95: The hope brought by the land

Beside him, An Lan was focused on bundling the grass that Lu Fan had cut.

Her technique was skillful; her slender fingers moved nimbly through the grass, and in a short while, she had organized the handfuls into neat bundles.

"This grass is a real treasure. Once cut, it can be used directly as fodder; when dried, it can be woven into mats; and after it rots, it can be used as fertilizer. Grass is so great. I love grass, I love grass!"

As Lu Fan shoveled the soil with great effort, he talked to himself with high spirits, his excitement as if he had discovered a hidden treasure.

An Lan couldn't help but purse her lips and smile. Her hands didn't stop, but she secretly thought to herself, "The way this guy talks feels a bit strange, but I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong."

At this moment, the livestream room was also incredibly lively.

"Ah, Great God Lu Fan and I finally have something in common. I love grass too! Give me grass, give me grass!"

"To the person above, I'll say it again: I'll give you grass."

"Wait, this dialogue feels familiar."

"Holy crap, you bunch of losers."

Lu Fan was like a tireless humanoid digging machine, shovel after shovel, each stroke filled with immense drive.

His enhanced body was full of power; every time he swung the shovel, he could dig up a large chunk of soil and weeds.

Suddenly, a loud "Clang!" rang out, sounding like metal clashing, which was particularly piercing in the quiet field, making An Lan, who was focused on bundling grass, jump in startle.

"What happened? What happened?" An Lan dropped the grass in her hands in a panic and rushed over.

Lu Fan shook his hand, which was numb from the shock, a look of confusion on his face. It felt as if he had struck an incredibly hard rock.

"What's going on?" He frowned and leaned in for a closer look, discovering it was a large rock hidden in the soil, with only a small corner exposed.

"Well now, you're trying to trip me up?" Lu Fan's competitive spirit flared. He set down the hoe, gripped the rock with both hands, gritted his teeth, and exerted all his strength. His face turned bright red as he tried to move it.

However, the rock seemed rooted in place and didn't budge at all.

Instead, because he used too much force, Lu Fan ended up falling back onto his butt.

Seeing his pathetic state, An Lan laughed so hard she doubled over. "Are you performing acrobatics?"

Lu Fan scratched his head awkwardly and said with a bitter smile, "This rock is really stubborn. It seems if I don't deal with it today, I won't be able to finish farming this land."

At this point, An Lan suppressed her laughter, walked over, crouched down to examine the rock's position, and then said with confidence, "Let's try together. I'll pry from this side, and you push from that side."

The two took their positions, took a deep breath, and shouted the slogan in unison: "One, two, three, heave!" With a shout, they both exerted force simultaneously, veins popping on their foreheads as sweat flowed down their cheeks.

Finally, with their combined efforts, the large rock was successfully moved and rolled to the side.

"Phew, finally dealt with it." Lu Fan let out a long sigh of relief and wiped the bean-sized beads of sweat from his forehead. Looking at the moved rock, he felt a sense of accomplishment, his face beaming with a victorious smile.

An Lan patted his shoulder and said approvingly, "Not bad, you've got quite some perseverance."

After a short rest, the two continued digging.

But before long, new problems followed one after another.

The soil was filled with dense grass roots, like an intricate net tightly intertwined, making it difficult for their tools to penetrate deeply.

With every swing of the hoe, it felt as if an invisible force was pulling back.

"What should we do?" An Lan asked with a frown and a worried face.

Lu Fan stopped what he was doing, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's use the hoe to loosen the soil around the roots first, then pull them out by hand. It should be easier that way."

So, the two divided the labor. Lu Fan swung the hoe, loosening the soil bit by bit.

An Lan crouched on the ground, carefully pulling out the roots one by one. Her fingers were rubbed red by the roots, but she persisted without a single complaint.

Before long, both of their backs began to ache, and it became difficult even to stand up straight.

But neither of them called out in exhaustion; they only occasionally stood up to thump their aching backs before diving back into the work.

While pulling, An Lan suddenly found a small bug and screamed in fright, "Ah! What is this thing?"

She jumped back a few steps, her face filled with terror.

Lu Fan rushed over, took a look, and couldn't help but laugh. "Don't be afraid, it's an earthworm. It's good for the soil; it makes the land more fertile."

An Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest sheepishly, saying, "I thought it was something scary."

After several hours of unremitting effort, they finally cleared the grass roots from this patch of land.

The two collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. Looking up at the azure sky and gasping for air, their hearts were filled with a sense of achievement.

