Chapter 624 Cooling Down

The weather in October did not disappoint everyone.

It was still so hot at the beginning of the month that I could only wear a thin jacket, but in the middle of the month, I had to change into a woolen coat.

I’m afraid that I’ll have to change into a down jacket at the end of the month.

Autumn is so short that if you are not careful, you may lose sight of its tail.

In the middle of the month, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences published their results on whether wheat seeds that failed to adapt to the mutant sunlight could germinate. After reading it, everyone was confused and still didn't know whether this thing could grow.

In fact, the bigwigs at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences are also bald. During this period, they have already grabbed several handfuls of mixed wheat grains and sowed them.

But from the germination and fruiting, it is impossible to tell which ones are adapting to the changes in sunlight and which ones are not.

We can only guess that the ones in the middle that grow a little slower and show signs of withering have failed to survive natural selection.

The bosses also sowed some wheat grains from withered ears of wheat.

It’s just that the two kinds of wheat grains were discovered a little late, and there are very few specimens left, so they dare not eat them all.

But judging from the germination conditions, I really can't tell what's going on.

Anyway, they have seen green, but they cannot guess how it will grow in the future as time is still short.

Also, they were mostly conducting experiments indoors, which is quite different from the outside environment. It is unclear whether throwing these wheat seedlings into the sun will trigger a new round of natural selection.

There are still many topics to be studied, but they really don't have time to complete them before the autumn planting this year. They can only share the existing results with everyone, but they don't have much guiding significance.

However, even though agricultural giants have studied it clearly, it still has no impact on most people.

They didn't pay attention to distinguishing the two seeds when they harvested them, and mixed them together. Even if they know the difference now, they can't tell them apart.

Since I couldn't buy other seeds, I could only plant them blindly. At worst, I would harvest a batch of bitter grains, which would be edible and I wouldn't starve.

In fact, experts believe that under the current environmental conditions, it is more suitable to grow annual herbs with edible tubers such as potatoes and sweet potatoes. They speculate that growing in the soil is more likely to be immune to sunlight.

It's just that the spring and autumn are short, and the winter and summer are long, so people can't find the right time to plant. You can't just pull out the wheat and rice halfway through planting to plant these food crops that take several months to grow.

However, after hearing this, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan had a sudden idea and made several planting frames with storage boxes and cardboard boxes, planting potatoes and sweet potatoes respectively.

I don't know how many fruits they can produce and how big they can grow in such a cramped little frame. Anyway, they don't take up much space, so I'll just plant them and see.

They posted the planting video on Weibo, and just like the initial vegetable planting, it attracted a large number of people to follow suit.

The two of them were quite happy about this. Being able to make full use of time and space to enrich the dining table is a good thing for everyone.

As time goes by, the temperature drops lower and lower.

At the end of October, the highest temperature in Hai City during the day was only around ten degrees, while at night it was close to zero degrees.

In Beiha City, Simon City, and other northern cities, daytime temperatures have dropped below zero. The alliance was worried that the heating pipes that had just been repaired this year would be frozen and cracked again, so it quickly notified the heating department to be ready for heating at any time.

This year, due to adequate preparations, no large number of people went south to avoid the cold. However, it is obvious that people in the north are having a hard time.

Not to mention the low temperature, which makes it uncomfortable to live there. For example, the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn that we had replanted with great difficulty have matured and been harvested, but we want to plant some winter wheat, but we are afraid that it will freeze to death and we won’t get any harvest.

If you don't plant it, you don't know what to do with the land. There are no food crops that can withstand temperatures as low as minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius.

They work hard all year long, but only get one crop of grain to harvest, and it's not even staple food like rice or flour. Tell me, aren't you frustrated?

Now it’s different from before, you can buy whatever you want.

Even if people in the north want to buy some bitter rice and noodles in the market, they have to wait for the opportunity.

If the alliance hadn't been secretly regulating the situation, I'm afraid some people would have starved to death on the roadside.

Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan, wearing pajamas and wrapped in quilts, sat by the small stove and warmed themselves by the fire.

As for the two little babies, they were crawling back and forth on the bed next to them.

Shen Yanming had installed guardrails around the bed, so he wasn't afraid that the two little rascals would accidentally fall down.

However, the couple still stayed by the side, fearing that something might happen.

"Looking at the weather, it's probably not much different from last year. I don't know if it will be this cold every year in the future," said Bi Qiaoan.

Shen Yanming stood up and touched the foreheads of the two curious babies. Seeing that they were warm and not sweating, he sat back down.

"I guess so. I'm afraid it will get even colder."

The couple sighed and picked up their phones to surf the internet.

There is a lot of news on the Internet, including daily reports from migrant workers working in the fields abroad.

Because the alliance took winter temperatures into consideration, the countries that signed the cooperation agreement were all small neighboring countries south of Qinghua and north of the equator.

Those workers went at the right time, just in time to plant the seeds before the temperature dropped. Now they are all staying in their rooms with nothing to do.

It is also located close to the equator, and the temperature is higher than that in most cities in Qinghua Country.

At the moment, the 20 degrees is quite comfortable.

In winter, the temperature remains around ten degrees, which is better than in most cities in the country.

These laborers are quite proud of themselves, thinking they have gotten a great deal. Their rest time is longer than their working time every day in a foreign country, and they are almost bored to death by idleness.

In other words, they did not take into account the heavy labor after winter and the high temperatures when summer comes near the equator, otherwise they would probably cry.

They muddle along with the criminals, living a lazy life every day, without considering the relationship between giving and getting.

On the other hand, the guards leading the team were very self-disciplined every day. When they had no farming tasks, they would exercise on their own and always maintain a stronger physique than ordinary people.

The laborers who were willing to work hard after being lazy for a while would follow the practice, while those who were just slacking off would just pretend not to see it.

In Qinghua, those who have family members who are on missions abroad are not so worried because they can get news about their loved ones every now and then.

However, the workers who were carrying out special tasks in the country never reported that they were safe, which made some families panic, fearing that their children might encounter accidents.

The great-grandfather and great-grandmother were also extremely worried, and even called Shen Yanming once to inquire about the news.

But Comrade Lao Shen, a small follower, knew nothing and could only comfort the old couple: "No news means everything is normal, don't worry."

It was not until the Qinghe Alliance learned about the situation that they pinned a message on their official Weibo account saying “They are doing well and are working hard!” that everyone was put at ease.