Chapter 77: One Step Away
The lives of those small farmers are not as leisurely as reported by the media, not to mention old Bruno. The farm he manages is not owned but rented. To put it bluntly, he is also working for the farmer, and every year a considerable portion of the profits is taken away by the owner of the farm!
"You have to buy seeds from them, as well as pesticides and fertilizers. Remember Carl Ranch? Old Carl is almost bankrupt!"
Old Bruno kept talking to Song Yang, saying that several major seed groups in America were now almost controlling all of America's planting industries.
Not only the planting industry, but also the ranching industry is controlled by several major food giants in America. Those small ranchers have basically become employees of the food giants.
Food giants like Bunge and Tyson control more than half of the meat on Americans' tables, and farmers are forced to work for these food giants.
Because these food giants provide small ranchers with orders and new breeding methods and feeds, for example, chickens that originally took two or three months to grow up can now reach diners' tables in just two weeks or even ten days according to the breeding methods of food giants and the special feeds they provide...
What's even more exaggerated is that the growth of these chickens can be adjusted according to market demand. For example, if chicken breast is popular, the breast of these chickens will be more than three to five times larger than that of ordinary chickens.
As for those who are unwilling to work for these food giants, like Old Carl mentioned by Old Bruno, Song Yang has the impression that he is a hot-tempered and quite temperamental redneck who is about to be squeezed into bankruptcy.
The production costs of the cattle, sheep, chickens, etc. on his ranch are much higher than those of the farms working for food giants, and the food giants are unwilling to give Carl orders. If Carl is unwilling to bow to the food giants, he can only wait for bankruptcy.
The ranch that I had run for most of my life was taken away by the bank. After a series of dazzling transactions, the ranch might end up being bought at a low price by a ranch company under a food giant...
Song Yang listened to what old Bruno said, and felt that he had to learn from the richest man who had made his fortune from scratch. He should buy hundreds of thousands of acres of land and become the largest farmer in America. At least he would know where the food he eats comes from.
Who says Americans don't love land? Bill Gates, who has always been regarded as a representative of technology, has bought a lot of land. He has purchased a large amount of land in many states in America, and even in Europe, Africa and other places, as much as 270,000 acres.
How big is 270,000 acres? It is only about 1,000 square kilometers, which is about the same size as Hong Kong City, and larger than the area of Singapore, Morocco, Brunei, Mauritius and other small countries...
"Song!"
At this time, Gallo's voice came over. Gallo, holding a shotgun in his hand, called Song Yang, "Let's go with Moore to deal with those wild boars!"
There is no tradition of protecting wild boars in America. People hate these creatures so much that their teeth itch. Farms and ranches are harassed by these wild boars several times every year.
Moore is a burly man who looks very oppressive, but he actually has a mild temper. In the past, he was the one who took care of Song Yang and the others.
After putting on a protective suit for Song Yang and checking his shotgun, Moore let Song Yang get in the car and drove towards the depths of the farm.
"I haven't hunted for a long time. Let those piglets know what the shooting skills of the best cowboy in the West are!" Gallo, sitting in the car, boasted to Song Yang.
Song Yang glanced at Gallo who was having fun there, and touched the old-fashioned hunting rifle in his hand. Song Yang was quite excited. In his previous life, he had no chance to touch this thing, and there was no place to hunt. As for wild boars, they were animals that would get him jailed for life.
When he reached the depths of the farm, Moore saw the corn, soybeans and other crops that were being rotten, and soon discovered traces of the wild boars, so he drove straight after them.
Song Yang also saw the figures of this group of wild boars. It was a small group of wild boars. The leader was a big wild boar that was nearly two meters long, fat and covered with brown bristles. Song Yang felt that this wild boar weighed at least two or three hundred kilograms. An adult man probably couldn't beat this thing with his bare hands.
Seeing the wild boar, Song Yang also raised his hunting rifle and fired a shot, but of course he missed.
"Song, how come your shooting skills have become so bad? I remember you were not like this before!" Gallo couldn't help but complain about Song Yang. He felt that since Song Yang became an "Internet genius", he had seriously regressed in some aspects. For example, his baseball level had plummeted, and now his shooting skills were even worse.
Song Yang was also a little embarrassed. He glared at Gallo unhappily and said a famous saying, "There's something wrong with the gun!"
Wild boars are not slow, and can reach a maximum speed of 48 kilometers per hour. We had to keep chasing them by car. During this trip, we actually didn't hit many wild boars. Only the largest one finally fell down after being shot by Gallo more than a dozen times. The rest were small piglets, which were caught up by the pickup truck.
