Chapter 121: All About Interests!

Chapter 121: All About Interests!

The next day, the news about Liu Jianming’s scandal erupted, becoming a hot topic that all media outlets were vying to report on.

Even the official People's Daily covered the incident, criticizing the chaotic emotional state of society.

This garnered support from all sectors of society.

Clearly, some things are not supported by the state, society, morality, or ethics and must be condemned.

Zhang Lin felt relieved that his farm had not been affected by the scandal and had even gained some attention.

Early in the morning, as he sat down in his office, Zhong Miaoying walked in with a letter in hand. "Mr. Zhang, the moisturizing cream has passed its inspection. This is the report from the Ming City inspection department."

Zhang Lin immediately took the file and examined it.

He had been eagerly awaiting the inspection results.

Under Zhang Yuan's supervision, the farm’s specialty department had already started producing the moisturizing cream.

Opening the envelope, he found the inspection results and the relevant certificates inside.

With these results and certificates, he could now promote the farm's moisturizing cream externally.

Zhang Lin placed the inspection file and certificates on his desk and instructed Zhong Miaoying, "Inform Lin Muxue that the moisturizing cream has passed inspection and that she can start working on a promotional plan."

"Sure, Mr. Zhang!" Zhong Miaoying nodded and left the office.

However, when she returned, she brought someone in, someone who surprised him greatly.

"Brother Zhao, why are you here so early?" Zhang Lin looked at his cousin Zhang Zhao, who had just entered, and quickly stood up to welcome him to the tea table.

At this time, Zhang Zhao should have been at the police station, not at the Liyuan Farm. Perhaps today was his day off.

Sitting down at the tea table, Zhang Zhao hurriedly said, "Xiao Lin, I'm here on a mission today. There's something I need your help with, and my future depends on it."

Zhang Lin asked curiously, "Brother Zhao, what's going on? I'll definitely help if I can, but you need to tell me what it is first!"

Zhang Zhao didn’t hide anything from his cousin and spoke straightforwardly, "It's simple. The county was quite alarmed by what happened at the farm yesterday, so they want to expedite the establishment of a tourism police force in the county."

"To set up a tourism police force, a dedicated tourism management police station must be established. The county plans to locate it in the Night Market Town, and once the town is built, the station will be moved there, overseeing the Night Market Town as well."

"However, for better management and for convenience during breaks, the county thinks the farm’s office center is a good temporary location. Besides, there are many vacant spaces in the office center, so they plan to borrow some space!"

"By the way, the county knows about our relationship, so they sent me to talk to you. You know how it works!"

Zhang Lin smiled, "You really know how to play the family card."

Zhang Zhao didn’t hide anything, "The county will appoint me as deputy chief of the station. Normally, it would take me many more years to reach this position, but this time, I’m skipping two levels. So, my future depends on you. If it weren’t for the Liyuan Farm, I wouldn’t have this opportunity."

At the meeting yesterday, he never expected to have this opportunity. He thought it was just another insignificant meeting, but it turned out to be a huge boon.

However, he wasn’t stupid. When it came to the Liyuan Farm, he knew the reason.

He hadn’t expected the county to value his cousin’s farm so much.

Zhang Lin understood the county's intentions, so he naturally agreed to this small favor, smiling, "Brother Zhao, this is a small matter. There are plenty of vacant spaces in the office center, so let’s have some tea, and you can choose a place yourself!"

"Okay!" Zhang Zhao nodded, without any pretense, as family shouldn’t have such formalities.

After a brief chat and some tea, Zhang Lin took Zhang Zhao to select an empty office area.

After seeing off his cousin, Zhang Lin went to check on a plot of land in the core area.

He saw a field densely covered with sweet potato vines, with farm workers cutting and transplanting the vines to new plots.

These were plots for cultivating fast-growing white-heart sweet potato seedlings, which he needed to produce in the shortest time possible. The process was quite efficient.

Once the vines in one plot reached a certain length, they could produce new seedlings for eight new plots. Each of these eight plots could then produce new seedlings for another eight plots.

If the seedlings were not restricted to the farm’s special fertilizers, the process would be even faster. However, this would also allow the seedlings to spread nationwide, benefiting the four major grain merchants and six major seed companies, which he did not want.

So, this restriction had its pros and cons.

Next, he looked at two other plots treated with a special fertilizer. He had purchased this fertilizer twice, and it cost 100,000 yuan per kilogram, totaling 1 million yuan for the two plots.

However, if there was a chance to grow the special Sunlight Rose, it would be worth it.

After all, the special Sunlight Rose seeds had the attributes of +1 flavor, +1 texture, +1 sweetness, +1 season independence, and -1 environmental impact.

If these Sun Rose seeds can be successfully cultivated without relying on the game market, it would be amazing. Sun Roses could be planted in deserts and wastelands, which would undoubtedly be a monumental achievement in the agricultural world.

