The moon cast a silvery glow over Chen Valley, its light dancing across the new solar greenhouse as it rose from the earth like a glass monument to silent ambition. Lin Feng stood on a scaffold, surveying the progress, his eyes tracing the crisscross of steel beams and tempered glass. Below, a few trusted villagers worked late, under dim floodlights, finishing the irrigation grid. Despite the late hour, there was an energy in the air—quiet, focused, almost reverent.
He had already mapped out which vegetables would be grown where, based on temperature sensitivity and light needs. A separate quadrant was dedicated to Silverleaf Greens, with another for rare microgreens he'd begun cultivating inside the Inner Realm. Each plant was a variable in a larger equation.
But Lin Feng wasn't just building a farm. He was building a controlled supply environment—something resilient to outside markets, unpredictable weather, and prying eyes.
And the world outside was beginning to pry.
---
Earlier that morning, Xu Yuhan received an unmarked envelope at her apartment in the city. Inside was a short note and a printed photo. The note read: "Who is the man behind the leaf?"
The photo was grainy, likely taken from a traffic camera or drone. It showed a delivery truck leaving the outskirts of Chen Valley. In the background, barely visible, was Lin Feng directing workers near a field.
Xu Yuhan frowned. She knew media could be ruthless, but this was too early for interest of this kind.
She called Lin Feng immediately.
"You've been followed," she said without preamble.
"I know," Lin Feng replied calmly. "The man in the trench coat two days ago. He's not a villager, nor a government inspector."
Xu's voice was tight. "They're trying to trace the brand."
"They won't find anything. The shell companies are clean. Logistics are layered. No signature trail."
"Still… they're getting bolder."
"I'm accelerating the next phase."
"What next phase?"
"Regional saturation—quietly."
---
That afternoon, Lin Feng sat inside a temporary office trailer near the old fertilizer plant—now freshly repainted, with the odor of ammonia scrubbed clean. Inside, steel racks and cold storage units hummed, already storing batches of fresh produce sealed with the silver leaf.
Liu Qiang arrived with two other cooperative members, each carrying boxes of documents.
"All registration papers complete. The new logistics shell firm—Qingyun Freight Services—is now active," Liu said.
Lin Feng reviewed the papers. Everything was in order. The firm had a city address, a warehouse lease, a small imported van fleet—all paid for by the cooperative's profits through carefully split invoices and third-party agencies.
"Next step?" asked Liu.
"We begin regional testing. Three cities. Only high-end restaurants and boutique grocers. I want feedback, not volume."
"And how do we deliver without drawing attention?"
"We let local vendors take the credit," Lin Feng said.
He tapped a folder labeled "Authorized Partners: Phase I."
"The restaurants will think they're sourcing from an exclusive farming collective. We remain shadows."
Liu nodded, impressed. "No ego, no trace."
"That's the goal," Lin Feng said. "Let the logo speak. Not the name."
---
Meanwhile, inside the Inner Realm, the forest had matured visibly. Bamboo groves swayed beside rows of mushroom mounds, while chickens roamed freely near an aquaponics pond that sparkled with health. Each part of the ecosystem was feeding the other. The goat pens had expanded, and Lin Feng had begun collecting their milk for testing.
Today, however, his focus was underground.
He had started digging tunnels with magic-enhanced tools from the space—a new feature unlocked after reaching Level 3 on his cultivation panel. These tunnels connected storage chambers, natural cellars, and even an experimental mushroom lab in a damp, limestone-lined cavern.
Inside one chamber, rows of Shiitake and King Oyster mushrooms were growing at rapid rates. The cool, humid environment inside the Inner Realm allowed for year-round production, and the nutrients from the realm's water accelerated their size and density.
He harvested two batches, placed them in vacuum containers, and labeled them with the silver leaf. The day these hit the market, mushroom lovers would weep.
Still, he'd release them in trickles—each step was part of the long game.
---
Three days later, in the city of Nancheng, a luxury dining event took place at Yuyuan Table, an elite restaurant known for its experimental Chinese-fusion tasting menu.
Xu Yuhan had secured a meeting with the executive chef, a fiery, eccentric man named Chef Gao.
She handed over a new sample box. Inside: Silverleaf Greens, Inner Realm Shiitake, and one tiny jar of goat cheese made from Lin Feng's test batch.
Chef Gao raised an eyebrow. "Anonymous again?"
"Still anonymous," she said with a smile.
By the end of the evening, Chef Gao had used the mushrooms in a truffle hotpot dish, and the goat cheese on lotus leaf crackers. He approached her at the end, visibly excited.
"Tell your farmer they have a standing offer. Whatever they grow, I'll buy."
Xu Yuhan smiled but said nothing. She only sent Lin Feng a message later: "Target 1 acquired. Silverleaf, mushroom, goat cheese all scored. No questions asked. 5kg order incoming."
Lin Feng replied simply: "Make it 4. Keep them wanting."
---
Back in Chen Valley, Lin Feng sat in his farmhouse, sipping herbal tea made from mint he had grown inside the Inner Realm. The sun was setting. Birds chirped in lazy rhythm. Peace lingered.
But it wouldn't last.
He had just received word from his information contact: the man in the trench coat had shown up in another nearby town, asking questions—posing as a regional agricultural inspector.
That meant someone was looking harder.
Lin Feng wasn't worried, but he wasn't foolish either. He began drafting a contingency plan.
If scrutiny escalated, he'd transfer a portion of production to a second hidden facility, farther inland, where only drones could reach. The blueprints were already forming in his mind.
---
Later that night, he met with Xu Yuhan at a small tea house in the city outskirts. Candlelight flickered between them.
"Why are you pushing harder now?" she asked.
"Because attention is inevitable," Lin Feng said. "I'd rather outpace it than react to it."
She studied him quietly. "You know... people with your mind usually end up behind big desks. Politics. Boards. Power."
He shook his head. "I'm not interested in power. Just permanence."
"You're unusual," she murmured.
He looked at her. "So are you."
Their eyes held for a moment too long.
Then she laughed, breaking the silence. "So what's the next vegetable, Mr. Mysterious Farmer?"
Lin Feng smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."
---
Elsewhere, in a downtown skyscraper office, Li Zhihong of Yingtai Ventures flipped through new reports. The cooperative hadn't expanded under their wing, but something was definitely growing.
He tapped his desk.
"This Lin Feng… doesn't want investment. But what if we squeeze from the edges?"
He looked up at his assistant.
"Start buying land near Chen Valley. Quietly. If we can't get inside his walls, we'll build around him."
A new game had begun.
And Lin Feng had just become its most important piece.
---
End of Chapter 25