binnovel Chapter 161 Solving the Food Crisis
Chapter 161 Solving the Food Crisis
Two weeks after the basketball game, various mass competitions and the Dawn City Games came to a close. According to statistics, more than 7 residents of Dawn City and warriors of the Dawn Army participated in this grand event. In particular, the Ironman Decade for the superhuman group was adjusted for the abilities of superhumans. In the end, Wu Gang won the championship of the superhuman group with his excellent performance.
Li Chenglong didn't participate in any of the subsequent competitions, stating that he wanted to give others more opportunities. After the Dawn City Games ended, it was December 8th. That evening, Li Chenglong was having dinner with his family when Chen Xiaoke said, "Brother Li, we now have over 80,000 people. Yesterday I heard someone say that at our current consumption rate, our food supply might run out by April or May next year. Is that true?"
Li Chenglong nodded: "Yes, I did a thorough calculation with Yunqian's logistics department the day before yesterday, and the conclusion is that, based on the current consumption, we might be able to finish by mid-May next year if we are slightly optimistic, and only by late April if we are not optimistic. That is right when the crops are in a lean period. Although we have planted several thousand acres of winter wheat and have special troops guarding them every day, the wheat in Donghai Province usually doesn't ripen until early June."
Qi Guoan took a sip of water and said, "That is indeed a problem. We've basically scavenged all the supplies within a few hundred kilometers of us. Although we built quite a few granaries, some were contaminated by the zombie virus or stolen by alien beasts, so we didn't get much." Li Chenglong smiled and said, "But we don't lack vegetables at all. Now that I've leveled up to level 8, my psionic space can produce tens of thousands of kilograms of vegetables every half month. Add to that the stock in our logistics department's large warehouses, and we'll have no problem eating until this time next year."
Yunlan added, "Yunqian and I went to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources yesterday. The breeding and animal husbandry there are developing very well. They have started breeding exotic chickens, exotic pigs, exotic fish, exotic cattle, and so on. Especially the exotic chickens, there are already several hundred of them. The exotic chickens can be slaughtered after three months, and each one can yield at least 500 catties of meat."
The mention of exotic beasts reminded Li Chenglong of a five-meter-long golden leopard in his psionic storage area, which he hadn't yet processed after returning. Especially its pelt; such a large area could make at least five or six sets of leather armor—truly a valuable item. However, he didn't know how to craft leather armor, which was a problem. Tomorrow, he'd ask Yun Qian to keep an eye out for ancient military equipment enthusiasts; they should have some knowledge of it.
Li Chenglong said, "The Dawn Rice in my psionic space matured yesterday. I took out all the straw and had Yunqian deliver it to the alien beasts. That's the highest quality feed." Li Xue asked in surprise, "How much is the yield?" Li Chenglong explained, "The Dawn Rice yields up to one ton per mu. We've produced over 50 tons so far. I kept one ton of the best for seed, and I'll send the rest to the grain processing plant in the light industrial zone tomorrow for refining."
Han Xiaoling smiled and said, "Dawn Rice is much more filling than regular rice. Eating two or three hundred grams a day is enough for one person's needs. Even for people with superpowers, the maximum daily consumption is only one to one and a half kilograms. With this much Dawn Rice, it will be enough for people to eat for a long time."
Li Chenglong nodded: "Last night I planned out the natural area, which is the size of 10 football fields, and it has been divided into 10 equal parts. Two parts will be used to plant psionic persimmons, psionic apples and 10 flame trees. These things only account for one-tenth of the total area of the natural area. The remaining one-tenth will be reserved for planting any special plants that may be found in the future."
He paused, then continued, "For the other eight plots, I reduced the planting area for vegetables and common fruits. Now those plots only take up two. I plan to use the remaining six plots entirely for Dawn Rice. Fortunately, Dawn Rice is different from the rice on Earth; it doesn't need seedlings or transplanting. It just needs to be planted and nourished by psionic energy. This translates to over 60 acres of land for Dawn Rice, which matures every month, so the yield is considerable. Although it's a drop in the ocean compared to the population of Dawn City of over 80,000."
