Ch24.1 - The Temptation Of A Thousand Mu Farmland (Part One)

Seeing Cui QiChao walking away with the cat, the girls sighed.

“…What should I do? I feel that he’s still handsome even if he rejected me.”

“No matter how handsome he is, Beauty Cui will always remain single.”

Cui QiChao had already been working at CU for quite some time. All day and all night, the first canteen was packed and surrounded by students. Everyone knew that the woman who had the most interaction with Cui QiChao was the auntie responsible for scooping dishes. 

Nobody could understand why a man of the proper age to fall in love would refuse to do so or find a girlfriend.

“Is it true that Boss Cui had his feelings hurt by someone or has a special hobby? He excavated the hill in the back. Isn’t he trying to break up couples?”

The girls had vibrant imaginations.

“You think too much.” A boy behind them came forward. “What special hobby? Isn’t Boss Cui’s hobby just growing vegetables? Maybe if the two of you brought a sick radish plant to find him, you’d still be able to get a happy expression from him.”

Several people looked at each other, but they had to admit that it made sense!

Just look at Boss Cui’s demeanor in the Small Farmers’ Q & A. He was patient when answering questions, and he would also show off his cat.

Cui QiChao led XiaoBai to the kitchen in the back for a tour. Because of the saturation of customer flow, he invested in and introduced several machines in the kitchen. One of them was the automatic dishwasher.

Most of the school canteens in China did not have the practice of using dishwashers. In addition to different living habits, the bosses of the canteen also considered the cost of having one. The cost of a large dishwasher was relatively high, and an ordinary dishwasher costs tens of thousands. 

Cui QiChao, on the other hand, lived in a different era. He was more accustomed to utilizing machines and was unconcerned about the cost. Besides, the business of the canteen was also doing well at the time.

As for what kind of tools Cui QiChao purchased, he paid attention to other intelligent devices, such as intelligent accounting systems, which could settle accounts quickly and save a lot of time. With the present crowd levels in the first canteen, they needed these.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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An automatic dishwasher could automatically dry and disinfect the plates after washing, saving manpower and improving the cleaning quality.

As Cui QiChao was wandering about, the staff chopping the vegetables saw him and shouted, “Boss Cui……”

“Hm?” Cui QiChao halted.

The staff chopping vegetables said, “Hm, XiaoBai has already grown so big? The boss of the supermarket at the back of the school also has a small female kitten. The boss asked if his cat could mate with XiaoBai. She knows that XiaoBai can herd ducks, and she also said that there are some chickens and ducks in the yard. Maybe XiaoBai’s children can also herd ducks…” 

XiaoBai: “!!!”

Because of Cui QiChao’s characteristics, the females in the school and the staff would all pay close attention to him. They did not, however, dare to introduce Cui QiChao to a romantic partner. As a result, all of their enthusiasm could only be directed towards XiaoBai. Boss Cui did not appear to have sterilized XiaoBai. Perhaps they believed he was a little more relaxed with his cat-rearing, so they thought they might utilize XiaoBai to produce more kittens.

“Once the mother cat gives birth to the kittens, typically speaking, one of the kittens will be given to the male cat’s family,” the employee cutting vegetables stated.

XiaoBai: “!!!!” 

Not only was it forced to mate with another cat, but after mating, they also wanted to send another new cat to Cui QiChao…!

XiaoBai scratched Cui QiChao’s clothes twice, and his entire body was wrapped around Cui QiChao’s neck, its body completely tensed.

When the staff chopping vegetables saw this, he laughed. The cat was so clever that it seemed to know what they were talking about.

Cui QiChao glanced at XiaoBai. Such a gaze from him chilled XiaoBai’s heart, and it felt as if Cui QiChao had seen through him once more. Cui QiChao, on the other hand, just murmured faintly: “We’ll see what happens. I’m not going to go out of my way to find a mate for it. ” 

“Oh…” The staff cutting the vegetable haha-ed twice, “Of course. XiaoBai is kept as a free-range cat during the day. Maybe one day he will meet his favorite little female cat.”

After Cui QiChao left the place, he seemed to be mumbling to himself, yet he also seemed to be talking to XiaoBai, “When a male cat is in love, he often urinates everywhere and howls incessantly. It’s very troublesome for the family. So you either have to find a female cat, or you have to be sterilized.”

