Tong Zhanyan had purchased from the Alliance later on, as well as a batch of crops from Old Jin.

This was already their second harvest, and their viability was still poor, so the quantity set aside wasn’t large, but added together, it still amounted to over forty cups.

Tong Zhanyan wasn’t one to keep things alive, so he got to work again the very next day.

This time, they finished early.

However, just as everyone was feeling pleased with themselves, they turned around and saw the sea of seedling trays—and instantly felt a pang of dread.

They’d wanted to do this themselves; such hands-on experience was rare, but this volume…

Tong Zhanyan, however, wasn’t worried about any of this, because it was merely one of the many things he had to attend to.

The crops in the fields were ready for harvest, the cherry radishes and baby bok choy needed to be planted, the strawberries in the greenhouse needed pollinating, and they’d already collected enough eggs…

The next day, Tong Zhanyan delegated the pollinating to Ning Langdong, Yang Hong, and their group, while he planted the cherry radishes and baby bok choy himself.

For the next planting, the cherry radishes and baby bok choy needed to be moved to a new spot.

He planted the seeds with the reduced infection rates in the newly cleared plot.

He didn’t rush to plant the seeds with the naturally low infection rates; he planned to wait until the cherry tomatoes were pulled up and then plant them in the current cherry tomato patch.

That plot was the most fertile of all his fields.

While the infection rates for other crops had dropped by the third batch, those that were naturally low showed no change—a fact that gave him a vague sense of foreboding.

After finishing the planting, Tong Zhanyan took a look at the greenhouse and then turned his attention to the incubator.

In this world, anything related to livestock or crops was expensive. Whenever possible, Tong Zhanyan opted for alternatives, but an incubator was truly irreplaceable.

It wasn’t that there were no alternatives; the main issue was that temperature control was difficult, and that wasn’t his area of expertise.

In the end, Tong Zhanyan bought one capable of hatching fifty eggs at a time.

He planned to hatch only fifty for the next batch as well.

That night, the construction crew contacted him—all materials had arrived, and they were just waiting to start work.

Tong Zhanyan scheduled them for the next day.

Since the cafeteria and bathhouse were to be built near the back gate, Tong Zhanyan instructed them to enter through the back gate.

After they arrived, Tong Zhanyan spent some time going over the details with them, then handed the supervision duties over to Qing Jiyue and headed back to the front.

Two days later, it was time to harvest again.

After this harvest, a full third of the cherry tomato plot was left empty.

“Has anyone calculated how much we harvested this time?”

“It’s definitely over four hundred pounds.”

“How much is that worth?”

“If we keep harvesting at this rate, won’t those crops be gone soon? What do we do after that?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do we do’?”

“Aren’t the crops with reduced infectivity only in Senior’s fields? If the crops run out, what will happen to those infected in a state of frenzy?”

…

Tong Zhanyan saw everyone’s concerns when he answered questions that night, but he really had no solution for this at the moment—after all, it wasn’t something he could simply grow more of at will.

As for buying crops from outside to use as fertilizer, even setting aside the cost, that wouldn’t work.

His limited supply of crops was far from enough to cover everyone in need; many would still have to rely on ordinary crops to suppress the frenzy.

The next day, Qing Jiyue paid him a visit.

The Planting Alliance had already decided on their representatives—as expected, it was Old Xu and Old Wang.

Tong Zhanyan had no objections, but he didn’t ask them to come over immediately; he still needed to prepare the furniture.

With Ning Langdong and his two companions, plus Old Xu and Old Wang, the third floor would be completely full; anyone else would have to move down to the second floor.

Tong Zhanyan began considering the possibility of building another employee dormitory.

A little later, Tong Zhanyan went to the back door.

With Spirit Beasts as a powerful asset, coupled with advanced technology, construction in this world was far faster than in his previous one; the foundation had already been laid in just a few days.

Tong Zhanyan discussed the employee dormitory with the foreman.

He planned to have Ning Langdong and the others move in here.

First, it was livelier here; second, given their new roles as boss and employees, he feared Ning Langdong and the others might feel uncomfortable living together.

After the discussion, Tong Zhanyan didn’t leave immediately but went to check on Qing Jiyue.

Yang Hong and the others had been consuming the crops steadily, and their condition remained stable; the same was true for the ten people who had arrived later.

Qing Jiyue’s grandfather and the others had been consuming the crops for some time, but no changes were visible yet.

Ning Langdong’s mother had already been brought over.

It was a leopard, and it was in very poor condition—not only was it emaciated, but its body was covered with a mix of old and fresh wounds from collisions.

It had been in a state of frenzy for quite some time.

When Old Xu and Old Wang arrived, they happened to catch the harvest in progress. Tong Zhanyan didn’t hesitate to hand each of them a pair of shears.

Yang Hong and his group all knew who they were. They tried to restrain themselves, but couldn’t help but take a second look.

