I See through Everything

A short while later, Lin Taizhong and a few other village officials hurried to the village committee office building.

"HUFF... Manager Lü, is something the matter?"

Lü Weibin got straight to the point. "Village Chief Lin, there’s something I need your help with."

"Please, tell us. As long as it’s within our power, we’ll certainly help you, Manager Lü," Lin Taizhong quickly declared. After all, Hailufeng Company was Salt Town Village’s source of prosperity; he wouldn’t dare offend them.

"It’s nothing major. Our company needs to test a new soybean variety, but we’ve run out of farmland over at South Lake. I’d like to ask the villagers of Salt Town Village to plant it. We’ll provide a subsidy of 500 yuan per mu, and we’ll buy back the harvested soybeans at 4.5 yuan per kg."

"Really?" Lin Taizhong hadn’t expected such a great offer.

"We’ll sign contracts with the farmers."

Hearing this guarantee, Lin Taizhong immediately asked, "Manager Lü, how many mu do you need?"

"At least 200 mu."

"Give me one day. I’ll get it all together."

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Village Chief Lin."

"It’s a small effort. For an opportunity this good, the villagers will be fighting for it." Lin Taizhong didn’t think it would be difficult at all.

After all, the rice paddies in Salt Town Village were left fallow during the winter. Rice planting wouldn’t start again until March of next year.

Still, he asked about the details. "Manager Lü, we’ve never grown soybeans around here. I’m worried the villagers won’t manage them well. Also, we need to plant rice in March next year. Will there be a scheduling conflict?"

"Don’t worry. Our soybeans have a growing cycle of only 98 to 105 days, and they’re very low-maintenance—one mu only needs 8 kg of compound fertilizer. As for the specific management, our company will send agricultural technicians to provide guidance." On the way over, Lü Weibin had already reviewed the detailed information for the three soybean varieties.

"Around a hundred days?" Lin Taizhong counted on his fingers. "So they can be harvested right at the end of February?"

"Yes."

"Then there’s no problem. I’ll help you find the land as soon as possible."

"Once you’ve gathered it all, just call my assistant directly."

Lü Weibin’s assistant quickly handed Lin Taizhong a business card.

Watching Lü Weibin leave in a hurry, Lin Taizhong patted the accountant, Old Zhang, on the shoulder. "Old Zhang, doesn’t your family have a six-fen plot of land? Want to plant on it?"

"Yes. It’s just sitting idle anyway."

"Count me in. I have an eight-fen plot at the edge of the village."

In no time, the six or seven village officials had pooled together four mu of land. Immediately after, they started calling and messaging their closer relatives on WeChat.

A little over three hours later, the entire 200-mu planting quota had been snatched up by the villagers of Salt Town Village.

Lin Taizhong quickly called everyone over to confirm their shares.

The Salt Town Village committee office instantly became lively. Dozens of villagers gathered in small groups, discussing the matter in low voices.

"Uncle, is Boss Jiang really subsidizing 500 yuan per mu?" Lin Yongqiang asked as he handed his uncle, Lin Taizhong, a cigarette.

"Of course it’s true. Why would Boss Jiang lie to us?" Lin Taizhong took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear. "But didn’t your family dig up your rice paddy to make a fish pond?"

Lin Yongqiang grinned, showing his pearly whites. "My family still has a vegetable plot on the North Slope. We’ve just been growing sweet potatoes on it for the past few years anyway. I’ll go borrow a tractor tomorrow and plow it."

"Oh? The North Slope? Watering is a bit of a hassle up there!"

"No problem. I bought a water pump the day before yesterday."

"All right, then! How big is that vegetable plot?"

"Eight fen."

Lin Taizhong took out a small notebook, wrote down Lin Yongqiang’s name, and then noted "North Slope, 8 fen" next to it.

Meanwhile, Lü Weibin hadn’t forgotten Jiang Miao’s hometown, Xinxiang. He allocated another 200-mu planting quota to Xinxiang in the same manner.

The last stop was Lü Weibin’s own hometown, Jinting Village.

Returning to his hometown in glory, Lü Weibin looked at Village Chief Wang Jianxin and the others, who had gone from arrogant to deferential, and felt a secret thrill.

"Brother Jianxin, please make the arrangements as soon as you can!"

"No problem! Weibin, since you’re looking out for our village, we’ll definitely handle this beautifully for you," Wang Jianxin promised, patting his chest.

"Once you’ve sorted it out, just call my assistant directly."

"No problem."

"I have other things to do, so I’m leaving now."

"Of course, of course! Go on, don’t let us keep you!"

After Lü Weibin finished allocating the 600-mu planting quota, it was already five in the evening. He hurriedly drove back to the company with a few colleagues, arriving just in time to clock out.

The group went to the restaurant in the experimental zone to have dinner.

They happened to run into Jiang Miao and Jiang Haibo, who were also eating dinner.

He grabbed a boxed meal and went to the table next to Jiang Miao’s. "Boss, the 600 mu of land for the soybeans has been arranged. I’ve allocated it to Salt Town Village, Xinxiang, and Jinting Village. It should all be finalized by tomorrow."

"Good work." Jiang Miao was quite satisfied with his efficiency.

"It’s my duty." Lü Weibin didn’t get carried away. He knew he was able to handle this so smoothly not because of his own merit, but because he was riding on the coattails of Hailufeng Company and Jiang Miao. He then asked:

"Boss, according to your plan, we need to prepare the fields for the second crop of soybeans in advance. I think we could arrange for it in Nanfen Village and Xihai Village, near the Red Grass Town strawberry planting base. There’s a large patch of dry land there, but it probably won’t be enough." Lü Weibin was very familiar with the surrounding area.

He thought for a moment before adding, "If we include Pubei Village, Nanyang Village, Wuya Village, Wuwei Village, Xiya Village, and Yaqing Village, we should be able to gather 6,000 mu of dry land."

Jiang Miao shook his head. "Still not enough. The first crop of 600 mu will yield about 180,000 kg of seed. That’s enough to plant around 36,000 mu."

At this, Lü Weibin racked his brain for a while and realized there was no single area of dry land that large near the city. He could only suggest, "In that case, we’ll have to go to Lufeng. That’s the only place with vast tracts of dry land."

Jiang Miao advised, "That seems to be our only option. It’s quite far from the city, so have your planting division set up a temporary office there. These tens of thousands of mu of soybeans are crucial to our company’s future strategy. We can’t afford to be careless."

"Understood."