Chapter 438: The Setting Sun

Meilong Town.

Shizhou Village.

Although it was already late November, daytime temperatures in the Lingnan Region still hovered between 23 and 25 degrees Celsius, only dropping slightly at night.

This climate didn’t affect agricultural production.

The dry fields, which had been converted in August, were already sown with Immortal Soybeans, corn, and wheat in September.

After two and a half months, the soybean fields were a lush green. The low-growing Immortal Soybeans were intercropped with rows of corn. The corn was thriving, but because it blocked some of the sunlight, the Immortal Soybeans grew more slowly, taking nearly seventy days to begin flowering.

Today, a pickup truck arrived at the village’s collective cooperative.

“Chairman Zhang.”

Zhang Dashan, who happened to be at the entrance, took off his straw hat. “Technician Lin, Technician Gu, welcome to Shizhou. Please, come in and have some tea first.”

Gu ManCang shook his head. “No, thank you. We’re here to collect soil and crop samples. We have to go to another cooperative this afternoon, so we’re short on time.”

“In such a rush?” Zhang Dashan stopped in his tracks.

“It’s just our job. Please lead the way, Chairman Zhang,” Lin Yuan said, glancing at his watch.

“One moment, I’ll go get something.” Zhang Dashan hurried into the cooperative’s office building and came out with two packs of Chunghwa cigarettes and two bottles of Eastroc Super Drink.

After coming out, Zhang Dashan quickly offered the items to the two men. “Technician Lin, Technician Gu, have a smoke.”

“No, thanks. I don’t smoke.” Gu ManCang only accepted the Eastroc Super Drink.

Lin Yuan also refused the cigarettes. He casually took the drink, put it in his backpack, and pushed the cigarettes back into Zhang Dashan’s hand. “Chairman Zhang, please don’t make things difficult for us. The drinks are fine, but we really can’t accept the cigarettes.”

The two men refused the cigarettes mainly because of a Hailufeng Company regulation: accepting anything from clients or partner farmers worth more than 50 yuan was considered bribery.

With their monthly incomes of over ten thousand yuan, it wasn’t worth testing the rules for a pack of cigarettes.

If someone happened to film them and post it online, or report them to Hailufeng Company’s inspection department, the consequences would far outweigh the benefit.

Zhang Dashan reluctantly took back the cigarettes and said awkwardly, “Your company is too strict.”

“Being strict is good. It’s better for everyone,” Gu ManCang said, shaking his head again. He used to be a technician at an agricultural and rural affairs bureau in another region and had seen so many questionable things that nothing surprised him anymore. Because he couldn’t adapt to that environment, he’d chosen to leave his civil service job and come work as an Agricultural Technician for Hailufeng Company.

The three of them chatted as they walked toward the nearby farmland.

The partnership between the Shizhou cooperative and Hailufeng Company’s agricultural cooperation department was treated as a single household, since the contract was signed by the collective cooperative.

The cooperative primarily supplied vegetables.

Their entire partnership involved the supply of three types of vegetables: broccoli, green peppers, and eggplant.

Gu ManCang and Lin Yuan were there to collect samples of the green peppers and broccoli, as well as soil samples from the fields.

After walking for more than twenty minutes, they arrived at the broccoli field. A total of 200 mu of broccoli was planted, but it was growing in the spaces between the rows of Immortal Soybeans.

However, in these converted fields, the broccoli, green peppers, and eggplant weren’t planted in separate plots but were interspersed with one another.

This arrangement was designed to increase the farmland’s biodiversity, which could effectively reduce pests and diseases.

Gu ManCang looked at the earliest-planted broccoli. The heads had already swelled to the size of two fists, and he estimated they could be harvested in about ten more days.

He squatted down, took out a test tube and a sampler, and began collecting samples.

Lin Yuan looked around. “Chairman Zhang, the first batch of broccoli should be ready for harvest in about ten days. What’s the quantity?”

“About 20 mu,” Zhang Dashan replied with a smile. “We plan to start harvesting on the sixth of next month.”

“Has the report been submitted?”

“It has. Your company already approved it.”

“Then I expect I’ll have to come again on the sixth.”

Zhang Dashan said, a bit uncomfortably, “Your company is so strict. We haven’t violated any procedures. You don’t really need to come and inspect every few days.”

“Just because you haven’t doesn’t mean others haven’t, and the company can’t afford to take that gamble.” Lin Yuan didn’t believe everyone would be so honest. The company’s approach was meant to create a high-pressure atmosphere to ensure no one dared to step out of line.

If someone still tried to find ways to violate the rules under such strict supervision, they needed to be kicked out of the supply chain as soon as possible.

“Heh…” Zhang Dashan gave a dry laugh.

Lin Yuan didn’t say anything. Instead, he squatted down, broke off a broccoli leaf, and placed it in a sealable container as a sample, writing the date, location, and cooperative’s name on it.

The broccoli was in excellent condition, with almost no insect bites, yellow leaves, black spots, or signs of rot.

The use of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as the prior secondary soil improvement, had all been specially guided by Agricultural Technicians sent by Hailufeng Company.

Lin Yuan stood up. “Judging by the size of the heads, the yield should be around 2,400 jin per mu.”

Gu ManCang, who had also taken a soil sample, labeled the test tube and placed it in a special case before standing up and dusting the sandy soil from his hands.

Just then, a small truck driving along the concrete path by the field’s edge came to a sudden stop nearby. The window rolled down, and a bald, middle-aged man looked toward Zhang Dashan, who was wearing the straw hat.

“Hey there, is this broccoli for sale?”

Zhang Dashan turned his head and asked with a broad smile, “How much a jin?”