166: Chapter 165 Airplanes and Farms

Natural, top-grade ambergris has a mellow and restrained fragrance. At room temperature, the scent evaporates slowly and is almost undetectable unless smelled from a close distance. To achieve the effect of carrying the scent on one's body, it must be burned alongside other spices for close-contact aromatherapy or made into a sachet to be worn for a long time. Otherwise, even if Cao Xiao brought out his entire stock of over twenty tons, it would be useless. The He family's actual residence was a large villa of over two thousand square meters in the city center; even if he stuffed a hundred tons inside, without several years for the scent to settle, it wouldn't be strong enough to permeate clothing and skin.

"Two hundred jin of top-grade ambergris. When I have time, I'll find you a high-quality incense burner, pair it with some other spices, and send them over together. You can burn it for fun whenever you're free!" Cao Xiao said, somewhat speechless.

"Two hundred jin? You really do have quite a lot! I couldn't tell, but you're actually an excellent poop-shoveler! Keep up the hard work in the future, and don't let that excellent nose of yours go to waste!" Mother He clicked her tongue in wonder, looking at Cao Xiao with praise and encouragement.

“Pfft!”

Old Chen, who was drinking tea, spat out a mouthful of wine. He wiped his mouth awkwardly and gave Mother He an annoyed glare.

“Haha! Poop-shoveler! Specifically picking up the big clumps! Hahaha!”

Liu Chang, who had appeared at some unknown point, laughed even more unrestrainedly.

“Liu Chang~ you just wait!” Cao Xiao threatened Liu Chang through gritted teeth, then looked at Mother He with a resentful expression. “Auntie! I'm your son-in-law, after all. Can you really disparage me like this?”

“Uh! There are top performers in every trade. Your talent for scooping manure can be considered the best among your peers. Don't worry, we won't look down on you! Hahaha!” Mother He was embarrassed for less than two seconds before her face changed again as she laughed loudly.

While Mother He was feeling proud of herself, Old Chen, who was on the side, couldn't take it anymore. His gaze sharpened as he asked Mother He flatly, “Chunxiang! If Cao Xiao is a poop-shoveler, then what am I? Hmm?”

“Uh! Hehe!” Mother He didn't dare talk back to Old Chen and could only offer an awkward, apologetic smile. Then she stared at Cao Xiao and said, “Xiao Xiao, that set of jewelry you had Yueyou bring me last time was a bit low-class! And it was very monotonous too! It would be embarrassing if Yueyou and I went out together in the future! Don't you think?”

“The best gems were used for the betrothal gifts. I'll try my best to pick the best of what's left and make a set of each type for you. However, it will take some time to finish them and send them to you. Once you're tired of wearing them, I'll get you new ones. If there's nothing else, I'll go get busy first!” How could Cao Xiao not guess what Mother He was plotting? He had already given away everything he could take out now, and his only thought was to escape this sea of suffering immediately.

“Don't be in such a hurry. You've sent your betrothal gifts, but we haven't given our return gifts yet! Aren't you curious about what we've prepared for you?” Seeing Cao Xiao being so sensible, Mother He was very satisfied and spoke to him mysteriously.

“I'll be happy with whatever you give. How about we talk about it later?” Cao Xiao didn't want to stay for another minute. No matter what good things the He family had prepared, he had no interest at all right now. Anyway, it would be given to him sooner or later; it couldn't run away.

“So young and yet so restless. Stand still for me!” Seeing that Cao Xiao was always thinking about running out, Mother He immediately scolded him unhappily. She took out two document folders from her large handbag and threw them to Cao Xiao, saying, “Take these and see for yourself!”

“Eh! A plane? A gulfstream g650! This is for me?” Cao Xiao opened one of the document folders and asked while looking through it.

Mother He smiled and said, “Finish reading it before you speak!”

Cao Xiao skimmed through the information in the folder and found that it was a private jet ownership certificate, and the owner was indeed himself. Cao Xiao had spent plenty of time browsing the internet when he had nothing to do, and he had seen some information about this private jet before. Moreover, his intellectual brain stored a large amount of data related to technological products. Gulfstream is one of the world's fastest and most luxurious brands of supersonic business jets. Due to its luxurious and excellent features, it has almost become synonymous with private jets. The gulfstream g650 is the latest product from the Gulfstream company and is also the most advanced and expensive of all Gulfstream models, with a price tag as high as 420 million huaxia currency!

