Xia Lunong went to his own field with a basket on his back.

Liao Cheng had been helping him take care of the field these days, but he only helped to water and fertilize, and had no time to help pull out weeds. Now his field was full of weeds. After not seeing them for a few days, the weeds had grown to the height of his thighs.

When Xia Lunong went to the field, he specially wore long pants, tied his leggings, and wore labor protection socks. He held a hoe in his hand and carefully went into the field while weeding, for fear that something would suddenly jump out of the field, such as a snake.

Fortunately, everything was normal in the field.

He walked in carefully, and the eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, etc. were all hanging fruits on the trees, especially the eggplants and tomatoes, which were bright red, and looked like a scene of a good harvest.

Liao Chengdu has been helping him these days. The overripe fruits have already been picked, and the remaining ones are just ripe.

Xia Lunong carefully picked them and put them in the basket on his back, and then came back to pick more.

After picking twice, his brother and his ex-brother, who had just returned from the hydropower station, couldn't bear to see it, so they came over with baskets to help.

Yan Xinian found it incredible. "You didn't plant much, and you didn't take care of it very carefully. How could you have such a harvest?"

Xia Lunong spread his hands. "I don't know. The fruits of the tomato tree are not mine."

Yan Xinian asked, "Could it be due to my supernatural power?"

"I can't explain it clearly." Xia Lunong said, "But after pulling out the weeds, we have to fertilize them."

Xia Lunong now uses chicken manure in his fields. Chicken manure still smells strong after fermentation. He usually buries the fertilizer deep, which is a lot of work.

If it weren't for his brother or Kong Zhi's help every time, the work of fertilizing alone would be enough to make his scalp numb.

After picking all the fruits and vegetables that could be picked, the three of them pulled out the weeds in the field.

Xia Lunong usually sorts the grass he has pulled out, leaving the old ones on the ridges and sending the tender ones to the ponds at the base to feed the fish.

The base now has a total of three ponds, which were opened this spring, and there are many grass carps in them.

Although the fish in them are public property, everyone cherishes them very much. Many people will pick the tender grass and throw it back into the fish ponds after pulling out the grass.

These fish have only been raised for a few months. Xia Lunong occasionally sees them floating up and finds that they are already very fat.

Presumably, their base will be able to eat the first batch of fish this winter.

The eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, etc. that were carried back have to be made into pepper cakes. Xia Lunong is not free today, so he has to spread them on the ground to dry and wait for Teng to take action in two days before processing them.

After Xia Lunong came back from the field, he mainly screened the wheat.

There were a total of 23.7 jins of wheat, and most of the basket was filled.

Xia Lunong took a bamboo plate, sat under the eaves, and identified the wheat seeds one by one, trying to distinguish the mutated parts from the unchanged parts.

However, this was too difficult. He touched them one by one, and his eyes were dazzled, but he couldn't find many of the mutated wheat seeds.

Instead, because he overused his eyes, red bloodshot came out in the whites of his eyes, and he kept crying, rubbing them with the back of his hand from time to time.

His brother couldn't bear it and picked him up, "It doesn't matter if you can't recognize it, just plant it together."

"Plant it now?" Xia Lunong said, "The current climate conditions don't seem to be good."

"Didn't you check? Temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius will not hinder the growth of wheat. The temperature on the mountain can just meet this requirement. We can just plant the wheat on the terraced fields."

Xia Lunong was stunned, then turned to look at Kong Zhi, "Isn't Kong Zhi's field going to be planted with rice? He has ordered the rice seedlings and fish seedlings."

After Kong Zhi's rice is planted, Old Liu will breed it specially for him. The materials used as a deposit have been paid, and he can't go back on his word now.

Xia Huoqu never expected that he would think of going there. "Aren't there other lands in the base? Just look for it and rent one acre."

Xia Lunong coughed lightly and touched his head. "That's fine. It's a good time to give it a try."

Xia Huoqu looked at Yan Xinian. "Why don't you ask tomorrow?"

Yan Xinian said, "Okay. The early rice in the base is about to be harvested. It's convenient to ask now. By then, we can breed the seeds here and plant them in the terraced fields."

