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    Chapter Forty-One


    Over a hundred people working.


    In three days'' time, the soil on Xishan had been turned over, nowpletely leveled.


    Next, it was time to dig ponds.


    The stony beach below had three hundred mu, and Long Xiaoshan nned to dig two first, fifty mu each. Due to the mountain road issue, it was difficult for digging machines to get in, so they could only rely on manualbor.


    Luckily, with many hands, the progress wasn''t too slow.


    Long Xiaoshan ran to the county to discuss purchasing saplings and vegetable seeds with Su Wan, and they went to the agricultural market.


    During these days, the fame of the miraculous shrimp had already spread far and wide.


    Not only was it iparably delicious, surpassing lobsters, but it also had the effect of strengthening the body, and even tonifying the kidney and bolstering virility.


    Especially thattter feature.


    Many who had eaten it whispered secretly, iming their nighttimebat strength had multiplied several times over.


    It boasted an effectparable to Viagra.


    And without any side effects at that, it was for nourishment, unlike Viagra, which came with side effects.


    Thanks to the miraculous shrimp, Lily Hotel also reaped considerable benefits, such as the fact that many influential people sought these miraculous shrimp at Shangguan Baihe''s establishment, which was a favor in itself.


    Shangguan Baihe knew that these favors represented tremendous value.


    However, the shrimp were limited for purchase daily, and at 1888 per piece, ordinary people couldn''t afford them.


    Therefore, it didn''t contribute much to the hotel''s performance.


    Since it was a business, it wasn''t possible to sell only high-end products, there also had to be mid-range and mass-market products.


    Shangguan Baihe invested ten million into the farm, not for charity, but because she believed in Long Xiaoshan''s words. He not only could raise shrimp but also had a variety of agricultural products, melons, vegetables, fruits, all of which could be sold to ordinary people.


    Even if it was a bit expensive, it wouldn''t be outrageously so, and ordinary people could still afford it.


    Thus, Long Xiaoshan and Su Wan arrived at the agricultural product market and bought many vegetable seeds, including cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, greens, water spinach, cabbages, eggnts... dozens of varieties, purchasing some of each.


    Su Wan looked at Long Xiaoshan and said, "Some are not in season, can you grow them? The mountain terrain isn''t suitable for greenhouses, right?"


    "Let''s just buy them and give it a try, the seeds aren''t expensive anyway," Long Xiaoshan replied.


    "..." Su Wan.


    After purchasing the vegetable seeds, they went to buy fruit saplings.


    Long Xiaoshan went on another spree ofvish purchases, buying apples, peaches, pears, watermelons, grapes, regardless of whether they were in season or not, he bought some of every fruit sapling avable in the market.


    Su Wan felt Long Xiaoshan was being reckless.


    Even though she didn''t know much about agriculture, she knew that each fruit and vegetable had different characteristics. Generally, farms would do well to grow just a few kinds; nobody was as greedy as Long Xiaoshan, trying dozens of vegetables and over a dozen kinds of fruits.


    Just the different cultivation methods for various fruits and vegetables would be quite a hassle.


    But since Long Xiaoshan insisted on buying, she had no choice.


    Long Xiaoshan purchased so many fruits and vegetables for experimentation.


    It was his first time farming, and although he was very confident in the Merit Spirit Liquid, he was still somewhat uncertain, so he decided to nt first and see whether they would survive.


    The vegetable seeds were brought back that day, and the next day, people from the agricultural market brought in the saplings.


    The mountainous terrain on the Xishan slope had been developed.


    However, the soil quality was obviously poor, all loess with many stones,cking in nutrients.


    Seeing Long Xiaoshan bring back so many vegetable seeds and saplings,


    Some of the uncles in the vige, who had received favors from Long Xiaoshan, advised him because they could tell just by looking at the soil that it wouldn''t work. They had been farming all their lives, had plenty of experience, and urged Long Xiaoshan not to waste money.


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    However, Long Xiaoshan did not listen, insisting they help with the nting. Seeing that Long Xiaoshan would not take advice, these uncles went to find Long Dashan, hoping to persuade him.


