Chapter 19: Choosing Crops

Zhao Hai led everyone back into the house, and Mei Lin naturally followed. When they reached the living room, Zhao Hai asked Mei Lin to sit down, but Mei Ge stood silently behind him, not lowering her head but staring at his back in a daze.

Zhao Hai had now regained his composure. Although Mei Ge had given him an electric shock, which left an impression of her in his mind, he had too many things to do. He did not rush to talk about love with Mei Ge. The future of the entire Buda family rested on his shoulders, and his first priority was the survival of these more than a hundred people.

Mei Lin had already gotten used to Zhao Hai's way of handling things, so she did not refuse and sat down, looking at Zhao Hai with excitement. "Young Master, what should we do next?" She was already unconsciously seeking Zhao Hai's advice.

Zhao Hai thought for a moment and said, "Grandma Mei Lin, in a while, go outside and select the best farmers to plant those ten acres of land. Ask them what is most suitable to plant at this time. Oh, do we have seeds?"

Mei Lin nodded and said, "Yes, we have many seeds, but most of them are for grains and ordinary vegetables, and they are best suited for planting on the mountain. The land outside is so good, it would be a waste to plant those things."

Zhao Hai nodded and turned to Mei Lin. "Grandma Mei Lin, let's start a fire and cook. The weather is still a bit cold. What do the slaves use to keep warm at night?"

Mei Lin looked troubled and said, "Young Master, at the time, we only thought about buying some necessary items. Cooking and heating were done with magic stoves in the manor, but now we have too few magic crystals, so we can't use the magic stoves. We are using dead trees and dry grass from the mountain for cooking and heating."

Zhao Hai nodded. Clearly, Mei Lin and the others, who had always been in the upper echelons of the nobility, although they were trying to prepare everything, did not understand the Chinese saying, "The seven things to do when opening a door: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea."

These seven things are closely related to people's lives, especially the four essentials of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. The importance of firewood, which is listed first, is evident.

However, because they had always been in high positions, they were not very familiar with these matters. Although Mei Lin and the others brought many living supplies, they were not well-prepared for the most basic and essential item, firewood. This was mainly because the Black Earth Wasteland was so barren that even the grass grew poorly, which was something Mei Lin and the others had not anticipated.

The population of the Ark Continent is large, but the area is even larger. Firewood is not a precious commodity here. The stalks of crops, branches from the forest, and charcoal for the wealthy, and magic stoves for the nobles, meant that no one worried about firewood. Even the poorest people did not have to worry about burning firewood.

However, in the Black Earth Wasteland, firewood became a precious commodity. There were only some small, short trees and sparse grass, and nothing else. Mei Lin and the others found that although they had prepared well, they had not prepared for the most unremarkable item on the continent, which was precisely what the Black Earth Wasteland lacked.

Seeing that Zhao Hai was silent, Mei Lin said, "Young Master, what do you want to plant on the land outside?"

Zhao Hai was also thinking about this. He had several types of seeds suitable for planting outside, such as wheat, pasture grass, and cabbage. However, the season was not right for planting cabbage. Wheat and pasture grass were not suitable either. Pasture grass was not needed at the moment, and although wheat was a good crop, it did not produce much firewood. Moreover, the yield of wheat was not high, so Zhao Hai did not want to plant it. He needed to focus on solving the Buda family's problems first, not on improving his lifestyle.

So, Zhao Hai was left with only one choice: corn!

Corn was a good crop and one that Zhao Hai was very familiar with, not because he had planted it himself, but because many rural areas around his former city planted corn. Corn not only has a high yield but is also a major source of firewood. In many rural areas in the north, corn stalks are still the main source of firewood in winter.

However, he only had enough corn seeds to plant two acres of land, while the improved land was ten acres, which was not enough.

Zhao Hai frowned as he calculated the items he had: 200 space gold coins (cannot be used outside the space), six bags of pasture grass seeds (can plant six acres), two bags of cabbage seeds (can plant two acres), two bags of wheat seeds (can plant two acres), and two bags of corn seeds (can plant two acres). The warehouse had a batch of radishes that could be sold for 500 gold coins, but the gold coins could not be taken out of the space.

