Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start

The collaboration with the Agricultural University went very smoothly.

The growing cycle of a certain crop is rather long, so the Agricultural University always has many projects underway, sometimes inevitably getting spread too thin.

If someone was willing to help with planting and allow researchers to observe the characteristics of the mature varieties, that couldn't be better.

Xu Yang's idea was simpler; the other party would provide excellent seeds but didn't want the fruits.

They would take at most a few plants of grass back for component analysis.

Where else could you find such a good deal?

Naturally, the cooperation was settled.

Since he had obtained the seeds, Xu Yang began to arrange for people to work on the farming.

The village's tractor drivers arrived quickly, curious about what Xu Yang was planning to plant.

It was nearing autumn, suitable for planting vegetables that prefer cooler climates.

For example, bok choy, Little White cabbage, rape, spinach, and so on.

However, those vegetables were too common.

Every household in their village would plant them once autumn arrived.

They were everywhere and simply could not fetch a good price.

It must be said though, the quality of the large white cabbages here were indeed very good, and they were sufficiently big.

As winter neared, villagers would haul them home by the sackful.

They were also the most common vegetable during winter.

Large areas of soil were turned over, and the grass was cleaned up.

Truckloads of farm manure were brought in and spread evenly on top.

Just then, Agricultural University students had their classes and came to the farm to watch the excitement.

"Mechanical farming is definitely better, let's ask the teacher if we can do mechanical work, too! I can't handle manual planting anymore!"

"You wish, our seniors are still cutting rice at school!"

"No choice, who lets us be university students? Our labor is the least valuable."

"Real beasts of burden!"

They wore white tank tops, camouflage pants, long boots, and straw hats, looking somewhat amusing.

Xu Yang stood watch by the field.

He allocated 8 acres of land for planting grass, not a small area.

Planting by hand would be too labor-intensive, so he hired people to use machines for all work.

Only the final steps—gathering, seeding, and covering with a thin film—were done manually.

"What are you planting in so many acres?"

The excavator driver asked Xu Yang curiously after finishing the work.

Village people are gossipy, loving to inquire about things as topics to chat about.

"Just planting some grass, nothing much."

Xu Yang did not elaborate.

Was he busy observing the construction on site?

Planting grass?

The excavator driver was a bit puzzled; people here had not been exposed to grass species, so few planted it.

But over the years, all sorts of things had been grown on this land.

Many greenhouses had been built.

So it wasn't anything unusual.

After that, the work got busy.

The biggest problem in planting grass was weed removal.

There were two methods, physical and chemical. The physical method involved clearing the weeds before planting, using a rotary tiller multiple times; the chemical method would be spraying specific pesticides.

Xu Yang naturally opted for the physical method.

After a busy day, the grass seeds were finally all sown.

Today, the farm was very lively, full of people and animals.

Although the Sika Deers didn't come, the three Little Foxes did.

They were now completely fearless of humans.

To be exact, as long as they saw Xu Yang, they weren't scared of other people.

Whenever someone approached, the three little ones would run under Xu Yang's feet.

Following Xu Yang meant safety.

There were also two Long-tailed Sparrows, sometimes visible, sometimes not. Xu Yang made a nest for them, but they seemed uninterested.

They still preferred living in the woods.

Xu Yang let them be.

He never overly interfered with the choices of wild animals; if they wanted to come over, they could, and if not, they were free to go elsewhere.

Once everything was busy.

What had been desolate land full of weeds had now turned into a neatly laid out plot with rows of thin films over the black soil.

It looked very tidy.

The livestream had been on all day, but without sound.

The livestream title was simple: Today's Farm Planting Grass

The audience had a God's eye view, allowing them to see the busy state of the farm.

From time to time, people came in to watch for a while, watching a group of people and machines bustling about, which was quite interesting.

When the work was almost done, Xu Yang collected the drone, activated its intelligent companion flight mode, then hung the microphone on his chest and began to live broadcast with sound.

The livestream had over 2300 people in it.

Today, he could earn a good amount of popularity value.

"The grass has all been planted. The construction of this year's farm is about like this."

"Just waiting for the crops to mature to see how much money they'll make, if it can break even."

"Might plant some other things later."

"My farm's revenue is primarily from planting."

Xu Yang told everyone.

The chat was full of old fans who liked watching his livestream.

Quite a few people cheered him on, and Xu Yang thanked them several times.

Actually, livestreaming felt quite good too; the more one approached it with a regular mindset, the more interesting it became.

If it were like constantly watching the phone screen, occasionally glancing at the bottom right corner to see if there were any gift rewards, the excessive utilitarianism made it much less enjoyable.

Since Xu Yang was idle, he squatted down and played with the three Little Foxes.

The moment Xu Yang touched them, they whined joyfully, sounding extremely happy.

Foxes were all whiny creatures.

