Chapter 259

"Secretary Ren, this really isn't my fault!" Director Lin wiped sweat from his brow, his voice trembling. "Every year, our town's seeds are allocated by the county seed company. Who knew this year they'd suddenly—"

"The county seed company?" Secretary Ren frowned, tapping his fingers on the desk. "Call them immediately and find out what's going on."

Director Lin rushed to make the call. Moments later, he returned pale-faced.

"Secretary, they said... there were quality issues with this year's seeds due to last year's disaster..." His voice trailed off. "What do we do now? We can't delay spring planting!"

Thud! Secretary Ren slammed his hand on the desk. "And they're only telling us now? Every brigade is waiting to sow!"

He took a deep breath, forcing down his anger. "Go home for today. I'll handle this personally tomorrow."

"But what about this batch of seeds—"

"Unload them!" Secretary Ren gritted his teeth. "Not a single grain stays!"

By the time Brigade Leader John Stone and his son Michael drove their empty tractor back to the village, night had fallen.

"Dad, something's not right," Michael said, gripping the steering wheel. "If this isn't resolved by tomorrow, we'll have to buy seeds from another province."

John nodded grimly. "Hundreds of families are counting on this harvest."

At home, Emily Johnson was reading under the kerosene lamp.

"Did you get the seeds?" she asked, looking up.

Michael shook his head. "There was a problem."

"Poor quality?" Emily immediately sensed the gravity of the situation.

Michael's eyes widened as he grabbed her hand. "How did you know?"

"A guess," she said softly. "If it were minor, you wouldn't have come back empty-handed."

His chest tightened. She was right—those seeds were definitely unusable.

"If the whole county is affected..." Emily hesitated.

"Then we'll buy from another province!" Michael said firmly. "We'll sell everything if we have to, but we will get seeds."

Before dawn the next day, father and son set out again.

The town's response crushed their hopes.

"To the county seat!" John said decisively.

But after scouring every seed station, they secured only a hundred pounds of corn seeds.

"Michael, we need to try neighboring counties," John said hoarsely. "Any later, and it'll be too late..."

The tractor jolted along dirt roads as they searched nearby towns, gathering only scraps of leftover seeds.

As night fell again, Emily stood at the gate, wringing her hands.

"Why aren't they back yet...?" She bit her lip, mentally calculating the supplies in her secret space.

If all else failed... she'd have to take the risk.