XiaoBai shivered.

It didn’t want to choose either option. 

“But I believe XiaoBai has such a strong sense of self-management, and you wouldn’t dare to urinate everywhere.” Cui QiChao showed a very slight smile.

XiaoBai almost wanted to nod. But in the end, it merely jumped to the table and flipped it’s belly. With a meow, it was asking Cui QiChao to touch it.

But Cui QiChao just looked at it and lowered his head. He said gently but firmly, “I’m sorry. I’m too lazy to wash my hands.”

XiaoBai: “…” 

After learning that Cui QiChao had become an expert on the Small Farmers’ Q & A, Meng Chang immediately sent the seeds home for his father to try planting them.

Father Meng was unsure how to use the website. He resembled a typical farmer. Much later in his life, he became acquainted with planting science by attending lectures at a specific agricultural scientific institution. It was then that he tasted the flavor of advanced technology.

Then, Father Meng understood the fact that he was now in an era of technology. There was technology to develop more advanced agricultural machinery, breeding plant variety with higher yields.

But now, after touching the packet of chili peppers, Father Meng was a little uncertain. He replied to the other end of the phone, “The seeds that I brought in last year are also a new type, and the yield is nearly 2000 jin. This seed that you sent, would the yield be so high? Do you know what you’re speaking about, for you to say the yield is 4000kg and above? ” 

“This is the product of an expert’s research,” Meng Chang stressed, “But if you don’t carefully take care of the crop, the output may be lower.”

“Lower? Even if it’s halved, and I could only produce 2000kg, this is still an exaggeration!”  Father Meng was very perceptive regarding the yield of the peppers. He could almost imagine what 2000kg of peppers looked like when they were piled together. They would be more than twice as many as the peppers he harvested in previous years.

As a result, Father Meng went to the agricultural science institute to enquire if there were peppers with a yield of 4000kg.

Everyone had a discussion and told him that the highest record now seemed to be close to 4000kg. In a planting environment with very precise scientific equipment, and with the use of high-yield varieties, it could be achieved. 

It was then that Father Meng went home to sow seeds. He didn’t know how to use the website, so he couldn’t discuss it with the rest of the people on the forum. It was all based on his own experience. Fortunately, after sowing the seeds, he didn’t encounter too many problems and didn’t need to ask his son to surf the internet or go to the agricultural science institution to ask about it.

Previously, Father Meng’s peppers had been afflicted by anthrax, phytophthora blight, and other diseases. If the crops grew sick, they could become extinct. However, the seeds he got had a high resilience to illnesses. It was healthier and stronger than the pepper seeds as seen with the naked eye under comparable growth circumstances, and grew vigorously. The neighbor next door came to have a look and said that the plant would produce a lot of fruits.

Two months later, the pepper seedlings grew to more than 50 cm. When they bloomed, he could see that the yield was high, but he couldn’t determine the specific yield weight yet.

After abiding for two weeks, the plants were flowering and had borne fruits. Colors slowly seeped on the peppers. It was red and full now, and just by looking at it, people would be able to have a good appetite, since it looked great. One of the chili peppers was even seven or eight centimeters long and thick. 

Additionally, Father Meng would run to the shed several times a day. The neighbors who were also planting chili peppers nearby came to look at him out of curiosity and asked him where to buy the seeds and how they could get a yield like his. Father Meng was very proud. His son got it from an expert and especially sent it to him.

Because Cui QiChao had told Meng Chang that he hoped that once Father Meng planted the seeds, they would be able to give him correct statistics. Because the peppers could be harvested multiple times, Father Meng went out of his way to meticulously tabulate the data.

He didn’t especially tend to his open field cultivated crops. Yet, the yield was as high as 3600 kg!

Father Meng picked one and went back to stir-fry it with chicken gizzard. He seasoned the chicken gizzard with salt and soy sauce, and then stir-fried it with pepper until it was cooked. 

As a result, when he brought the dish out to have a taste, he wasn’t able to guard himself against the spiciness, and he choked. The taste was simply so spicy and so yummy! He was now old, and his stomach wasn’t in its best condition, so he did not dare to eat the chili peppers alone. Hence, he grabbed some chili peppers and ate them with the gizzard. The chicken gizzard was sliced and fried. It was also stained with the spicy taste of CX-7 and was quite chewy. Once he took a bite of it, the spiciness emanated, and his saliva and snot would flow out all at once.

