Chapter 250: A Rush, A Mind-Numbing Harvest!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Month 2 Day 2 of the Doomsday calendar was the Longtaitou Festival—the “dragon raising its head”. This was an important event in Huaxian agriculture because the dragon was regarded as the deity in charge of rain.
In the Huaxian calendar, this was also the second day of the new year.
As this was the last day of the welfare disaster, most of the wasteland survivors had gathered at the campground. It was now time for the harvest.
Even some of the lone wolves were able to buy a small number of seeds the day before with their limited supplies, and after two rounds of propagation, they were able to harvest enough food on the last day to last half a year.
Either way, this should have been a day worth celebrating.
However, despite this being such a festive day, no one seemed very joyful. Instead, their faces were full of worry.
The reason for everyone’s concern was simple…
Ever since four o’clock in the morning, as the weather began to change, the various discussions in the World Channel had not stopped at all.
On the last day, starting from about three o’clock, large ominous clouds gathered in the wasteland sky. Judging by how dense they seemed, they would not dissipate unless there was heavy rain!
Endless days of heat and sun, as well as the snow on the peripheries that was already beginning to melt, indirectly caused most of the refugees to forget that rainy weather still existed.
There was no weather forecast and no view of the night sky. The clouds arrived swiftly, and the rain did too!
In less than an hour, strange clouds from goodness knows where gathered in the sky and loomed over every area in the entire wasteland that bore signs of human activity.
The rain had not arrived earlier or later and was instead situated right here right now. It could be considered too much of a coincidence!
It also disrupted the plans that many people had made early on.
In the low-lying land right now…
After finishing up his work and eating dinner last night, Su Mo had slept early. He woke up correspondingly early as well.
The first glimmers of light were just beginning to illuminate the dawn sky, and the morning sun had not yet risen above the horizon. As the ancient alarm clock sounded, Su Mo immediately sprang out of bed and jumped up, his spirits high.
Waking up without feeling the need to do anything that would make one feel good about the day was something that could greatly enhance one’s sense of happiness and accomplishment.
Su Mo felt the ample strength in his arms and waist and touched his muscled abdomen. He nodded in satisfaction, put on his clothes, and walked out of the room.
“Working in the field is also a form of training. As long as I make sure to recover from each exertion, my physical fitness will improve very quickly!”
After warming up with a round of the Su Family Spear Technique, he wiped the hot sweat off his entire body.
Su Mo went to the third floor of the underground shelter and started his usual morning ablutions as he checked the news from the World Channel.
“Huh—why are there so many people today?”
It was only just past six in the morning, and the World Channel—usually fairly empty at this time—was actually packed with vociferous people.
After a glance at the topic that everyone was discussing, Su Mo’s initially relaxed expression immediately turned serious.
“It’s actually going to rain. This timing is just far too much of a coincidence!”
After quickly finishing up his morning ablutions, Su Mo put on his combat uniform and hurried down the passageway. He opened the shelter door and peered out.
The reality was not that different from what everyone was talking about. At this moment, the sky above the low-lying land was covered with dense black clouds.
In the distance, occasional flashes of lightning visible to the eye could be glimpsed amid the dark clouds.
Gusts of north wind, accompanied by a light dusting of snow, joined the brewing storm.
The wind swept over the ground and buffeted Su Mo’s combat uniform, making a rustling noise.
If things continued in this fashion, the storm resulting from such dense clouds would last at least half a day, if not more.
“This is finally matching up with the disaster recorded in Magoo’s notebook—on the seventh day after a heavy snowfall, there will be heavy rain.”
Su Mo had anticipated this storm.
It was also in the contingency plan that he had previously put together.
As a precaution, yesterday, Su Mo had instructed Chen Shen to plant the cotton first and leave the planting of the remaining vegetables for the third day.
What he was taking precautions against was this sudden downpour!
“Based on the rainfall, there should still be two to three hours before the storm fully breaks!
