Chapter 148 Jinjiang Exclusive Release

Seven days after arriving in Yunlu Village, Ji Xiuling finally left the room and got off the boat.

The rain today was much lighter than the previous few days. Ji Xiuling was wearing the biological suit that Lu Qing had lent her, and a raincoat on the outside. Apart from some coolness on her face, she could hardly feel any coldness.

When she walked down from the deck and stepped on the wet ground, Ji Xiuling turned back as if she remembered something. When she saw how magnificent the ship she had been living on for the past few days was, she was stunned.

Wu Yinyin said with some complacency, "Isn't it magnificent? Our village spent a fortune on this boat. With it, we don't have to worry about getting wet, no matter how heavy the rain gets during the rainy season."

Ji Xiuling agreed, "It's really impressive."

While on the boat, she heard Aunt Miao and Grandma Lin say that all the villagers in Yunlu Village lived on one boat, and she had a preliminary estimate of the size of the boat.

But after actually seeing the hull, she found that her imagination was too weak.

It can also be said that the boats owned by Yunlu Village are amazing.

If the disaster victims in Fuyao Town could own such a large boat, perhaps she would not be abandoned by her husband's family?

Likewise, there would be no chance to meet an incredible group of disaster victims like the one in Yunlu Village where all the survivors survived.

Soon, Ji Xiuling also saw a large ship next to Ship No. 2. Although it was smaller in size, it was obviously more refined in appearance.

That should be Lu Xuan, Lu Qing's younger brother, who Grandma Lin often mentioned. It is the boat No. 1 where the four members of the Lu family live.

Only four people own such a big boat. Ji Xiuling is more and more convinced that the Lu family has a unique status in Yunlu Village.

She also saw two kayaks parked in the floodwaters around the large boats.

The tents on the boat looked like small houses on the water and seemed very convenient, which made Ji Xiuling unable to help but look at them again and again.

Lu Qing, who was standing nearby, put on the hood of her raincoat and called out to them, "Alright, let's go! The mushroom picking is almost underway at the mushroom house. Let's go help out."

The three of them first passed a row of awnings on the shore.

Inside the awning, a group of women were busy processing the river fish they had just received. Some of them chopped the processed fish meat into meat paste to make fish balls, while others pickled it to make salted fish.

Ji Xiuling looked at the large basin of pure white salt placed in front of the aunts and said in amazement, "Is that... salt? How can there be so much?"

And it’s fine salt!

Using such precious fine salt to pickle salted fish? Too extravagant!

Wu Yinyin explained with a smile, "Well, we don't lack salt. We can go to the grocery store and buy as much as you want."

Ji Xiuling asked in surprise: "You also have a grocery store?"

"That's right." Wu Yinyin tilted her head. "Didn't Granny Lin tell you? Maybe you forgot. The grocery store is on Ship No. 1. They sell all kinds of supplies."

"Salt, sugar, fruit, grain, fresh meat, dried meat, cloth, nutritional supplements, ice and heating pads, camping lights, toilet paper, bio-suits, blankets, bows and arrows... In short, there's a lot of stuff. I'll take you there later and you'll see."

Lu Qing said, "In the beginning, the salt we used for pickling vegetables was actually the coarse salt we exchanged from Ah Xuan. But in the past few months, we've caught too many prey and harvested too many cabbages and radishes in the fields, so we've unknowingly used up all the coarse salt."

At the beginning, Lu Xuan bought a full thousand kilograms of coarse salt in the provincial capital.

When Lu Qing heard this number for the first time, she thought they would never be able to use up so much salt in their lifetime. But she never expected that even if the whole village used it together, it would be gone in less than half a year.

Lu Qing sighed, "Coarse salt is still the best for pickling vegetables, but since we've run out of it, there's nothing we can do. We can only make do with fine salt."

Ji Xiuling: “…”

As they were talking, they arrived at the mushroom house.

Looking at the rows of tree trunks and grass piles covered with colorful mushrooms on the iron frames, Ji Xiuling was inevitably shocked again.

She cried out, "How can there be so many mushrooms!?"

Lu Qing smiled lightly, quite proudly: "That's why it's called a mushroom house. This place is specially used to grow mushrooms."

Ji Xiuling looked dazed.

She looked up and saw that the mushroom house was completely enclosed by a blackout awning. She didn't have to worry about getting wet in the rain. The temperature inside was as warm as on the boat, and she didn't feel like she was outdoors at all.

Wu Yinyin took out a few bamboo baskets and gave one to Ji Xiuling, saying, "Alright, stop gossiping and get to work. Although you're not yet a member of our village, you helped today, so you'll get a share when the distribution comes later."

Ji Xiuling, who had nothing, straightened her expression, cheered herself up, and followed the two of them with a bamboo basket in hand.

After getting really close to the mushrooms that were growing well, Ji Xiuling discovered that these mushrooms were much larger than those picked by the disaster victims in Fuyao Town in the rain. The mushroom flesh was visibly thick, and one could tell at a glance that they would taste good.

While she was imitating Lu Qing and Wu Yinyin's techniques and using scissors to pick the mushrooms that had grown to the perfect size, she was also scanning other areas of the mushroom house to estimate its size.

How many mushrooms can be harvested at a time from such a large mushroom house? I’m afraid it will be completely submerged in mushrooms.

"Hahaha, how could that be?" Wu Yinyin laughed out loud. "Excluding the Lu family's share and the public supplies, the remaining dozens of households in the village only received three or four baskets each."

Only then did Ji Xiuling realize that she had said something carelessly.