Seeing this scene, the viewers in the livestream couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"Are these three foxes really genuine foxes? They're too good at acting cute!"]

["Little Fox is seducing me, I want to pet it too!"]

["Hahaha, they are quite adorable!"]

The atmosphere remained relaxed.

Afterwards, Xu Yang strolled around the farm, and his day concluded.

After dinner, Xu Yang went to bed early.

He returned to his room and checked the system's popularity value.

The total popularity value had reached 120,000.

Thinking of this, Xu Yang chose one Advanced Lottery and two Ordinary Lotteries.

Lotteries always brought joy.

["Host selects two Ordinary Lotteries, drawing in progress...."]

["Congratulations to the host for receiving two Ordinary Rewards."]

["Neck Massager*1: A device for massaging the neck, suitable for people who sit for long periods of time."]

["Colorful Potato Seeds*300: Seeds that can grow potatoes of various colors (referring to potato sprouts that have been cut into pieces)."]

The sounds of the two Ordinary Lotteries resonated.

Xu Yang was somewhat surprised.

The Neck Massager was fine, he didn't need it, as he was active outdoors every day, keeping his neck and spine in great shape.

But the Colorful Potato Seeds were quite unusual.

They were rarely found on the market.

"I have heard of colorful potatoes, but with all the fancy variations, will the market buy it?"

Xu Yang wondered to himself.

When it comes to crop farming, staying grounded is essential.

Nowadays, some young people like to try trendy things, which don't often work out in the field of agriculture.

Especially for large-scale farming.

"Oh well, I'll plant them. The planting season for autumn potatoes is around September, so the timing is just right."

"That's another investment."

"Now it's all about investing; I don't know how much I can recoup by the end of the year."

Xu Yang thought to himself.

He was currently growing blueberries, annona, gem corn, grass, and also small quantities of strawberries and dragon fruit.

The farm mainly focused on cultivation.

The risk of planting was relatively low, essentially just facing the issue of bad market timing, affecting price.

Since he was using greenhouses, natural disasters were not a major concern.

So the farm's development was very stable.

It was sustainable.

"No planting, no harvest, the initial investment is necessary for farming."

"This way, by late autumn, there will be a great harvest."

Xu Yang made up his mind.

["Host selects Advanced Lottery, drawing in progress...."]

["Received Advanced Reward:"]

["Premium Mini Tractor*1: A powerful tractor, equipped with rotary tiller, plowing machine, seeder, and other accessories."]

Suddenly, the sound of receiving the Advanced Reward echoed.

Upon hearing it, Xu Yang was delighted, but also found it somewhat amusing and frustrating.

"I mean, I just planted 8 acres today, hiring people to plow and to sow."

"And now the tractor arrives tonight!"

He thought to himself.

It was really helpless.

But there was no choice, as the popularity value only surpassed 100,000 in the evening, which allowed for the Advanced Lottery; he couldn't have done it earlier.

The tractor, nicknamed "Rural Big G," varied greatly in type.

The cheapest were hand-held tractors, which could be gotten for just a few thousand dollars.

The expensive ones were large tractors that cost around 1 million each.

In the Black Earth regions, there were even more massive tractors costing several million each, plowing alongside each other in a mighty scene.

The price of a small tractor varie, with cheap ones around thirty to forty thousand, and the expensive ones running from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand.

Xu Yang checked the detailed information, and his tractor was the Dongfanghong ME704, a four-wheel-drive, one of the premium models among small tractors.

It was entirely red, stylish looking, and being convertible, it had no roof.

The tractor had only one cab, with the possibility to attach various farming implements at the back.

Luckily, the system rewarded it with matching rotary tiller, plough, and seeder all included.

This was perfect; once the tractor arrived, he could start planting potatoes right away.

This would also provide content for a live broadcast.

Xu Yang checked the weather forecast.

Rain was expected in three days.

The saying goes, "A spell of autumn rain brings a bout of coolness."

After the first rain, it might warm up again in a couple of days.

Then the second and third rains would bring cooler weather, and it would be time for autumn clothes and trousers.

Here, it cooled down faster; he guessed he should get ready for cotton pants as well.

The tractor would arrive tomorrow.

He needed to start work early.

After that, Xu Yang went to the bathroom and then fell into a deep sleep.

The next day.

Xu Yang woke up late, awakened by the loud crowing of a rooster.

Upon hearing the sound, he knew it was already eight in the morning.

He picked up his phone to check, and sure enough, it was exactly eight o'clock, not a minute off.

He had been a bit busy yesterday, so he slept in a bit today.

The rooster was clever too, loving to fly onto Xu Yang's roof to crow, its voice quite loud and piercing.

Xu Yang heard it clearly.

After waking up, he washed up and had some food.

Then he sat in the yard, enjoying the cool breeze and spacing out for twenty minutes.

After that, he was ready to start another busy day.