Chapter 294 - 152: Visitors

Chapter 294: Chapter 152: Visitors

After hearing his explanation, Tana finally began to take him seriously. "Are there really that many people?"

"I heard it from Bao Yin," Sun Boxin explained hurriedly. "His cousin’s farm was acquired by this company. They also contracted 350,000 mu of desert. For an area that huge, even with machinery, they’ll need thousands of people for the other work."

Tana was still wary from Sun Boxin’s previous failed business ventures. "I’m still not convinced. What if their company is only open for a few days and then they just pack up and leave? What will we do then?"

"That’s why I want you to ask your brother. He runs a general store in the city, so he knows the business. Plus, our house is right across the street, so we wouldn’t need to rent a shop. We’d save a ton of money."

Thanks to Sun Boxin’s exhaustive and silver-tongued persuasion, Tana was finally won over. She reluctantly agreed to ask her brother about what it would take to open a general store.

Just as Sun Boxin was feeling full of ambition...

...just two hundred meters from his house, by the river, a large inn-style public bathhouse opened for business to the sound of firecrackers.

And the owner of this bathhouse was none other than Wu Song’s older brother.

He had clearly been tipped off by Wu Song.

In a place like Zhelimu City, limited water resources and the dry climate meant that many people didn’t bathe daily, unlike those from the south.

As for Hailufeng Company’s Kulun Base, the lack of initial infrastructure meant many employees had to bathe using water brought in by fire trucks, which was highly inconvenient.

Wu Song had spotted this business opportunity and told his brother to open a large, inn-style public bathhouse that offered lodging, bathing, food, and drinks for sale.

There are smart people everywhere.

The local tourism industry had been half-dead, unable to generate any real economic momentum. But now that Hailufeng Company had moved in, shrewd people had spotted the opportunities, and the bold had already placed their bets.

...

Jiang Miao returned to the main base.

As soon as he got out of the car, he saw two pickup trucks painted with "Zhelimu City Institute of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences" parked in the temporary lot.

He made his way to the office area.

An employee in charge of logistics ran over to show Jiang Miao the way.

Inside the office where he had been received before, Jiang Miao saw six strangers with rough, dark skin. They were most likely the members of the soybean research team from the Zhelimu City Institute of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences.

The two parties introduced themselves.

When they heard that Jiang Miao was not only the chairman of Hailufeng Company but also an honorary doctor and distinguished professor from Lion Mountain Agricultural University, a doctoral supervisor, and the vice president of the Cyrus Feed Association, Zhang Zhiyong, the director of the institute’s soybean team, was stunned. He had only heard that a big company had come to Home County, sectioned off hundreds of thousands of mu of desert, and was planning a desert cultivation project. He had even been wondering if they might be able to collaborate.

He’d had no idea the man’s credentials were so impressive.

The other researchers and research assistants on his team were equally shocked.

"Dr. Jiang, you’re so young and accomplished. The only thing I have on you is my age, I suppose," Zhang Zhiyong joked self-deprecatingly.

Jiang Miao smiled and shook his head. "Dr. Zhang, you’re being too modest. Every expert has their specialty. We’re all doing our part to shine in our own fields. Research projects may be prioritized differently, but our researchers are all equals."

"Dr. Jiang, I’m quite curious about your company’s project in Home County. What crops are you planning to grow? Perhaps we could collaborate," Zhang Zhiyong asked.

"Our project is focused on growing soybeans."

"Growing soybeans?" The moment Zhang Zhiyong heard his own specialty mentioned, he immediately perked up. "Are you going to convert hundreds of thousands of mu of desert into farmland?"

"Yes. 200,000 mu will be leveled into standardized farmland suitable for mechanization. The remaining 150,000 mu will be used for mixed seeding of soybeans and Purple Alfalfa to serve as pasture."

One of the researchers, a man with glasses, scratched his head. He sounded both doubtful and hesitant as he chimed in, "Dr. Jiang, you must be aware of the local precipitation levels. The water from the Yangxumu River is also fully allocated. I’m afraid the local groundwater can’t possibly support such a large-scale soybean operation."

"That’s right, it’s not feasible," added another researcher, a man with a large black mole on the bridge of his nose, his brow furrowed. "Even with fertigation and shallow-drip irrigation, each mu of soybeans requires 90 cubic meters of water. 350,000 mu would mean drawing 31.5 million cubic meters of groundwater. That level of water consumption is far too high. In just a few years, the ground level of the entire Tamin Chagan Desert would likely begin to subside rapidly."

Jiang Miao smiled and shook his head. "Gentlemen, please don’t worry. Our company will only draw 21 million cubic meters of groundwater in the first year. And if we get some rain, that amount could be reduced even further."

"Huh?" Zhang Zhiyong was completely baffled. "Dr. Jiang, are you not planting again next year? But if you don’t, how can you possibly recoup your investment after spending so much money to level the land?"

Jiang Miao explained casually, "Our company has developed three new varieties of perennial soybeans. After the initial planting, they won’t require irrigation. They can sustain normal growth relying solely on natural rainfall and nightly dew."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiyong recalled something from his studies. "Perennial varieties? Is that a trait obtained through hybridization with wild southern soybean strains? Can such a variety adapt to the climate in the North?"

"We’ve simulated the northern climate in our labs. There’s no issue."

The researcher with the glasses asked curiously, "Dr. Jiang, what’s the potential yield per mu for your company’s new varieties?"