Chapter 35 Food Reserves Running Low! Potato Planting Techniques Promoted…
"Increase revenue and reduce expenditure! We must do both!" Lin Yue rubbed his temples hard. He now deeply understood what it meant to know the cost of living only when you are in charge.
In terms of cost reduction, the work point system has already achieved distribution according to work, eliminated the situation of "eating from the same pot" and fostering laziness, and also minimized the waste of resources.
But open source is the key to solving the problem! If we don't increase food production and find new food sources, they will all starve sooner or later!
There are essentially two directions for open source: one is to expand planting, and the other is to strengthen hunting and gathering.
Hunting and gathering currently rely mainly on Gray, the humanoid Gundam, with Amu occasionally offering some assistance. However, in the face of a high-risk environment like the Cursed Lands, the efficiency is still too low, and the process is fraught with uncertainty.
Expecting this to support hundreds of people is simply a pipe dream, unless Gray can carry back a wild boar every day.
The only way out right now is farming! Large-scale farming! Turning all usable land into granaries!
"We must utilize all available land! We must mobilize all available manpower!"
The next morning, as dawn broke, Lin Yue called together Lao Bade, Amu, and several other representatives who had performed well in setting up the dormitory and distributing food the day before, and who seemed honest and reliable.
Among them was Lia, a shrewd woman whom Lin Yue jokingly called "the foreman auntie." She had a loud voice, was quick and efficient, and was very good at organizing other women to work.
Another one was a man Lin Yue noticed when he helped move clay. He was very strong and a reliable worker. Everyone called him Brother Li. He was honest and kind, but a bit quiet.
"Everyone," Lin Yue said bluntly, his expression so serious it was as if he were about to announce something of life or death.
“Our restaurant is getting bigger now, and feeding everyone is a big problem. This is the most pressing difficulty we face. We definitely can't support everyone by just the few of us farming and hunting. So, I've decided that starting today, we will reclaim wasteland on a large scale and expand our planting!”
He pointed to the several plots of wasteland around the restaurant that had been left untouched due to a shortage of manpower, overgrown with waist-high weeds and low shrubs: "These plots must be cleared! Plant potatoes as soon as possible! And we must also hurry up and plant the wheat seeds we had stored up! Only when we have enough food can everyone truly eat their fill, live peacefully here, and have the energy to think about other things!"
Upon hearing this, Liya, Lige, and the others showed expressions of both excitement and worry. They were excited because they finally had a clearer direction and could see hope for survival; however, they were worried because the project was enormous, and their physical strength had not yet fully recovered.
"Sir, we'll do whatever you say!" Brother Li said in a deep voice, his dark face revealing a sincere honesty. "We'll do whatever you tell us to do! As long as we have enough to eat, we're not afraid of any hardship or fatigue!"
"Good! That's enough!" Lin Yue nodded in satisfaction. He needed this kind of hard-working, uncomplaining pragmatist. "However, strength alone isn't enough; you also need skills. Old Bard, we'll need you to put in a lot of effort in agricultural planting in the future. Please pass on your experience to everyone. When to loosen the soil, when to water, how to control pests—all of these will depend on you."
Old Bader's hunched back seemed to straighten a bit, and his cloudy eyes regained some brightness: "You flatter me, sir. These are just some old-fashioned methods, not worthy of being called teachings. As long as everyone is willing to learn, I will definitely share everything I know."
"Then it's settled!"
Lin Yue made the decision.
"Old Bard will be in charge of technical guidance. Aunt Leah, you'll be in charge of organizing the women. Besides the daily food preparation, sewing, and washing, you'll also have to participate in the relatively light farm work such as sowing, weeding, and harvesting. You'll still get work points. Li Ge, you'll lead the able-bodied men and follow Gray and Amu. You'll be mainly responsible for the heavy physical work like clearing land and turning the soil! As for tools, we'll prioritize supplying you with the iron hoes and shovels we have!"
He paused, then said, "Of course, just knowing how to farm isn't enough. Our water resources are limited, and drinking stream water directly is risky. So, I will also select a few careful and reliable people from among you to learn how to purify the water."
He turned his gaze to Mia and several other young women who looked neat and tidy.
Lin Yue had already taught Mia some basic sedimentation and multi-layer filtration techniques for water purification. Now that there are more people, the workload for one person is too heavy, so we must train more people.
As for the more crucial salt-making technology… Lin Yue and Gray exchanged a glance and tacitly refrained from mentioning it.
Salt is their most important strategic resource and bargaining chip, as well as a powerful tool for controlling people's hearts. It cannot be easily revealed until absolute certainty is achieved. Besides him and Gray, no one else in the small restaurant currently knows the specific source and extraction method of the salt.
Thus, after the initial confusion and despair, driven by the work-point system of exchanging labor for food and the hope that they could feed themselves in the future, they unleashed an amazing will to survive and enthusiasm for work.
For a time, the area around the small restaurant was filled with shouts of "Heave-ho! Heave-ho!", the clanging of tools against the ground, and the sounds of people talking and laughing while working, though mostly panting and occasional curses from those who were struggling with their tools or had dug into hard rocks.
Looking at the bustling scene, Lin Yue breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as everyone was willing to work hard, there was always hope of solving the food problem.
Besides, with so many migrants suddenly flooding in, although they all seem compliant for the time being, working hard every day for work points and food, you can't judge a book by its cover. Who knows what they're really thinking? Could someone take the opportunity to slack off? Could someone secretly hoard seeds or freshly harvested potatoes?