At that point, a mere one million would be nothing.

Unfortunately, this batch of Sun Rose seeds didn't trigger the required probability. So, he called Liu De and instructed, "Plow up the Sun Roses in both experimental fields and plant new seeds."

After assigning the task to Liu De, he headed to the moisturizing cream workshop.

Clearly, the moisturizing cream had passed all the inspections and obtained the necessary certifications. The next step was to promote the product.

When Zhang Lin arrived at the workshop, Zhang Yuan was directing the employees in the production of the moisturizing cream. There were already boxes of the finished and packaged moisturizing cream placed in one corner.

"Mr. Zhang, what brings you to the workshop today?" Zhang Yuan greeted him warmly.

Zhang Lin explained, "The moisturizing cream has passed all the inspections and obtained the necessary certifications. We're about to start promoting it."

"That's great news," Zhang Yuan's face lit up.

Having been promoted to the head of the farm's specialty department, she naturally hoped the moisturizing cream would be a hit. Moreover, she had a lot of confidence in the product, given her knowledge of its effects.

After checking the moisturizing cream production and finding no issues, Zhang Lin returned to the office center.

In the afternoon, he received a call from his senior, Chen Xin.

Upon answering, he heard Chen Xin's voice, "Junior, I'm on the train and almost at Youcheng Station. Remember to pick me up."

"So soon?" Zhang Lin was a bit surprised.

After all, Chen Xin had previously said he would come after finishing a case. But when Lin Muxue, their senior, posted a spicy dance video, he seemed to have seen it and immediately booked a flight.

Now, he was already almost at Youcheng, having booked both a flight and a train ticket, clearly in a hurry.

This also demonstrated the charm of senior Lin Muxue. In the alumni group, many single, unmarried, or divorced seniors seemed to have a thing for her. The group often @ed him to inquire about her, and if he hadn't blocked many people, his WeChat would have been flooded with messages.

However, he still needed to pick up Chen Xin. Before leaving, he called Lin Mengyao to reserve a tent at the Nanlu Campsite.

Soon, Zhang Lin drove his Mercedes S to the train station and picked up a man dressed in a suit, wearing glasses, and with a neatly parted hairstyle, yet looking rather gentle.

"Senior Chen, the sun is about to set. Should I arrange for you to rest first, and we can talk about other things tomorrow?" Zhang Lin asked after Chen Xin got into the car.

Chen Xin immediately replied, "Junior, I think there's still time to take a shower, have dinner, and meet some alumni!"

"Got it, got it!" Zhang Lin chuckled, teasing his senior's eagerness.

But why hadn't he ever seen Chen Xin make a move on Lin Muxue before? Was it a lack of opportunity? Or did he fail to make a move?

The latter was likely the main reason. After all, in the alumni group, those seniors had all failed to make a move despite being in the same group.

Back at the farm, Zhang Lin arranged for Chen Xin to stay. While Chen Xin was showering and changing, Zhang Lin called Lin Muxue, "Senior, how's the moisturizing cream plan coming along? I'll treat you to dinner at the restaurant tonight and we can chat!"

"You're a hard-to-please boss, but I'll give you a face!" Lin Muxue replied.

Zhang Lin sighed in relief after hanging up. Getting Lin Muxue to come would at least give him something to show Chen Xin.

That evening, Zhang Lin took Chen Xin to the restaurant. Shortly after they sat down, Lin Muxue arrived and sat with them. Seeing someone else there, she looked at Zhang Lin with a hint of confusion.

Zhang Lin quickly introduced them, "Senior, this is our school's senior Chen Xin, who studied law. I've asked him to review some of the farm's contracts!"

Chen Xin shook Lin Muxue's hand, "Lin classmate, we've met a few times in school, but you probably don't remember me!"

"I remember now, Chen Xin from the Law Department!" Lin Muxue pretended to recall, though she actually didn't remember him. She just didn't like to embarrass people unless they were truly detestable or enemies.

Chen Xin couldn't help but smile, his mouth curling up.

While speaking, Lin Muxue pretended to check her phone but was actually typing a message.

Zhang Lin quickly received her message:

"????"

A string of question marks.

Then a question: "Mr. Zhang, where did you find this senior? Don't you dare try to play matchmaker!"

Clearly, she had seen through it.

He decided to pretend he hadn't seen the message. Instead, Lin Muxue smiled and said, "Chen Xin, I didn't expect you to still be the same after all these years, even more handsome!"

Chen Xin couldn't hide his smile, "No, no, I'm still the same!"

"..." Zhang Lin rolled his eyes.

It seemed that when it came to women, people from all professions were the same.

Online, it was often said that lawyers were very calm and clear-headed, not easily swayed by emotions.

What a joke. Just look at this law student, who was hooked by two sentences from Senior Lin and then happily chatted about school.

