Chapter 248: Is The Chen Clan Stupid? News About Mao Tai?
Chen Kai was genuinely a bit shocked by what the Zheng family father and son had done, and he made up his mind that he had to report this matter to County Magistrate Chu as soon as possible, and then send people to keep an eye on the Chen Clan’s rapeseed fields.
What if the Chen Clan’s sea of cauliflower really was something extraordinary?
A moment later, the group got back in the car and headed to the Chen Clan again.
After accompanying the Zheng family father and son to register and check in, Chen Kai hurried over to inspect the Chen Clan’s planting land, but at this point there was nothing to see at all, just ordinary fields where seeds had just been sown.
Right now there was simply nothing noticeable.
However, he still had to make his report. After driving back to the county, he went straight to County Magistrate Chu’s office.
Chu Ping was looking over the economic benefits brought by the recent boom of the Linhe County Ancient City Area.
The results far exceeded his expectations.
With the online popularity, many tourists had come; no wonder places everywhere were trying to cash in on the tourism dividend, frantically hyping themselves online, with some culture and tourism directors even going so far as to dress as women and dance.
And this year, he was confident that tourism would bring a boost to Linhe County’s GDP.
Obviously, he did not imagine there was an even bigger surprise waiting for him.
Seeing Chen Kai enter, Chu Ping smiled and said, “I have read the data you sent over. It’s very good. We need to keep the Ancient City Area’s popularity going.”
Chen Kai nodded, then reported, “County Magistrate Chu, the Chen Clan’s rapeseed flower planting project has already started.”
“It’s started?” Chu Ping was surprised.
Because this was a merit industry jointly run by that tycoon Liu Ye and the Chen Clan, renting ten thousand mu of land, he had been paying close attention.
It was just that this season was not the time to plant rapeseed flowers, but the Chen Family Head had said it was guided by the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation’s dream, which added another layer of uncertainty to the matter.
Chen Kai continued, “County Magistrate Chu, Old Master Zheng said he has previously met the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation, and he is very sure that if the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation sends a dream message, then the Chen Clan’s sea of rapeseed flowers will definitely not be simple!”
“???” Chu Ping clearly froze.
Old Master Zheng had met the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation?
He knew about Old Master Zheng’s arteriosclerosis symptoms; he had even swallowed his pride and helped make the connection, and only then had the Chen Clan agreed to treat him.
After two blessing rituals, Old Master Zheng’s arteriosclerosis was cured. One had to know this was a condition for which modern medicine basically had no solution.
Normally, Old Master Zheng should have undergone conservative treatment and then simply waited for death.
But as for Old Master Zheng seeing the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation…
Given that man’s status and Old Master Zheng’s personality, it was absolutely impossible he was joking about something like that.
So…
Thinking this through, Chu Ping did not hesitate and ordered Chen Kai, “Hurry and arrange people to monitor the Chen Clan’s rapeseed planting fields.”
Chen Kai explained, “I already instructed Section Chief Ma to go personally on my way back.”
Chu Ping nodded, then discussed with Chen Kai some matters concerning Linhe County’s tourism economy.
This was currently the county’s biggest project matter.
As the two were negotiating, a secretary hurried in to report, “County Magistrate Chu, please look at this video.”
Puzzled, Chu Ping took the video and saw two Daoist priests in it, one older, one a young Daoist, carrying something on his back as they walked out of the high-speed train station.
And that train station turned out to be their Linhe County station.
Which meant these two Daoist priests were headed for the Chen Clan?
Chen Kai leaned over to watch and said, “This Daoist priest seems to be bringing something with him. Previously, Daoist Priest Chen and the others suddenly stayed on at the Chen Clan, maybe it is related.”
Chu Ping nodded. “So we must keep a close eye on this matter too. I really feel it is not simple.”
“Mm!” said Chen Kai.
