Chapter 168

Qing Mengzhu recalled the situation in the bamboo forest and quickly agreed, "No problem, we can still gather two hundred bamboo stalks, but we'll have to wait until next month to cut them down."

Duan Yu'ang smiled broadly, "Alright, then we'll come again next month."

The two quickly settled their plans for next month, Qing Mengzhu led Duan Yu'ang to sit down in the courtyard.

Before he could even settle into his seat, Duan Yu'ang continued, "Besides wanting to buy bamboo, I also wanted to ask you for help in cultivating new bamboo."

Qing Mengzhu paused in her tea-pouring motion. "New bamboo? Do you have any bamboo seedlings you'd like me to cultivate?"

Duan Yu'ang: "We don't have any bamboo seedlings, but we would like to ask you to cultivate this batch of bamboo to be more robust and flexible. In addition, we would like to purchase some plants for research."

Qing Mengzhu: "Buying bamboo seedlings is no problem, but cultivating bamboo in a specific way might be a bit difficult for me. I'm just a grower, not a research institution, and I'm not familiar with breeding."

Duan Yu'ang leaned forward slightly. "If we cultivate new bamboo seedlings, would you be willing to cooperate with us in planting them?"

Qing Mengzhu readily agreed, "That's no problem, as long as I'm not asked to breed, I should be able to handle everything else."

Qing Mengzhu already had a need to improve her planting skills, and cultivating bamboo would also improve her planting skills, killing two birds with one stone.

Duan Yu'ang had originally intended to offer him more conditions to negotiate, but he was surprised that he agreed so quickly. He paused for a moment, then said, "That's great."

Duan Yu'ang took out a stack of documents and said, "Our unit's base is in the border region. I heard that you run an agricultural company here and are a bit short of land. If you'd like, you can come and open a farm with us."

Qing Mengzhu: "Hmm, let me see."

Qing Mengzhu took the documents, opened them, and found that they contained information on several farms.

The difference is that their farms are not calculated by acres, but by hectares, and any farm there is hundreds of hectares of land.

One hectare is fifteen mu, so several hundred hectares would amount to several thousand or even tens of thousands of mu.

Qing Mengzhu quickly calculated in her mind how large this piece of land was—such a large piece of land would definitely require vehicles and agricultural machinery; manual labor alone simply could not cultivate this kind of land.

Qing Mengzhu continued reading.

It would be quite difficult for them to rent such a large farm as individuals.

The materials Duan Yu'ang brought, however, provided several farms as options, along with policy incentives, including support programs for agricultural machinery and agricultural products, and tax breaks.

Qing Mengzhu was immediately captivated upon seeing the document; the support it offered was truly remarkable.

Compared to the documents, the money they received from selling bamboo was just a drop in the ocean, and more importantly than money, the policy support was the most valuable asset.

It's not easy to get such strong policy support, even on a nationwide scale.

Qing Mengzhu looked up at Duan Yu'ang, overwhelmed with mixed feelings. Their department really didn't let ordinary people suffer.

Duan Yu'ang roughly knew what he was thinking and said with a smile, "President Qing, the bamboo you planted is fantastic. We welcome you to bring your company over and inject new vitality into our area."

Qing Mengzhu put away the documents and said solemnly, "I need to discuss this with my family. Thank you for helping us secure such a great deal."

Duan Yu'ang: "It's only right. You gave us such good bamboo; we can't let you suffer a loss."

Qing Mengzhu was even more moved. "I will also cooperate with you in planting bamboo. I will study hard and pay more attention to bamboo to try to grow stronger and more flexible bamboo!"

Duan Yu'ang: "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

At this point, Duan Yu'ang's expression turned serious. "Regarding the new batch of bamboo, I hope you can keep it confidential and not give the information to outsiders, and preferably not include it in the company's records. Also, I hope you won't sell this batch of bamboo to any third party."

Qing Mengzhu agreed, "Apart from the contract with President Pei, we don't have any other contracts. This batch of bamboo belongs to my family and isn't part of the company, so confidentiality shouldn't be a problem."