Han Xiaoling suggested, "I think we can do this: those with superpowers and those who have awakened should get a little more Dawn Rice each day. After all, if a high-level superpowered person eats only rice every day, they would have to eat four or five kilograms to make up for their body's consumption. But if they eat Dawn Rice, they only need one kilogram a day. This way, there will be more food available for ordinary people to eat."
Qin Fangyu calculated: "There are currently 2100 people with superpowers and awakened individuals in Dawn City. If we replace ordinary rice with Dawn Rice, we can really save a lot of food. Moreover, the monthly production of Dawn Rice is more than enough to meet the needs of people with superpowers and awakened individuals, and there will even be a lot left over. We can also feed the people in the Dawn City government."
Li Chenglong nodded: "That's fine too. It's a pity that there are too few of us with storage spaces. There are only three in the entire Dawn City, and I'm the only one with a psionic space. Otherwise, if everyone planted it, the quantity would be quite substantial. Once the Dawn Rice is refined, we'll implement it temporarily. If the feedback is good, then we'll continue. Although it's a bit unfair to ordinary people, we need to make it clear to them that this is the only way to ensure our food lasts longer."
After dinner, Qi Guoan drove Qin Fangyu to the military camp. Yun Lan sat listlessly on the sofa. Suddenly, she tiptoed over to Li Chenglong, who was washing dishes with Han Xiaoling and Chen Xiaoke. She said sweetly, "I want to eat strawberries, no, our son wants to eat strawberries." Li Chenglong wiped his hands, then took out a small bucket of strawberries from his spiritual energy space, weighing at least 7-8 kg. He turned to Han Xiaoling and Chen Xiaoke and said, "You two help wash the strawberries, then the three of you can eat them. Don't forget to send some to Li Xue."
Han Xiaoling looked at the big, red strawberries, her eyes sparkling: "Brother, you still grow strawberries?" Li Chenglong nodded: "Yes, I grew some, but strawberries are a bit troublesome to grow, so I didn't plant many. Tomorrow I plan to deliver some strawberries and melons to various departments and the military headquarters as a token of appreciation for their hard work." Actually, these strawberries are completely pesticide-free; they only need some dust washed off. To facilitate pollination, Li Chenglong even exchanged several automatic pollinators at the main control computer to help pollinate these fruits and trees. He originally wanted to release some bees, but considering that the passage of time in the natural zone is several times that in normal space, bees would probably have a hard time surviving, so he didn't do that.
After washing them, Han Xiaoling first took some out and put them in a small basin, giving some to Li Xue and Zhao Liying, who worked in the central computer room. Then the three girls ate them with relish. These strawberries, nourished by Li Chenglong's spiritual energy space, were not only large but also had a strong strawberry aroma, making them taste exceptionally good. The two girls each ate three, and gave the rest to Yun Lan.
After Han Xiaoling and Chen Xiaoke went back to rest, Li Chenglong helped Yun Lan take a bath before going to his study. He contacted several department heads via his crystal phone to discuss the distribution plan for Dawn Rice. After a lengthy discussion, the department heads all agreed that special circumstances should be handled specially, especially since the fundamental purpose of this matter was to solve the problem of food shortage.
It's worth mentioning that, with the help of the Flame Fruit, Yunlan's decreased and unstable spiritual energy due to her pregnancy gradually lessened, though it didn't completely disappear. Yunlan also knew the baby's gender; after all, she possessed the Phoenix Eye, making observation easy. However, Li Chenglong didn't care about the baby's gender, believing that boys and girls were the same.
After Li Chenglong finished his discussion with some people, it was already past 10 p.m. He returned to his room to rest and found that Yun Lan was still awake. Seeing Li Chenglong come in, Yun Lan reached out her hand and said, "Hug me." Li Chenglong smiled and hugged Yun Lan, kissing her. A few minutes later, the two slowly separated. Yun Lan leaned against Li Chenglong and said shyly, "Hold me while I sleep." Li Chenglong gently hugged Yun Lan, and the two chatted for a while before slowly falling asleep.