Chapter Summaries

Blue Whale 1001’s trial cargo route between Minqin and Wei City proved far cheaper than road freight, while Hai Lu Feng Company expanded plans for a domestic airship network. The chapter left Minqin’s new residents benefiting from cheaper imported fruit and water-recycling upgrades as the region prepared to conserve scarce freshwater.

• Wan Gaofeng reviewed Blue Whale 1001’s trial-flight costs and found its freight charges far below road transport.
• Blue Whale 1001 completed eleven round trips between Minqin and Wei City in eight days, carrying 4,180 tons of cargo.
• Hai Lu Feng Company planned an independent airship aviation system and prepared to establish Universal Airport Group with outside investment.
• Zhang Xiangdong and Su Xiaomei laid Manila hemp carpet in their home and discussed how airship deliveries had lowered fruit prices.
• Minqin’s wastewater system recycled household water, and nearby regions began planning similar upgrades to reduce freshwater use.

Shanmei continued its fire ant eradication campaign as water system upgrades spread across the Northwest, sparking online debates about pesticides and recycled tap water. The chapter ended with the upgrades moving ahead despite public concerns, as water-scarce communities and industries sought relief from shortages and poor water quality.

• Hai Lu Feng Company's Fertilizer and Agriculture Division used pheromone repellents, bait, and pesticide drones to eradicate fire ants across Shanmei, advancing about one town per week.
• Online commenters argued over whether the fire ant campaign was cruel or posed risks to people, crops, and the ecosystem, while local residents and experts defended it.
• Gan Province began upgrading water systems in eight cities, and residents noticed clearer, sweeter tap water with less alkaline taste and scale.
• Netizens debated whether purified wastewater should return to tap water networks, while residents in water-scarce regions largely accepted the tradeoff.
• Northwest cities continued their water system upgrades, and water-intensive chemical companies sought partnerships with Minqin Group.

Blue Whale No. 1002 completed its first long-haul cargo run from Jerim to Qiongzhou and returned north with tropical goods, while its arrival brought cheaper northern meat to local stores. Lao Wu bought the new products for his family and learned that a planned airport road might be rerouted near his old house.

• Airship No. 1002 flew 3,189 kilometers from Jerim Airport to Qiongdong Coastal Airport, delivering 177 tons of frozen beef and mutton at a low transport cost.
• Local residents watched the airship unload, and taxi driver A Wei explained its route and costs before deciding to apply for an airport tractor-driver job.
• Airship No. 1002 loaded eight containers of abaca products and tropical fruit, then departed Qiongzhou for its return flight north.
• Lao Wu bought brisket, short ribs, lamb, and dried Snow Peas at the Hai Lu Feng Warehouse Supermarket, where northern meat attracted many customers.
• Lao Wu's family praised the meat at dinner, and Wu Xiu Yue explained that the city planned a new six-lane road to Qiongdong Airport that might be rerouted near Lao Wu's old house.

With the second airship beginning trial service, Hai Lu Feng Company and Southern Jiangxi authorities pushed ahead with airship infrastructure to support local industries and improve transport. The chapter left the region preparing a major airship hub, county airports, and a ship-transfer base, backed by company investment and readily available bank loans.

• The Gannan Branch expanded contracted cultivation of pesticide herbs, with Hai Lu Feng Company planning to grow the number of participating households from 1,736 to more than 5,000 and diversify production across the country.
• The Gannan Branch agreed with local authorities to build a large airship airport near Xihua Township and planned to buy five Blue Whale Type 1 Airships.
• Southern Jiangxi counties worked with Hai Lu Feng Company to choose mountain sites for small airship airports designed to move containers around poor road networks.
• Hai Lu Feng Company planned a lift-transfer base near the Gan River in Dayu County, where airships could carry inland cargo vessels past canal locks.
• Local authorities accelerated land acquisition and road upgrades, while Hai Lu Feng Company funded supporting facilities through loans that major banks readily approved.

Jiang Miao and Hai Lu Feng Company’s leadership reviewed the company’s strong year-end finances and discussed expanding agricultural production in water-scarce Liangzhou. The chapter ended with the group considering how greenhouse cultivation, Fairy Bean Soybean, and normal-temperature drying could recover water and support larger-scale farming.

