"Chenghuang Oasis Company has leased 3,000 mu of desert in North Africa!"
"Mysterious new company Chenghuang Oasis makes a big investment to rent the Sahara Desert!"
"How can renting a desert make money? Chenghuang Oasis Company's motives are a mystery!"
These days, as long as something was associated with the words "Chenghuang," it came with its own traffic. The slightest stir would send the media rushing to report on it, and news soon appeared online.
Onlookers gathered to watch the spectacle, and opinions varied wildly.
"Chenghuang Oasis Company? It's probably some shady knockoff company riding on the name, right?"
"Did they lease the desert to mine something? I heard there are plenty of minerals in the desert, but I've never heard of this company. Why isn't a major mining company getting involved?"
"Reselling sand? North Africa just finished a war, and many cities need sand for reconstruction? That doesn't sound right either. Sand can't be worth anything in that place!"
"Could this be some new money-laundering scheme? These money-laundering companies really need to be regulated!"
"The company information says it's an agricultural company. Could they be planning to grow crops in the desert?"
"Growing crops would be hilarious. You can only grow loneliness in the Sahara Desert. Even an idiot knows that not a blade of grass grows there."
The netizens did not pay much attention. Some guessed that the company intended to grow crops, but they were quickly mocked by everyone, and the topic gradually died down.
At the same time the news broke, Xia Wansan had already received more than a dozen vaccine shots. He boarded a plane bound for North Africa and traveled thousands of miles to prepare the way.
Ling Yiyi and Pu Songchun headed to North Africa a few days later and met up with Xia Wansan. The three young founders of Chenghuang Oasis Company formally ventured deep into the endless desert and began their life of drinking sand and growing crops.
The 3,000 mu of experimental fields in the Sahara Desert were not connected. Instead, they were scattered across six countries. They could not put all their eggs in one basket, so they had to test the yields of Desert-to-Soil Conversion farmland in different locations and prepare for expanding the scope of their leases.
The experimental fields were naturally not in the heart of the desert, but at the boundary between the desert and barren soil. At such locations, the sand did not flow like ocean waves, and a little adhesive was enough to fix it in place. Towns also lay within a few dozen kilometers, making this the farthest point where reclaiming land for cultivation was feasible.
The sea and land transport routes for Ling Bacteria Adhesive had not yet been established, so they could only use air transport. One plane after another departed from home and followed the Middle East route to North Africa, their holds packed with Ling Bacteria Adhesive and fertilizer. Insecticide was not needed for the time being, since there were no swarms of insects nearby to chew on vegetables. There were, however, plenty of snakes and scorpions, so antivenom had to be prepared.
Ling Yiyi, Pu Songchun, and Xia Wansan were responsible for overseeing the overall operation. Two teams handled the actual labor.
One team consisted mainly of college students and vegetable farmers recruited from major agricultural universities and vegetable-growing bases across the country. They were responsible for grunting and sweating as they planted the crops.
The other team consisted mainly of discharged soldiers, personnel recommended by the shareholders of several state-owned enterprises. Once they arrived, they were issued guns and formed the Security Team. They were even equipped with Reconnaissance-Strike Drones and mortars. After all, the war had only just ended, and stray bandits might appear. When there was no enemy activity, the Security Team also helped with odd jobs such as hauling fertilizer sacks, catching snakes, driving people around, and lighting fires to cook.
The first task at the experimental fields was drilling wells. A domestic construction company already had personnel stationed in the area, and once they were paid, they arrived at top speed. In just a few days, they had finished drilling deep wells. The Groundwater was abundant enough to irrigate the farmland.
Once they had water, they immediately began Desert-to-Soil Conversion. Sack after sack of Ling Bacteria Adhesive was poured into the yellow sand and mixed with water, turning vast expanses of loose sand into thick sludge. After waiting two days to observe the soil and confirming that its condition was good, they immediately began sowing!
The first crops planted were all leafy greens. Some small shrubs were also planted along the edges of the farmland to block the wind and sand.
White plastic mulch covered the farmland. Water evaporated from the soil, coated the plastic with droplets, and then continuously dripped back down.
The three top scholars flew from one experimental field to another every day. They slept as soon as they boarded the plane and got to work as soon as they landed, rushing around in a constant frenzy.
Song He received photos and reports from the students every day. It was clear that the conditions were truly harsh. On windy days, yellow sand rolled everywhere. Ling Yiyi sent a photo of herself prodding a dead snake with a wooden stick, while Xia Wansan's photo was even more shocking: Pu Songchun sat cross-legged beside a skeleton, eyes closed as he murmured prayers to send the dead soul on its way.
"Where did those human bones come from?" Song He asked.
"We dug them up while cultivating the fields. We found several bodies in a few of the experimental fields. There were bones, as well as partially fleshed corpses. They were all dried out, hard as beef jerky." Xia Wansan explained.
Song He could only exclaim in amazement. The conditions were far worse than expected. No wonder the lease fees were so cheap. Who could endure having the sand filled with corpses? Every time they dug, they found another one without a sound.
When they had first arrived in the desert, the students still looked like students. After only a week, they were no different from vegetable farmers. Their faces had been scorched dark and red by the sun, their clothes were covered in a thin layer of pale salt crystals, and their shoes and pants were caked with mud and sand. Their irregular schedules also left them looking especially haggard.
Even so, all three top scholars smiled especially brightly whenever they took photos, because the vegetables in the fields were growing vigorously. Many of the strongest plants had pushed through the plastic mulch, their emerald leaves glistening under the sunlight. You could almost sense how crisp and delicious they would be just by looking at the pictures.
Time flew, and before they knew it, a month had passed.
The photos from the site looked almost miraculous. Rolling yellow sand stretched in every direction, yet a vast expanse of lush green vegetable fields lay in the middle. Anyone lost in the desert who saw it from afar would surely think it was a mirage—or that thirst had driven them to hallucinate.
With the inspection period approaching, the employees of Chenghuang Oasis Company began secretly carrying out one task: killing the vegetables!
They destroyed large quantities of the vigorously growing crops, pulling some out by the roots and letting others die of drought. They ruthlessly stripped the leaves from the rest. In just two days, the yields of all the experimental fields had plunged by forty percent.
The reason for killing the vegetables was simple: they wanted to secure a better price during the negotiations that followed.
The 3,000 mu of experimental fields had been a great success. The yield per mu was already close to that of ordinary vegetable fields, and the entire company was extremely excited. Song He decided to expand aggressively. Before the North African countries realized the potential of Desert-to-Soil Conversion farmland, he would quickly lease an astronomical amount of land. Every bit they could save on the lease fees mattered.
Soon, the first batch of vegetables was harvested and the figures were compiled and submitted.
The second round of negotiations for leasing desert land began.
Song He expected this round of negotiations to drag on for a long time, because the area he wanted was simply too large. Unexpectedly, the North African countries were desperate to make money. In just three days, they approved the lease contract at top speed and formally signed it!
The final contract was so favorable that Song He almost felt as if he were bullying them. But one party was willing to strike and the other was willing to take it, so all he could say was that both sides had won.
"Chenghuang Oasis Company leases 2 million mu of desert in North Africa for terms of 60 to 99 years!"
"Multiple North African countries announce desert agriculture development plans and designate 20 million mu as agricultural zones!"
"Chenghuang Oasis Company receives extraterritorial jurisdiction protection from multiple North African countries!"
"Desert agriculture? Chenghuang Oasis makes a massive land grab, with leases lasting up to 99 years!"
"Ten yuan per mu per year? Chenghuang Oasis Company leases desert at rock-bottom prices!"
News erupted in rapid succession and quickly surged onto the trending searches!
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