After the divorce, he settled in Northwest China and became a Shennong (a legendary Chinese farmer).

Chapter 127 On-site Inspection, Reunion with Old Friends

A little while later, Gu Tong brought over some tea, and the group chatted for a few minutes while drinking the tea.

"Xiao Gu, let's get through this. Don't you have a patch of alfalfa? Come on, let's go take a look."

Station Chief Cui is calm and collected in his work, but he never procrastinates.

When asked to go see the alfalfa field, Gu Tong readily agreed and drove the two of them to the alfalfa field.

Station Chief Cui and Wu Bin went into the fields and carefully observed the thickness of the ice layer to see if there were any hollow layers. They both nodded in satisfaction.

"Xiao Gu, you really are an expert! The timing and amount of watering for winter irrigation are just right!"

The two drove around the field for a while before getting into the car.

Station Master Cui smiled and praised Gu Tong. Gu Tong didn't say anything polite and waited for him to continue.

However, after the other party finished speaking, he fell silent. Only after getting out of the car in the yard did Station Chief Cui smile and point to the smart greenhouse.

"Shall we go in and take a look?"

Gu Tong understood what the other person meant and took the initiative to speak.

"Then let's go take a look."

Station Chief Cui nodded, and then he and Wu Bin followed Gu Tong into the greenhouse.

"Cultivating new types of rapeseed... Artificial cultivation of Lithospermum erythrorhizon... Little Gu, you are more ambitious than I imagined."

"Great, people should do as much as they can while they're young. It doesn't matter if you fail, you have money anyway."

After touring the area, Station Chief Cui looked at Gu Tong with a smile in his eyes.

Wu Bin didn't talk much in front of his superiors, but he had gained a new understanding of Gu Tong.

The other party was not a rough man who only knew how to bury himself in farming and tinker with agricultural machinery, but an agricultural expert with real skills.

They have rich theoretical knowledge and practical experience, and they can see the big picture from small details. Just by looking at the amount of water others use to irrigate their plants for winter, they can understand a lot of things.

Moreover, the gromwell they cultivate grows so well. You should know that the artificial cultivation of gromwell in the Western Regions has always been a difficult problem. The Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has been working on it for more than ten years, but it has only just reached the stage where it can barely propagate seedlings.

It is said that the germination rate of gromwell seeds is around 50%, and the survival rate of seedlings is less than 30%.

Gu Tong couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard what Station Chief Cui said. Who was she to be rich? Who was just spreading these rumors out of boredom?

Little did he know that news of his team of agricultural machinery going head-to-head with the Jinfeng Group in Tekos had already spread throughout the county. Some said that Gu Tong had made over a million yuan from this deal, the exact source of which was untraceable, but everyone was willing to believe it.

Even if he knew, he couldn't come forward to refute the rumors, and besides, this matter might not necessarily be a bad thing.

"Xiao Gu, let's get down to business. I'm here today for one purpose: your proposal has been approved in principle, but I still need to verify whether you have the ability to manage high-standard farmland and its ancillary facilities."

I visited your winter irrigation system before, which shows your farming experience is extremely rich; most experienced farmers can't compare to you. And seeing this smart greenhouse, all those integrated water and fertilizer systems and intelligent controls are child's play for you.

Station Chief Cui paused here, then walked out of the greenhouse with Wu Bin and returned to the house.

Gu Tong was speechless. The other person was a very nice person and was serious and responsible in doing things, but this habit of speaking in riddles was too disgusting. Couldn't he just say what he wanted to say at once?

Station Chief Cui sat on the sofa, drinking tea while tapping the surface of the coffee table.

Gu Tong suddenly realized what was going on and quickly took out two packs of good cigarettes from the cabinet, saying, "Station Chief Cui, Technician Wu, would you like one?"

"You just remembered? My craving for cigarettes is kicking in."

Station Chief Cui smiled and pointed at Gu Tong. Wu Bin quickly opened the cigarette box, took out two cigarettes, and each lit one and began to smoke.

Gu Tong was both amused and exasperated. He thought Station Chief Cui was a very interesting person and worth getting to know long-term.

"For the sake of this cigarette, I'll let you pass today's inspection. I'll write the report as soon as I get back, and your proposal will be finalized within seven working days. Pretty generous of me, right?"

Station Chief Cui then gave an affirmative answer, saying that Gu Tong's previously submitted plan would soon be approved, and the county would arrange financial funds in advance to cover the project.

Upon hearing this, Gu Tong was overjoyed.

This is a project worth over a million yuan, and he only needs to invest about 10 yuan in matching funds, which is definitely a great thing.

