Xiangshui Tribute Rice not only cost 500 yuan per jin, but was also served at the Great Hall. However, it required such specific geographical conditions that the annual yield was tiny. Even most wealthy people couldn't get their hands on any.
There were even wild claims that the genuine Xiangshui Tribute Rice was guarded by the military and shipped straight to the capital as soon as it was harvested, with almost none reaching the outside world.
Outsiders didn't know whether that was true, but ordinary people couldn't eat it either. They also didn't understand why this rice was so expensive when it was just rice.
People had tried growing Xiangshui Tribute Rice seeds elsewhere, but the plants either failed to take root, or the flavor, texture, and nutritional value fell far short.
It was priced at 500 yuan per jin, but the market had already driven the price even higher. You really couldn't buy it for 500 yuan per jin.
Back in 2017, Jack Ma of Certain Cat had pulled some strings and managed to complete a transaction on Certain Cat for three portions of Xiangshui Tribute Rice, each packed in a small wine jar. Each portion went for over ten thousand yuan.
Qin Lin hadn't expected his game to let him grow this kind of rice. Everything produced by the game came with special attribute bonuses, and he wondered how this rice compared to ordinary Xiangshui Tribute Rice.
He immediately bought Xiangshui rice seeds, then controlled his Game Character to plant them in the paddy. Since it was a game, planting was simple.
Then he looked at a packet of Xiangshui Rice Seeds again.
[☆Xiangshui Rice Seed: Quality 1]
[This is a special rice variety, carefully selected through years of research, rigorous checks, and continuous refinement. When planted, it yields Xiangshui Tribute Rice! Modified by the game, it can be planted in any season. It has a chance to mutate and adapt to one change in its environment (Restriction: Game Seed)
Maturity time: 12 hours.]
One line in the description caught his attention: the seeds bought in the game had a chance to mutate and adapt to one change in their environment.
Did that mean that if he took these seeds outside and they mutated, there was a chance he could grow this tribute rice in Youcheng?
And would he call it Youcheng Tribute Rice or Qin Lin Tribute Rice?
The next morning.
Qin Lin harvested the okra, Chinese yams, and broccoli from his twenty-four plots of level-one farmland, the ripe strawberries from six plots of level-two farmland, and all the Quality 2 watermelons from his level-three farmland. Then he planted new seeds.
The strawberries in the other six plots of level-two farmland would ripen later, while the Xiangshui rice in the paddy wouldn't be ready until noon.
After delivering everything to the villa in several batches, Qin Lin found Chen Shengfei and Ma Liewen back at the villa.
"Boss Qin, has it arrived yet?" Ma Liewen was clearly in a hurry.
The night before, he'd experienced the effects of that stuff firsthand. With his wife away, he'd spent a miserable night.
"Mr. Ma, it probably won't arrive until noon." Qin Lin was deliberately keeping him waiting.
The goods were still in the game. He had a reason for delaying, so he asked, "Have either of you tried Xiangshui Tribute Rice?"
Ma Liewen nodded. "I have. It's really good, just hard to get."
Chen Shengfei asked curiously, "Boss Qin, don't tell me you've got some Xiangshui Tribute Rice?"
"I managed to get a little," Qin Lin replied with a smile. "Why don't you two try it at lunch and tell me if I've been fooled?"
That was exactly what he was after.
If people who'd tried Xiangshui Tribute Rice tasted it, they'd be able to tell the difference.
Chen Shengfei and Ma Liewen's eyes lit up at his words.
Chen Shengfei especially had eaten here twice. The dishes were excellent, the fruit delicious, and the fish was a real highlight. The rice, though, left something to be desired.
Now the boss had actually managed to get Xiangshui Tribute Rice. That would make the meal perfect.
As the three chatted, a middle-aged man entered the villa with a young man.
Looking at the visitors milling around, the young man said, "Director Chen, it's hard to believe a villa like this suddenly sprang up in Youcheng and became a hit online. Look how many visitors there are, and it's still early."
