Chapter 80: Liang Dou

“Did they mention when the food trials would begin?” Shen Mingyi asked.

“The test fields have already been established, and they’re not small. Though it’s called a trial, it’s essentially real production,” Li Qingshui replied. As he spoke about the farmland, a relaxed expression crossed his face, though his tone remained somewhat reserved. “The problem is, we don’t know how many seasons this plant can be grown, nor whether large-scale cultivation will lead to directional evolution. That still needs investigation.”

“But overall, this is excellent news. You might as well spread the word early and stabilize the troops,” Li Qingshui said, smiling at Shen Mingyi. “Honestly, whether you announce it or not doesn’t matter much. If you don’t, the research institute will send someone to inform everyone within a few hours anyway. Stabilizing morale is a top priority.”

“Exactly. With food, no one will panic,” Shen Mingyi replied with a smile. “I’ll go now; letting the soldiers know this good news ahead of time is a good thing.”

“Go on, then.” Li Qingshui nodded and returned to his computer.

Once Shen Mingyi left and the door closed behind him, Li Qingshui’s relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by a grave expression.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing his face, Liu Chang immediately sensed trouble. “Is there a problem with the food?”

“Yes, a very serious problem. It’s touted as a new crop, but it’s really a genetically engineered monster,” Li Qingshui said, staring at his computer, his tone heavy. “They’ve inserted artificially isolated genes into the crop’s genome and even used components from the red mist. It looks like they’ve created high-yield, nutritious crops, but this is playing with fire!”

“That’s the radical faction for you—always trying to achieve everything in one step. With all this energy, they’d be better off finding edible food sooner.” Li Qingshui’s face contorted in anger. “And Zhao Zhuo actually proposed introducing monster genes into humans. That’s a bold idea!”

“Is there any harm in eating these modified foods?” Liu Chang couldn’t follow the scientific jargon; he cared about the fundamental question—what happens if people eat it?

“I can’t specify the exact harm, but anything that doesn’t follow natural order has never ended well. The negative effects may not show up immediately, but in the future, there will definitely be problems,” Li Qingshui replied. “It’s like those monsters outside. Though they look strange, they are products of natural evolution. In principle, they’re just regular organisms—however odd their appearance, they’re not truly monsters.”

“But what Zhao Zhuo is doing is true artificial recombination—manually splicing genes from various organisms. While it seems like he’s using the best genetic fragments from different species, the result is something that exists outside nature, which will inevitably cause catastrophic consequences.”

“So what now?” For the first time, Liu Chang heard the always composed Li Qingshui utter such alarming words.

“There’s nothing we can do. I have no authority; I can’t stop anything. And I don’t have time to find new crops to soothe society. All we can do is keep silent and stick to our usual diet,” Li Qingshui said to Liu Chang. “Once the new food is distributed to soldiers and civilians, there’ll be surplus of regular food. At that point, we’ll continue eating ordinary food and deal with everything else later.”

His words carried the helplessness of someone who wished to save his country but lacked the power.

“That’s all we can do.” Liu Chang nodded. “I’ll help you search for new food seeds as soon as possible.”

“Alright.” Li Qingshui rubbed his eyes and nodded. “I’m almost done with my basic courses. Tomorrow I’ll summarize everything, and the day after I’ll publish my theory on Earth’s new ecology and hopefully enter the upper ranks early.”

“Good!” Liu Chang nodded. “Keep at your work. I’ll train my body for the next couple of days, and the rest we’ll handle later.”

With those words, Liu Chang led Xiao Jing out, heading once more to the massive gymnasium.

Three days later, the experimental zone sent shockwaves through Zhengzhou with a new announcement.

The news was that the experimental park’s new food crop had finally been developed—a new variety named ‘Liang Bean’ had been successfully tested. This crop, named by senior researcher Zhao Zhuo, boasted three world-shaking advantages: short production cycle, high yield per unit area, and rich nutritional content.

In this mist-shrouded world, Liang Bean could produce ripe fruit just seven days after planting.

Its yield per acre was three thousand jin, far surpassing the previous champions—rice and corn.

