Chapter 1106: Potato Planting Season at the Ninth Center

At two in the afternoon, Xia Qing arrived at the Ninth Center. According to the work schedule, the Ninth Center would be planting potatoes in four greenhouses today.

The Ninth Center had decided to plant potatoes even earlier than the local lords. Their top leader, Xia Qing, had managed to cultivate potato seeds in her own territory with Devastation Element content between 5.5 and 8.5 per mille, making them suitable for seed potatoes.

Back in July, Xia Qing harvested a total of 5,715 jin of potatoes. She traded 2,000 jin of high-quality potatoes from her terraced fields—with a Devastation Element content of 6.5 to 8.5 per mille—to the Ninth Center to use as seed potatoes for the autumn planting.

Another 2,615 jin of potatoes harvested from her farmland, which had a Devastation Element content as high as 13 per mille and couldn’t be replanted, were also given to the Ninth Center to add some variety to the staff’s meals.

Of course, these four thousand-plus jin of potatoes weren’t given away for free. Instead, they were supplied through proper procurement channels and paid for at market rates by the Ninth Center.

In early July, the vegetables in the Ninth Center’s greenhouses still hadn’t grown enough, so they couldn’t meet staff dining needs and had to buy vegetables from the territory lords.

Now it’s September. The Ninth Center has already opened up over 400 acres of land, with corn and rice thriving in the fields. Not only do their crops meet internal staff needs, they can also send truckloads to the Safe Zone Food Processing Center.

The Processing Center will turn this fresh produce into ration bars with even higher nutritional content, improving the quality of food and drink for residents of the Safe Zone.

The potatoes Xia Qing harvested in July have passed through a 50-day dormancy period. After sprouting, cutting, and sterilizing, they’re ready for planting this afternoon.

The early-maturing peas in Greenhouses 3 to 6, set aside for potato planting, had been harvested. The soil was re-fertilized, watered, and tilled. Standing in the greenhouse now, breathing in the earthy scent and looking at the flat, tidy fields and straight ridges, there was a sense of comfort and hope for anyone working the land.

Once Technical Advisor Zhang Tao checked the seed potatoes and confirmed they were suitable, Mao Chuntai led the Planting Division staff with solemn care, placing each potato chunk—sprouts facing up—into the rich, loose soil.

Every staff member knew these seed potatoes were carefully cultivated by Director Xia on her territory with High Evolution Element soil. Their Devastation Element content was almost two points lower than potatoes sold by the Safe Zone Planting Division and Territory Management Department.

Such high-quality potato seeds are impossible to get anywhere else!

They also knew that if things went according to plan—with no unexpected disasters—the four greenhouses would yield forty thousand jin of potatoes before Devastation Snow sets in.

After years of famine brought by disaster, the mere mention of numbers like these makes survivors’ hearts race with hope. Every potato chunk is a treasure—it’s their lifeline, their future!

As the most experienced at potato cultivation, Xia Qing walked the rows, checking everyone’s plant spacing, ridge width, and depth. When she moved from Greenhouse Three to Six, the one-eyed team leader in charge of Greenhouse Six asked, “Director, should we buy the potato-specific fertilizer from Hui Four?”

Xia Qing gave a straightforward answer, no dodging. “With our current fertilization and management, we can achieve ten thousand jin per acre—there’s no need to use any special fertilizer just to bump up the yield.”

The team leader, a retired mechanized infantryman with plenty of strength but no farming experience, still looked puzzled. “Director, ten thousand jin is a lot, sure—but isn’t higher yield always a good thing?”

Food is scarce now; every extra jin counts.

Xia Qing patiently explained, “I haven’t found any stability testing announcement for Hui Four’s potato fertilizer on the Agriculture Department’s website, which means its reliability isn’t proven yet. Our potatoes have an aggressive Mutation Rate of up to 5%, and most can’t remain stable for more than two generations. Using untested high-efficiency fertilizer may increase yield for now, but it’ll lower the quality and might even result in ‘Red Lanterns’.”

She continued, “On top of that, high-yield crops need more nutrients and water than usual, which drains the soil much faster. After we harvest ten thousand jin from each acre, we’ll have to rotate to medium-yield crops just to let the land recover. Over the long term, chasing yield isn’t worth it.”

With that clear explanation, the team leader and staff all nodded in understanding.

Everyone got back to work. After Zhang Tao finished guiding staff on soil covering and irrigation, she strolled over to chat with Xia Qing.

“You made a good point just now. The climate and plant characteristics are different from how they were before the disaster. More yield is great, but stability is even more important. We can’t risk the whole crop just for higher numbers—the focus now isn’t yield, but quality.”

Xia Qing took the chance to ask for advice. “Our potatoes still aren’t stable enough. Sister Tao, where do you think we should focus next?”

Zhang Tao helped her brainstorm improvements. “The Ninth Center doesn’t have High Evolution Element soil, so if we want to breed high-quality, stable seed potatoes, our best options are the standard greenhouses in Section Seven and your own superior terraced fields. Your water management is already spot-on. Next time, try using Green Lantern Cow manure as a base fertilizer—it’s a slow-release fertilizer and better suited for potatoes than chicken manure.”

To protect Section Three’s biggest secret, Xia Qing made sure that the batch of seed potatoes delivered to the Ninth Center, though harvested in the terraced fields, was never irrigated with Pure Spring Water—she used only filtered water.

In fact, the only potatoes in the terraced fields fully irrigated with Pure Spring Water were the select optimized seeds picked out at the seedling stage. Those special plants and the potatoes they grew are all safely stored in Xia Qing’s basement storage, waiting to be used for planting next spring.

Now that Xia Qing had cows, she finally had an extra source of quality fertilizer. “For potatoes, how much cow manure per acre do you think is best?”

The more time Zhang Tao spent with Xia Qing, the more she understood why the usually guarded, standoffish Zhang San tolerated her and even made time and effort to mentor her.

Xia Qing’s basic knowledge was lacking, but she threw herself wholeheartedly into farming, enduring the isolation and hardship of breeding seeds. Even more rare, she was already a high-level Dual System Evolved fighter and one of Hui Three Base’s top snipers, yet she’d never let it go to her head. She farmed just as she always had and welcomed advice from others.

Having a manager like her was the Ninth Center’s good fortune.

Like Zhang Song, Zhang Tao enjoyed working with Xia Qing. Whatever Xia Qing wanted to learn, she’d share without holding back. After all, Zhang Tao hoped to put down roots here for the long haul, carrying on her research in peace.

Just as Zhang Tao was explaining which nutrients potatoes need at each growth stage, the walkie-talkie hanging on Xia Qing’s chest crackled to life. “Director, there’s a Mr. Yu from Chonglian Group waiting outside the south gate. He wants to meet with you.”

Xia Qing calmly pressed the talk button. “Please bring him to my office.”