She looked at the bamboo baskets around her that were more than half a meter high and said, "Three or four baskets is a lot, right?"

If ordinary disaster victims got this many mushrooms, it would be enough to last them for at least half a month, and if they saved them a little, it would be enough to last them for a month or so.

Wu Yinyin shook her head repeatedly, "How can we eat it for that long? People in our village have big appetites. These mushrooms, along with other vegetables and meat, are barely enough to last for seven days.

But we also collect quite a bit from the wild. Some families can exchange some of the leftover mushrooms for food, and we can also save some to dry and store, or make mushroom sauce.”

"Let me tell you, Auntie Chen is the best at making mushroom sauce. It's delicious when mixed with rice, noodles, or even wrapped in pancakes."

Wu Yinyin then said to the next row of shelves with cave mushrooms, "And those meat mushrooms over there, just add a little meat and stir-fry them, and they'll taste just like meat. With them, we can save a lot of meat."

Ji Xiuling was fascinated by what she heard.

Many of those responsible for picking mushrooms in the mushroom house are elderly people who are not suitable for going out to pick mushrooms. There are also women like them who have not taken the turn to pick mushrooms. There are more than 30 people in total, and they can pick all the mushrooms in an acre of land in less than half an hour.

Lu Qing and Wu Yinyin were both experienced, and each picked more than seven baskets. Ji Xiuling picked less, only five.

Putting the picked mushrooms in a corner, Wu Yinyin explained, "My mother-in-law will come over later to collect these mushrooms and count them, and then distribute each family's share tonight. After you get your wages today, you can take them to the grocery store to exchange for the supplies you need."

After leaving the mushroom house, the three of them went to the larger field next door.

As expected, Ji Xiuling was once again shocked by Yunlu Village's overly advanced planting model.

She stared at the flying plant protection machine with her mouth open, a dazed look on her face. "Weeding, sowing, fertilizing, watering—can all be done with that...plant protection machine? Then wouldn't the villagers have to do anything and still harvest?"

Lu Qing shook her head and said, "How can we do nothing? After the plant protection machine sows the seeds, we are responsible for covering the soil. If the seeds grow too densely, we also need to thin them out. Besides, the water the plant protection machine can only fill is enough to irrigate one acre of land. We have 200 acres of land, so we need to change the water 200 times a day."

Even if there is a plant protection machine in the hilly areas and a plant protection machine in the mountains, the water needs to be changed dozens of times a day, not to mention that in addition to watering, the plant nutrient solution also needs to be sprayed, and the frequency is even higher.

Moreover, operating the plant protection machine to fly back and forth on a fixed route every day is actually a very boring job. When we first got the plant protection machine during the hottest season, everyone was excited, but after a long time, we also realized the hard work involved.

Now there are at least ten to fifteen people responsible for operating the plant protection machines every day, and they work together in three different areas of the fields every day.

Finally, the crops need to be harvested manually, so the villagers have a lot to do.

However, it is undeniable that it is indeed more than half easier than before, and I have gained a lot more.

…

After touring the fields, the three went to the vegetable garden and orchard.

The vegetable garden covers a total of five acres of land, with each family getting about sixty square meters, and each family grows their favorite vegetables and fruits.

Lu Qing picked some newly ripe tomatoes for Ji Xiuling. "Try them. They're delicious. Everyone in the village loves them. They can be eaten as both a vegetable and a fruit."

Ji Xiuling picked up a bright red tomato and took a tentative bite. She was immediately amazed by the taste, which she had never tasted before.

"It's indeed delicious. Is this the tomato that Grandma Lin mentioned?"

She also ate tomato dishes and soup twice in the past two days, both of which were to her liking.

Wu Yinyin also took one in her hand and ate it with gusto. "Yes, this is what Lu Xuan got in Yangshan County. My son and other children in the village love it."

Lu Qing introduced the harvest time of the two gardens to Ji Xiuling.

Ji Xiuling learned that the vegetables in the garden, like mushrooms, could be harvested in about seven days, and some could even be harvested and eaten in three days. She silently calculated how much she could harvest in a year...

It's impossible to calculate.

The fruits in the orchard mature slowly, and the trees and vines are not ready for picking yet. Lu Qing only picked some fast-growing strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

They discovered raspberries and blackberries after they came here, and also cultivated mutant species. They were large and sweet, so Ji Xiuling, who felt that she had not been able to eat many good things before, could not help but eat a lot of them.

…

After touring the hills, Lu Qing and Wu Yinyin each carried a basket of washed fruits and took Ji Xiuling to the water park.

From the window of Ji Xiuling's room, you can see a corner of the water park.

Her greatest daily pleasure was to look out the window at the plump and fair children of Yunlu Village playing and laughing carefree outside.

However, after getting a closer look at the water park, Ji Xiuling was stunned. "Why is there water in there? Won't the children catch a cold playing in the water?"

Wu Yinyin stuffed a strawberry into her mouth and ate it while smiling, "Don't worry, the water is warm, and the children are all in good health. After playing, each of them can drink a bowl of ginger soup, and nothing will go wrong. If anyone is unlucky and gets sick, just ask Doctor Lin for some antipyretic medicine and they will be fine soon."

Lu Qing pointed to the playground nearby and said, "Younger and weaker children can play over there. There's no water there, and the children love it."

Ji Xiuling turned her head and saw a few little girls "swimming" in the ball pool. The cheerful smiles on the little girls' faces made the tension on her face pause.

She couldn't help but imagine that if her daughter grew up and could play in such a place, she would definitely be very happy.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”