This can be regarded as driving away the wild boars in Bruno's farm. As for what to do if these wild boars run to other farms.
Well , actually, that's what I originally thought. Just chase them away. Anyway, I'd rather die than let my friends die. As long as they don't roam here, it's fine. As for where they roam, that's none of Bruno Farm's business. Maybe these wild boars were driven here from other farms. There are more than six million wild boars in the entire America. How can they be caught...
The hunting rifle was crackling for a long time in the farm. The pickup truck returned with a few wild boars. Not many wild boars were killed, but Song Yang's aim was improved.
When Song Yang returned to his residence on the farm, he heard a quarrel as soon as he entered the house.
Daisy and Greg were arguing. Daisy was saying to Greg, "I am also from the Bruno family. Why can't I get a share? The money belongs to little Bruno, not to you, Greg!"
Daisy thought that it was Greg who was obstructing her and taking the money Song Yang earned for himself, not letting Daisy and the others get a share.
Greg, who was being confronted, said with helplessness and anger, "The Bruno family is the Bruno family, and Song is Song. I have no right to interfere with his decision!"
However, Daisy obviously disagreed with this statement. "Little Bruno has been with you since he was a child . I have heard that you have moved into the new villa, and Logan and Milia have both entered the best private school in Houston. These can't be false, right?"
Daisy covered her face and started crying. "I don't want as much as Greg and the others have. I just want one sum. Our mortgage in Austin is due, and the insurance has been suspended for three months. Gary has been unemployed for several months, and Camille is going to college soon..."
Gary is Daisy's husband, Camille is their daughter, and Song Yang's cousin. Daisy is arguing with Greg, while Mason and others are sitting aside.
Song Yang walked in at this time. Daisy saw Song Yang coming in and felt a little embarrassed. "Little Bruno, I..."
Song Yang waved his hand, sat aside, and looked at the people in the room. The people sitting here were basically the relatives of this body. Unless Song Yang didn't recognize any of them, there was no way he could bypass them.
"Uncle Greg and I have actually already discussed this. The Bruno Foundation has been established. All members of the Bruno family can join and serve in it. They can receive a federal salary every month!"
"As for Kalmi, Milia, Logan and others who need to go to school, I will pay their tuition through the Bruno Foundation!"
“Of course, if anyone is dissatisfied, they don’t have to join the Bruno Foundation!”
Hearing Song Yang's words, Daisy felt happy but also somewhat unwilling. Being able to join the Bruno Foundation meant that they would be able to live a stable life in the future without having to worry about their livelihood.
But what Daisy was unwilling to accept was that this was so far from what she had expected. There was not a single villa, luxury car, or luxury goods.
But looking at Song Yang's expression, Daisy didn't dare to say anything. If Song Yang cancelled her qualification to join the Bruno Foundation, it would be a loss for her.
As for Mason, his face was full of joy. He had not expected much in the first place, but now he could get a sum of money for free. This was definitely an unexpected gain for him.
Song Yang took out a check from his pocket and placed it in front of Mason. "Use this money to buy this farm. In the future, this farm will belong to the Bruno Foundation!"
Song Yang knew that old Bruno's biggest wish was to have his own farm. According to Houston prices, this 180-acre farm would cost around US$190,000.
And when old Bruno and his wife passed away more than a hundred years later, the farm belonged to the Bruno family and the profits were shared equally among everyone.
When Old Bruno heard that Song Yang wanted to buy the farm for him, he immediately said to Song Yang, "Little Bruno, you don't need to do this. This farm is not worth the price at all."
Although he said this, old Bruno was obviously very happy to own a farm of his own. During dinner, he specially roasted the wild boar he had hunted as a snack for Song Yang.
After staying on the farm for two days, Song Yang and his team began to return to Houston. During these two days, many people called Song Yang.
In the past few days, in addition to Jenny's call, DoubleClick Company also made several calls to Song Yang. In addition to some matters that required Song Yang's consent and signature, the most important thing was that the Hotmail mailbox had already started internal testing and was only one step away from going online!
After Song Yang returned to Houston, he didn't have time to go to the small apartment to eat Jenny's cream cake, so he rushed to the Harbor Office Building first.
Entering the development department of the Hotmail mailbox project, Wesley, Irene and others were all there. After Song Yang went over, he directly asked Wesley, "How is the internal test going now?"
"Not bad. Although there are some problems, Hotmail email has passed the stability test!" Wesley said to Song Yang.