• Ye Meijing presented Hai Lu Feng Company’s year-end finances, reporting 857.9 billion yuan in revenue, a 28.7% gross profit margin, and 75.6 billion yuan in outstanding loans.
• Jiang Miao and the executives discussed how the company’s integrated industrial chains and sales channels had helped it grow while competing with major e-commerce platforms.
• Lu Weibin explained Liangzhou’s water shortages and the company’s plans for Sha Cong greenhouses, while Zhang Chengdong described research into the Hong Cao Town Freeze-Dried Food Factory’s Normal Temperature Drying Technology.
• Jiang Miao proposed connecting vegetable and fruit greenhouses with Fairy Bean Soybean greenhouses so the soybeans could absorb moisture from the air and their root masses could later be processed for reusable water.
• Zhang Chengdong estimated that the combined greenhouse system could expand cultivation within Liangzhou’s water quota, and Lu Weibin agreed to establish an experimental base.
• Jiang Miao raised the need for specialized airships to transport dehydrated produce, prompting the executives to discuss cargo capacity.

Jiang Miao set Hai Lu Feng Company's year-end pay, performance bonuses, and dividends, then approved a share split to accommodate future growth. The company announced that current employees' Virtual Shares would be multiplied by ten next year, while next year's new hires would receive a smaller allocation.

• Song Yang reported that Hai Lu Feng Company would have about 201.7 billion yuan in revenue remaining after loans, taxes, and other expenses, and Lu Mingli said the company had 114,728 internal employees.
• Jiang Miao approved an extra month's salary and performance bonuses, and Song Yang reported that performance payouts would total 3.78553 billion yuan.
• Jiang Miao set this year's dividend at five yuan per Virtual Share, prompting excitement among managers and employees.
• Jiang Miao announced a share split to raise the total number of shares from 10 billion to 100 billion, and Wang Haochen explained that existing shares would become ten shares each next year.
• Jiang Miao kept next year's allocation standard for current employees but reduced the allocation for people joining next year, and the company's instructions quickly spread through the management team.
• Hai Lu Feng Company's dividends and bonuses sparked heated discussion online.

Lion Mountain Agricultural University students discussed Hai Lu Feng's surging profits, employee pay, and upcoming internship opportunities as its annual report made headlines. The company’s rise and newly released GDP figures fueled online debate at home and abroad, while foreign users questioned the official exchange-rate picture and sought other ways to verify economic realities.

• Jin Zhe Kai and Liu Meng'an discussed Hai Lu Feng's salaries, dividends, and plan to dilute virtual shares for new employees next year.
• After seeing Hai Lu Feng's 2027 financial report, Liu Meng'an decided to ask the class advisor about an internship, while Fang Yulong explained his own placement at the Gannan Branch.
• A business creator reported that Hai Lu Feng had become the world's second-largest agricultural group by revenue and predicted it could overtake Company C the following year.
• Online commenters debated Hai Lu Feng's growth, employee dividends, and its expanding businesses.
• Domestic departments released fourth-quarter GDP figures showing 8.7% growth and annual growth of 6.6%, prompting domestic and foreign users to argue over the figures and the yuan-dollar exchange rate.
• Many Europeans and Americans increasingly turned to online fact-checking to assess conditions in Seres and America.

Jiangxin Shipyard tested five lightweight electric cargo ships with Blue Whale No. 3001 to see whether an airship could lift them safely. All five passed the initial and overload tests, and the company planned full-load trials between the Gan River and the North River.

• Li Guangjian and Duan Guohua launched five experimental cargo ships built with different weight-reduction plans, and initial checks found their systems working properly.
• Blue Whale No. 3001 arrived at Jiangxin Shipyard, where Hu Renbo and the shipyard team began lifting tests with the experimental ships.
• The airship carried Experimental Ship One through repeated tests at increasing payloads, while inspectors checked the hull and cable fixtures for damage.
• Over five days, the ships passed full-load and overload testing; Li Guangjian warned that routine overloading could weaken their structures.
• Hu Renbo arranged full-load lifting tests between the Gan River and the North River for a week later, and Li Guangjian agreed to send ten technicians.
• Jiang Miao reviewed the report and found that short-distance airship lifts could cost about 300 to 500 yuan per trip and take roughly half an hour.

