Chapter 60

“On October 17th, Cybera donated 100 tons of dried kelp to Longxia, wishing the northern and central regions of Longxia a smooth recovery from the disaster.”

“On October 19th, Altan donated 5 tons of red shrimp to Longxia, wishing…”

“October 19th…”

…

Half an hour later, netizens found the detailed donation list. Cybera, Altan, Randir… these were all countries that Longxia had previously cooperated with.

At 10 PM on the 20th, the Cybera government accepted an interview: “Cybera thanks Longxia for its food aid. Due to pollution in the Harma Sea Region, this batch of dried kelp was from the reserves of November-December in the 27th year…”

Cybera first expressed condolences for Longxia’s disaster, then emphasized that the kelp was untainted by acid rain. Within three hours after the interview, other countries also expressed their condolences and support for Longxia internationally.

“Five tons and one hundred tons aren’t even enough for a county. Don’t send any more.”

“We need fair trade, we don’t need these sympathy donations.”

“Get your own country stable first, don’t worry about us.”

…

Netizens responded to the official news. They weren’t rejecting the donated goods, but these countries were facing food crises themselves, their situations even worse than Longxia’s. It was a mixed feeling—both heart-wrenching and heartwarming.

“We’ll hang in there,” netizens encouraged themselves.

On October 22nd, the first batch of supplies arrived in the disaster zone.

“This is the donation list from Chuan Province. Please collect according to your household size. If you need more, go to the supermarket.” At 3 PM on the 22nd, three trucks arrived at Xinxin Community. Xinxin was a hard-hit area in Jinghe, and the roadblock had just been cleared the day before.

“Has the material from Nan Province arrived?”

“I heard they donated three million tons of lettuce, and supermarkets are slowly restocking.”

“Finally, vegetables to eat…”

…

Residents queued up with their supply tickets. They had previously registered with the property management. Each household could receive two pounds of lettuce, one pound of sweet potato leaves, and could also select other dried goods. This would help alleviate the vegetable shortage that had lasted for two weeks.

“Everyone, please have your supply tickets ready. One per person, no disorder.”

Song Zixin, wearing a vest, maintained order. She worked for an advertising company and had been on disaster relief teams in the past. Half a year ago, she had joined the relief effort in Xiaojiaokou Township due to the disaster in Yun Province. She had been paying attention to Longxia’s situation and didn’t expect that, just six months later, Jinghe would also face a disaster. As a local resident of Jinghe, she immediately registered as a volunteer after the disaster.

“Everyone in the country is watching us; we cannot fall into chaos ourselves.”

Several older women helped maintain order. As soon as she said this, the somewhat noisy crowd quieted down. Song Zixin pulled out a large bag of lettuce from the truck. The lettuce had been pre-bundled, and residents simply picked up the bundles.

She opened the lettuce and handed it to the first man in line.

“So big?” The man was a little stunned. These lettuce plants were about fifty centimeters tall. They had been well-preserved during transport, and each bundle was bright green. He untied the bundle, and the lettuce spread out like a large umbrella.

“This must be about two and a half pounds.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen lettuce this big.”

…

Other residents gathered around. They had been busy with post-disaster work and hadn’t been paying attention to the planting in Longnan. They were surprised by how big the lettuce had grown. The man tore off a leaf and ate it raw.

“Tastes good!” The moment the lettuce hit his tongue, the man gave a thumbs-up. The lettuce was crisp and refreshing, without the usual earthy taste.

After receiving his lettuce, the man went to the next table to collect sweet potato leaves. Other residents stepped forward to take their turn.

“So big!”

“One bundle per person, each bundle weighs about two pounds.”

In the next three hours, residents collected their lettuce and left. After not having vegetables for nearly two weeks, they found the lettuce surprisingly refreshing.

At 10 PM, after finishing the distribution at Xinxin Community, Song Zixin stretched her shoulders as she was about to leave.

She had only taken a few steps when the property staff called her.

“Wait!”

“Manager Wang?” Song Zixin asked, puzzled.

“This is your supply box. Xiao He and the others prepared it earlier.”

Song Zixin, also a resident of Xinxin Community, was surprised as she took the box. “Thank you, Manager Wang!”

“Don’t mention it, this is yours to begin with,” the property manager waved her hand. Song Zixin had extensive volunteer experience, and if it hadn’t been for her today, the distribution in the community wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

Half an hour later, Song Zixin arrived home. On top of the residents’ supplies, there was a card in the box that read: “Thank you to the most beautiful person!”

Song Zixin touched her hair. The water had been cut off in the community a couple of days ago, and she hadn’t washed her hair for five days. She didn’t feel beautiful at all.

She took out half a bag of Longfeng noodles from the kitchen and started cooking. When the noodles were nearly done, she added a big handful of lettuce. Soon, the lettuce noodles were ready.

The Longfeng noodles warmed her stomach, and the lettuce added a refreshing, fragrant taste. It was the most delicious dinner she had had during the disaster.

After finishing her meal and washing the dishes, her phone rang.

Qiao Yuanyuan: “Zixin Jie, where are you now?”

Qiao Yuanyuan was a volunteer she had met in Xiaojiaokou, who had once broken down due to the tough volunteer conditions.

Song Zixin replied: “At home.”

Qiao Yuanyuan: “I’m in Jinghe now! [Image][Image]” The pictures were of Jinghe High-Speed Rail Station.

Song Zixin was stunned. Before she could react, she heard Qiao Yuanyuan continue: “I’m volunteering here in Jinghe. I’ve been assigned to Changshun District. I’ll find time to visit you when I can.”

“Don’t you miss home?”

“I do! As soon as I got to the high-speed rail station, I regretted it. I don’t want to go back… Ah, forget it, the volunteer team leader’s here!” Qiao Yuanyuan ended the call abruptly.