The gulfstream g650 has a fuselage length of 29.4 meters, a height of 7.9 meters, a wingspan of 28.5 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 41 tons, a fuel capacity of 18.5 tons, a service ceiling of 15,500 meters, and a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.925. Its speed is very close to the speed of sound. With a full tank of fuel, its range can reach 13,000 kilometers at a speed of Mach 0.85.

The gulfstream g650 is the most technologically advanced commercial aircraft in the sky, equipped with many advanced flight safety control devices that greatly enhance the aircraft's safety. The cabin of the gulfstream g650 is longer and wider, more spacious than any other cabin in its class, and can accommodate 18 passengers simultaneously. The G650 is also equipped with a kitchen and an independently ventilated restroom. The cabin air pressure is also very suitable, making passengers feel quite comfortable even at high altitudes. Not only is the G650 equipped with a full kitchen and bar, but it also features various entertainment designs, including satellite phones and wireless internet, providing passengers with a rich and colorful flight environment.

Cao Xiao didn't say anything after finishing. He continued to open the other document folder and skimmed through it quickly. He was somewhat shocked—not by the content of the document itself, but by the He family's grand generosity. He was wondering just how much money Hongdu Group had scooped from the international futures market using the batch of goods he provided! And they had only offloaded a portion of the goods. The items in the two folders were worth about 1.1 billion huaxia currency in total. Including the 200 million or so spent on this engagement ceremony, that made 1.3 billion! It was impossible for the He family to spend all the money they earned, so this 1.3 billion huaxia currency must only be a small part of it—and a small part of the He family's share after the Hongdu Group shareholders' dividends. This meant that by speculating on Titanium futures, Hongdu Group had made a net profit of at least 10 billion huaxia currency. Moreover, Hongdu Group had gone in with a vengeful mindset to plunder; their methods were definitely ruthless. High leverage was a certainty. They might not have dared to use a hundred-fold leverage, but they wouldn't have hesitated for a second with thirty- or fifty-fold. Furthermore, the short-selling price drop range wouldn't be small. A total market collapse was unlikely, but it would at least be severely damaged and wouldn't see any improvement for three to five years. It would be hard to improve anyway, as Hongdu still held a large amount of stock! If it wasn't enough, they could continue to get more goods from him and throw them out at any time like worthless rotten eggs. In any case, the Titanium futures sector was now essentially in the hands of Hongdu Group, and by extension, in his own hands. Therefore, Cao Xiao found it hard to imagine exactly how much money Hongdu had harvested this time to be able to so generously give him over a billion's worth of toys.

Cao Xiao didn't even have a proper business of his own. Giving him a luxury private jet meant he could only use it to fly around the world for fun. The plane was almost worth more than his company. It would be embarrassing if people saw the plane and asked about his business. Not to mention, the plane was a gift from the He family. If people knew the situation, he would be mortified. Even if he told them, they wouldn't believe it; in terms of looks, he couldn't compete with a genuine 'pretty boy' living off a woman!

The second document folder contained a farm property title document, and the farm owner was also himself. The farm was located in the central region of Western Australia. The nature of the farm's title was not the leasehold title commonly practiced under local conditions, but a perpetual title. All the land, real estate, water rights, and underground mineral resources of the entire farm belonged completely to the owner, with no need to pay annual rent. This farm, located in the central region of Western Australia, reached an area of 950,000 acres, which is 3,860 square kilometers, equivalent to 5.77 million mu. That's 3.3 times the size of Hong Kong, larger than the area of many countries! Regardless of other conditions, just this massive land area alone made Cao Xiao's heart race.

Furthermore, the He family had only spent 130 million Australian dollars to buy this farm, which was equivalent to 660 million huaxia currency to buy a piece of land roughly half the size of the entire Huanghe City! In other words, the unit price was only a bit over a hundred huaxia currency per mu. This price also included over three thousand Hereford cattle and some fixed assets. If only the land price was calculated, it wouldn't even reach a hundred yuan per mu—it was practically a steal!