Xia Lunong asked, "Breeding now? Or wait a few more days? I see they haven't finished harvesting the rice yet."

"It's almost time. Let's breed now." Yan Xinian said, "I'll find you another place for breeding."

Xia Lunong couldn't refuse this. He knew all the fields in the base. If Yan Xinian didn't help him find one, he really wouldn't be able to find land.

Xia Lunong thought for a moment, "If possible, Brother Xinian, please see if there are any other fields. The rice fields are too wet. I guess the topsoil hasn't been drained when we plant wheat, which is not good for wheat."

Wheat is afraid of flooding, so rice fields are not very suitable.

Of course, if there is no other choice, even rice fields can only be used reluctantly.

"Okay." Yan Xinian calculated in his mind, "There is also a part of the terraced fields where sweet potatoes are planted. I will ask if the sweet potatoes can be harvested in advance and the land can be cleared for us to plant wheat."

Xia Lunong nodded frantically.

For wheat, the land that has been planted with sweet potatoes is better than the land that has been planted with rice. In fact, the best land is the land that has been planted with soybeans, but people in the base are generally reluctant to use good land to plant soybeans, and they all plant them on the ridges.

Xia Lunong did the same, only planting soybeans on the ridges of the fields, and planting some for her own consumption.

The next day, Yan Xinian brought back good news, saying that they could rent an acre of land for planting sweet potatoes at the base, but now it was rented halfway, and the rent was expensive. If it was rented until February next year, one acre would cost 300 kilograms of millet, or 240 kilograms of rice.

Xia Lunong had not expected that it would take so much millet to rent a field. She felt depressed, "Why does it take so much millet? It didn't cost so much to rent a field at the beginning of the year."

Yan Xinian smiled and said, "We are in a hurry to get it. What do you think, do you want to sign it?"

Xia Huo said, "It's a good thing to have more millet, so that there won't be any gossip later that we are taking advantage of the base."

Xia Lunong thought about it and said, "Brother Xinian, you guys go and pay the millet. If there is no problem, we will sign a lease certificate."

"All right." Yan Xinian talked about another thing, "After we rent the field, shall we hire a beastman in the form of a cow to plow the field from time to time? It's too hard to turn the soil with just our hands." It's

hot and sunny now. People can get white sweat on their clothes after turning the soil under the sun for a whole day.

Now that they have more supplies, there is really no need to be hard on themselves.

The beastmen just need to eat more food after transformation, they can afford it.

"That's fine." Xia Lunong thought for a moment, and then said, "How about I ask someone to come back to help with the chili cake? I see there are many aunties in the base, they are more skillful, ask them to come over to help for a day or two, and we can save ourselves from the pain of back pain every day."

Yan Xinian smiled, "If you think it's okay, I have no objection. Now that there are more supplies at home, it's really time to relax a little."

Xia Lunong said happily, "Then I'll talk to Brother Liu and ask him to introduce a few people to come over."

There are actually women in the base. There are

quite a few women. Like men, some of them farm in the base, and some go out hunting.

Many of them can support a family on their own.

It's just that now everyone has turned into beasts and can't wear clothes, so it's a bit awkward for men and women to mix together, so in the base, men usually form teams with men, and women form teams with women, and they don't mix together.

Xia Lunong talked to Lao Liu, and Lao Liu really recommended a few candidates to him, and personally helped to ask.

There were two people who came to help Xia Lunong, both in their fifties, one named Liu Changmin and the other named Wang Zhen, both of whom were elders who were quick and nimble and didn't talk much.

Xia Lunong agreed to give them five kilograms of rice a day, including a lunch, and asked them to help make tomato and chili cakes.

The two quickly got started.

Liu Changmin laughed, "Xiao Nong, you don't know, since you made this tomato and chili cake, this food has become popular in the whole base, but no one can make it as delicious as you."

Xia Lunong asked curiously, "Why is that? It's not complicated to make this."

"Who knows, maybe your tomatoes and chili are of special quality, or maybe your bread kiln is special. Anyway, everyone makes it, and no one can compare to yours. I think after the chili cake is made this time, everyone will come to you to exchange."

