Courtyard House: My Hidden Wheat Seeds Caused a National Sensation

He touched every drawer, wooden box, under the bed, and even the corner of the wall.

Forget about meat, there wasn't even a grain of rice or a single vegetable leaf to be seen.

The house was so clean it looked like no one had ever lived there.

A surge of anger rushed to his head.

He slammed the door and rushed out, wanting to confront his grandmother immediately, but suddenly remembered the two hundred yuan she had mentioned.

"Could it be that the kid didn't buy any food at all?"

Since there's no food, money and ration coupons will do!

He went back and frantically searched every possible place where money might be hidden.

Hunger surged up with each movement, and my stomach felt completely empty.

In the end, not even a single paper ticket could be found.

Damn it!

"If I can't steal anything, I'll take your coal briquettes so you can't cook!"

He rushed to the stove, but froze again—

There wasn't even a trace of coal.

The whole house was like a wasteland swept away by the wind, with nothing left behind.

Bang Geng finally couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow!"

She burst into tears.

"Grandma is lying!"

Grandma is a big liar!

He rushed out of the house, wiping away his tears, and ran all the way home, crying as he pointed at Jia Zhangshi's nose and shouted:

"There's nothing in that room! You're lying to me! You're lying to me!"

Jia Zhangshi was stunned.

"That's impossible... He clearly got two hundred dollars, why wouldn't he buy anything?"

The stick had already rolled to the ground, kicking its legs and crying out:

"I want to eat meat! I'm starving! Grandma, don't you love me anymore!"

"Okay, okay, let's buy meat, I'll go buy meat now."

Jia Zhangshi softened after being teased and also felt the urge, so she took out ten yuan from under the mat on the kang.

She opened the umbrella, grabbed the stick, and went out the door.

The one-and-a-half-year-old Xiaodang was still asleep in the inner room, completely forgotten by her.

***

Meanwhile, Qin Huairu embarked on her journey back to her hometown.

Ever since she learned yesterday that Li Jianye had not only become a city dweller, but also received double salaries as a first-level researcher and a tenth-level technician, earning a full four hundred yuan a month, she could no longer sit still.

She had to figure out what had happened.

As soon as it was light, she found an excuse to take a long-distance bus and headed to her parents' home.

The car was bumping along, but she was thinking about something else:

"I wonder if Father will be able to get any food this time... We're almost starving, we must bring some back this time."

When the car arrived at the village entrance, she immediately saw militia member Lao Wang standing there.

"Old Wang!"

She greeted him.

Old Wang turned his head, saw her, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Qin Huairu? You...you know the news?"

"information?"

Qin Huairu was taken aback. "What news? You mean about Li Jianye?"

The man's figure flashed by, and I didn't get a good look at him. I also didn't have the mind to investigate Li Jianye's situation at the moment.

Old Wang's face darkened, his gaze lingered on my face for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he lowered his voice: "What I need to talk about right now isn't Li Jianye's side, it's your own family... I'm afraid something's gone wrong."

"My home?"

My heart skipped a beat. "What could possibly happen to my family?"

"It's not appropriate for me to say that."

He avoided my gaze, waved his hand, and said, "Go back and take a look. You'll understand when you get back."

I wanted to ask more questions, but Old Wang had already turned and walked away, his back view exuding an indescribable heaviness.

I had no choice but to suppress my doubts and turn around to head home.

The village paths remain the same, but the villagers I met today all had strange expressions.

They nodded and greeted me as usual, but there was a flicker in their eyes and their smiles seemed somewhat forced.

What's even more strange is that along the way, they didn't see a single uncle or cousin from their own clan.

A chill ran through me, and I quickened my pace.

The courtyard gate was ajar, and it creaked open when pushed open. The house was empty, with no one in sight.

My heart sank.

"Father? Little brother?"

I called out twice, but only the echoes reverberated in the silent room.

