Chapter 35

Susanna invited Qin Yi to come in for coffee, and Angel was also pushing him into the house. Qin Yi no longer hesitated. After entering, they chatted for a while, and Qin Yi suggested that Susanna try half a glass to experience the wine.

Deceived by the illusion of his fracture being cured by the massage and medicinal bath the other day, Susanna believed that Qin Yi possessed advanced Chinese medical skills, and thus he was very interested in the wine.

They poured two small glasses and sipped them slowly. Angel, smelling the aroma of the wine, smacked her lips and wanted to drink too!

After a moment, Susanna was shocked and said, "Yi, it's amazing! After drinking this wine, I feel very relaxed and at ease."

Qin Yi smiled and nodded, "That's right. This wine can relieve fatigue. Drinking it regularly is good for your health, but half a glass a day is enough. Drinking too much is a waste!"

Susanna nodded, his eyes brightening as he sipped the wine.

Angel, munching on an apple, looked at her mother's wine glass with longing eyes. Qin Yi chuckled, "Angel is still young and can't drink. Besides, the wine your mother is drinking is made from big apples. Angel, just eat more big apples!"

Susanna also quickly reminded her, "Angel, children can't drink. You can drink when you grow up. Eat more food, so you grow faster!"

Angel nodded vigorously and bit into the big apple with all her might!

Thinking about how Susanna had eaten the Blood Spirit Fruit but showed no signs of increased physical strength, Qin Yi couldn't help but ask, "Susanna, do you feel any increase in your strength?"

Susanna, upon hearing this, became excited and looked at Qin Yi expectantly, "Yi, it's because of you, right? These past two days, my strength has increased a lot. I guessed it might be because you treated my fracture, but since you asked me to keep it a secret, I didn't say anything!"

Seeing Qin Yi's strange smile, Susanna immediately knew it was because of him. Although he found it amazing, it wasn't the first amazing thing he had encountered, so he didn't think much about it.

"You don't know, I broke several plates while cooking yesterday. I couldn't control my strength. Yi, can you tell me why?"

Qin Yi, impressed by Susanna's ability to keep secrets, suppressed his fear and curiosity and didn't say anything!

"Don't worry, Susanna, this is a good thing, isn't it?"

Qin Yi comforted him first, then slowly fabricated a reason, "It is indeed a side effect of treating the fracture, but it's a good side effect! I used medicine and massage to stimulate your body's potential, allowing the fracture to heal quickly. Of course, this won't have any negative effects on you. The only effect is that your physical fitness has improved to twice that of an ordinary person, including strength, endurance, physical strength, and recovery speed."

Susanna was delighted to hear this. They chatted for a while, and then Qin Yi got up and left, as he still needed to discuss the farm with Ryan.

Back at the ranch, Qin Yi called Ryan to come over and started brewing coffee.

After the coffee was ready, Ryan arrived. Qin Yi had told him in the morning that he had some arrangements for the morning, so he didn't go out and waited at home. The workers' quarters were very close to Qin Yi's place, and it only took a few minutes to walk over.

Qin Yi invited Ryan to sit down and poured two cups of coffee, "It's like this, Ryan. I want to convert the farm into a ranch. Do you have any suggestions?"

Ryan was about to drink his coffee when he heard Qin Yi's words and was startled. His hand shook, and the coffee spilled. He quickly put it on the table, "Sorry, sorry, Yi, your idea scared me a bit!" After a pause, Ryan organized his thoughts, "Yi, as you know, our 20,000-acre farm produces grain that has a significant impact on the grain prices in the entire western region. If we convert it into a ranch, we will lose this advantage."

Seeing Ryan looking at him, as if he had more to say, Qin Yi smiled, "Ryan, just speak your mind. I invited you here because I know you understand these things better than I do. I want to find the potential problems and then find ways to solve them."

Understanding Qin Yi's meaning and feeling trusted by him, Ryan felt more at ease, "Yi, the situation with the farm is as I just described. Now, let me talk about converting it into a ranch. First, we need to solve the irrigation problem. The farm was built because there are few lakes and streams in the area. Grass requires more water than crops. Converting it into a ranch would be quite risky!

Second, how do we choose the grass? Do we use new grass seeds or buy them from a seed store? Also, if we convert it into a ranch, we need to re-divide the areas. This is the simplest part, but the key is still the grass and irrigation!"

Qin Yi listened carefully and realized he had overlooked the irrigation issue.

Although the Sun River Ranch is known as the largest irrigated ranch in Montana, the irrigation system does not cover the entire ranch. Large-scale irrigation mainly relies on natural rivers and lakes, with artificial channels dug, which is a significant expense!

As for the grass, this was not a problem for Qin Yi with the Spirit Spring in hand. It seemed that the main issue was the farm's irrigation system.

