Chapter 49

On July 5th, Wang Mengying rode her electric bike toward the agricultural base. It was nine in the morning, and on both sides of Pingshui Town stretched golden wheat fields, waist-high. In the middle, farmers bent over harvesting, while harvesting machines moved back and forth around them.

“Are they coming?”

“Just taking a stroll.”

Wang Mengying greeted the farmers by the roadside. She had stayed in Pingshui Town for half a year and often wandered the fields, so she was familiar with the local farmers.

Half an hour later, Wang Mengying arrived at the foot of the base’s mountain.

Her family had contracted 500 acres of land, mostly concentrated on two hills. With the wheat ripe, from a distance it looked like a vast sea of golden wheat.

She parked her electric bike and sat on a stone by the roadside. She had gone out with Wang Xuecai earlier; according to their plan, she would inspect the wheat in the fields while Wang Xuecai went to the county to coordinate the harvest team. They planned to meet at ten.

Wang Mengying waited from nine until ten, then time slipped to eleven.

She checked the time and called Wang Xuecai.

The phone rang twice with no answer.

Just as she was about to hang up, the call returned.

“Where are you now?” Wang Xuecai asked bluntly.

“Still in the field.”

“Go find Mayor Sun, have them clean up the town. I couldn’t get through just now…”

“Huh?”

“There’s an inspection coming from the county.”

Wang Mengying was about to ask more when Wang Xuecai quickly hung up.

Without hesitation, Wang Mengying rode her electric bike straight to the town government. When she arrived at the government gate, she saw the mayor and several department heads coming downstairs. “Everyone grab brooms and clean the trash along the roadsides. Hang lanterns wherever you can. Contact the advertising company to make banners…”

The mayor assigned personnel and continued, “Also notify the town’s merchants—no trash at storefronts.”

Wang Mengying was a bit stunned.

Once all the town government members were mobilized, she stepped forward curiously, “Mayor Sun, who’s coming for the inspection?”

Changlong County was Longfeng 001’s pioneer town. In the past six months, there had been inspections from county-level and above, but they were routine. This was the first time she saw the town government so tense.

“Someone from the city is coming.”

“Who?”

“Academician Zhou Yuanheng.”

Wang Mengying: !!!

Before she could react, Mayor Sun continued, “Clean up your base as well. The base has a visit scheduled for the afternoon.”

…

“Have they arrived?”

“Not yet…”

While Wang Mengying was still dazed, at the Changlong County government entrance, Liu Yuming and Wang Xuecai nervously paced back and forth.

Today was July 5th. After arranging the harvest process, Wang Xuecai came to the Agriculture Bureau to inquire about wheat purchases. As he arrived at the entrance, he found the bureau in chaos, leading to the current scene.

“Should I go back?”

Wang Xuecai asked, looking toward the vehicles. As a major landholder, his 500 acres were within the inspection area. He wanted to return but also wanted to meet Academician Zhou Yuanheng as soon as possible.

“Why not call home?” Liu Yuming reminded him.

Wang Xuecai took out his phone and called Wang Mengying—

“Back to the field?”

“I’m back. The town government has assigned some people; they’re cleaning the roads now.”

“There’s a hoe tied with a plastic bag near the south intersection—put it away…” Wang Xuecai gave his detailed instructions.

“I know.”

After confirming Wang Mengying could handle it personally, Wang Xuecai anxiously hung up.

“Have they arrived?”

“Yes!”

At one in the afternoon, a convoy of dark-colored vehicles discreetly arrived at the government entrance.

Once the vehicles stopped, Zhou Yuanheng was the first to step out. It was early July, and Zhou wore a blue short-sleeved shirt and light-colored suit pants. Though his appearance was ordinary, his posture was straight, and his demeanor clean and sharp.

“Academician Zhou…”

Everyone greeted warmly.

“Hello, everyone.”

After greeting everyone, Zhou Yuanheng didn’t rest but headed straight to the county grain purchase station.

According to reports from Changlong County, the first batch of wheat was harvested by a single farmer. The farmer planted three acres and harvested a total of 2,200 jin of wheat. Since this was the first batch of Longfeng 001 wheat, it was temporarily stored at the purchase station.

Half an hour later, everyone arrived at the purchase station.

“Academician Zhou!” The farmer was a seventy-year-old man who heard about Zhou Yuanheng’s arrival at noon and rushed over from home.

“Hello.” Zhou Yuanheng shook hands with the farmer.

The farmer wore a blue undershirt and a sun-faded straw hat. His face was lined with years of hard work, embodying the simple spirit of Longxia’s working people.

After a few casual words, the farmer took a pair of straw shoes out of a small bag.

“These were woven by my daughter-in-law, using this year’s wheat leaves.”

Knowing Zhou Yuanheng was coming to the purchase station, he wanted to bring a gift. Farmers had limited income; besides farming, they used to weave straw shoes to sell. This was his daughter-in-law’s first pair. He had planned to collect a basketful to sell in the city, but now he took this as an opportunity to offer the only decent gift they had.