If the first two advantages astonished people, the third—nutritional richness—was enough to drive them mad.

According to Zhao Zhuo, the senior researcher, an average person needed only three hundred grams—less than half a bowl—of Liang Bean each day to meet all daily nutritional needs. Its nutrition far exceeded anything from the previous era and was claimed to be the solution to humanity’s food crisis.

“It’s all nonsense!” Li Qingshui slammed the citizen bulletin onto his desk.

Meanwhile, the lab door swung open, and Liu Chang entered with the little girl.

“Hey, this place is nice!” Liu Chang grinned as he walked in. “Getting promoted is great—you even have your own office. So, how does it feel on your first day?”

“Nothing yet. They haven’t assigned me any tasks. What about you?” Li Qingshui eyed Liu Chang’s subtly bulging muscles. “What’s your life strength now?”

“Almost at A.”

“Make sure you don’t bulk up too much—it’ll hinder your mobility.”

“I know, I don’t have excess protein to consume, so I won’t get too big.”

“That’s good. By the way, how’s the gym? Is the person with unstable life force still alive?”

“No,” the little girl chimed in. “His life force is getting weaker and weaker—now it’s below four. In a few days, he’ll be weaker than an ordinary person.”

“Then he’ll probably die soon,” Li Qingshui remarked. Just then, a crisp knock sounded and the office door opened again.

A smiling young man entered.

“Ha, Qingshui!” The newcomer’s friendly face beamed as he greeted everyone in the room. “Oh, Qingshui’s whole family is here!”

“Yes, all present. What brings you here, Zhao Zhuo?” Li Qingshui greeted him politely.

“Well, the beans from the test bench have matured, so I’m delighted to bring a bowl for you to try,” Zhao Zhuo said with a smile, placing a glass container on Li Qingshui’s desk.

“You’re too kind.” Li Qingshui smiled. “You’ve solved the food crisis—saved half of Zhengzhou!”

“Haha, food is a small matter. I’m sure others could have done it if I hadn’t. Nothing to brag about,” Zhao Zhuo replied modestly. “But your ‘Theory of Earth’s New Ecology’ you published yesterday was truly outstanding. Your explanations of meteorology and biological systems were precise, especially the ‘Food Web Theory’—it was spot on. Our whole research group was amazed. Your theoretical framework has pointed the way for ecological science. That’s real science!”

“Haha, let’s not flatter each other.” Li Qingshui put away the crystalline beans. “You must have something to discuss today?”

“Yes, talking to smart people saves time, so I’ll get to the point,” Zhao Zhuo said, maintaining his friendly smile. “I’m here under orders from the Chief of Staff, hoping you’ll join our group…”

“I’ll consider it,” Li Qingshui interrupted, cutting him off.

The clear rejection made Zhao Zhuo’s smile freeze.

“Well, since you said you’ll consider it, I’ll ask again in three days,” he said, after a pause. “Oh, right, I forgot to mention—there’ll be a large harvest from the test fields in three days, and our regular food supplies are running low. So, after three days, except for our group, everyone’s food supply will be switched to the new crop. You know what that means better than I do, Qingshui.”

“You’re threatening me?” Li Qingshui asked, expressionless.

“I just hope you’ll think carefully,” Zhao Zhuo said, turning to leave. With a bang, he closed the door behind him. “I’ll be back in three days. I hope you’ll have made up your mind by then!”

“What an arrogant guy!” Liu Chang commented, watching Zhao Zhuo’s retreating figure.

“Success or sacrifice—the radical faction always works that way,” Li Qingshui murmured. “But thanks to their influence, our food plans must be accelerated.”

“Alright, I’ll head out and look for food. With my abilities now, I won’t need the supply. Finding something edible shouldn’t be hard. Zhengzhou isn’t that dangerous, as long as I avoid the forests.”

“Not necessarily. There are lots of people here and few animals—finding edible plants isn’t easy. And this time, I want you to find something that can be cultivated, not just food that disappears after one meal. You have more important things ahead; you can’t waste time hunting forever.” (To be continued)