Liu Changmin and Wang Zhen came to help, and Xia Lunong's pressure was relieved immediately. He had more time and energy to throw himself into the terraced fields on the mountain.

His brother contacted the beastman who could transform into a cow to help plow the field.

The land where sweet potatoes were planted was very dry. After plowing the field, you can break up the soil, sprinkle ash fertilizer on it, and then start raising wheat seedlings. Plowing

the field was too tiring. Xia Huoqu said that the cattle and beasts had been invited, so he might as well plow Kong Zhi's field as well.

Kong Zhi agreed, and the burden on him was also lightened a lot.

Kong Zhi has been busy in the rice fields these days. He has to dig deep trenches to raise fish. This is very hard work.

After only working for a few days, when Kong Zhi came back, he was full of mud and his neck was sunburned. Xia Lunong stared at his neck and laughed.

It was really funny to see Kong Zhi, a handsome guy with handsome features that were even a little arrogant, with a black neck exposed to the sun.

Xia Lunong didn't mean any harm, Kong Zhi felt helpless, but he didn't say anything.

Xia Huoqu couldn't stand it, and pinched his thin neck and said, "Don't laugh at Kong Zhi when you are alone. Your neck isn't any better, it's all peeling skin. Why don't you touch it?"

Xia Lunong doesn't get tanned when he sunbathes. When he does, his skin peels off. When he touches it, he can feel a grid of dead skin, which makes him hate himself.

Since he peeled off his skin from the sun, he has been very careful to protect himself. He wears long sleeves and a hat wherever he goes, and avoids the sun's scorching sun. But even so, it's still useless in the face of the strong sun.

Xia Lunong raised his hand and touched his neck, sighed, and said depressedly: "Farming is not easy. I finally avoided this, and then there was that, all pitfalls."

Yan Xinian smiled, "Nothing is easy. You are good at farming. I went there today and saw that the wheat seemed to have sprouted some new shoots?"

"Yes, it has sprouted a little." Xia Lunong sat up straight, "I guess it will be more obvious tomorrow."

In order to grow seedlings, Xia Lunong used a spray can to water the wheat every morning and evening these days, not too much, just enough to moisten it.

He kept an eye on it every day and was very clear about the condition of the wheat in the field.

Yan Xinian asked: "I don't know if it's my illusion, but I see that the wheat seedlings in the field are growing stronger than ordinary seedlings?"

"I'm not sure about that. I've never grown this before." Xia Lunong said, "It seems that they are growing very well. The germination rate is at least 95 percent." Kong Zhi,

who had been silent, said, "They are indeed growing very strong, much stronger than ordinary wheat."

As soon as he said this, the three of them raised their heads and looked at him.

Kong Zhi said calmly, "I used to grow wheat seedlings as cat grass."

Xia Lunong suddenly realized, "Yes, you mentioned to me that your family used to raise cats."

Yan Xinian asked, "Besides growing thicker, are there any other abnormalities? Xiao Nong, you said before that you felt that there was something unusual hidden in this batch of wheat. Can you still feel it now?"

Xia Lunong nodded, "Yes. But there is no other abnormality except that it grows very well. Maybe I didn't see it?"

Yan Xinian said, "I have read the wheat planting guide these days, but I don't seem to see it much."

Xia Lunong and Yan Xinian discussed it and felt that they couldn't figure it out. They had to observe for a while before they knew what was going on with these wheat seedlings.

Xia Huoqu and Kong Zhi did not participate in the discussion, but just cleared the table and let them eat.

The next morning, Xia Lunong went to the wheat field with a basket on his back.

Today's wheat is one finger joint taller than yesterday's and can be seen from a distance.

What surprised him most was that some of the wheat in the wheat field finally showed a different style.

Some wheat grew very strong, even stronger than he had imagined. The leaves were not as thin as other wheat, but a bit thick and tender. They looked like bean sprouts, and water could be squeezed out with a light pinch.

Xia Lunong even wondered if these wheat seedlings could be picked and fried and eaten as a dish.

He bent down and smelled them. These wheat seedlings did have an indescribable fragrance.