“If I hurry and start harvesting now, it will affect the final harvest somewhat, but that’s acceptable.”
The fields of the Candlelight Shelter were sown from the very beginning with over two thousand catties of seed as a base.
In addition, since practically the entire process was done using automated machinery, over 80% of the tasks were completed in just two days.
The remaining cabbage, carrots, and soybeans would be affected by the rain, but that was not a big issue. Unlike the wheat harvest, which would be reduced by half, they would still have an acceptable harvest that was within expectations.
By this time, Chen Shen had already started work over on his side as well.
Su Mo hurriedly reviewed the report Chen Shen had sent early in the morning, then made a call and gave a few orders to Chen Shen before hanging up. After that, he hastily began preparing breakfast, as well readying matters related to the impending harvest.
The Candlelight Shelter was racing against time.
The Underground Shelter could not afford to delay either.
Calculating based on the time, the fruit trees that were planted yesterday were certainly ready for harvesting the first round of their fruits.
If he kept waiting until this storm was over, the fruits would be overripe by then!
After eating breakfast, he drove Earth Tiger to the fields, bringing all his harvesting tools along. Before he reached the black soil land, the light fragrance of the fruit trees had already wafted to his nostrils.
Red and green apples hung on branches that drooped low with the weight of the fruit.
Yellow apricots the size of a baby’s fist swayed in a special waltz as the wind blew.
Blush-red peaches, vivid orange tangerines, and bright yellow pears—the added benefits of the black soil land… were…
Terrifying to behold!
Of these fruit trees, just the rare-quality ones alone had seen a thousandfold increase and had essentially reached maturity.
These fruit trees did not have a caretaker, and they grew in odd, distorted shapes—even the fruits they bore were both big and small.
However, under these circumstances, Su Mo was not so concerned about this. He called Moore, took his tools, and quickly began harvesting the fruits.
Su Mo lay prone to harvest the trees, from the tops all the way down to the lower sections.
Moore was even more violent. He took advantage of his physical body to knock the fruits down from the trees in two tries, then went on the ground on all fours, frantically picking them up.
After observing for a while on the sidelines, Oreo joined the team that was rushing to get the harvest in. Using her claws to dig and her large mouth to bite, she was so fast she seemed to fly.
In less than an hour, Earth Tiger was piled full.
By the time they harvested their second round, a light drizzle was already falling from the sky.
Luckily, all three of them worked fast. In the end, they were able to harvest more than 90% of the fruits before the storm broke completely.
As for the rest of the fruit, they could be left to return to the soil, decaying into inorganic matter and nourishing the fertility of the black soil land.
Flash!
Boom!
Lightning dazzling enough to pierce heaven and earth flashed across the pitch-black sky.
Just as Su Mo parked Earth Tiger, the rain finally came with a rumble of thunder!
Whoosh!
Previously, the ground had been an endless snowy field that resembled a sealed-off kingdom of snow.
Now, however, in the humid, sultry air, the rain that poured down from the heavens resembled a midsummer deluge in the sixth month.
In just a short three to five seconds, the sheets of rain in front of the Underground Shelter’s entrance had become one continuous torrent.
“Wow, it’s raining, it’s raining!”
This was Moore’s first time seeing rain since he was born. The sight energized him. He rushed out, rolling and crawling on the ground and kicking up a ruckus in the rain.
The warm rainwater beat down on Moore’s smooth fur like a massage. It felt so comfortable that he rolled around madly on the snowy ground.
Shaking his head as he saw Oreo run out as well and go crazy in the rain, then glancing at the piles of fruits on the ground that had been harvested in such a hurry, Su Mo found his own reasons for being happy.
Bringing out the good-quality comfortable deck chair he had previously traded for, Su Mo picked up an apple, sat in front of the entrance, and began munching leisurely.
He sucked his tongue between his teeth…
So sweet!
Although the apple trees had not gone through any pruning, the fruit on the branches still far outstripped the best quality obtainable from planned modern agriculture.
