Chapter 335 - 166: Heading North

Chapter 335: Chapter 166: Heading North

After arranging the research project for Luo Yulin’s team, Jiang Miao chatted with Shuya for a while.

Before they knew it, it was early June.

Professor Wang Yingxiang’s team, who had been invited, was once again led by Dean Xiao Jieshi to the experimental soybean fields in Red Grass Town.

They watched as a soybean harvester worked, quickly reaping the half-withered yellow stalks.

The group began to discuss things in low voices.

A researcher wearing glasses smiled and asked in a low voice, "Old Zhang, what do you think the yield per mu will be for this patch?"

Old Zhang looked at the pods on the stalks. "Probably just over two hundred kilograms."

"Just over two hundred kilograms? Seems it didn’t meet expectations," the researcher in glasses said, shaking his head.

Professor Wang, however, frowned deeply, anxiously awaiting the results. He had realized there was a factor he had previously overlooked.

Soon, the harvest of the half-mu plot of soybeans was complete. The workers bagged the threshed soybeans in burlap sacks.

The sacks were placed on an electronic scale.

The result was in.

"Old-timer, that’s 114 kilograms, which comes to 570 yuan. With the subsidy, we’ll give you a voucher for 770. Just take it to our company’s finance office to redeem it." One of the two buyers wrote out a voucher for 770 yuan and handed it to the old farmer.

"Thanks, young fella." The old farmer took the voucher, grinning happily.

But Professor Wang stopped the old farmer. "Sir, how did you grow these soybeans?"

"Huh?" The old farmer was confused, but seeing that Professor Wang and his group had arrived with the Hailufeng Company’s harvest team, he assumed they were also employees. He smiled and replied, "I didn’t do much, really. Just gave them some water and fertilizer at the start..."

As he listened, Professor Wang jotted down the farmer’s description of his cultivation process in a small notebook.

Just then, the other researchers also caught on.

"Something’s not right."

"Something is definitely not right."

"This yield is too high."

Compared to their team’s high-yield experimental plots, which often produced over three hundred kilograms per mu—some even approaching four hundred—a yield of 114 kilograms from a half-mu plot might seem unremarkable.

However, anyone who truly understood the difference in cultivation conditions and management levels would know that these fields couldn’t be so crudely compared to their own experimental plots.

This was because the yield of 228 kilograms per mu was achieved with minimal management, despite a severe drought that had lasted for over two months with no large-scale irrigation.

This yield already surpassed the national average for soybeans.

Over the next while, Professor Wang and his team recorded data from dozens more mu of soybean fields, interviewing 26 farmers about their cultivation and management practices.

Under a large banyan tree near the village committee entrance.

After taking a sip of cold mineral water, Professor Wang sat on the edge of a concrete planter, his gaze fixed intently on the yield data and survey results.

The other researchers were also poring over the data with great seriousness.

A cool breeze swept past.

Dean Xiao glanced at his watch. "Professor Wang, it’s getting late. Shall we pay a visit to General Manager Jiang?"

Professor Wang checked his watch and saw it was nearly eleven o’clock. He nodded. "Alright."

「In the car.」

A researcher closed his notebook. "Professor, based on the data we’ve gathered, the average yield for these fields is about 210 kilograms per mu. And according to the meteorological department, there was no significant precipitation during their growth cycle, especially during the crucial flowering and pod-setting stages, when there was almost no rain at all."

The researcher in glasses couldn’t help but marvel, "It’s incredible. Their drought resistance far surpasses that of ordinary soybean varieties. It’s practically on par with plants native to arid regions."

"It really is!"

"I originally thought the yield of over 300 kilograms per mu General Manager Jiang mentioned was from an experimental plot under meticulous, intensive cultivation. I never imagined it was the yield from such a hands-off approach."

"This variety has enormous potential in the arid regions of the North!"

"General Manager Jiang already laid the groundwork in the Monan Desert. I heard from an old classmate that Hailufeng Company contracted 350,000 mu of desert in Monan’s Zhelimu City and plans to convert it into farmland. It looks like that’s exactly where they intend to plant these Immortal Soybeans."

"What an ambitious move."

Professor Wang rubbed his temples and spoke. "Those five soybean seedlings we took back with us... after more than a month in the ground, they sprouted again. The root tubers can also be used as seeds."

His expression grew thoughtful as he continued, "If I’m not mistaken, the drought resistance of the Immortal Bean series comes from the absorbent properties of its root tubers and leaves."

The researcher in glasses recalled his own findings. "That’s right. I studied the soybean leaves and found that at night, even without rain, the fine hairs on the undersides of the leaves can capture trace amounts of water vapor from the air, condensing it into dewdrops. That’s how they supplement their water intake."

"Those two traits are what give the Immortal Soybeans their powerful drought resistance." Professor Wang had to admit that the Immortal Bean series had incredible potential. "If this soybean variety can adapt to the North, its value will be truly immense."

"Exactly."

"If General Manager Jiang’s results live up to their promise, he’s guaranteed to be made an academician for it."

"I’m so jealous."

"Compared to General Manager Jiang, I really feel inadequate." Even one of the prouder researchers couldn’t help but give a wry smile.