HLM – Chapter 101 Massive Agricultural Procurement

After staying home for about ten days, Wang Bo’s parents had stopped urging him to go on blind dates. They had become busy — learning how to operate the equipment on the Donghai Whirlwind, handling the ownership transfer procedures, and dealing with the influx of curious villagers.

Wang Bo, on the other hand, had nothing much to do. Every day he kept an eye on the Heart of the Lord. In the evenings, he would gather Zhuang Ding to play for a while, sometimes bringing out the Commander to break the monotony. He also kept a close watch on the Wheel.

Finally, a few days before the New Year, the Wheel turned pale green again at night. Wang Bo quickly reached out and tapped it, and the pointer began spinning rapidly.

As usual, once the pointer had spun for a while, Wang Bo casually called out “Stop” in his mind.

Under his eager gaze — hoping for another Heart of Wealth because the profit that thing had brought was insane — the pointer gradually slowed.

Of course, the Heart of Mystery would have been great too; he still had no idea what that one even did.

However, the pointer landed on the Heart of Territory again.

When it stopped, the Wheel displayed the words “Heart of the Nest.” Wang Bo tapped it again, and the Wheel transformed into a green sculpture shaped like a marble-tiled floor.

Now he was confused. “What does the Heart of the Nest do? A nest, like for birds or animals?”

He looked toward Commander and Zhuang Ding. The two little creatures sat on either side of him, completely indifferent to the Heart of the Nest in his hands, giving each other the cold shoulder.

Wang Bo zoomed in on the sandbox and noticed that the sculpture resembled the layout of the floor in the main hall of the castle. He decided to place it there.

Sure enough, the Heart of the Nest merged into the floor as soon as it touched the castle’s central hall on the sandbox. A green glow emerged from the floor beneath the central staircase.

From that glowing area, two nearly invisible green lines extended out and connected to Commander and Zhuang Ding, who were standing by the door.

Wang Bo returned them to the castle, and both creatures began to grow visibly excited. Zhuang Ding only lingered in the courtyard briefly before dashing into the hall, with Commander soaring after him. They both ended up right on top of the Heart of the Nest.

But what exactly did it do for them? Wang Bo studied it for a long while but couldn’t figure it out. At most, it seemed to increase their sense of belonging — the two little guys had been lying on the nest area ever since.

Even if he didn’t yet understand its purpose, he was certain it was useful. After all, nothing from the Heart of the Lord had ever been useless so far.

On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, the town held its annual year-end market — the busiest and liveliest day of the entire year. When Wang Bo got up, he told his parents he was heading out for the market.

His mother had made millet porridge and pickled veggie pancakes for breakfast. The latter was especially fragrant — one glance and Wang Bo was already drooling.

Every household in Wang’s Fishing Village had large jars for pickling vegetables. Unlike other rural areas where pickles were often seen as food for the poor, that wasn’t the case here.

The village was by the sea, with severely salinized and sandy soil, making it hard to grow vegetables. Buying fresh vegetables was a significant expense for fishermen year-round, so the custom of pickling vegetables had always been strong.

There were many ways to eat pickles, but Wang Bo’s favorite was his mother’s: shredded pickles mixed with flour and eggs to make crispy pancakes. They were a bit salty but incredibly fragrant, especially when paired with millet porridge — the perfect combo.

After slurping down two large bowls of porridge and a pancake the size of an 8-inch pizza, he wiped his mouth and got ready to head to the market — only to be stopped by two elders at the door.

“Second Uncle, Uncle Ming! Dropping by for a visit? Had breakfast yet? Come join me for some porridge!” Wang Bo greeted them warmly.

Second Uncle chuckled. “Already ate. Your mom made pickle pancakes this morning, right? Smells delicious! You heading out for the market?”

Wang Bo nodded. They didn’t have much to chat about — clearly here to see his parents — so he excused himself and headed to the neighboring village to meet up with Zhong Dabao for the market.

The market was a perfect embodiment of the phrase a sea of people. As the New Year approached, businesspeople, office workers, and laborers had all returned home.

The town’s two intersecting main roads were lined with vendor stalls, and the space in between was packed with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

After meeting up with Zhong Dabao, Wang Bo struggled through the crowd and made his way to South Street, where agricultural goods were sold — everything from tools and machinery to seeds, saplings, chicks, and ducklings.

Even though it was the year-end fair, many people were still buying agricultural supplies. For rural families, the first day of the lunar New Year meant the beginning of the spring season — time to get busy with the fields and fishing boats.

Like other fishing villages, Wang Bo’s hometown didn’t have much farmland or vegetable plots, nor were there many people raising livestock. So the market usually lacked agricultural supplies — today was a rare opportunity to stock up.

Now that he had 1,000 square kilometers of land under his control, he intended to use it well. Since the Heart of the Lord could produce a Heart of Pasture, it could probably also produce a Heart of Farm — so he had to prepare in advance.

New Zealand was agriculturally developed, but its range of agricultural products wasn’t that diverse. It certainly didn’t match China’s vast array of vegetables, fruits, and livestock.

Wang Bo knew that if his farm was going to be profitable, he had to take a different route — and local Chinese crops and animals were the perfect niche.

Once inside the market, he started hunting for vegetable seeds. He came prepared with plenty of cash and was determined to buy in bulk no matter the variety:

“What seeds are these? Cabbage? Big cabbage or baby cabbage? Give me ten jin of each.”

“Got romaine seeds? Great, wrap all those up. Chili peppers, eggplants, tomatoes — uncle, you’ve got a great selection here. I’ll take them all.”

“Got edamame seeds? What’s this — Chinese toon seeds? Nice! Wrap it up — wait, not too much. Just give me half a jin.”

Channeling the same energy he had when he and Eva went on that shopping spree at Little Yellow Supermarket, Wang Bo went wild buying anything he could: sprout vegetables, flowering crops, fruiting plants, fungi, berries — you name it, he bought it.

After seeds, he moved on to chicks, ducklings, and goslings. He skipped cattle and sheep — New Zealand already had top-tier breeds — but piglets were worth buying. New Zealand’s grain-fed pork wasn’t tasty, far inferior to the rich flavor of local Chinese pigs.

If he weren’t at the market, he could’ve dropped all of this into his territory via the sandbox. But with so many people around, he had to be cautious and work around it.

Still, it was worth the hassle. At least this way, he could bring native Chinese species into his territory — something that would be nearly impossible through normal means.

New Zealand customs strictly controlled the import and export of non-native species. Being a small island, its ecosystem was fragile. The rabbits brought by Europeans once nearly devastated the island, and even now, the possums they introduced continue to destroy the grasslands.