Two of the Planting Alliance’s most respected figures, coming to work for Tong Zhanyan…

And they seemed quite happy about it.

Having previously only seen this on screens, they finally had the chance to try it themselves. Old Master Xu and Old Master Wang’s faces flushed bright red, making the whole group feel a bit nervous.

Qing Jiyue had already told them about the two men’s health issues.

After finishing this harvest, there were already plenty of seedlings ready to be pulled over at the eggplant and cucumber plots.

Tong Zhanyan immediately had Ning Langdong lead Old Xu and Old Wang over there.

“Are we really going to pull these out?” Old Wang whispered to Old Xu. The seedlings in front of them looked so healthy—they clearly had the potential to bloom and bear fruit.

“Stop complaining. Just do what you’re told.” Old Xu looked heartbroken, but his hands moved swiftly.

He’d even taken a knife to his own orange trees.

“Ouch…” Seeing Old Xu’s unwavering resolve, Old Wang had no choice but to grit his teeth and join in. “Even the best seedlings in my greenhouse aren’t this robust.”

Ning Langdong and the others heard this, but none dared to speak up.

They were, after all, already used to pulling them out.

But they certainly wouldn’t admit that.

As they tossed the seedlings into the shredder, not only Old Wang but even Old Xu’s eyelid twitched involuntarily.

Seeing it on a screen was quite different from seeing it with one’s own eyes, especially after witnessing just how healthy these seedlings had been.

Ning Langdong and the others immediately dragged the shredded residue over to the manure pit.

Throughout this, Tong Zhanyan had been picking pumpkins.

“This one’s huge—it must be about forty centimeters, right?”

“I think the one from before was bigger.”

“But this one’s longer.”

“I bet some of these have a lower infection rate, too.”

“Definitely.”

“Using the ones with lower infection rates to feed pigs… I was just praying a few days ago for the infection rate to drop quickly, and now Senior’s going to use them to feed pigs…”

“Don’t even mention it. It breaks my heart.”

“Don’t bring it up, or we’ll end up arguing.”

“I really don’t get it. If we sold these, they’d feed quite a few people. And those cherry radishes and bok choy aren’t exactly unsuitable for feeding pigs or chickens…”

“Look, here they come.”

…

This time, they picked about twenty pumpkins, and not a single one had a reduced infection rate; in fact, five of them had infection rates exceeding 50%.

Tong Zhanyan felt quite heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do.

After picking the pumpkins, Tong Zhanyan also picked the first batch of flowering corn.

Just like the pumpkins, there was a possibility that some of them would have an infection rate exceeding 50%.

Tong Zhanyan picked over thirty; eight of them exceeded 50%, and among the rest, only one had an infection rate of 47%.

Tong Zhanyan hesitated for a moment but decided to wait and see, choosing not to use it as a seed.

The next time he planted them, the proportion with reduced infection rates would rise to around 30%, but some might drop even further—a 47% rate was too low.

He stored the pumpkins in the warehouse and hung the corn under the eaves.

Tong Zhanyan didn’t feed it all to the chickens and pigs at once; instead, he planned to feed them a little each day.

The next day, the incubator arrived.

After testing it out, Tong Zhanyan grabbed a flashlight and began selecting eggs.

He had saved up a total of ninety eggs, so choosing fifty was easy.

Ning Langdong and the others were all standing by, watching the commotion.

Farming was a novelty, but raising livestock wasn’t much better.

After placing all the eggs in the incubator and turning it on according to the manual, Tong Zhanyan left.

Two days later, it was time to harvest again.

After this harvest, the cherry tomato plants were practically bare.

Tong Zhanyan pulled them all out and, that very day, selected a spot to plant the low-infection-rate cherry radishes and bok choy.

At the same time, Tong Zhanyan removed the plastic sheeting from the cherry tomato seedlings in the seedling trays.

They were already ten centimeters tall.

There were more seedlings this time, covering a larger area. The moment the sheeting was removed, not only did the live stream viewers and Ning Langdong and Old Xu react positively, but even Tong Zhanyan himself couldn’t help but relax his furrowed brow.

Tong Zhanyan watered them.

Three days later, after Ning Langdong and the others had finished tilling the plot for the cherry tomatoes and had harvested and pulled up the cucumber and eggplant seedlings, the plastic film covering the cucumber and eggplant seedlings in the seedling trays was also ready to be removed.

Looking at that vibrant sea of green, the crowd in the livestream was absolutely thrilled.

As things stood, sixteen mu of land simply wasn’t enough.

Old Xu and Old Wang were so excited that their faces were flushed red.

While Ning Langdong and the others were happy, a hint of distress crept into their eyes. Sowing had already been such a hassle; transplanting would only be more troublesome…

The day after the plastic sheeting was removed from the eggplants and cucumbers, Gu Yunyang paid a visit.

