On this night, the front yard of the Hans farm villa was brightly lit, and the faint smoke of the grease and burnt smell from seven or eight two-meter-long barbecues made this late winter night not so cold.

Link was talking to two fat men, "Chloe, what do you think of this wine?"

Chloe was the same big fat man who went to California with him to buy vines. He also has a winery. Link just tried to invite him, but he didn't expect him to actually come. Know that Chloe Romen's winery is located in the northwest corner of Nevada. It was hundreds of kilometers away, but he still flew over.

Chloe laughs, "The wine is full-bodied and has a unique taste. Above the level, it's not too good, but it's definitely not bad. I heard you invited Albert Anthony last year? I'm looking forward to your new wine. ”

Link smiled and shook the red wine and said, "I'm looking forward to it too." After the bottling, I never drank any new wine. You know what? I'm learning how to taste wine right now. But I think it's a lot harder than going to school as a kid. ”

"You really should learn. Chloe said with a smile. "I can't imagine a winery owner who doesn't drink red wine but has 20,000 acres of vineyards. ”

"In fact, I'm trying to be a good winery owner. Maybe I'll ask you for advice often. Link said as he clinked glasses with him.

"As long as I know, of course I'm willing to communicate with you. It's fun to be able to make friends with the owner of a big winery. ”

John then said, "Maybe I should buy a plot of land and plant grapes." He looked at the red wine in his glass and said. "It seems nice to drink from your own winery at a party. ”

Chloe, who was an old friend of him, joked, "Maybe you can buy some grapes and call for making some of your own in glass vats." ”

John laughed and said, "You're right, maybe that's cool." I really don't have time to manage the winery. ”

"Looks like you've been doing a good business lately. Link laughed too. This fat man made millions of dollars in commissions from him back then.

John smiled and said, "It's not good to go over." Especially when compared to the year you worked with. He thought for a moment and whispered. "Recently I received a commission for a farm with an area of more than 130,000 acres to be listed, are you interested?"

Link thought for a moment and said, "Where is it?"

"Snake Valley, a sparsely populated, dry valley in the Great Basin. Just northeast of Nevada, adjacent to Utah. It's about fifty miles from the city of Erie. ”

"What's going on there?"

The old owner of the farm was Baker Sr., but he had severe Perkinson disease, and the money for the farm was handed over to his son Baker Jr. in a few years. Little Baker cultivated thousands of acres of corn fields on the ranch. But the ranch wasn't his own. And his cousin's shares. They had a disagreement, and his cousin, who planned to go to the east for development, insisted on selling the farm. ”

John said as Link listened attentively, and continued, "Little Baker didn't have much enthusiasm for being a farmer. You know, he's a young man, he's only thirty years old. He didn't want to put up with the greed of the seed corporations anymore, which made him feel like he was a slave to the big corporations. So he also intends to sell the ranch. ”

Link listened to him before he said, "Nineteen thousand acres of pasture, that's a very big farm. ”

"Yes, Baker Ranch is the largest ranch in Snake Valley and is a family-owned ranch. Baker Ranch has long been the largest employer in the region. You know that from the oil crisis in '05 to the subprime mortgage in '08, a lot of family farms went bankrupt. Old Baker annexed several family farms, and now Baker's Farm has become even bigger. ”

Snake Valley, Link hasn't been to. He asked, "What's the environment like there?"

John shook his head and said, "It's desert, but groundwater." But it's already on the edge of the aquifer. The cost of extracting groundwater is relatively high. You know, in recent years, the price of seeds has become more and more expensive. A pound of corn seed has risen from $5 a decade ago to $9 today, and so have pesticides, which have been rising in price. But the farmer found that the herbicides were no longer killing all the weeds as the companies said. Weeds have also become resistant. ”

Chloe interjected, "I think the farmer has no choice. Because they can't buy traditional seeds anymore. ”

John nodded, "That's right! They found that after buying the pesticides recommended by the seed company, they still needed to use hundreds of other pesticides, but they still couldn't kill the pests and diseases that could destroy the whole corn." The cost of farming is very high now. ”

As soon as Link heard that it was a desert area, he was not interested. He didn't have much interest in growing food. And he has grown enough grapes. The desert has no water, and groundwater needs to be pumped, which is okay to grow food, but it also means that cattle cannot be raised on a large scale. In that environment, a few thousand cattle can only be raised on a hundred thousand acres of pasture, and the investment will be significant.

