"Oh my god..." Jiang Hai shouted in surprise, gripping the handle above the window on his left.
To be honest, even in winter, the desert is no fun. When the wind blows, sand whips against your face, and the temperature is scorching. That's why, once you enter the desert, you close the windows tight. It feels a bit suffocating, but thankfully there's air conditioning and ventilation, so it's bearable.
But the worst part is that there are no roads in the desert. You have to drive right over the sand dunes. Honestly, it's terrible.
The shaking is no less intense than riding a roller coaster—and the worst part is that it doesn't feel safe at all.
A few days ago, Jiang Hai had hit a tree while driving a car. Now, every time he rides in this vehicle, he feels like it might flip over at any moment. It's really nerve-wracking.
"Don't worry, no need to freak out. This is just the appetizer," Du Famen said with a laugh after hearing Jiang Hai's outburst. Compared to Jiang Hai, he was completely used to this terrain and sat steadily without a care.
The car drove on for about half an hour before finally coming to a stop. As soon as it did, Jiang Hai opened the door and climbed out.
He collapsed onto the ground, panting. This road was absolutely terrible—was the driver crazy to go so fast?
"Hey, you're really a stranger to the desert," Du Famen said with a smile as he stepped out and looked down at Jiang Hai lying there.
"I thought I wouldn't even make it standing up," Jiang Hai gasped after lying there for a couple of minutes to catch his breath. He stood and looked around. The desert still stretched endlessly in every direction. "Where's your ranch? I don't see it anywhere." Was Du Famen joking?
"The ranch is in the middle of the desert," Du Famen explained with a smile. "We're still on the edge. It's about two more hours' drive."
Jiang Hai's face immediately darkened.
"Two more hours? Then why did we stop here?" Despite his sour mood, Jiang Hai had to ask—what kind of road was this?
"We stopped to let some air out of the tires. We haven't really entered the desert yet. The road ahead is much rougher. If the tires are fully inflated, it's hard to keep balance. We need to soften them by releasing some air to move forward safely," Du Famen patiently explained.
Jiang Hai broke out in a cold sweat. No way... This was just an appetizer? The main course was still to come? He silently swore he'd never come here again—unless absolutely necessary. The city of Dubai was fun, but this place was a trap.
"Why not come by helicopter?" Azarina, unfazed by the bumpy ride, walked over and patted Jiang Hai's back sympathetically. Then she looked at Du Famen, curious.
"It's not that we don't want to," Du Famen said, spreading his hands. "But in the desert, just like at sea, storms can come out of nowhere. Helicopters can't fly very high, and if we get caught in a storm, we're dead. There's no airport at the ranch for passenger or higher-flying planes, so driving is the only option."
Jiang Hai wasn't sure how much of that was true, but since he was already here, there was no turning back.
After a short break, he got back in the car to endure the "roller coaster" again. Fortunately, the driver was skilled. Despite some slopes reaching more than 70 degrees, the car didn't flip and drove steadily.
They bounced over the sand dunes and the endless sea of sand for about two hours. When the car stopped again, Jiang Hai climbed out without vomiting—a small victory.
After retching for a while, he ignored the burning hot sand and lay down flat, unwilling to get up.
Du Famen chuckled as he settled back in the car, knowing Jiang Hai wouldn't recover anytime soon or want to be exposed to the sun. After about ten minutes, Jiang Hai finally got up.
Du Famen stepped out, approached Jiang Hai, patted his back, and brushed off the sand.
"I will never come here again, no matter what you say," Jiang Hai said firmly, waving his hand.
"You're too fragile. You'll get used to the shaking," Du Famen smiled. After chatting for a while, Jiang Hai looked into the distance.
There, far away, was the ranch.
Even Jiang Hai had to admit the Dubai royal family was impressively wealthy.
From his perspective, the ranch looked like a massive oasis, covering hundreds of thousands of acres.
Outside the green pasture was a layer of electrified fencing, similar to Jiang Hai's own manor.
Behind the fence were rows of towering trees, acting as a wind and sand barrier. Inside the trees lay lush green grassland.
"Wow, you really spare no expense," Jiang Hai muttered, still shocked by the vastness before him.
As expected from the legendary Dubai royal family—their resources far surpassed his own.
"This used to be a large oasis with rich groundwater," Du Famen explained. "Since returning from your place, I've mobilized the entire country's power to expand it. The trees outside block wind and sand—the outermost are palm trees, then sand date trees, and the innermost layer is date palms, which bear delicious fruit."