Blue Whale Airship Company’s airships demonstrated their value in construction and specialized freight, including a test flight carrying a loaded ship over the Dayu Mountain Range. The chapter ended with Experimental Ship No. 1 sailing past stunned boatmen in the North River’s upper reaches.

• Airship No. 3001 delivered 2,700 tons of rebar to a construction site near Xihua Township, and Zhang Hongchang compared the airship’s cost and speed with river transport.
• Blue Whale Airship Company’s specialized airships attracted heavy demand from the Power Construction Group and other companies transporting oversized equipment and materials to remote projects.
• Blue Whale No. 3001 flew to Dayu County, where Experimental Ship No. 1 waited with specially secured containers after unloading rebar.
• Blue Whale No. 3001 lifted the loaded Experimental Ship No. 1 over the Dayu Mountain Range and set it down in the upper reaches of the North River.
• Two brothers watched in disbelief as Experimental Ship No. 1 sailed past their vessel towing seventy-three containers.

Blue Whale No. 3001’s low-cost ship-lifting service led Hai Lu Feng Company to plan a cable-car route across the mountains, while airship technology reshaped mining and navigation plans. Blue Whale Airship Company relocated its headquarters to Wei City, where Wan Gaofeng prepared to promote airship-assisted navigation on the Yellow River.

• Blue Whale No. 3001 carried Experimental Ship No. 1 over the Dayu Mountain Range at a low cost, and Hai Lu Feng Company planned a cable-car route to transport pilots between the river service stations.
• Surveyors examined a route across Youluo Ridge, while the Logistics Division considered using airships to lift cable-car construction materials into the mountains.
• At Duolong Copper Mine, Zhang Baijie and the mine managers agreed to revise their development plans and pursue airship transport for supplies and copper ore.
• Jiang Miao agreed to Wan Gaofeng’s proposal to relocate Blue Whale Airship Company’s headquarters from Shanmei to Wei City.
• After receiving an invitation to a Yellow River waterway symposium, Wan Gaofeng asked Huang Qinxin to prepare a presentation on combining airships with river navigation, then traveled to Minqin to plan the factory’s second-phase expansion.

At a roundtable in Yichuan County, Wan Gaofeng promoted Blue Whale’s airships and discussed whether they could support navigation along the Yellow River. The conference then turned to a proposed plan to retain water in the river’s middle reaches, leaving sediment buildup and ecological risks unresolved.

• Wan Gaofeng met Li Guowei and several academicians at the Hukou Waterfall Scenic Area roundtable.
• Wan Gaofeng presented Blue Whale Type 3’s ability to lift vessels weighing up to 2,750 tons and explained the limits of transporting older, loaded ships.
• Wan Gaofeng raised concerns that unstable Yellow River water levels could undermine plans to make the Jin-Shaan Grand Canyon navigable.
• Academician Hu described a proposal to retain water in the Yellow River’s middle reaches and pump fresh water from near the river mouth back toward Huayuankou.
• The attendees debated how intercepting the water would worsen sediment deposition and affect local ecosystems, with no resolution reached.

Minqin Environmental Protection expanded its sludge-recycling business across Wei City and Chang'an, extracting energy and heavy metals while negotiating wastewater treatment deals with industrial companies. The chapter ended with Hai Lu Feng Company’s growing role in aerospace and its plans to seek raw materials beyond Earth.

• Minqin Environmental Protection workers cleared Wei City's sewers, and residents discussed the company’s one-yuan annual contract to recycle sludge.
• Minqin Environmental Protection processed sludge into electricity, biogas, fertilizer, and heavy-metal mineral blocks, while surveying the Wei River for pollution.
• Mo Tiancheng toured Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile’s wastewater workshop with Ye Shouye and arranged cooperation that would lower treatment costs and recover heavy metals.
• Minqin Environmental Protection expanded into industrial regions, where its Meilong Town subsidiary recovered gold and silver from river sludge.
• Hai Lu Feng Company pursued aerospace partnerships and considered extraterrestrial mining as a way to secure industrial raw materials.

Changli County’s seawater desalination plant received approval for land reclamation, but its managers worried that rising water recycling and unfinished pipelines would limit production. The chapter explained Hai Lu Feng Company’s plan to use sealed crude-salt tanks to reclaim coastal land in Gan'en City, where testing continued alongside other proposals for addressing northern China’s water needs.