Duan Yu'ang: "Would it be alright if we needed to sign a supplementary agreement later?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Of course, but we hope we can negotiate the details of the agreement."

The two sides talked for a while and quickly reached an agreement.

Qing Mengzhu took Duan Yu'ang up the mountain to see the bamboo again.

He pointed out the mature bamboo to Duan Yu'ang, telling Duan Yu'ang roughly which bamboos to cut. He also pointed out the tender bamboo that had not yet grown, indicating that he would set aside a portion of these tender bamboos and send them to Duan Yu'ang for research and cultivation, so that they could cultivate new bamboo species based on the tender bamboos.

Duan Yu'ang wasn't very familiar with cultivation, but he could sense Qing Mengzhu's sincerity, so he readily agreed, saying that when he came back later to sign the supplementary agreement, he would bring people to cut bamboo and dig up tender bamboo.

As they parted, Duan Yu'ang shook hands with Qing Mengzhu again. "Thank you for your contributions to the country."

Qing Mengzhu hadn't expected to receive such a weighty remark, and was deeply moved. In the end, she could only solemnly reply, "I will do my best."

Duan Yu'ang smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

Chapter 168

As soon as Duan Yu'ang left, Qing Mengzhu told Ming Chunxi that she wanted to go see Ming Chunxi again.

Ming Chunxi told him to wait at home, saying he would ask for leave to come back.

Qing Mengzhu waited at home, and because he was so excited, he couldn't help pacing back and forth.

The two dogs watched him walk around and followed him, eventually playing with him.

When Ming Chunxi returned, she saw Qing Mengzhu playing with two dogs. The Dharma Protector and Guard were so excited that their barks became a little shrill, and Qing Mengzhu was also a little out of breath.

Hearing the courtyard gate open, Qing Mengzhu turned around abruptly and saw Ming Chunxi standing there. He rushed over and hugged Ming Chunxi tightly. "You'll never guess what I heard today!"

Ming Chunxi's hands firmly encircled his waist. "What did you hear?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Duan Yu'ang told me that he was grateful for my contributions to the country, and also told me that we could go to the border regions to contract land!"

Ming Chunxi patted his back. "Tell me slowly."

Qing Mengzhu repeated what Duan Yu'ang had said.

His eyes were bright, his expression excited, and finally he said, "I want to make a big splash right now!"

Ming Chunxi: "Dry."

Qing Mengzhu nuzzled Ming Chunxi's head. "Come inside and talk. I just searched and found several skill books. Come and take a look and see which one we should choose."

Ming Chunxi knew he would definitely buy skill books, but asked, "Several skill books?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes! They are intermediate planting skill books for Poaceae, Bambusoideae, and Moso bamboo, respectively. I found them when I was searching for information on planting bamboo."

Ming Chunxi: "What's the price difference?"

Qing Mengzhu opened the Interstellar Mall and showed it to Ming Chunxi: "The prices of these three skill books are 450,000, 150,000, and 80,000 respectively. There's no need for the intermediate planting skill book for Bambusoideae, and we don't plan to plant other bamboos for the time being. Right now, I'm struggling with the planting skill books for Poaceae and Moso bamboo."

With their current strength, they can raise 450,000 Star Coins, but it will be extremely difficult.

However, the Poaceae family is very large; Rice, corn, and wheat all belong to the Poaceae family. Most importantly, Qing Mengzhu had been trying to find a book on Rice cultivation techniques when she was planting Rice, but she couldn't find one.

He thought the Interstellar Mall didn't offer skill books for this kind of staple food, but it turned out they did offer them, they just hid them.

Furthermore, skill books have a cooldown period. If you buy the bamboo planting skill book this time, you will have to wait at least three months to buy another skill book.

Qing Mengzhu was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to find any planting skill books for grasses in three months, but if she did choose a grass planting skill book, it might not be very suitable for bamboo planting.