Chapter 12: Beginning His Business Territory: Fangxing Mountain
In the afternoon, Bai Feng arrived smoothly at the Coupling Gym. This time, he didn't encounter any unexpected incidents on the way.
Actually, Bai Feng's visit to Grandpa Fu wasn't just to see him and borrow books; he also had a business venture to discuss with Grandpa Fu.
Besides planting, Grandpa Fu had another hobby: drinking tea. So, when Bai Feng went to see him, he was leisurely sitting in the garden, sipping tea.
As long as no one came to challenge the Gym, Grandpa Fu's days were always very leisurely.
"Grandpa Fu, good afternoon." Bai Feng waved and greeted Grandpa Fu.
Grandpa Fu nodded, motioned for Bai Feng to sit opposite him, and then poured him a cup of tea as well.
Bai Feng placed the basket he was holding onto the table, inhaled the fragrant tea aroma, and couldn't help but pick up the teacup and take a sip.
"Good tea! Is this new tea?"
Although Bai Feng didn't understand tea, he could distinguish between good and bad. The tea had a lingering taste, a rich, smooth flavor and a lasting aftertaste. After a faint bitterness, a refreshing and uplifting sensation slowly emerged from his mouth...
Grandpa Fu said with a chuckle, "Now you understand tea?" It wasn't the first time he had invited Bai Feng for tea, but this rough kid always drank it inelegantly, like a cow chewing peonies.
Bai Feng chuckled, then shook his head, not pretending to understand.
Grandpa Fu looked at the basket of Berries on the table and said, "Your cultivated Berries have started to ripen? What's the quality of the Berries?"
"Not bad." Bai Feng said confidently, then took out the prepared detection result and showed it to Grandpa Fu. "Here's the detection result. Please take a look."
Grandpa Fu casually took the detection result, glanced at it indifferently, and then his eyes widened slightly.
Bai Feng had placed the detection result for the Grade B Berries on top this time, so Grandpa Fu received the most direct impact.
Although Grandpa Fu had always felt that Bai Feng had talent in planting, he never expected him to be such a prodigy. He had cultivated Grade B Berries in just one year. If he were given a few more years, then...
Grandpa Fu couldn't even imagine it. He suddenly felt extremely fortunate that he had discovered Bai Feng over a year ago and provided him with the conditions to grow. Otherwise, wouldn't such a valuable talent have been buried in vain? That would truly be a huge loss for the Pokémon League.
Grandpa Fu suppressed his shock, looked at Bai Feng with a half-smile and said, "It seems you came prepared today. Tell me your purpose."
Hearing this, Bai Feng's expression immediately turned serious. He sat up straight, looked directly at Grandpa Fu and said solemnly:
"Money. I need money now, so I hope Grandpa Fu can lend me a sum of money."
Grandpa Fu suddenly understood. If Bai Feng wanted to achieve something in planting, doing it on a small scale like this wouldn't work. But with his current conditions, he couldn't achieve his goal.
Now that he could cultivate Grade B Berries, he was indeed qualified to find someone to invest in him, but that wasn't what Bai Feng wanted. He definitely wouldn't want others involved in his venture.
So, he simply wanted to borrow money.
Despite being optimistic about Bai Feng, Grandpa Fu didn't immediately agree to lend him the money. If Bai Feng were asking for an investment, he would definitely agree without a second thought, but if he just wanted to borrow money, he had to consider it.
"I do have money, but you have to give me a reason to lend it to you," Grandpa Fu said.
Bai Feng was well-prepared. He replied, "I currently have a total of thirty-seven Berry trees, and each one can produce Grade B Berries. And this is only their first time bearing fruit. I believe that if I continue to cultivate them, they will definitely produce Grade A Berries in the future.
I will use these thirty-seven Berry trees as collateral. If I can't repay the money in the future, these Berry trees will all be yours."
