Seeing that it was about to enter September, Albert made a special trip to Hans's farm. He was going to taste those wines one last time.

He has recommended several of Link's farm wines to the World Wine & Spirit Competition, which will be held in New York this year. Link's wines theoretically have entry tickets for the competition. Albert was here to see what wines could go to the competition.

Link inevitably had to accompany him on a trip to three farms.

Albert tasted over 100 wines and chose 24 that he thought were likely to score high.

Link put the list away and said, "Is there a lot of wine in this competition?"

"I think there will be thousands of wines. However, there will be a lot fewer who can actually enter the finals. Albert took a sip of cold boiled water. His tongue was numb to the wine.

"Actually, holding the competition in September is a bit more advantageous for vintners in the southern hemisphere. This is because their wines are aged for more than half a year longer than in the northern hemisphere. Countries like South Africa and Chile can be regarded as accumulation. After a long period of accumulation, their wineries are now able to compete with wines from other countries around the world. ”

Link was indeed holding a glass of red wine, one of the bottles he had just opened.

He took a sip and said, "I feel like my red wine is good." Wines that have aged a few years compared to those on the market today are not necessarily worse than them in terms of full-bodiedness. The fragrance is also a little stronger. If it weren't for the good results in the competition that would have been better promoted, I really didn't have too many requirements for that competition. ”

"Hehe, aren't you rich enough now? I know in Italy that you haven't found groundwater, and you have found a few oil wells. Now the international oil price is 41 US dollars per barrel. How can you sell more than 10 billion crude oil a year? It's okay if these wines don't sell. ”

"You still have to pay taxes. Link said with a smile. "And who hates money?"

Those oil wells also added a lot of trouble to him. But fortunately, he also has no plans to develop the oil industry, he only sells crude oil. This made Mobil feel no competitive pressure. Now it looks like I'm willing to work with him. However, the other party is still drilling a well west of Oskook. is obviously unwilling to buy his crude oil at such a high price.

And what he's been thinking about the most lately is how he's going to use the money he has.

Before billions of dollars, he put it in the bank. Although the interest can also make a good life for a year. But that's not the right way to manage your money.

His fortune will continue to increase in the future. And those four oil wells are probably also being eyed by people. If he was still like this, maybe that day, those oil wells would be taken away for some reason. Just because no one is doing it now doesn't mean there won't be one in the future.

However, he couldn't think of a good way to improve his social status for a while, so that those who were about to move would not dare to covet his things easily.

And now one of his most important jobs is to sell wine.

Thinking of Snapton's suggestion, he said to Albert, "When have you been available lately?"

"What's the matter?"

"I want you to shoot an advertisement. About wine. You know, we're getting ready to roll out right now, and we need to advertise in some markets. I hope to use it with your fame. ”

"Until the end of September, I was mostly free. ”

"Then I'll let her get ready and contact you. As for the honorarium, you can talk to her. ”

"OK, I'll try to cooperate with her work. ”

Link asked again, "I'm going to take a trip to the sea tomorrow, are you interested?"

"No, I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. I'm going to look at the grapes here during the day tomorrow. Albert was familiar with the place, and he didn't need Link to accompany him all the time.

Link smiled and shook his head and said, "This year's grapes feel a little better than last year's. Yields are also higher. I'm now worried that the newly built cellar won't be enough to store this year's new wines. ”

"Then choose the best grapes for winemaking. That Robert has started working for you now, and you're kind of a winemaker, but I think we're going to need some wine academy students to help out. Maybe most of the previous ones won't be able to come this year. They may have found a job. ”

Link thought for a moment and said, "Do you think those students who brewed wine last year are worth inviting again?"

"Unless you're going to hire them permanently, or if they're planning to become a flying brewer, I don't think they'll accept your offer. ”

He had no choice but to nod and say, "If I invite, they probably won't come." But if you send out an invitation, I think they will be willing to come. The opportunity to learn from one of the world's top winemakers is something they will surely cherish. And I'm willing to pay them a certain amount. For the entire season, $30,000 to $50,000 per person. What do you think?"

"Most of them aren't famous. I think they'll be willing to accept it. I'll try to invite them. ”

"Good. That's it!"

Link also invited some of last year's Wine Academy students because they did make some good wines. Moreover, the grape production of several of his wineries was too large for Albert alone.

"Maybe after this time, you should hire a few winemakers on a permanent basis. They can help you take care of your wines and make them better cellared in the cellar. ”

Lin Ke also thinks it should. He nodded and said, "I think I should recruit at least thirty." Hanse farms four, Habano six, here twenty. ”

"It would cost you millions of dollars a year, but I think it would be worth it. ”

After breakfast the next day, Albert drove himself to see the grapes on the farm. Link took a helicopter to the port of Nieube. But he didn't go to Brad and theirs. Instead, they went to artificial reefs.

