Chapter 41

Zhongzhi 002 is a flowering plant. After trials by the Agricultural Research Institute, one acre of seedling field can repeatedly yield 150,000 sweet potato seedlings.

A sweet potato field needs 1,500 to 3,500 seedlings per acre. Taking the average, one acre of seedling field can cultivate sixty acres of sweet potatoes.

After discussion, the Longxia Team decided to plant 10,000 acres each of wheat and sweet potatoes. At the end of this cycle, the harvest would be—

2 million jin of wheat seeds (for 200,000 acres of land).

100 million sweet potato seedlings (for 600,000 acres of land).

50,000 tons of sweet potatoes.

After reading the analysis report, Liu Wensheng sighed, “There’s progress.”

Now that Longfeng 001 and Zhongzhi 002 have been successfully developed, this is a tonic amid the acid rain crisis.

…

“Ahhh, so delicious! The best sweet potato noodles!”

“If you want sweet potato noodle residue, my mom is working on recipes.”

“I’ve felt miserable for a week, finally feeling better.”

…

While the farm was seriously planting, “Fengshan Sweet Potato Noodles” topped the trending list.

Baisheng Agricultural Trade donated one million tons of sweet potato noodles, mainly sent to heavily affected areas like Changping and Nanyang.

Now that Longnan and Central South are flooded, everyone looking at the new noodles instantly thought back four months.

Four months ago, Fengshan Farm dominated advertisements. At that time, there was a prime-time broadcast of “Longxia News,” celebrity tests, and public acclaim… Fengshan Flour was a phenomenal product.

Perhaps due to nostalgia, residents began eating the sweet potato noodles as soon as they received them. Then…

Delicious, delicious, delicious!

Fengshan sweet potato noodles are soft and glutinous, melting slowly in the mouth after boiling. This is definitely Longxia’s high-quality sweet potato noodles!

Searches for Fengshan sweet potato noodles kept rising online, with many residents sharing recipes.

As the number of interested netizens surged, Weiwen officially launched an event: [#Fengshan Sweet Potato Noodles Creative Eating Contest#].

The contest was jointly sponsored by WeiwenTreeCat, All-Network News, and other media industries.

The first prize was a brand-new car. Additionally, participants from Longnan and Central South could win red envelopes ranging from 1 to 10 yuan.

Though the prize money was small, it greatly boosted the cohesion of disaster-area residents. Now with entertainment activities, it showed they were still living in peaceful times; they were not just disaster victims but ordinary Longxia residents.

Relief work in Central South progressed steadily. Amid nationwide attention, on May 1, the Ministry of Agriculture announced: the first batch of Zhongzhi 002 seedlings was successfully cultivated and would be trial-planted in the heavily hit Yunyu area.

Besides the latest news, the Ministry also conducted an exclusive interview with the Agricultural Research Institute.

The interview revealed that the institute had been researching acid rain since last July. Their goal was not only to breed new seed varieties but also to ensure the new seeds were unaffected by acid rain.

Zhongzhi 002 is an early-to-mid maturity variety with a growth cycle of 150–200 days, inheriting the fast growth and high yield characteristics of Yan Shu Peng Da. It completely blocks acid rain corrosion residue. The Agricultural Research Institute released Zhongzhi 002’s data only after the most authoritative tests.

Acid rain is extremely harmful, potentially causing plant mutations and chemical residues. Zhongzhi 002 completely blocks these effects.

After releasing the research interview, the Ministry of Agriculture was ready for public skepticism, but the response was completely different than expected—

“Thank you, Agricultural Research Institute, thank you, Ministry of Agriculture!”

“Wuwuwu! It’s the first time farming feels so good.”

“Thanks for the hard work of the Agricultural Research Institute.”

…

Online was flooded with gratitude.

Now Harma Storm has swept through the water-blue equatorial region. Except for high-latitude areas, 52% of countries worldwide have been affected.

Mali is the origin of Harma Storm. Heavy rainfall has stopped, but acid rain effects have appeared: since the downpour on February 17, 70% of Mali’s grain crops have withered, green plants have degraded, and 12% of residents nationwide suffer from respiratory diseases…

From satellite images, Mali has turned from vast green to brown. Prices for rice, potatoes, and other crops have increased tenfold. Violent incidents involving food theft have occurred nationwide. Mali is on the brink of economic collapse.

Besides Mali, countries like Sola and Saiboka have also suffered major impacts.

Saiboka mainly relies on aquaculture, with all grain crops imported.

Now, with countries implementing lockdown policies, food is scarce in Saiboka, aquaculture is dying from acid rain disease, and residents are struggling to survive in hardship and despair.

Meteorological monitoring shows that after Harma passes, rainwater will accumulate in rivers, mountains, and lakes. Even if the storm ends, subsequent rainfall will still be acid rain.

Natural dilution will take at least five years to restore normal rainfall.

Soil fertility recovery will take at least ten years.

They believe national reserves can sustain residents for a year, but two years, five years later… it’s a terrifying prospect.

The world is now facing a food crisis. Longxia’s development of Zhongzhi 002 is truly an epic breakthrough!

“Can Longfeng 001 also resist acid rain?”

“Let me check… the December research report said it can resist acid rain and is unaffected.”

“Ahhh, but there wasn’t Harma Storm then, right? So grateful to Longxia’s research department.”

…

Netizens linked Zhongzhi 002 to Longfeng 001 and thought of Longxia’s international appeals over the past year. Suddenly they felt that while they enjoyed grilled skewers and tablets, countless people were quietly working hard.

