Chapter 961
Persuasion
Yue Feng felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at Xiao Tao's eyebrows, which were about to stand up straight.
My silly brother may make mistakes in other things, but when it comes to brotherhood, there's not a single fault to be found.
In other words, Yue Feng isn't the kind of person who manipulates people's hearts; otherwise, it wouldn't be surprising if someone like Xiao Tao got into trouble for his older brother and risked his life.
"It wasn't us who killed anyone. The one who died was just unlucky and became cannon fodder in the conflict between several forces! Uncle Wu used to tell me that when associating with these young masters, I must never stand out, and I must never cause trouble for the sake of face. I should be as timid as possible!"
"I almost took the risk because of Li Wenhu!" Yue Feng said earnestly.
"No matter which family's young master they are, we definitely won't let them take the blame! We'd rather die than let each other go down in flames!!" Xiao Tao said, panting heavily.
Yue Feng grinned: "What are you thinking! We're not scapegoats anymore! And you'd better not use the phrase 'fight to the death'!"
We're already wearing leather shoes, and you still want to trade your life for someone else? Wouldn't all our previous efforts have been for nothing?!
"Fine!"
Xiao Tao understood Yue Feng's meaning and didn't argue back on these details.
"What's been going on with Xiaowen and Xiaowu lately? You two haven't been hanging out together much lately?" Yue Feng asked again.
"They're getting people to plant medicinal herbs on the mountain! It's almost time!" Xiao Tao replied.
Yue Feng slapped his forehead and immediately realized what was happening.
In autumn, people need to manually replant the Solomon's seal seedlings on several mountain ridges near Yuefeng Shidingzi. The previous replanting efforts were very successful; the Solomon's seal, which serves as food for wild boars, grew vigorously in the yellow mud soil, and its scale increased significantly.
After Yue Feng went to Beijing, when the solar term arrived, Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu got to work.
Anyway, the rhizomes of Polygonatum are all purchased through normal channels from the purchasing and sales points. After simple selection and processing, people are arranged to replant the seedlings. This job has been done more than once, so it is a familiar process.
"Alright! I forgot about that! Oh, right, in the west room's storage room, take a copy of what you brought back with you when you leave. I've already set it out!" Yue Feng said.
"What good stuff is it?"
"You better quit smoking the special-supply cigarettes, alcohol, and tea that were moved from the Wang family warehouse. And don't you dare take my uncle's stuff and ruin it!"
"Yeah, I'm not smoking anymore! It's not really that fun anyway!"
"That's more like it!"
……
The two brothers knew each other well, so after Yue Feng finished giving Xiao Tao a warning, he left it at that.
Xiao Tao and Yue Feng stayed in the house until after 5 p.m. before Xiao Tao said goodbye and left with the things Yue Feng had brought back.
As darkness fell, Xiaowen and Xiaowu returned.
They drove a Jiefang truck, carrying a full load of villagers who were going into the mountains to work, and parked it directly at the entrance of the sales point.
"Sister-in-law, today's work is finished. 32 workdays, plus 863 jin of first-grade fresh rhizomes of Polygonatum that were loaded onto the truck this morning!"
Xiaowen got out of the driver's seat and then reported the expenses to his sister-in-law, Wang Xiaona.
Wang Xiaona nodded, carefully recording and summarizing the detailed information, before saying, "Your brother is back this afternoon! Why don't you two go to the new house?"
"My brother is back?"
"Yes, he said he brought some things back, and you two brothers will get some too. I'll go back together after I'm done here!"
"Hehe, let's go!"
The two brothers helped their sister-in-law tidy up the small table and other items used for bookkeeping before returning to the new house together.
Compared to Xiao Tao's erratic movements, Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu were much more stable.
Both brothers grew up in single-parent families. Xiaowen, Xiaowu, and Kaihui were sensible at a young age. Following their good older brother Yuefeng, they have now escaped poverty and are conscientious and diligent in their responsibilities, never slacking off.
Leaving aside the brothers' playful banter and idle chatter, Yue Feng finished dividing up their share of the "specialty products," and then took his wife and children to the old house.
Dinner was plentiful, with Mom preparing a large table of dishes. In the evening, Yuefeng and Grandpa had a few drinks, and the family atmosphere was quite harmonious.