Song Zixin remembered the scene when the disaster relief in Xiaojiaokou ended and Qiao Yuanyuan kept looking back as she left.

The hardships of the disaster were real, the longing for home was real, and the perseverance to stay in the disaster zone was also real.

In the following three days, supplies from Nan Province continued to arrive in various provinces and cities in the disaster zone. On October 28th, the Jingji and Jingliao highways finally opened, and as soon as they did, Longbei’s supplies were sent to various regions.

The disaster in the northern and central regions of Longxia had been survived.

The post-disaster recovery in the northern and central regions lasted until November 15th. In addition to the floods and waterlogging, the primary issue of this disaster was the cold damage. According to Longxia News, in the past month, 75% of the fruits and vegetables in the northern and central regions were affected by cold damage. This cold damage, caused by acid rain, is more harmful and corrosive than in the southern provinces.

If Harma sweeps through Longbei, the nation will shift from a food crisis to a vegetable crisis. Besides that, a plant crisis and a poultry, egg, and meat crisis are also ongoing…

“Longbei, hang in there.”

“The national vegetable basket depends on you!”

“Longbei, keep going!”

…

Many netizens were sending encouragement to the Longbei region.

“Let’s try our best.”

“Even if we can’t hold on, we still have to hang in there.”

Netizens in Longbei stayed optimistic as much as possible. According to the Longxia Meteorological Station, Harma Storm is expected to hit Longbei between December 5th and 15th. This storm will carry cold air from the polar regions, and according to predictions, Longbei may experience large-scale frost damage.

The whole country is focused on the upcoming disaster, and alongside that, some basic infrastructure efforts are also ongoing.

“Gannan County, Chuan Province, will harvest 1 million tons of lettuce in November, enough to meet the county’s own needs.”

“Xinxin Seeds, Four Seasons Seeds, and twelve other major seed companies have reached agreements to further increase Longxia’s food and vegetable seed production.”

“Longxia Ministry of Agriculture: From September 15th until now, Longxia has harvested a total of 45 million tons of lettuce, with Longxia’s lettuce yield temporarily high.”

…

lettuce produced has strong growth and disease resistance, and it takes about 40-50 days to grow. In some areas, there may be slight differences in the harvest time, either earlier or later.

Thanks to the cooperation of Longxia’s seed companies, the current yield of acid rain-resistant lettuce seeds is plentiful, and even remote areas can now plant lettuce. While lettuce cannot fully meet the residents’ needs, it has a relatively high nutritional value, including calcium, iron, and carotene, which can help alleviate the shortage of green vegetables for some residents.

Many regions have already begun harvesting lettuce, with some areas already seeing a second wave of growth.

On November 23rd, Longxia Ministry of Agriculture reported: “lettuce seeds are now being widely planted in the northern and central regions. The second harvest of lettuce in Longnan and Chuan Province has been completed. Longxia has harvested a total of 50 million tons of lettuce…”

“Congratulations, Host, for completing the intermediate mission: Total harvest of 50 million tons of hybrid lettuce. Mission reward: Random regional card X1, Lucky gift pack X2.” At the same time, Fengshan Farm’s Qin Yun received a mission notification.

“Completed?” Liu Wensheng asked nervously. Since lettuce 01 broke through the 49 million-ton barrier, he had been closely monitoring the harvest progress. The whole mission had been nearly three months, and he was feeling quite tense.

“Finally Completed!.” Qin Yun clicked to share the page.

Host Name: Qin Yun.

Farm Area: My farmland, Yellow Earth Kiln, Farm Lake…

Farm Buildings: Wheat Factory, Sweet Potato Factory, 10,000-acre Grain Warehouse…

System Inventory: Random Regional Card X1, Lucky Gift Pack X2.

…

After reviewing, the two focused on the System Inventory.

Based on past experience, Qin Yun clicked on the Lucky Gift Pack X2 first. The Lucky Gift Pack operates like a dice roll, so Qin Yun rolled it twice.

Half a minute later, the dice screen stopped: “Congratulations, Host, for receiving vegetable seeds: 1. Delicious tomatoes. (3000 points/acre) 2. Useful forage grass. (1000 points/acre) Note: Vegetable and forage grass seeds are for farm use only.”

“Great!” Liu Wensheng was very excited. Longxia’s Xin Province and Qing Province were famous national dairy production bases. Since the heavy rains in the northwest region, dairy farms in both regions had suffered varying degrees of damage. Currently, dairy products nationwide are mainly supplied by the safe region of Meng Province, but as the area of Harma expands, Meng Province will also face a severe shortage of forage grass…

Longxia’s research team has already conducted multiple on-site investigations in both regions, but due to the degradation of forage grass and soil corrosion, Longxia has not found a solution for now. This has been a looming issue, and many researchers have lost weight from stress.

Everyone is racing against time, doing their best to solve all the crises.

Now that the forage grass seeds have appeared, although they are limited to farm use, based on previous research experience, they could provide direction for Longxia’s agricultural team.

Liu Wensheng reported this situation to his superiors, then both of them turned to the second reward: Random Regional Card X1.

Qin Yun clicked directly.

“Congratulations, Host, for receiving Random Regional Card: Seed Laboratory.”

Seed Laboratory: Built on Bora Planet, it has the best seed research equipment on Bora, which can assist seed personnel in completing seed research. (Intermediate-level region.)

Qin Yun, Liu Wensheng: !!!

Currently, Longxia’s team only relies on local equipment for research. Some instruments, due to technical reasons, cannot meet the agricultural staff’s requirements. If the Seed Laboratory is truly useful, it would significantly improve the hybrid efficiency at the Agricultural Research Institute. Furthermore, it could even help develop autonomous seeds like cucumbers and winter melons based on prior data!