• Dong Weihua received approval for the Changli County plant’s land reclamation project and celebrated the decision with Ren Fangyuan.
• Dong Weihua noted that the plant could not yet operate at full capacity because local demand was limited and transmission pipelines remained unfinished.
• Ren Fangyuan explained that improved purification and water recycling had reduced Beijing’s demand for desalinated seawater and weakened interest in expanding water transmission.
• Hai Lu Feng Company planned to store desalination byproduct in sealed Silicon Soy Silk concrete tanks and use them to reclaim coastal land in Gan'en City.
• The chapter described Gan'en City’s six plants as capable of producing about 28 million tons of crude salt and reclaiming roughly 2,000 mu of land each year.
• Salt-rock reclamation technology underwent testing on Gan'en City’s coast while experts also proposed restoring ancient lakes to increase North China’s water storage.

Li Yunpeng’s team tested a spherical photovoltaic airship and confirmed it could generate electricity efficiently in the stratosphere. After Dr. Ai Sika warned that dense deployment could affect the climate, Jiang Miao named the new airship type “Jellyfish.”

• Hai Lu Feng Company received approval for an offshore airport at Ma Gong Town, designed to combine sea-air logistics with indoor aquaculture.
• Hou Xin discussed the new spherical airship with Li Yunpeng, who stayed in Minqin to oversee its first flight test.
• Li Yunpeng’s team launched the airship to 18,000 meters, adjusted its photovoltaic panels toward the sun, and connected its power cable to the ground system.
• The team recorded 43,158 kilowatt-hours of electricity from the airship’s first day of testing.
• Dr. Ai Sika warned Li Yunpeng that dense stratospheric photovoltaic deployment could alter the climate and that transmitting space-generated power to Earth could add dangerous energy to the atmosphere.
• Jiang Miao emailed Li Yunpeng and named the spherical airship type “Jellyfish,” noting its potential uses in power generation, communications, detection, and climate monitoring.

Jiang Miao and Shu Ya toured the employee district with their daughter and discussed Hero Dairy’s fast-growing infant formula business. They visited Hai Lu Feng’s Western Fast Food pilot, where Jiang Miao learned how the company’s waste-oil recycling supported its restaurant operations and wider industrial ecosystem.

• Jiang Miao and Shu Ya walked through the employee housing district with their daughter and security detail as the New Year approached.
• Shu Ya asked Jiang Miao about Hero Dairy’s infant formula sales, and he explained its growing market share, low prices, and production advantages.
• Shu Ya spotted a Western Fast Food restaurant, and Jiang Miao admitted he had not known the company was testing Western fast-food outlets.
• Jiang Miao’s family and security team ordered food, and Jiang checked that the restaurant used company-produced ingredients and fresh frying shortening.
• Jiang Miao asked the manager how the restaurant handled used shortening, and the manager explained that it was collected for Hai Lu Feng’s biodiesel operations.
• Jiang Miao’s account described how the company connected food processing, restaurant waste collection, and biodiesel production while expanding its external business ecosystem.

Jiang Miao learned how Fengmei Delivery was testing drones and an overhead rail system to move food and goods around Shanmei. He favored the rail system’s safety and efficiency but let Fengmei continue testing both approaches.

• Jiang Miao watched a Fengmei Delivery drone collect an order and asked Li Zixuan about its routes and safety problems.
• Li Zixuan explained that Fengmei’s drone trials faced costly communications infrastructure, crash risks, and increasing collision danger, while Jiang Miao proposed using Communication Airships and Silicon Soy Silk interception nets.
• Jiang Miao questioned the safety of rooftop routes and road-spanning nets, and Li Zixuan described Fengmei’s alternative overhead rail delivery project.
• Li Zixuan explained that the rail system could use lightweight cable cars on dedicated routes, and Jiang Miao assessed its costs, delivery benefits, and potential to complement suburban drones.
• Jiang Miao concluded that large companies should invest in multiple technological approaches, so he supported testing both drones and overhead rail delivery.

Jiang Miao returned to Xinxiang for the New Year, where he assessed a young relative with a serious heart condition and proposed a precise treatment plan. He and Shu Ya also decided to establish the One Family Charitable Foundation, while Jiang Miao left his uncle unimpressed by offering his idle sons only entry-level farm work in Liangzhou.

