Chapter 153: Incredible!

Chapter 153: Incredible!

After Zhang Lin informed Lin Muxue, he put down his phone and noticed Zhong Miaoying's eager gaze. He smiled and asked, "You really want to know what I used?"

Zhong Miaoying nodded instinctively, "Boss Zhang, your skin has become so fair. I've been envious for a long time!"

"Wait for Senior Sister to arrive, and we'll all hear it together!" Zhang Lin smiled.

Not long after, Lin Muxue arrived, and with her were the girls from the Operations Department, all looking at him with anticipation.

Clearly, they were all eager to know the secret behind his fair skin.

Seeing Lin Muxue arrive, Zhang Lin handed her the test report sent from Ming City. "Senior Sister, take a look at this test report."

Lin Muxue took the report with a puzzled look and started reading.

It was a test report for sweet potatoes.

She remembered that the farm workers under Liu De were now planting sweet potatoes every day, and the area dedicated to sweet potatoes had grown significantly.

However, sweet potatoes were so common that she hadn't paid much attention to them.

Now, Boss Zhang had specifically ordered a test report for these sweet potatoes, which made her realize they might not be as simple as she thought.

But when she saw the final results of the test report, her face showed a look of disbelief, especially when she saw the official stamp from a national-level testing institution.

"Boss Zhang, did you eat sweet potatoes to get such fair skin?" Lin Muxue looked at Zhang Lin in disbelief.

Who would have thought?

Ordinary sweet potatoes, which had such a strong skin-whitening effect.

This revelation also left Zhong Miaoying and the girls from the Operations Department stunned, wondering if they had heard correctly.

Boss Zhang's fair skin was from eating sweet potatoes?

Oh my!

They had all eaten sweet potatoes before, but none of them had noticed such an effect.

Zhang Lin then said with a smile, "Senior Sister, you saw the test report. These are new crops developed by our farm, and they will become one of our specialties!"

Lin Muxue put down the report and said, "Boss Zhang, regardless of other things, as a new product, it must undergo rigorous testing before being made public. So, for the farm's sake, I'll be the test subject."

This made Liu Qian and the other girls speak up one after another:

"Boss Zhang, I'm willing to be a test subject!"

"For the farm, I'll be the test subject!"

"..."

Zhong Miaoying also quietly added, "Boss Zhang, I'm willing to contribute to the farm!"

"Ha, I can hear your thoughts from miles away," Zhang Lin said, piercing through their pretense. "I'll call Liu De to bring a bag of sweet potatoes over. Since you're all willing to be test subjects, record the changes in your skin while eating these sweet potatoes for future promotion."

Hearing this, Lin Muxue and the others finally showed satisfied smiles.

Zhang Lin then picked up his phone and called Liu De, instructing, "Liu De, bring a bag of sweet potatoes to my office!"

As he finished the call, the girls eagerly awaited the arrival of the sweet potatoes.

Liu De was quick to act and soon arrived with a bag of sweet potatoes in his office: "Boss, the sweet potatoes are here."

As soon as he set the bag down, Lin Muxue and the other women gathered around and opened it.

The bag was indeed full of sweet potatoes.

Even though the sweet potatoes were covered in dirt, these clean-loving women eagerly grabbed them to inspect.

These sweet potatoes looked no different from normal ones, yet who would have thought they could have such a strong skin-whitening effect, making Boss Zhang's skin so fair in just a few days.

"I'll get some bags!" Liu Qian said, rushing out and returning shortly with some bags, which she distributed to the girls. They then divided the sweet potatoes among themselves.

Lin Muxue didn't forget her responsibilities and instructed them, "Once the sweet potatoes are divided, go back to the Operations Department and record your skin tone."

Liu Qian and the other girls nodded, and even Zhong Miaoying followed them to the Operations Department.

After the women left, Zhang Lin instructed Liu De, "Get a few people, and let's check how many pounds of sweet potatoes we can get from one acre!"

"Sure, Boss!" Liu De nodded and followed Zhang Lin out of the office, already calling for help on his phone.

Lin Muxue, on the other hand, returned to the Operations Department and created a document on the computer to record the changes in skin tone from eating the sweet potatoes. She entered the names of herself, Liu Qian, Zhong Miaoying, and the others, and recorded their skin tones.