"The soil beneath us was airlifted from Australia's most fertile lands and covered with sea mud from the Persian Gulf. The grass is royal bamboo grass, the finest pasture grass. I'd say everything here meets top ranch standards. But the most important part is your grass," he said, looking at Jiang Hai with obvious respect. It was clear he valued this project highly.
Jiang Hai took a moment to examine the royal bamboo grass. Though it wasn't planted at his manor, he was familiar with it.
Known as the "royal family" of grasses, royal bamboo grass is a hybrid of elephant grass and North American pennisetum.
It's considered the world's best pasture—fast-growing, nutrient-rich, and highly effective.
However, it's not suited for planting in Winthrop, where Jiang Hai's manor was, due to its demanding growth requirements.
It thrives only in tropical and subtropical climates with over 1,000 hours of annual sunshine, altitudes between 200-1,500 meters, average temperatures above 15°C, and precipitation above 1,000 mm—though watering can help with some of these.
It also needs about 250 frost-free days annually, fertile sandy soil, and if all conditions are met, it can yield around 25 harvests per year.
Many have made fortunes raising this grass—Du Famen's ranch is mostly planted with it.
Of course, no ranch grows only one kind of grass, just like people don't eat only one vegetable. Besides royal bamboo grass, there's ryegrass, sweet elephant grass, corn grass, alfalfa, and more.
In terms of forage alone, Du Famen's ranch likely had better grass than Jiang Hai's manor.
Though now, after Jiang Hai's improvements, his own grass could be considered among the best in the world.
"Come, take a look at the cows I've prepared," Du Famen said, laughing as he saw Jiang Hai admiring the ranch.
Money was no object here. Du Famen understood the principle that high investment leads to high returns.
As they toured the pasture, Jiang Hai secretly scolded Du Famen's lavish spending. Jiang Hai was confident in his own pasture, guessing these were just Angus cattle.
But Du Famen clearly thought differently.
Most of the beef cattle here were Simmental and Charolais, breeds considered superior to Angus in China. Their hybrids were among the top beef cattle.
While Luxi cattle were the best native Chinese breed, hybrids of Charolais and Simmental yielded 1.5 times more profit. Du Famen had purebred stock.
In terms of meat quality and production, these breeds outperformed Angus and native cattle.
Du Famen also raised Wagyu cattle imported from Japan.
There were camels and sheep, too, showing he cared deeply about this place.
Seeing the impressive livestock, Jiang Hai couldn't help but nod in approval. He wasn't the same naive man from a year ago; now he had his own informed opinions.
Though Du Famen's ranch wasn't a territory, as a royal family member, owning an oasis wasn't expensive.
Still, the investment in cattle, sheep, and the like was staggering—likely over $300 million USD, probably more than the total value of Jiang Hai's manor.
Walking the ranch with Du Famen, Jiang Hai found he had no complaints.
The layout, supporting facilities, guard density, and grass quality were all superior.
Compared to this, his own ranch felt amateurish. After all, Jiang Hai was a bit of a wild man.
Robbins-Garcia and the others weren't professional cowboys either, so they had only a vague understanding of such matters.
After the tour, Jiang Hai admitted, "Your place is excellent. I have no complaints. When are you coming to my place to harvest grass?"
Du Famen smiled. "As soon as possible. When's convenient for you?"
He'd invited Jiang Hai mainly to see if his grass would be compatible with Du Famen's ranch. Any conflict would be problematic.
In reality, Du Famen worried unnecessarily. Jiang Hai's grass was compatible with everything. It was only good for consumption—cattle loved it.
"Let's do it in early March. By then, the snow in Winthrop will have melted, making grass cutting easier. I'll have to return to China after visiting you. It'll be over a month before I'm back. Early March would be perfect for you to come and harvest grass," Jiang Hai said, calculating the timeline.
He was relatively free lately. After fishing season and the start of spring, he might be busy again.
"No problem," Du Famen agreed. "It's just over a month. I can manage without your grass for a bit. But I wonder if I can raise cattle so well without it."
"Your Highness Du Famen..." Just as they finalized the plan, a voice came from a distance.
Jiang Hai and Du Famen looked over to see a man being stopped by Du Famen's bodyguards. The man was shouting toward Du Famen.
Du Famen smiled, waved to the guards, who then stepped aside, letting the man rush forward quickly.