…
By afternoon, Chen Lin had already led people to plant a large area. Normally, rapeseed seeds sprout and emerge from the soil in about two to four days after being planted.
But for the Chen Clan’s seeds, his nephew had said the growth speed would be even faster; if they were sown in the morning, they should already be a stretch of tender green by tomorrow.
And he had already handed the other seeds to Chairman Liu, who in turn had started arranging people that afternoon to plant in various villages, trying to ensure the ten thousand mu would be planted as quickly as possible.
At the same time, the Chen Clan had sent people from the Demon Subduing Hall over to supervise. If there were any problems, the Chen Clan would be the first to know and handle them.
As several villages started planting at the same time, the scale was large, and many people filmed videos and posted them online, attracting a lot of tourist attention.
After watching a video and approaching the Chen Clan’s area, a female tourist had the driver pull over, then filmed a video. She happened to see villagers planting and called out from a distance, “Uncle, what are you planting?”
The villager did not hide it. “Rapeseed flowers. The Chen Clan is planting ten thousand mu. I heard they invested tens of millions.”
“What? Rapeseed flowers?” The tourist was surprised, because she had previously visited rapeseed flower seas in other places, and their flowers had already withered.
The season had passed.
But that did not stop her from posting on Douyin.
Right now the topic had traction on Douyin, and the fact that the Chen Clan was planting rapeseed flowers in this season would definitely draw attention, right?
Indeed. After she uploaded the video, many people noticed it.
Planting rapeseed flowers in this season was unrealistic.
Many people refuted her.
“Fake, right?”
“Exactly. A big figure like Liu Dong would not be clueless enough not to know you can’t plant rapeseed flowers this season.”
“Even if it is only tens of millions, do you think the group’s analysis team is stupid?”
“Everyone, don’t believe this video. Give me 100 yuan to pay a villager and I can film ten of these.”
“I can do it for 50!”
“…”
There were a lot of objections, but as people argued, the popularity climbed and the numbers were actually very good. The key was that other people later posted videos claiming they had heard that the Chen Clan really was planting rapeseed flowers.
This pushed the popularity even higher, and combined with the Chen Clan’s existing heat, the topic directly went trending.
For that female tourist, the stats were definitely a pleasant surprise; as for people doubting her, she did not care at all, since the Chen Clan really was planting rapeseed flowers.
Qingmin Agricultural University is one of the four most renowned agricultural universities in the country, with significant research contributions in agriculture.
Bao Jing was a professor at Qingmin Agricultural University, very well-known, and one of the professors at Qingmin University who had made major contributions to agricultural research.
While he was teaching a class on seasonal issues in agricultural planting, a student asked him, “Professor Bao, is it feasible to plant rapeseed flowers in our Qingmin Region in this season? What would happen to the rapeseed flowers planted?”
Bao Jing smiled when he heard the question; he had just been talking about seasonal constraints. Wasn’t this question handing him another perfect example?
Smiling, he said, “Sometimes the seasonal constraints on crop planting are very strong. So if you plant a crop after its season, you are going against the natural pattern.”
“For example, rapeseed flowers. In our Qingmin Region, if you plant them in this season, you can basically be sure that because the climate conditions do not match the plant’s growth needs, you will end up with few blossoms, low seed-setting rates, even plant wilting, which will seriously affect both yield and ornamental effect.”
“Even if you wait until November to plant rapeseed, relying on the low winter temperatures to complete vernalization so they bloom the following spring, that works. But for this month, experienced farmers would not plant rapeseed flowers.”
That student had been secretly recording on his mobile phone the whole time. Hearing this, he immediately asked another question: “Professor Bao, then what if, in our Qingmin Region, there is a scenic spot that chooses this season to plant rapeseed flowers, investing tens of millions in a large-scale sea of rapeseed flowers?”
Bao Jing laughed when he heard that. “Then clearly someone has fooled a foolish boss, or the boss is inexperienced and does not believe in science. In the end he will definitely lose everything.”
