Chapter 184: Aftermath! A Special Ticket!

Chapter 184: Aftermath! A Special Ticket!

In the room.

Zhang Lin finally let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing Fu Yao about to stand up, he quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

"Uncle, let me go!" Fu Yao's voice was barely audible, almost inaudible.

Once Zhang Lin released her, she hurriedly ran away.

Zhang Lin suddenly felt a bit like a beast. He had invited the girl over for a meal, but things had taken an unexpected turn.

Clearly, he still had some charm.

Fu Yao, who was obviously at a loss, didn't know what to do.

Even though she was more mature than her peers, her age and status made her feel out of her depth in such situations.

"Uncle," Fu Yao's face turned bright red when she saw Zhang Lin enter the room.

Zhang Lin then grabbed her hand, "Yao Yao, since things have gone this far, let's start dating!"

"Ah???" Fu Yao hadn't expected him to say it so directly.

How was she supposed to respond? It was truly embarrassing.

"Let's keep it a secret for now!" Fu Yao finally said in a small voice after a moment.

She didn't want anyone to know about her early romance. If her teacher found out and called her parents, it would be a headache.

Most importantly, her sister Lin Xin had been tricked into an early romance in high school, which Fu Yao had always used as a reason to tease her. She didn't want to give her sister any ammunition.

"Alright, I'll follow your lead!" Zhang Lin understood, given that Fu Yao was still in her senior year of high school.

But seeing that the girl had agreed, he smiled and asked, "Since our relationship has changed, shouldn't you give me a kiss?"

As he spoke, he shamelessly leaned his face closer to her.

Fu Yao stared at his handsome face, feeling embarrassed but still leaned in for a kiss.

Suddenly, she remembered something, "Oh no, I'm going to be late."

Zhang Lin checked the time and realized she was right. "Let's go, I'll take you to school!"

Fu Yao nodded and hurriedly left with Zhang Lin, getting into the Mercedes S-Class. "Uncle, it's all your fault, we spent so much time."

"Yes, it's my fault!" Zhang Lin admitted, though he felt a sense of satisfaction. Was it really his fault that time had passed so quickly?

It was the special eels and special medicinal herbs that had taken the blame, and one day, the girl would realize the benefits of the time they had spent together.

When they arrived at the high school, the school gates were already closed, and a security guard was patrolling the entrance.

Zhang Lin used his old trick, buying two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes from a nearby shop. When he reached the school gate, he recognized the security guard.

The guard also saw Zhang Lin and Fu Yao, recognizing Zhang Lin from before.

"Brother, there was a family matter, and my sister is a bit late!" Zhang Lin, familiar with the routine, shook hands with the guard and slipped the two cartons of Zhonghua into his hands.

At that moment, two students rushed over, also late.

The guard discreetly hid the cigarettes behind his back and immediately scolded Fu Yao, "It's class time now, who allowed you to leave the school? If you need to go out, you need a note from your homeroom teacher. Go get the note and come back."

Then, he turned to the two late students who were trying to sneak past, "What grade and class are you in? Do you know you're late? Come and register your tardiness."

The two students reluctantly went to register, hoping the guard would catch others while they slipped through.

Zhang Lin smiled, reminiscing about his own high school days when he had also been late and tried to sneak into school while the guard was busy with others.

After that, he got back into the car and headed back to Linyuan Farm.

He also checked the game in his mind, which had just given him a notification about a special event.

[The six-colored soil seeds have sprouted. Some of the hibiscus seedlings seem to have undergone a mutation, though they haven't bloomed yet. It's unclear how many colors of flowers they will produce.]



Zhang Lin felt relieved upon reading the notification. It wasn't a major issue, and he hadn't had the chance to pay attention to the game's prompt while holding Fu Yao's hand.

The key was that the six-colored soil had caused a mutation, meaning the hibiscus plants could naturally produce multiple colors on a single plant.

Many hibiscus cultivation bases were researching how to grow multi-colored hibiscus on a single plant, but progress was limited to two colors and required grafting. Even though multi-colored hibiscus looked beautiful, the high costs made it impossible to produce them on a large scale.

