Not content with just monitoring, Yun Zhaozhao made a schedule after returning to Clear Breeze Temple, and then had a few Daoist priests take turns going to stay with Grandpa Lin every night.
Anyway, Grandpa Lin rented an entire old house, so there were plenty of rooms available. The accommodations might be a little worse than the new Clear Breeze Temple, but the Daoist priests weren't picky about the accommodations, so changing places wasn't a big deal for them.
Yun Zhaozhao's actions were more of a deterrent. Consider it her overthinking things; after all, the cooperation agreement with Wen Xu's company had already been signed. If something went wrong at the farm, they would have to breach the contract and pay compensation, a consequence Yun Zhaozhao couldn't afford.
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With Yun Zhaozhao on her side maintaining strict vigilance, the agricultural base remained relatively peaceful.
On a perfectly peaceful autumn afternoon, someone from True Yang Pass finally delivered the treasures Yun Zhaozhao had been longing for. The first treasure was a beautifully crafted wall clock. On the hour, images of various Daoist deities would appear on the clock face, making it perfect for decorating the lobby of a guesthouse. Yun Zhaozhao loved it and gladly accepted the gift.
The second item was a mirror, which looked like a demon-revealing mirror, or perhaps a Bagua mirror. Yun Zhaozhao herself couldn't say for sure, and neither could the Daoist priest who delivered it. Later, Yun Zhaozhao checked the gift list given to her by Daoist Chuli and found that this mirror wasn't on the list, so she didn't know why True Yang Temple would go to such lengths to send this mirror over.
However, since True Yang Pass had sent it, it must be a good thing. So, after thinking it over, Yun Zhaozhao decided to hang the mirror at Grandpa Lin's old house. After all, Yun Zhaozhao had seen that many old houses would hang a mirror on the main gate, probably to ward off evil spirits. If others had it, Grandpa Lin had to have it too. Anyway, the guesthouse hadn't opened yet. If the mirror was just an ordinary mirror, that would be fine. But if it had any special effects, there would be plenty of time to bring it back and hang it at the guesthouse.
Its main selling point is flexibility!
Now, a Daoist priest from Clear Breeze Temple takes turns staying at Grandpa Lin's place every day, so Yun Zhaozhao directly handed over the task of hanging the mirror to the Daoist priest whose turn it was that day.
The Daoist priest had never seen this mirror before, and the other party was an honest person; upon receiving the mirror, he specifically asked, "Master, what use is this mirror?"
Yun Zhaozhao: "Someone came to steal fruit from the backyard of Clear Breeze Temple before, and we defeated magic with magic, so this time we need to use some magic to protect the farm. When you hang the mirror, if anyone asks, just say that this mirror is all-knowing and can see who has done what bad things, and scare them a little."
Daoist priest. "..."
Chapter 100
The Daoist priest who was staying at Grandpa Lin's place, as Yun Zhaozhao had requested, hung the mirror in front of Grandpa Lin's house and then spread rumors about the mirror's miraculous effects.
The villagers in this area aren't particularly educated, and the Clear Breeze Temple's somewhat mysterious reputation adds to the credibility of such rumors. After all, it's a Daoist temple; it's perfectly normal for it to have some hidden treasures, right?
Therefore, in the process of spreading the word privately, the villagers added many more embellishments to the mirror, giving it even more benefits.
Anyway, as the story spread, just like the longevity fruits in the backyard of Clear Breeze Temple, this mirror in the agricultural base also became a mirror that could reflect "past lives and present lives" and "the wickedness of human nature".
If it were just a mirror, the nearby villagers might not be so afraid. But the problem is that in addition to this mysterious mirror, the agricultural base has also installed surveillance cameras in front of and behind Grandpa Lin's house and increased manpower. So even if the nearby villagers had any bad ideas, by now they have completely dispelled those thoughts.
Several items, large and small, were sent over from True Yang Pass. Some had uses that Yun Zhaozhao could explain, such as a Yun Zhaozhao clock, while others had uses that she couldn't explain yet, such as a mirror. Yun Zhaozhao put all these items away, planning to use them after the guesthouse opened.
As autumn drew to a close that year, Clear Breeze Temple delivered a new batch of harvested grain to the canteen of the nearby agricultural university, and at the same time, settled the outstanding payment for the grain delivery from the previous trip.
Along with the final payment, the list of interns submitted by the agricultural university was also brought back.
Yun Zhaozhao isn't particularly interested in the final payment right now. After all, Clear Breeze Temple has already passed the initial stage of struggling to make ends meet. Now, Clear Breeze Temple has been expanding its industry and scale. Although it can't be said to be at its peak, it has long been on the right track. So compared to money, she is now more interested in the interns sent by the agricultural school.
Last time Xiao Yao and his group came, the agricultural school only sent three or four interns. But this time it's different; this time the school sent 15.
