Chapter 349: Lu Yunque Buys Seeds

Just seeing the photos had been breathtaking, but now, seeing them with his own eyes, Lu Yunque realized the pictures Yun Zijin sent him hadn’t captured even a tenth of what these two trees were like.

Of course, this wasn’t an issue with Yun Zijin’s photography skills, but because a photo simply couldn’t capture the temperature changes around the Fire Tree and the Ice Tree.

"If Grandpa found out about these two trees of yours, he’d probably try to persuade you to donate them to the state."

Lu Yunque knew of his grandfather’s devotion to Hua Country. Even though he was retired, his grandpa would spare no effort when it came to contributing to the nation.

"I have seeds. If Grandpa Lu wants them, I can give him all the remaining ones."

’I might get more seeds from completing consumption tasks in the future anyway.’ So Yun Zijin didn’t feel the slightest pang of regret at the thought of giving her current seeds away.

Besides, she had already planted two for herself, which was enough. Any more would be too much for her to handle.

Otherwise, if she planted them all over Xingyu Mansion, her home would turn into a world of ice and fire.

Lu Yunque was a little taken aback by her words.

"I was just saying. You’re really going to give them away?"

"Here! Over there is the Moonlight Grass—the kind that glows at night. The Agricultural Research Institute and Dijing Mansion bought all my leftover seeds.

These two Ice and Fire Trees are about all I can handle. If I planted any more, I wouldn’t be able to live here anymore.

I still have some seeds. Why don’t you buy them and bring them to Grandpa Lu? Just consider it a gift from me to him."

’Once I give it to him, what Old Sir Lu wants to do with it is his own business.’

"If you do that... you’ll be watched."

Lu Yunque really wanted to ask where on earth Yun Zijin got so many rare and peculiar things, but out of his trust for her, he ultimately asked nothing.

Yun Zijin blinked. "You think I’m not being watched already?"

Mei Lin and Zero One, who were always by her side... either one of them, taken alone, was stronger than the top soldiers trained by the nation. That in itself already defied all logic.

It was only because she hadn’t done anything to harm the country so far—and was even personally funding a laboratory for Mr. Tang Zhaosong—that certain people were being kept at bay.

But even if someone were to come and question her, Yun Zijin wasn’t afraid.

Yun Zijin’s words successfully shut Lu Yunque up.

’Alright, he had to admit it. Yun Zijin was right.’

Although he hadn’t pursued a career in the military or politics, he had grown up in that environment. Coupled with the Lu Family’s considerable intelligence network, he was more or less aware of certain things.

However, there was one more thing Yun Zijin might not have considered. Because *he* was her boyfriend, the country was currently taking a wait-and-see approach.

After all, the Lu Family was an old, established family with deep, patriotic roots, and Old Sir Lu was practically one of the nation’s founding heroes.

So, by being with Lu Yunque, Yun Zijin had essentially given herself a favorable filter in the eyes of the powers that be.

"Alright, but it can’t have been easy for you to get these seeds. I can’t just take them for free.

The Ice Tree and Fire Tree are both very practical tree varieties. How about I buy them from you at a price of 500,000 per seed?"

Yun Zijin blinked. ’As expected of Lu Yunque,’ she thought. This price was much higher than what the Agricultural Research Institute and the Dijing City Government had offered her.

The Ice Tree and Fire Tree were certainly more valuable than Moonlight Grass, but this price gap was just too huge.

"500,000 per seed? Are you sure you’re not kidding?"

"Of course not. In fact, I think 500,000 a seed is a little low.

But scarcity drives up the price. If the number of seeds is too high, then you can’t expect the price to climb."

As a businessman, Lu Yunque was well aware of this principle.

"I have one pack each of the Ice Tree and Fire Tree seeds, but since I wanted to try planting them myself, they’re already opened.

Each pack originally had 2,000 seeds. I planted two of each myself, I’m saving a pair for Tongtong and Yaoyao, and I’ll give a pair to you. No one else knows about them, so how about I let them buy the rest from you?"

’Playing the middleman and pocketing the markup,’ Yun Zijin thought, ’is definitely something Lu Yunque would do.’

Su Mengyao didn’t know about the Fire Tree and Ice Tree, but since she was one of Yun Zijin’s few female friends in Dijing, Yun Zijin saved a pair for her.

As for what she would ultimately do with them, that was Su Mengyao’s own business.

"Give me 1,900 of each. Keep 100 for yourself to distribute as you see fit. We’ll split the profits eighty-twenty."

’I have to give a portion to the old man, but I never said I had to give him all of them,’ Lu Yunque thought.

"You get eighty, I get twenty?"

Considering she was only providing the seeds, Yun Zijin thought the split was reasonable enough.

Lu Yunque shook his head. "You get eighty, I get twenty."

Although Lu Yunque was a businessman, he wouldn’t go so far as to make money off his own girlfriend.

"Then I might as well just give you the seeds. Otherwise, not only do you have to buy the seeds from me, but you also have to give me an eighty percent cut of the final profits.

If word of this gets out, what kind of person would that make me?"

’Not only am I making my boyfriend pay for everything, but I’m also taking the lion’s share of the profits.’

’Good grief, even landlords before the fall of the Qing Dynasty weren’t this greedy.’

"Me buying them from you is your safety net. If I can’t sell them and they end up stuck with me, I’ll absorb the loss."

Lu Yunque was already unhappy with the fact that Yun Zijin almost never spent his money, but he couldn’t change her mind.

Now that he had a chance to help Yun Zijin make money, Lu Yunque felt that even paying for everything himself wasn’t enough to prove his sincerity.

"3,800 seeds, 1.9 billion. Are you sure?"

’This man’s love-addled brain is a lost cause,’ Yun Zijin thought.

"Of course. I’ll pay you from my personal account, not through the Lu Corporation’s books."

If it went through the corporation’s books, the other shareholders would definitely demand a piece of the pie, and Lu Yunque wasn’t about to give them that opportunity.

"Does your dad know you’re such a spendthrift?"

’My own extravagance is nothing compared to his,’ Yun Zijin thought.

He was just tossing out 1.9 billion like that. For all he knew, it might not even make a splash.

"It’s my own private account, he has no control over it. I’ll contact the bank now."

A sum of 1.9 billion was a major transaction; the bank wouldn’t just process the transfer without proper authorization.

"Are you serious?"

Even now, Yun Zijin thought Lu Yunque must be crazy.

"Of course I’m serious."

Lu Yunque had already taken out his phone and found the number for his account manager at the bank.

"Why don’t you take two seeds back to plant first? You can pay me after you’ve confirmed they can grow."

Yun Zijin was afraid that if Lu Yunque failed to grow them, his 1.9 billion would be wasted.

"It’s only 1.9 billion. I can afford the loss."

As the CEO of the Lu Corporation, Lu Yunque had quite a bit of money in his accounts.

But Lu Yunque was a businessman, and most of his own money was tied up in investments, so the liquid capital in his accounts usually wasn’t that high.

Unlike Yun Zijin, who just wanted to collect rent and laze around waiting to die, the money in her account was basically all rental income.

Therefore, even though Yun Zijin’s total assets couldn’t compare to Lu Yunque’s, her liquidity was absolutely unmatched.