Now, with the natural mutation, the plants could grow multiple colors on a single plant. Once they matured, they could be trimmed and transplanted, leading to large-scale cultivation and potentially revolutionizing the hibiscus industry.

After parking his car at the office center, Zhang Lin hopped on his scooter and headed straight for the core area. As he approached the ten-acre plot of six-colored land, he saw Ma Jun already crouched down, examining some seedlings.

Attracted by Zhang Lin's arrival, Ma Jun looked up with a delighted expression. "Mr. Zhang, I have some good news. I've been checking on these seeds every half day since we planted them. Just now, I noticed that some of the hibiscus seeds seem different. They might have undergone some kind of mutation, but I don't have the equipment to study it further."

"However, I suspect the mutation might be in the number of flowers or the color of the blooms. Of course, other possibilities can't be ruled out. If it's a positive mutation, we can identify the mutation factors, extract them, and use them to achieve artificial breakthroughs and large-scale improvements."

Hearing Ma Jun's words, Zhang Lin couldn't help but appreciate how crucial a talented researcher is in agricultural development.

After seeing the game's prompt, Zhang Lin had planned to wait for the mutated hibiscus to grow and then transplant it. However, Ma Jun wanted to analyze the mutation factors and study the genetics to understand the cause and achieve artificial modifications.

If this research is successful, they could mass-produce multi-colored hibiscus, which would be much faster than Zhang Lin's method.

Thinking about this, Zhang Lin said, "Ma Jun, I'll leave this to you. The necessary research equipment and personnel have already been ordered and will arrive soon."

"Rest assured, Mr. Zhang. I'll do my best," Ma Jun assured him.

With that, Zhang Lin rode his scooter back to the office center. As soon as he sat down, his senior classmate, Lin Muxue, walked in, immediately catching his attention.

Wearing a short skirt, stockings, and a thin strapless top, her skin was fair and smooth from the whitening sweet potatoes. The allure was undeniable.

"Senior, you're really showing a lot of skin today!" Zhang Lin couldn't help but comment.

Was this a side effect?

He had always considered himself a gentleman and never let his thoughts wander because of someone's attire. Even when Lin Muxue wore revealing clothes before, it didn't affect him.

Now, this was different. He suddenly regretted buying that special eel.

"Does it look good?" Lin Muxue didn't seem affected by his remark. She even spun around to showcase the outfit, explaining, "It's all Liu Qian and the girls' doing. They organized an event on the farm's social media account, and if we hit the target, I'm obligated to post a bonus content video. Hence, I had to dress up like this and record a few clips."

"Senior, you've worked hard," Zhang Lin complimented, trying to keep his composure.

Lin Muxue walked up to him and handed him a file. "Mr. Zhang, this is the planning document for the farm's zoo. If you find no issues, I'll send out the plan, and the zoo can open tomorrow."

Zhang Lin quickly glanced at the document to shift his focus.

After reading the content, he asked in surprise, "Xiaohei can handle this?"

The plan included two raffle events hosted by the Black Bear Spirit. The Black Bear Spirit would thank the customers by drawing three lucky visitors from a raffle box for each session.

- First Prize (1 winner): 10 pounds of whitening sweet potatoes.

- Second Prize (2 winners): 3 boxes of moisturizing cream.

- Third Prize (5 winners): A shopping voucher for one pound of whitening sweet potatoes and 3 boxes of moisturizing cream.

To determine the participants, those who join the Black Bear Spirit's raffle would receive a numbered ticket.

Seeing the plan, Zhang Lin signed his approval.

Even though the zoo would likely be popular, creating a buzz was still beneficial.

Lin Muxue took the signed document and left.

Zhang Lin let out a sigh of relief. This side effect was troubling, and he had no idea when it would go away.

In the evening, the Linyuan Farm account released two videos.

One video featured Lin Muxue, the director, dancing. This video wasn't censored and attracted many viewers, with likes steadily increasing.

The other video quickly went viral.

It was the announcement of the Liyuan Farm Zoo's grand opening.