However, even though rare-quality fruits had only a sole bonus attribute of being tasty, the way they stimulated his tastebuds still exceeded Su Mo’s wildest imagination.
With every bite, apple juice oozed forth, letting one experience what it was to taste something sweet but not cloying!
A relaxing deck chair, torrents of rain, and fresh fruits.
A bear that liked to roll around on the rain-soaked ground, a husky that liked to flop around, and two chickens fluttering around.
As Su Mo hurriedly dealt with remaining matters, the welfare disaster came to an end in this quiet, peaceful atmosphere.
Over at the Candlelight Shelter, after Su Mo signaled that the mad rush of harvesting should be abandoned, everyone returned to their homes to avoid the rain.
Just because they had food did not mean they had regained their physical fitness.
Given the refugees’ depleted, fatigued bodies at present, if they were not careful and came down with a cold or a fever, even if Su Mo treated them, it would still take them a long time to recover. The gains would not make up for the losses.
Furthermore, the supplies they had harvested for now were more than sufficient!
The small mountain of accumulated spring wheat aside, just the vegetables they had rushed to harvest now filled every person’s home.
Given Su Mo’s command, the refugees did not dare go out either. They could do nothing except return to their houses and stare at the spaces that were now so full there was barely room to set foot. Their expressions indicated that they were unsure whether they should laugh or cry.
People who were so poor they had learned to fear poverty behaved in such a manner.
The sudden abundance of supplies made everyone feel that it was a little too good to be true. It was this “timely rain” that extinguished these doubts in everyone’s minds and forced them to settle down.
Of course, as the storm continued, all the refugees went out with umbrellas to unclog the drains. They were afraid that if this rain went on for a few days, it would submerge the food supplies that they had collected with such difficulty.
“Rainwater that is close to zero degrees or colder than five or six degrees will become a thick layer of ice when it comes in contact with the snowy ground.
“Based on the current temperature, however, with this rain, the solid surface of the snow is also starting to melt.
“The next disaster is 99% going to be…
“A flood!”
Every drop of “high-temperature” rainwater falling onto the solid surface of the snow was like water being poured into an oily pan.
On the surface of the ice, countless tiny bubbles appeared. They mixed with the rainwater as it fell onto the ground and was greedily absorbed by the plants.
Su Mo sat at the shelter entrance from morning till noon, then from noon until early evening.
After the Candlelight Shelter’s joint supplies statisticians calculated the ownership percentages of all the supplies, Su Mo rubbed his slightly numb shoulder and stood up.
“When I transport everything back tomorrow, as long as nothing unforeseen happens, I won’t have to worry about daily supplies anymore!”
Using the system’s weighing function, the Candlelight Shelter had already calculated the harvest of the various crops during this welfare disaster.
As someone who had a 70% share, the amount that Su Mo would get was rather frightening.
Five rounds of spring wheat had been planted, and the total area sown for all five rounds came to 929 mu.
These five rounds produced an average of 1846 catties for every mu of land!
Altogether, the wheat harvest this time had 1.71 million catties remaining, after excluding some odds and ends, as well as what had been used.
Because of the weather, most of the wheat did not have enough drying time, so the flour yield was slightly lower than expected.
72%!
With 1.71 million catties of wheat, a total of 1.23 million catties of flour could be ground. This number, multiplied by the share that Su Mo could get was…
860 thousand catties!
In tons, that was a full 430 tons!
The volume of flour was 0.52g/cm3, and one cubic meter could hold 500 kilograms of flour. In just three days, merely by relying on a welfare disaster, Su Mo had accumulated enough flour to fill 800 cubic meters of space.
“Amazing. This has now created a big problem for me.”
Even if Su Mo had been mentally prepared before planting, now, however…
Seeing the data that had been calculated, as well as computing just how much flour would occupy 800 cubic meters, Su Mo’s face revealed a blissful “annoyance”.
How should he design a storage space for so much food?