Zhang Lin could tell that Senior Sister Lin seemed to have lost interest.

So, it seemed that this senior brother had been thoroughly defeated right from the start.

However, Senior Sister Lin's smooth responses and constant smile made it hard to see that she was just going through the motions, leading this senior brother to have a perfect misunderstanding.

Halfway through the meal, Lin Muxue's phone rang. After answering, she suddenly stood up and said, "There's an issue in the operations department; I need to go over there right away. Also, Mr. Zhang, please come to the operations department later. The moisturizing cream project has already started, and I need to report on it."

With that, she hurried off.

Zhang Lin understood that she was just making an excuse to leave, not wanting to continue the conversation.

Chen Xin, however, was delighted, "Junior Brother, it seems that Muxue has a good impression of me. We had a great time chatting!"

"Senior Brother, keep it up!" Zhang Lin could only offer some encouragement to the senior brother who was already in high spirits.

After finishing the meal, he sent this senior brother back to the camping site and then headed to the operations department.

Seeing Senior Sister Lin, he initially thought she might be planning to settle the score, but upon seeing him, she immediately reported, "Mr. Zhang, we've already developed the plan for the moisturizing cream. The first step is to have lucky visitors participate in the trial, allowing them to experience the effects of our moisturizing cream, which will help spread the word."

"Of course, relying solely on visitors isn't enough. So, I've used the farm's account to send invitations to many beauty and skincare bloggers, inviting them to try our products. This won't cost us anything, as our farm is currently very popular, and we can leverage this for collaboration."

"Relying on popularity alone?" Zhang Lin was surprised. In his mind, inviting such bloggers would usually involve some expense.

Lin Muxue explained, "Liyuan Farm is currently very popular, and many bloggers will choose to collaborate for the sake of this popularity. However, Mr. Zhang, don't get too excited. Some professional or niche bloggers are very particular about their reputation and won't collaborate solely for the sake of popularity, especially those in the cosmetics industry."

"They pride themselves on their professionalism and the quality of their products. Not every product will meet their standards, and they won't collaborate just for the sake of popularity. Even if we offer money, they might not accept it, as they don't want to damage their reputation."

"Creating a moisturizing cream, a farm like ours is like a primary school student trying to build a rocket. The bloggers we invite might look down on us and even mock our efforts."

"However, I hope that one of them might get heated and post a video criticizing us. We can use this controversy to pique everyone's curiosity and even create some negative news. Then, we can counter with the quality of our product. It's just a matter of whether we can find such a good person."

"If that doesn't work, we can always pay someone to criticize us," Zhang Lin understood his senior sister's point. Being criticized to the extreme and then making a comeback would leave a lasting impression and could potentially propel their product to the top, possibly even creating a brand!

As Lin Muxue had guessed, many bloggers who received the invitations either politely declined or simply ignored them.

Indeed, quite a few were mocking Liyuan Farm.

Lily Fragrance Studio was one of them. A well-made-up woman, Zhao Lily, received the invitation and was quite dismissive, "Liyuan Farm is popular, but they seem to focus on farming and landscaping. What are they thinking by creating a moisturizing cream?"

She was the blogger for Lily Fragrance Studio. She usually attended high-end product trials for brands like Lancome and L'Oreal.

Her planner quickly said, "There are many homemade moisturizing creams online, and there are also quite a few domestic brands with no real fame. Liyuan Farm might be trying to diversify their business with this. They probably want to invite some bloggers to generate some buzz. Besides us, they must have invited many others."

"Forget it, I'll ignore them," Zhao Lily shook her head and said, "Participating in a homemade product trial would lower our standards. If the product is terrible, we might even be laughed at!"

The planner suggested, "Lily, you don't need to attend the product trial, but Liyuan Farm's popularity can be useful. You couldn't get accepted into the international fashion conference for beauty bloggers next month because you don't have enough followers. Criticizing Liyuan Farm could attract a lot of traffic, and you might gain enough followers."

"That doesn't seem right," Zhao Lily frowned, "After all, we have no grudge against Liyuan Farm. It wouldn't be honorable."

The planner said, "But attending that fashion conference would change your status completely. Besides, Liyuan Farm's homemade moisturizing cream is bound to fail. It would be a waste not to use this popularity. We don't have to be too harsh; we can use a gentle approach so that Liyuan Farm can't find any fault with us."

"Alright, work on a plan," Zhao Lily finally agreed with the planner's suggestion.

She had no grudge against Liyuan Farm and even liked their projects, hoping to visit one day.

But liking something isn't always enough. Sometimes, profit is the most important thing. She currently had 4.5 million followers, and if she could quickly increase to 5 million, the benefit and popularity would be worth it, even if it meant doing something against her conscience.

After all, this is the adult world.

If Liyuan Farm can't make their moisturizing cream work, it might as well help her gain some followers and secure a spot at the international fashion conference for beauty bloggers.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end