binnovel Chapter 151 Dawn Rice
Chapter 151 Dawn Rice
That evening, Yunlan, Han Xiaoling, and Chen Xiaoke had just returned home when they smelled a strong aroma, like rice but not quite. A moment later, Li Xue came out of the kitchen carrying a large-capacity rice cooker. Han Xiaoling asked with a smile, "Sister Li Xue, what's in this rice cooker? It smells so good!" Li Xue replied mysteriously, "I don't know either. My aunt and uncle are coming over later, and my brother gave me a bag of something that looks like rice this afternoon, asking me to cook it. I don't know why it smells so good."
These things are, of course, crystal rice, though that name isn't entirely accurate. Today, Li Chenglong planted an area the size of several football fields of crystal rice in the natural zone of his psionic space. Unlike regular rice, which requires seedlings and transplanting, this rice is simply planted. For convenience, Li Chenglong named it Dawn Rice, believing it could solve the food crisis he would face after the apocalypse. After sowing, he had 50 kg of seeds left. Li Chenglong asked the light industrial zone to husk the seeds and refine them into finished rice before handing them over to Li Xue.
Qi Guoan and Qin Fangyu arrived shortly after, followed by Yun Qian, Shen Menghua, and Cao Yuechan. Li Chenglong had originally intended to invite Zheng Yong and Wu Gang, but they declined, saying they needed to familiarize their troops with the expanded city walls. Yang Liu and Zhao Liying were preparing to lead the special forces on a nighttime training exercise. As soon as Shen Menghua arrived, she started chatting with Yun Lan, noticing Yun Lan's slightly protruding belly: "It's been about four months, hasn't it? How have you been feeling lately?" Yun Lan smiled and replied, "Everything's fine, except my psionic energy is a bit unstable. I haven't had any morning sickness during my pregnancy. My mom says she envies me, and that she had a very uncomfortable first few months when she was pregnant with me."
Li Chenglong and Li Xue carried out dishes one by one, and Qin Fangyu joined in later. Qi Guoan went to his and Qin Fangyu's house to get a bottle of Moutai, which he had redeemed with points and usually wouldn't take out. Chen Xiaoke, Han Xiaoling, and Cao Yuechan, the three girls, helped clear the table and dishes. Seeing Li Chenglong come out, Shen Menghua reported on some work: the production of crystal bullets was going very smoothly, with more than a thousand rounds completed. After being counted and packed, they would be sealed and sent to the Joint Logistics Support Department. Yun Qian also came over and said, "The crystal phones have been distributed according to the list, and the identity cards and numbers have been bound. We can contact each other by phone from now on, which is much more convenient."
Li Chenglong earnestly said, "Don't neglect your work just because you have a mobile phone. Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Most of the time, you still need to see with your own eyes and do it yourself to identify and fill gaps. If you only listen to what others report on their phones, it will give some people an opportunity to take advantage of you, leading to deception and corruption." Qi Guoan affirmed, "Well said. You must always work diligently and conscientiously to achieve anything. If you can keep thinking like this, I feel that the future of Shuguang City is truly bright."
The meal was ready, and Qin Fangyu invited everyone to eat. Ten people sat around the table, creating a lively atmosphere. Li Chenglong personally served everyone rice. He had specifically asked Li Xue to use a large-capacity rice cooker to cook rice, in case there wasn't enough. The Dawn Rice wasn't white like regular rice; it was pinkish, like peach blossoms, and the grains were larger. After serving the rice, Li Chenglong smiled and said, "We're sitting together today mainly because it's been a long time since we've had a meal together, and today is a happy day. So don't be shy, eat and drink well." As he spoke, he took out more than a dozen bottles of various drinks from his spiritual energy space and placed them on the table. Qi Guoan then mysteriously took out a bottle of Moutai liquor: "We two should have a little today, but don't drink too much."
Chen Xiaoke finally started eating. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she quickly stuffed her mouth full with her chopsticks. As soon as she put the rice in her mouth, she made a series of "mmm" sounds. Han Xiaoling, sitting next to her, immediately asked if it was good. It took Chen Xiaoke several seconds to finish the rice in her mouth, then she exclaimed repeatedly, "Delicious! Delicious! I've never eaten such delicious rice in my life. You should try it too, it's so good!" Qin Fangyu, seeing how much she enjoyed it, also took a bite, but she couldn't stop eating after just one bite, saying between bites, "It really is delicious." Li Xue smiled and said, "My brother made me cook a lot today, everyone, don't rush, eat slowly, you'll definitely be full."
Li Chenglong said, "Seeing that you all approve of Dawn Rice, I'm going to plant more in the natural area of my psionic space. Since my area has expanded after the upgrade, and with the nourishment of my level 8 psionic energy, the yield will definitely be high. According to the main computer's description, the yield of Dawn Rice, converted to our units, is at least 2000 jin per mu. The natural area is now the size of 10 football fields. After deducting the growing space for psionic persimmons and apples, and those vegetables, there's still about the size of 5 football fields left. I plan to plant Dawn Rice there. What do you think?" Li Xue quickly raised her hand and said, "I agree! That way we can keep eating such delicious rice!"