After having dinner with his parents at the old house, Yuefeng and his wife left their child with his mother around 8 p.m. and went back to their new house.
When Wang Xiaona returned home, she went to the kitchen, added water to a large pot, and prepared a hot bath for Yue Feng.
You have to take care of your own man. Yue Feng was away on a business trip for half a month. Now that he's back, you have to serve him properly.
After serving her a hot bath, the rest of the process was inevitable. As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and without the child's interference, there was bound to be a lot of fuss.
Over the next few days, Yue Feng quickly recovered and his pace of life slowed down.
His wife was in charge of keeping an eye on the purchasing and sales point, while his brothers took care of other tasks, making Yue Feng a stay-at-home dad.
Of course, calling him a stay-at-home dad isn't entirely fair, as Yue Feng did do his job properly.
After resting for a few days, he began training the two hybrid falcons he had brought back, thoroughly assessing their condition in different training subjects.
After a complete set of standard procedures for evaluation, Yue Feng gained a full understanding of the two hybrid falcons he had acquired.
Overall, the two falcons have passed their basic training courses quite well, have good physical fitness, and no obvious bad habits. The only drawback is that the eagles and their handlers have a relatively low level of cooperation.
This situation is exactly as Yue Feng predicted. In layman's terms, the eagle is not fully trained.
Normal conditioned reflexes are fine, but the relationship between eagles and humans is mostly based on food, not on affection.
This standard is sufficient for hunting in the hands of the white-robed man, but it certainly won't work for Yue Feng.
Soon, Yue Feng devised a customized affinity training program for them. The original training framework was completely broken down, and everything was redesigned according to Yue Feng's falcon training logic.
During the day, Yue Feng would go up the mountain after breakfast to tend to the two hybrid falcons. After finishing his training exercises for the day, he would hand the falcons over to the master who had finished the daily management of the breeding farm.
Zhao Dashan and Yue Feng took turns working on the meticulous tasks of fostering affinity between the hybrid falcon and its hunting dogs, and the progress was quite noticeable.
Just as things were getting on track for Yue Feng, Evan, back on the other side of the ocean, returned to his own territory and immediately contacted his connections.
At the Peregrine Falcon Foundation headquarters in Montana, USA, Evan placed a prepared paper document on the table: "Mr. Robert, this is a report on my findings and observations from this trip to China. I hope you and Mr. Allen will consider my suggestions!"
Opposite him was Mr. Robert, an American white man who looked to be in his late forties. He had slightly curly blond hair, a high nose, and his eyes were fixed on an American-style eagle hat in his hand, without looking up.
After about ten seconds, Robert finally looked up. He glanced at the document casually and said in a nonchalant tone, "Evan, our country is currently at the forefront of the world in the breeding of birds of prey and the promotion of falconry culture. I don't think you'll make any amazing discoveries after going to China!"
Upon hearing this, Evan's tone immediately rose several notches: "No! Respected Mr. Robert, I hope you can carefully review the information I have compiled before giving your evaluation!"
Before we set off, I had the exact same thoughts as you, but now I have a new understanding!
The bottom part of this document is one of my proposals.
If you give it enough attention, our legal falcon breeding business could see a major breakthrough in the next decade!
Upon hearing Evan's words, Robert was visibly taken aback. He picked up the document with his thick, hairy fingers and began to examine it carefully.
The beginning was fine, but when he got to the second page, Robert frowned slightly and his eyes became serious.
Robert read the four-page report three times before finally looking up.
"You mean that mature raptor breeding technology has already emerged in China, across the ocean?"
"And the professionals you met have top-notch gyrfalcon farms and excellent offspring pure black baby falcons?" Robert stared intently at Evan, asking in a very serious tone.
"Yes! A purebred black gyrfalcon! It can even perform hunting demonstrations of adult male sika deer at the exhibition!"
Eagles are very intelligent and can understand their owner's short commands!
The most incredible thing is that it can fly in completely dark spaces and has dark vision that rivals that of an owl. I saw it with my own eyes! Evan repeated excitedly.
After hearing Evan's words, Robert smiled as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, and handed the paper materials directly to Allen next to him.