He came in his capacity as the liaison for the Planting Alliance.

A new batch of seeds had been released.

He had come to deliver the seeds to Tong Zhanyan.

In addition to this newly released batch, he also brought soybeans.

It was a black, exquisitely crafted box containing a stack of small bags, each holding a single seed.

There were twenty-four seeds in total; they didn’t keep a single one for themselves and took them all.

Tong Zhanyan paid the money, then immediately emptied the seeds into his hand and carefully put the box away.

That box looked even more expensive than the previous ones.

Ning Langdong and the others watching the commotion in the living room, as well as Gu Yunyang—who had received his items but hadn’t yet had time to leave—couldn’t help but twitch their lips at the sight.

However, the group all managed to hold back and say nothing.

Tong Zhanyan must have had his reasons for doing this.

Probably.

After seeing Gu Yunyang off, Ning Langdong and the others continued digging, while Tong Zhanyan began examining the new seeds.

Gu Yunyang had brought a large quantity of seeds; aside from soybeans, there were fifty of each variety.

These seeds were all original seeds, meaning they had a zero infection rate.

Simply getting them to sprout wasn’t a problem, but the infection rate…

With the low-infection-rate cherry radishes and bok choy from before, the infection rate hadn’t decreased by the third planting.

Despite his unease, Tong Zhanyan still soaked all the seeds in water.

Especially the soybeans, peanuts, and red clover—they had to be planted as soon as possible.

For the next harvest, Tong Zhanyan handed the task directly to Ning Langdong and the others, while he busied himself with other chores.

The incubating eggs needed turning and checking, the pigsty needed cleaning, the orange trees needed watering, and the strawberries were starting to swell.

After this harvest, there were hardly any eggplant or cucumber seedlings left, and the string beans, carrots, and chili peppers were nearing the end of their season—only the batch of seeds with the low infection rate remained lush.

A week later, after the eggplants and cucumbers had been completely pulled up and the string beans, carrots, and chili peppers were nearly gone, Tong Zhanyan organized a major harvest of the pumpkins and corn.

He discarded those with infection rates exceeding the limit, stored the rest in the warehouse, and collected seeds from every single plant with reduced infection rates for replanting.

The results were better than he had anticipated; he harvested five or six thousand seeds from each crop.

He would be able to plant even more in the next batch.

The only problem was that this left him short on land to clear.

Tong Zhanyan set aside a plot of about four mu overnight and handed it entirely over to Ning Langdong and his team.

While they were busy, the low-infection-rate cherry radishes and bok choy in the field were ready to have their plastic covers removed.

Tong Zhanyan removed the plastic sheeting, watered them, and then immediately conducted an inspection.

Crops are usually inspected right before harvest, because as long as they haven’t been picked, the infection rate can increase at any time.

Tong Zhanyan randomly inspected fifty plants.

Some already had infection rates exceeding 15%.

This made him even more uneasy.

Many had already been nearing a 15% infection rate; if it continued to rise, it might exceed 20% by harvest time.

Once the four new acres were cleared, the newly sown cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants were ready for transplanting.

For the transplanting, Tong Zhanyan didn’t use the nutrient solution cups from before; instead, he had a batch of soft-material pots of roughly the same size custom-made.

The transplanting began the day after the pots arrived.

Since there were so many plants, Tong Zhanyan went to the back and called all the guards over to help.

It was the guards’ first time transplanting, and they were quite excited.

In the livestream chat, the crowd had been waiting in vain for the giveaway, and the screen was filled with cries of frustration.

Before starting, Tong Zhanyan announced that he wouldn’t be keeping the weaker seedlings.

Livestream chat.

“???”

“Did I hear that wrong? What did he just say?”

“Aren’t all these seeds from crops with reduced infection rates? He’s not keeping the weaker ones?”

“Is the streamer serious?”

“I really want to curse.”

“I feel like the streamer isn’t even on the same planet as us. Over at Heihei’s stream, the second batch of seeds was just planted, and those seedlings look like toothpicks—yet the streamer here isn’t even satisfied with the ones with reduced infection rates…”

“Pinch my nose hard.”

“I feel like I’m seeing my great-grandfather.”

“I’m starting to feel short of breath again…”

“I really can’t take it anymore. There’s still so much empty space—what’s wrong with just digging a hole and planting them? Why must they be thrown away? Are you sure this isn’t on purpose?”

“So many people are still waiting to eat…”

“Trash streamer, let’s duel!”

…

“…Throw them away?”

Xu Lao’s face twisted in disgust, and Wang Lao’s did as well.

Ning Langdong and his group were in slightly better spirits, but when they looked down at those vibrant little seedlings, they couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

These seedlings were clearly growing perfectly well—what was wrong with them?

Besides, they had planted every single one of these seedlings themselves.

