Courtyard House: Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) Traded for an Aircraft Carrier, the Whole Count

On a weekend morning, the sky was overcast and the air was filled with the smell of dry dust.

Jiang Chen changed into casual clothes, rode his old bicycle with a shovel and a bulging burlap sack strapped to the back seat, and headed towards the outskirts of Beijing.

In the fields on both sides of the road, the sparse crops drooped listlessly. Since the beginning of spring this year, there had been hardly any substantial rains, and the soil was cracked like an old man's hand. In the villages we passed by, we occasionally saw emaciated villagers sitting under walls, basking in the sun, their eyes vacant and numb. The oppressive feeling brought on by hunger weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.

Jiang Chen did not linger in these places; his goal was clear—the rocky slope at the northernmost edge of the Red Star Commune.

Since it was a secret experiment, he couldn't choose fertile farmland. Those places were crowded and noisy, and any high-yield crops that grew there would be news of it all over Beijing the next day. What he needed was a piece of wasteland that nobody wanted, nobody looked after, and nobody bothered with.

After riding for more than an hour, Jiang Chen finally arrived at his destination.

This is a barren slope that even weeds avoid, with bare, grayish-white rocks everywhere, and only a few withered jujube trees stubbornly sprouting from the cracks in the rocks.

Jiang Chen parked his car on the side of the road and found the Party Secretary of Hongxing Commune.

The Party Secretary was an old man in his fifties, smoking a pipe with a worried expression. But when he heard that the cadres from the steel mill's security department were coming to set up a "militia wilderness survival training base" and a "side business experimental field," the old man's eyes lit up instantly.

"Officer Jiang, you mean... that rocky slope?" The Party Secretary pointed to the notorious, barren area, his face filled with disbelief. "Even sweet potatoes can't grow there; it's all rocks and rubble. What do you need that for?"

"It's precisely because of the hardship that the militia's will is forged," Jiang Chen said, handing over a Daqianmen cigarette and spouting nonsense without batting an eye. "Besides, we've been experimenting with some new drought-resistant crops at the factory, and we're looking for a quiet place to test them out. If they succeed, we can promote them to our commune later."

Although the Party Secretary didn't believe that any crops could grow on that barren land, establishing a connection with a high-ranking official at the steel mill was something he desperately wanted. Without a word, he waved his hand and said, "Alright! That land is just lying around anyway, you can use it as you please! Forget about rent, it's an honor for our commune to have you here!"

After completing the formalities, Jiang Chen declined the Party Secretary's offer to send someone to help him and carried his tools up the rocky slope alone.

After confirming that no one was around, he stood on a rocky slope and took a deep breath.

"Let's begin."

His body, modified by the gene-enhancing fluid, displayed terrifying efficiency. He wielded the shovel, each strike sending up large swaths of gravel and hard earth. The barren, as hard as iron, seemed to melt into tofu before him; in less than half an hour, he had cultivated about an acre of flat land.

This type of sweet potato doesn't require meticulous cultivation; wasteland technology emphasizes simplicity and brute force.

Jiang Chen didn't bother to make a mound; he simply dug a hole in the pile of rubble, threw in the shriveled purple seeds, and then hastily covered them with soil.

Now comes the moment to witness a miracle.

He pulled out a small, futuristic-looking metal bottle from his pocket—[Primary Plant Growth and Ripening Solution].

Unscrewing the bottle cap, a faint, pleasant fragrance carrying a strange, vibrant scent wafted out. Jiang Chen carefully dripped the emerald green liquid into a bucket of water he had prepared beforehand.

"Splash—"

The bucket of clear water instantly turned into an emerald green, and even began to boil slightly.

Jiang Chen carried a bucket and a water ladle, and began to water the acre of land.

The moment the emerald green liquid seeped into the dry, gravelly soil, a chilling scene unfolded.

The once lifeless ground seemed to suddenly come alive.

"Snap! Snap!"

A series of subtle cracking sounds rose and fell. The soil churned, and countless tender green shoots, like soldiers hearing the bugle call to charge, eagerly pushed aside the stones pressing down on them, bursting out of the ground at a visible speed!

One inch, two inches, five inches...

The vines were a deep, dark green, their leaves thick like leather, covered with purple veins. They spread wildly in all directions, like a swarm of living green snakes, greedily devouring every inch of bare earth. In just a few minutes, what was once a desolate, rocky slope was now covered by a lush, vibrant green ocean full of wild life.

This growth rate completely defies the laws of nature, exuding the domineering and ferocious nature unique to wasteland creatures.

Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction as he watched this shocking scene.

last step.

He took out a packet of [biological insect repellent powder] from his system space and sprinkled it around the edge of the acre of land.

This powder not only repels wild boars, rats, and pests, but more importantly, it emits an odorless gas that interferes with human optic nerves. If ordinary people get close to it, they will subconsciously feel disgust and fear, and will involuntarily take a detour, just like encountering the legendary "ghost wall".

After finishing all this, Jiang Chen dusted off his hands and tied the tools back to the back seat of the car.

He was pushing his bike, preparing to leave, when he couldn't help but look back as he went downhill.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto that eerie yet lush green sea, and the once desolate rocky slope now seemed to have transformed into a dormant green volcano.

"Seven days later," Jiang Chen said, straddling his bicycle and facing the evening breeze, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes, "I'm going to give this world a little agricultural shock."