I Got Rich in Period Fiction
Chapter 182 Customs

Chapter 182: Chapter 182 Customs

The birds were mostly sparrows, huddling together and pecking away at the ground. No need to guess, they were definitely eating the grass seeds.

Xiao Hu, accompanied by Rongrong, grabbed a stick with several strips of cloth tied to it and charged into the clearing to scare off the birds because they had also helped to spread the seeds and naturally didn’t want these birds to eat them all.

...

The breeding centers of the base and Xichuan Breeding Center were established one after another.

Then Qiao Qingyu’s Zone 5 Laboratory became the primary seed supply center.

Since it was affiliated with Tenghai Research Base, it came under the direct leadership of He Xiuyu, but Qiao Qingyu wasn’t worried about how to deal with it in the future.

The red flower and gastrodia of the Qiao Family Team were growing well, and the pharmaceutical factory from the provincial city sent people to check, also taking away the dandelions harvested from the Qiao Family’s private land.

After drying, the quality of dandelion was superb. The herbal medicine factory paid cash on delivery, which made the people of the Qiao Family Team envious. With just a few acres of private land, Uncle Qiao and the others actually earned four hundred and eighty yuan.

Qiao Genbao received two hundred yuan.

It was the first time he had earned so much money.

Then the rose bushes he had grown were bought by a person in charge from the herbal medicine factory, fifty plants at one yuan each, giving him fifty yuan.

The over one hundred rose bushes hadn’t bloomed yet, but the leaves were shiny green, and the stems were thick.

The cut branches, once inserted into the potting soil and taken care of for a while, had nearly a 100% survival rate.

What Qiao Genbao sold were these successfully grown branches.

Some people shamelessly approached Qiao Genbao to ask for branches. Living as neighbors in the same village, it was hard for him to refuse. However, Aunt Qiao stood at the door, lambasting anyone who came, which reduced the number of seekers considerably.

Without writing a letter, Qiao Genbao called Qiao Qingyu.

Then Qiao Qingyu told him that they planned to build some greenhouses after the autumn harvest.

At first, Qiao Genbao was uncertain, but now he was determined, just waiting for Qiao Qingyu to come back and build the greenhouses to earn money, especially since, next year, they would start the contracted responsibility to households.

This was also a way to accumulate experience.

Qiao Qingyu asked her elder brother to prepare some materials for the greenhouses, but the plastic film needed to be purchased from the Southern region.

These days, plastic film was in short supply. Unexpectedly, Wulong Daily Chemical Factory, overseen by Secretary Chang, started to continue its construction.

From Lu Ye, she learned that after the completion of this factory, a batch of plastic film would be produced first.

However, it was too late for the current need, so Qiao Qingyu called Boss Liu from the first wholesale market in Nangang City to keep an eye out for plastic film and notify her immediately if any became available.

After finishing the phone call, Qiao Qingyu drove the tractor to the northern green belt of the base.

Upon arrival, she found Director Lin with several security guards and Old Xie discussing something.

Qiao Qingyu stopped the tractor and stood on the clearing, looking across the vast barren land where the seed drill and farm workers were busy.

On the open ground, there were piles of sacks.

She felt puzzled, "Director Lin, what happened?"

Old Xie sighed and said, "Qingyu, it’s lucky that when we took the seeds from your lab, we weighed each bag and went through the proper procedures. Otherwise, we would both have trouble explaining."

Then he pointed to the sacks on the ground, "We lost over two hundred jin of Barley Grass Seeds."

Qiao Qingyu was truly startled and couldn’t help asking, "Who would steal grass seeds?"

"Yeah," mumbled Director Lin, "especially these grass seeds, what can they be used for other than feeding birds and chickens?"

"Have you found out how they were lost?" asked Qiao Qingyu.

"With over five hundred workers, it’s not easy to investigate. It’s not like each person was responsible for a certain amount, since everyone worked together. Plus, we had several seeding machines. It was only today, at the end, that we realized this plot of land should have been fully planted with Barley Grass, but now we’ve discovered about five thousand square meters of wasteland had been left and the seeds might have been lost," said Old Xie helplessly.

Qiao Qingyu speculated, "Could it be possible that some people scattered too many seeds?"

Director Lin and Old Xie also nodded in agreement, scattering seeds was never that precise.

"Director Lin, you better head back first, but still look into it. After all, our Barley Grass Seeds are indeed of superior quality," Qiao Qingyu said.

Old Xie shared Director Lin’s sentiment.

Indeed, no one had imagined that Barley Grass would turn out to be a green landscape in the desert, dressing the barren and poor land with a green carpet and spreading hope at the same time.

So it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to be tempted in this regard.

Director Lin left with two security guards, and Old Xie continued to direct the workers to finish the closing tasks.

In the evening, when Sister-in-law Li came to pick up Xiao Hu, she quietly pulled Qiao Qingyu aside to a corner and whispered, "I want to report something to you. There’s a guy in our team called Huang Datou, yesterday I saw him pocketing some seeds."

Qiao Qingyu frowned and couldn’t help asking, "How many times did you see it?"

"I only saw it once."

Qiao Qingyu was somewhat disappointed, seeing it once didn’t count as evidence; it was just a few seeds and they hadn’t caught him red-handed. Even if they investigated, they might not find anything conclusive. However, she still mentioned this clue to Old Xie and asked him to inform Director Lin.

Perhaps everyone thought these seeds were too common and not even worth a penny.

But Qiao Qingyu knew that the Barley Grass Seeds that passed through her hands were among the highest caliber in the world, something not even found abroad.

If there really were discerning people who looked carefully, they would discover that not all Barley Grass Seeds were the same.

Thus, the world really doesn’t lack people with a keen sense of smell.

The next day, Old Xie told Qiao Qingyu that Huang Datou had come forward to admit his wrongdoing.

He was an employee hired from outside, a local from Xichuan.

His family situation wasn’t complicated either. He confessed to stealing the seeds, but his intention was to plant them on his family’s private land back home for pigs and sheep to feed on next year.

He had stolen a total of three jin, which were also found at his relative’s house in his hometown.

After discussing with Director Lin, Old Xie did not fire him. Instead, they gave him a chance to redeem himself by keeping an eye out for similar behavior among other workers.

After all, this kind of thing could only be uncovered through reports and whistleblowing.

Unexpectedly, a week later, the Beijing customs intercepted Barley Grass Seeds that were about to be taken out of the country.

Our country also has strict regulations regarding plant seeds.

And foreign countries are the same.

It’s strictly forbidden to bring plant seeds into their territories.

Thus, the motive for smuggling disguised Barley Grass Seeds did not hold up, and the person involved was detained.

It turned out to be an American named Tom who had come with Wu Tai for an inspection.

The matter suddenly became serious.

However, Wu Tai was not affected, and Wu Xiucai’s issue was also clarified.

But their return to their home country was still not easy.

The customs office called Old Xie, asking him to make a trip to Beijing, and he decided to bring Qiao Qingyu along...

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