Chapter 1224: The Farm of Justice (23)

At Clark's home, Bruce put down the phone in his hand and turned to say: "Lamborghini headquarters sent a professional technician to teach us how to operate this tractor."

"As expected of Lamborghini!" Clark immediately praised.

"You should say, as expected of Bruce Wei En! If it were anyone else, do you think they would pay attention to you?" Diana rolled her eyes and said: "I guarantee, they must be thinking now, how bad is this rich man's driving skills that he could dent a sturdy tractor four times in two days."

"Alright, young masters, should we do some real work now?" Diana turned to look at Clark on the sofa and said: "What exactly are we going to plant in that plot of land? How are we going to plant it? And what help can it provide for the Metropolis Agricultural Expo?"

"I discussed it with Martha yesterday. It's still more suitable for planting vegetables there. It's close to the creek, the soil is fertile, the vegetables produced are purely natural, and they will be very delicious. I think iceberg lettuce, kale, or spinach are all good choices."

Bruce thought of something suddenly. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he looked at Clark and said: "Can we plant broccoli?"

"Of course we can. Broccoli doesn't have high requirements for soil. It belongs to the cruciferous family like kale, and like iceberg lettuce, they are all long-day crops. They are easy to raise here... Do you like eating broccoli very much?"

"Is this piece of land for our own consumption, or for sale?" Bruce asked again.

"Mainly for sale," Clark replied: "We can also eat it ourselves, but we can't eat much. If it piles up in the warehouse, it will rot. Usually, we sell it in the small town or the nearest city, which can help us accumulate some funds. Although it's not much, it's better than nothing."

"Then let's plant the one with the highest economic value. Among these choices, which vegetable sells the best?"

"Iceberg lettuce." Clark gestured and explained: "This vegetable likes low temperatures. The vegetable plot at Kent Farm has unique conditions. Because of the remaining plant protection area, the windbreak forest, and the creek beside it, the area where that plot of land is located will be about 4 degrees lower than the average daily temperature of farms around Smallville."

"This means that this is our farm's special product. Only we can plant it on a large scale, and what we plant is better than others, so it naturally sells well. Things are precious because they are rare."

Bruce and Diana both nodded. Diana looked at Clark and said: "So, every farm will have its own special products?"

"That's right. What you see at the agricultural products expo might just be some ordinary vegetables, but in fact, every vegetable has a story behind it, and it might even be the accumulation and inheritance of experience from several generations of farm owners."

Diana showed some interest. She touched her chin and said: "Since the beginning, Metropolis has had no agricultural culture, let alone inheritance. To develop agriculture, it is inevitable to learn from others' experience."

"If every farm owner who comes to participate in the expo introduces the circumstances under which their special products were selected and bred, it might provide valuable experience for farm owners in the Metropolis area."

"Then what about seeds?" Bruce asked.

"Kent Farm has its own superior breeding seeds. This is the main source of economic income for vegetable sales. Selling vegetables doesn't make much money, but selling seeds is different."

Clark's voice suddenly lowered. He turned to look at Bruce and said: "What might be hard for you to accept is that many seed merchants are monopolizing superior varieties."

"Everyone wants to monopolize a certain high-yield variety. Some agricultural product companies will even specially treat excellent seeds, making the crop yield decline after the first generation, so farm owners have to buy their seeds every year."

"Can this really be done?" Diana asked with some confusion.

"Of course it can. I don't know too professional knowledge, but there is no doubt that this will lead to a vicious cycle. When farm owners buy seeds, they spend a high price, so when they sell crops, they will also increase the price."

"But the Agricultural Association doesn't allow them to increase prices at will, so they also hoard the superior varieties inherited from their own farms, either not selling them, or selling them at sky-high prices if they do."

"You mean to say that there are actually many people who possess high-yield and delicious seeds, but they are unwilling to take them out?" A trace of anger flashed on Diana's face, but she also showed helplessness. This princess who had lived for many years also understood that capital was profit-seeking, and no one wanted to suffer a loss.

But Bruce fell into deep thought. After a while, he walked over, propped his elbows on the back of the sofa, leaned forward, and stood between the two, saying: "You say, if there is a kind of seed that possesses unparalleled yield, as long as it is planted in the land, it can make people all over the world eat their fill, then many problems, wouldn't they cease to exist?"

Diana shook her head and said: "Perhaps so, but that's all. This cannot solve all problems. The fact now is that many governments don't want their people to eat their fill, and this even includes the United States, this so-called most developed country in the world."

"Perhaps it's a bit cruel to say so, but humans have walked to this day precisely because of hunger. These weak creatures gathered together to light fires, manufacture tools, build walls, until they built cities, developed industry, and even headed toward the universe. In essence, it was all to fill their stomachs."

"Humans are always worried about not having enough to eat, always worried about not possessing. Even if something is placed there and won't rot for thousands of years, they must occupy it, because they feel very hungry."

"Deep-seated hunger has long domesticated humans. Some people want more than others, not because they can really eat more than others, but because they feel that they will be hungry one day, so they must occupy more than others. This is the root of human strife."

"A very interesting point of view," Bruce evaluated. He turned to look into Diana's eyes and said: "Too real, and too objective, as if you are not one of us."

