Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 300 - 20: Drying Cow Dung and Renting Land_1

Chapter 300: Chapter 20: Drying Cow Dung and Renting Land_1

Early the next morning, as soon as Ma Chao arrived at the entrance of the cattle farm riding his motorbike, Yan Fei, who had barely slept for two minutes, opened his eyes.

When Ma Chao opened the gate and entered, he came out: "Brother Chao, I have a few things to discuss with you all soon."

As everyone gathered and worked, Yan Fei began to explain: "I see that those who grow vegetables and collect cow dung are not short of fertilizer now. I have learned some new skills in the province. I’m not sure if they are useful or not, so I plan to try them out first. Starting from today, our cow dung should be transported to the riverside, spread out for sun-drying and then stored away after they are about sixty to seventy percent dried."

"Also, does anyone know who manages the large piece of wasteland next to the bamboo grove? Is it our town or the village to the west? I plan to lease a part of it, set up a shed and do something there. I’ll keep it a secret for now. If I reveal it too early and fail, it would be so embarrassing!"

Everyone chuckled, and Ma Chao asked him: "Is this secret thing you’re planning reliable?"

Yan Fei nodded: "Of course, I personally obtained the information from a fertilizer factory director in the provincial city. The guy drives a small sedan and carries an old-school mobile phone, looking very impressive! There’s nothing in it for him to cheat me, so it must be reliable!"

Upon hearing about the sedan and old-school mobile phone, everyone perked up. Heizi looked envious: "An old-school mobile phone? Carrying it makes you seem like a big shot! How cool it would be! When can I use such a thing?"

Old Cheng burst his bubble: "Even if you had an old-school mobile phone, you should ask your brother to call you ’bro’. See whether he would beat you up or not?"

Heizi rolled his eyes: "You are old, you just don’t understand what an old-school mobile phone is. Being a big shot is a status, can anyone just be called a big shot because someone calls him ’bro’?"

He laughed after saying words that confused himself.

Yan Fei hit a wooden pillar to remind everyone: "Let’s get back to the main topic!"

Ma Chao pondered for a moment: "I really don’t know who governs that piece of land. The bamboo grove is managed by people from our town, and the farmland on the other side seems to be cultivated by people from the western village. We need to find out."

Heizi raised his hand: "I will go to inquire later, and report back as soon as possible. I promise I won’t slack off. The land is wasteland, if we cultivate it, won’t it be ours? Why do we need to lease it?"

Ma Chao exposed him: "You’re not slacking off? I was planning to complain about you! Xiao Fei, when you’re not here, this guy always commanders Gao Bin to work, taking advantage of him as he’s mute. He gestures for him to do this, then that. He takes every chance to slack off!"

Heizi immediately became defensive: "Who said I was slacking off? I knew he was new, so I let him do more work to get used to it. Besides, it was his choice. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him?"

The fact that the mute cannot speak up for himself, let alone hear anything, made Heizi’s words more convincing.

Old Cheng laughed: "Then let him say it was voluntary, we will believe you!"

Heizi retorted: "It’s truly voluntary, if you don’t believe me you can use gestures to ask him? I am serious, Brother Fei, you have to believe me!"

After he finished speaking, he gestured to the mute, pointed at the cow dung, and saw the mute nodding cheerfully. He put down his work, ran over, picked up the shovel and started shoveling cow dung.

Then Heizi was obviously proud: "See! Whatever I ask him to do, he is willing to do! I didn’t lie, did I?"

Even Lin Yumei, who was picking vegetables at the doorway of the kitchen, couldn’t bear to watch: "Isn’t it just because you take the excess eggs from the field and give them to him? Who knows what you say when you go to his house? How could he not help you?"

Yan Fei finally understood, this guy offering to deliver eggs was no good from the beginning!

Seeing that he was exposed, Heizi immediately became honest when Yan Fei gave him a stern look: "Brother Fei, Brother Fei, I won’t do it again! I promise I won’t order him around anymore, okay?"

No one said anything more, knowing that once Yan Fei found out about his business, he would dare not do it again.

Only then did Yan Fei continue to work and instructed him: "Go and inquire about the land matters when you’re done with the work. After you finish the inquiries, try to find out who can make decisions and tell them we want to lease the land. Ask how much it costs. As for cultivating, we also need to build a shed. Either way, it won’t cost much, and signing a contract will make us feel secure in the future!"

Heizi stood tall and saluted: "I guarantee to complete the task!"

Ma Chao disagreed: "Will that place get flooded when the water rises? What if the water gets high in the future and the stuff you built suddenly gets flooded?"

Yan Fei thought for a while: "The water hasn’t risen that high in so many years, it won’t flood! Moreover, I am just building a shed. If it gets flooded, I’ll just wait for the flood to recede and continue my work. I am not afraid!"

Seeing his insistence, no one said anything more.

After dinner, Heizi happily hopped onto Ma Chao’s shabby motorbike and headed off to inquire about land leasing,

Yan Fei also set off on his bicycle to find Ma Yongming.

Uncle Ming was now completely devoted to being a good husband at home, looking after his daughter-in-law. Old Cheng was now handling the minor issues at the construction site, after all, his health was in good shape! Besides, Old Cheng was not too keen on seeing his daughter-in-law around the house.