"It really is remarkable." The middle-aged man walked over to the fish pond. Quite a few people sat around it fishing, some with friends and others with their families. They were chatting excitedly, apparently saying that if they were lucky, they might catch wild fish from the pond with even better taste and nutritional value.
The middle-aged man nodded. They'd made a small fish pond feel full of anticipation. It was a clever idea that added a lot of fun.
The two continued on to the ticket booth for the Bougainvillea Sea.
"Welcome! How many tickets would you like?" the ticket seller asked with a friendly smile.
"Two," the middle-aged man said. As the ticket seller counted them out, he casually asked, "Miss, with so many visitors at this villa, you must sell a lot of tickets for the flower sea every day, right?"
The ticket seller didn't think much of it. Treating visitors like royalty, she answered honestly, "Quite a lot. We sold over 950 yesterday."
The middle-aged man's eyes lit up. No wonder the three big hotels in Youcheng had more guests lately.
Youcheng County had invested over 300 million yuan in three phases of construction on Daxia Valley, which it had carefully developed as a tourist attraction. Yet last year it had received only a little over 650,000 visitors, averaging just over 1,600 a day on ordinary days.
Now this villa had become a hit online thanks to a bougainvillea sea, and it was drawing nearly 1,000 visitors a day. The power of the internet really was incredible.
He just didn't know how long the villa would stay popular.
The ticket seller went on, "There might be even more today. At this time of the morning, we've already sold more tickets than yesterday. People online have been asking about reservations, and companies have wanted to buy group tickets, but our boss turned them down. We can't handle that many people."
"Uh..." The middle-aged man felt oddly stung by that. After collecting the tickets, he had them checked by the security guard and entered the flower sea.
The flower sea was already bustling. Visitors were taking pictures everywhere, a sight that made anyone envious.
The two had seen flower seas before. They'd even visited various ones in the city and Xiamen to inspect them, including quite a few bougainvillea gardens, so they knew the basics.
But as they ventured deeper, they were utterly stunned. How could they describe the flower sea before them? In more poetic terms, "At first sight, nothing else could hold your gaze."
More than that, seeing this flower sea made all the others they'd inspected seem utterly ordinary. At least those other gardens hadn't captured their attention at first glance or made them feel so carefree.
The central area was filled with laughter and chatter. Behind the railings, many visitors were teasing Little Squirrel.
There were a few more squirrels now, smaller ones that stayed close to the big squirrel.
The squirrels weren't afraid of people. When visitors brought out pine nuts, the squirrels all looked over. Some visitors put pine nuts on their shoulders, and the squirrels fearlessly jumped up to grab them. The visitors took pictures while they were at it.
The scene was warm and harmonious, making people reluctant to leave.
Of course, some visitors tried to catch the squirrels for closer pictures, but the security guards nearby would step in to stop them.
The middle-aged man himself fed the squirrels two pine nuts and was genuinely impressed. How had the villa trained them to be so tame? It was almost like they were free-ranging.
The two left the flower sea reluctantly. After seeing it, they were sure it would stay popular. Anyone who'd visited would want to come back when they had time, tell their friends, and bring them along.
The boss who'd created this flower sea was no ordinary person.
But once they were out, the middle-aged man looked at the villa's vast, empty stretches of land and its simple forest adventure course and grass-skiing facilities, and felt a pang of regret.
With so many visitors, how could they...
"Come on, let's go meet the owner!" the middle-aged man said in a hurry, heading toward the villa's main hall with the young man.
The area outside the main hall was just as lively. Many visitors had gathered around the stoves and barbecue grills provided for them, preparing to cook.
Inside the hall, the two men were drawn to two familiar figures: Chen Shengfei and Ma Liewen.
"Director Chen, those two really did come because of the villa," the young man said.
The middle-aged man nodded. Didn't that just prove how appealing the villa was?
He went straight to a staff member. "Miss, I'm Chen Li, Director of the Youcheng Tourism Bureau. Could you take me to meet your boss?"
Gao Yaoyao was clearly startled.
She was just an ordinary young woman and had never met an official before. She felt a little nervous.
Someone from the Tourism Bureau had come looking for them. Had something gone wrong at the villa?
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