Chapter 85 Something Happened in the Field: Mutant Plants Appear!

Early morning, at the Lu family residence.

Lu Chen yawned and looked sleepy as he got out of bed to go to the bathroom to wash up. He pressed the faucet touchscreen, and cold water gushed out instantly.

I scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on my face; the cool sensation instantly chased away most of my sleepiness.

After washing my face, I used the automatic toothbrush my brother gave me to brush my teeth clean from top to bottom and side to side. Then I applied moisturizing cream and sprayed sunscreen before stepping out of the room feeling refreshed.

I put on the bio-suit I took off before bed, and then prepared all the other 'equipment'. I admired myself in the half-length mirror in the room for a while before running downstairs satisfied.

After learning where her brother was from her sister, who was busy making breakfast in the kitchen, she headed straight for the vegetable garden.

"Brother! Let me help you water the plants!"

The viewers who were watching Lu Xuan force the vegetables to grow subconsciously shifted their gaze, and burst out laughing the moment they saw Lu Chen's face.

[Where is this little brother planning to rob someone?]

[Nonsense, robbers should wear stockings over their heads, little brother, this is clearly fashionable!]

This was because Lu Chen was fully armed, wearing not only a sun hat and an ice-cooling mask.

They knew, of course, that Lu Chen's preparations were all for sun protection, but seeing him wearing a sun hat and an ice-cooling mask, with his eyes covered by large-framed black sunglasses, looking completely armed, it was really hard not to burst out laughing.

Even though they've seen this look for two days, they still can't help but laugh every time they see it.

Nothing else, it just feels so good to steal.

Lu Chen himself probably thought his look was particularly cool, so every time he appeared, he would slightly raise his chin and subtly strike what he thought was a very stylish pose, making many female viewers unable to help but giggle like doting aunts.

However, the little guy couldn't maintain his composure for long in front of Lu Xuan. After a brief moment of self-admiration, he happily ran over to help water the vegetable garden.

Once Lu Xuan had cultivated a new batch of ripe vegetables, Lu Chen was particularly eager to help dig them up.

Lu Xuan was also bored, so he deliberately urged the baby to be born on one side for a while and on the other side for a while, watching the little guy busy back and forth.

The viewers in the live stream couldn't help but scold him, asking why he was teasing a child!

Lu Xuan remained noncommittal, "What's the point of raising children if you don't use them for fun?"

Audience: ...Damn! It actually makes a strange sense.

The two brothers were so busy that Lei Yan came to call them for dinner, and they finally stopped, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Today's breakfast consisted of porridge and steamed buns with different fillings that I made before, a large bowl of steamed egg custard made with ten eggs, a big bowl of braised dishes, tofu with scallions, hot and sour shredded potatoes, cold bamboo shoots, and pickled bamboo shoots that I made yesterday.

Because Lei Yan and Lu Qing's appetites had increased, the amount of porridge and steamed buns they needed was too much, so they also brought out a large pot of stewed pork ribs.

Meat dishes are more substantial and filling, and stewed ribs are not too greasy or heavy for breakfast.

Dipping it in soy sauce with minced garlic and chili powder makes it incredibly fragrant!

The pickled bamboo shoots, already infused with flavor, are crisp, spicy, and appetizing, making them so delicious that you can't stop eating them.

While the viewers in the live stream were busy eating, Lu Qing asked Lu Xuan, "Are you coming to the fields with us today?"

Lu Xuan shook his head, "I'm not going out today."

Lei Yan was puzzled. "Do we still need to force the vegetables in the garden to grow? Actually, we have enough vegetables to eat now, so there's no rush to force them to grow."

Lu Xuan: "I have other plans, you'll find out in a few days."

After hearing this, the couple gave up the idea of ​​asking any further questions.

Lu Chen wanted to stay and continue helping Lu Xuan, but Lu Xuan refused.

"Go help your sister and brother-in-law weed, or find a safe place to play with the other kids in the village."

Lu Chen immediately offered, "I'll help with the weeding!"

He's not a child anymore. Everyone in the family is busy; how can he just play all day?

After the meal, Lu Chen, Lu Qing, and Lei Yan set off for the fields, while Lu Xuan lay on a rocking chair in a corner of the vegetable garden.

On the small table next to it were various fruits, pork jerky, pickled chicken feet, roasted chestnuts, braised food, canned fruit and other snacks, as well as a large bucket of chilled plum juice.

While eating snacks, he continuously channeled his wood-type supernatural power to help the vegetables in the garden grow.

The audience ate along with Lu Xuan, while chatting casually.

[The streamer has been urging you to have a baby these past few days, don't you find it boring?]

[Exactly, didn't your brother-in-law say that since you have plenty of food, why not cook something fresh, like finding some wild animals for a thrilling battle?]

[Although I've mentioned before that watching videos about artificially inducing the growth of natural foods is endlessly entertaining, it gets a bit repetitive every day.]

Lu Xuan said, "That's because you didn't look carefully. Surely no one really thinks I'm just naively urging them to play around? Surely not everyone in the Star Alliance is that innocent?"

Audience: !!

How could this person be so annoying?

【Are you kidding me? Of course we wouldn't be that stupid!】

At times like this, anyone who admits it is a fool, and they are undoubtedly the wisest!

Lu Xuan said, "Oh?" Then tell me, what's the point of my urging for childbirth?

Audience: ...How would we know!

Fortunately, not all viewers were so oblivious. One viewer quickly commented: "It seems the vegetables the streamer encourages to mature are different each time? Some are quite large, others are smaller, but the yield is higher."

The other clueless spectators looked completely bewildered.

Really?

How come they didn't notice?

Even if it's true, isn't it normal for naturally grown crops to vary in size and yield?