However, when Cao Xiao saw the specific location of the farm, he realized that this price wasn't actually that low. This farm was essentially a desert farm, located on the southwestern edge of the Great Sandy Desert in inland Western Australia. The annual precipitation was less than three hundred millimeters and was seasonal. Except for the rainy season each year, it was in a state of severe drought for the rest of the time. Furthermore, underground water resources were scarce. In such a vast area, there was actually only one well in a nearby small indigenous town. The local climate was dry and hot; during the height of summer, even getting drinking water was difficult, and it was impossible to take a bath all year round. Living there was practically no different from staying in a desert. Moreover, the vegetation on the farm was sparse, so there were no prospects for ranching or farming. As for sightseeing and tourism, that was even more out of the question. Given the environment there, a massive amount of capital would have to be invested in construction and promotion, and the costs wouldn't be recovered for eighty or a hundred years. Furthermore, the vegetation on the farm was degrading year by year; in not many years, the farm would cease to exist. It was no wonder the price was so cheap. If anyone else were to buy it, they might even think the price was too high, or it might even go unsold! He couldn't understand why the He family would buy this clearly hopeless farm to give to him. Perhaps they just saw the low price and bought it as a grand-sounding toy for him to mess around with.

As a traditional Huaxia person, Cao Xiao also had a deep-rooted obsession with land. This farm might have no commercial value in the eyes of other investors, but he had the means to transform it into an invaluable treasure chest. Forget this farm of less than four thousand square kilometers—as long as he was given time to manage it slowly, he could turn the entire Great Sandy Desert into an oasis. The soil quality of the farm wasn't too bad; all it lacked was sufficient rain. Otherwise, the grass and trees wouldn't become so lush during the rainy season. He couldn't change the climate, but he could obtain a massive amount of fresh water and transport it to the farm to be stored underground. Once the water resource problem was solved, he could spend some capital to build it up slowly. In less than two years, not only the original farm owner but even the local government would regret it until their faces turned blue!

Million-acre farms or ranches weren't something you could find everywhere. Even in a country like Australia with its vast land and sparse population, you couldn't find many of this size. Private farms and ranches of over a million acres in the world can be counted on one's fingers, and their owners are all world-class agricultural and pastoral tycoons. Just thinking about it, products from such a large area, whether from ranching or farming, could influence world agricultural and pastoral product trading prices to some extent. There weren't many to begin with, and they all already had owners. As long as the owners didn't want to sell, you couldn't buy a farm this large no matter how much money you had.

Besides, that farm wasn't completely worthless. Sparse vegetation didn't mean there was none. The farm had three thousand acres of Sandalwood plantations and ten thousand acres of regrowth shrubs and Eucalyptus forests. Although it was far from time to harvest them, at least it wasn't a completely barren patch. Along with some other natural trees, it didn't look that desolate. Therefore, this farm was very rare for Cao Xiao. Even if he didn't transform it, a million-acre desert wasn't something just anyone could own. Just mentioning the farm's area would significantly raise his status.

Furthermore, the farm's location was in the central region of Western Australia, right on the edge of the gold and copper mining distribution area in southern Western Australia. There were many precious metal mining areas nearby. If he was lucky, he might even find one on the farm. The probability of finding new mines there was high. In the future, when he had nothing to do there, he could also use the plane to survey the surrounding areas. It was much more reliable than wandering around aimlessly looking for mines himself.

Cao Xiao put away the documents and thanked them happily, “Thank you, Uncle and Auntie! I'm very satisfied with both of these gifts!”

Father He said kindly, “Haha! As long as you're satisfied! The farm was bought by chance; at the time, we just liked that it was big. Since the price wasn't high, we just bought it, thinking it wouldn't be bad to go there for a vacation in the summer. We don't have the energy to manage it, so it's better to leave it to you to mess around with. However, that plane was bought only after we called in quite a few favors. It was originally custom-made for an American tycoon, but he went bankrupt just as the aircraft was finished. If someone hadn't helped us, we wouldn't have had the chance to snatch up this kind of ready stock at the original price. But the interior decoration of that plane is a bit tacky. When you're not using it, you can find a manufacturer to remodel it. The plane is still undergoing various safety tests and won't be parked at Xianhe Airport until the day after tomorrow. You can take the documents and go receive it then. We've already had someone handle all the procedures for the farm, so you can go over and complete the handover when you're free.”

Cao Xiao was afraid of more things being brought up, so he spoke up to urge them, “Let's all go down and eat! I've really gone all out for this meal. I've used quite a lot of thirty-year-old ginseng, as well as many rare top-tier ingredients I got from abroad. Everything else is secondary, but there's one kind of food that is extraordinary. We hunted a prehistoric Megalodon in the waters near Cape Town. Its meat is even better than tuna and is rich in nutrients. This is something you can't eat even if you have money! I don't know how many guests have arrived now; if we go down any later, there might be nothing left to eat! Commissioner Zhang, I've had the wild boar stomach stewed for you; I'll have a portion served specifically to you in a bit. Let's hurry down!”