If it were just a regular zoo, it wouldn't have caused much of a stir. After all, the Liyuan Farm was already well-known for its panda Yuan Yuan and the black bear spirit, Xiao Hei. Without any new magical creatures, just adding more ordinary animals wouldn't be particularly exciting, no matter how many there were. At most, people might buy a zoo ticket to see Xiao Hei and Yuan Yuan and take a look at the other animals.

However, things changed when it was announced that Xiao Hei would be hosting two lucky draws for visitors, with prizes including whitening sweet potatoes and moisturizing cream. This caught the attention of countless female netizens, who rushed to Liyuan Farm's social media accounts.

The grand prize was 10 pounds of whitening sweet potatoes, the second prize was three boxes of moisturizing cream, and even the third prize came with a voucher for one pound of whitening sweet potatoes and a box of moisturizing cream.

These items were highly sought after and virtually impossible to buy, with scalpers driving the prices sky-high.

Especially the whitening sweet potatoes—those who had tried them at Liyuan Farm vouched for their effectiveness. Many who had spent a week eating the sweet potatoes reported a noticeable improvement in their skin, akin to applying a layer of beauty filter.

In no time, the news of the Liyuan Farm Zoo's opening trended on social media.

At Liyuan Farm, Zhang Lin received a call from Zhao Han, the head of the Tourism Bureau.

As soon as the call connected, Zhao Han's voice came through, "Mr. Zhang, congratulations, the zoo opens tomorrow."

Zhang Lin smiled and asked, "Director Zhao, you didn't just call to congratulate me, right?"

Zhao Han laughed, "Mr. Zhang, I'll be straight with you. I have some relatives visiting from my hometown, and they have two children who want to visit the zoo. The tickets sold out so quickly that I couldn't get any. I'm afraid I have to trouble you."

"That's no problem. I'll have someone send the tickets over to you," Zhang Lin immediately responded. This director was not from the local area, so it must have been a significant effort for his relatives to visit him, which was why he had made this request.

After hanging up, Zhang Lin called Lin Mengxi and instructed her to prepare 400 special zoo tickets for the Tourism Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, and the county government. Each ticket would come with a voucher for one pound of whitening sweet potatoes and a box of moisturizing cream.

He decided to allocate 100 tickets to each of the Tourism Bureau and Agriculture Bureau, and the remaining 200 to the county government.

For future projects, he would do the same.

It was important to maintain good relationships and show consideration.

Lin Mengxi, upon receiving the instructions, quickly got the documents signed by Zhang Lin and left the farm with the 400 special zoo tickets. She drove a company-owned Volkswagen Lavida to the county office.

...

At the Tourism Bureau.

After calling Zhang Lin, Zhao Han continued to handle the bureau's paperwork. Just before the end of the workday, Wang Yu rushed into his office, "Director Zhao, Manager Lin from Liyuan Farm just came by and dropped off some zoo tickets."

He placed a stack of 100 tickets on the desk.

Seeing that the tickets included vouchers for whitening sweet potatoes and moisturizing cream, Zhao Han smiled.

Mr. Zhang...

However, he didn't say much more. He took a few tickets for himself and instructed Wang Yu, "Distribute the tickets to everyone. If anyone's family wants to take their children to the zoo, encourage them to go."

Some things didn't need to be said; understanding was enough.

Wang Yu's face lit up with a smile. His wife had been eager to visit the zoo with her friends to try her luck in the draws, but the tickets had sold out too quickly online.

She had even called him earlier to ask if he could get any tickets.

For other tourist sites, he could have made a call, but he didn't dare do that for Liyuan Farm, as he didn't have the right connections.

To his surprise, Liyuan Farm had sent the tickets over. So, after leaving Zhao Han's office, he put two tickets in his pocket. The tickets came with vouchers for whitening sweet potatoes and moisturizing cream, which would make his wife very happy, even if they didn't win anything at the zoo.

This made him feel a sense of gratitude towards Liyuan Farm.

It wasn't just Wang Yu; many people at the Tourism Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, and the county government felt grateful upon receiving the zoo tickets. The zoo's opening was a significant event, especially since it was so close, and many families wanted to visit.

Moreover, the tickets came with vouchers for whitening sweet potatoes and moisturizing cream, which were items that were almost impossible to obtain even with a zoo ticket.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end