Chapter 144: Not Enough Money to Spend

Those little Sweet Potatoes sold online accidentally became a hot topic.

At first, people thought someone was trying to become famous by pulling a prank. After all, how could Sweet Potatoes be so expensive?

Then things changed. Someone bought the first batch, and then others bought the remaining twenty-nine.

Even at this point, many people still did not believe it. They thought it might be a publicity stunt by some individuals. Such things were common nowadays; even if it was annoying, if someone annoyed others enough, they could still become famous.

But just as these people were planning to dig deeper to find out who was causing such a mess, a young man posted a video on Facebook.

He was the very first customer who bought the Fruit Sweet Potato. Liu Heming was very considerate and included usage instructions when mailing it to him. This Sweet Potato could not be boiled or steamed. Since it was called Fruit Sweet Potato, it should be eaten raw, and it was even better when juiced.

The young man fully followed Liu Heming’s advice. In fact, he started filming right after receiving the package. He casually washed one and put it into the Juicer.

The earlier part of the video was edited, but the later part was not, because the young man did not want to cut it.

After all, the Sweet Potato was quite small—how much juice could it yield? The young man took a sip and commented that it tasted slightly sweet, but after just a small sip, he felt very refreshed and no longer thirsty.

However, the amount of Sweet Potato Juice was too little, so the young man came up with a little trick. What would happen if he mixed this Sweet Potato Juice with other Fruit Juice?

Surprisingly, after trying it, he discovered a whole new level of taste.

Everyone often drinks ordinary Fruit Juice, like orange juice or Watermelon juice. But after adding some Finger Sweet Potato juice, the original flavor actually became even better. Without even realizing it, he ended up mixing all the Sweet Potato Juice into his drinks. Only after finishing did he feel a bit bloated.

Then he left a review: he wasn’t sure about the exact nutritional value of this Sweet Potato, but if used to mix with Fruit Juice, it was definitely worth it.

Finger Sweet Potato truly became popular, and so did the young man. Because so many people had been paying attention to this Sweet Potato over the past couple of days, the number of views and shares of the video he posted kept climbing, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

While things were heating up outside, Xiangshui Town remained as peaceful as ever, unaffected in the slightest. This was because Xiangshui Town was quite unique—no one there used Facebook.

Liu Heming’s email also received more interview requests. If it had been before meeting Haya, he would have eagerly jumped at the chance. But now, he declined all of them. Since these Sweet Potatoes weren’t hard to sell, why bother dealing with them?

Liu Heming’s daily life involved managing the Ranch and taking care of the small animals. The chickens, ducks, and geese had also started laying eggs, so he no longer needed to buy eggs from outside.

Life was quite pleasant, except for when Nina occasionally teased him, which annoyed him a bit. Otherwise, there wasn’t much else going on.

The only thing that could be considered an event was Selin. After twenty days, the bones in his wings had finally healed. This speed was already astonishing enough, but Liu Heming still wasn’t fully satisfied. After all, the Black Jade Fracture-healing ointment was of lower grade. It might have had such a good effect because of the Small Lake Water.

Now, whenever Selin saw Alex, he would follow right behind her. Even though his walking posture was clumsy, he wasn’t slow.

It was already early autumn, and there was a bit more rain in the area. It rained every few days, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. Liu Heming was very happy about this, but George was a bit worried.

Based on his experience, such conditions in the past usually meant that the winter would be colder and the snowfall heavier. Even though snow was beneficial for the Winter Wheat in the fields, if there was a real Snow Disaster, life here wouldn’t be easy.

“George, I actually think you don’t need to worry. After all, whatever happens, it won’t be until winter. Since no one in the area is raising cattle or sheep on their farms, I don’t think it will affect people much,” Liu Heming said with a smile.

“Right now, I have something else on my mind. Since I have some money now, do you think I should pay back some of the Loan, or use this money for the construction of the Fertilizer Plant?”

This was a problem he had been thinking about recently. He found it difficult to decide which option to choose.

He did want to pay back some money to Sasha; after owing it for so long, he didn’t want to delay. But the more he learned about life here, the more he understood how important it would be for his development if he invested this money into the Ranch.

He had thought about using the money to buy some Calves, but over a hundred thousand US Dollars wouldn’t buy many heads of cattle. And even if he did buy a herd, the future handling of manure, along with building a Cattle Shed and providing Feed, would all be major issues.

Currently, the price of one Calf was between 600 and 700 US Dollars, so he could buy around a hundred. But once you bought them, you had to feed them. The Pasture Grass he had planted on the Ranch wasn’t very tall yet and definitely wouldn’t be enough for these big eaters.

Moreover, after the cattle ate, they would defecate. If the manure wasn’t handled properly, it could affect his USDA certification. This certification was a symbol of status and something he needed to pay extra attention to on his Ranch.

So he felt uncertain about what to tackle first.

“Dexter, I think you should start with the Fertilizer Plant,” George said after thinking for a moment.

“But you can invest in this Fertilizer Plant step by step; the initial investment doesn’t have to be too large. We can place it farther away from your Ranch. That way, even if the production environment there is poor at first, it won’t affect your USDA certification here.”

“As for the remaining money, I think you could build a Cattle Shed in advance and plant more Pasture Grass on your Ranch to prepare for raising cattle in the future.”

“After all, the land on your Ranch is used for planting Wheat, and we’ve already set up the irrigation System. No matter what the weather is like next year, you won’t have any problems here and will surely make some profit.”

“Okay, I’ll think it over carefully. George, have you raised cattle before? How many heads do you think would be suitable for me?” Liu Heming nodded and asked after a moment.

“I think one hundred and fifty heads should be fine, but the first requirement is to have enough Pasture Grass. In the early stages, they can graze freely. During the fattening period, their Feed will need more nutrients,” George estimated roughly.

Liu Heming grinned. Building a large Cattle Shed for one hundred and fifty cattle would still cost a small fortune. Although the money he earned from selling Sweet Potatoes seemed like a lot, it still wasn’t enough to cover everything.