Chapter 69 Food is the most important thing for the people
Early in the morning, the base's loudspeaker was announcing:
"Please send one person from each household to the base's service center to collect the seeds."
Please send one person from each household to the base's service center to collect the seeds.
Please send one person from each household to the base's service center to collect the seeds.
The announcement was repeated three times before it stopped.
Bai Tang and the others let Lin Feng go to collect the seeds alone, because only one person from each household was allowed to go. Even so, the base's service center was still packed with people.
Fortunately, military personnel were there to maintain order, preventing a stampede and also to prevent anyone from snatching the seeds.
Lin Feng waited in line for more than an hour before receiving the seeds, which were a few seeds wrapped in a small paper bag.
He received it but didn't open it; he went straight home.
When they got home, Bai Tang and the others were waiting in the living room.
Lin Feng took out the paper packet in his hand, and Bai Tang took it. She opened it and saw that there were only five or six small red seeds inside.
Bai Jiyang questioned, "They're so small and there are so few of them, can they even survive?"
Gu Yanxu: "It's been more than a week now. The base must have studied it carefully. They only dared to distribute it to the base residents if they were sure it could survive."
The quantity is so small, it's likely that the base didn't have many seeds to begin with.
Besides the ones we've been looking for, the base has sent out quite a few people and police dogs over the past week to search for these fruits.
Lin Feng said, "Yes, I saw that some people even received vines, and I don't know if they can survive."
Bai Tang: "Since the base dares to grow vines, it means they should be able to survive. I just don't know what the survival rate will be."
As they talked, the group went out of the house, took the seeds, and scattered them directly on the empty ground in the yard.
Lin Feng said, "That's what the staff who distributed the seeds said. Just scatter them there, and they'll start bearing fruit in two to three weeks."
Lin Fan: "Is it really that amazing?"
Bai Jiyang: "Then I'll check it once a day, and I want to eat it cooked."
Bai Tang didn't tell them that similar fruits were also grown in the space.
After lunch, Bai Tang returned to her bedroom and entered the space.
Mu Mu told her, "Fruit has grown in the snowy field where my sister lives."
Bai Tang went over to take a look and sure enough, some grayish-white vines had grown on that small patch of snow, with white fruits growing on them.
I picked a white crabapple and tasted it; it was quite good.
Then I picked a plateful and took it out. The things grown in the space have never been sprayed with pesticides, so sometimes they don't need to be washed and can be eaten directly.
Bai Tang carried a plate of white fruit out of the space and into the living room.
Bai Jiyang, with his sharp eyes, spotted the fruit Bai Tang was holding first.
Then, with lightning speed, he grabbed the plate, took a bite, and started eating.
"Hahaha, I've finally tasted a sweet fruit, not sour at all." Bai Jiyang looked very satisfied.
Then Bai Jiyang put the remaining plate of white fruit on the living room table so that everyone could have a taste.
Everyone has eaten white fruits grown in the snow, but no one has ever eaten white fruits grown in the soil of the White Begonia Space.
Gu Yanxu and the others discovered that the fruits growing inside the space were sweeter and less sour than those outside.
No one dared to ask when Bai Tang planted the tree. They all adhered to the principle of not asking what shouldn't be asked, and that Bai Tang would naturally tell them when the time was right.
Bai Tang: "These are the fruits I grew in my space, which I simulated a snowy environment with accumulated snow. They look pretty good."
Lin Fan immediately flattered her: "Sister-in-law, you have such foresight."
Bai Tang: "I just don't know how many of the seeds we sowed in the yard will survive."
But it's alright, since we can already plant things in the space. We can just plant a new patch once they're all mature.
It seems this plant can only survive in extremely cold weather, so we should plant as many as we can, to save some for later consumption.
.....
For a time, everyone in the base was planting this white fruit, which people called "snow fruit".
Because it grows in the snow, its vines and fruits are white.
...
During this period, Bai Tang and his team did not take on any missions, but instead drove out of the base to a slightly more distant location.
This makes it easier for Baitang to collect clean snow and bring it into the space, where she can simulate a snowy environment to grow snow fruit.
While collecting the accumulated snow, Bai Tang was also planting snow fruit in the space, keeping her extremely busy.
Since they don't have these things themselves, and since she can grow them in her space, the more the better.
While Bai Tang and his group were away, the snow fruit planted by the local people at the base gradually ripened, greatly relieving the pressure on the base.
Because once the snow fruit grows, the seeds inside the fruit can be planted indefinitely as long as there is soil.
Many people who own houses have also made use of the wasteland allocated to them in the back mountains.
They scattered around their land with wire mesh and other things, and then planted snow fruit trees inside.
They were planting enthusiastically at the base, and Bai Tang was planting enthusiastically in the space.
Bai Tang also planted a lot of snow fruit in the yard, but they didn't plant them on the wasteland in the back mountain.
On the one hand, even if the area is fenced off with wire mesh after planting, people will still steal the crops. On the other hand, crops grown outside are not as good as those grown in the space.
So Bai Tang and the others simply stopped planting on the wasteland and planted directly in the space.
During this time, Li Ping and his sister came to Bai Tang to ask if she needed their help to watch over the snow fruit in the field.
Bai Tang refused his offer of kindness but gave him a lot of seeds instead, telling them to go home and plant them on their own land.
Taking ripe snow fruits to the service center and exchanging them for contribution points can also be a source of income.
People at the base have discovered that snow fruit grows better in extremely cold weather.
The experts at the research institute, seeing how well the snow fruit could grow, couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of the Creator.
Although they had snow fruit, they still did not give up researching some cold-resistant and filling crops, after all, food is the most important thing for people.
.....
Bai Tang and the others spent three busy weeks like this.
That morning, Bai Tang looked at the calendar hanging on the wall, thought for a moment, and realized that today was Laba Festival.
Today we're going to drink Laba porridge. Laba porridge isn't a traditional food; it's something we drink before noon on Laba Festival.
Laba porridge is a type of porridge made with various ingredients on Laba Festival, also known as Seven Treasures and Five Flavors porridge.
There's a saying that you shouldn't eat Laba porridge past noon. It's believed that eating porridge early will ensure a bountiful harvest next year.
We drink Laba porridge to celebrate the harvest. Just a few days ago, the snow fruit in Baitang Space and the snow fruit in the yard had a bumper harvest.
So Bai Tang took out a pot of Laba porridge from her space, along with some side dishes and steamed buns, and ate these simply for breakfast.