“I see!” The student nodded, more convinced that the video online was just attention-seeking. Whether it was the Chen Clan or a tycoon like Big Shot Liu, there was no way they would launch a project without investigation and assessment.
So he uploaded the recording to Douyin with the title: 《Stop hyping for attention. A professor from Qingmin Agricultural University tells you it’s impossible to plant rapeseed flowers!》
Bao Jing knew nothing of this. After class he returned to his office, only to receive a Douyin video link from his daughter.
He clicked in and saw himself on the podium answering the rapeseed planting question. Obviously some student had secretly filmed and posted it.
This did not surprise him; it was not the first time.
What he did not expect was that the video’s numbers were so high. Since when was an agriculture professor’s lecture this popular?
He checked the comment section and then understood:
“So this means the Chen Clan definitely can’t be planting rapeseed flowers.”
“I know Professor Bao; he is absolutely the real deal. If he says so, then it’s impossible.”
“I told you those tourists would say anything for attention!”
“…”
Afterward, Bao Jing searched further and discovered the whole story. No wonder the student had mentioned a scenic spot; turned out it was the Chen Clan planting something, and some tourist had hyped it up by saying they were planting rapeseed.
A lack of basic common sense was truly terrifying.
Any villager who has done some farming knows you can’t plant rapeseed flowers in this season. Now these people were chasing traffic with zero regard for scientific patterns.
Because of what Professor Bao, an agriculture expert, had said in class, the Chen Clan’s rapeseed planting attracted even more attention and unexpectedly became a trending topic.
This was quite surprising.
After all, it was just a rapeseed planting, yet it had drawn so much attention. But that is how traffic works sometimes.
If an ordinary person goes out to buy a cup of cola and films it, they might get ten likes at best. Who cares about you buying cola?
But if someone who is riding a wave of traffic goes to buy a cup of cola, that can get hundreds of thousands of likes, and just because that person bought cola from a certain shop, that shop’s business might suddenly boom.
As it happened, the Chen Clan was in the middle of a heat wave. Just planting rapeseed flowers, before any blossoms or sea of flowers had appeared, was attracting attention all over the internet.
This was the internet era.
With such heat, Linhe County naturally paid attention. At first, both Chu Ping and Chen Kai had leaned toward the idea that the Chen Clan’s rapeseed flowers would definitely be something unusual. But after seeing what Professor Bao had said in his lecture, they began to feel uncertain again.
Because his contributions to agriculture in the Qingmin Region were truly significant.
“County Magistrate Chu, I am suddenly feeling unsure,” Chen Kai said awkwardly.
Chu Ping actually felt the same, but he had to maintain his composure and only instructed Chen Kai to closely watch the situation of the Chen Clan’s rapeseed planting.
Now that they had already started large-scale planting, whether the county had confidence or not would not change the outcome.
As for the Chen Clan’s rapeseed planting, Xiao Yu naturally had to monitor the planting progress in each village, and at the same time she received many @ mentions.
She now had more than two million fans, and many of them asked her about the Chen Clan.
When she opened these @s, she found they were all asking whether the Chen Clan was really planting rapeseed flowers.
She had not expected that with the Chen Clan’s rapeseed just being planted, so many people would already be paying attention.
She also found out that a very famous agriculture professor in the Qingmin Region had spoken on this issue, saying it was impossible to plant rapeseed flowers in this season.
But the Chen Clan really was planting rapeseed flowers.
He definitely did not know about spirit fields, nor about Feng Shui arrays.
However, seeing how many people were paying attention online, she took out her mobile phone to record a video. “Many friends online are very concerned about whether the Chen Clan is planting rapeseed flowers. I would like to let everyone know that the Chen Clan is indeed planting rapeseed flowers now. I believe the sea of rapeseed flowers will meet everyone very soon.”
Click send.
Xiao Yu’s statement quickly gained huge traction. Once people learned that the Chen Clan really was planting rapeseed flowers, many were shocked, puzzled, and confused.