This strange wheat seedling stands out from the ordinary wheat seedlings, accounting for about one-fifth of all wheat seedlings.

Xia Lunong closed his eyes and felt it carefully, and found that the things that made him feel strange before were these mutant wheat seedlings.

When he used his supernatural power to carefully feel these wheat seedlings, he could also feel that these wheat seedlings were more active than ordinary wheat seedlings, or ordinary plants.

He could even capture the subtle consciousness of these wheat seedlings, such as they felt hungry.

This is not a specific word, but a feeling.

Just like ordinary people know that plants lack water when their leaves wilt and become soft, Xia Lunong can sense their needs in his mind after using his supernatural power to contact the mutant wheat seedlings.

This feeling is very strange.

Xia Lunong looked again and again, and told his brother and others about it when he returned.

Xia Huoqu asked: "Have your superpowers become stronger or have the consciousness of these wheat seedlings become stronger?"

Xia Lunong thought for a moment and said, "My superpowers should not have become stronger. When I used my superpowers to check ordinary wheat seedlings, I still felt the same as before and didn't feel any changes."

"I think these wheat seedlings must have mutated, just like some mutated plants can move, and they also have more animal characteristics."

The three were confused.

Xia Lunong gestured with her hands, and struggled to describe it with words, "This animal nature does not mean that they have intelligence, but that they can more clearly convey their needs?"

Yan Xinian patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. What we can be sure of now is that these wheat seedlings have mutated. We will slowly observe the rest."

Xia Lunong nodded.

Xia Huo said, "We will go with you this afternoon to determine whether these wheat seedlings are dangerous."

"Ah?" Xia Lunong said, "Is that not necessary? I think it's okay? Brother, don't you still have to work on the hydropower station?"

The hydropower station has been repaired and the generator set has been installed.

Now the base is erecting poles, pulling wires, and installing lights and meters for every household. They will not really start generating electricity until all these facilities are in place.

When the hydroelectric station was built, a small lake was built on top to store water. Now the base sends people to patrol the small lake every day, for fear that some mutant plants and animals will grow in the lake and harm the entire base.

Xia Lunong felt that the two brothers were quite busy, and she didn't bother them with the farm matters these two days.

Xia Huo said, "It's just that we came back earlier. The hydroelectric station doesn't need us to watch it for a while longer."

Yan Xinian also said, "We must be careful about everything involving mutant plants."

Seeing their firm attitude, Xia Lunong nodded and said, "That's fine. I wanted Kong Zhi to accompany me to take a look before."

Yan Xinian said, "Kong Zhi should come too. Let's take a look together and see if we can find anything."

In the evening, the four of them went to the wheat field together.

Xia Lunong came here every morning and evening, and was very familiar with this wheat field.

Before he saw the field, he had a rough idea of ​​what it looked like in his mind, but when he came here in the evening, he found that it was completely different from what he had imagined.

He didn't know if there were weeds or something growing in the place where he was raising seedlings, but a mess of green had grown very high, and it was particularly conspicuous in the nursery.

Xia Lunong felt a chill in his heart. He just didn't come here for most of the day, and the wheat field was ruined like this.

"Strange, how come these weeds grow so fast?"

Xia Huoqu's face was solemn, "They are not weeds."

"Ah? If they are not weeds, then what are they? Wheat doesn't grow like this, does it?"

Although Xia Lunong's eyesight was not as good as his brother's, he could see clearly that the protruding weeds grew quite tall and protruded from the nursery, much like a monk with some messy long hair on his head. It was very obvious at a glance.

After Xia Lunong finished speaking, she realized belatedly, "They are not weeds. Could they be mutant wheat?"

Plants can mutate in various directions. Take weeds as an example. They may become vines, grow into big trees, or grow legs or arms. Only people can't think of it, but there is nothing that plants can't do.

Xia Lunong didn't think of mutant plants at first, just because there were too many "weeds" sticking out in the nursery.

Mutation is a low-probability event, and it was hard for him to imagine that there were so many wheats in the nursery and they mutated on a large scale on the first day.

They quickly walked to the middle of the nursery.

The facts were also in front of Xia Lunong.