The farmer was a little nervous, “Please don’t find it too humble…”

“Thank you!” Zhou Yuanheng accepted the shoes sincerely.

“I should be thanking you all. Without your wheat research, this winter would have been tough.” The farmer quickly said.

Besides wheat, he also had half an acre of walnut trees. This year’s acid rain was terrible; as soon as it stopped, he went up the mountain to check. The three acres of wheat were fine, but the walnut tree roots were damaged. He spent the month spraying pesticides and replacing soil but couldn’t save the walnut trees. Not only the walnut trees, but many flowers and plants on the mountain were corroded. If he hadn’t planted wheat in advance, this year would have been even harder.

“Thank you so much, Academician Zhou!” The farmer’s eyes grew moist, but he forced a cheerful tone.

“It will be fine. Everything will be fine,” Zhou Yuanheng solemnly promised.

They chatted a while longer. Zhou Yuanheng then looked at the wheat. Here was 2,200 jin, with the straw already separated. It was piled like a small mountain. The grains were plump and uniform.

According to Longxia’s requirements, Suzhou-Zhejiang-Anhui wheat would undergo professional quality testing first. After passing all tests, it would be officially purchased and released into the market. Amid the current food crisis, wheat purchase prices ranged from 2 to 15 yuan, depending on market fluctuations.

Zhou Yuanheng looked for a moment, then grabbed a handful of wheat and asked, “What is the thousand-grain weight?”

“Fifty-five grams,” the County Magistrate replied quickly.

The thousand-grain weight is an important indicator for measuring yield per acre. Normally, wheat’s thousand-grain weight ranges from 35 to 40 grams, so 55 grams is a harvest-worthy figure.

Zhou Yuanheng asked a few more detailed questions before heading to Pingshui Town.

Pingshui Town is a well-known coal mining town. This time, with land transfers, 70% of the abandoned land in Pingshui was planted with wheat. As the convoy passed, the roadsides were lined with wheat fields. Some farmers saw the vehicles and looked on curiously.

Zhou Yuanheng got out midway to ask researchers about the farmers’ planting conditions. This wasn’t his first visit to Suzhou-Zhejiang-Anhui; in the past six months, he had led his team here dozens of times, but this was his first visit to Pingshui.

During this serious inspection, at five in the afternoon, Zhou Yuanheng arrived at Wang Xuecai’s field.

“Academician Zhou.” Wang Mengying had waited all day in the field, and now seeing the government team arrive, she felt as if her steps were lighter.

Zhou Yuanheng smiled and began asking about difficulties and problems encountered during planting.

Wang Mengying spoke seriously about her thoughts.

At six in the evening, Zhou Yuanheng left the base.

Wang Mengying opened her phone album, where there was a photo of herself with Zhou Yuanheng. She had intended to show off on social media, but now she felt calm and had no desire to brag.

Half a year ago, she had returned to her hometown by chance. Now, looking at the vast wheat fields, she realized rural life brought more fulfillment than she had imagined.

Wang Mengying thought for a moment, then took a photo of the wheat field and posted: I love farming. [Photo]

Though she didn’t post the photo with Zhou Yuanheng, amid the current food crisis, with 500 acres of wheat, she was at least a small landholder.

Wang Mengying wanted to keep a low profile, but two days later, her social media exploded with private messages.

Wang Mengying clicked—

“Ahhhh, check the news! You’re on Longxia News!”

“Oh my god, is that your family’s base in the background?”

“Zhou Yuanheng! You actually met him in person!”

…

Now she had nearly a hundred private messages. Based on the messages, Wang Mengying found the latest episode of Longxia News.

The broadcast content: [Academician Zhou Yuanheng leads a team to inspect Pingshui Town, Su Province, where a large-scale grain harvest was achieved].

After watching, Wang Mengying realized she appeared at 15 minutes and 20 seconds. Because she stood next to Zhou Yuanheng, she had five seconds of screen time.

Ahhh.

Wang Mengying rolled excitedly on her bed. She never imagined that one day she would appear on Longxia News!

Amid this extreme excitement, her phone rang.

It was a friend verification request. The message read: On Longxia News?

Wang Mengying looked at the profile picture and finally remembered—it was a fake account of her dumb ex-boyfriend. She ignored it and deleted and blocked in one swift move.

Unable to contain her excitement, Wang Mengying finally rode her bike to the town convenience store.

She was going to buy cola to celebrate!

“Longxia Research Institute: Longfeng 001 protein content 12%, fat content 1%, dietary fiber 13%. No acid rain residues, meets human health standards.”

“Longfeng 001 is a Longxia-quality acid-resistant hybrid wheat. The expected wheat output for the three provinces of Suzhou, Zhejiang, and Anhui is 23 million tons.”

“Longfeng 001: Hope in the acid rain.”

…

While Wang Mengying was extremely excited, many netizens were also paying attention to another part of Longxia News.

Now that Longfeng 001 quality inspection data was released, it proved that Longfeng 001 was pollution-free and harmless. Against the global backdrop of acid rain, Longxia no longer needed to worry about a food crisis!