Chapter 170: Zhou Zheng Comes to Visit

The next day, morning.

Xing Aiguo woke up, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and checked his phone as usual.

This rhythm of life had long since become routine; upon waking every morning, his body would sub-consciously go through these motions.

"What the hell," Xing Aiguo muttered, suddenly letting out a loud cry as he scrolled through his phone.

"Old Xing, what kind of nerve are you acting up now? Not letting people sleep early in the morning, have you gone mad?" Mrs. Xing's voice echoed from the bedroom.

"Sorry, sorry," Xing Aiguo mumbled. Without doing anything else, he sat straight down on the sofa and clicked on a video with a beaming smile.

Hmm... cute, hmm... a bit ferocious, hmm...

Soon, Xing Aiguo finished watching the entire video, then looked at the comments, lost in thought.

Should he arrange an exclusive interview, or publish the video on a public platform? The benefits of doing so were obvious.

Only...

After much deliberation, Xing Aiguo finally decided to discuss the matter with Zhong Di and see what he thought.

At that very moment, his heart had leaned toward letting everyone see this adorable side of the Pallas's cat, but upon deeper reflection, he felt it was inappropriate. If he did that, it would spell harm for the Pallas's cat.

Leaving poachers aside, just the sheer number of people eager to visit Zhong Di's farm to see the Pallas's cat would probably break down his doors.

Without this video, people might just think, *Oh, a Pallas's cat!* and leave it at that. Once they watched this video, their whole perspective would change.

With this thought, Xing Aiguo detailed the matter to Zhong Di.

Meanwhile, Zhong Di was feeding the little Pallas's cat.

Damao had performed quite well last night, and Zhong Di affectionately stroked Damao's fur.

Wait, something felt a bit off. Weren't boys supposed to be raised with frugality and girls with luxury? Had his heart changed? No, it hadn't changed; that must mean he was...

Forget it, he wouldn't dwell on it. After quickly finishing feeding the Pallas's cat, Zhong Di started taking pictures. He still needed to send photos to Bureau Chief Xing.

What a cheerful little old man, still having the leisure to look at these things every day with such a maiden heart.

*Click, click, click*, he snapped a flurry of random photos.

Clearly, none of his photos were edited, no beauty filters were applied, and no color grading was used. In fact, he had deliberately tried to make them look ugly.

Why did every single picture turn out so stunning?

Perhaps his own eyes came equipped with a built-in filter? Highly likely.

After finishing the photoshoot, Zhong Di sent the pictures to Bureau Chief Xing and happened to notice the chief's message.

***

After reading it, Zhong Di subconsciously felt a wave of resistance.

Bureau Chief Xing's intention was clear; he probably wanted to arrange an exclusive interview or something similar.

Once that happened, could the Pallas's cat continue to live here in peace? Wouldn't it just become like a zoo, with people coming and going just to gawk at it?

Sigh...

After a moment of thought, Zhong Di replied to Bureau Chief Xing:

*If necessary, I am willing to cooperate. But speaking for myself, I don't want the Pallas's cat to be disturbed. What do you think, Bureau Chief Xing?*

After sending the reply, Zhong Di put his phone away and went back to his tasks.

He was the weaker party; if Bureau Chief Xing insisted on arranging an exclusive interview, he would have no choice but to accept.

However, who ever stipulated that the weaker party couldn't struggle?

If he truly accepted an interview, he could easily foresee the outcome, and Zhong Di intensely disliked that.

On the other end, after reading the message, Xing Aiguo replied immediately:

*Delete the video completely, keep no backup.*

His thoughts coincided perfectly with Zhong Di's; asking him had merely been a way to confirm his own inner thoughts.

The small farm!

Early in the morning, visitors arrived in a steady stream. It was warm enough today, and the crowds were bustling.

Today was the day for selling grey jujubes, and many people had come specifically to buy them. Among these prospective buyers, anyone who wanted to purchase the dates had tasted the farm's red dates to varying degrees, and being utterly captivated by them was only natural.

More crucially, the small farm would be closed for a break tomorrow and the day after, an announcement that had been posted early in the morning.

Some people complained, wondering why they needed to rest—did they have too much money to spare? Others, however, felt it was a wonderful arrangement.

"Zhong Di, I've arranged it with the people from the Agricultural Science Research Institute. We've scheduled your meeting for today. Do you think that works?"

"Today?" Zhong Di was slightly startled, but quickly recovered. "Yes, no problem."

The schedule was packed tight!

Involuntarily, Zhong Di accelerated his pace.

Once this current wave of work was done today, he could finish harvesting and selling the jujubes on the north side where the greenhouse was to be built. As soon as the farm's holiday ended, he would start uprooting the trees and continue constructing greenhouses.

What remained after that would be finishing touches: decorating the guesthouses and the kitchen-restaurant, wrapping up the sundries room, and getting everything properly organized.

As for the fish pond, there wasn't much of a good solution. After all, they were marine species being raised alongside freshwater fish. Whether they could mutate after feeding on Wild Sand Fairy Buds was entirely up to fate.

***

Zhong Di couldn't do anything about it himself; he could only hope in his heart that a few varieties would survive, and he would be eternally grateful for that.

As for the canopy over the fish pond, once the nighttime temperature dropped to three or four degrees Celsius, Zhong Di would put up the plastic film. That time would probably be around Frost's Descent in October.

Certainly not now.

Busy at work until past ten o'clock, Zhong Di finally paused what he was doing.

Zhou Zheng from the Agricultural Science Research Institute had arrived.

He was accompanied only by a driver and a young man around Zhong Di's age, probably twenty-three or twenty-four. The youth looked refined and scholarly, though his skin was somewhat dark.

That tan made Zhong Di's complexion look pale by comparison. Zhong Di's tan was a healthy bronze—the kind that clearly indicated physical strength, handsomeness, and radiant vitality... cough, cough.

"Hello, hello! Coming here uninvited is truly an intrusion."

The moment Zhou Zheng stepped out of the car, he took the initiative to step forward and shake hands with this vulgar—bah, with this talented young man.

Seeing Zhou Zheng being so enthusiastic, Zhong Di couldn't afford to be discourteous, so he replied, "Not an intrusion at all. Your willingness to grace the farm and offer guiding advice is our farm's great fortune."

Zhong Di thought: *Ugh... I almost nauseated myself.*

*Hmm? The young man isn't the vulgar type after all! Look at how polite he is.*

That article he wrote must be the young man's profound insights. As for why it was written in that particular style, perhaps it was just to achieve better promotion; it was simply his own thinking that had been old-fashioned.

"Not at all, not at all. My purpose in coming here today is primarily to learn from you and discuss some potential cooperation. I wonder if we might talk about it in detail."

Since things had already reached this point, Zhou Zheng stopped beating around the bush and stated the purpose of his visit.

"Ah... sure, no problem." It was something he had anticipated, so Zhong Di didn't refuse.

"Great, let's go. Let's change locations. Coincidentally, I have a farming household I'm assisting whose peach trees are experiencing some issues. Shall we go take a look together?"

"Alright, let's go take a look."

Zhong Di agreed. This initial testing was bound to happen; writing technical articles was one thing, but truly understanding someone's agricultural expertise still required on-site verification.

No matter who someone was, even if their theoretical knowledge was top-notch, once they hit the front lines, whether they were any good remained to be seen. This Zhou Zheng probably wanted to gauge his level first before making any subsequent decisions.

Zhong Di calculated his options in his mind: how to meet his own requirements while ensuring he remained undisturbed.

As long as the technology was shared, what did it matter whose credit it was ultimately attributed to?