More than thirty Berry trees that can produce Grade B Berries are extremely valuable, almost representing a continuous source of wealth. Almost no one would be foolish enough to sell Berry trees of this level.
Now they had become Bai Feng's collateral. What could he do? Bai Feng only had this one bargaining chip!
Grandpa Fu nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, I agree to lend it to you." Since Bai Feng had said this, he had no reason not to agree.
If Bai Feng's venture succeeded, he would earn interest. If Bai Feng's venture failed, he would get a batch of valuable Berry trees. Either way, he wouldn't lose.
"Truly, the younger generation is formidable!" Looking at the ten-year-old boy before him, whose face still had a hint of baby fat, Grandpa Fu sighed sincerely, "How much money do you want to borrow?"
Bai Feng took out the contract he had prepared beforehand and said, "Five million!"
Grandpa Fu looked at Bai Feng with slight surprise. "Borrowing so much at once? It seems you are really confident."
Bai Feng replied, "Time is money. If I didn't have confidence, I wouldn't have asked you today."
Grandpa Fu nodded and said no more, instead taking the contract Bai Feng handed over and carefully reading through it.
Bai Feng was very well-prepared. He had investigated for a long time and consulted many people before preparing this contract.
After reading for a while and finding no issues, Grandpa Fu signed his name.
There were two copies of the contract. After Bai Feng and Grandpa Fu signed, they each kept one. In addition, they also needed to have it notarized at the Relevant Authority, otherwise, the contract would not have legal effect.
After signing the contract, Grandpa Fu took a Berry from the basket and tasted it, then said knowingly, "No wonder you are so confident. This Berry is indeed very good."
An expert with extensive planting experience like Grandpa Fu could roughly determine the value of the Berry just by tasting it, even without looking at the detection result.
The two chatted for a while longer. Bai Feng returned the books he was holding to the Study, then picked out a few more, and subsequently left the Coupling Gym.
After returning home, Bai Feng told Director Meili about his plan to buy a Plot of Land to plant Berries and that he had borrowed a sum of money from Grandpa Fu. However, he didn't reveal exactly how much he had borrowed, because he was afraid of scaring Director Meili.
Five million! Even if the entire Orphanage were packaged and sold, it might not fetch five million.
But even so, Meili was still very worried about Bai Feng, fearing that he wouldn't be able to repay the money in the future. However, she didn't voice her worries. Instead, she encouraged Bai Feng to work hard. She knew Bai Feng was a capable child, so she chose to believe in him.
The next day, Bai Feng started getting busy. Now that he had the money, the first thing he needed to do was buy a Plot of Land of his own. Without land, he couldn't expand his planting scale, and his Berry trees were no longer suitable for growing in the crowded Small Orchard at the Orphanage.
The Biyi City East District is close to the continuous Mountain Range, so there are many ownerless mountains nearby, both large and small, scattered like stars. Bai Feng planned to choose one to purchase.
The Pokémon World is vast and sparsely populated, with large areas of land unused and undeveloped. Therefore, land prices are much cheaper than in Bai Feng's previous life, especially in the Wilderness far from Urban Areas or cities.
In some places, to stimulate economic development, the Pokémon League even encourages individuals to purchase land.
Moreover, once land is purchased here, it truly belongs to you, not just having the right of use.
Of course, if you don't have enough money, renting a Plot of Land to use first is also an option. But Bai Feng wouldn't do that, because renting a Plot of Land for a long time is completely less cost-effective than buying it directly.
Several days passed in a flash. Bai Feng was constantly running between departments, handling procedures, and finally got everything arranged. The money from Grandpa Fu also arrived.
Finally, Bai Feng bought a relatively flat low mountain near the Coupling Gym. It was neither too large nor too small and cost a total of over four million.
The five million he had just borrowed seemed to have evaporated, with more than half gone instantly, but Bai Feng was happy. He had finally taken the first step in his venture!
For the next period of time, whenever Bai Feng had time, he would take Bai Ye and Popplio to clear his plot of land, removing weeds, trees, gravel, and other things from the mountain.
