Chapter 88: Master Zhao
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
"R-really?! Thank you very much! Do you know anyone who owns shepherd dogs? Eh? I hear a dog barking; do you own a dog?"
At that moment, Zuo Yu was teasing Curly Hair, provoking a series of barks from him that Su Hou heard.
"I own one, but it's not a shepherd dog."
"No worries, bring it along the next time you come to Muzhou. We can let it try out some sheep herding training."
Su Hou had not hidden the fact that he had bought the farm from Fang Zhao. He had only mentioned that, although the farm's land was huge, the soil was no longer suitable for planting anything.
Muzhou's farm owners were not as carefree as people thought they were. They paid attention to the weather, agriculture, farming soil improvements, and crops. All of that was knowledge they needed to know, and it was stuff that they personally paid attention to. However, there would always be lazy farmer owners who were ignorant and let their arable soil go to waste after a time.
The plot of land that Su Hou had bought was just like that. The images and information he had received were totally different from what he'd seen personally. The land had already wasted and he had been tricked. If he wanted to plant new stuff, he would need to hire a professional to make amendments.
As for the ones who had tricked Su Hou, they had played on the urgency of Su Hou's need to find a farm. All he needed was a little push to fall for it.
It was rather evident that the ones who had tricked Su Hou knew him very well. Just by using one's brains a little, it was easy to guess who they actually were. However, Fang Zhao had no interest in the trivial matters of the Su family. Once he attended to the matters at hand, Fang Zhao was going to submit another application to go overseas again.
"Collecting materials again?" Duan Qianji felt her head aching.
"Nope. This time it is to expand my professional service," Fang Zhao said.
Duan Qianji felt it was funny. Expand his professional service. Are you able to garner support or get an advertisement? Muzhou advertisements were still a tough ask even if one was famous.
Polar Light's development plans within the continent had already been arranged. There were two paths that could be taken. One was if Polar Light was selected for the endorsement deal, the other was if he did not get selected. Whichever path it followed, Polar Light was Silver Wing's most promising virtual idol. Duan Qianji had no plans to let it go to waste. Fang Zhao had given Polar Light such a gorgeous debut; if they let this trump card get ruined, Silver Wing Media did not deserve to be among the three big entertainment companies of Yanzhou.
Fiery Bird's eventual spokesperson would be publicly announced in May. During this period, Silver Wing Media would release a war movie in which Polar Light would have a role. Therefore, the entire virtual projects department except the producer, Fang Zhao, was busy as usual.
Although his original job was a composer, Silver Wing did not need him to be in charge of every film that they made. Otherwise, why did Silver Wing have so many other composers on their payroll? Was Flying Pegasus a bunch of useless good-for-nothings?
Thus, now that Fang Zhao had accomplished all his work at hand and was idle, and since Su Hou had a situation over there, Fang Zhao decided to go over for a bit.
This time around it was different. Other than Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu, the flying transport had one more dog.
Perhaps it was his first time on board a flying transport, as Curly Hair did not seem at ease and was pacing around impatiently, finally deciding to lie beside Fang Zhao's legs.
Looking at the dog beside Fang Zhao's legs, Zuo Yu said, "Boss, is it appropriate to bring this dog over? The dogs at Muzhou are generally larger, just like that black dog we saw at Shanmu farm, wasn't it big? Actually, that was still a puppy. As for this dog, compared with the professional shepherd dogs at the farms, it is little more than a toy. Wouldn't it get bullied over there? And if you consider the builds of the sheep, and looking at this dog, it might even be scared of the sheep."
Fang Zhao, who was reading a history book said, "Curly Hair has a high IQ. He learns fast too. When the time comes for him to learn herding with those professional sheep dogs, even if he can't herd, learning more is always beneficial."
Following the coordinates the Su Hou had given, Zuo Yu flew the transport to a farm situated in the eastern part of Muzhou. It was different from all the other farms that were full of vitality as they flew past. This farm seemed desolate and nothing was going on. Even the grass on the pastures was sparse. A few lifeless dogs were lying at the side yawning, too lazy to even react as they saw a flying transport approaching.
