Chapter 21: 500 Mu Developed! Another Upgrade

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: 500 Mu Developed! Another Upgrade

The game’s cultivator was twice as efficient as a real-world one.

That was a whole generational leap in technology.

He even had the thought of selling cultivators instead; they’d definitely take the market by storm. Unfortunately, the in-game market had purchase restrictions on them. It was as if they only existed for him to redeem those two units, making them impossible to buy otherwise.

’It seems like I can build an agricultural machinery research lab later in *Agricultural Tycoon*. I should be able to research this kind of equipment then.’

After nightfall, Zhang Lin rode his scooter back home.

The next day, after wholesaling the game’s products, he didn’t rush to the farm. Instead, he made a trip to the market.

Now that he had ten employees, he needed to restock some daily necessities.

As for vegetables, the five mu of crops his dad planted were already ripe, so that wasn’t an issue.

But he still needed to buy more rice, as well as meat products! 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Even though they were employees recruited through the game, he couldn’t just have them eat plain vegetables.

However, as the boss, he didn’t have to handle it personally.

He’d make one more shopping trip today, and after that, he could have Liu De handle it. Since Liu De had to make a delivery to Zhang Dong anyway, he could easily stop by the supermarket near the North District advertising agency to pick things up. It was convenient, and the food would be fresh every day.

He’d just have Liu De submit the supermarket receipts for reimbursement.

When he returned to the farm with his purchases, Liu De was loading up the honey peaches for Zhang Dong. Zhang Lin explained the new task to him.

"Boss, you can count on me!" Liu De immediately promised with a smile.

Zhang Lin then went to inspect the rapeseed plot. The reservoir construction was nearing completion and would be finished in one morning.

Sure enough, by the lunch break, the reservoir was finished. Once the concrete dried, they could channel water into it.

After lunch, Guo Zhen came into the prefab office building with a blueprint. "Boss, the irrigation system plan is ready, and here’s the list of required materials and their prices!"

Zhang Lin nodded, taking the blueprint and the list to look them over.

He only gave the blueprint a quick glance. After all, he was a layman and wouldn’t blindly direct a professional. He did, however, study the materials list carefully.

Guo Zhen had written the list in great detail.

It laid out the irrigation system for 500 mu, with quantities specified for the main pipes, valves, sub-pipes, and micro-sprinklers needed per mu.

To build an automatic irrigation system for the planned 500 mu of land, the materials plus the water pumps and delivery equipment would cost 150,000 yuan!

Zhang Lin glanced at his balance: 195,994 yuan!

This one expense would wipe out most of it.

Even though his daily income was considerable now, his bank balance still felt meager.

However, for a purchase like this, he didn’t need to pay the full amount upfront. He could pay 30% first, bring the total up to 80% within ten days, and withhold the remaining 20% as a security deposit.

Of course, this wasn’t always the case. Terms varied by region, and different people could negotiate different deals.

"After the lunch break, let’s go to the market and look into the procurement," Zhang Lin said to Guo Zhen after finishing the list.

"Okay, Boss!" Guo Zhen nodded.

After the break, Zhang Lin took Guo Zhen to the market.

They visited several relevant suppliers, inspected the quality of their materials, and after a long time haggling over tea, they finally settled on one. They signed a contract and paid the 30% down payment of 45,000 yuan.

By evening, the materials were delivered.

By the time they finished receiving and unloading the goods, the day was over.

Starting the next day, Guo Zhen led his team to begin laying the automatic irrigation system. It took them a full six days to complete the installation, and they were now in the process of calibrating it. Meanwhile, thanks to the two Quality 2 cultivators from the game, they were clearing 60 mu of land per day. Over those six days, they had finished developing the entire 500-mu area planned for rapeseed.

Now, Liu De and the others were developing the main paths inside the Flower Sea for tourists to walk on.

Evening.

In the prefab office building.

Zhang Lin was on his computer, playing *Agricultural Tycoon*. Although the game bound to his mind had been modified by the system and was different from the one on his computer, there were still some things he could use for reference.

For instance, the agricultural construction market unlocked at level 3. It had a huge selection of buildings, and you could even establish a laboratory, though that had a level restriction and would only unlock later in the game.

Furthermore, constructing the corresponding buildings also gave a chance to unlock recruitment for related types of employees!

Zhang Lin checked his level-up requirements:

Level-Up Requirements: 1. 6 employees (10/6)! 2. Earn 500,000 in profit (486,994/500,000)! 3. Develop 200 mu of agricultural land (513/200).

Over the past six days, with the 500-mu rapeseed plot developed, his land development area was more than enough. He had 10 employees, which also met the requirement. Now, all he lacked was the 500,000 in profit.

’I can level up tomorrow after wholesaling the morning’s fruit.’

The construction market should be unlocked by then. He was curious to see what the system-modified version of the game in his mind would be like.

Just as he was thinking about this, Guo Zhen walked in. "Boss, the automatic irrigation system is calibrated. Want to go take a look now?"

"Let’s go!" Zhang Lin nodded and followed Guo Zhen to the rapeseed Flower Sea plot.

At first glance, the earliest rapeseed plants had already grown to two meters tall. Even without flowers, the lush, green expanse, taller than a person, was a spectacular sight.

As he got closer, he noticed that the rapeseed planted on the first day already had flower buds forming. They were on the verge of blooming.

Zhang Lin followed Guo Zhen to the side of the reservoir. It was already full of water, and there was an external intake system. When irrigating, the intake system would simultaneously draw in more water.

"Boss, this is the main valve. When you open it, water from the reservoir will flow out quickly through the pipes. Then, to irrigate a specific area, you just open its smaller distribution valve, and the water will spray out through the sprinklers..."

Guo Zhen explained the process to Zhang Lin, then opened the main valve. He walked to the nearest section, twisted open a small distribution valve, and they watched as water sprayed out from sprinklers all over that part of the rapeseed plot, each one irrigating the nearby plants.

In the future, one person could easily irrigate the entire 500-mu rapeseed plot just by spending a little time opening the distribution valves in each section.

Zhang Lin then went to check the pathways between the rapeseed fields. After being leveled, they had all been covered with a layer of smooth pebbles.

The pebble paths didn’t cost much. Even a ton of high-quality ones was just over 100 yuan.

All in all, the basic framework for the 500-mu rapeseed Flower Sea was complete. To have achieved this much in just over ten days was all thanks to the game system.

The people of You City would hardly believe that a 500-mu rapeseed Flower Sea had appeared in their city in just over ten days.

’When this rapeseed Flower Sea makes its debut, won’t the entire city of You City be stunned?’

Next, he needed to set up some auxiliary facilities. Since it would be open to the public, things like a ticket booth were essential, or it wouldn’t be able to operate.

After the sun set, Zhang Lin went home.

The next morning, after wholesaling the fruit, he headed to the farm with anticipation, waiting to level up.

Once the payment from Lin Tuo came through, a series of notifications from the game system sounded:

[Congratulations, you have met the level-up requirements. Game level increased to LV3!]

[Congratulations on leveling up. The daily wholesale quantity of one random product has been increased by 500 jin. The current product is Sunshine Rose (refreshes the next day)!]

[Congratulations on leveling up. The agricultural construction market is now unlocked. You have been awarded a construction qualification certificate for level 3 related buildings!]

[Congratulations on leveling up. Buildable construction slots +2!]

...