This should not be the case.
It did not fit scientific patterns.
Almost everyone online had believed the Chen Clan could not be planting rapeseed flowers, and now it was as if their faces had all been slapped.
Could it be that tycoon Liu Ye simply had money to burn and was not afraid of losing it?
Because he had been following the matter, and people @ mentioned his Douyin account, Bao Jing was drawn back into it.
He had not even posted the video himself, yet people had managed to find him; he had to admit the internet was miraculous.
But when he saw the Chen Clan’s response, he was puzzled.
Investing tens of millions to plant rapeseed flowers in this season, and the Chen Clan people and that tycoon Liu were not doing background checks or any investigation?
Now he understood why so many tycoons complained about losing money in agricultural projects and why agricultural industry development was so hard.
So this was how those tycoons lost money, right?
While the online discussion about the Chen Clan’s rapeseed flowers was at its peak, on Chen Han’s side, he and Daoist Priest Chen and the others welcomed yet another Daoist priest.
This was a Daoist priest from Zijin Palace in Qinghe, where Daoist Priest Xuan Shi resided, and he had brought the Feng Shui books in Zijin Palace’s collection.
Daoist Priest Xuan Shi greeted him and immediately introduced, “Family Head Chen, this is my senior brother Xuan Xin. Senior brother, this is Family Head Chen, the leading figure of our Daoist Sect’s Feng Shui classics discussion this time.”
This Feng Shui classics discussion by the Daoist Sect would definitely be the most important event for the Daoist Sect going forward.
These Daoist priests all knew their own abilities, so they tacitly pushed Family Head Chen into the leading role.
Most importantly, there was still that Old Daoist Priest behind the Chen Clan. If necessary, the Chen Clan might be able to invite him out.
He might very well know Feng Shui, and at the very least he would surely be stronger than all of them.
“Greetings, Family Head Chen.” Xuan Xin understood the situation and very politely performed a Daoist salute to Chen Han.
“Welcome, Daoist Priest Xuan Xin, to the Chen Clan.” Chen Han returned the salute, then led him to the standalone courtyard where Daoist Priest Xuan Shi was staying.
As for the Feng Shui classics, no one brought them up. They tacitly waited for all the sects to send over their Feng Shui classics.
At that point, everyone would bring out their own Feng Shui books for joint study. As for whether anyone was withholding books, no one would investigate.
Because if what Family Head Chen said was verified, there would not be much point in hiding those Feng Shui books.
After arranging things, Chen Han was about to return to his courtyard when he suddenly received a telephone call from Uncle Dagou:
“Xiao Han, the people we sent to supervise the planting land in the neighboring villages sent word that two villages started fighting over the rapeseed planting land. You told me before to keep an eye out for any fighting. Does this count?”
Chen Lin still did not know what his nephew was after, but when this came up he reported it at once.
When Chen Han heard this, his eyes lit up.
He had originally assumed that Mao Tai’s task would only take place near the Chen Clan and had specifically asked Uncle Dagou to send people from the Demon Subduing Hall to watch Shangyuan Village.
But nothing had happened, which had made him start to think this task might be very difficult.
He really had not considered that it might happen outside, and now the Chen Clan’s rapeseed planting area also counted as under their jurisdiction.
One had to remember that in Shu Shan Swordsman, the spell battle at Daijia Field had also started as a village-versus-village melee.
Once he got the news, he did not hesitate. He got the car keys from his junior sister, drove out of the Chen Clan, and headed straight for the neighboring village.
This might well be related to Mao Tai’s message.
Chen Han’s driving was decent, and he soon reached the neighboring village where the melee had taken place. From a distance he could see two groups still facing off; the matter was not over yet.
He pressed the accelerator to speed up, but before he had gone far, he stared in surprise at the prompt that appeared in his mind from the game system.
Seriously?
This counts too?