"Thank you! Thank you, Station Chief Cui, and thank you, Technician Wu. Don't leave at noon. I'll cook two of my specialty dishes for you to try. I'm quite a good cook."

Gu Tong then thanked the two of them and sincerely invited them to stay for dinner.

"We'll skip the meal; we have to go to the next place. Xiao Gu, keep it up! Your new rapeseed breeding and artificial cultivation of Lithospermum erythrorhizon are both very promising. If you succeed, it will be incredible."

Station Chief Cui smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he did not intend to stay for lunch.

Gu Tong didn't want to force them, so he casually handed the two packs of cigarettes on the coffee table to the two men, and Station Chief Cui and Wu Bin didn't refuse.

After the two left, he sent the news that the project proposal was about to be approved to the group.

After all, the 1000-mu demonstration field has been handed over to the four-person team for full management, and everyone should know this information.

After sending the message, Gu Tong waited for a while, but no one replied. She wondered what the others were busy with.

So he went to the sheepfold to feed the sheep. After he finished, Aikebai, Dong Jun, and Ma Dongwen came to his house together.

"Are you guys doing this on purpose? You don't reply to my messages, but then you show up in person."

Gu Tong could tell at a glance that the three of them had planned this in advance; otherwise, how could they have coincidentally walked in together?

"We thought this was a great occasion, so we went out and bought some food to celebrate."

Ma Dongwen smiled sheepishly, and the group handed over the food they had brought to Gu Tong.

He opened the bag and found lung noodles, smoked horse sausage, stir-fried mutton head meat, and dozens of baked buns.

"Okay, we don't need to cook lunch. I'll heat it up, and we'll eat together."

Gu Tong smiled and said something, then went to the kitchen.

Later, the four of them sat around the dining table, eating and talking about the demonstration field.

"We've invested so much in the demonstration field, we need to produce outstanding results by next autumn's acceptance inspection. Brother Gu, we're fine with contributing our labor, but you'll have to handle the planting plan and seed selection."

While Dong Jun was overjoyed, he also felt immense pressure.

However, with Gu Tong around, he wasn't worried. He could just leave the important things to Gu Tong and focus on his own tasks.

"Old Dong is right. Besides the seeds, you must also personally select the pesticides and fertilizers. We will do whatever you tell us to do, without any objection."

Ma Dongwen also made his stance clear: he knew that his abilities were not yet sufficient to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the 1000-mu demonstration field.

Ai Kebai curled his lip and said, "You two talk a good game, but aren't you just trying to shirk responsibility?"

Dong Jun and Ma Dongwen exchanged a glance, then stood up and said, "What, why don't you do it?"

"I can't do it, let's listen to Brother Gu."

Aikebai responded without batting an eye, almost making the two of them furious.

"Let's discuss it together later; there are always things one person can't consider."

Gu Tong laughed, and they stopped bickering.

After finishing their meal and cleaning up, Dong Jun and the others left one by one.

That's how it is during the off-season for farming; everyone finds their own enjoyment, and they occasionally get together, but rarely do they usually gather together.

Two days later.

When Gulixian returned from the provincial capital, she specially brought back the breeding books to her home.

Gu Tong casually flipped through the books and could tell that the author had put a lot of thought into them, as they included both basic knowledge and cutting-edge technological achievements.

"Thanks, Gulixian. What would you like to eat for lunch? How about we go to the village to eat?"

Gu Tong felt he should properly thank them, so he suggested inviting them to dinner in the countryside.

Gulixian looked disgusted, then went to the car to get a gift box of roasted whole lamb, patted the box and said, "We'll eat this for lunch."

"Okay, whatever you say."

Gu Tong had no objection. He rarely argued with others over trivial matters, and besides, being able to eat a whole roasted lamb was quite nice.

When the two tried it at noon, they both wore expressions that were hard to describe.

The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't delicious either. Overall, my expectations were quite high, and the result was rather disappointing.

"Shady businessman!"

Gulixian cursed angrily, then put the matter out of her mind.

She immediately took out her phone, opened her photo album, and showed Gu Tong the photos she had taken during her trip to the provincial capital. She couldn't help but smile as she talked about happy things.

Colors dance in the air.

Gu Tong offered a few well-timed compliments, and the other party finally put away their phone with satisfaction.

"I have to go back now. I need to go to the bank this afternoon. I'll come see you again when I have time."

Gulixian then got up to say goodbye, as she had important business to attend to in the afternoon and had to rush back.

Gu Tong nodded, saw the other person off, and then went into the greenhouse.

Mao Yong hasn't arrived yet. He usually avoids guests when they come to his house, and today is no exception. Normally, he would be working in the greenhouse at this time.

