By the time Lin Wanqiu had lulled Shen Nian'an to sleep, it was already dark outside the window. In the countryside of the 1960s, there were no streetlights. As soon as night fell, the entire Hongqi Production Brigade was plunged into darkness, with only a few scattered windows emitting faint kerosene lamplight, like dozing stars in the night. She gently tucked her son in, her fingertips tracing the little guy's slightly flushed cheeks—he'd been eating hot meals every day for the past two days, and Nian'an's complexion had noticeably improved; even in his sleep, a faint smile graced his lips, unlike before when he always frowned, looking like a little old man.
"Once Mom grows some vegetables, I'll make you vegetable and egg noodles," Lin Wanqiu murmured softly, touching the jade pendant on her chest. She had a fight with Old Lady Shen during the day, and although she'd driven her away, she knew the two women wouldn't let it go. To gain a foothold in this era of scarcity, relying solely on the resources in her space wouldn't be enough; she had to develop some "sustainable development"—the black soil in her space was her source of confidence.
She quietly went to the outer room, making sure the doors and windows were tightly closed, before concentrating on "entering the space." The next second, after the familiar dizziness subsided, she was already standing at the entrance of the space warehouse. Compared to the panic she felt the first time she entered, she was much calmer this time. Using the white light from an unknown source on the warehouse ceiling, she walked straight towards the land behind the warehouse.
The plot of land was about half an acre in size. The dark soil looked incredibly fertile, and when you squeezed it, it was so soft you could practically squeeze oil out of it. Compared to the hardened yellow soil in the fields outside, it was a world of difference. Lin Wanqiu squatted down, poked the soil with her fingertips, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind—could off-season vegetables be grown on this land in this space?
It's late October now, and the frost has long since fallen outside. The cabbages and radishes in the fields are either stored in cellars or wilted from the cold. If we want to eat fresh vegetables, we'll have to wait until next spring. But the temperature inside is just right, and we don't have to worry about wind or rain. If we can grow vegetables, not only will it provide Niannian with vitamins, but we can also sell them on the black market later, which will be a sure-fire way to make money.
Thinking of this, Lin Wanqiu quickly got up and ran to the warehouse. She remembered seeing many modern farming tools and several sealed bags of seeds in a corner of the warehouse before. Sure enough, after searching for a while, she found a small hoe, a watering can, and a bag of vegetable seeds printed with the words "Shanghai Bok Choy". The seed bag was vacuum-packed, and when she opened it, she could smell a faint wheat aroma, which was much better than the seeds sold by the commune's supply and marketing cooperative outside, which were mixed with a lot of grass seeds.
"Let's try planting some bok choy first." Lin Wanqiu rolled up her sleeves, picked up a small hoe, and began turning the soil. The hoe was made with modern technology; it was lightweight and had a sharp blade, making digging effortless. Following modern planting methods, she divided the land into several plots, leaving drainage ditches between each plot, and broke up the clods to ensure the soil was loose. After working for more than half an hour, she finally finished turning the soil. The thin layer of sweat on her forehead made her feel refreshed—it was much easier than working in the fields with a heavy old hoe.
Next came sowing. Lin Wanqiu opened the seed bag and carefully scattered the seeds on the seedbed, her movements as gentle as if she were covering a child with a blanket. She remembered learning sowing techniques from farmers when she was making a food program; the seeds shouldn't be sown too densely, otherwise the vegetables would grow huddled together, affecting their growth. After sowing the seeds, she gently covered them with a thin layer of soil with a hoe, then picked up a watering can and poured some purified water from her space into the field.
As soon as the water was poured, a magical scene unfolded—the previously dry soil instantly became moist, and a faint hint of green appeared on the surface. Lin Wanqiu rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things, but upon closer inspection, the green not only didn't disappear, but became more and more pronounced. In just a few minutes, countless tiny sprouts emerged from the ground, their tender green tips topped with water droplets, looking full of vitality.
"My goodness, this space is amazing!" Lin Wanqiu exclaimed, her mouth agape. She reached out and touched the tender sprout, the touch soft and real. She remembered that in modern times, it took at least three or four days for a bok choy to sprout from seed, but in this space, it sprouted in just a few minutes! The growth rate was practically doubled!
She squatted in the ground, watching intently as the tender sprouts grew. The sprouts grew taller and stronger at a visible speed, their tender green leaves slowly unfurling, growing from the size of a fingernail to the size of a palm, with clear veins and faint serrations along the edges—looking fresh and inviting. In just one hour, the once bare ground was covered with lush green Shanghai bok choy, a dense, vibrant patch that brought joy to the heart.
Lin Wanqiu couldn't resist picking a leaf of bok choy, putting it in her mouth and chewing it. The sweet taste spread on her tongue, with a faint earthy fragrance, even better than the organic vegetables she had eaten in modern times. She felt a surge of excitement and quickly picked a handful of Shanghai bok choy, thinking that she would make a bok choy and tofu soup for Niannian tonight—there were still a few boxes of soft tofu in the warehouse, which would come in handy.
Just as she was about to leave the space, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a glowing panel on the warehouse wall out of the corner of her eye. It read "Skill Panel" in large characters, with a line of smaller text below: "Basic agricultural skills have been unlocked. You can learn about crop planting, pest and disease control, and other knowledge."
"An unexpected bonus?" Lin Wanqiu walked over and touched the panel. The moment her fingertips touched the panel, a stream of information flooded into her mind, filled with knowledge about agricultural planting, from seed selection and fertilization to irrigation and weeding—more detailed than what she had learned in books before. She even saw several high-yield crops suitable for cultivation in the space, such as hybrid rice, off-season tomatoes, and some rare vegetables she had never seen before.
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