In the Circular State Office Building in Santa Fe, Kent Heaney's pretty secretary put down the phone and said with regret on his face, "I'm sorry, Mr. Hans." Mr. Senator has an ad hoc conference call and is not available to receive you. Maybe you can make an appointment for the next meeting!"

Link smiled and said, "Thank you!" He made an appointment in advance this time, but after he came, he was not only left to dry for more than twenty minutes, but also said that he was not available.

He's not stupid, and he's going to make an appointment next time, and he doesn't have to give him a second chance to be entertained by Kent Hea.

He turned and walked away, and as soon as he got out of the office building, he got into the car and said to Mike, "Mike, let people keep an eye on his public events." Message me in advance. ”

"Okay, boss!" Mike knew who Link was referring to by 'he'.

Link took out his phone again and dialed John Eco: "John, this is Link...... Yes. Is the Baker Ranch you told me about last time still listed?"

Receiving an affirmative answer on the other end of the line, he smiled and said, "Yes, I'm suddenly interested in it." I'd like to go there tomorrow. Can you arrange it?"

After he hung up, he told the driver to go to the airport.

At the airport, leaving behind a bodyguard, Link flew back to Hans Farm with the others.

He had just arrived home and had just been playing in the front yard with Hannah for a while when John arrived.

Link left Hannah in the care of Lady Hammer and took John to the study.

Link gave him a cup of coffee and looked at the file bag on the table, "This is the Baker Ranch profile?"

"Yes. John opened the file bag and took out the contents and handed them to him. "After the ranch was listed, there were also a few people who inquired. ”

Link took the information and asked casually, "No one has made up their minds to buy it yet?"

John smiled and picked up his coffee and said, "Link, don't test me. Although we are friends. But it's business, and I need to have a work ethic. I've said too much. ”

Link smiled and flipped through the information. John just said that someone had already inquired about the price, which may have made him nervous, but it may also be reminding him that there is still a possibility that the price of that land may be lowered. Because those who ask for quotations are just asking for quotations and do not make further moves, he actually has no competitors.

He thinks it's the latter.

As for what exactly means, as an intermediary, John really can't make it clear. That would be unethical.

Link briefly looked at some information about Baker's Ranch, the area of 134,000 acres, most of which was plains, with some low hills. He saw a schematic map of the extent drawn on a satellite topographic map.

He can see the label of Baker's Farm on the satellite map on the Internet, but the satellite map will not mark its extent.

Mapping this map to the map of Nevada's wind resources he had seen, Baker's Ranch was indeed an area rich in wind resources. Many of the surrounding ranches also belong to the same wind resource area.

"A 134,000-acre pasture has cultivated 4,300 acres of farmland, and the remaining land has only 3,500 head of cattle. Such farms are of little value. The asking price of 40 million is a bit high. "Although the unit price is only $300 per acre, the price is not high. But that's the desert.

Link though wanted to take it. But he is not as urgent now as he was when he bought other farms. Both Ozette and Hanova could grow grapes, and he was anxious to get the right land. And at that time, his money came quickly, so he was willing to spend a lot of money to buy it. But his current mentality is different.

The area of grape cultivation is not considered to be increasing in the short term. Then the benefits that this desert land can bring him will not be too high. There are many windy areas in the United States, including Nevada. This is not land he has to take. There's no need to waste money.

John smiled and said, "That's just the listing condition put forward by the landlord." If you really want to buy the land, maybe you can talk to him in person. ”

After Link's reading of the information, he asked, "What's going on around this Baker farm?"

"It's mainly family farms, it seems like there are more than 20 in total. The scale is all in the size of 3,000 to 10,000 acres. "Now that John has taken this order, of course he has made some inquiries about the vicinity. "Originally, there were more than forty of them, but many of them were acquired by Baker Ranch. ”

"I saw that several of the settlements in the vicinity were small towns. ”

"Yes, there are some village-level towns around there. In fact, a village has also been formed in the center of Baker's Ranch. Mainly employees of the ranch. There seemed to be about 20 households, but there was already a post office, a restaurant, and a motel. By the way, the Bakers also run two campsites. Just east of the Dart Basin National Park is Baker Canyon. There is also a visitor center near the campsite. ”

"Which campsites are also included in the sale?"

