Chapter 241

Zhao Hexi looked at Ming Chunxi sitting next to him. "Chunxi, are you going?"

Ming Chunxi: "We have a project that's reached a critical stage, so I won't be going. I'll wait for you at home."

Zhao Hexi looked at Qing Mengzhu: "Then the two of us will go."

Qing Mengzhu: "You go first, I'll have to wait two more days. The people on the Rice side are sending me videos every day, so there's no problem yet, no need to rush."

Zhao Hexi stretched and said, "I'll go first. The tomatoes are ripe, we can't wait any longer, there are so many details I need to finalize."

Zhao Hexi went to Ye'erqingele soon, while Qing Mengzhu went two days later.

When Qing Mengzhu arrived, the person in charge there Ge Yutian, came to greet him. As soon as they met, he said, "President Qing, Manager Zhao said he needs to see you. Come over later and we'll meet up."

Qing Mengzhu was completely bewildered. She pulled out her phone and asked, "What's wrong? Why didn't he just tell me directly?"

Qing Mengzhu opened WeChat and, sure enough, there was a message from Zhao Hexi.

It's possible that when Zhao Hexi called him, he was on a plane and couldn't get through, so Zhao Hexi sent him WeChat instead.

Qing Mengzhu glanced at the list and learned that Zhao Hexi had his eye on a sunflower farm and wanted to discuss it with him. He said he would come to see him later.

"What does this have to do with sunflowers?" Qing Mengzhu asked, puzzled. "Why are there suddenly plans to plant sunflowers?"

Ge Yutian just smiled and didn't say anything.

Zhao Hexi quickly found her, panting as she squeezed onto the car. "Mengzhu!"

Qing Mengzhu handed him a wet wipe for wiping his face. "What's wrong? Didn't you go to inspect a tomato sauce factory? How did you get involved with sunflowers?"

Zhao Hexi: "It's not that I'm involved with sunflowers, it's that they came to me."

Qing Mengzhu: "Who's looking for you?"

Zhao Hexi: "The owner of the sunflowers."

Zhao Hexi gulped down a whole bottle of mineral water before saying, "Didn't we rent two farms here this year and hire a lot of people?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "And then?"

Zhao Hexi: "Locals say we're wealthy and powerful, and our employees say we're honest and kind, with a well-regulated and humane system. In short, we have a pretty good reputation here. A sunflower grower heard about us and contacted me, saying he wanted to sell his sunflowers to us."

Qing Mengzhu did some calculations. "Is it spring sunflower or autumn sunflower? Neither crop is ready for harvest yet, right?"

Zhao Hexi: "Should it be considered autumn sunflower? His farm is in the next city, where the climate is warmer and more humid than here. He planted winter wheat at the time, and only planted sunflowers after harvesting that."

Qing Mengzhu: "They were just planted not long ago, why do you suddenly want to sell them?"

Zhao Hexi: "I heard that the business owner was having cash flow problems, and since we have a tradition of buying crops from others along the way, the owner came to us."

Zhao Hexi: "I specifically asked my peers, and the price they offered was quite favorable, about 80% of the market price. Their sunflower farm also has a good location and water resources. If we rent it, we could earn tens to hundreds of thousands of yuan from this one crop of sunflowers."

That sounds good. Qing Mengzhu, "You contact that boss, and I'll go take a look myself tomorrow."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow. If it seems promising, we'll talk about it; if not, forget it."

Qing Mengzhu first went to the farm to check on the Rice.

The growing conditions here are good; the Rice is growing well, with thick stems and leaves, and there are few pests or diseases. If this trend continues, we're sure to have a bumper harvest.

Qing Mengzhu looked at the newly sprouted spikelets. They hadn't bloomed yet, but with the wind so strong here, even if they did bloom, the pollination should be quite good, even without using drones to fan the air for pollination.

After sampling and inspecting several points in the rice paddies, Qing Mengzhu said, "The water can be increased a little more, just enough to fill the paddies to five centimeters. The current water level is a bit low, which is not conducive to tillering."

Ge Yutian quickly wrote it down, "We had previously filled the field with five centimeters of water, but these past two days I saw that the field was almost dry, so I had someone drain some of it."

