Reborn before the famine, kicking away the scumbag's family and living a carefree life.

73. Experiment (2)

At this time, Su Jinru came to visit.

"Brother Jingui, the disaster is getting worse now, and even more people are starving to death. Is there no relief food from above?"

Jin Gui sighed, "There is disaster everywhere, and everyone needs relief. We simply can't provide enough relief."

Su Jinru: "Yes! There are disasters all over the country now. It's impossible to rely on relief because there's simply not enough relief. We can only try to save ourselves."

Dingxiang: "How can I save myself? I was hoping that the little bit of food I planted would yield a harvest, but now it's all been looted."

Jin Gui certainly wanted to save himself, but without seeds, and even if he had seeds, he couldn't protect them from the starving disaster victims. It was a vicious cycle. However, since Su Jinru raised this issue, she must have her own insights.

"Aru, do you have any good ideas?"

"I don't have any good ideas, but I want to conduct an experiment and hope to get your support as the county head in charge of agriculture."

"What experiment?"

“My own yard is quite spacious, isn’t it? I want to plant some sweet potatoes and potatoes in the yard as an experiment to see if I can cultivate fast-growing crops, that is, shorten the growth cycle, so that we can develop quickly and alleviate the disaster.”

“Like the grains planted this time, the growth cycle is five to six months, which is too long. The disaster victims simply cannot wait, since they will starve to death if they do not eat for six or seven days. If the growth cycle of grains is improved to two months or one month, then after getting through the initial difficult period, grain planting and development can proceed rapidly.”

"Your idea is good, but fast-growing food cannot be developed in a day or two."

"How will we know if it will work if we don't try? What if it succeeds?"

Jin Gui didn't believe that Su Jinru could develop a way to harvest grain in just two months, but that wasn't a bad thing.

If she wants to do it, let her do it. Just like she said, what if she succeeds?

The planting in Daben Township failed because the growth cycle was too long. The starving disaster victims simply couldn't wait; two months was the limit of their patience.

If these high-yield sweet potatoes and potatoes can be harvested in two months, then Daben Township's self-rescue efforts will not have failed.

Jin Gui nodded.

"I agree to let you do the experiment. If you need any help, just let me know."

Su Jinru: "I need you to give me a document, the official kind. You know the current policy better than I do. We grow collective grain and eat in the collective canteen. It is not allowed for individuals to grow grain privately. However, if the experimental planting is approved by the county leaders, we can be exempted from liability if it is discovered. The experimental results cannot be confiscated. Of course, the experimental results can be promoted as seeds. The ownership and control belong to me."

Jin Gui readily agreed: "Sure, no problem. I'll bring you the document when I get back tomorrow afternoon."

Dingxiang: "Aru, this experiment must be difficult to do, right?"

Su Jinru: "I know it won't be easy. I'm just an uneducated peasant woman. If it were someone else, they definitely wouldn't believe me, let alone agree or support me. But I'm doing this for everyone! Seeing so many people starve to death every day makes me anxious. I don't know if I can succeed, but I have to try."

Jin Gui: "It's okay. If you can succeed, that's great. If you can't, that's fine too. You're much better than those who do nothing and can't do anything. Tell me, how do you need my support?"

Su Jinru: "I know that food is scarce now. I will find a way to get the seeds myself. As for agricultural technology, I need to go to the county town to learn from the people at the agricultural technology station. I also need to be provided with the necessary materials such as soil composition analysis and temperature measurement."

Seeing that Su Jinru was speaking seriously and that she wasn't completely ignorant about crop research, Jin Gui also began to take it seriously.

"No problem, I can agree to all of that. Tomorrow morning, you will come with me to the county town. I will introduce you to the comrades at the agricultural technology station. You can ask them any questions you have, and you can study for as long as you want. I will find a way to give you a set of all the relevant materials needed for the experiment."

Su Jinru: "I only need to study for one day and then collect the relevant documents and materials."

Su Jinru read the book in the space. It contained detailed knowledge about planting crops. This knowledge was the most advanced, representing technology that would only be available decades from now, and was a technological achievement of the same era as those machines. However, the temperature and soil quality in the space were different from those outside. She just wanted to ask the comrades at the agricultural technology station a few key questions.

Besides, if her experiment succeeds in the future, wouldn't people question her background if she, an uneducated peasant woman who has never studied, suddenly developed such a high level of skill?

With this learning process at the agricultural technology station as a foundation, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for others to know that she later developed high-yield, short-cycle crops.

"I'll speak with the people at the agricultural technology station. You can study for a day first, and you can ask them for help anytime you don't understand something later."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Jingui. I have one more request: please keep it a secret. I can't let more people know that I grow food at home, otherwise my family will be in turmoil."

Jin Gui: "That's for sure. I guarantee that no one else will know except for Ding Xiang and me."

Dingxiang also said, "Aru, don't worry, you're doing a good deed for everyone. We should all support you and protect you. I will definitely not tell anyone, so just focus on your experiment."

Satisfied with the result, Su Jinru thanked them, said goodbye, and went home.

Dingxiang said, "Aru said that in the experiment, sweet potatoes and potatoes, which take five or six months to harvest, can be harvested in two months. Is that possible?"

"Who knows if it will work out, but if she succeeds, it will be a great thing for the country and its people, so we should support her."

"The idea is good, but it sounds unreliable for a rural woman who has never been to school to do scientific experiments. She might just be using this as an excuse to grow some food at home to solve her family's hunger problem. So it's fine for the two of us to know, but don't tell anyone else, or people will laugh at you for being brainless and believing that an ordinary farmer can produce scientific and technological achievements."

"Dingxiang, you can't say that. Although Aru is just an ordinary farmer who has never been to school, she can think of improving seeds. Just that idea alone is much better than those people at the county agricultural technology station. Moreover, although she doesn't understand scientific farming, she has farmed before. A person who has farmed before and dares to think and act is also capable of producing high-yield grains."