Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start
Chapter 179 - 178: The Surprising Price of Corn and an Unexpected Skill Reward!

Chapter 179: Chapter 178: The Surprising Price of Corn and an Unexpected Skill Reward!

Xu Yang had all the corn processed at a craft shop.

Simply put, they turned the Gem Corn into a keychain accessory so it could be hung on the index finger and fiddled with in hand.

Interestingly, a lot of girls liked to play with the Gem Corn, and they had a particular fondness for it.

Thus, this batch was quite popular.

"Actually, they’d sell well because these things look pretty good and can serve as little toys."

"You could always make some money off it."

Xu Yang got the processed Gem Corn and calculated,

approximately eighteen or nineteen of them were of premium quality, some could sell for a hundred or two, some were worth seven to eight hundred, and two of the best could go for around a thousand.

The remaining fifty or sixty had less uniform colors, but their overall shape was fine, and they felt good to the touch.

Besides, Xu Yang had two real treasures in his hands.

Little Pink and Little Blue.

He only realized after some research that pure pink and pure blue were extremely rare,

especially those with minimal color variation.

There had been all-pink Gem Corns before, but the pink wasn’t very uniform, with several kernels of deep pink, and a few slightly darker ones interspersed, which made it look a bit messy on close inspection.

But overall, they still looked beautiful.

The two that Xu Yang had were as if they had been enhanced with a filter.

Shiny and emitting a glow.

He had also been communicating with buyers online these past few days.

And believe it or not, more and more people were bidding, with someone even offering 50,000.

It baffled Xu Yang.

What?

A cob of corn for 50,000?

Are they crazy?

Who sells corn like this!

If others knew about this, wouldn’t everyone start planting Gem Corn?

Rarity makes something valuable. In fact, there are quite a few people who plant Gem Corn, but to produce the creme de la creme almost never happens.

Therefore, they’re even more expensive.

Another reason is that Xu Yang’s corn-shucking video went viral.

It’s been a while since he trended.

Previously, he used to trend for feeding tigers or teasing black bears, just hanging around on the trending page for a while.

Now, harvesting light pink Gem Corn has made him viral.

The search bar even added a term marked with a flame icon:

#Farmer Xu Harvests Supreme Quality Gem Corn#

Many people clicked on the tag and watched Xu Yang’s corn-shucking video.

The pink corn was too beautiful.

Whether it tasted good or not was no longer important.

In a world that values aesthetics, cats always have someone to take care of them because they are cute, and many pandas have now become big stars.

Looks are justice!

The pink corn touched people’s hearts.

Many left comments in the section:

"Is this real or fake? Does corn really look like this? It must be a craft!"

"I also think this isn’t corn, this thing is just like a gemstone."

"It’s too beautiful!"

"This is Gem Corn, but this broadcaster has harvested the best of the best!"

"The most vexing part is that he got two of them, those who plant Gem Corn are almost dying of jealousy!"

"Honestly, I want to buy all that corn he doesn’t want, turn them into seeds, maybe it’ll yield something big!"

"He’s really struck it rich this time!"

The comment section was extraordinarily lively.

Who would have thought that planting corn on a farm could catch a little flame online.

The price of the two cobs of corn began to skyrocket.

It’s mostly because there are too many rich people.

These past few days, Xu Yang’s inbox exploded.

Everybody was looking to buy his corn.

Even those whose appearance wasn’t that good, people still wanted to buy them.

"Huh? What use are these corns, they’re just ordinary Gem Corns, even if you make seeds out of them, whatever comes up is all down to luck."

Xu Yang found the private messages rather peculiar,

but he gradually understood these people’s mindset.

Their goal was to replicate his success.

"This isn’t necessarily a good thing, those who buy my ordinary corn are definitely filled with high expectations,"

"or greed."

"If they buy seeds and plant them but don’t grow good corn, they might blame me for it."

"It could cause resentment."

Xu Yang had a good grasp on human nature.

Such cases were too numerous.

Xu Yang knew well that to grow good-looking corn, the seeds were one factor, but the environment was another.

The nutrition in the soil, weather conditions, water, and sunlight all affected the final form of the corn.

The slightest carelessness and the corn would be malnourished and not as full.

"Too many people saw my Gem Corn harvest and are definitely envious, but growing good corn isn’t an overnight task,"

"so let’s forget about selling corn seeds."

Xu Yang made up his mind.

That night, Xu Yang held a lottery in his livestream room, drawing thirty people who all received Gem Corn.

The only condition for the lottery was following his account, no donations required.

And wouldn’t you know, he gained over 300,000 followers in one night.

Too many people came for a freebie.

The corns were sent out randomly: most were small gems worth a few tens of dollars, and a few were big gems worth over a hundred.

