Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

A few days passed quickly.

Spring planting has fully commenced in Yaoling Agriculture, with all production units bustling with activity. The three breeding groups specifically responsible for cultivating seawater rice are also working even busier.

Nowadays, the experimental field is not just occupied by the three of them; security guards, farm machinery operators, and several planting staff have also been recruited locally.

If you encounter situations where you are too busy, you can hire temporary workers.

The sowing work is basically completed. Now their focus is on recording the growth of different varieties, and they must record everything in great detail.

Irrigation is also more complicated than before, requiring constant monitoring of the salinity of the water source, which must be kept within a standard range.

One advantage of being by the sea is that you can use seawater, but direct irrigation is obviously not possible. It needs to be diluted with fresh water, and the salinity should be controlled at around 0.6% before direct irrigation.

Freshwater accounts for approximately 80% to 83% of the total, which can save a significant amount of freshwater resources.

Fang Wei began his inspection as usual, but this time the specific inspection route was different. Yang Feng went to inspect the more distant places, such as Hengzhou and Chenzhou, on his behalf, while Fang Wei inspected Xinlin County and its surrounding areas.

Then he went to Shenzhen, still unable to give up his research on seawater rice.

When Fang Wei arrived at the seawater rice experimental field, he saw that the rice transplanting work had already been completed, the rice seedlings were growing vigorously, and there was a vibrant scene everywhere.

Seawater rice plants are much taller than ordinary rice plants, generally growing to about 2 meters.

Fang Wei then checked the planting records and nodded in satisfaction.

"Wang Muqi, you must do a good job of monitoring next. You go ahead and do your work, I'm going to take a rest."

Fang Wei spent half a day working in the experimental field, and before lunch, he went to his office.

The yield increase attribute of the entire experimental field has now been maximized, and the growth rate and resistance have also been increased to a certain extent. Other aspects can be ignored for the time being.

He was eager to try it out. He had already accumulated a large number of points and planned to upgrade the experimental field again, hoping to unlock a big bonus of salt and alkali resistance.

But this is similar to opening a blind box; it's not something he can control.

"Never mind, let's take a gamble."

Fangyi currently earns approximately 300 billion points annually, which is still insufficient, but enough to significantly upgrade one or two key areas or facilities.

So he gritted his teeth and directly upgraded the [Planting Area] to level 20.

[Temporary Land Ownership] → [Farmland] → [Planting Area]

[Regional area: 100 million square kilometers]

[Regional Level: (Level 20, 0/500 billion)]

[Regional Attributes: Drought-resistant, flood-resistant, pest and disease-resistant, accelerates growth, increases yield and income]

Planting within this area grants an additional 200% (100%) to all attributes, +2 to breeding genetic stability, +2 to varietal mutation, +3 to taste, and +2 to salt and alkali resistance.

Total points: 619.66 billion.

Please note that this area has reached its maximum size.

Level 20 is obviously an important level. After Fang Wei upgraded the [Planting Area] to level 20, he received three big gift packs in one go.

[Salt resistance +1], [Salt resistance +1], [Taste +1].

Fang Wei jumped up immediately. It was as if his wish had come true. With the external attribute of [Salt Resistance +2], the chances of successfully cultivating seawater rice were much greater.

After thinking for a moment, he upgraded the level of the [Forestry Picking Area] to level 20.

[Temporary Land] → [Woodland] → [Afforestation and Fruit Picking Area]

[Regional area: 100 million square kilometers]

[Regional Level: (Level 20, 0/500 billion)]

[Regional Attributes: Identification, Exploration, Acceleration, Strength, High Resistance, High Quality.]

[Harvesting within this area grants an additional 100% increase to all attributes, attribute doubling +2, natural reproduction +2, [fruiting rate +1], and [ecological restoration +1].]

Total points: 519.66 billion.

Please note that this area has reached its maximum size.

As he expected, this upgrade also yielded thirteen big gift packs.

The three additional attributes, [Result Rate +1], [Natural Reproduction +1], and [Ecological Restoration +1], increase the number of fruits produced by wild trees, increase the success rate of natural reproduction, and also increase the ability of mountain forests to restore their ecology.

These extra attributes were all incredibly powerful, and Fang Wei couldn't suppress the smirk on his face.

When it was lunchtime, a small restaurant in the village delivered food, including a pot of boiled shrimp and spicy clams.

Fang Wei called to ask them to add these two vegetable markets, and he opened a bottle of wine and drank a few glasses with everyone to celebrate.

"Secretary, why are you so happy today?"

As the person in charge of the experimental field, Wang Muqi was more familiar with Fang Wei.

So after putting down his glass, he asked, "I'm happy for a reason. First, everyone's work is going well, and second, I think our research project will be successful soon."

Fang Wei laughed and gave a casual reply before starting to eat heartily.

