Chapter 7: Special Fast-Growing Rapeseed Flower

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Special Fast-Growing Rapeseed Flower

You City had a dedicated market for agricultural machinery, which was run by the Bureau of Agriculture and Forestry.

"Market" was a generous term; it was really just a small building with a large yard out front. The yard was filled with all sorts of farming tools and equipment.

The market’s main purpose was to assist farmers by renting out equipment like tillers and harvesters. Of course, it also helped farmers sell their used machinery on consignment.

Zhang Lin planned to rent a tiller.

A machine like that would make tilling much faster, and it only cost 200 yuan a day to rent.

However, his plans changed when he arrived at the market and saw a used, small, tracked rotary tiller for sale.

A brand-new one cost 30,000 yuan, but this one was in at least 70% new condition and was listed for only 12,000.

His game level was tied to the amount of developed land. Since he’d eventually have to develop the entire farm, it made more sense to just buy a tiller outright.

The best part was that this type of small, aluminum-tracked rotary tiller didn’t require a license, was simple to operate, and was more than enough for his farm’s current needs.

Zhang Lin went straight inside, found the manager, and explained why he was there.

"Young man, you want to buy this tiller?" The manager greeted him warmly and began his pitch. "This tiller comes with three months of after-sales support. We also include delivery with the purchase. Let me tell you about its performance..."

Zhang Lin had already decided to buy it, so after confirming there were no issues, he went ahead with the paperwork.

"Payment of 12,000 yuan from card ending in 622**** complete. Remaining balance: 41,124.52 yuan."

With the payment complete, the small, tracked rotary tiller was his. They even threw in a canister of gasoline for free.

Since delivery was included, the manager called for a flatbed truck, loaded the tiller on, and had it follow Zhang Lin back to the farm.

By the time he got back to the farm, Liu De had already returned from delivering the peaches. He came over to help unload the tiller.

"Liu De, do you know how to use this?" Zhang Lin asked. He recalled that the description for a standard farmhand said they were proficient with all kinds of agricultural equipment.

"Yes, Boss," Liu De replied with a nod.

"Alright, you can take it out and start tilling then." ’The farmhands from this game are so much better than real ones,’ Zhang Lin thought.

In the real world, many farmhands only knew how to wield a hoe, let alone operate various machines.

"Yes, Boss!" Liu De replied immediately. As soon as the truck driver left, he drove the tiller into the fields and got to work.

The tiller was remarkably fast. In just a short time, he had already tilled a small plot of land.

However, tilling wasn’t the end of it. The soil still needed to be turned to remove weeds, then planting holes had to be made and seeds sown before the land was considered fully developed.

This process would go much faster with more people working together.

Zhang Lin had no intention of doing the work himself. He looked at the holographic screen in his mind, clicked on "Employee Recruitment," and hired two more farmhands in one go.

’The next level-up requires three employees anyway,’ he thought. ’Might as well hire them all now and get them working.’

[Congratulations! You have spent 15,000 yuan to recruit 2 standard farmhands. Employment period: one month. The standard farmhands are now materializing...]

Following the prompt, the balance in the top-left corner of his view dropped from 41,124.52 to 26,124.52 yuan.

’In the blink of an eye, my balance is even lower than my starting capital,’ he mused.

However, the flash of light from the materialization process didn’t appear in front of him this time.

’But the game already sent the notification!’

A thought struck him, and he hurried back to the prefab house. Sure enough, two more farmhands were waiting inside.

He understood now. There were limitations to this as well.

The prefab house and the warehouse were both game-generated buildings. In-game purchases materialized in the warehouse, so it stood to reason that newly recruited employees would materialize in the prefab house.

"Boss!" the two new farmhands greeted Zhang Lin in unison.

On the desk in front of him, just like last time, two contracts had materialized.

Zhang Lin picked up the contracts. The two farmhands were named Lin Dawei and Lin Dayou. They were from the same village, and the addresses on their ID cards pointed to a real village somewhere.