My gaze swept across the room, and the chill in my heart instantly froze into ice.

The tables and chairs were askew, clutter was scattered all over the floor, and there were several fresh scratches on the wall, clearly marks of a fierce argument and fight.

How could this be? My father is a cadre in the team, and my second uncle is in charge of the militia. Who would dare to break into a house like this and cause trouble?

I rushed into the inner room and searched through the side rooms, only to freeze in shock—not only was the person gone, but the grain jar was empty, and the box where I usually hid my money was also missing.

Something terrible has happened!

I turned around and ran outside, heading straight for my second uncle's house.

Pushing open that familiar door, there was the same emptiness and the same mess, as if a storm had swept through, leaving nothing behind.

Fear gripped my throat like a cold hand.

I ran frantically to the doors of several close relatives' homes, one after another... but all the doors were wide open and the houses were empty.

A sense of panic, as if I had been abandoned by the whole world, overwhelmed me.

"Brother Liu!"

I grabbed a villager who was about to walk away, my voice trembling without me even realizing it, "My family... what happened to my family? Tell me!"

When I stopped the man surnamed Liu, a complex expression of embarrassment and sympathy appeared on his face. He sighed and said, "Huai Ru... don't ask here."

Go check on your third uncle. Jingru is still there; she...she can explain things to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, as if afraid of being entangled by me, he hurriedly broke free from my hand and walked away quickly.

My third uncle's family is not related to us by blood; my aunt married into the family, so my sisters and I have always addressed each other as cousins.

At that moment, that place became the only straw I could grasp.

I practically stumbled into the slightly dilapidated house.

The room was fairly tidy. My cousin, Qin Jingru, was curled up on the kang (a heated brick bed), seemingly asleep.

I lunged at her and shook her shoulders hard.

"Jingru! Jingru! Wake up!"

She groggily opened her eyes, saw it was me, paused for a moment, and then exclaimed, "Wow!"

She burst into tears, grabbing my arm tightly: "Sister! You're finally back! It's all over... our whole family is finished!"

"Stop crying! Tell me, what happened!"

My voice trembled with anxiety.

Qin Jingru raised her tear-filled eyes, which, besides fear, surged with a strong resentment. She almost gritted her teeth as she uttered the words, one by one:

"It's all my uncle's fault! He's the one who caused all this trouble!"

I was stunned: "My dad? What happened to him?"

"It's all because of him!"

Qin Jingru's tears welled up again, mixed with resentment. "Li Jianye developed a high-yield wheat variety, made a great contribution, and was noticed by the higher-ups. He was directly transferred to the city to receive government pay."

Before he left, he accurately predicted the rain the next day... People from above came to inquire, and later a notice was issued that we...

Qin Jingru sobbed as she recounted the dramatic changes that had occurred in her family.

On the eve of the wheat harvest, my father stubbornly insisted that there would be no rain the next day, and tried to stop Li Jianye from harvesting the wheat.

He even took his entire family to confront the brigade leader, publicly vowing that if it really rained, he would move his whole family to the Northwest.

To everyone's surprise, the next day, a torrential downpour began.

The vow came true, and the entire family, except for the youngest child, was sent away yesterday afternoon.

In the blink of an eye, she was left all alone in her once-large home.

"Sister... how am I going to live from now on...?"

Qin Huairu froze after hearing this.

The whole family... the Northwest? How could she not know that harsh and remote place? With her father and brother gone, she feared she would never see them again in this lifetime.

A wave of dizziness washed over her, her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground.

"Sis! Sis, wake up!"

Qin Jingru panicked, pinching her philtrum hard, and cried out in a tearful voice, "You can't abandon me! It was your father who ruined my family, you have to support me!"

Qin Huairu had just caught her breath when those death-threatening words echoed in her ears again, causing her heart to clench and her vision to be swallowed by darkness once more.

……

Li Jianye was completely unaware of the turmoil that had occurred in his hometown.

