Chapter 79 - 74: Mocked by the Game System?

Chapter 79: Chapter 74: Mocked by the Game System?

’One million bricks... I bet Huang Tao could make a decent cut by pulling some strings for me.’

With that in mind, he immediately called Huang Tao.

As soon as the call connected, Huang Tao asked, "Zhang Lin, what can I do for you?"

Zhang Lin got straight to the point. "I need to build a wall. I’ll need about a million bricks and the corresponding amount of cement. I was hoping you could take care of it for me."

"Leave it to me. I’ll get it done right," Huang Tao replied at once with a smile.

This was, after all, a massive order for construction materials. In a small place like You City, he could earn a hefty commission just by acting as the middleman, and the brick factory owners would even owe him a favor.

However, he couldn’t afford to mess this up. The quality had to be top-notch. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to face Zhang Lin, and their relationship would become awkward.

So, as soon as he hung up, he immediately started making calls.

Meanwhile, just after Zhang Lin hung up with Huang Tao, he received a call from an unknown number.

He answered quizzically. A polite voice came from the other end. "President Zhang, hello. Allow me to introduce myself. We make brain-boosting products. With your Bamboo Maze going viral, we’d like to place an advertisement at your Li Yuan Farm."

"How did you get my number?" Zhang Lin was surprised that an advertiser had found him so quickly. They were certainly fast.

’And pairing brain-boosting products with the Bamboo Maze... what a clever idea!’

Still, he was genuinely curious how his number had been leaked.

The person on the other end explained with a chuckle, "President Zhang, in this digital age, it’s quite simple to look up the legal representative of Li Yuan Farm. And I assure you, we are very sincere."

Hearing this, Zhang Lin wanted to scoff. It was true. As soon as you went online, your personal information was no longer secure. Especially after that incident where a ride-hailing company was caught selling user data, all pretense of privacy was gone.

"I’m very sorry, sir, but our farm has no plans to accept advertisements," Zhang Lin said, politely refusing before hanging up.

’Advertising is a minefield.’

’You can’t vouch for someone else’s product. It could turn into a disaster at any moment, and if it does, the farm’s reputation will be affected.’

After all, even so-called ’nationally certified inspection-free’ products had imploded in scandal before.

That’s why he wouldn’t trust any product that wasn’t his farm’s own.

Besides, he didn’t need the paltry income from advertising. His farm hadn’t been open long, but ticket sales alone—even with a cap of 5,000 tickets for the Flower Sea and 5,000 for the Bamboo Maze—already brought in 500,000.

Adding in the farm’s other revenue streams and fruit wholesale income, his daily earnings were now at 300,000.

That added up to 800,000 a day.

After lunch, the hype from the ’Super Brain’ joint challenge caused Li Yuan Farm’s popularity to completely explode.

The most direct result was another rapid increase in Li Yuan Farm’s followers; by evening, the count was approaching two million.

While two million followers might not seem like much compared to major influencers who easily boast tens of millions, his account had only been active for a short time and was still growing. Among accounts for similar scenic attractions, it was definitely nothing to scoff at.

After dinner, Director Wei from the Agriculture Bureau arrived with his team, including Lin Mengxi. Fu Yao had been brought along as well.

Lin Mengxi was holding Fu Yao’s hand, a sign that they had become quite close.

That evening, the Agriculture Bureau was scheduled to hold its second farmer-aid livestream.

The 50,000 jin of Furong plums and 50,000 jin of blueberries they had prepared before sold out in the blink of an eye. This time, they had prepared 200,000 jin of each.

But Zhang Lin noticed that Fu Yao seemed to be in a bad mood. "What’s wrong?" he asked. "You look upset."

"Sigh, it’s just embarrassing," Fu Yao said, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

Lin Mengxi, who was standing beside her, explained, "Fu Yao entered a design competition recently. It was one of those events trying to ride the coattails of Li Yuan Farm’s popularity, and it even specified a pastoral farm theme. But the results were obviously fixed. The design they chose... it’s hard to put into words, but I don’t think it was nearly as good as Fu Yao’s. She’s very talented."

Hearing this, Zhang Lin remembered. Fu Yao had mentioned it to him before.

Curious, he took out his phone and searched for the competition’s official account. Just as he’d suspected, its name had been changed to Hongfa Farm Park. It was just a stunt to ride the wave of popularity and promote themselves.

He also saw the winning design they had announced. It leaned toward a more light and airy farm style, and the various parts of the design were so cohesive that no one would believe they weren’t prepared well in advance as a single package.

It was just as he’d thought. Fu Yao and the other participants were just cannon fodder, used to generate traffic for the organizers.

But when he saw Fu Yao’s design, his eyes lit up. He finally understood why Lin Mengxi said she was so talented.

Her concept was excellent: a design for a campsite. While many aspects were still raw and unrefined, as a standalone project, it was far better than the officially selected design. Unfortunately, the organizers had a specific overall style in mind; even if they’d seen her design, they wouldn’t have chosen it because it would have clashed with their aesthetic.

For some reason, he had a feeling that this young woman, Fu Yao, could become an incredible designer in the future. After all, she was just self-taught at this point. Once she went to university and received formal training, she would surely be amazing.

"So, Fu Yao’s design is pretty good, isn’t it?" Lin Mengxi asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Zhang Lin nodded. "If it were up to me, I’d definitely choose Fu Yao’s design and build it."

Fu Yao was clearly pleased to hear this, and the gloom on her face vanished. "Don’t just try to comfort me, Uncle. I know my own limits."

Although that’s what she said, she was fighting back a grin so wide it was impossible to hide.

She was still thrilled to get his approval.

Just then, Zhang Lin stared in surprise at a notification that suddenly appeared from the game in his mind:

[Congratulations on completing the network promotion and reaching the 3 million follower milestone! Your farm’s reputation has grown, and its fame is greater than ever. However, your farm’s facilities are a complete mess—it doesn’t even have the most basic accommodations! Therefore, you must make a change. Reward: Special Accommodation Facility Construction Scroll (Quality 1)]

Zhang Lin immediately checked the game, opened the construction market, and saw the scroll he had just received.

[Special Accommodation Facility Construction Scroll: Quality 1]

[This is a special construction scroll that grants the resulting accommodation facility special attributes: Environmental Beauty +1, Sleep Quality +1, Feels Like Home +1!]

[Construction Requirements: Select a design plan for accommodations, choose the construction area, and then a price will be assessed. Currently available accommodation types: Hotel, B&B, Inn, RV Park, Campsite!]

[Restriction: Attributes are only effective for structures built within the farm’s boundaries!]

"???" Zhang Lin froze for a second as he read the scroll’s description. He subconsciously glanced at Fu Yao’s campsite design.

’Don’t tell me the system turned my offhand comment into a new quest objective.’

’Why else would it add "Campsite" to the list?’

"Uncle, why did you suddenly space out?" Fu Yao asked, puzzled.