Drying the paddy fields involves draining all the water from the Rice fields, exposing the soil to dry in the sun.

This helps suppress ineffective tillering while promoting root growth in Rice, thus increasing its resistance to lodging.

Qing Mengzhu explained to Ge Yutian, "This batch of Rice is growing well and can grow a little longer. It would be better to flood the field and let it dry in three to five days."

Ge Yutian: "Okay, let's take another look in three to five days."

Qing Mengzhu: "After the fields are dried, apply a layer of fertilizer to the Rice; sheep manure will be enough."

Ge Yutian also noted it down. "How much fertilizer do we need to apply?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I'll calculate it later. It depends on the fertility of the soil and the fertility of the sheep manure."

As soon as Qing Mengzhu arrived, she started working, Ge Yutian and the others also got busy.

After inspecting the Rice paddies, Qing Mengzhu went to check on the tomatoes, peppers, onions, and carrots they had planted. Only after confirming that all the crops were in good condition did he go back to rest.

The next day they drove to a neighboring city to look at sunflowers.

When the owner of the sunflower farm saw them, hope shone in his eyes. He shook hands with them warmly, exchanged pleasantries, and then drove them to the sunflower field.

The boss planted 60 hectares of sunflowers, which is 900 acres.

This area is already quite large. There aren't many people on the market who are interested in these sunflowers and have the means to buy them all at once. No wonder the owner was so eager to approach Zhao Hexi.

Standing in the sunflower field, Qing Mengzhu looked out. Most of the sunflowers were of "Good Grade+" quality, so they were grown quite well.

The soil in the field is good; it's loose sandy loam, and it contains a lot of cow and sheep manure and chemical fertilizer, making it quite fertile.

Qing Mengzhu also specifically checked the situation regarding pests and diseases.

The boss's previous crop was winter wheat, which was a crop rotation with sunflowers, so pests and diseases were not serious.

Overall, this is a high-quality sunflower field.

Qing Mengzhu didn't hesitate much and quickly decided to buy the sunflower field and rent the farm.

The specific amount and terms will need to be negotiated by Zhao Hexi.

The boss was sincere about selling, Qing Mengzhu and the others were sincere about buying, so the deal was quickly finalized.

After signing the contract, Zhao Hexi said to Qing Mengzhu, "Another farm acquired, that went so smoothly. I hope it will continue to go this smoothly in the future."

Qing Mengzhu patted him on the shoulder. "Yes, it will be hard on you, you'll have to recruit another batch of people."

Zhao Hexi: "It's alright, just recruit a batch, and transfer some more from Ye'erqingele and Vine City. We can get the team up quickly."

Qing Mengzhu nodded and said, "Sunflowers mainly rely on insects for pollination, so we need to raise some bees. Have someone keep an eye out for the local bees."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, I'll make a note of it and make the arrangements later."

Author's Note:

Dear readers and darlings! Happy New Year! There are 188 little red envelopes up for grabs in this chapter, feel free to leave a comment and have some fun!

See you tomorrow!

Chapter 241

Qing Mengzhu and his group quickly rented the farm where sunflowers were grown, and all the procedures went smoothly.

However, Qing Mengzhu originally planned to return to Vine City after fertilizing the Rice, but now that the company has an additional sunflower farm, and there are no people in the company who are good at growing sunflowers, he, as Intermediate Grower, has to step in in time.

He led his team to check on the sunflower planting, adjust the soil, and provide timely water and fertilizer to ensure the sunflower's growth.

It must be said that the original owner of the sunflowers had long intended to sell them, and their management was somewhat lax.

After Qing Mengzhu and the others took over, they had a lot to do and couldn't spare the time for a while.

Qing Mengzhu stayed in the frontier for half a month.

In the meantime, Ming Chunxi flew over from Vine City and spent a few days with him.

By the time Qing Mengzhu had finished tending to the sunflowers and Rice, it was already early August.

The tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables they grew in Ye'erqingele were sent by Zhao Hexi to a contract manufacturer to begin stable production of products such as tomato sauce, tomato paste, and dried peppers.