The booming era begins with the director of the Propaganda Department!

Chapter 334: Even in a famine, the cook will not starve to death!!

Skipping school??? Yuan Longping widened his eyes in surprise. He had always been a good student who followed the rules in school.

Although I had seen classmates skipping classes when I was in school, and after I started working as a teacher at the Agricultural College, of course there were students skipping classes, but it was the first time I had seen someone like Zhang Shenfei, who was shouting about skipping classes in front of the teacher.

This young man was indeed different from the ones he had met before. He quietly gave Zhang Shenfei a thumbs up and gave him a thumbs up.

Zhang Shenfei accepted it without hesitation: "Well, what's the big deal? Teacher Jin is a teacher, but he has no right to interfere in the affairs of our Yanjing University. As for Old Wangtou... he is just a cleaner, not even a teacher."

Teacher Jin looked at him meaningfully: "You are a college student of the new era, a leader among young people. Don't you feel ashamed to play chess with an old man who sweeps the floor every day?"

Old Wang also glanced at Zhang Shenfei, as if expecting what he would say.

"You are an agronomy expert and you are not embarrassed, who am I?" Zhang Shenfei sneered, "Well, you fight Old Wang for another 300 rounds. I am going to take Brother Yuan to find my treasured rice seedlings."

Old Wang laughed loudly: "Give me money, give me money. What did I say? This kid is different from others. He definitely won't feel embarrassed to be with me."

Teacher Jin's lips curled up into a helpless smile, but there was no negative emotion in his eyes.

When he came to see Old Wang today, the other party assured him that he had found a good friend regardless of age difference at Yenching University, who was a student in the Chinese Department.

He casually said, "How can a student be with an old man like you?" Who knew that old Wang would be unhappy and insisted on making a bet with him.

Who would have thought that this would actually be a loss.

Even though he lost, he was happy to lose. He took out five cents from his pocket and handed it over.

Old Wang took the money with a smile on his face, wiped it and put it in his pocket.

"Old money-grubber! After all these years, you haven't changed at all!" Teacher Jin laughed at him mercilessly.

"You're just angry because you lost. In all these years, have you ever won a bet from me once???" Old Wang didn't care about the other party's verbal attack and poked at his soft spot.

Zhang Shenfei and Yuan Longping said goodbye to the two old men, chatting with each other as they walked, and soon left Yenching University.

"Brother Yuan, I left my stuff at Nanluoguxiang in Dongcheng District, which is my home. Let's take the bus now. It's two cents per person."

The two got off the bus, turned into the alley and walked to the end, where they arrived at the gate of the courtyard.

As soon as I stepped into the hanging flower gate, I saw the Yan family standing in the front yard with a happy look on their faces.

For some reason, the other residents of the courtyard also gathered in the front yard. In front of them, there was a basin on the table where old Yan's family grew flowers, and it looked like there was rice in it.

It was already the second half of 1959, and except for Jia Zhang and Liu Haizhong, all the neighbors in the courtyard had lost a lot of weight.

Some people, like the Zhang family, who have not lost weight at all, also have pale faces.

Needless to say, Liu Haizhong, as the pillar of the Liu family, works as a blacksmith in the factory, which requires heavy work. Anyone in the family may not have enough to eat or go hungry, but he must eat his fill.

The reason why Jia Zhang was able to maintain her previous weight, only losing three or five pounds, was mainly because Lao Qin gave his own food rations to her and his son Xiao Qin.

Compared to the two of them,

In the original drama, the "prince" who was the only child in the Jia family's thousand acres of land, actually did not have such a good life as in the TV drama.

There was no way out. After Jia Zhang gave birth to the second child, she no longer took her grandson seriously.

In addition, the collectively owned processing factory where Banggeng's mother Qin Huairu works has few orders and its income has been reduced, but they are reluctant to buy expensive grain, so naturally they cannot eat enough.

But in the past six months, Xiaodang and Banggeng have gradually grown big heads and big bellies, but thin limbs, and look like ET at first glance...

However, no one said anything about the situation in the Jia family, because such families and such children are the norm nowadays.

Haven’t you seen that the six members of the Yan family have already become so hungry that their eyes are blurry and they are spitting out sour water on the ground.

Seeing Zhang Shenfei suddenly return to the courtyard, Yan Bugui immediately waved at him: "Uncle, you're back at the right time. Come and see my new invention."

"New invention?" Zhang Shenfei raised his eyebrows curiously, "Uncle Yan, you don't want to be a teacher anymore, but become a scientist instead?"

"You are insulting your uncle Yan again. Are you using him as a cymbal? If it were any other time, I would be so embarrassed to hear you say that.

But my invention today can solve people’s food problems, and it’s no less powerful than scientists’! So I took your words just now as a compliment to me! ” Yan Bugui was so proud that his tail was about to rise to the sky.

Solve the eating problem? Yuan Longping’s expression suddenly changed.