Everyone should just have a little drink at noon, since there are still many things to do in the afternoon and it's not appropriate to drink too much.

He then spent a week at the experimental field. Because of the long distance, he stayed at a hotel near the village instead of returning to the villa.

After observing for a period of time, he felt more confident and went home to rest for two days.

Before leaving, he called Xiaojie's boss and invited him out for a meal. The boss had sent a lot of nice things to the village during the Spring Festival, and he felt he had to reciprocate.

He also invited Qin Sicheng to join in. Although they are all in business, they have different focuses, so there is still a basis for cooperation.

Xiaojie was brought along for the meal, which can be seen as the father paving the way for his daughter in advance.

“Secretary Fang, I still don’t understand why you are so persistent about seawater rice?”

After several rounds of drinks, Qin Sicheng brought up the old topic again.

The cooperation between the port group and Yaoling Real Estate is progressing smoothly, and the profits generated by several projects have impressed him greatly. However, Fang Wei not only seems indifferent to the real estate sector but also spends all his time in the experimental fields of seawater rice, which is truly baffling.

“I think Secretary Fang is a person with a lot of feelings. He is different from us and also has a great sense of social responsibility.”

Xiao Jie's boss shook his head; he understood Fang Wei's choice.

Fang Wei laughed after hearing this and said, "You're all wrong. I just enjoy challenging breeding problems. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction. Making money is secondary."

Qin Sicheng and Xiao Jie's boss exchanged a smile, both feeling that this answer seemed more practical.

the next day.

Fang Wei flew directly to Beijing, where the annual conference was about to be held.

Since the beginning of the year, Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua have spent little time together, as he has been traveling a lot. So this time, he plans to take Pan Lianhua to Beijing for a few more days after the meeting ends.

He'll have a meeting first, and Pan Lianhua won't come over until the meeting is almost over.

The meeting proceeded as scheduled, and the topics were all routine, with virtually nothing that interested Fang Wei. His proposal this year was related to seawater rice, but it didn't generate much of a response.

However, he didn't care. If the proposal couldn't be done this year, there was always next year. There was no rush.

On the evening the meeting ended, he picked up Pan Lianhua and his sister from the airport, and then changed hotels to stay at.

Springtime in Beijing is unpredictable, with alternating periods of warmth and cold, and strong winds. However, with the car lent to him by Sun Shili, he could go wherever he wanted without having to shiver in the cold wind.

Despite having visited Beijing many times before, Pan Lianhua and her sister still had a great time.

Especially since my sister has been helping Binbin take care of his children for the past few years, staying at home all day, it's very refreshing for her to come out for a walk.

The three of them spent five days in the capital before taking a train to Chenzhou and then returning home.

Xinlin County is not yet served by train, making transportation somewhat inconvenient. However, the journey from Chenzhou to the county seat is only about 100 kilometers, so it's not too difficult.

At this time, all production units have completed the rice transplanting work one after another. The remaining task is field management, which will not be busy until the summer harvest and planting.

“Secretary, the oil mill is already operating at full capacity, but it still can’t meet market demand. Do you think we can add another production line, or build a new factory?”

Fang Wei had just started work when Zhang Chu came looking for her.

If it weren't for Yang Feng yesterday, he wouldn't have cared whether Fang Wei had just come from out of town or not, and would have rushed to her house.

He was so anxious to see Fang Wei because of the production capacity issue. Who would have thought that the oil mill had just completed its technological upgrade and added two new production lines, and yet its production capacity was already at its limit in no time?

The cooking oil war did not defeat the company; on the contrary, it led to a multiple increase in the sales of Yaoling brand cooking oil.

To date, Fang Wei has not raised the price of Yaoling brand cooking oil, keeping it slightly lower than the market average. Under these circumstances, the high cost-performance ratio of the company's cooking oil products becomes apparent, making them very popular with consumers.

Currently, tea oil is in short supply, and the supply of peanut oil and rapeseed oil is also tight, but in a while, they will probably follow in the footsteps of tea oil.

"If you want to expand production, you should write a report to the group company. Coming to me won't help."

Fang Wei felt that the current situation warranted expanding production capacity, but Zhang Chu should go to Hu Linwei instead of directly contacting him.

"I've already submitted the report, but President Hu and the others are still studying it. That's why I'm in a hurry, and I've come to you hoping you can look into this matter."

Zhang Chu certainly understood the programming issues; he just hoped for a result as soon as possible.

Fang Wei nodded, then called Yang Feng in.

"Assistant Yang, has the group company reached a decision on General Manager Zhang's application to expand production?"

Yang Feng is his assistant. If the company makes a decision, they will definitely forward Zhang Chu's report.

The final hurdle is his signature; once he agrees, all that's needed is a board meeting minutes.

"No, Mr. Cai and Mr. Hu disagreed, mainly on the location of the new factory."

Yang Feng's immediate response surprised Fang Wei. (End of Chapter)