As long as there is money, the efficiency of many things will become very fast. The production of artificial reefs is actually very simple, it is a reinforced concrete earth shelf.

When Link went to the docks, the cement racks were being loaded. Hired vessels use cranes to lower cement shelves onto decks.

Those cement shelves are rectangular on both sides, with the lower bottom surface being six meters long and four meters wide, and the upper and lower surfaces being four meters and three meters respectively. Both surfaces have three vertical and four horizontal. There are also some holes in the upper and lower surfaces where cement can be installed. So there will be another boat loaded with seventeen or eighteen meters long cement pillars.

The artificial reef was launched, which would not have required him to come personally. But the fact that he landed artificial fishing reefs seems to have attracted the attention of some people. One studio wanted to cover the artificial reef launch. It is said to be a documentary about the protection of the marine environment.

For such a good thing, of course, he is willing to be interviewed.

The television crews were already waiting for him at the pier. A long-faced man in his thirties greeted him first when he saw him: "Link, hello. I'm Kevin. ”

Link discovers that the camera is already on them. He didn't deliberately look at the camera, he smiled and said, "Hello." Nice to meet you!"

"Link, I'm curious! Obviously, you're super rich. Of course, because of those four super oil wells, you're going to be even more super. What I'm curious about is that you said that this launch of artificial reefs is also a business. Business that doesn't know what you're going to do. I don't think it was intended to use artificial reefs to collect oil. ”

Link laughs, "In fact, those few wells have been getting me in some trouble, and some people are trying to get my Baker field instead." So if artificial reefs would get oil, I would never make them. Regardless of whether this paragraph will appear on the screen or not, he still said it. "Actually, it was one of the staff members of Ozette who repeatedly suggested to me that I should develop the nearby marine resources, such as fishing. But I never said yes to him. ”

"Is it because the oceans are getting less and less right now? Now you've changed your mind?"

"There's a reason!" Link said nonsense. "Now, I do commit to building a fishing boat that will allow him to do some fishing in my waters. ”

"What prompted you to change your mind?"

"Because whenever I come to Ozette, the clerk will bring me a fish every day. That makes me love eating fish. I think a lot of people will be like me. ”

"That's right. I also like to eat fish. Artificial reefs do allow for more and safer space for fish at sea. Kevin said this, motioning for the camera to stop.

After the camera stopped working, Kevin actually introduced the film crew to Link.

And this is, on that ship, which has been loaded, with two layers of artificial reefs stacked on the decks of two identical ships. The lower floor is two placed side by side, while the upper one is one. One ship can carry only thirty-six at a time.

The film crew filmed a video of Kevin's narration before they got on the same boat together.

The ship, which had finished loading, slowly left the dock. It's not a big ship, it's just a 1,100-ton engineering ship.

Kevin they interviewed the captain. It took more than 40 minutes for the boat to reach the area where the reef had been landed. The ship's crane began to sink into the water by hanging the artificial reef.

"Looks like these artificial reefs are going to be completely squared and put to the bottom of the sea?" At the top of the cabin, Kevin had the camera film an artificial reef entering the water, and then began interviewing Link. "And we noticed that there was another ship at work a little way out of the sea not far away. They seem to have sunk one stake after another to the bottom of the sea. Does this have anything to do with your artificial reef?"

"Yes. In fact, artificial reefs are just one part of my business. Artificial reefs can provide more space for fish in the area to thrive safely. I'm going to put some stakes on these artificial reefs, and I'm going to put a metal pipe on top of them in the hope of collecting a creature called gooseneck barnacles. ”

In his plan, the artificial reef is just a tool, which is used to fix the stakes. And the stainless steel pipe he installed on the pile was what he wanted to do.

The turbulent currents in this area are ideal for gooseneck barnacles, and they will attach to them wherever they are attached. Those stainless steel sheets are made for them.

"How many artificial reefs do you plan to put in this area?"

"Two thousand are planned. The cost of one is five thousand dollars. Includes those stainless steel pipes and the labor cost of putting it in. ”

"Do those piles interfere with normal sailing? I noticed that there are a lot of speedboats and yachts sailing here. ”

Link laughed and said, "Of course there is an impact. At the very least, these areas where artificial reefs are placed in the future are very dangerous at low tide. However, we will drop some buoys with warning lights. And we have set aside a certain fairway. And it's not a shipping channel for big ships. ”

"Sounds like a good project. Tourists can still see sea lions at sea, ships can still navigate, and you can make a profit. Of course, the most important thing is that there are two thousand more homes of fish. It's a win-win!"

Link smiled and said, "Yes." You're right! So, I think it's worth the $10 million. "There should be a fifth benefit: he can get a little bit of a good name.