Chapter 311 - 180: Planting Brown Rice! Exploring the Area Across the Great River! Wild Goats on the Rock Beach

Chapter 311: Chapter 180: Planting Brown Rice! Exploring the Area Across the Great River! Wild Goats on the Rock Beach

"What’s your name?"

"Li Xin."

"Alright, Li Xin. I’m looking forward to having you as the third doctor in our traditional medicine room."

"Thank you, Brother Chong. I’ll definitely work hard."

With that, Li Xin left, filled with excitement.

Meanwhile, Chen Chong, holding the Waterfield Card, still had a lingering smile on his face.

’The first step of my rice-planting plan was a success. Next is to sprout the seeds...’

With a thought, the Waterfield Card’s information appeared in his mind.

[Card Type: Building Card · Waterfield Card]

[Rating: C-Class]

[Description: Upon use, creates a 20-square-meter waterfield. Plants grown within it receive a 50% daily growth speed bonus.]

The Waterfield Card’s effects were about what Chen Chong had expected.

C-Class Cards all gave a 50% growth speed bonus to plants.

The only difference was the area, which was double that of a Farmland Card.

"Let’s go. We’ll use the Waterfield Card first, sprout the Brown Rice, and then we’ll set out to cross the river..."

Chen Chong planned to use the Waterfield Card at home rather than at the gym.

As a staple food, rice was his top priority and needed to be monitored at all times.

Compared to the gym, his home was safer, thanks to the Fortress Defense Line.

He also needed to cultivate more. Only after saving up enough seeds and finding another Farmland Card would he consider transplanting them to the cultivation area at the gym.

As for how to plant rice...

There was no need to worry about that.

Chen Chong had specifically sought advice from experienced members of his team. He was already intimately familiar with the process, from sprouting the seeds to transplanting and cultivating the seedlings.

Soon, the group returned home.

Zhang Meng and Huang Mao came along with them.

It was worth noting that ever since Chen Chong had taken full control of the faculty apartments a day ago, he had already assigned the two of them a unit.

They had successfully moved from the dormitory building to the seventh floor, choosing apartment 703, not far from 701 across the hall.

"Brother Chong, where do you think would be the best place to put the waterfield?"

Chen Chong’s gaze swept across the spacious living room. After a long moment of consideration, he settled on the empty space next to the farmland and the mud pond.

First, Chen Chong was a bit obsessive, and this was already the designated crop-growing area. Having the rice paddy neatly arranged with the other plots would be more visually pleasing.

Second, the waterfield wasn’t just for growing rice. Its function was nearly identical to the mud pond, allowing for the coexistence of fish, shrimp, crabs, and snails.

In fact, having them grow together in the same waterfield was greatly beneficial for both.

The fish and shrimp would stir up the mud, which was better for the rice’s growth.

And the fish and shrimp that coexisted with the rice would take on a faint, rice-like fragrance, making them even more delicious. This was the origin of "rice-fragrance fish."

On the market, this type of fish even sold for more than ordinary fish. The only drawback was that due to the restricted growing environment, their size was usually limited.

Strictly speaking, a waterfield wasn’t that different from a mud pond, just the depth of the silt and the height of the water level above it.

If not for the fact that rice was a crop with very demanding growing conditions, making the mud pond’s environment a bit of a stretch, and that he didn’t have much Brown Rice to waste, Chen Chong would have been tempted to try planting it directly in the mud pond.

But now, with a structure like the waterfield that was perfectly suited for growing rice, all his problems were solved.

As the Card slowly vanished...

A muddy, twenty-square-meter structure appeared below the mud pond.

The waterfield and the mud pond looked nearly identical: earthen ridges, a shallow layer of water, and soft mud underneath.

Perhaps the only difference was the color of the mud.

The mud pond’s was murkier and darker, while the waterfield’s was clearer and more translucent.

"From now on, we can toss some of the fish and shrimp we catch from the Desolate Grass River Stream into the waterfield. The fishpond and mud pond are full anyway. This twenty-square-meter waterfield should be able to hold quite a bit..."

Chen Chong said, pulling the Brown Rice he had brought back from the gym out of his pocket.

This bag of Brown Rice looked like a lot—about two pounds—but in reality, not all of it would sprout successfully.

Brown Rice is essentially unprocessed rice, and the degree to which the germ is preserved varies from grain to grain, so whether it sprouts is purely a matter of luck.

If he was lucky, more than half would sprout. If he was unlucky, he might not even get one-tenth.

Even if they did sprout, it still depended on the variety of the rice.

This would affect the final rice yield, as well as the harvest time.

The varieties of rice, unlike most other crops, can vary dramatically in their growth cycle from planting to harvest depending on the variety and the region where they are grown.

Early-maturing rice varieties could be harvested in three to four months after planting. But for late-maturing varieties, it might take half a year before they could be harvested.

All of this was information Chen Chong had gotten from a team member who used to help out on their family farm.

But Chen Chong didn’t care how long the growth cycle was; the acceleration effect of the Building Card could more than make up for it.

Although the current C-Class Waterfield Card’s growth acceleration wasn’t very significant, he still had a chance to get higher-class Waterfield Cards in the future.

His only worry was the variety of this batch of rice—was it high-yield, or just average, or even low-yield...

But that wasn’t a major issue.

After all, he still had an ace up his sleeve: the golden fertilizer.

Although that stuff was just as precious, if it could be used to improve the rice variety, it would be a worthy investment.

Chen Chong decided that after the rice sprouted, he would take out a few pellets of the golden fertilizer, dilute them, and pour them into the waterfield.

Not only would it significantly shorten the rice’s development time, but it would also cause huge genetic changes, ensuring an amazing harvest regardless of the rice’s original yield.