Gu Tong first went to check on the purple gromwell. After this period of growth, the 100 seedlings were developing into strong seedlings.

The other eight gromwell plants all exceeded the data of the annual gromwell plants, and they looked tall and robust.

It can now be confirmed that all 100 gromwell seedlings have survived, and next year they will be able to deliver a satisfactory result to Chen Ye.

"Wait a little longer, and we can divide the eight purple gromwell plants by next week at the latest."

He glanced at the growth records of the eight gromwell plants and got a sense of what was going on.

If you divide the plant again, eight gromwell plants will become sixteen plants, and this will not affect the growth and development of the gromwell or its medicinal efficacy.

The medicinal part of Lithospermum erythrorhizon from the Western Regions is mainly its rhizome. The medicinal components need to accumulate over a long period of time, and the root system grows slowly, which is also a factor that makes it difficult to cultivate Lithospermum erythrorhizon artificially.

However, he has a root enhancement solution that allows the roots and stems of the purple gromwell to recover quickly after each division, which is why he dares to divide the plant continuously in a short period of time.

In addition, the precise management of smart greenhouses can ensure the accurate delivery of nutrients and monitor the absorption of nutrients by plants.

With a two-pronged approach, he was confident that by next year he could turn these eight purple herbs into one hundred, with a size close to that of an adult, and accumulate medicinal properties for at least three years.

After leaving planting area number one, Gu Tong went to check on the rapeseed.

The rapeseed has reached the seedling stage. At this stage, the rapeseed absorbs nutrients more quickly, so it is appropriate to increase the supply of water and fertilizer.

Taking advantage of the free time, he brought some root enhancement solution and added it to the fertigation system. The system automatically diluted the enhancement solution and then precisely dripped it onto the roots of each rapeseed plant.

The entire process has been automated.

"We are currently in the late seedling stage, and will soon enter the budding stage. The growth cycle of rapeseed in the smart greenhouse is expected to be compressed to 50 days."

Around 10 days.

After the budding stage, there is a flowering stage and a pod development and maturation stage, which is when the rapeseed is harvested.

Gu Tong felt that it wouldn't be long before he saw the results, but he wasn't sure if the mutated [God Oil No. 1] strain, which couldn't be propagated, would bring him any surprises.

Finally, he arrived at Planting Zone 3.

The third planting area has been put into use. A batch of standard sterile rapeseed lines has been planted here as female parents, which will be used for hybridization experiments in the future.

These rapeseed seeds were obtained by Gu Tong through Station Master Yu. Subsequently, pollen from superior individual plants selected from Zone 2 will be used to pollinate the sterile lines planted in Zone 3 to verify whether they have the function of restorer lines.

Simply put, it's about whether the characteristics of high yield, high cold resistance, and early maturity can be expressed after hybridization, and whether the genetic stability is maintained.

Because there are too many unknown possibilities, we must keep trying to find excellent rapeseed varieties with stable characteristics and genetics.

This process can take several years in traditional breeding, but it can be greatly shortened by using high-tech methods.

But no one can guarantee success; besides technical skills and experience, there might also be an element of luck involved.

The sterile lines planted in the three zones employ light-nutrient coupling technology, utilizing a specific "light formula" to promote crop photosynthesis. This allows for more precise control of flowering and fruiting times, significantly shortening the rapeseed's growth cycle.

"The situation is good; we can definitely achieve simultaneous flowering of rapeseed in Zones 2 and 3."

Gu Tong carefully observed the three areas, then nodded in satisfaction and left the greenhouse.

night.

Gu Tong had just finished cooking a pot of soup and rice and was enjoying it when she suddenly received a call from Xu Zejun.

"Ah Chen and I are planning to visit you, is that convenient?"

"You two, you didn't come during the fragrant summer months, but now it's freezing cold and you say you want to come see me. Fine, what day are you planning to book your tickets for?"

Gu Tong was naturally very happy to hear that an old friend was coming to visit her.

However, he couldn't help but complain, and then asked the two about their specific itinerary.

"Hehe, we've arrived in the provincial capital and are planning to go to your place tomorrow."

Xu Zejun couldn't help but laugh out loud, giving Gu Tong a surprise (or shock).

"Trying to pull this on me, huh? You two are really something. Long-distance buses and trains are tiring; you two should just fly directly to Yiwu City. I'll book your tickets right away, send me your identification information!"

Gu Tong smiled and shook her head. It goes without saying that this was Xu Zejun's idea; Zhang Chen couldn't have come up with such a scheme.

He then arranged the itinerary for the two of them and asked for their identification information in preparation for booking their tickets.