Originally, he planned to make a dish as an accompaniment as he drank some wine. However, once he fried the chicken gizzards with chili peppers, he did not even have the opportunity to drink a few mouthfuls of wine before he picked up two bowls of rice to eat with it, as he gasped with his mouth open.

Although he could not take the spiciness in his mouth, Father Meng was very happy deep down.

The quality of the pepper he planted previously was far inferior to that of CX-7. This year, he sold about 1.50 to 2.10 yuan per kg for the peppers. In terms of the quality of this pepper, the spiciness was strong, and the product looked good. Based on his plan, he was thinking he should at least be able to sell it for about 5 yuan per kg. 

It could be planted twice a year, and the gross profit of that acre of pepper was 36000 yuan a year! If he had to buy seeds and fertilizer, it would also cost about two or three thousand yuan. Although this was just a small sum, it was only the cost of one mu. His family still had two mu of land. But what if they changed all their crops to plant this type of pepper?

Before swapping the crops, the annual income of three mu of land after choking it full of crops was merely thousands of yuan.

As Father Meng thought, he was so enthusiastic that he immediately asked his son to ask the expert how he could purchase the peppers.

Father Meng wanted to purchase it, and so did his neighbors. These neighbors of his have long had their eyes red seeing his high yield. Because of this, many people came to his house to get a few peppers to taste. They were also amazed by the taste. 

They could just casually stir-fry the peppers with any vegetables, and add them to improve the taste of the dish. It was deliciously spicy. If one couldn’t stand the spiciness, they could just put a few small pieces of it.

This CX-7 had a great yield and a pleasant flavor. Why didn’t they have a chance to meet with the expert who sent them seeds?

Everyone started to ask about the specific circumstances of this seed. If the cost was not too high, they also wanted to plant it together. Father Meng didn’t think much about it. It was common for people in the same village to grow the same crop together. This way, it would also be easier to purchase in bulk from the seller.

Now, the only question was when could the expert officially mass-produce CX-7? 

Ch24.2 - The Temptation Of A Thousand Mu Farmland (Part Two)

In addition to Father Meng’s fields, the other experimental farm fields also reported success.

Cui QiChao received news that CX-7 performed particularly well in areas where the climate was more suitable for the growth of chili pepper. The highest yield per mu was 4600 kg, while the lowest was no less than 3500 kg. Its long-term performance was great too. Therefore, CX-7 could be deemed a great success.

One of the people testing the chili peppers mentioned that when this one wholesale distributor he knew had a taste of the chili pepper during his visit to see the crops, he said he was willing to pay 8 yuan per kilogram given the chilis’ quality, color, and fragrance, regardless of what was being discussed on the Internet.

This price was much higher than Father Meng’s estimation. In other words, if this price was to be used, he just had to plant these chili peppers on three mu of land twice a year to have an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan! 

After learning that it was still an experimental product and currently could not be planted on a large scale, the wholesale distributors found this to be a pity and specially asked them about this variety and the R&D unit behind it, intending to place more attention on the variety and the company in the future.

Many people were paying attention to Cui QiChao’s “live” post. Many people couldn’t sit still after everyone harvested their respective chili peppers and all their data was collected.

Cui QiChao’s mailbox was filled with so many privately sent letters that it was close to bursting open. Majority of those letters were from farmers who also wanted to buy seeds. There were also some from various agricultural companies and wholesale distributors, particularly seed companies, wishing to talk about the possibility of cooperation. Cui QiChao couldn’t possibly reply to them all.

Meanwhile, some opted to call Cui QiChao’s office instead. He didn’t know how they obtained his phone number.

The most promising one was Nanhai Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ Vegetation Research Institute. They contacted Cui QiChao directly through President Cui. They knew that Cui QiChao was working alone and wanted to ask whether he was interested in setting up his own seed company, and that if he was interested, they wanted to cooperate with him in the future.

They had managed to obtain some ripe chili peppers through some channels of their own. This allowed them to confirm that all the attributes that Cui QiChao had promised the pepper would possess in his post were present. As a matter of fact, in some aspects, this new chili pepper variety actually performed even better than what Cui QiChao had stated.