Diana's lips opened slightly. Between her always bright and enthusiastic eyebrows, a trace of sadness that was hard to detect passed by. She lowered her head, her black hair covering her eyebrows. Diana opened her mouth and said: "Indeed, I was once not one of you, but someone led me into your society. Now, I can no longer leave it."

"If there is nothing to eat, people will go hungry, but if there is something to eat unconditionally at all times, perhaps civilization will also die in comfort. Whether humans have reached the stage of being able to accept infinite material is still unknown." Diana shook her head and continued: "But I am pessimistic about this."

"I once saw a group of people who possessed infinite lifespan, powerful strength, and almost didn't need any resources to maintain survival, but they couldn't develop any decent civilization. Now they can only be said to be lingering on their last breath," Diana spread her hands and said.

Bruce took a deep breath and said: "Fine, the goal of feeding all humanity is a bit too far away. Then what if there is a kind of seed whose plants can survive in Cat Getan?"

"Then let's discuss the matter of feeding all humanity," Clark said immediately.

Looking at Bruce's gaze, Clark sighed and said: "I'm serious. How to increase plant yield and how to make plants grow vigorously without sunlight, the difficulty is not at the same level at all, just like you and your psychology professor."

Bruce curled his lips. Clark stood up from the sofa, clapped his hands, and said: "Alright, the philosophical discussion ends here. Let's start working. When is the technical specialist coming?"

"Tomorrow."

"Then today we will first clean up the warehouse, then weed, simply turn the soil, and prepare the tools to be used..."

Soon, the three of them began to do preparatory work. Although modern agriculture doesn't require heavy physical labor, some miscellaneous work still has to be done.

Seeds need to be transported to a small warehouse nearby. Outside the small warehouse, a piece of ground needs to be cleared for the tractor to park.

Diana was responsible for cleaning up the small warehouse near that plot of land. Clark drove a pickup truck to transport the fuel needed for tractor sowing. Bruce applied lubricating oil to the connecting parts of the seeder.

When the three of them were busy, they were very focused. These tasks weren't difficult, just a bit trivial. After the warehouse was cleaned up, while it wasn't dark yet, Clark went to the large warehouse to transport seeds, and Bruce drove to pick up the agricultural specialist to finalize the specific sowing time.

Because the farm was large, but various professional vehicles were limited, they also had to go back to meet with Jonathan to determine the arrangement time for the irrigation vehicles, trying to stagger the peak period so as not to affect the irrigation of other fields.

Busy until late at night, the most time-consuming and laborious step hadn't been done yet, which was to check the fields preliminarily to ensure that there were no foreign objects in the fields that would affect the tractor's work. But fortunately, with Clark and Diana there, the most troublesome step was the simplest instead.

Clark flew in the sky and used his super vision to scan roughly where there were problems, and then directed Diana to handle them.

You ask about Bruce? At 9 o'clock, he had already been stuffed into the room by Martha to rest forcibly.

The next morning, Bruce took a list to find Clark. Clark instinctively took the paper from his hand and glanced at it, then said: "What is this? It looks like agricultural tools?"

"This is what needs to be prepared to open a farm. Do you see what's missing?"

"No way, are you serious? You really intend to set up a farm in Cat Getan?... Let go of the plants, and let go of yourself!" Clark said helplessly.

"Just a small experimental field," Bruce said with his arms crossed: "If I really intended to set up a modern large farm, would there only be these things? You underestimate Wei En a bit too much."

Bruce sighed and said: "You only saw the part where the Cat Getan renovation plan achieved results, but didn't see the resistance in it. I am destined to move some people's cakes, and they won't let me change Cat Getan easily."

"Because if I really complete a problem that is a thousand times or a hundred times harder than theirs, then they will be blamed for their incompetence, so they will try every means to prevent me from completing it."

"No matter when, food is the top priority. Once a special situation occurs, everyone in Cat Getan will feel guilty and panicked because food cannot be produced here at all. I must prepare for this early."

"Can indoor cultivation work?" Clark asked again.

"What I want to solve is not whether plants can be grown alive, but after they are grown alive, how to ensure that they don't go crazy, aren't polluted, and safely enter human mouths," Bruce shook his head helplessly: "It sounds absurd, but I must ensure that the plants won't go crazy and hit people, and won't add another burden to Cat Getan's precarious public security situation."

"So, that's why I asked you, how about planting broccoli?" Bruce touched his temple, his tone seeming a bit guilty: "Broccoli is relatively safe, because if broccoli goes crazy and hits people, someone will deal with them."

"Then let's plant broccoli," Clark looked at Bruce's expression seriously and said: "It doesn't matter if we earn less money. You have already paid so much, I don't mind doing my part."

But Bruce seemed a bit hesitant. Just when he was still struggling, Martha suddenly walked in and said: "Clark, it seems like one of your friends is here. He said he is a pilot and also said you should know him. Should I invite him in?"

Clark froze for a moment, but then his expression became a bit surprised. He smiled at Martha and said: "Oh, yes, that's Hal. He might be here to talk to me about Krypto. You go get busy, I'll go welcome him."

On the way to the farm gate, Bruce asked: "Who is Krypto?"

"My dog, but before, it got pet depression and was hospitalized in a pet hospital in Metropolis. After I left Metropolis, I entrusted it to Hal."

"How could your dog get pet depression?... Bat-cat?"

"You have self-knowledge."