He looked at the wheat in the nursery in disbelief, "This is actually wheat! How can it change so fast? Before this morning, they didn't mutate obviously!"

Yan Xinian said solemnly, "Maybe this is the mutant characteristic of this batch of wheat. It is not obvious during the germination period, but it changes very quickly after germination."

Xia Lunong nodded blankly.

Yan Xinian said, "Xiao Nong, feel it again. Do you still think they are good things?"

Xia Lunong closed her eyes, carefully felt it for a moment, and nodded, "I think they are."

"Then they should be good things!" Yan Xinian said decisively, "Transplant them first and observe them carefully to see how big they can grow, how much wheat they can produce, and what their growth cycle is."

Xia Lunong looked at the land that had not been cultivated yet, and asked hesitantly, "Now?"

"Now." Yan Xinian smiled, "Let's work overtime together and move it out before it gets dark."

Xia Lunong rubbed the sweat from his palms with his pants, "I've never grown wheat, and I'm not sure how to grow it."

Yan Xinian: "Isn't it in the book?"

Xia Lunong rubbed his sweaty hands again, "What's in the book is in the book, 'What you learn from books is always superficial'. If it really is a mutant plant, we plant it randomly, what if it fails?"

The three of them didn't expect him to say that, and looked at him at the same time.

Xia Lunong said, "Aren't there scientists in the White Building? I remember there are agronomists among them. Why don't we look for them?"

Yan Xinian paused, "If we look for scientists in the White Building, the results won't be your independent results."

Xia Lunong thought about it. It was impossible for him to give up such a large amount of benefits without any feelings. However, he could distinguish between the greater good and the smaller details.

He took a deep breath and said, "Forget it. If we can really cultivate a particularly powerful wheat, maybe everyone in the base won't have to eat sweet potatoes anymore."

He always remembered that when he just woke up, he ate sweet potatoes until his pancreatic water was so sour.

Sweet potatoes are not a suitable staple food. Eating them for a long time will make everyone sick. If we can have high-yield wheat, whether it is noodles or steamed bread, it will be much better than eating sweet potatoes.

Xia Lunong tried to convince herself in her heart, but her eyes were a little frustrated.

Seeing him like this, Yan Xinian laughed and patted his shoulder, "There is no conflict between cultivating wheat and keeping mutant wheat in our own hands. If we need an expert, we can just invite one to come and take a look." Xia

Lunong prepared himself for a long time, and when he heard him say this, he looked back blankly, "Is it still possible?"

"Of course you can." Yan Xinian said, "You wait here, I will go down and invite an agricultural expert to come and take a look."

Xia Lunong touched his nose silently, raised his eyes to look at his brother and Kong Zhi, his eyes were a little resentful.

These two people didn't remind him, so he made this psychological preparation in vain.

After speaking, Yan Xinian walked down the mountain to invite an expert in person.

It was getting dark.

As he walked, he simply took off his shirt and pants, rolled them up with his shirt, and turned into a giant tiger on the spot, running down with clothes in his mouth.

The huge white tiger leaped seven or eight meters and disappeared in front of the three people in a few seconds.

Xia Lunong stretched his neck to take a look and complained silently. He looked so calm, but in his heart he was so anxious that he even thought he was walking too slowly .

Thinking of this, he turned his head and looked at Kong Zhi. In fact, it would be faster to let Kong Zhi turn into a golden eagle and fly down. He could also grab the agronomist directly, but he didn't know if this would scare the agronomist.

The three of them waited there for a while.

Xia Huo said, "It's useless to wait. Let's move these mutant wheat seedlings out first."

"Oh." Xia Lunong squatted down, stretched out his hand and gently touched the mutant wheat seedlings. Seeing that they would not bite people and had no thorns, he felt relieved and began to grab the wheat seedlings and pull them up. He

pulled at it, but Xia Lunong didn't move, and the stems and leaves that looked plump and full didn't break.

He was stunned for a moment, then reached out to dig.

Soon, he found that the roots of the wheat seedlings that seemed to have grown only to his knees actually went more than half a meter deep into the soil!

My goodness, it turns out that these mutant wheat seedlings were not abnormal before, but the above-ground parts were not abnormal!