Su Hou was already waiting there with an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Brother Zhao, you have arrived!" Su Hou rushed forward.
"Call me Master Zhao," Fang Zhao told him.
"Yes, Master Zhao!" Su Hou did not care what Fang Zhao wanted himself to be called. Now, Fang Zhao was a rich man, and it was hard to find a person who could help. Furthermore, when Su Hou had looked up information on Fang Zhao, Su Hou had come to admire him. He had heard that, in the past, they would call rich men "something master." There were people who still used the term in Muzhou, so Su Hou did not find anything wrong with addressing him that way.
"First, tell me the current situation. The honest truth, do not conceal anything. You have only one chance." Fang Zhao looked at Su Hou. He would not ask how Su Hou had gotten tricked first. The kid had pride, and harping on that matter would be met with a little resistance. One would learn from his own mistakes. As long as he was not an idiot, he would gain something.
Facing Fang Zhao's unreadable expression and stare, Su Hou felt all the skin on his body tightening up. As if it was his grandfather staring at him before he received a scolding.
Su Hou shrunk back and lost all trace of his normal arrogant self, yet he also let out a sigh of relief. He had thought that Fang Zhao would deride him for getting conned, but he had not expected that Fang Zhao would not mention it at all after arriving. Looking around at the predicament he was in, Su Hou recounted the entire matter honestly.
"Oh, it was like this..."
Among Su Hou's attendants were some that knew how to manage a farm. Su Hou then recounted what had been told to him to Fang Zhao.
After the farm was bought, they were unable to find the sellers to return it. A lawsuit was also impossible. Since he had already bought it, rather than spending more time to trace down the con men, why not settle the situation before them and come up with a solution to bring the "dead" farm back to "life." Bringing it back to "life" was not that hard, the only difficulty was the funding.
Was cash required to fix the soil? Was cash required to purchase seeds and livestock? Was cash required to build large sheds and pens? Was money required to hire workers and experts?
If the soil was not good, how about fixing up the irrigation system first? An irrigation system would cost quite a bit too!
Su Hou's voice became softer and softer. Even he felt embarrassed to continue talking about the matter. He was not familiar with managing a farm and had not studied much agriculture and farming. The amount of help he needed was by no means small. Most importantly, he needed to assemble a sheep herding team.
His motive for purchasing the farm was to buy out a shepherd dog team as well as their accumulated points and take part in the eastern region's sheep herding competition. Now, if he were to shift his attention to the farm, wouldn't the order be reversed?
"So your most pressing issue is to find dogs and a trainer?" Fang Zhao asked.
"Tha-that's right! The next round of competition is in a week's time. If we miss it, our ranking will drop even more," Su Hou replied.
"What plans do you have?"
"I was thinking of getting a few dogs that can herd—borrowing is fine too. A lot of participating dogs in the sheep herding competition are borrowed too. As long as they can coordinate, it will be fine. Oh, and a training field. I'm afraid that th-this place is current unusable."
Su Hou felt an aching in his heart when he thought about the farm that was totally empty. All that money in exchange for a lifeless farm, that were firstly without sheep, secondly without dogs, and thirdly without a pasture. Totally nothing at all!
Su Hou had originally wanted to find people he knew for help, but after some thinking, he was afraid of getting conned once more.
"Brother Zhao... Master Zhao, do you know any farm owners who own dogs, sheep, and a pasture?" Su Hou asked cautiously.
Dogs, sheep, and a pasture?
Fang Zhao had just thought of a person.
"Wait a moment, let me contact someone," Fang Zhao replied.
"Sure!" Hearing things turning for the better, So Hou was suddenly full of vigour.
Nobody else came to Fang Zhao's mind but Wu Yi, the owner of Shanmu farm, who they had encountered on their first visit to Muzhou.
Translator's Thoughts
BeetleBarker BeetleBarker
Call me Master Barker.