• Jiang Xin returned to Xinxiang and caught up with Jiang Meng and Jiang Sen, who described their work at Hai Lu Feng Company.
• Jiang Miao examined Jiang Da Bin’s grandson, agreed that the child needed intervention for hereditary Long QT Syndrome, and planned a specialized nerve procedure with a pacemaker as backup.
• Shu Ya proposed a foundation for children with severe and rare diseases, and Jiang Miao agreed to establish the One Family Charitable Foundation with an initial contribution of one billion yuan.
• Jiang Miao explained to Jiang Dahe that his sons, Jiang Feng and Jiang Hua, could start with entry-level farm work in Liangzhou, and Jiang Dahe left without agreeing.

Hai Lu Feng Company’s woody sugarcane harvesting in Da Xin County brought farmers immediate income and showed how its low-cost process could reshape the sugar industry. As farmers sought planting quotas and traditional cane lost its market, the chapter left the company’s agricultural revolution spreading across China and unsettling global industries.

• Li Xiao’s purchasing team extracted sugar liquid from Fang Dakuan’s two mu of woody sugarcane, processed it into raw sugar, and paid for 671.4 jin at one yuan per jin.
• Fang Dakuan decided he wanted to plant more woody sugarcane, while the village’s harvesting teams delivered 537 tons of raw sugar to Hu Cheng Sugar Industry.
• Fang Jianqiang told Fang Shuangde that the first-year yield was modest but that woody sugarcane could earn more as it matured, and urged him to register to plant it.
• Farmers and sugar mills across the region began shifting from traditional sugarcane to woody sugarcane or other crops as Hai Lu Feng Company expanded its planting quotas and production capacity.
• International sugar futures plunged as markets anticipated a vast increase in sugar production, while authorities began redirecting farmers away from declining crops and expanding nature reserves.
• Southeast Asian producers grew alarmed as Hai Lu Feng Company’s agricultural and industrial advances threatened markets around the world.

Tian Huiwen considered how Hu Cheng Sugar Industry could expand beyond sugar and discovered that Polylactic Acid Plastic might turn white sugar into a competitive biodegradable material. After learning that the Mo Nan Branch had already developed an inulin-based PLA process, he planned to seek technical support for producing PLA from sucrose.

• Tian Huiwen discussed the cost and distribution challenges of launching Hu Cheng Wood Sugarcane Cola with Miao Caie over New Year's Eve dinner.
• Tian Huiwen considered entering the alcohol industry but rejected it because company rules barred alcoholic beverages and sugar-based ethanol was too expensive.
• Tian Huiwen used AI to identify Polylactic Acid Plastic as a potential use for Hu Cheng Sugar Industry's white sugar.
• Tian Huiwen called Zhang Chengdong and learned that the Mo Nan Branch could produce one ton of PLA from 1.43 tons of inulin, but its specially bred bacteria might not process sucrose efficiently.
• Tian Huiwen decided to visit headquarters after the Spring Festival to seek support for developing sucrose-based PLA, which he believed could compete with conventional plastics and address disposable plastic and agricultural mulch problems.

During his Spring Festival visits, Kong Keji inspected Laboratory 206’s fungal-grown artificial wood and advised Shi Hao’s team on cutting costs and developing marketable products. He then visited Laboratory 209, where Gan Zhiyu showed him high-conductivity carbon nanotube wire that still faced high production costs.

• Kong Keji visited Laboratory 206 and learned from Shi Hao how fungi bonded bamboo fibers into artificial wood.
• Kong Keji tested the wood’s strength, hardness, water resistance, and flammability, then told Shi Hao that its high cost made it difficult to compete with natural timber.
• Kong Keji advised Shi Hao’s team to explore furniture-shaped growth, colors and patterns, aromatic wood, flame retardants, and flooring applications, and suggested a pilot flooring factory in Southern Jiangxi.
• Kong Keji watched combustion tests and viewed products made from the artificial wood before leaving to visit other laboratories.
• Gan Zhiyu showed Kong Keji carbon nanotube wire with conductivity nearly forty-eight times that of copper, and explained that high-purity materials and low yields kept production costs high.
• Kong Keji encouraged Gan Zhiyu to keep improving the production process.