Chapter 16: Asking the Master

He drove his old pickup truck to Xiangshui Town and went straight to the town mayor’s office. The office was locked, so he had to go to Anderson’s small supermarket instead.

“Dexter, you’re not here to buy instant noodles again, are you?” Anderson asked Liu Heming cautiously.

“Well, not just instant noodles. I also need to find Town Mayor George. I forgot to get his phone number,” Liu Heming said, feeling a little embarrassed.

Lately, he had been eating only instant noodles and bread in rotation. Anderson couldn’t make much money from such low spending, so he wasn’t happy with this customer.

“Dexter, you can’t get any nutrition from just eating those,” Anderson said as he took out his phone and searched for the number. “Remember, he won’t always be waiting for you in his office.”

Liu Heming saved the number and called right there. The phone rang several times before George answered.

“George, this is Dexter. I have a small question for you about planting this year,” Liu Heming said quickly.

“OK, Dexter. I’m free today. Wait for me at your ranch. I’ll drive over,” George agreed readily.

“Thank you, George. I’ll hurry back to my ranch and wait for you,” Liu Heming said happily.

This was like asking a master for help. After all, he knew nothing about farming in the United States. Having an expert like George could give him a lot of useful advice.

After hanging up, Liu Heming wanted to leave. But when he looked up, he noticed Anderson looking at him strangely.

“Oh, I was so happy earlier that I forgot to buy things,” Liu Heming said, smacking his forehead.

Even though Anderson was warm-hearted beneath his cold exterior, he also had a miserly side. Liu Heming went to the shelves, grabbed a box of instant noodles, picked some canned luncheon meat and fruit, and added two packs of beer. Only then did a smile appear on Anderson’s face.

He drove his old pickup truck chugging back to the ranch and saw George’s car parked at the ranch gate.

Actually, Liu Heming’s ranch gate was just for show; he never closed it. But George was careful about such things and didn’t drive straight in.

“George, thank you so much. I didn’t expect you to come all the way here,” Liu Heming said, giving George a big hug when he reached the house.

“Haha, I’ve actually been curious about what you’ve been up to lately,” George said with a laugh.

“But there’s one thing I should warn you about: you should rebuild this house. If a tornado comes, even a small one, it probably won’t hold up.”

“George, I’d love to build a new house too. I looked into it, but I don’t want a wooden villa. Even though they’re nice, they don’t feel safe to me. But building something else would be expensive—at least over ten thousand US dollars,” Liu Heming said with a shrug.

“Maybe later, if I have money, I’ll see about building a better house. Then I can bring my family to live with me.”

He always thought houses in the United States weren’t very safe. They were made of panels that could break easily in a fight. If he built a house, he wanted it to be sturdy. It wouldn’t cost much more.

The main problem was that Xiangshui Town was too run-down. There were no construction companies in town, so costs were higher. Otherwise, building your own house wouldn’t be too expensive.

“George, what’s wrong?” Liu Heming asked when he noticed George wasn’t looking at him but staring into the distance.

“Dexter, when did your ranch get this lake?” George asked, pointing to the lake nearby.

“Oh, it was here when I arrived,” Liu Heming said, acting like it was no big deal.

If he didn’t have the System, he might have boasted that it was formed by a meteorite and added some mystery to it. But now he didn’t dare—this was his little secret, and he wanted to keep others from noticing it.

“My goodness, Dexter, you’re so lucky. I think you’ll have a very good harvest this year,” George said enviously.

“Thank you, George. Actually, I asked you here to help me calculate the planting costs. Also, since this ranch doesn’t have its own farming equipment, where should I go to rent some?” Liu Heming asked with a smile.

“Dexter, you came to the right person,” George said, his face lighting up. He was pleased that Liu Heming sought his advice.

“The planting cost is different for each crop, and the farming equipment needed is different too. Renting by model would cost about 100 to 300 US dollars per day. But I suggest you buy some—even though it’s a big one-time investment, it’s very practical.”

“I recommend going to a fertilizer company and having them test your soil. Just tell them your plans, and they’ll make the right compound fertilizer for you. Of course, if you have farming experience, you could also judge by feel.”

“But I must warn you: if the fertilizer isn’t balanced, it won’t just affect your harvest—it could also pollute the groundwater. Even though there aren’t many people in Xiangshui Town, you could still get sued.”

“Thank you, George. This year, I plan to use all compound fertilizer, and next year I’ll switch to organic fertilizer to adjust,” Liu Heming nodded.

“Take a look at this rough sketch I made. There’s almost 18 acres of land total. I plan to plant wheat on 10 acres, corn on 4 acres, and soybeans on 3 acres. The rest, the flat area in front of my house, I’ll use to grow vegetables,” Liu Heming said, pulling the sketch from his truck and showing it to George.

“Let me see. Besides the cost of equipment and fuel, normally planting wheat costs about 300 US dollars per acre, corn about 650 US dollars per acre, and soybeans about 430 US dollars per acre,” George said after thinking for a moment.

“Adding it all up, let’s see… it would be around 7,000 US dollars. Since this land hasn’t been planted in a long time, fertilizer costs might go up by about 500 US dollars.”

Liu Heming smiled bitterly to himself. The cost wasn’t actually that high; even with equipment rental, it was about what he expected. But it still hurt to spend almost ten thousand US dollars all at once.

The main thing was he wasn’t very confident. He only had so much money. If he lost out this year, he’d only have enough for one more round of investment. And no matter how much he saved, daily expenses like food and living would still cost money.