The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland novel Chapter 296

Chapter 296: Chapter 296: Greenhouse

Lehehe Supermarket and "Fashionably Yours" had successfully derailed the conversation. The rest was basically the two of them in a heated flame war that no one could de-escalate.

Shen Lu closed the main group chat window, completely exasperated. Her mind turned to what they had just mentioned: the food delivery platform.

She recalled that when she first started using her Light Brain, she had made a point to check. The Lower City District didn’t have any food delivery apps; only the Upper City District did.

After all, the economic conditions in the Upper City District and the Lower City District were completely different. The average person in the Upper City District had money, so there was profit to be made from a delivery platform.

But the Lower City District was another story. More than half the population had no fixed income and relied on government food aid to get by. For people like them, just putting food on the table was a struggle, to say nothing of having spare money to buy a Light Brain and order delivery.

Shen Lu suspected this was just an excuse for Boss Jin to line his pockets.

And she guessed President Pan wouldn’t be cleaning up this mess, either.

As she was lost in thought, the car pulled up to the shop. The moment Shen Lu stepped out, a gust of wind blew sand right in her face.

Luckily, she hadn’t opened her mouth, otherwise it would have been even worse.

Shielding her face with her hands, Shen Lu scurried into the shop.

Shen Lu shook her head, trying to dust the sand from her body. Yang Jing walked over and quietly informed her that the day’s work was complete.

"Alright, I got it." After brushing herself off, Shen Lu followed Yang Jing to the backyard.

Shen Lu gave the plot of land Yang Jing was in charge of a quick glance. Everything seemed mostly in order, so she couldn’t be bothered to inspect it in detail.

She went into the corrugated iron shed and spot-checked the seeds that Liu Yaozu and Liu Qiang had sorted.

"Excellent. Keep it up tomorrow."

Liu Yaozu licked his lips. "Hey, sis, think I could get an extra chicken leg tomorrow?"

"We’ll see about your future performance." Shen Lu dusted off her hands and turned to leave.

"If you want to grow vegetables in this weather, you’ll have to put up a greenhouse," Liu Qiang finally couldn’t resist pointing out. "Otherwise, even if they sprout, the wind and sand will kill them."

Shen Lu knew she needed a greenhouse, of course. She was just debating whether to buy one from the System Mall or find a local merchant.

The patch of wasteland in the backyard wasn’t small. Shen Lu had asked the System; building a greenhouse large enough would cost about twenty thousand popularity value.

She was reluctant to spend nearly half of her popularity value in one go.

But the effectiveness and quality of a greenhouse from a local merchant would surely be inferior to one from the System Mall. That’s why Shen Lu had been procrastinating on the decision.

"Alright, I know."

For once, Shen Lu didn’t snap back at Liu Qiang. She just nodded, pushed the door open, and left.

After getting home and showering, Shen Lu was surprised to receive a message from Li Qin.

Li Qin: Are you there, Shen Lu? The sampling for your green onions is complete. If it’s convenient, could you make a trip to the research institute tomorrow?

Shen Lu dabbed moisturizing lotion on her face as she considered whether or not she should go.

’From a safety standpoint, I should probably avoid the research institute for a while,’ she thought. ’Even if I do go, it’d be better to wait until the dust settles from the Gong Tianhua incident.’

Shen Lu: Researcher Li, I’m sorry, but it’s not a good time for me to come by. Could you help me look after them for a while?

Li Qin: Alright, I understand.

Li Qin was a little disappointed to receive Shen Lu’s polite refusal.

She walked over to the shelves in her office where the experimental samples were kept. A dozen or so pots sat on the three-tiered rack, but one, in particular, stood out.

The green shoots in this particular sample pot were already over ten centimeters tall, towering over the other, barren pots.

Li Qin gently tapped one of the green shoots. They were lettuce seedlings.

The seeds were from a new, genetically improved variety that Li Qin herself had cultivated. Compared to older types of lettuce, they were designed to sprout and grow in poorer soil.

But Li Qin was well aware of her own limitations.

At her current skill level, it should have been impossible to cultivate such outstanding lettuce seedlings.

Seed modification required numerous experiments—taking months, if not years, to show even minor results.

But this pot of lettuce seedlings was growing exceptionally well. While the others hadn’t even sprouted, these were already over ten centimeters tall. In another two months, they’d be ready to harvest.

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