What's so noteworthy about that?

[If it were anyone else, there would be nothing to say, but since the streamer said so, there must be something fishy going on.]

For example, is this change truly random, or is it intentionally controlled by the streamer using supernatural abilities?

What is the purpose of this control? Besides differences in volume and yield, could the taste, which is uncertain in the live stream, also differ?

Unfortunately, there's still a bit too little data to draw on, so we'll have to wait and see if our guesses are correct.

Goodness! There are so many rules about growing vegetables? Very well! I'll see what kind of sneaky tricks this streamer is up to behind our backs this time!

Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

What do you mean by "behind your backs"? I've been openly urging you to have a baby every day, and you didn't even notice. Is that my fault?

With a specific purpose for observation, the audience then shifted their focus to the vegetables in the garden.

Some people even made a list, recording the varieties, sizes, and approximate yields of each fertilization process that Lu Xuan induced.

Just as the audience was preparing to collect more data and begin comparative analysis, Li Tuo rushed over in a flurry.

"Brother Lu, something terrible has happened! There's been an accident in the fields!"

The audience was invigorated.

Something happened in the field? What happened?

Could it be that wild animals discovered and ruined the crops in the field?

Lu Xuan, however, guessed something from Li Jing's strange expression and smiled as he reminded the audience, "It might be a surprise."

The audience was suspicious, or surprised?

I already said something bad happened, how did it turn into a surprise?

Not long after, when they saw several plants that stood out from the surrounding crops in the field belonging to the village chief, everyone in the live broadcast room was shocked and their mouths dropped open.

Holy crap, what is that thing?

Mutant plants have appeared in the field!?

[Wait a minute, this thing looks a bit like a rice seedling. Could it have mutated from a rice seedling?]

[How is that possible! Ancient times weren't like interstellar space, filled with all sorts of radiation. How could perfectly healthy primitive species suddenly mutate!]

Li Tie also wanted to know the answer to this question.

He asked Lu Xuan with a worried look on his face, "Xuan, what's wrong with those strange-looking plants? They were fine this morning, but when we finished weeding and went to get water to water them, they turned into this. Could they be some kind of monster that came out of the deep mountains?"

Lu Xuan smiled slightly, "Don't worry, it should be a good thing."

There were changes within five days of starting to plant, much faster than he had expected.

Under the watchful eyes of the Li family and several landowners from nearby areas who had come to see what was going on, Lu Xuan walked toward the purplish-colored mutated rice seedling.

After confirming with his finger that it had not mutated into a toxic substance and would not affect other normal rice seedlings around it, he began to channel his supernatural power into the mutated plant to ripen it all at once.

The mutant seedlings absorbed enough energy and began to grow wildly. Not only were the rice ears that grew dense and numerous, but the rice grains that formed on them were also visibly plump and large.

The rice stalks, which were already nearly two meters tall, bent over under the heavy pressure, drooping down to Lu Xuan's chest.

Upon witnessing this bountiful harvest, the Li family momentarily forgot their fear and worries, rushing over excitedly until they were almost touching the strangely colored, enormous plant before abruptly stopping.

Li Tie stared wide-eyed and said, "Ah Xuan, is this rice? How can it grow so big?"

Li Jing then asked, "If this is also rice, can it still be eaten? Will it taste good?"

Lu Xuan: "It's not poisonous, so it's definitely edible. As for the taste, we'll have to wait until it's shelled and dried to know."

Miao Jinfeng said worriedly, "Is it really not poisonous? Actually, we don't lack food at home. I hope it doesn't make people sick."

Lu Xuan directly picked a grain of rice the size of a soybean from the mutated rice stalk in front of him, crushed it with his fingers to remove the outer skin, revealing the pale yellow inside for them to see.

"The color inside is normal, there's no major problem."

The Li family members still did not relax.

That's what they say... But who has ever seen such a big grain of rice? Is this even rice anymore?

Knowing they had doubts, Lu Xuan simply took out a plant detector and performed the test.

Soon, the detector beeped, a green indicator appeared on the screen, and a relevant data report was also displayed.

Lu Xuan explained to them: "The detector can detect whether a plant is poisonous. Green means it is non-toxic, yellow means it is slightly toxic, red means it is toxic, and black means it is extremely toxic and will kill you if you touch it."

To increase his persuasiveness, he took out a poisonous mushroom from his storage space and continued testing.

This time, a deep red, almost black warning appeared on the screen.

The Li family members gasped in disbelief.

So poisonous!

This time they finally believed that the rice grains were not poisonous.

At this point, Lu Xuan took some more brown rice that he had exchanged with the village for testing. The test results were naturally still green and harmless. He mainly looked at the nutritional value data report.

A comparison with the data of mutant rice clearly shows that the nutritional value of mutant rice is much higher than that of the original rice, almost doubling.

Lu Xuan said, "Judging from the size of the mutated rice, the amount of unhusked rice obtained after drying and hulling from the grains of this mutated rice plant is conservatively estimated to be more than half a pound. I don't need to explain the significance of that, do I?"

The breathing of the Li family, led by Li Tie, became noticeably heavier.

There's really no need to say more.

The rice they used to grow only yielded a little over half an ounce per plant, with a yield of just over two hundred to three hundred catties per mu.

If a single plant can yield more than half a pound of rice grains, how much grain could be harvested if an entire acre of land were planted with this type of rice?

Wouldn't that increase production tenfold?

"Hiss—!" Miao Jinfeng couldn't help but clutch her wildly beating chest. "My God, am I dreaming?"

The other members of the Li family didn't react much better. They were all breathing heavily, their eyes shining, as if they could already see the mountain of grain engulfing them.