Chapter 23: New Plan! Work Like Mad

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: New Plan! Work Like Mad

As the payment went through, Zhang Lin looked at the game screen in his mind. The phantom image of a building appeared once more—it was the service center he had just chosen to build. It was designed in a purely agricultural style, with the ticket office, lounge, and restaurant all connected into a single structure.

The layout was simple, however. The restaurant was on one side, while the ticket office and lounge were on the other.

The lounge had tables for resting, restrooms, and even a small sales counter in one corner that could be used to sell goods.

Now, he just had to find a location to build this service center.

The 2,000 mu of land his dad had contracted was mostly wasteland, separated by forests and partially enclosed by a river. The farm’s reservoir drew its water from this river.

There were two access points to this land.

One was at the current location of the prefab house and warehouse. A road there led directly to the county’s main thoroughfare. Since it was close to the county seat, his dad had planned to start development from this side.

The other access point was over by the 500-mu rapeseed Flower Sea, which connected directly to the national highway.

In the future, when the Flower Sea opened to the public, tourists would have to enter from the national highway.

Therefore, the service center had to be built somewhere between the national highway and the Flower Sea. That way, visitors would arrive at the service center first, then pass through it to enter the rapeseed Flower Sea.

Zhang Lin moved the service center’s phantom image, found a suitable spot in that intermediate area, and selected "Build"!

[Congratulations, construction has begun on the agricultural-style ornamental garden service center...]

As the notification sound faded, just like before, a ball of light appeared on his desk and materialized into a stack of documents.

He picked them up and saw that they were, once again, the various contracts and documents required for construction.

What was different this time, however, was the addition of relevant qualification certificates.

A qualification certificate proves whether a company is licensed to undertake specific construction projects. Only a company with the proper qualifications can legally build. Unlike the simple prefab dormitories, this service center required such proof; otherwise, it would be considered an illegal structure.

With these qualification documents, there would be no problems even if inspectors came to check.

But when he looked at the information on the certificate, he froze.

Li Yuan Farm!

’What the hell?’

’The entity with the qualification is Li Yuan Farm?’

’Is this what the "related qualifications for Level 3 buildable structures" from the upgrade reward meant?’

’Doesn’t that mean, to the outside world, it would look like Li Yuan Farm is building the service center itself, and those game-spawned employees are just temporary workers I hired?’

’Holy shit, the system’s arrangements are brilliant.’

No one would find any problems if they investigated, because all the qualifications were in order.

Just as before, a section of land on the game map was fenced off where the service center was to be built. It was nearly two mu in size, or a little over 1,300 square meters.

A moment later, more construction vehicles arrived, their horns blaring BEEP BEEP.

This time, however, there were a few more vehicles than when the prefab house was built. After getting out, the workers immediately began unloading materials and got to work with fiery intensity.

Zhang Lin left the prefab house and rode his scooter directly to the area. Sure enough, the real-world site was just as bustling with activity.

’The construction speed is just as fast as before.’

However, constructing a service center wasn’t as simple as assembling a modular building like the prefab dorms. It would still take some time to finish.

After watching for a while, Zhang Lin rode his scooter back to the prefab house and checked the game information in his mind:

Level: 3

Upgrade Requirements: 1. 20 Workers (10/20)! 2. Earn 1,000,000 in Profit (494/1,000,000)! 3. Develop 500 mu of Agricultural Land (515/500)! 4. Plant more than 10 types of crops, each on no less than 5 mu of land (1/10).

Bank Card: 62122614*******

Balance: 474.52 yuan

Agricultural Land: 2,000 mu!

Game Buildings (3/4): Prefab House, Warehouse, Simple Worksite Dormitories

Milestone Progress: 0.15%

The upgrade requirements had increased again.

Aside from the requirement to develop 500 mu of land, which he had already met, he still hadn’t reached the goals of 20 workers or 1,000,000 in profit. On top of that, a new condition had been added: plant ten types of crops, each on at least five mu of land.

He had only completed one type so far, which must have been the rapeseed flowers.

Planting crops should be simple enough, though. After all, the farm had 2,000 mu of land; he just needed to develop it and start planting.

But earning 1,000,000 in profit... he was now down to 494 yuan. Rounding that off, he was basically a full million yuan short.

Worse, this small amount wasn’t even enough to cover tomorrow’s wholesale costs.

1,500 pounds of honey peaches plus 1,000 pounds of Sunshine Rose grapes required 12,000 yuan in wholesale capital.

That was a small problem, though. He opened WeChat and took out a 12,000 yuan loan from "WeiLi Loan." He could pay it back tomorrow; the interest for one day was only 6 yuan.

Still, the situation was a bit frustrating.

He was now a man with a daily income of over 50,000 yuan, yet one look at his bank account showed he was still broke and had to rely on online loans to get by.

