usenovelonline Chapter 348 - 346: One Bottle of Reagent Exposed Him on the Spot!
Chapter 348 - 346: One Bottle of Reagent Exposed Him on the Spot!
The meeting room was filled with the smell of burnt plastic.
The bulb in front of the projector lens had exploded into shards of glass, with wisps of black smoke puffing out from the machine.
The excitement froze on Mr. Smith’s face, and the director’s newly relaxed brow furrowed back into a knot.
"What happened!" he asked, suppressing his anger.
The officer responsible for operations turned pale: "It... it’s an old issue, the wiring is outdated, it might have short-circuited."
The meeting room fell silent. The most important dynamic imagery data couldn’t be shown, undoubtedly reducing the impact of this technical exchange.
In a corner, Bai Tingting bowed her head, her shoulders gently trembling.
"No problem."
Lin Wan Yi’s clear voice broke the silence.
She walked to the wall, pulling out an old hand-crank slide projector from an inconspicuous wooden box, and took a thick stack of cards meticulously wrapped in kraft paper from her canvas bag.
"Considering that the equipment might fail, I had prepared a backup plan in advance."
She spread the cards one by one across the long conference table.
They were dozens of hand-drawn slides.
From seed soaking and sprouting, to breaking ground and tillering, to heading out and filling, each stage of the wheat’s growth was vividly illustrated with pen and colored ink. The growth state of the roots, the slight color changes in the leaves, even the soil cross-sections were clearly annotated.
Beside each drawing were detailed data and environmental records inscribed in elegant English and Chinese characters.
The workload was comparable to drafting a set of engineering drawings.
Mr. Smith picked up a drawing of a wheat ear, bringing it closer to examine, murmuring a series of praises.
The director looked at Lin Wan Yi, sitting up straight.
The director abruptly stood up.
"Good! Excellent!" The director pounded the table and ordered Director Chen, "Old Chen, draft the document immediately! Establish a pilot project team for saline-alkali land improvement in ’Hongxing Village,’ with Comrade Lin Wan Yi as the overall project leader! For personnel, finances, resources, just say the word, and the bureau will fully support it!"
He then unhooked a bunch of keys from his waist, selecting a rusted one, slapping it down in front of Lin Wan Yi.
"This is the key to the old Jeep in the backyard, now it’s exclusively yours! Once you’ve revitalized those hundreds of acres of saline-alkali land in Hongxing Village, I will request a commendation for you!"
His words were powerful and resonating.
Bai Tingting stood in the corner, hands behind her back, scratching the wall plaster forcefully.
Three days later, in the suburb of Beijing, Hongxing Village.
Under the big locust tree at the village entrance, dozens of villagers surrounded Lin Wan Yi, each holding a bowl of steaming sweet potato porridge.
"Technician Lin, can your ’soil testing and formula matchup’ really make crops grow on our saline land?" A weather-beaten old man asked, half-believing, half-doubting. He was the old village chief of Hongxing Village.
"Whether it can or not, we’ll know once we try." Lin Wan Yi took a bowl of porridge, sipping to warm herself, "But I can guarantee one thing, following my method won’t make it any worse than now. Plus, the first batch of fertilizers and seeds will be provided free of charge by the city bureau."
The villagers stirred at the news—free fertilizers and seeds were like a windfall.
The old village chief took a puff from his pipe, tapping the ashes clean on his shoe: "Alright! Technician Lin, we trust you! Tell us what to do and we’ll do it!"
At that moment, a brand-new Phoenix bicycle rode up the village’s dirt road, with a slickly groomed man sitting on the back seat.
The cyclist was Bai Tingting.
She had changed into a more fashionable floral blouse, with makeup on her face. Seeing Lin Wan Yi surrounded by villagers, she sneered.
"Is everyone here?" Bai Tingting stopped the bike, "Let me remind you, don’t be fooled by those who can only talk theory! Farming is a big science; it’s not just about drawing a few pictures."
She patted the man behind her on the shoulder, "This is a fertilizer expert from the province, Technician Wang. Technician Wang cares for our farmer brothers, and he specially sourced a batch of the latest ’high-efficiency compound fertilizers’ through internal connections at the supply and marketing cooperative, ensuring that once spread, the saline land will turn into black soil!"
The so-called "Expert" Wang puffed out his beer belly, hoisting a burlap sack from the rear bike rack and dropping it on the ground.
"Folks, my fertilizer’s nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content is three times that of ordinary fertilizer, yet it’s half the price! If you miss this chance, there won’t be another!"
The villagers paused, exchanging glances.
Lin Wan Yi set down her bowl and walked over.
She didn’t even look at Expert Wang, only crouching to untie the sack and pinch a bit of the grayish-white powder.
The powder was coarse, mixed with obscure black particles.
"You’re Expert Wang, right?" Lin Wan Yi stood up and looked at him, "And you say this is high-efficiency compound fertilizer?"
"Of course! It’s the latest scientific breakthrough!" Expert Wang assured, patting his chest.
"Is that so?" Lin Wan Yi walked to the old village chief’s house entrance, dipped a ladle of clear water from a water vat, and poured it into a clean coarse porcelain bowl.
She sprinkled the powder into the water.
The powder didn’t dissolve immediately like regular fertilizer, instead forming an oily scum on the surface, with most of the particles sinking, turning the water murky, releasing a pungent ammonia odor mixed with other strange smells.
"Real ammonium nitrate compound fertilizer dissolves instantly in water, leaving it clear and nearly odorless." Lin Wan Yi held the bowl, speaking softly yet clearly enough for everyone to hear, "Your so-called ’high-efficiency fertilizer’ doesn’t even meet basic physical characteristics. If I’m not wrong, this is just industrial waste from a chemical factory, mixed with some urea. Using this for farming, within three days, the seedlings will be scorched and the land completely wrecked."
Expert Wang took a step back but still stood his ground, arguing, "What do you know! This is a new slow-release formula! It only works if it dissolves slowly!"
Bai Tingting chimed in support, "Exactly! Lin Wan Yi, are you just making things up because Expert Wang stole your thunder?"
"Whether I’m making it up or not, a test will reveal."
Lin Wan Yi ignored them, taking a small glass bottle filled with a clear liquid from her canvas bag.
It was her soil pH test reagent.
She unscrewed the cap, dripping two drops into the bowl of murky fertilizer water in front of everyone.
One second.
Two seconds.
The liquid in the bowl turned jet black instantly as if ink was spilled into it.
Soon after, with a "hiss," a stinking black smoke rose from the bowl, causing the surrounding villagers to step back repeatedly.
Witnessing the scene,
"Cheaters! You’re trying to kill us!"
"Treating us like fools! Let’s get them!"
The villagers were outraged, grabbing the hoes and sticks at hand, ready to surround them.
Seeing things take a turn for the worse, Expert Wang pushed aside Bai Tingting, who was in front of him, and fled towards the village entrance.
He ran like a chased rabbit, almost reaching the exit.
A sharp braking sound rang out.
Two screeching tire screeches pierced the air.
Two deep-green military jeeps formed a V formation, blocking the dirt road at the village entrance firmly, kicking up dust all around.
The leading jeep’s door was "bang" pushed open.
Gu Yanshen, clad in a crisp military uniform, alighted. Tall and broad-shouldered, he strode over to the man, resting his hand on the gun holster at his waist.