Naturally, for women, recording their skin tones was simple. They could use various methods, such as visual observation, taking photos, or using professional skin testing tools.

Modern technology has provided many skin testing tools that can analyze the skin's condition through photos or scans, offering detailed information about skin type, complexion, and age.

By regularly using these tools and recording the results, girls can more accurately track changes in their skin.

It just so happens that a girl who is very particular about skin care has such a device.

This girl is very dedicated to skin care, even if the treatments seem to have no effect.

After recording the results for everyone, Lin Muxue said, "Starting from now, everyone should record their skin changes every day."

The girls naturally nodded, their faces filled with anticipation. They had been admiring Zhang Lin's skin condition for days. If they could achieve the same level as Zhang Lin, they would be very satisfied.

At that point, their beauty would definitely improve.

After all, a fair complexion can hide many flaws.

This is why women strive for fairer skin.

...

When Zhang Lin and Liu De arrived at the sweet potato planting area in the core region, several farm workers were already there. Liu De started leading the team to harvest the mature sweet potatoes.

These sweet potatoes don't spoil easily when stored in a cool place, so it’s fine to harvest a few acres and store them temporarily.

Normally, a single acre of regular sweet potatoes can yield several thousand pounds.

However, as they harvested, Zhang Lin felt that these fast-growing white-fleshed sweet potatoes wouldn’t reach that kind of yield. These sweet potatoes were smaller in size, and each plant produced a limited number of tubers.

Sure enough, after Liu De and the team harvested two acres, they found that each acre only yielded a little over a thousand pounds on average.

This was significantly less than the yield of regular sweet potatoes.

However, considering the growth rate and the skin-whitening effects of these sweet potatoes, it would be unreasonable to expect such high yields.

Afterward, Zhang Lin had Liu De and the team move the harvested sweet potatoes to the warehouse.

Once Lin Muxue completes the experiments and records the changes, they can compare the results visually. With the national research institute's test report, they can start promoting these sweet potatoes.

When that happens, these sweet potatoes will definitely make female tourists go wild.

Naturally, the agricultural awards in Fujian Province will also be announced. Winning an agricultural honor award will add to the accolades.

By then, the development of 10,000 acres of land should be complete, and the conditions for upgrading will be met, allowing them to reach Level 5.

Thinking about this, Zhang Lin felt even better.

Back in the office, he had just sat down when he noticed his mother bringing in a middle-aged man.

Seeing the man, Zhang Lin immediately stood up to welcome him, "Uncle Dagun, what brings you here today? Please, have a seat!"

Uncle Dagun was one of the original creditors and a benefactor of their family.

After paying off the debts to these creditors at the farm restaurant, they knew his farm was doing well but never tried to cozy up to him.

Compared to those ‘relatives and friends’ who called him repeatedly after learning he was the owner of Liyuan Farm, only to stop calling after Lin Muxue’s strategy made them doubt it, Uncle Dagun and others were much better.

Zhang Lin was very grateful to these people.

He was very happy to see Uncle Dagun today, and he could sense that Uncle Dagun had something on his mind.

However, if Uncle Dagun really needed help, Zhang Lin was more than willing to assist.

Zhang Dagun, upon seeing Zhang Lin, said somewhat awkwardly, "Xiao Lin, your cousin Ahong is getting married in half a month. I’m here to invite you to the wedding."

It’s no wonder he felt this way. In Youcheng, he had heard a lot about Luyuan Farm, and many people praised the farm and its owner.

He knew that Zhang Lin was the owner of Luyuan Farm and that he was very accomplished.

Even though they were familiar, it was hard not to feel a sense of distance, as if they were no longer on the same level.

"Ahong’s getting married? Of course, I’ll be there!" Zhang Lin said immediately.

Ahong is Uncle Dagun’s son, four years younger than Zhang Lin. He never expected Ahong to get married at the young age of 22.

For Zhang Lin, a 26-year-old bachelor, it was truly enviable to have a girlfriend at that age.

Zhang dagun was happy to hear that Zhang Lin would attend.

After all, for his son’s wedding, he wanted to invite some influential relatives and friends to add to the prestige, and Zhang Lin was certainly influential.

However, he was also a bit hesitant, as if he had more to say but was embarrassed to bring it up.

