After Apocalypse, I Got Rich With Superpower
Chapter 179 - 177: Agricultural Research Institute

Chapter 179: Chapter 177: Agricultural Research Institute

The Agricultural Research Institute was building office and laboratory buildings on farm sites that had been reclaimed, close to No. 6 Farm.

As an investor, the Agricultural Research Institute had invested some money into No. 6 Farm, jointly supporting the cultivation of spiritual medicine.

After all, such a vast quantity of spiritual medicine is truly precious. It’s unrealistic for Li Pan to enjoy it alone; the prestigious families wouldn’t let her be, and the only thing that could deter them was government support.

No. 6 Farm was now not solely owned by Li Pan but jointly held by her and the government.

However, the government trusted her and currently didn’t intervene in the construction and management of No. 6 Farm to avoid the struggle of having two tigers on one mountain.

What was needed now wasn’t a grab for power, but to get things done, achieve results, benefit the laboring masses, and truly allow sustainable development.

The Wang Family took the lead in making a significant investment since they had many members working with the government, and they definitely went all out to ride this east wind, also to protect Li Pan, ensuring it wasn’t all for naught in the end, benefiting others at their own expense – that would certainly be unacceptable.

Essentially, both Li Pan and Xue Dong were like children raised by the Wang Family. The arrival of others wouldn’t necessarily impress them or bend them to their will.

Bringing in a new leader to command might leave one baffled if Li Pan were absent; you wouldn’t be able to motivate everyone, if they didn’t respect you. What would you have contributed to the farm? Just bossing around wouldn’t cut it.

Unknowingly, Li Pan became more and more stable and distanced as she walked, emerging as the guide in everyone’s eyes. Her status and prestige were earned through her own hard efforts.

The buildings for the Agricultural Research Institute were still under construction and would require some time; the official approval had already been obtained.

Li Pan was still researching medicine in her own farm, while Zhang Qi and others were busy. The farm divided the spirit plants it owned into two, planting a division in No. 6 Farm, with each transplant documented and finalized with a stamp of handover.

It was crucial to ensure that her farm also retained all the original samples so that No. 6 Farm had a duplicate.

Currently, Farms No. 7, 8, 9, and No. 4 were personally owned by Li Pan; these were her proprietary assets, not belonging to anyone else.

No. 6, however, was a joint venture; these distinctions had to be clear from the start to avoid messy disputes upon separation.

From the beginning, both sides kept things clearly delineated and did not mix their operations.

Xue Dong was particularly keen on having legal nail down the details, better safe than sorry; at least, they needed to be prepared to protect themselves.

Who could guarantee that once Pan’er achieved something, no one would be envious and try to snatch the fruits of her labor? Better to be clear from the beginning, or else simply withdraw.

The base started constructing residential blocks too, which also involved reclaiming some less occupied residential areas, redecorating them simply, and allocating them as welfare housing to residents.

Next, there would be construction of kindergartens, large shopping malls, and a series of buildings, while three factories had also started operations. More factories were in the planning stage to begin work soon.

In these years, riding on the success of Li Pan’s farm, the base had also significantly transformed and stood firm.

Especially the processing factory owned by Liu Qian and Qian Xi had added three new production lines, now operating impressively and at full capacity.

The base was showing a trend of great prosperity.

Nearby bases had also sent people to further learn about the production of medicine and cultivation of spiritual medicine, aiming to train more Wood Power Users.

Meanwhile, all around there were various forms of revitalizing production and cultivation transformations underway, increasing job opportunities for ordinary people.

The weather was turning cold, and the first snow had fallen. It was only November, and the snow had come a bit early this year.

Li Pan looked out at the snowy world outside, smacking her lips, "Lucky we installed all the protective equipment, otherwise we’d be in trouble now, a lot of crops would be freezing."

"Exactly, just installing this equipment cost a lot of money, almost a fortune. But now, it seems it was well worth it; the outside temperature has already dropped below freezing."

"How are things at the Agricultural Research Institute?"

"The equipment has been installed, but construction of the building has stopped. There’s still a lot of work left undone; we have to wait till next spring to continue."

"That’s the only way. I feel this year might not be easy, do we still have a lot of food stored?"

"We have plenty. It rained a lot this year, so I had us keep double the usual amount of food."

"We should be prepared; I’m worried about a snow disaster."

"You think so?"

"Don’t say it, but it’s possible. We’ve been too lucky these past two years, almost encountering no severe weather changes. I’ve been anxious the whole time."

"Then I’ll go around and give a reminder everywhere, and check the equipment again."

Qin Jianzhong and Jiao Ming both left the house, also feeling a bit worried. In this severe cold, a real snow disaster could indeed be deadly.

At the farm, Xue Dong and the others had already spent a lot of money to get everything needed in place, and the equipment was installed and calibrated. They spent a considerable amount of money to upgrade the equipment.

Even if mutant animals attacked again, they wouldn’t be afraid—this time, their equipment was even better than that at the base, and the protection level was higher. The money was well spent.

In recent years, the farm had earned a good deal of money, which they had reinvested in modernizing and improving new equipment. This included protective devices, irrigation sprinklers, etc. Any new equipment you could think of, Xue Dong spared no expense to bring it all back.

The weather was too cold. Li Pan had walked around the Spirit Plant Area and, finding herself with nothing else to do, decided to prepare some mung beans and soybeans to grow bean sprouts.

The snow had been heavy these past days, almost snowing daily. She specially ran back to the base to check her courtyard for any spots that needed more insulation. The trees and plants also needed a bit of superpower input to create an insulation layer to prevent them from freezing to death.

Even with superpowers, some plants and trees would still die under extreme cold.

They had slaughtered a batch of home-raised pigs early to market, increasing the supply of meat, eggs, and dairy in the market.

The greenhouse vegetables were also supplied continuously, so people didn’t have to worry about not finding food to buy.

Li Pan didn’t cook often since the cafeteria opened, and she mostly stopped cooking herself.

Cooking a meal once in a while was a pleasure for her. Today, she had bought two beef blocks from the store, planning to make beef patties and braise some beef brisket, stir-fry some vegetables. Xue Dong would be back soon.

It had been a long time since she last cooked. Her hands were out of practice. The dough for the beef patties was made with 60-degree warm water, making it softer and thus yielding a thinner crust with more filling, which tasted better.

She had stewed the red-cooked beef brisket for an hour, adding potatoes and chestnut pumpkins to it, which she liked especially because their texture was soft.

Dinner was almost ready when Xue Dong and Jiao Ming returned, along with Liu Qian and Qian Xi.

"Oh, how come you all came back together? Come in quick, it must be freezing out, I’ve made beef bone soup. Let’s have a bowl while it’s hot. Wash your hands and warm up by the fire; there’s hot milk tea on the stove."

The milk tea was salty and drinking a bowl of it in the winter, sweating slightly, brought immense comfort, warming the whole body thoroughly.

"I called them to discuss some matters. It’s good timing to have a meal together."

"Warm up for a moment. Dinner will be ready soon. I’ve made beef patties and red-cooked beef, just a couple more dishes to stir-fry."

With more people, Li Pan quickly cut some more beef and stir-fried two more dishes, fortunate that she had prepared plenty of brisket, filling a large clay pot with meat.