"Even more awesome than a scientist?" Zhang Shenfei also became interested and pulled Yuan Longping over. "Uncle Yan, please go ahead."

"That's right, Uncle Yan, please don't keep us in suspense and tell us how this 'Double Z Rice' is made!!!" Sha Zhu, who had already listened to Yan Bugui's colloquialisms for a long time, couldn't help but urge him.

"That's right. We've been waiting for a long time. Are you playing a trick on us?" said Xu Damao, whose face was longer and thinner than last year.

Other residents echoed the sentiment.

Nowadays, food is hard to buy and the food supply has started to be discounted. Everyone has no food in their stomachs and life is hard!!!

At this moment, Yan Bugui suddenly announced in the yard that he had invented "Double Z Rice", which can steam twice as much rice with the same amount of rice. How could this not arouse everyone's curiosity? ? ?

Seeing that the crowd was stretched out like geese, Yan Bugui picked up the bowl of rice and said proudly:
"This 'Double Z Rice', as the name suggests, the trick is to double steam it. First add a normal amount of water to the rice, then beat the rice after it is steamed, add more water, and steam it again...

In this way, the rice that has already been steamed and expanded will expand again, increasing its volume and weight. Wouldn't it take up more space in the stomach when eaten? ? ? "

As an elementary school arithmetic teacher, Yan Bugui has a lot of professional terms.

Everyone in the courtyard thought about it after hearing what he said. Isn't that the case? Everyone gave a thumbs up and praised Uncle Yan for being a master at managing life.

"Uncle Yan, with this pair of Z rice, won't your family have to eat rice every day in the future?" Liu Guangqi said.

Yan Bugui shook his head and said, "Rice is so expensive. We still mainly eat sweet potatoes."

One pound of rice can be exchanged for three and a half pounds of sweet potatoes in Zuojiazhuang.

The sweet potatoes in Zuojiazhuang are good, and the dried noodles are like chestnuts, but they are too chewy. When you take a bite, your neck will stretch more than ten miles and you can run straight to the square to watch the flag-raising ceremony!
In previous years, choking was not a good thing, and at least it would be considered a minor disadvantage.

But it’s different now!!

Nowadays, there is not enough food. After taking a bite of sweet potato, I can't stand it and have to drink two big gulps of water to wash it down.

Drinking more water leaves less space in the stomach, so you can eat less food. So the sweet potato, which can choke you to death, has become an advantage.

Although eating too much sweet potatoes can cause stomach acid and vomiting, it is a small matter when it comes to saving food.

Yan Bugui couldn't help but sigh at his own greatness and selfless dedication when he said this: "How many times a year do we eat rice in our family??!! I invented this 'Double Z Rice' and it can be regarded as serving the people in a down-to-earth way. I have already submitted the recipe of Double Z Rice to Youth Daily.

I think the street and the newspaper should commend me. What do you think, Uncle San? "

Zhang Shenfei licked his lips, and suddenly felt powerless inside. He really didn't know what to say.

Because Double Z rice is steamed twice and water is added twice, the rice grains are indeed larger and look more abundant, making it easier to fill the stomach.

But because of the excessive water content, the rice is almost transparent, and eating it for a long time can easily aggravate edema and cause malnutrition. But, what can he say about this?

Even if Yan Bugui didn't report his practice to the newspaper, this kind of double Z fans would definitely be discovered by others next year, and then they would start to promote it vigorously...

Since it was bound to happen sooner or later and it was something that could not be changed, it would be better to let Yan Bugui get some reward and improve the food for the Yan family.

"Brother Dafei, you have a good life. You can eat well in college, right?" Sha Zhu came over and started a conversation.

Now the food in the factory has also been affected to a certain extent. Zhang Shenfei went to Yenching University and paid for it.

"It's okay, but I can't compare to you. A cook will never starve to death in a famine." Zhang Shenfei played the cymbals.

"Hey, this is the truth!" Sha Zhu got excited, and glanced at Qin Huairu who was not far away, and spoke a little louder, "Brother Dafei, look, there are few people in this courtyard who are not thin, and I, He Yuzhu, am one of them!!!"

He had always been proud of being a cook, and now that there was a food shortage, his sense of superiority was even greater.

Qin Huairu's eyes lit up when she heard this and she looked at Sha Zhu.

"Who said it wasn't? I have something to do, so I'll leave first." Zhang Shenfei also glanced at Qin Huairu.

When people are extremely hungry, their bottom line is likely to drop again and again.

After saying goodbye to the old Yan family and the people in the courtyard, Zhang Shenfei took Yuan Longping back to his own home.

"Brother Yuan, please sit down and drink some water. I'll go to Li's room and get the rice seedlings out."

Zhang Shenfei walked around in the inner room and when he came out he was holding a large enamel basin with a dozen rice seedlings in it.

