HLM -Chapter 1258 A Fiery Gathering

Wang Bo said, “Eva and I have already registered our marriage. We’re legally married now, though the wedding hasn’t taken place yet. I want to wait for the right opportunity, but when the time comes, we’ll definitely invite everyone to celebrate together.”

“It’s bound to be a grand feast,” a refined-looking farmer raised his coffee cup in a toast.

Because locals tend to spend ahead of their means and don’t really save, someone worth a million dollars here is still considered wealthy—unlike in China, where having a house in a second-tier city already means a net worth of at least a million.

New Zealand farmers belong to the bourgeoisie. Ignoring debts and loans, the net worth of the people present easily exceeded two million.

Farmers nowadays are very different from the past. They’re no longer crude, rough country bumpkins; they’re social elites. Bulls, for example, after working on a farm for a while, realized that agriculture also requires education and knowledge to succeed.

At gatherings, farmers no longer filled conversations with crude language. Their topics now revolved around current affairs, covering society, politics, finance, economics, and even military matters. Of course, most discussions were about matters close to them—agriculture and the economy.

“The weather in New Zealand has been getting worse. Damn it, I don’t understand why the drought hit so suddenly,” complained one farmer.

Gordon, another farmer, shrugged. “It’s the greenhouse effect, my friend. The Earth is becoming a giant greenhouse. We’re close to Antarctica, with landmasses too near the ice, so the effects appear particularly strong here.”

“We’re paying the price for those barbaric Australians. Their factories emit so much pollution. Damn them!”

“Australia’s not even the worst. Asia and Europe are the real culprits. They pollute without managing it. What a bunch of idiots. Once the Earth is ruined, they’ll be thrilled.”

At this point, Wang Bo noticed a few eyes on him and felt slightly awkward. He knew that due to his identity, these people were too polite to openly criticize China by name. So the next targets became the United States, Russia, Germany, and Japan–South Korea.

After the discussion, it was time for lunch. Wang Bo chose the lakeside beach, where over a hundred people went in a grand procession. There, meat and vegetables were already prepared. Those who wanted could barbecue; those who didn’t could enjoy a buffet.

Sunset Town’s meat and vegetables were renowned for their flavor. Anyone getting a free chance to eat certainly wouldn’t pass it up.

Flames rose from the barbecue grills, holding tender veal and plump lamb chops. As the fire licked the meat, clear drops of fat sizzled onto the coals, sparking tiny flames. Soon, the enticing aroma of grilled meat filled the air.

People gathered around the grills with plates, starting to eat once the meat was cooked to medium or medium-well. Wang Bo preferred his meat a bit more cooked. While rare cuts might be tender and nutritious, his stomach wasn’t suited for raw meat.

Next to each grill was a barrel of beer, large or small, all brewed by the farmers themselves. Wang Bo had tried Christian’s dark beer, which had a rich, strong flavor. There were other varieties here, some caramel-flavored, some coffee-flavored, and some creamy.

While eating, Wang Bo approached the farmers providing the beer to learn from them.

One proud farmer said, “Our Kappen family’s light beer is exceptional. It requires great skill during distillation. Wang, it’s not that I don’t want to teach you, but words alone aren’t enough. Experience comes from practice.”

A middle-aged Black rancher nearby laughed and walked over. “Your Kappen family is stingy. Is the light beer recipe Coca-Cola? Why not lock it in a Swiss bank vault?”

Kappen’s face flushed. “Jon, don’t make sarcastic remarks. You know what kind of person I am. If Wang wants, I can brew a whole pool of it for him, but it still relies on experience.”

Jon patted Wang Bo on the shoulder. “My coffee beer doesn’t require experience. Come, I’ll give you the recipe and explain how to select the ingredients.”

“You know, beer is simply fermented malt sugar. During fermentation, yeast converts the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Add coffee powder during this process, and coffee beer is born.”

Various flavored beers work the same way: flavorings are added during brewing, producing beers with different tastes.

The New Zealand government strictly regulates unusual beer flavors, so such beers are rare in stores, but home brewing is common.

When the meal was nearly over, Christian wiped his hands and came over to Wang Bo. “Wang, we have a plan. I’m not sure if you’d be interested.”

Curious, Wang Bo asked, “What kind of plan? If it’s interesting, I think I’ll be very interested.”

Christian shrugged. “We think it’s fun. You know the farmers’ market in front of the Parliament Building?”

Wang Bo nodded. Of course he knew it. When he first went to Wellington, Charlie had mentioned it while helping him open a bank account. It was one of the three major markets in the city.

Christian said, “Relying solely on growing crops to make money has become difficult. My partners and I discussed it, and we want to create a South Island farmers’ market, bringing some agricultural products to sell. Earning some extra cash is always good.”

Wang Bo quickly understood. “So, wholesale becomes retail, right?”

Christian nodded eagerly. “Exactly. We all know retail agricultural products generally fetch higher prices.”

“I’ll participate too. I’m interested,” Wang Bo said.

He roughly guessed Christian’s intention. To establish such a market, they’d need a flagship product to anchor it. Sunset Town’s agricultural products fit the bill.

Sunset Ranch had already gained a reputation. Most of its livestock products were high-priced, so selling them in a market setting wasn’t particularly profitable. But Wang Bo still had his vegetable garden, which wasn’t fully developed yet. Having a market to sell vegetables would be perfect.

Christian immediately brightened. “That’s great! We originally planned to hold the market in Cromwell, but now that we’re in Sunset Town, I see it has more residents and tourists. If we hold it here, would you be willing?”

Wang Bo was, of course, more than willing!

These farmers’ markets were just like the markets back in his hometown. New Zealand had many similar markets, the largest being the Parliament Farmers’ Market, open nearly every day of the year. Some smaller towns also had farmers’ markets, operating on certain days each week.