"The farm also has many streams and lakes."

"Those are not connected. We need to dig more channels to connect them and form an irrigation system that covers most of the farm!" Ryan explained earnestly.

"How much would it cost to build it, and how long would it take?"

After some calculations, Ryan said, "Yi, based on our current streams and lakes, building a complete irrigation system will cost $6 million and take about a month. Then, to convert it into a ranch, the labor and machinery costs will be minimal, mainly for seeds, which will cost about $1 million in total."

After saying this, Ryan looked at Qin Yi, waiting for his decision.

"In other words, it will cost $7 million and take 2 months!" Qin Yi rubbed his nose. The $7 million didn't scare him; he had thought it might cost $20-30 million to build the irrigation system. At $7 million, he could accept it, but 2 months seemed a bit long.

"Can we start planting the grass now?"

"Now? The farm uses crop rotation and is currently fallow. However, I'm worried it might affect the growth of the grass!" Ryan was a bit concerned. Given the drought, if the germination rate is low in the first month, would they have to plant again?

"No problem, let's plant now. You're responsible for purchasing the rye grass seeds, and I'll contact the construction team. The sooner we start, the better." Qin Yi clapped his hands, drank his coffee in one gulp, and looked very generous!

"Okay, for planting, we'll need to hire a few temporary workers since the ranch hands will be busy with herding." Ryan remembered the lack of manpower and quickly mentioned it.

"Leave it to you. Hire them at $60 a day."

After Qin Yi finished his instructions, Ryan put on his cowboy hat and went out to start the work.

Sitting on the sofa, thinking about the construction team, he considered for a while. He didn't know many people in the U.S., but Miles and Charlie could introduce him to some.

He flipped open Miles' phone number and dialed, "This is Yi, hello, Miles!"

"Hello, Yi, this is Sarah!"

Sarah?

He slapped his head, remembering. He had met her in Los Angeles; she was Miles' shy little daughter.

"Hello, Sarah, is Miles not at work?"

"Yes, Yi, he's making coffee. I'll call him." He heard her shout, "Miles, Yi's on the phone!" followed by footsteps.

"Hello, Yi, this is Miles."

"Here's the thing, Miles. I need a construction team to build some irrigation channels. You know, I'm new to the U.S. and don't know many people. Do you have any recommendations?" Qin Yi got straight to the point.

"Ha, Yi, you asked the right person! I know a company in Great Falls called Giant Force Engineering. They're very good. I'll have them contact you!"

"Thank you, Miles. Come to the ranch when you have time; the trout are getting fat!"

"Ha, I love fishing for trout. I'll visit Montana in a few weeks!"

After the call, Qin Yi's phone rang. It was an unknown number, probably from Giant Force Engineering.

"Hello, this is Yi."

"Hello, Mr. Qin! I'm Bill, the manager of Giant Force Engineering. Mr. Swan told me that our company can serve you!"

Bill was very polite, knowing from Miles that this was a large ranch owner, and the project would likely be significant!

"Bill, I want to build some irrigation channels to connect the rivers on my ranch." Qin Yi briefly described the work to be done.

"Oh, my, that's not a small project, but Mr. Qin, we have extensive experience in surveying, planning, construction, and maintenance of irrigation channels. You can trust us to complete the project to your satisfaction!"

Bill wouldn't care much about just building channels, but he wanted to see what this large landowner had in mind. It was clearly a large irrigation project, and he had to secure it. This could be a big opportunity to advance his career!

Since this was a recommendation from Miles, the company's strength and engineering quality should be good. Qin Yi didn't say much more and asked them to send someone to survey and create a detailed construction plan.

With the grass and farm conversion arranged, Qin Yi couldn't help much and could only wait.

At noon, Qin Yi stewed the duck that had been soaking for almost two days. Drinking beer and eating meat, he felt great! After lunch, he had nothing to do and wanted to play with Angel, but he had just returned from her house in the morning. Going back in the afternoon might make people think he had something on his mind with Susanna, even though she was indeed very pretty and practical, being both an accountant and a ranch hand!

Well, let's not talk about that. If others knew, they might really think he had something on his mind!

What should he do?

Catch some small fish and shrimp to fry for dinner! Ha, that's a good idea. He only ate them in his childhood. Later, the river in his hometown was polluted, and he couldn't find any small fish or shrimp. Thinking about the crispy, fried delicacies mixed with batter, and a sip of wine, oh, his mouth was watering!

Qin Yi was a man of action. He grabbed a small bucket and a net from the warehouse and was about to leave when his phone rang. It was an unknown number, but he answered it, as most people didn't know his number!

"Hello, this is Yi!"

"I have the information you wanted."