"Haha, finally done!" Lu Fan shouted excitedly, his voice echoing across the open field.

An Lan also smiled and said, "I didn't expect farming to be so difficult, but looking at this land we've cleared, there really is an indescribable sense of accomplishment."

"Yeah, I truly feel the weight of the phrase 'every grain is the fruit of hard labor' now." Lu Fan was deeply moved, his eyes full of treasure for the results of their work.

At this time, the viewers in the livestream room were also moved by their hard work and left comments one after another.

"Yeah, thinking back, it's because we didn't know how to save and crazily wasted resources in previous years that we ended up in this situation."

"When I was a kid, I went with my family to harvest wheat, and the sun literally made my skin peel."

"If Professor Yuan saw the world now, he would be very disappointed."

"Our country is still doing well; at least the state hasn't given up on us. Look at those Western countries—the upper class is glamorous while the lower class is surrounded by corpses."

Just then, a piece of heart-stirring news arrived.

[Wilderness Survival Announcement]

[Huaguo Player Lu Fan triggered a ten thousand times rebate]

[Fertile Living Water Land * 10,000]

Ten thousand pieces of fertile land appeared like a dreamlike miracle, instantly manifesting upon the once barren desert within Huaguo's borders.

The desert, which was originally filled with swirling yellow sand and devoid of life, was now covered by patches of fertile soil.

The entire Huaguo was instantly swept by an inexpressible wave of joy and excitement.

In every street and alley, people ran to tell each other the news, their faces beaming with happy smiles.

The news was like a swift spring breeze, spreading to every corner of the motherland at extreme speed.

Some elderly people, remembering the years of hard work on barren land with little harvest, couldn't help but shed tears of joy.

They tremblingly reached out their hands to touch this hard-won land, murmuring to themselves, "This is a blessing from heaven; our future generations have hope now."

They knew deeply the significance of land to farmers; it was the foundation for survival through generations and the source of hope.

In the livestream room, hosts Wang Tao and Zhao Hangjun were similarly shocked into silence by this sudden surprise.

Their eyes widened as they stared at the screen, as if they couldn't believe their ears. After a brief silence, Wang Tao's voice trembled slightly as he said excitedly, "What a miracle this is! Contestant Lu Fan, with his own efforts and opportunity, has brought these ten thousand pieces of fertile land to our Huaguo! What does this mean? It means our agricultural development will enter a brand new chapter!"

His face was filled with a proud smile, and his voice was full of admiration for Lu Fan.

Zhao Hangjun also kept nodding and added, "Yes, that once desolate desert is about to be filled with life again, becoming a field that nurtures life and hope!"

Excitement sparkled in his eyes, and his words were full of longing for the future.

The eyes of both men were filled with gratification and pride, their words brimming with praise and admiration for Lu Fan.

Upon learning this news, the Huaguo High-level Leadership also gave high praise to Lu Fan's feat.

During an emergency meeting, a leader said with emotion, "Lu Fan's achievement is not just a personal glory; he has made a huge contribution to the entire country. He has shown us the power of striving in adversity and the dawn of hope. This land will provide a solid guarantee for our country's food security and inject new vitality into economic development."

Other leaders expressed their agreement and unanimously decided to commend Lu Fan.

At the same time, they quickly organized a team of experts to formulate a development and utilization plan for this land, ensuring it could yield the maximum benefit in the shortest time.

However, in other corners of the world, jealous gazes were shot toward Huaguo like hidden arrows.

After learning the news, the faces of some viewers in Japan turned so dark they looked like they could drip ink.

"Hmph, it's just good luck. Anyone could do it if they encountered such a windfall; it's nothing special," they said sourly, their tone filled with jealousy and resentment.

But these comments were quickly drowned out by the replies of other netizens.

One netizen retorted mercilessly, "Why don't you go to Wilderness Survival and try to trigger a ten thousand times rebate? If you're so capable, bring this much fertile land to Japan!"

People in the Pretty Country also couldn't contain their inner jealousy and spoke cynically during the broadcast.

"This might just be a hype tactic intentionally created by Huaguo. Who knows if that land is really as fertile as they say?"

They tried to smear Huaguo's achievement to cover up their own jealousy.

But their doubts couldn't hold water and were quickly slapped in the face by the land test reports released by Huaguo.

The reports showed that these lands were rich in various minerals and organic substances, making them extremely high-quality farmland.

Faced with the ironclad facts, the Pretty Country contestants could only shut their mouths dejectedly, though they still remained secretly resentful.