"No, it belongs entirely to Little Baker. He seems to have the intention of selling, probably not going to be sold as a farm. You know there's a property worth two million. And there are more than 40,000 acres of hillside land. It is a hunting ground with a lot of animals. ”

Link thought for a moment and said, "Is that land listed now?" He believed that even if there was a national park, there wouldn't be too many tourists. If you only run a campsite, although the tax will be lower, you may not be able to make much money.

"Not yet. ”

"Can you convince him to sell that land as well?"

"Man, Link. I'm a land agent, not a salesman. If I make such a request, it will be disgusting to the customer. John put down his coffee and said very seriously. "You have to be considerate of me!"

Link smiled and said, "Didn't you say he had the idea of selling? He paused and said. "As long as the price is right, I want to buy all the family farms near that land that are willing to sell. ”

"I can try!" John couldn't resist the temptation. "Shall we go again tomorrow, then?"

"Of course. Maybe you can spend the night here. We'll leave tomorrow morning. ”

"Oh, if you had said that earlier, I'd have brought the luggage. ”

Link laughed and said, "Okay then. We're leaving tomorrow morning at eight o'clock?"

"No problem. I'll be there by eight o'clock. If you want to get to know what is going on in Snake Valley, I suggest you spend two days there. It's a relatively closed area, and you should know a little bit about neighborhoods and weather. There were only about forty or fifty families there, and with the exception of the cowboys who helped them, they were ranchers. By the way, there is also a border hotel there, which is also Becky's personal property. For a long time, it was the only gas station within tens of kilometers of the neighborhood. ”

He recalled, adding, "To the east of the perimeter, there are two small towns, one seems to be Eskodal and the other is Garrison. The population is small. The nearest city is Erie, but it's also eighty miles away. To the east is Delta in Utah, a distance of more than a hundred miles. The high-speed kilometre between Erie and Delta is arguably one of the wildest highways in the nation. ”

Link nodded and said, "I can see it." From the satellite land, I saw that there were very few vehicles on that road. Usually it's a few long-trailer trucks. However, there seem to be quite a few large ranches in Snake Valley. Is the land on the north and south sides of Baker's Farm owner?"

"To the south is a state land, a communal pasture, the Great Springs wilderness. It can be rented by nearby ranchers for the winter. However, many ranchers now use corn as feed for the winter. Because there isn't much hay in that wilderness, the rent isn't cheap. There are several large ranches along the way to the north. However, they are all under the jurisdiction of the state of Utah. ”

Link recalled, remembering that Snake Valley was a north-south wind belt, and asked, "So the Great Springs to the south has lost its purpose?"

"Can't say that. But I heard that no one had driven the cattle there for two or three years. You know, the new generation of ranchers has a different concept than the older generation. In fact, there are quite a few ranches that the heirs sell after the older generation leaves. Because they borrowed a lot of money to pay taxes, they had a way to inherit the ranch. They need money to pay off their debts. ”

After listening to John, Link had an idea in his heart. After John left, he looked up Netvada's policy on state lands. After he saw it, his thoughts about the wilderness of the Great Springs were basically determined. It's just that he can't put it into practice yet.

Perhaps once he has bought most of Baker's Ranch and the nearby family ranch, he will be able to apply to the State of Nevada to buy the land.

Of course, such land cannot be traded directly. But he might be able to convince the state of Nevada to consider auctioning off that land. Not many people would want to buy that kind of land.

Because he was going to be out the next day and might be out for a day or two, Link packed some of his bags. Then he explained to Ms. Hemmer that he might have to go out for a day or two. Let her take care of little Hannah.

"If anything, you can call me. If it's particularly urgent, you can also call Barbara. Although little Hannah rarely gets sick, the child is weak, and he is worried about what happens. If he gets sick, it will take time for Link to get back. If Barbara was there, he would be more relieved.

"Rest assured, Link. I'll take care of little Hannah!"

The next morning, after eating breakfast and playing with his daughter for a while, John arrived. Link handed Hannah to Lady Hammer.

The little thing has also become accustomed to Link going out a lot, and never cries because of his departure.

John put the duffel bag in Link's car and looked back to see the little guy being led by Ms. Hemmer, holding one hand in the air and grabbing Ah in mid-air. It was in response to Link's "bye-bye" gesture.

When he got in the car, he said, "When I see little Hannah, I want to have another daughter." ”

Link smiled and started the car and said, "Then give birth." ”

John smiled and said, "But if my wife has another child, she will be an advanced maternal age." ”