This went on for over two months.
To save money, he didn't hire anyone to help, relying entirely on himself and Bai Ye. As for Popplio, it was inconvenient for it to move on land, so it could only be considered a headcount.
Fortunately, Bai Ye's Psychic ability was very effective and undertook most of the workload. It was also because it had become stronger now; if it were before, they wouldn't know how long they would have to work.
Of course, Bai Feng had only cleared a small portion for now, just enough to transplant the thirty-seven Berry trees from the Orphanage. The rest would be developed slowly later.
The children from the Orphanage also offered to help, but Bai Feng refused.
They were too young and didn't know how to protect themselves. The new plot of land was some distance from where people lived, and Wild Pokémon often appeared there. It wouldn't be good if they encountered danger.
During these two months, most of Bai Feng's remaining Berries ripened and were sold one after another. The majority were bought by Zhen Li and her classmates.
In addition, Officer Jenny and Captain Sanders also bought quite a few. They also brought many relatives, friends, and colleagues to buy some.
Some of the remaining scattered Berries were left by Bai Feng for the children at the Orphanage, and some were given as gifts to the customers who bought a lot.
Finally, relying on these Berries, Bai Feng earned nearly eight hundred thousand. Excluding the portion left for the children, he actually received over six hundred thousand.
With the money, Bai Feng specifically asked Zhen Li to customize Pokéblocks for Bai Ye and Popplio. From then on, they no longer had to live frugally.
Besides clearing the newly purchased plot of land, Bai Feng's biggest gain in these two months was finally clearing most of Popplio's Energy Circuits.
Now Popplio could use moves. Although the moves' power was weak, this was enough to make it happy.
That day, when Popplio summoned a water ball smaller than a fist for the first time, it cried directly.
Of course, compared to other Pokémon, the blocked portion of Popplio's Energy Circuits was still too large. This would require Bai Feng to continue clearing it slowly in the days to come.
That day, Bai Feng found the group of Talonflame and Fletchinder he had hired and planned to discuss something with them.
Over the past year, due to Bai Feng constantly clearing their Energy Circuits, coupled with their continuous sparring and battling with Bai Ye, the dozen Fletchling had all evolved into Fletchinder, and one of them had even evolved directly to its final form (Talonflame), becoming the leader of all the Fletchinder.
After clearing the Energy Circuits for the Talonflame and Fletchinder, he asked, "I bought a mountain and plan to use it for planting Berry trees. I currently lack helpers, so I want to formally hire you. From now on, I will not only continue to clear your Energy Circuits but also provide room and board. Are you willing?"
There's such a good thing?
"Chirp~ Chirp~"
"Yarok~ Yarok~"
The Talonflame and Fletchinder were naturally eager to agree.
Not to mention the compensation, just the bond they had developed living together day and night over the past year, and Bai Feng's kindness in helping them evolve, were enough for the Talonflame and Fletchinder to follow Bai Feng, let alone the room and board!
Bai Feng was overjoyed to see the Talonflame and Fletchinder agree so readily.
The mountain he bought was in a remote location, and he currently didn't have the conditions to develop it well, so safety definitely needed special attention. Otherwise, when the Berries grew, Wild Pokémon from all over the mountain would come to steal them, and then how would he make money!
That's why he thought of hiring the Talonflame.
After over a year of training, the strength of the Talonflame and Fletchinder was already enough for them to dominate among the Wild Pokémon nearby. With them guarding the plot of land, Bai Feng almost didn't have to worry about safety issues.
"Alright then, I'll take you to see the new plot of land I bought now!" Bai Feng said immediately.
"Chirp~ Chirp~"
"Yarok~ Yarok~"
The Talonflame and Fletchinder immediately cheered.
Then the Talonflame slowly squatted down, indicating for Bai Feng to sit on its back.