’This is another example of the game system’s incredible thoroughness,’ he thought.

Based on his experience with Liu De, the village on their IDs was probably one that had been abandoned or suffered some disaster. That way, not even the police would be able to find any issues with their identities.

He was more than happy to let the system handle the details.

He set the contracts down and gave the two new farmhands their orders. "Lin Dawei, Lin Dayou, go and help Liu De develop the land. You two can work together on turning the soil and planting the seeds."

"Yes, Boss!"

After acknowledging their orders, the two men found some hoes in the prefab house, along with the bok choy and water spinach seeds his father had bought previously.

They left the prefab house and headed to the fields to get busy.

Zhang Lin, on the other hand, was now free. He grabbed a bottle of water and went to inspect the work of his three farmhands.

He noticed that the game-recruited farmhands had incredible stamina. They worked like beasts of burden, putting their all into the job without a hint of slacking off.

As he watched them work like draft animals, he suddenly felt a bit like a feudal landlord.

As Lin Dawei and Lin Dayou got to work, he glanced at the holographic screen in his mind and saw the "Developed Land" area begin to tick upward.

After a while, it had increased by one mu, bringing the total developed area to six mu.

At this rate, the three of them could easily develop fifteen mu of land in a single day.

Zhang Lin watched for a while longer before heading back to the prefab house. He sat down at his computer and opened the *Agricultural Tycoon* game to study it. Since he had this cheat, he figured he should learn more about the game it came from.

The late-game content was truly incredible; you could even build an agricultural research institute to study all sorts of new crops.

As noon approached, Zhang Lin received another game notification:

[Congratulations! You have completed the "Develop 10 Mu of Land" milestone and received a reward. A special item has been added to the Market: Special Fast-Growth Rapeseed Seeds. Daily purchase limit: 10 jin!]

Zhang Lin stared at the notification, stunned.

He had been hoping that completing the ten-mu milestone would unlock a new wholesale product or increase his wholesale quota for peaches. He never expected to be rewarded with rapeseed seeds.

’Rapeseed?’ Zhang Lin grumbled to himself.

But a reward was a reward, so he had to check it out.

The reward notification for the rapeseed seeds didn’t say it would refresh the next day. He opened the Market on his mental screen and, sure enough, a new item was available for purchase.

But when he saw the price, he was dumbfounded.

Special Fast-Growth Rapeseed Seeds (Quality 1), Purchase Limit: 10 jin (250 yuan/jin!)

’I’m pretty sure normal rapeseed seeds only cost 25 yuan per jin, right?’ he thought.

’So why is the game selling them for 250 yuan per jin?’

The wholesale price for his peaches was lower than the real-world market rate.

So what the hell was up with these new rapeseed seeds being a full ten times more expensive than their real-world counterparts?

He decided to buy one jin for 250 yuan to see what was up.

He’d figure it out after he had a look.

[Congratulations! You have spent 250 yuan to purchase 1 jin of Special Fast-Growth Rapeseed Seeds (Quality 1). The item has materialized in your warehouse. You can view it by accessing the Warehouse tab!]

Zhang Lin opened the warehouse interface and, sure enough, the list now included one jin of Special Fast-Growth Rapeseed Seeds.

Currently Stored Items:

1. Special Fast-Growth Rapeseed Seeds (Quality 1): 1 jin

He left the prefab house and walked over to the warehouse, where he found a bag containing one jin of the seeds.

As he picked up the bag and read the item description, a look of astonishment spread across his face.

[Special Fast-Growth Rapeseed Seeds: Quality 1]

[Description: These are special rapeseed seeds produced by the game. They grow extremely fast before they bloom. Once they flower, they are highly ornamental and exceptionally photogenic. The rapeseeds they produce also have a special effect!]

[Attributes: Pre-bloom Growth Speed +1, Ornamental Value +1, Photogenic Quality +1, Rapeseed Oil Moisturizing Effect +1.]

[Restriction: Effects only apply when planted on land belonging to the farm!]