CH 32.1

Chapter 32.1 – The Wheat Field

Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan walked side by side in the wheat field, the wind was filled with the smell of vegetation and trees.

Shi Yuan said, “I’ve never seen a wheat field before.”

“This is the largest wheat field in existence,” Lu Tinghan said. “Since the establishment of the Alliance, Gleaning City has become a food supply place because of its superior geographical conditions, and its name is also derived from this.”

“I heard Xia Fang said it before, but I didn’t expect it to look like this.” Shi Yuan looked around curiously, and asked, “What are those machines?”

They were walking on a small slope at this time, and they could clearly see that the wheat field was divided into different areas. From south to north, one area had just been sown, one area was turning green and jointing, and the other area had been filled and matured. Huge machines were still roaming the fields, spraying water mist, removing weeds, hoeing and loosening the soil, and fertilizing the wheat.

“Agricultural robots,” Lu Tinghan replied. “They take care of the wheat fields and save manpower.”

Shi Yuan asked again: “Was it always people who tended the wheat fields before?”

Lu Tinghan: “Well, before the Alliance realized full automation of agriculture, it was done by manpower from sowing to ripening. Most farmers had to work from dawn to dusk, clean ditches, prevent and control pests, and occasionally, natural disasters would affect the harvest. At that time, the growth cycle of wheat was long, mostly in 100 or 200 days, unlike today’s selected varieties, which mature in 60 to 70 days and can be harvested in all seasons, with high yields in a limited space.”

“So that’s how it is,” Shi Yuan said. “What about after the harvest?”

“After harvesting, they’re turned into bread, steamed buns, biscuits, and your favorite noodles.”

“Wow! How did you know that?”

“Food is an important strategic resource, and I have to know about it,” Lu Tinghan said. “But from the perspective of agriculture, I am not a professional, I only know the surface.”

“You already know a lot, much more than me.” Shi Yuan especially admired him. “…Then why did we come here? Do you like wheat fields?”

Lu Tinghan smiled: “I told you, I think you will like it.”

Shi Yuan really liked it here.

He liked such a strange and magnificent sight.

Usually, when he ate bread and noodles, he didn’t think about where the raw materials came from. Only when he saw it with his own eyes did he realize the prosperity of human civilization again—they were walking in the fields in the breeze, and Lu Tinghan told him how people select and breed strong seeds since ancient times, prevent disasters and prevent damage, and how the robots replaced manpower step by step, forming a complete system of sowing, tending, and harvesting.

It is a very interesting story.

From the primitive tribes of men plowing and women weaving, human beings overcoming drought and floods, driving away birds and locusts, to today’s fully automated production, where a small piece of land can support half of the people in the city. Every time the wheat was harvested, the wheat was loaded onto transport trucks, which were driven out of the city one by one to the distant Fengyang City and the main city.

The wisdom of thousands of years was heavy, condensed in the ears of wheat, so heavy that the stalks could not stand upright, and it was so golden that people couldn’t move their eyes.

Shi Yuan couldn’t see the most prosperous Alliance.

But it’s like he was sitting in an empty theater auditorium, looking at the stage, and imagining a lively and prosperous performance with Qin Luoluo. He looked at this wheat wave and imagined how people walked on the ridge of the field in the past. The sun fell hotly on their shoulders, a straw hat and a hoe. After turning over the land, there was a warm smell of wheat and earth. And the cycle of seasons continued endlessly.

He and Lu Tinghan walked through another mature wheat field.

This was a new breed selected and bred, which was half a person tall.

Shi Yuan stretched out his hand and carefully touched a wheat ear.

The grains were plump and the slender wheat awns were slightly hard to the touch.

It was very novel.

These plants didn’t mutate, they didn’t suddenly grow tentacles or secrete venom. They just grew peacefully and serenely here, no different from millions of years ago.

He felt a unique kind of peace.

Walking to the edge of the wheat field, there was a small road at the foot, and there were several red buildings not far away.

When they got on the road, the unique fragrance of the soil floated on the road. Lu Tinghan suddenly bent down, and then put something on top of Shi Yuan’s head.

Shi Yuan: ?

He stretched out his hand and touched it for a long time before he touched a small white flower.

The road was so neat that it was probably the only wildflower on the side of the road. It was nowhere near as pretty as the snowdrop, trembling in the wind, but it was cute and lovely in a different way.

“For you,” Lu Tinghan said.

So Shi Yuan’s eyebrows raised and he smiled.

They walked towards the red building, and as soon as they got closer, Shi Yuan smelled the smell of fur.

The outside of the building was guarded by machine guards, and there were soldiers on duty standing on their posts. When they saw Lu Tinghan, they saluted him and opened the door of the building.

As soon as the gate opened, the cows behind the gate turned their heads to look at them in unison, their eyes were big and round, and they were still chewing grass.

“Moo—” they said. “Moo—”

Shi Yuan: ?!

It was the first time he saw cows with his own eyes, and there were still so many cows crowded together, all staring at him. One was so close to him that it poked its head out and tried to bite his clothes.

Shi Yuan: ??!

Lu Tinghan reached out to embrace Shi Yuan in time, saving his cuff from the disaster.

The feeding was also the responsibility of the robot, the ground was well-kept, the overhead glass brought plenty of light, and the feed trough was piled with carefully calculated shares of hay.

Shi Yuan just followed Lu Tinghan and walked between the railings.

Too many eyes fell on him, as if he was back on the day of his first performance on stage, still holding the white flower, and feeling a little nervous, curling up the tip of his tail, and curiously looking at the cows.

The cows looked at him with equal curiosity.

“Don’t be nervous, they don’t bite,” Lu Tinghan said.

Shi Yuan whispered, “It’s because they don’t bite people that they are scary.”

—It was the infected cows who would bite that he was not afraid of, not these curious, mooing, warm, and friendly massive creatures.

Lu Tinghan: “… Shi Yuan, you are also a little strange.” He paused, and then said, “People in the past were able to raise many animals, and not centrally, but from house to house. Unlike now, many children have never seen chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep with their own eyes since they were born.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Why?”

“Because they are rare resources,” Lu Tinghan said. “Wheat fields and livestock farms will never be open to the outside world. They will be guarded by the army, and there will be an independent defense mechanism when there is an alarm.” He slightly lowered his head, almost close to Shi Yuan’s ear, and asked, “Want to touch them?”

Shi Yuan had just been attacked by a cow and was still hesitating, but Lu Tinghan had already brought him close to the railing.

A cow was resting its big head on the rail, watching them docilely, flicking its ears.

Lu Tinghan encouraged him: “Try it.”

Shi Yuan hesitated for a long time, leaning on Lu Tinghan carefully stretched out his hand, and touched the cow’s side face. Its skin was very thin, and the black and white fur was thin and short. He could almost feel the edges and corners of its bones clearly.

The cow flicked its ears, and Shi Yuan’s appearance was reflected in its big eyes, staring intently.

Lu Tinghan said, “It likes you.”

Shi Yuan: “Wow!”

In the next second, the cow lowered its head and was about to eat the white flower in his hand, Shi Yuan was so frightened that he took two steps back.

When he recovered, Shi Yuan was very disappointed: “It doesn’t like me, it just wants to eat my flower.”

Lu Tinghan smiled: “There is no conflict between the two.”

“No.” Shi Yuan’s tail scales almost exploded. “This is my flower.”

They continued to walk forward, Shi Yuan felt reassured just as they were almost out of the cow feeding area, so he stood at the door and looked back.

The cows were still chewing grass and watching him. A calf leaned over the railing and cried, “Moo Moo—”

Shi Yuan also waved at it: “Goodbye.”