Yun Zhaozhao carefully examined the students' majors and discovered that in addition to traditional agricultural majors such as horticulture, tea science, and Chinese herbal medicine cultivation and maintenance, the school had also sent a student majoring in animal science this time.
Yun Zhaozhao looked at the animal science student and fell into deep thought—what could an animal science student be doing at a Daoist temple? Was he here to care for the stray cats?
Or should he go with Grandpa Lin to the agricultural base to care for the poultry?
Although she hadn't yet decided where to place the animal science students, Yun Zhaozhao was still full of anticipation for the arrival of these interns, to the point that she inexplicably felt time was passing a little slowly.
This group of interns arrived during that year's winter break.
Yun Zhaozhao is now very experienced in arranging work for interns. As soon as they arrived, she and Tang Li divided them into two groups based on their majors, and then assigned them to the agricultural base and Clear Breeze Temple respectively.
Furthermore, to ensure the safety of these students, each group of interns is arranged with male and female students in alternating accommodations. Simply put, the male dormitories are on both sides, and the female dormitories are in the middle.
The students at the agricultural base still live in the school dormitories, while the students from Clear Breeze Temple still live in the new section of Clear Breeze Temple.
After everyone else was settled, Yun Zhaozhao personally called the animal science student over for a face-to-face meeting.
This student's Zhao An.
Yun Zhaozhao asked Zhao An, "What do you mainly study in your animal science major?"
Zhao An had dark skin and a simple, honest appearance, but spoke in a refined manner, "Greetings, Abbot. Our major mainly studies animal husbandry and breeding."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "If it's for breeding, then arranging it at Clear Breeze Temple wouldn't be very suitable. After all, Clear Breeze Temple is full of stray cats, and the most important thing for stray cats is to get them spayed or neutered, not to breed them in large numbers. How about we arrange for you to go to the agricultural base? We raise all kinds of chickens, ducks, and geese there..."
After hesitating for a while, Zhao An finally mustered up his courage and said, "Chickens, ducks, geese, and other poultry are not actually my area of expertise. I studied sow care, including how to get a sow to give birth to dozens of piglets in one litter."
Yun Zhaozhao: "..." She's a talented person; we must make good arrangements for her.
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To be honest, Yun Zhaozhao herself couldn't understand why, before Zhao An came, she and Grandpa Lin had never thought of raising a few pigs.
Speaking of the canteen at Clear Breeze Temple, the amount of pork used is very large, even more so than meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products.
Previously, people at Clear Breeze Temple bought pork from nearby butchers.
Yun Zhaozhao later thought that it might be because pork prices hadn't been high in the past two years, especially when their demand was high, the purchase price could even be as low as 10 yuan, so she hadn't included pig farming in her plans before.
But things are different now. Now, Zhao An has come to Clear Breeze Temple. If we don't make good use of such a talent, that wouldn't be Yun Zhaozhao's style.
Yun Zhaozhao originally wanted to raise them herself, but firstly, Zhao An did not stay at Clear Breeze Temple for long, but only came to intern; secondly, if she raised them herself, she would definitely have to start from piglets and raise them to the point where they could have piglets, which would take at least a year and a half, so it was not worthwhile no matter how you looked at it.
So Yun Zhaozhao discussed it with Grandpa Lin and posted a notice at the entrance of Clear Breeze Temple, saying that an expert in animal science had come to Clear Breeze Temple, specializing in sow care and postpartum care, and that people could contact Clear Breeze Temple if needed.
Although Grandpa Lin had never raised pigs, quite a few families in the nearby village did. So, after the notice was posted, someone actually contacted Yun Zhaozhao not long after.
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The person who contacted Yun Zhaozhao was a villager from the neighborhood named Wang Dafu. He and his wife used to work in other places, but recently, as they got older, they became homesick and returned to the village to raise a few pigs to raise piglets to sell for money.
Wang Dafu had initially thought raising pigs was simple—just feeding them every day—but it turns out that these days everything requires scientific knowledge. Because, even among pig farmers, some can have ten or eight offspring from a single pig, while others might only have two or three at most. With prices remaining constant, production equals sales. So, after seeing the notice posted at Clear Breeze Temple, Wang Dafu tried contacting Yun Zhaozhao.
Yun Zhaozhao didn't hide anything from Wang Dafu and directly arranged for Zhao An and Wang Dafu to meet together. Then she explained Zhao An's situation to Wang Dafu in detail.
Although Zhao An majored in animal science and researched sow care and postpartum care, he was still a student and lacked experience.
So if Wang Dafu trusts him, Yun Zhaozhao can arrange for Zhao An to help Wang Dafu. The only requirement is that if the sows on Wang Dafu's side can produce more than 10 piglets in one litter, then Wang Dafu needs to send a piglet to Clear Breeze Temple as payment.