“We only have so much fertilizer; we should just pick the best and strongest ones to plant,” Tong Zhanyan said.

The group exchanged glances, but no one moved.

Old Wang raised his hand like a student.

Tong Zhanyan looked over.

“Why not plant them in those fields over there first? At worst, we’ll just skip fertilizing them later…” Even if they don’t grow as well without fertilizer, as long as they bear fruit, we can still harvest them.

These are seeds left over from crops with reduced infection rates.

“To lower the infection rate, we need to improve the crops’ condition. Without fertilizer, their infection rate will only go up,” Tong Zhanyan said.

Old Wang and Old Xu were hearing this for the first time; a hint of surprise flashed in their eyes.

So as long as the crops’ condition improves, the infection rate will go down?

In that instant, many thoughts crossed their minds, but in the end, they both arrived at the same conclusion.

So, would Tong Zhanyan be willing to tell them how to lower the infection rate?

Before they could answer, Tong Zhanyan said with a touch of resignation, “If you want to try it, you can give it a shot—as long as it doesn’t interfere with your main work.”

Glancing down at the seedlings, Tong Zhanyan added, “Or you could take them back to plant yourselves.”

To him, they were just unwanted items anyway, so there was no need to be stingy.

Hearing this, Old Wang and Old Xu looked up abruptly, their eyes filled with wild joy.

Seedlings grown by Tong Zhanyan—and seeds from crops with a reduced infection rate, no less…

Live stream.

“Aaaah, I want some too—”

“Senior, look at us! I want some too.”

“I’d pay for them.”

“How much would they cost? A single seed out there sells for at least five or six thousand, and that’s for crops with reduced infection rates…”

“I’d pay ten thousand.”

“Senior…”

……

Ning Langdong, Yang Hong, and the others exchanged glances, all bursting with excitement.

They didn’t have the same obsession with farming as Old Xu or Old Wang, but having followed Tong Zhanyan for so long, they’d long wanted to give it a try.

If only they could plant these seedlings…

“The prerequisite is to finish the work that needs to be done first,” Tong Zhanyan reminded them. This batch of seedlings was enough to cover a full twenty mu of land.

Hearing this, the group glanced at the piles of transplanting pots stacked nearly as high as mountains beside them, their eyes instantly filling with despair.

The next moment, seeing the seedlings at their feet, they perked up again.

As long as they finished this task, they could go dig a plot of land nearby and plant their own crops.

Nothing could be a better reward.

The group immediately scattered and got to work.

There were so many seedlings—far too many. Even with over sixty people, they couldn’t possibly finish in just a day or two.

What made it even more agonizing was that once the cherry tomatoes were repotted, the pumpkins, corn, and string beans were already due for repotting next.

So for nearly a week after that, aside from two harvests, they spent every waking hour repotting.

A week later, by the time all the seedlings had been repotted—except for the final batch of seeds sent by Gu Yunyang—not only were Ning Langdong and Old Xu exhausted, but Tong Zhanyan himself felt completely drained.

The next day, Tong Zhanyan gave everyone the day off—including himself.

The following day, before Tong Zhanyan had even had a chance to recover, Ning Langdong, Old Xu, and the rest of the group were already downstairs early in the morning, discussing things with excitement written all over their faces.

There were at least a thousand seedlings that had been selected, representing every variety.

Old Xu and Old Wang had already discussed it; they planned to clear a plot at the base to plant some of them. That way, conditions—including fertilizers—would be identical to Tong Zhanyan’s, making it more suitable for comparative study.

In addition, they planned to give some seedlings to Gu Yunyang and his team.

The two of them had come not just to work and help out, but primarily to learn.

And whatever they learned, they would pass on to Gu Yunyang and his team in meticulous detail.

Ning Langdong, Tian Xinqing, and Su Yanran planned to join forces to clear a plot of land and learn to cultivate it together.

Yang Hong, Wang Yanzhou, Qing Suifeng, Tang Shijin, and Chu Yi had the same plan; they’d even decided on a name for their plot.

Upon learning of their plans, the group of guards quickly formed teams, intending to split into five groups to dig five plots for trial planting.

When Tong Zhanyan came downstairs, the group was happily dividing up the seedlings.

They were so excited and happy that their faces were flushed all the way to their necks, and their mouths were stretched into grins that reached their ears.

Tong Zhanyan found it amusing.

They were just a few weak seedlings.

Those in the know were fine with it, but those who didn’t might have thought they’d stumbled upon some kind of treasure.

The viewers in the livestream, however, couldn’t laugh. At that moment, they were twisted with jealousy.

“Aaaah, Senior, just look at us!”

“Senior, have you forgotten you have a whole group of fans crying out for attention?”

“I’m sorry, I spoke a little too loudly earlier. I was wrong. Please, just look at us.”

“Please, I want some too…”

“Senior…”

“Aaaah—”