"Why are you interested in that? If you don’t need a lot, I could try and find some used ones for you." Ma Yongming was puzzled to hear about Yan Fei’s intentions. "You have so much open space on your ranch. Do you still need to build sheds?"

"Don’t worry about it. Just tell me about the maximum size and price of the asbestos tiles! I am keeping a secret here. When I am ready to tell you, I will. And yes, I’m planning to build a greenhouse about the size of one mu of land. Try and get me a better price." Yan Fei had his plan. It didn’t seem solid to others, so he would definitely keep his mouth shut before it became a reality.

"If you don’t clarify, I won’t help. Aren’t you making a big fuss here? Do you know how big an area of one mu is? Have you calculated how much it would cost?" Upon hearing about a shed the size of one mu of land, Ma Yongming instantly blew up.

"That’s why I’m here to ask you! If you tell me, I’ll know. Seriously, this is high tech stuff. I learned this technology in the Provincial City. If it works, I will definitely tell you. If it doesn’t, I will find something else to do with the shed." Yan Fei insisted on keeping his plan a secret.

Ma Yongming remained skeptical, continually asking questions. Although Yan Fei didn’t plan on revealing specifics, he had to mention his visit to the Agricultural University and meeting a factory manager who owned a car and an old-school mobile phone.

The presence of the smartphone-wielding factory manager saved the day yet again. While Ma Yongming was dubious, he grudgingly agreed to help.

Having finally convinced Ma Yongming, Yan Fei was about to leave, when he remembered something, "Wait, Uncle Ming, do you have a longer ruler at home? I’m planning to build it on the west side of the bamboo forest. I need to measure the area first."

"Are you out of your mind? When there is a flood, that place gets submerged. Why do you think that place has always been vacant, with only a patch of bamboo?" Ma Yongming was getting irritated again. Every conversation with this kid was like a cardiac stress test.

"What’s there to be afraid of? I have never seen a flood that big. Besides, as long as the flood does not sweep away my shed, I can continue working once the water recedes!" Yan Fei replied nonchalantly.

"You... How old are you? Some guts you have!" Boss Ma was livid. He was so exasperated that he lost interest in arguing further. "Fine, fine, as long as you can assure me that losses won’t be too great if there’s a flood, that’s all that matters. Make sure the shed is sturdy. As long as it can withstand a bit of flooding, it should be fine. You always have money to spend on these side projects. Wait until you’re done messing around, then focus on taking care of those cows of yours!"

"Where’s the ruler?"

"Wait, I’ll get it for you. The measurements are simple, I’ll just tell you, and you can remember them. The largest asbestos tiles are ..." Boss Ma, realizing that even after all this talking, all Yan Fei remembered was the ruler, did not want to waste his breath further.

"Okay!" Yan Fei agreed, keeping the size of the asbestos tiles in mind.

"Do you know how to build a shed? I can come with you later to inspect the site." Ma Yongming, while furious, couldn’t help but show concern. He handed Yan Fei a large tape measure and was about to fetch his motorbike.

"Uncle Ming, don’t rush! We haven’t even negotiated the lease yet! We still don’t know who owns that plot of land. I’ve sent Heizi to sort that out. Once we know the price, we’ll sign a contract for peace of mind. I have the blueprint for the shed. The materials they gave me include a guide on how to construct the shed. I’ll go home and plan it out first." Yan Fei stopped him.

"That’s thoughtful, Xiao Fei. You know that a contract offers assurance! Alright then, sort it out. Once you’ve finalized the land, call me. I’ll then handle the asbestos tiles issue for you." With a swift kick, Ma Yongming propped the motorbike back up.

Upon returning to the cattle ranch, Yan Fei found Heizi basking in his glory, "I’ve figured it out. The plot of land belongs to a village on the western side. I’ve negotiated the price for you and even paid a deposit of fifty dimes. Pay me back the fifty dimes. Get ready with another 450 this afternoon and you can go sign the contract."

It took Yan Fei a while to react, "Are you insane? How much land will cost five hundred dimes? I’m just building a shed, which at most will occupy a mu of land, and it will also cost five hundred dimes?"

Heizi wasn’t pleased, "Is five hundred dimes too much? That’s a lot of land! They said that entire area is almost twenty mu. They charged you for only ten mu, and you still think it’s expensive?"

"It’s expensive regardless. I won’t even use that much. Fifty dimes for a mu of land. Is that land worth that much? I don’t even know if I can make five hundred dimes this year!" Yan Fei looked at Heizi, thinking that he was surely up to no good again. "That large piece of land is filled with ditches, grass, and shrubs. Unless it is fully leveled, it can’t be used for farming. Even if we could farm it, we don’t have the manpower!"

"Aren’t you testing out high-tech stuff? I thought if it works, we could be rich soon, and people would definitely be envious. Then what if you wanted to rent more land and they started to increase the price? So I thought, why not sign for a few more years? Fifty dimes for nearly two mu land doesn’t seem expensive to me!"

"For a few more years? How many years did you tell them?"

"Ten years! This is a long-term endeavor, and ten years is probably short. I guessed that you might think it was too expensive, so I kept it short..."

"Ten years? We rent all that land for five hundred dimes? More than one mu of land for five dimes a year?"

"Exactly..."