Zhang Lin noticed and was about to ask when Lin Yan interjected, "Xiao Lin, actually, Uncle Dagun also wants to borrow your car for the wedding. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event, and he wants to make Ahong’s wedding more grand."

Zhang Lin chuckled at the words. "Uncle Dagen, what's there to be shy about? Not only will I lend Zhang Hong the car, I'll drive it myself to pick up the bride!"

"Xiao Lin, thank you!" Zhang Dagen was genuinely moved.

He had originally thought that Zhang Lin's current status and position would make him indifferent to such trivial matters, but it seemed that Zhang Lin was still the same person they knew. Unlike some people in the village who acted high and mighty after making money online, Zhang Lin remained humble and down-to-earth.

Zhang Lin then took Uncle Dagen on a tour of the farm, making sure to treat him well since he had come all the way.

...

Time passed, and a week went by.

During this week, the Liyuan Farm had finalized the arrangements for the panda support through Yucheng.

Early in the morning, Liu Shan called, "Mr. Zhang, the provincial zoo will be sending over two pandas next week. They can't delay this any longer, and I'll keep a close eye on it."

"Thanks, Director Liu." Zhang Lin smiled as he hung up the phone.

Liu Shan had completed the necessary procedures and was now officially the deputy director of the Yucheng Tourism Bureau. He had been quite involved in the panda project during this period.

According to the directive, the provincial zoo was supposed to provide two pandas to the Liyuan Farm. However, the zoo had been reluctant, unlike when they were eager to send off the sick cats. Now, with healthy pandas, they had been trying to delay the process, even hoping to postpone until the panda research facility at the Liyuan Farm was completed.

But after Liu Shan joined Yucheng, he didn't give his old unit any leeway, and finally, the timing for the panda support was agreed upon.

Just as he hung up, Lin Muxue walked into the office.

Seeing his senior, his eyes lit up. She looked even more beautiful.

As the saying goes, "fair skin covers a multitude of flaws," and a beautiful woman with fair skin only stands out more.

Lin Muxue had always been beautiful, and after a week of eating the fast-growing white-heart sweet potatoes, her skin had become noticeably fairer. Her complexion was now perfect, and her beauty had reached a new level.

Lin Muxue sat down with a smile and reported, "Mr. Zhang, we've basically completed the experiments with the sweet potatoes. In just a week, everyone's skin condition improved to a level 3, and this was just from eating the sweet potatoes. It's truly incredible. Today, I barely applied any makeup, and my skin looks so much better than it did a week ago."

"So, Senior, we can start planning the promotion. The farm can start preparing to market this product," Zhang Lin said with a smile.

Lin Muxue had come to report on the experiment and also to discuss the promotion plan. With Zhang Lin's agreement, she hurried back to the operations department.

Not long after Lin Muxue left, Zhang Lin's phone received a message from the Fujian Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center, informing him that the award evaluation was complete and the results were published on the official website.

The agricultural award evaluation process generally includes application, review, and public announcement stages, which can take anywhere from half a month to several months, depending on the award's significance.

For this particular award, the process was relatively quick because it was a smaller award, and there were no major research projects competing for it.

Zhang Lin immediately logged onto the official website to check the results. However, when he saw the winning project, he was stunned.

The Gold Award went to: "Cucumber Vitamin C Antioxidant Research Breakthrough (Qinghua Company Research Institute)!"

"???" Zhang Lin was completely baffled.

What was this?

The cucumber vitamin C antioxidant research breakthrough was in a similar direction to his sweet potatoes. The vitamin C in cucumbers, carried by fruit acids, can have a whitening effect on the skin, which is why cucumbers are often used in facial masks.

But could cucumbers really be better than his sweet potatoes?

He found it hard to believe.

But the key was that the gold award went to the cucumber project, not his sweet potatoes.

Zhang Lin understood that it was probably due to personal connections. After all, in this country, winning awards often depends on more than just merit. Just like in a soccer match, the champion can be decided by likes and comments, and a weaker team can be pushed to victory.

So, he had to accept that this award had some element of personal favoritism.

However, when he saw that the silver and bronze awards also didn't go to his sweet potatoes, and even the contribution award, innovation award, and consolation prize were not his, he finally couldn't hold back his frustration.

"Damn!!" "Damn!!" "Damn!!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end