The rain stopped and the sky cleared, leaving shallow puddles on the streets.

He had already bought a bicycle and was riding it towards the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The wheels rolled over the wet road surface, making a light, tinkling sound.

Before long, he arrived at the edge of the 100 mu of experimental field that had been allocated to him.

The man guarding the field saw him from afar and came up to greet him: "Researcher Li, you've arrived!"

"Have all the people I'm looking for arrived?"

Li Jianye got out of the car and asked.

"We're here! We're here!"

The man nodded repeatedly, "They're all waiting over there, ready to obey your orders at any time."

"good,"

Li Jianye nodded. "Have them come to my office for a short meeting."

"I'll go call them right away!"

Li Jianye's office is quite spacious, a privilege he enjoys as a first-level researcher.

He had barely sat down when the person in charge led five young men in.

These people were all quite young, but their eyes and brows were shrouded in a grayness and silence that did not match their age, as if something heavy had worn away all their bright spirit.

"Researcher Li,"

The person in charge introduced, "These are Tan Zezong, Zhou Mingkai, Bai Yue'e, Wang Desheng, and Zhang Heng."

They are all college graduates from agricultural colleges, and are level 10 assistant researchers.

They had spent two whole years training at the grassroots level. At first... they weren't particularly suited to it, but they gradually showed their abilities and were only recently transferred back.

Li Jianye glanced at the group and was fairly satisfied.

Breeding is different from machine making; it has a long cycle and requires people who can calm down and be patient.

These educated students often have high aspirations and may not be willing to listen to someone who came from the fields.

So he specifically chose these few—all of them had been severely battered and bruised in reality, their rough edges worn down.

Such a person might be just what's needed right now.

"Alright, you can go ahead and get busy."

He said to the person in charge.

After the office door closed, Li Jianye walked to a small blackboard, turned around, and faced the five silent and slightly tense faces.

"Next, I'll talk about our work arrangements for the future."

Li Jianye stood in front of the podium, with several scattered plots of land outlined in chalk on the wooden board behind him.

These 100 mu of experimental fields are not connected, but scattered in different areas. He personally surveyed and selected the land.

Although he knew in his heart that he didn't need to rely on this soil at all—the abilities granted by the system far surpassed this—he had to keep up the act in order to give the superior seeds that were about to be born a legitimate origin.

"The land is divided into five parts."

His voice echoed in the simple classroom, "Thirty mu of hybrid wheat, Tan Zezong is in charge."

Thirty mu of hybrid rice were handed over to Zhou Mingkai.

Ten acres of hybrid corn, managed by Bai Yue'e.

Wang Desheng kept a close eye on his ten mu of high-yield peanuts.

The last twenty mu (approximately 1.3 hectares) will be planted with soybeans, which will be included in the collective task for now.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the several young, tense faces on the table.

"Go back and look up information in books."

I will give you a detailed instruction manual in a few days.

I don't often keep an eye on things here, so you all have to take care of every inch of soil and every seedling yourself.

I have only one rule—do as I say, and don't make a single mistake.

If anyone messes it up and wastes the whole year…

He didn't finish his sentence, but let the silence freeze in the air. "Let's call it a day."

After everyone had left, Li Jianye turned and walked towards the small, secluded storage room in the backyard.

A few days ago, through H's connections, a batch of seeds transported from various places were delivered.

Although most of them are still on their way, the first few bags that have arrived are enough for him to get started on his plan.

"The gene source has arrived."

He stroked the plump bean seeds in the sack and muttered to himself.

Crop yields are ultimately inextricably linked to genetics, even with a "farm" that defies common sense.

He also cannot create new gene sequences out of thin air.

Over the years, he has already pushed the potential of several varieties he has developed to their limits. If he wants to go further, he must introduce new bloodlines.

As for mutation? That's nothing more than a slim chance.

Random, disordered, and almost always leading to decay.