    "When a son grows up, he won''t follow his father''s lead. You might as well listen to him, I won''t interfere," said Long Dashan, puffing on a Double Happiness cigarette,ughing.


    He knew his son had skills taught by celestials, but of course, this secret must be kept. Honest people can also be very astute.


    After hearing Long Dashan''s words, those uncles were at a loss for words.


    They could only follow Long Xiaoshan''s instructions and start nting the vegetables and fruit saplings.


    After all, Long Xiaoshan was the boss who hired them; they could only listen to whatever he decided.


    The seeds were sown, and the fruit saplings were nted.


    Long Xiaoshan watched from the bottom of the mountain, the bustling scene making him dream of andscape full of melons, vegetables, and fruit orchards. If everything grew, it would be a beautiful sight—turning a barren hill into farnd. It was a feeling that excited him, not just for the possibility of making money.


    "Xiaoshan, you''re doing a great job, starting to nt fruits now,"


    a somewhat unpleasant voice said.


    Long Xiaoshan turned around and saw the vige chief, Long Fakui, approaching with Ergou and a few other people.


    He gave a faint smile. He had almost fallen out with the vige chief and certainly would not regard him as a n uncle anymore. There was no need to put on a pleasant expression. He was not so hypocritical, simply responding indifferently, "It''s okay, I guess."


    Long Fakui''s heart was filled with darkness.


    Long Xiaoshan had created such high wages with this development project.


    Many vigers had already quit working at his sawmill.


    The wages there were low, and payments were often dyed, while here, wages were settled daily, with moneying into ounts every day. Only a fool would not make the switch.


    If it were not for the fear that Long Xiaoshan''s project might notst long, he would worry that he wouldpletely lose his workforce.


    "Fine, nt them well, waiting for you to get rich!"


    Long Fakui said with a smirk that did not reach his eyes, thinking to himself that it would be a miracle if you managed to grow anything at all. He hade today precisely to see that Long Xiaoshan had actually nted dozens of varieties of melons, vegetables, and fruits, and he could not help butugh inwardly.


    He knew some people in ntation, and they all said it was impossible to keep these nts alive.


    It seemed that Lily Hotel had really blundered, being fooled by an idiot like Long Xiaoshan.


    But this was good, for the investment from Lily Hotel wasn''t so easy to obtain. Thedy boss of Lily Hotel, known as the most beautiful woman ck Lily in the county, was a lily with thorns.


    Once Long Xiaoshan''s ntation failed and he lost everything,


    he wondered how Long Xiaoshan would wrap things up.


    Probably there would be no need for him to deal with Long Xiaoshan; by then, ck Lily would take care of him.


    "Let him enjoy his moments of pride for now," Long Fakui thought to himself.


    Long Xiaoshan, however, did not care about what Long Fakui thought.


    Once all the melons, vegetables, and fruit saplings were nted, he thought about how to sprinkle the Spiritual Liquid. He bought a water pump from the county. To save costs for now, he couldn''t afford an automatic irrigation system, so it had to be done manually.


    He arranged for tenrge water tanks and pumped water from the little Xi into the tanks. Long Xiaoshan had previously poured some Spiritual Liquid diluted ten-fold into the tanks, simply referring to it externally as Nutrient Solution—which was rathermon—so even if the vigers saw it, they wouldn''t question it.


    Then, the vigers carried water from the tanks in buckets up the mountain to water the vegetable plots and fruit saplings.


    As the Spiritual Liquid wasn''t abundant and the mountainnd covered several hundred acres, it was significantly diluted.


    It was certainly not as concentrated as it was during the shrimp farming.


    Long Xiaoshan was not entirely confident. That night, when everyone had left, he did not return home but stayed in a shed on the stony beach. Deep in the night, he looked towards the mountainnd, seeing faint glimmers of light emerging from the barren soil.


    That must be the effect of the Spiritual Liquid.


    But now he knew that only his Spirit Eye could see it; ordinary people could not.


    Otherwise, if the vegetable patch and pond in the backyard of his home were glowing, his parents would have noticed long ago.