Yuan Longping only took a look from a distance, then stood up suddenly, quickened his pace and walked to Zhang Shenfei, carefully observing the rice seedlings without saying a word for a long time.

Zhang Shenfei was overjoyed when he saw this, but he kept silent. After waiting for several minutes, he pretended to be honest and said to the other party, "Brother Yuan, these rice seedlings..."

"This, this, this... these rice seedlings do look like natural hybrid rice." After Yuan Longping came to his senses, he immediately took the enamel basin from Zhang Shenfei's hand and carefully placed it on the table to observe.

It's no wonder he is so cautious. It's because rice has always been self-pollinating. Even with human intervention, cross-pollination is extremely difficult.

In nature, completely natural hybrid rice is simply impossible to exist. It is a miracle of nature.

He has studied rice for many years, and has only seen records of natural hybrid rice in foreign documents.

What Zhang Shenfei said was completely consistent with the description in the book. Yuan Longping had a hunch that this would be of great significance to his research on hybrid rice.

"Comrade Zhang Shenfei, are all the rice seedlings you found here?"

"That's right."

"Comrade Zhang Shenfei, can you give me these rice seedlings? I don't need too many, just a part will be enough." Yuan Longping's tone was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

Zhang Shenfei didn't hesitate and directly said to take all of them: "I can give you all the rice seeds, but, Brother Yuan, do you still remember the bet we made before???"

"Remember, what do you want to bet on? Just tell me, Brother Zhang." Yuan Longping was very happy and said generously.

Zhang Shenfei smiled and said, "Brother Yuan, can you tell me what you are going to do with these rice seedlings after you take them back? Are you still planning to use the grafting method as Li Ske's theory to make them reproduce more hybrid rice???"

Yuan Longping was slightly startled. In fact, this was indeed his initial thought. But when he thought about the argument between him and Zhang Shenfei at noon, he suddenly had an idea.

"So, Brother Zhang, you want me to follow Mendel's method as the research direction after I get this rice seed, right???"

"We don't have to follow Mendel's genetics, because I know I haven't convinced Brother Yuan. You still have doubts about this.

But the old man once said that practice makes perfect.

So I thought, can we divide these rice seedlings into two parts? You can still use Li Ske's grafting method for one part, and practice Mendel's genetic theory for the other part.

As for our bet, it is to see which method can successfully breed hybrid rice."

Yuan Longping was a little conflicted. In his opinion, these rice seedlings were too precious and he was reluctant to waste even a single one.

He had a general understanding of Mendel's theory before. It is not favored by people in the global field at present, and no one takes it as a research direction.

but……

“But is what the majority of people are doing right?” Zhang Shenfei’s previous words began to echo in his ears.

Internationally and domestically, people have been researching hybrid rice based on Li Ske's theory for several years, but no one has been successful.

Could it be true... Yuan Longping fell into deep thought.

Think again,
As Zhang Shenfei said, dividing the experiment into two parts and using two research methods, although half of the experimental results are destined to fail and half of the rice seedlings will be wasted, the success rate is also doubled.

After figuring this out, he simply agreed to Zhang Shenfei's bet.

"Okay, if I win, Brother Yuan, you have to treat me to a meal." Zhang Shenfei smiled happily.

"If your method is really correct, I would be willing to treat you to a meal for a whole year, not just one meal. I would also be willing to treat you to delicious food and fish even if I had to sell all my belongings."

The two men smiled at each other, and Zhang Shenfei shouted that he and Brother Yuan hit it off right away and wanted to treat him to eat the special braised pork and steamed buns of Sijiu City.

This thing used to be a cheap food, but now it contains meat, oil, and sesame seed cakes made of white flour, so it is considered a high-end product.

But Yuan Longping was so focused on these dozen rice seedlings that he had no time to think about eating.

"I have to take these rice seedlings back to the guesthouse and put them away... Let's eat next time..."

"Okay." Zhang Shenfei agreed promptly.

That's all he can do for now.

How far my country's hybrid rice can go in the future and whether the "Three X Method" indica hybrid rice can be released earlier depends on this person.

Three days later,

Yuan Longping and Teacher Jin returned to Nanhu Province with the precious dozen rice seedlings. Before leaving, they exchanged contact addresses with Zhang Shenfei, and the two agreed to exchange information frequently.

The days pass by,
September 1st soon arrived, and Zhang Shenfei was successfully promoted to his sophomore year.

Using his experience in helping major factories set up farms, he also established a farm at Yenching University, where students used their spare time to engage in planting and breeding.

In the courtyard, although Jia Dongxu was not dead yet, Qin Huairu had set her eyes on Sha Zhu's lunch box.

Every day when she got off work, she would stand at the gate of the yard, chat with Sha Zhu, play around a bit, and take one of his lunch boxes.

Jia Dongxu acquiesced to this. After all, the lunch boxes that Qin Huairu brought back were given to Banggeng, him and Xiaodang.

(End of this chapter)