Allen knew his partner Evan's temperament well, knowing that although Evan sometimes exaggerated, he was usually quite reliable when it came to serious matters.
He took the materials and read them carefully, then said, "If what Evan said is true, then it is a fascinating and perfect target for introduction!"
A pure black gyrfalcon, highly intelligent, with night vision! All these qualities combined make it the perfect commercial falcon!
“Damn it, even if it’s mutated, the Falcon can’t possibly have darkvision comparable to an owl! Unless the whole world has gone mad!” Robert took a deep breath and muttered in an almost cursing tone.
Evan shrugged: "I don't want to believe it either, but it's true! Also, there's another detail I didn't include in the documents!"
Mr. Salman, the member of the Middle Eastern royal family who accompanied me to China this time, has exchanged his hybrid falcon for a pair of offspring that have half-black falcon blood!
If all goes well, he may be able to obtain a fledgling with the bloodline of the Black Falcon next spring!
I personally witnessed this transaction from beginning to end. For these two eagles, he offered his best pair of hybrid falcons and even added an extra 50 RMB to get the other party to agree!
Upon hearing that the Middle Eastern royal family was offering to pay more for the eagle, Robert was taken aback. He exchanged a glance with Allen, both of them looking surprised.
Those white-robed people in the Middle East are not only wealthy, but also known for their shrewdness. The falcon is their cultural totem and a symbol of power.
In layman's terms, they are quite professional in raising eagles, and the fact that they are willing to pay such a high price to exchange for falcons shows that they value the other party's breeding eagles very much.
"Did you bring back any photos or other video materials this time? Until I see more evidence, I remain skeptical of what you're saying!" Robert said very frankly.
Evan nodded: "I took some photos and also asked my friends in China for some copies of the videotapes."
However, these items aren't going back to China with me; they need to go through the departure process before I can leave! I should be back in a few days!
I hope that when you see the evidence, you will carefully consider my suggestion!
Allen then interjected, "Since there's evidence, we can discuss your suggestion first! I saw at the bottom of the materials that you want to raise some funds to introduce offspring of this black falcon as breeding stock?"
"Yes! I will put all the resources I can muster into this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
I have a feeling that if we can introduce the breeding stock of this black falcon to China and combine it with our artificial insemination hybridization technology, we'll all become incredibly wealthy in the future!
Robert's eyes held a complex mix of emotions when he saw Evan say he was going all in.
Evan is usually a frighteningly rational guy, a player who never gets carried away when playing cards.
“I see your estimated cost for introducing the falcon is five hundred thousand dollars! Is this the other party's quote, or your own estimate? That's enough to buy our falcon farm!” Robert continued to ask.
"This is my own estimate! If I had such a falcon and its offspring, 500,000 would be my bottom line!"
This is the hen that snatches the golden eggs; anything less than this number is not even worth considering!
If the fledglings inherit the parent eagle's night vision talent, even if only one can replicate this talent, its value will increase tenfold or more!
At that time, the RMB exchange rate was still under a dual-track system, with the RMB to USD exchange rate being approximately 1:2 (this was not precise due to fluctuations).
Based on this calculation, a top-quality eagle can cost as much as 100 million RMB.
Such a large sum of money could only be raised by three people pooling their resources and all of them putting down their savings.
In Robert's view, this was definitely a huge gamble.
We don't know what will happen if we win, but if we lose, we'll be bankrupt.
After hearing Evan's answer, Robert and Allen both fell silent.
A full ten seconds passed before Robert finally let out a long breath: "We'll discuss the follow-up after you get the footage you've collected!"
This is a fortune, enough to change everyone's fate! We can't afford to lose!
"Of course! There's no rush. My friend in the Middle East and I have reached a private agreement not to release this information within the circle anytime soon. We still have time!"
Even if we introduce the species, you and Allen will definitely have to go to China!
Their falconry culture is at least fifty years more developed than ours!
"What? They're fifty years more advanced than us? How is that possible!"
"Our country's falconry culture is so developed, how could they, a country without even an animal protection law, possibly be able to do it?" Upon hearing this, Robert jumped up again.
"I can't describe my feelings about this trip to China in detail. You can watch it yourself when the videotape comes back!"
I guarantee you'll be absolutely amazed after reading this! (End of Chapter)