He could also open two more acres of land in the space, which would cost 200 gold coins. If he did so, he would have no gold coins left.

Mei Lin saw Zhao Hai frowning and did not know what he was thinking. She did not speak, knowing that pressing him would be useless. She hoped that this young master, who had been creating miracles recently, could create another one.

Mei Ge was also staring at Zhao Hai, finding him particularly charming when he was thinking. The deep and serious look on his face fascinated her.

Zhao Hai carefully calculated the items he had and finally decided on a plan. He turned to Mei Lin and said, "Grandma Mei Lin, in a while, organize the people to clean up the mine. We need to get the mine ready as soon as possible. Tomorrow, I will improve ten more acres of land and tell you what to plant. I'm going to rest now." He stood up and walked to his room.

Although Mei Lin did not know what Zhao Hai's plan was, she chose to trust him. Zhao Hai had been performing exceptionally well recently and had gained an ability she could not understand. She believed he would find a solution.

Mu Tou and Shi Tou followed Zhao Hai to his room, but Mei Ge did not. She had to help Mei Lin organize the slaves to clean up the mine, as Mei Lin could not do it alone.

Zhao Hai quickly returned to his room, leaving Mu Tou and Shi Tou to guard the door. He immediately entered the space.

The space looked the same as before, although the land and water had been upgraded, there was no visible change. Zhao Hai carefully examined the space and found that the space soil and space water had not decreased due to the land improvement, which relieved him.

Improving the land outside the space had many benefits. If the space suddenly disappeared, he would still have a large piece of land outside, ensuring he would not starve.

However, he was now in the accumulation stage, and the existence of the space was more helpful to him. If the land improvement caused any changes in the space, it would be a loss.

He looked at the radishes, which were almost ripe, and said softly, "Sell the radishes in the warehouse."

The space prompt said, "Are you sure you want to sell the items in the warehouse?" Zhao Hai replied firmly, "Yes." The space prompt came again, "The items in the warehouse have been sold, and you have received 500 gold coins, which have been placed in the gold coin bag. Your warehouse is now empty. Please work hard to cultivate."

Zhao Hai had no choice. He originally planned to leave the radishes in the field until they matured to see if they could produce seeds. However, this experiment was premature. He needed gold coins and useful items now, so he would have to do the experiment later.

After the transaction, Zhao Hai's assets were: 700 gold coins, six small bags of pasture grass seeds, two small bags of cabbage seeds, two bags of wheat seeds, and two bags of corn seeds.

After calculating his current resources, Zhao Hai immediately said, "Cultivate the land."

The space prompt came again, "Cultivating new land requires level 3 and 200 gold coins. You have met the requirements. Do you want to cultivate now?"

Zhao Hai said firmly, "Yes." As he spoke, the space rippled, and the mist surrounding the land flickered. After a flash of light, a small piece of land appeared next to the original ten acres.

Zhao Hai looked at the newly cultivated two acres of land, which looked no different from the initial land in the space. He immediately said, "Plant corn in the land."

The seed bag, shovel, and bucket worked together to plant corn on the two acres of land, which was part of Zhao Hai's plan.

Zhao Hai knew about corn. Unlike radishes, which are eaten for their roots, corn is eaten for its seeds. When corn matures, its seeds also mature. Even if radishes could produce seeds, corn could as well. Now that he had cultivated two acres of land, he could plant corn. When the corn matured, he would get both corn seeds and corn stalks for firewood.

Planting one acre of corn requires about three kilograms of seeds, and the yield of one acre of corn is about one ton. Therefore, planting two acres of corn would yield at least 4,000 kilograms of corn. If all the corn could be used as seeds, he could plant at least 600 acres of land, which would be a very profitable business.

Zhao Hai hoped that the corn in the space would not be like the corn on Earth, where the seeds saved were not as good as those bought. If the corn in the space could be used as seeds, it would solve a major problem for him. He could plant radishes in the space and sell them for money, and plant corn outside, which would provide both firewood and food, laying the foundation for his future development.