It was amazing how the scale of Cui QiChao’s privately bred crops was so small, and yet he could achieve such a result. If people were told that this variety was the result of a professional research institute’s or a seed company’s efforts, everyone would believe it.

They also asked Cui QiChao how many years he had spent creating this new chili pepper variant on his own. But Cui QiChao couldn’t tell them the truth: that it only took him less than a year. To breed a new crop variety, people would ordinarily have to work several years in order to achieve good results. 

“Another question, Mr. Cui. How many patents can you apply for with this CX-7?” asked someone from the Vegetation Research Institute.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Cui QiChao only responded, “I don’t know. Do I have to apply for patents?”

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Around the same time, many students and netizens came to learn that Cui QiChao’s experiment had been a great success. Thus, they began urging him to do it too. If he couldn’t mass-produce the crop, how would everyone in CU be able to eat CX-7?

A few days later, people from the Vegetation Research Institute came to the canteen’s doors to visit them in person. President Cui was also present. 

“Hello, Mr. Cui.” The visitor was the institute’s research director. After a few words of greeting, he said, “Actually, the purpose of my visit is very simple. I wish to sincerely ask:  are you interested in joining our institute?”

President Cui’s expression slightly changed.

The purpose of the research institute director was really simple and clear. In fact, many people had noticed that Cui QiChao wasn’t the type of person to publish multiple outstanding papers consecutively. Instead, he developed a chili pepper variety that possessed such high commercial potential that everyone couldn’t help but pay attention to it.

If such a talent joined their institute, how many more research projects could they successfully create? How much more funding would they be able to apply for? And how many agricultural science and technology awards could they win? 

With a dry smile, President Cui said, “…Wait a minute, Director Yang. You didn’t inform me in advance that you were going to invite my nephew.” He thought that Director Yang just wanted to talk about the possibility of cooperation and visit the vegetable fields.

Director Yang pushed his glasses up. “About this, do you still need me to mention it to you? It would be disrespectful to your nephew if I didn’t invite him, given how excellent he is.”

President Cui had no way to refute this, but he still couldn’t imagine his nephew engaging in agricultural research from the future onwards. But the reality was that his nephew developed a new crop variety that made a research institute come to their doors…

When Cui QiChao was planting vegetables in the school in the beginning and the dishes he introduced went viral, President Cui had never imagined that it would result in today’s situation! 

He felt like he had no idea how he should break it to this brother of his. He simply said,  “That… My nephew doesn’t major in agriculture. He majored in finance.”

“So he’s conducting interdisciplinary research. And for him to be able to produce such results just shows that he’s naturally talented.” Director Yang then turned to Cui QiChao and expressed in an emotional tone, “I’ve also seen your responses on the Small Farmers’ Q & A forum. Your foundation is very solid but lacking in depth. But we can think of a way to make it work. We can hire you on contract.”

President Cui: “…”

President Cui had a sudden thought on this matter: Cui QiChao’s own wishes took priority here. This was because even his brother and sister-in-law couldn’t dissuade his nephew from doing things his way. 

But to President Cui’s surprise, Cui QiChao, who was about to plant more vegetables now that he had some free time, turned them down with a dark expression, saying, “…I. Am. Sorry. But. I don’t plan to work at another place.”

“Why?” Director Yang frowned. “Do you think the conditions our institute offered aren’t good enough? XiaoCui, our institute is currently planning on building a new experimental station at Nanshan that spans an area of around 1600 mu, mainly to conduct research on eggplants and fruits. More than 60 new varieties have been approved and identified at or above the provincial level. And as far as the whole province is concerned, our institute is also well-known within the industry.”

Cui QiChao: “…”

Cui QiChao: “1600 mu…” 

He had only heard these two words.

Director Yang thought that he was amazed at the working environment. “Yes! The location of that station is a bit far away, but the area is clean. See, your University City is also in the suburbs. Besides that, we also have other parks and bases.”

Director Yang clearly saw Cui QiChao’s eyes light up at that instant, giving him the impression that these eyes belonged to someone engaged in a similar line of work as him. Although many people might not think that XiaoCui was the researcher type, judging solely from his appearance and temperament, he could sense the enthusiasm in the other party’s eyes.