Damn!

But it was a necessary expense for developing the farm, so there was no helping it. Besides, he would earn the money back quickly.

After that, Zhang Lin rode his scooter out of the farm and headed to North District Square, pulling up in front of Zhang Dong’s shop.

The sign read: Zhang Dong’s Fruit Shop!

’A pretty direct name.’

He would have another 500 pounds of Sunshine Rose grapes tomorrow, and he planned to give them to Zhang Dong. That’s why he’d come over to check on things and give him a heads-up.

When he got to the shop, he found that in addition to Zhang Dong, Ergen and Mrs. Ergen were also there. It was clear Ergen’s leg hadn’t fully healed yet, as he was still using a crutch.

"Zhang Lin!" Zhang Dong’s face lit up with a smile as he hurried forward to greet him.

"Lin, you’re here! Quick, come in and sit down!" Zhang Ergen said. Seeing Zhang Lin, he immediately stood up with a beaming smile despite his bad leg. Mrs. Ergen was just as warm and enthusiastic.

The couple knew exactly how much profit their son made each day wholesaling fruit from Zhang Lin.

Because of this, they were incredibly grateful to him.

To them as parents, it was no exaggeration to say that Zhang Lin had given their son a new lease on life.

"Ergen, please sit, don’t get up," Zhang Lin said quickly. "I’m just here to talk to Zhang Dong about something!"

"Alright, alright. You two talk. Don’t mind me or your auntie," Zhang Ergen said at once, showing no intention of meddling in his son’s business or telling him what to do.

Zhang Dong quickly asked, "Zhang Lin, what’s up? Just tell me what you need!"

Zhang Lin explained, "I have another 500 pounds of Sunshine Rose grapes. How’s business on your end? Can you handle that much?"

Zhang Dong’s eyes lit up at his words. "Zhang Lin, of course you have to give them to me! How could I possibly not be able to handle them?" he said immediately.

He was well aware that besides honey peaches, Zhang Lin also had Sunshine Rose grapes, which sold even better. Plus, Lin Tuo was only getting 500 pounds.

Now Zhang Lin was offering him 500 pounds? How could he not be thrilled?

Getting any fruit from Zhang Lin was a guaranteed profit.

Zhang Lin nodded. "The wholesale price for these Sunshine Rose grapes is 40 yuan per pound. However, there’s only a 10% markup allowed. The honey peaches had a 20% markup because they were the first promotional product."

Hearing this, Zhang Dong quickly gave his assurance. "Zhang Lin, don’t worry, I know the rules. I won’t cause any trouble for you."

He wasn’t an idiot. If he didn’t play by their rules and got caught, he wouldn’t just lose his own wholesale qualification; he might even drag Zhang Lin down with him and anger the investors and partners backing him.

That would be a true lose-lose situation.

Now that he was earning so much, the best thing to do was to cling tightly to Zhang Lin and do exactly as he was told.

After all, the honey peaches were already bringing in 3,000 yuan in profit. Adding 500 pounds of Sunshine Rose grapes, even with only a 10% profit margin, would add another 2,000 yuan. That would bring his total daily profit to 5,000 yuan.

Most people in You City didn’t even have a monthly salary of 5,000 yuan.

’With one month’s earnings, I could make the down payment on a BMW 5 Series like Liu Rui’s new boyfriend has.’

"Alright. I’ll arrange for someone to deliver them tomorrow, then." Having settled things, Zhang Lin said goodbye to Ergen and his wife and left.

Zhang Ergen watched Zhang Lin leave and couldn’t help but remark, "Lin has really made something of himself. Zhang Dong, you stick with him and work hard. Don’t you get any funny ideas!"

"Dad, I’m not an idiot!" Zhang Dong said hastily.

After returning to the farm, Zhang Lin took out the map showing the 2,000-mu layout of his land.

To upgrade again, he needed to plant ten types of crops, with each type covering at least five mu. This was currently the easiest requirement for him to complete, but it needed careful planning.

「By evening, he had more or less finished his plan.」

Bok choy, water spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, loofahs, cabbage, chives, rapeseed, and radishes.

He planned to plant these ten types of vegetables, all common for the current season. This would add variety to the meals for his employees, supply the service center’s restaurant, and he could even set up shelves outside the service center to sell them. Plenty of local visitors would likely buy them.

As soon as Liu De and his men finished building the main paths through the rapeseed Flower Sea, he could implement this plan and start planting.

Later, Zhang Lin left the farm and returned home.

But when he returned to his bedroom after a shower and checked the game in his mind, he was stunned. On the map, the construction site for the service center was already brightly lit, illuminated by powerful floodlights.

The workers spawned by the game were actually working through the night to rush the job.

’Are they trying to kill themselves working this hard?’

...