So he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry John, I think that kind of ranch would take a lot of my energy. You know the farm I have right now isn't completely straightened out. ”

"I understand. But I just wanted to try my luck with you. John wasn't disappointed either. He laughs. "You know, after so many years of real estate, you're the easiest client I've ever met. ”

As they talked, Lily approached little Hannah dressed as a ball.

Link saw them and smiled and said, "Lily, this little guy is still sticking to you, you can give her to Barbara." Have some fun tonight. He said as he reached out to pinch little Hannah's face.

Little Hannah twisted her face over Lily's shoulder, only to sneak her eyes at him.

Lily smiled and said, "Hannah just kept pointing at you, I think she missed you." But now, it seems, she's still mad at you. ”

Link forcibly picked up the little guy and finally coaxed the little guy to stay on him before introducing Lily to John.

While they were talking, Benjamin came up to him and said, "Link, would you like to say a word?"

As the host, Link had to say a few words at the beginning of the meeting. He nodded and said, "Okay." ”

"I'm here to hug Hannah!" Lily saw that Link was okay and hugged Hannah again.

Link had done a lot of preparation for the barbecue party, only to realize that there was always something missing.

In this empty space, he wanted to speak to a scattered group of nearly 100 people, but he did not prepare a microphone. Benjamin hurriedly asked people to find the mark. Lily was standing beside him with Hannah in her arms.

He coughed at the mark, "Gentlemen, ladies!"

He waited for a moment after he spoke, and the others looked at him quietly. He smiled and continued: "Welcome to the first BBQ at Hans Farm. A lot of people say I'm not like an American because I rarely organize and participate in such social events. Well, I admit that I suffer from social phobia. But now they must have nothing to say!"

The others laughed wryly.

Link really rarely attends such an event. This makes his social aspect very narrow.

He paused, then added, "First of all, I would like to give a special thanks to all the staff on the farm. It was your hard work that allowed me to pay the bills for this gathering. And, of course, the wine we drank tonight, and the beef that was squeaking on the grill. ”

He was interrupted as he spoke: "Boss, we also thank you for giving us such a job opportunity." Of course, my girlfriend will probably thank you too, she received a bottle of perfume yesterday that she had been thinking about for a long time. That's what I bought with the salary you paid by your boss. ”

Link laughed and said loudly, "Paul, your girlfriend will definitely only thank you warmly, and will never think of me." But what I'm saying is that I need you, and Hans Farm needs you. I hope we can help each other and need each other as a family. ”

"Yes, family!" "We are family!" the workers replied loudly.

Link toasted with them, and when they had quieted down a little, he added, "Then I would like to thank the gentlemen and ladies who have been invited to this gathering." Especially Chloe, he's flying in from three hundred miles away, and I want to say, oh my God, am I going to pay for his gas!"

"Link, of course you don't. Chloe laughed and said out loud. "If you hadn't invited me, I'd have flown in tomorrow. But if I come again tomorrow, I am asking you to compensate me by organizing another such gathering. ”

Link smiled and raised his glass to him, "Anyway, it's an honor for you to come!"

"I'm honored to have your invitation too!"

Link added, "And Mr. and Mrs. Spall, and my good friends John, Matthew, McCullie, and Bella. Thank you for participating. ”

"Now let's raise a glass together for world peace!" Link said with a laugh.

The workers burst into laughter: "For the sake of damn peace." ”

It was Angel who broke free of Mrs. Spahr's hand and ran to him, looking up at him, "Link, you didn't thank me. And sister!"

Link crouched down and rubbed her head and said, "Oh, you're our angel. We'll be sad if you don't come. So of course I want to thank you. ”

"But you didn't say it!"

"Because I thought you knew!"

"But I didn't know that. ”

"No, you should know. If you don't believe me, you can ask Lily!"

"Ahh

Link smiled and hugged her over, "What a hassle for you today, Lily!"

Lily smiled and shook her head and said, "It's not troublesome at all, little Hannah is very well-behaved and cute!"

Little Hannah heard her familiar words again: "Good girl!"

Lily smiled and wiped her drool, and said to her, "Ke~ love." ”

"Lei~!" Little Hannah hadn't mastered the word yet, but she also knew that it was a compliment to herself. She only grinned, drooling more and more.

Link reached out and took out a handkerchief to help her wipe her saliva, and said to Lily, "I can hold her." I think you didn't get a good bite to eat just now because you were taking care of her. ”

He didn't know that the others had a very harmonious feeling when they watched this scene, as if the three of them were a family of three.