"You're going to carry me?" Bai Feng looked at the Talonflame in surprise. This was a treatment he had never received before.
"Yarok~"
The Talonflame narrowed its eyes and nodded at Bai Feng with a smile.
"Then thank you very much!"
Bai Feng quickly took out Bai Ye's Poké Ball and recalled it, then held Popplio in his arms, and skillfully climbed onto the Talonflame's back.
The Talonflame slowly flapped its wings and flew into the air, heading towards the direction of the new plot of land according to Bai Feng's instructions. The other Fletchinder followed closely behind.
The Talonflame was very fast. In no time, it brought Bai Feng to the destination and landed on the mountaintop, which was also the area Bai Feng and the others had spent two months clearing.
Bai Feng had also built several wooden houses here, which were intended to serve as dormitories for the Talonflame and Fletchinder. From now on, they wouldn't have to worry about wind and sun exposure.
"This is it." Bai Feng pointed to the entire mountain and introduced it to the Talonflame and Fletchinder, then pointed to the wooden houses behind him. "These are the wooden houses I prepared for you. They're a bit rough and simple, but I'll rebuild them for you after things get on track here."
Bai Feng was an amateur. Although he had tried his best, the wooden houses he built were crooked and uneven, good for nothing except being sturdy and providing warmth and cold protection.
However, the Talonflame and Fletchinder didn't mind. Wasn't this much better than their original dwellings? Their original homes were just grass nests piled up from weeds.
The eleven Fletchinder and one Talonflame chirped and chattered, discussing their new homes. Soon, they had each assigned themselves a room.
They went inside and tried them out: Hmm~ Comfortable!
Bai Feng thoughtfully laid dry grass and leaves in each wooden house, and the bottom of the wooden houses was raised some distance from the ground, so there was no need to worry about dampness.
"I will transplant the Berry trees here in the next couple of days. I'll have to trouble you to look after them from now on," Bai Feng said.
"Yarok~ Yarok~ Leave it to us!"
The Talonflame gently flapped its wings and guaranteed with full confidence. The Fletchinder also echoed their leader.
Just then, Bai Feng remembered that his plot of land didn't have a name yet, so he let Bai Ye out and said to everyone, "Let's name this place together!"
"Gardevoir~"
"Ooh~"
"Yarok~"
"Chirp~"
Bai Feng's suggestion received unanimous agreement from everyone.
"What should we call it?" Bai Feng pondered.
"Gardevoir~ Gardevoir~ Call it Maple Leaf Mountain!"
Bai Ye spoke up with a suggestion, naming it after itself and its beloved son.
"Maple Leaf Mountain? But there are neither maple leaves nor maple trees on this mountain!" Bai Feng said helplessly.
"Gardevoir~ Gardevoir~ What does that matter?"
"Yarok~ Yarok~ How about Flaming Mountain?"
"That's even less reliable. How is this place related to fire at all?"
"Ooh~ Ooh~ I think Popplio Mountain is the best."
Popplio said impatiently.
Bai Feng patted its head and said grumpily, "Best my foot. Is this mountain yours or mine?"
Popplio covered its head and mumbled softly, "Yours is mine, isn't it? Isn't Popplio adorable?"
Seeing the Pokémon getting more and more ridiculous, Bai Feng ignored their chattering and thought for a while before suddenly saying, "How about Fangxing Mountain?"
"What does that mean?" The Pokémon were confused.
So Bai Feng explained it to them.
Fangxing refers to "flourishing" or "just beginning to flourish." His venture was just starting and would definitely develop vigorously in the future. Fangxing represented both the beginning and was full of anticipation for the future.
After listening to Bai Feng's explanation, the Pokémon all abandoned the names they had come up with and chose Bai Feng's. Especially Bai Ye, who praised its beloved son fiercely again, insisting that its beloved son was the smartest in the world.
After settling the Talonflame and Fletchinder, Bai Feng took Bai Ye and Popplio home.
(End of this chapter)