Everyone else agreed. Qi Guoan calculated, "A standard 11-a-side football field is about 10 mu (approximately 1.65 acres) or a little more. So, if we plant more than 50 mu (approximately 8.2 acres), the yield will be quite high." Li Chenglong nodded, "I just exchanged some more seeds. Once our first crop matures and we have more seeds, we can plant all 50 mu (approximately 8.2 acres) of land. I estimate that it will mature in a maximum of 30 days."
Yun Qian then asked, "Captain Li, can this Dawn Rice only be grown in your psionic space? Can we grow it on ordinary land?" Li Chenglong thought for a moment and said, "I'm not quite sure either. When they introduced it, they said that Dawn Rice needs superpowers or psionic energy to grow. I'll give you some seeds later. Anyway, there's still plenty of open land in Dawn City. You can set up an experimental field and have a water-type superpower user irrigate it with their own superpower every day, and see if it works." Yun Qian nodded, "Okay, I'll do that tomorrow."
Dinner ended amidst laughter and conversation. Li Chenglong gave Yun Qian 30kg of seeds to take home. Shen Menghua, Qin Fangyu, and Li Xue took on the task of washing dishes and cleaning up. After a while, everyone said their goodbyes and left. Even Li Xue took Chen Xiaoke and Han Xiaoling out to play. Recently, Li Chenglong had placed a Crystal Computer in Li Xue's apartment to facilitate her handling of some medical department work. Li Xue and Han Xiaoling's apartments were both 40 square meters, while Qi Guoan and his wife's were larger, at 80 square meters. He and Yun Lan's apartment was on the far left of the 7th floor, reaching 120 square meters. They had originally planned to allocate a portion of it to Shen Menghua, but she refused.
The seventh floor is roughly structured as follows: on the left are two elevators, followed by Li Chenglong and Yun Lan's 120-square-meter apartment; in the middle, towards the south, are the 80-square-meter offices of the city lord's assistant and the city lord himself; to the north is Han Xiaoling's 40-square-meter room; and across a corridor to the east are the 80-square-meter apartment of Qi Guoan and his wife, and the 40-square-meter apartment of Li Xue. There are two elevators each on the far left, in the middle, and on the far right, with the corridors arranged in a horizontal and two vertical pattern.
That night, in Qi Guoan and his wife's house, Qi Guoan asked about what the three women had been saying in the kitchen. Qin Fangyu didn't hide anything: "Shen Menghua and I were talking about finding Li Xue a boyfriend, which made Li Xue quite embarrassed." Qi Guoan also laughed and said, "We don't have a son. If we did, we would definitely encourage him to pursue Li Xue. Li Xue is almost 23 years old (by Chinese reckoning), and she's a Level 7 Awakened. Not only is she strong in combat, but she's also quiet, well-behaved, and cute. She's beautiful, and she's the city lord's sister. You could say she really has no flaws." Qin Fangyu added, "That's right. I can hardly imagine what kind of man could be worthy of her. He should at least be someone similar to our son-in-law."
As they chatted, Qin Fangyu brought up Yunlan again: "My daughter is four months pregnant now. I'm thinking of taking a few months off from the Joint Logistics Support Department to take care of her." Qi Guoan replied, "It's been quite peaceful outside lately. We've only encountered some small groups of zombies and zombie beasts. It's just that we don't know when a large zombie army will appear. Actually, I'm not too keen on my daughter having a baby in this environment, but if she's willing, we'll fully support her." Qin Fangyu sighed, "It's a pity I didn't give you a son, ending your family line." Qi Guoan quickly stopped her, "What era are we living in? Why talk about continuing the family line? Boys and girls are the same. As long as the child is happy, that's more important than anything else. Don't say that again."
On the other side, Li Chenglong was washing Yunlan's feet after she had just taken a bath. Yunlan was currently having some difficulty getting up, so the task of washing her feet fell to Li Chenglong. He brought over a wooden tub, added some medicine packets prescribed by the director of the Dawn City Hospital, and then slowly began to wash Yunlan's feet. After washing, he even gave Yunlan a foot massage. Li Chenglong said, "There are still 30 kilograms of Dawn Rice refined from Dawn Rice. You can eat one kilogram every day this month. After 30 days, when the rice in my spiritual energy space matures, you can eat as much as you want." Yunlan nodded, her eyes already reddening with emotion, unsure of what to say.
After helping Yunlan to rest, Li Chenglong went to his study and started doing official business on the crystal computer. Dawn City had been booming recently, and there was much more work than usual. He had to approve applications from various departments and approve appointment reports for some officers. He was very busy, but Li Chenglong was always enjoying himself.