Chapter 289 - 150: Spring in the Northern Country

Chapter 289: Chapter 150: Spring in the Northern Country

As they chatted and rested, Jiang Miao got a preliminary understanding of the situation at the Monan Branch.

That evening, Lü Weibin took Jiang Miao to a relatively famous local restaurant in Kulun Town for dinner.

Considering Jiang Miao didn’t like to drink, they didn’t invite anyone from the town government.

"Boss, this is the local barbecue—we have skewers, grilled fish, and grilled chicken wings. And this is Kulun stew and griddle cakes," Lü Weibin explained.

Jiang Miao drank a bowl of "pot tea," a milk tea slow-cooked with diced beef, potatoes, carrots, and various spices. It was fragrant and had a rich, mellow flavor.

They also had the indispensable lamb skewers of Monan and some yogurt to cut through the richness.

Liu Zhiben then ladled a large bowl of soup for him. "Boss, this is calf soup. It’s made by slow-cooking milk curds made from fresh milk, then adding and boiling dough sheets made from buckwheat flour. The local herdsmen love it. I’m not sure if it’ll be to your taste."

"It’s good. A unique flavor," Jiang Miao said after taking a sip of the calf soup. He then picked up a piece of hand-pulled mutton. The lamb, cooked using a special local method, was tender and rich. Paired with a special seasoning, it was incredibly delicious.

Meanwhile, Ke Yong was using a small knife to carve a roast whole lamb. The tantalizing aroma of the perfectly roasted meat was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Jiang Miao wasn’t a big meat-eater, however. After a few pieces of barbecue, he picked up a bowl of buckwheat noodles and ate it with a local specialty sauce.

Jiang Miao let out a full burp. "BURP... Old Lü, there aren’t enough vegetables! Eating like this every day is a fast track to high blood pressure and high cholesterol. You need to have the logistics department purchase more fruits and vegetables to ensure the employees have a balanced diet."

"I know. I’m not used to the eating habits here either," Lü Weibin said, half-joking. "If we people from Lingnan don’t eat some ’fodder’ with our three meals a day, we just don’t feel right."

But it was true that he wasn’t used to it. Even after being here for over half a month, the group of southern employees was still having a hard time adjusting.

By the end of the meal, Jiang Miao had become a familiar face to the management team of the Monan Branch.

「Early the next morning.」

Led by Lü Weibin, Liu Zhiben, and the others, the group went to see the endless desert stretching out behind the base.

Some of the employees were already operating bulldozers, graders, loaders, and road rollers on the sandy terrain.

In addition, he saw a team of personnel in Sany Heavy Industry work uniforms repairing a malfunctioning bulldozer.

Jiang Miao took a look and was surprised to see more than a dozen maintenance workers from Sany Heavy Industry. "Sany Heavy Industry sent this many people?"

"Yes. They said they want to use this opportunity to improve their equipment and make it better suited for the Northern and desert environments." Lü Weibin also found Sany Heavy Industry’s actions a bit strange, but since they were providing such dedicated service, he made sure to treat them well. Not only did he provide accommodations, but he also covered all three daily meals for their repair team.

"I see." Jiang Miao raised a pair of binoculars to look at the boundless desert before him.

Fundamentally, although the Tamin Chagan Desert and the Gubao Map Desert are part of the Kerchin Desert, there are huge differences between them.

The central and eastern parts of the Kerchin Desert are actually the result of grassland and farmland degradation caused by over-cultivation in the Modern Era.

The western Tamin Chagan Desert and Gubao Map Desert, however, were caused by overgrazing and land reclamation during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Their degradation occurred much longer ago, so the desertification is more pronounced, with both active and semi-active sand dunes having formed.

Many people might be unfamiliar with the name Gubao Map Desert, but they might have some recollection of its other name: the Mulan Hunting Ground.

In Mongolian, "Treasure Ancient Map" means "a place with deer." This area was once the Mulan Hunting Ground of the Qing dynasty, a site of royal hunts and military activities that nurtured a rich Northern nomadic culture.

"Boss, I considered that after compacting the sand, we’ll have to wait until June to start planting. So, I had the purchasing department procure ten grass grid laying machines," Lü Weibin explained, detailing some of the work arrangements.

"Grass grid laying machines?"

Lü Weibin pulled out his phone and found the message from the purchasing department. "They’ve already finalized a deal with Gansu Province’s Gank Group to purchase their self-propelled grass grid sand barrier machines. According to the product introduction we received a few days ago, the machine has an ultra-high chassis, a dual-crawler base, and is powered by a low-power single-cylinder diesel engine. It can move freely on slopes up to 25 degrees and work steadily on slopes up to 12 degrees. A single unit can lay 40 mu of grass grids in a day."

"Mm, that’s very thorough of you." Jiang Miao could already feel the strength of the wind and sand around them.

If they didn’t lay down grass grids to stabilize the compacted sand soon, it was highly likely the sand would start shifting again in a month or two.

The sand would only remain solidified if it rained within the next two months.

However, the rainy season in Zhelimu City was from June to August. Right now, they were in the middle of the windy, dry off-season, and this weather was not conducive to sand stabilization.

As for whether laying grass grids would affect soybean cultivation, the answer was a definite no. The grids were made of withered grass with a low probability of re-sprouting. By the time the rainy season arrived, the new soybean variety’s growth advantage would be even more pronounced.

Jiang Miao lowered his binoculars. He saw a drilling rig in the distance, obviously preparing to extract groundwater. He looked at Lü Weibin and asked, "By the way, what are the local water rates?"

Lü Weibin grew a little worried at this question. "Boss, as a corporate entity using groundwater, we’re charged 1.25 yuan per cubic meter. There’s also a limit of 167 cubic meters per mu of soybeans. If we exceed that, we’ll be charged a surcharge of one to three times the base rate."

"That’s fine. We only need to spray them three times, which won’t even use 60 cubic meters per mu. Just remember to do the spraying in the evening. It’ll improve efficiency." Jiang Miao was already prepared for this.

As long as the soybeans successfully sprouted and grew their first true leaf, they wouldn’t need any more watering.

They would rely entirely on their leaves to collect dew at night, which would then be stored in their root nodules. If the rainy season arrived, they would have even less to worry about.

They were drilling the well now just in case. If there was no rain for one or two consecutive weeks after planting, they would have to water them manually.

It was precisely the unique nature of the new soybean variety that made it so extremely resistant to drought and salinity.

Furthermore, Jiang Miao had recently discovered another advantage of these three soybean varieties—a new development he had stumbled upon while organizing the data from the first large batch of experimental fields.