What if... after regaining their strength, someone gets malicious intent and covets the ironware and salt they've painstakingly accumulated, or even tries to take advantage of the restaurant itself?
These worries, like fine needles, pricked Lin Yue's nerves from time to time. He had to consider them.
That evening, after everyone had dragged their tired bodies back to their respective communal beds to rest, Lin Yue called Gray and Stone Fist to his curator's office, which was actually just a small corner in the main room that had been barely partitioned off by a tattered animal skin. The light from the oil lamp cast the shadows of the three men onto the earthen wall, flickering erratically.
Xiao Fen stayed close to Lin Yue, keeping a wary eye on the doorway.
“Gray, Uncle Stonefist,” Lin Yue lowered his voice, his expression serious, “Now that we have more people in our restaurant, there are more people to work, which is a good thing. But there are some things we must be careful about and not let our guard down.”
Shi Quan snorted and took a swig of the salted meat soup that Lin Yue had specially left for him: "I told you long ago, taking in so many people of dubious origin is bound to cause trouble sooner or later! I noticed that some of them were glib and their eyes were suspicious when they were working! They don't seem like good people!"
Clearly, this dwarf leader's oversight radar was always on, and he observed things more carefully than anyone else.
Lin Yue sighed: "I know that most people are honest people who are forced into this situation and genuinely want to survive. But there are all kinds of birds in a big forest, and it's hard to guarantee that there won't be one or two people with bad intentions. We can't place our hopes on everyone's conscience. So, starting tomorrow, we need to strengthen our internal defenses."
He looked at Gray: "Gray, you, Amu, and Li Ge and the others, be more careful when organizing everyone to work in the future. Especially when it comes to harvesting and storing grain, you must keep a close watch to prevent anyone from hoarding or looting. The distribution and collection of tools must also be strictly recorded to prevent them from being lost."
He then looked at Shi Quan: "Uncle Shi Quan, the blacksmith's shop, and the place where we store ironware, ore, and salt, must be strictly guarded! These things are our lifeline, and absolutely nothing can go wrong with them! No one except our own people is allowed to approach them! Especially at night!"
Shi Quan patted his chest and assured him, his voice low but powerful: "Don't worry! With me here, anyone who dares to lay a hand on me, I'll chop it off!"
"Also," Lin Yue pointed to the main house where they were staying, "this will be our core area and our last line of defense. Apart from the few of us and Mia who can come in to help with cooking, no one else, including Old Bard, is allowed to enter without my permission! Especially at night! I will have Xiao Fen guard the door."
He looked at Xiaofen and said seriously, "Xiaofen, from now on, you're in charge of guarding this place at night. Don't let any strangers in, understand? If anyone dares to sneak in, you... yell loudly! And bite them!"
Although he wasn't sure if Xiao Fen could fully understand such complicated instructions, the little one was very smart and highly wary of strangers, and was already familiar with the scents of the core members.
Xiao Fen seemed to sense Lin Yue's seriousness. It stood up, shook its glossy fur, let out a low whimper, and patted Lin Yue's hand with its little paw, as if to say, "Leave it to me! Anyone who dares to come in, I'll bite off their legs!"
[System Notification: Community security level upgraded. Core area protection mechanism initially established. Partner 'Fenrir' unlocks [Basic Alertness] Instinct (will issue a warning if an untrusted target enters the designated area). Loyalty +5.]
"Very good!" Lin Yue nodded, satisfied with Xiao Fen's performance.
"Besides these, we also need to consciously cultivate some trustworthy people among the refugees to serve as our eyes and ears. I think Aunt Leah and Li Ge are good candidates; they seem relatively upright and have some integrity. We can have them keep an eye on the movements of the crowd and report to us promptly if there are any unusual situations, such as someone inciting discontent or someone secretly making small moves."
Stone Fist chuckled: "Kid, your approach is pretty much the same as how we dwarves used to deal with goblins who wanted to steal our technology!"
Lin Yue coughed lightly: "Ahem, this is scientific management, scientific management! It's not some kind of trick!"
The large-scale land reclamation operation continued over the next few days.
Lin Yue also consciously taught some of the core techniques of potato planting, such as how to select seeds, how to cut pieces and sprout them, and how to judge the timing of planting, to several core members he initially recognized, including Old Bad, Aunt Liya, and Brother Li.
He also assigned them each to be responsible for the planting and management of a small area, and promised them extra work points as a bonus if the harvest was good.
Regarding water purification, Mia also brought several nimble young women to learn more refined filtration and sedimentation methods from Lin Yue, ensuring that everyone could drink relatively clean water.
Of course, Lin Yue was also secretly observing their behavior. He wanted to see if they would have any ulterior motives after coming into contact with these relatively core production technologies. To his slight relief,
So far, these people have been behaving quite honestly and diligently, working harder and even starting to think about how to improve efficiency.
Perhaps, for these people who have just struggled out of despair, having a stable source of food, seeing hope for survival, and feeling respected is enough to make them behave themselves and gradually develop a sense of belonging.
But this doesn't mean Lin Yue will let his guard down. He knows that building trust takes time, and even more so, it requires continuous testing and effective institutional safeguards.
Lin Yue looked at the dark mass of temporary shacks still being erected in the distance, and the people working hard in the fields, and his brows furrowed again.
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