Amid this harmony, some voiced conspiracy theories: “Just because you say acid rain crops grow, does that mean they really do? Acid rain pollution affects health a lot. Also, hybrid grains taste awful…”

“Is food testing just for show?”

“The whole world can’t even eat properly, and you complain about the taste?”

“Please pay more attention to foreign news!!!”

…

Conspiracy theorists lamented that the world was blind except for themselves, but their comments were quickly rebutted by many netizens.

Six months ago, people might have posted such contrarian remarks too.

But after experiencing the Yunyu and Central South floods, they understood how precious it was to have food and drink and see sunlight.

Now global food prices are rising, and some countries have reported people eating tree bark. Compared to them, domestic prices are relatively stable, there is sunlight overhead, transport is available outside, and phones are at home…

What used to be an ordinary little thing is now an incomparable blessing.

Some netizens were so angered by conspiracy theorists that they couldn’t eat and fired back: “Analyzing grain data is very simple! Even a county research lab can test it. If you have doubts, grow the crops and test them yourself. Don’t just mock what others have researched!”

“Ridiculous.”

“If the grain had problems, people would decide whether to eat it without you saying anything. No need for your sarcastic remarks.”

“So clever, here’s a plane ticket sponsored for you—suggest you fly to Mali. [smile][smile]”

…

In fact, everyone had once considered the conspiracy theorists’ claims. But as they replied, grain testing is a straightforward process. If Longfeng Zhongzhi really had problems, they would seriously consider them.

Now the country has been tirelessly researching new varieties. Before the new varieties are even trial-planted, they are being criticized with the worst possible assumptions…

They’re not saints or martyrs.

But they deeply despise such remarks, feeling a fire burning inside their chests.

Perhaps because netizens have sound reasoning, some conspiracy theorists no longer dare respond.

Amid the unanimous denunciation, Longxia Agriculture issued another statement: “Zhongzhi 002 Research Data Test Report.”

The report stated that Zhongzhi 002 was planted in strongly acidic soil with a pH of 3.1. After a thousand synchronized tests, neither seedlings nor fruits showed any problems. Zhongzhi 002 has strong sulfuric acid resistance. Once trial planting succeeds in Yunyu, Longxia will conduct further tests. Only after ensuring sweet potatoes are harmless will they be allowed to enter the market.

Longxia guarantees: food safety is paramount. No citizen will starve, nor will anyone eat problematic food.

“Wuwuwu! I have ten acres of land. I want to plant sweet potatoes. I want sweet potato seeds!”

“I, I, I believe. I also want the seeds!”

“Ahhh, I really want to quit my job and go home to farm.”

…

Many netizens’ eyes were moist.

…

“Sigh, 130,000 in assets, just gone just like that…”

On May 3, as a new round of national material reserves was underway, Zheng Yunjie sighed at the Kunshan flower market in Yun Province.

It had been a month and a half since the disaster struck Yun Province. In these past two weeks, roads were damaged, houses toppled, underground garages flooded… Kunshan was a complete disaster zone.

He lived on the 27th floor. Because the first floor had been flooded before, he had quarantined at home for a while. The moment he went downstairs, he rushed to the flower market. At that time, the flower market was no longer a flower market, but a sea of flowers.

Due to its low geographic location, the flower market’s rooftops were completely submerged.

Seeing the ruined flowers, only one thought came to his mind: ten sandbags wasted.

The flood drainage work at the flower market was huge. After half a month of struggle, the market was only just reopened today.

This morning, he saw a message in the market group and came immediately.

Now, besides cacti, the fresh flowers had been washed away leaving only branches. Without some flowerpots, it wouldn’t even look like a flower shop.

Zheng Yunjie moved his computer.

The computer had been soaked and was completely broken. Perhaps as a symbol of hope, a blackened chrysanthemum lay beneath it.

Zheng Yunjie lit a cigarette. Just then, a neighboring shop owner came by: “So bad?”

“Yeah. How about your place?”

“Only a few green pothos survived. All the other flowers were washed away.”

The two commiserated for a while. The neighbor asked, “What’s the plan now?”

“I don’t know.”

He had been checking his phone these days. Now almost all the flowers in the suburbs were withered. Even the few tough ones might not survive past May.

The neighbor sighed: “I thought these flowers and plants could survive this.”

Kunshan is a nationally famous flower city. After the heavy rains receded, some posted photos in friend groups: the suburban flower bases looked messy but some flowers and plants were still growing. Besides the messiness, there didn’t seem to be major problems.

At that time, some said in groups that acid rain wasn’t as exaggerated as imagined.

Unexpectedly, the aftereffects of acid rain were severe.

Now, in less than a month, not only flowers but even some big trees had completely withered to the roots… He had reason to believe that if things continued this way, Kunshan could forget about being a flower city and instead shoot an apocalypse movie.

“Still selling flowers?” the neighbor asked.

“Definitely can’t sell anymore.” Zheng Yunjie smiled bitterly.

With the house damaged, he was too lazy to spend money on repairs. But the lease still had six months left; he didn’t know what to do…

During this chat, the neighbor’s phone rang. Looking dazed, he said to Zheng Yunjie, “There’s a notice in the group.”

Zheng Yunjie opened his phone.

[Market Management: In response to the national planting policy, if any merchants intend to convert flower land to farming, they may purchase sweet potato seeds from market management and contract flower land…]

Zheng Yunjie: ???