But before he could be happy for long, the light in Cui QiChao’s eyes dimmed again, and he said, “…I’m afraid I would have to refuse your kindness. My current focus is still on canteen work.” 

For a moment, Director Yang was stunned by his words. “Come to think of it, didn’t everyone on the internet say that you prefer planting to gourmet food? You don’t even want to participate in gourmet food programs.”

Cui QiChao was also in a very upset mood at the moment, because for someone like him to actually refuse this job, it had taken all the self-control he would ever possess throughout his lifetime. In a calm voice, he said, “Yes, I’m not really that keen on gourmet food either. I did it all for the sake of making the canteen better, whether it was through improving the canteen dishes or creating a new crop variety.”

Director Yang: “…”

President Cui: “…” 

The world was so big that nothing should be surprising.

Director Yang repeated this sentence in his head for a long time in an attempt to comfort himself. But in the end, he still couldn’t accept it. Thus, he decided to believe that this was only because Cui QiChao intended to inherit his family business in the future. This reason made much more sense!

After reluctantly rejecting the temptation of over a thousand mu, Cui QiChao started discussing the exclusive agency agreement with Director Yang under President Cui’s peculiar expression.

He could sign an exclusive agency agreement with one or two companies and institutes. For example, he could sign one with the Vegetation Research Institute as well as with a seed company that the institute had sincerely been wanting to collaborate with. The institute and the company would then credit the experiment under their names, after which they would apply for patents, review new variants, and even promote the finalized versions of their seed varieties for mass production. 

Cui QiChao was more willing to spend his time on vegetable fields than on the necessary paperwork for processing.

Because of Cui QiChao’s attitude, President Cui now held the same thoughts as Director Yang. Maybe his nephew planned to return to work in their family business later on. In any case, he didn’t believe that Cui QiChao would be so enthusiastic about canteen work. And when he heard Director Yang talking about the base, Cui QiChao’s eyes gained a gleam to them. Moreover, he wasn’t even interested in annexing the other four canteens!

As for what Cui QiChao had mentioned, that offer was something that would bring him both fame and profit. No one would be stupid to refuse such benefits. Of course, if the project was to be handed over to the Vegetation Research Institute and the seed company, they would have to apply for approval and conduct various tests. As long as the quality of the crops were deemed satisfactory after undergoing the safety tests, it would be very easy for them to distribute the peppers to a huge population and popularize them.

CX-7 could be on the market as early as next year. 

President Cui sat in his office chair and chatted with his brother and his sister-in-law on the phone. He talked about  how Cui QiChao had been doing recently. He told them how the new chili pepper variety he had bred managed to get the attention of various companies and also how he refused the invitation from the Vegetation Research Institute.

Father Cui was overjoyed. The last time Mother Cui visited Cui QiChao, she came back with a cart of vegetables and forced him to eat it everyday. He even almost accepted that Cui QiChao would be staying in school permanently. But now, things had taken a new turn.

“Mm-hmm, I think QiChao has a sense of propriety. He’s busy here at the university, and he seems to be in a better mood too.” After his conversation with his brother and his sister-in-law, President Cui simply hung up, after which he saw his secretary enter his office.

The secretary held a piece of paper in his hand, a slightly hesitant and confused expression on his face. “President Cui, the City Investment Promotion Bureau called us just now. They said that a delegation of investors from other provinces will come to Nanhai in a week.” 

President Cui didn’t raise his head. “Is that so? Do they want to start a project in University City? If they need to visit the school, then you can make the arrangements.” Then he found what his secretary said to be a little funny, so he asked, “Why did you have to report such matters to me? Do you want me to participate in the reception?”

The secretary looked at the summary written on the paper, taking a dry gulp of air before saying, “No, they said they want to arrange the reception in the canteen. The first canteen…”

President Cui: “…”

President Cui asked, “What did you say?” 

The secretary also thought that this matter was very bizarre. In fact, it seemed to him that the staff from the City Investment Promotion Bureau just now similarly felt weirded out by what he was saying as the two of them were in negotiations. “That is, it seems that the delegation took the initiative to mention that they wanted to taste famous local food…”

President Cui: “…”