"Hello, are you the chef of this restaurant?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" Lin Chen looked curiously at the woman.

The middle-aged woman took out a business card, "Hello, my name is Huo Jing, I'm the vice president of the DY Gourmet Association, and I would like to invite you to participate in the DY Gourmet Competition as a judge. Would you be interested?"

"Will this competition be televised?" Lin Chen asked, with a spark of interest.

"Of course, it will be broadcast live on the entire DY television network, and we will also stream the competition on the internet," Huo Jing replied.

"Okay, I'm willing to participate in the competition," Lin Chen pondered for a moment before accepting Huo Jing's invitation. Television broadcasting could be a good way to earn popularity.

Huo Jing was overjoyed to hear that Lin Chen agreed to the invitation to the competition. If he participated, it would definitely enhance the event's prestige.

Not only did this incident not cause any negative impact on Lin Chen's restaurant, but it also got more popular. Even the mayor came to eat there, which was the best advertisement of all.

Lin Chen prepared the dinner and the next morning's meals in advance, then hurried back to Peach Blossom Village.

"System, I want to exchange for the Spirit Locking Array."

"Ding-dong, congratulations to the host 'Lin Chen', you have obtained the Spirit Locking Array. 5,000 popularity points deducted, balance: 8,900."

Having exchanged for the Spirit Locking Array, Lin Chen's main task was to complete the hundred acres of bountiful farmland task. He locked himself in the room and began to draw Gathering Spirit Talismans.

Mysterious runes appeared in his mind. Lin Chen took out a talisman brush, took a deep breath, and concentrated True Qi in his palm, channeling it into the brush.

Lines formed by condensing True Qi appeared on the jade stone, following the brush as it traced the runes from Lin Chen's mind. After finishing the first talisman, he felt almost completely drained.

He rested for about two hours before picking up the brush again.

It wasn't until the next day's dawn that the eight Spirit Locking Talismans were finally completed.

"Phew!"

Carrying eight jade stones engraved with runes, Lin Chen, paying no heed to his exhaustion, hurried to the base.

The morning sunlight felt particularly warm on his skin. Several cranes and bulldozers lay quietly on the construction site; the workers had not yet started their day.

Lin Chen located the positions for the eight nodes of the Spirit Locking Array, dug deep pits for each, then buried the jade stones and filled the pits back in.

When the last stone was buried underground, Lin Chen felt the earth tremble. Eight green lights soared into the sky, weaving into a screen of light that enveloped the entire base.

Lin Chen could feel Spiritual Energy from all directions rushing towards the base, especially the wasteland. Countless strands of Spiritual Energy were absorbed into the ground, nourishing the previously barren land.

It took a little over an hour for the Spiritual Energy within the base to stabilize. The wasteland, which had once been barren, now sprouted green shoots in a blink of an eye.

"It looks like this Spirit Locking Array is effective," Lin Chen finally let out a sigh of relief.

Constructing the Spirit Locking Array was the first and a critical step in completing his task. Next, Lin Chen could proceed with his plan.

By this time, it was already bright outside, and the workers started to arrive at the site one after another.

The foreman Wang Hai saw Lin Chen and eagerly greeted him with warmth, "Boss Lin, you're here at the site so early."

Lin Chen nodded and said, "You're quite early too. Thank you for your hard work."

"That's our duty. Boss Xue has given us a strict order; we must complete the project within the deadline," Wang Hai said with a laugh.

"By the way, Brother Wang, I have a favor to ask you. A few days ago, I had a feng shui master take a look at the feng shui and he told me to set up eight steles at eight locations. I have already marked these places. Could you trouble yourself to find eight steles and set them up at those eight spots?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Wang Hai reassured Lin Chen, patting his chest confidently.

After arranging the construction site, Lin Chen left the base and headed towards the village.

Lin Chen thought about going into town again today to buy some seeds.

As he passed by his second uncle Lin Shuang's house, he suddenly heard crying from inside.

"What's going on?" Lin Chen curiously walked into his second uncle's house.

He saw his second aunt scolding the second uncle: "You damned fool, always looking for petty advantages. Now see what you've got us into, buying seeds that can't germinate. Xiaoliang still needs to go to school, tell me what are we supposed to do now."

Second Uncle's face was stern as he sat on a stone in the courtyard, smoking his pipe with deep sighs.

There were bags of cabbage seeds in front of him. Lin Chen walked over, picked up a seed, and inspected it: "Second Aunt, don't panic, there might still be a way."

"A way, what could possibly be done? We spent half our savings on these cabbage seeds. The rest was sent to Xiaoliang, and we spent the remaining money on these seeds. We thought we could look forward to a good harvest after planting, but now all we got is a pile of useless seeds. How are we supposed to live now!" Second Aunt wiped her tears, crying harder and harder.

An idea to make the cabbage seeds germinate again suddenly formed in Lin Chen's mind.

"Second Aunt, don't worry, sell the cabbage seeds to me," Lin Chen offered comfortingly.

"Lin Chen, these are all useless cabbage seeds, why would you buy them?" Second Uncle asked.

Lin Chen smiled, "Don't worry, I have a use for them."

"Alright, since you say so, I'll sell them to you at half price," Second Uncle said with gratitude.

Lin Chen shook his head, "Second Uncle, these cabbage seeds are very useful to me, I'll buy them at the original price."

"What, buy at the original price?" Second Uncle was taken aback by Lin Chen's offer, knowing these useless cabbage seeds were essentially worthless. Wasn't Lin Chen getting the short end of the stick?

"Xiaochen, I know you mean well for your second uncle, but I can't let you be taken advantage of like this!" Second Uncle insisted, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, Second Uncle, these seeds are very useful to me. How about this, please help me transport them to that piece of land I bought," Lin Chen said with a smile.

"Sure, no problem." Second Uncle nodded, still thinking that Lin Chen insisted on the seeds' usefulness to help him and felt very thankful.

Second Uncle helped transport the cabbage seeds to the field and paused when he saw grass growing on the land.

"Didn't the experts say that nothing could grow on this land due to the poor soil quality? Why is there wild grass here? It's very strange."

Lin Chen chuckled, "Now this land is not only capable of growing wild grass but also crops!"

"Really? Then you've made a profit," Second Uncle said enviously.

In fact, after Lin Chen's transformation, this wasteland had become the most fertile land within a hundred miles.

"Second Uncle, I don't have that much cash on me. I'll talk to dad later, and you can go directly to get the money," Lin Chen said.

"Alright, Lin Chen, I won't forget this favor," Second Uncle thanked Lin Chen again before leaving.

After sending Second Uncle off, Lin Chen returned to the field and picked up a hoe to start working the land.