Xu Yang also kept some processed Gem Corn for future events or giveaways.

Many people bought Little Pink and Little Blue.

Ultimately, Xu Yang and two buyers reached a deal, and they directly came to the farm for a face-to-face transaction.

Little Pink sold for 50,000, and Little Blue for 30,000.

An absurdly high price.

After all, it was just corn.

For Xu Yang, that was enough.

He sold to a low-profile collector and a wealthy girl who adored Gem Corn and already owned a lot of it.

That was best, as long as he wasn’t selling to a middleman, the trade was fair.

He feared that no sooner would he sell for 50,000, the buyer would turn around, market it a bit, and sell it for 100,000.

Of course, that was a skill too, after all, top-quality Gem Corn was just a few thousand dollars, Xu Yang’s two cobs were quite the exaggeration.

"Making 80,000 from half a greenhouse of corn, I truly didn’t expect that. I thought breaking even would be good enough."

Xu Yang couldn’t believe it himself.

Luck can’t be stopped when it arrives.

"But those two cobs of corn really were beautiful, extremely rare."

"I liked them myself too."

"But in running a farm, making money is most important."

"Next year, I need to invest more, making money is still the priority."

Xu Yang also felt emotional.

Time had passed quickly, during which he ventured into the mountains again and completed his Treasure Hunting Task.

The task was simple, to rescue a trapped hedgehog.

The little hedgehog had fallen into a deep pit and couldn’t climb out, Xu Yang jumped in and pulled it up.

The reward he received was a regular skill: "Master of Knitting"

When he heard this reward, Xu Yang was totally baffled.

What?

Master of Knitting?

What do I need this for?

To go to the village entrance and knit with the old ladies?

Moreover, Xu Yang had specifically found out that this skill was limited to knitting sweaters.

It had nothing to do with heritage crafts like embroidery.

"What era are we in, a cashmere sweater costs hardly anything."

"Do I have time for this?"

Xu Yang was utterly speechless.

But it didn’t matter.

After all, rescuing the hedgehog was a good deed in itself.

Even without a reward, if the system had informed him that a little hedgehog had fallen into a deep pit, Xu Yang would have gone to rescue it.

That was pure kindness.

Life was always leisurely.

Selling the corn had him preoccupied for several days, constantly checking private messages on his phone and assessing the buyers.

Finally, he found two reliable buyers.

And both buyers were willing to come in person, which showed great sincerity.

After wrapping everything up, Xu Yang finally had time to relax.

"This year’s fortune really isn’t bad."

"There’s been a gain in almost everything."

"Need to figure out what to plant next."

Xu Yang was calculating in his mind.

The workers had already cleared out all the Gem Corn stalks.

The land had been re-tilled, and they had added wood ash, nutrient soil, and so on.

The soil was now in the nurturing phase.

Allowing it to rest, it would be easier to start planting.

"Maybe plant some cherries."

"In the future, treat this greenhouse as a fruit garden."

"With strawberries, dragon fruit, and cherries all in one place."

"Or could plant something else here as well."

Xu Yang walked into the greenhouse, inspecting the soil conditions.

The strawberry and dragon fruit seedlings were still there, waiting to bear their second crop of fruits.

The corn had been completely cleared out.

Next year, there was no need to plant corn in the greenhouse, it could perfectly be cultivated during the right season outside.

And the outside was more suited for corn growth.

"Need to make a plan."

"Next year in the fields outside, I want to plant peanuts, sunflower seeds, grass, Gem Corn, and rainbow potatoes."

"The greenhouse will depend on the blueberry earnings, if the profits are good then primarily grow blueberries."

"So many things to plant."

Xu Yang continued making plans.

"But as long as they grow, the view will definitely be beautiful."

"Grass fields, sunflower gardens, cornfields..."

"By then, the fields outside will be full of life."

"Plus a series of greenhouses."

"That would count as a large farm!"

Xu Yang imagined the future scenery of the farm.

As a farmer, he certainly had to think ahead.

He was the helmsman of the farm, deciding the direction of its growth.

He hoped his farm would be livelier.

Of course, it’s easy to think about but hard to do.

The Treasure Compass could provide a foundation, but how the farm developed was entirely up to him.

Lacking anything else to do, Xu Yang went outside to walk the leopard.

And incidentally took the dog for a walk too.

It must be said, Xiao Hua was a Big Cat with habits similar to a cat, yet its character leaned more towards that of a dog.

It needed to be walked daily.

Just as well, the farm had a lot of animals to walk.

Like the horses, which also needed to be walked, and couldn’t always be confined.

Xu Yang let them roam freely, as long as they didn’t run out of the farm.