Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

Shiitake mushrooms have a much longer growth cycle than oyster mushrooms, taking at least three to four months to produce fruit, while silver ear mushrooms take five to six months. Before setting off, she deliberately planted only two hundred boxes in the newly built cultivation room. At the normal growth rate, they should just be entering the stage where the mycelium has covered the culture medium, and it's still a long way from fruiting.

While deftly moving the mushroom cultivation boxes, Chen Xiuer explained without turning her head, "Dr. Su, you have to ask Old Shen about this. We wouldn't dare do this if he weren't there."

Old Shen sat on a small stool and slapped his mouth sheepishly: "Oh, it's all my fault for talking like that. Just a few days ago, some of my old classmates came all over the country just to see your shiitake mushroom mycelium and white fungus."

He omitted a crucial step—a month earlier, he had spent several yuan to send telegrams to four or five old classmates, boasting triumphantly: "You old fogies, claiming to be experts at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, have spent your whole lives researching shiitake mushrooms and silver ear fungus and still haven't figured it out. One of my students here, through his own efforts, has developed mycelium that's ten times better than anything in your labs! You shouldn't waste national funds; go home and farm!"

And what happened? They came all the way from Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing by train, without even having a sip of water, pointing their fingers at him and yelling, "Old Shen, we want to see just how amazing your mycelium is! If you're lying, don't blame us for cutting ties with you!"

Chen Xiuer was terrified by the group of menacing old men.

Old Shen snorted and led the group directly to the cultivation room. When the group of senior experts saw the dense, snow-white shiitake mushroom mycelium and the crystal-clear silver ear fungus mycelium, their jaws nearly dropped—the quality and density were hundreds of times better than the best samples they had cultivated in their laboratory!

All those years of artificially cultivated shiitake mushrooms and silver ear fungus have been a complete waste of time!

What happened next was only natural. Old Shen not only showed off his shiitake and silver ear mushrooms, but also displayed his oyster mushroom cultivation kits. The old guys' eyes lit up when they saw the kits—such convenient stuff, just hand them out and they could start growing them right away, so much better than their cumbersome cultivation methods!

No one knows how the deal was negotiated, but by the time Chen Xiuer realized what was happening, Old Shen had already received a bunch of big orders: agricultural research institutes in various places wanted shiitake mushroom mycelium packets and tremella mycelium packets to take back for research.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The previous batches of oyster mushroom cultivation kits had received a very good response, especially from state-run canteens in various places, who were all vying for the oyster mushrooms.

In addition to the dozens of counties and towns in Ili Prefecture that Guo Mingyuan originally contracted, now even state-run canteens and profitable units in the surrounding areas are vying for his services, and orders have increased four or five times.

Therefore, the fresh oyster mushroom production at the planting site is now only one-fifth of the oyster mushroom planting package orders—meaning they have almost monopolized the oyster mushroom supply for the entire surrounding area.

Add to that the research orders for shiitake mushrooms and white fungus that Old Shen has secured, it's no wonder the three of them are working themselves to the bone!

After listening, Su Wanqing opened her mouth and asked Old Shen, "Your old classmates want mycelium, why don't you just sell the mycelium directly? Why are you even selling shiitake mushroom and tremella cultivation kits? Our first batch hasn't even produced any mushrooms yet, and it's not even certain whether this stuff will work."

Old Shen snorted, "We don't have purified mycelium here, only these cultured media. If they want to take it back for research, how can they carry it without making planting kits? Besides, they haven't even figured out the mycelium themselves; giving them pure mycelium would be a waste. I've already told them that I'll give them a planting kit for each stage, not for them to eat, but so they can see the difference—they've been researching for over ten years and still haven't figured it out, while you, a young girl, have managed to do it. They should be impressed. Research funds go through the public accounts; why are you feeling sorry for them?"

Su Wanqing then smiled: "Mr. Shen, you've been working so hard these past few days. When this batch of shiitake mushrooms and white fungus comes out, I'll give you the first taste."

Old Shen gave a haughty snort: "The mycelium is good, so the mushroom production should be pretty good too, but I can't be careless. I have to keep an eye on it every day. Don't thank me with these empty words. Just remember to save me a portion if you have any good seeds in the future."

Su Wanqing had a sudden inspiration and remembered the high-yield rice seeds she had received as a reward from the spatial storage. She turned around, rummaged through her basket, pulled out a cloth bag, took out a handful of golden rice ears, and handed them to Old Man Shen:

"Mr. Shen, take a look at this. I found it by the river this time. The rice ears are full of plump grains, and the density is amazing, at least twice as many as the rice ears we usually see. Do you think we could try cultivating it?"

Old Shen took the rice stalk, his expression immediately turning serious. He squinted, examining it closely, then pried open a few grains, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid: "This stalk shape, this grain weight... it's truly extraordinary. Each stalk has more than 30% more grains than ordinary rice, and the grains are plump and uniform. I need to process it carefully and try cultivating it for a few more generations to see if I can stabilize this trait!"

He jumped up, even kicking over his stool: "I'm going to find Comrade Wen! We need to discuss this together!"

After saying that, he grabbed the rice stalks and ran outside, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Su Wanqing shook her head and turned back to work. Chen Xiuer and Aunt Wang had been working on the assembly line for more than half an hour, so she quickly joined in, deftly sorting the bacteria, bagging them, and sealing them.

After finishing one round of work, Su Wanqing leaned against the wall to catch her breath, exhausted: "Xiuer, Aunt Wang, you're working too hard. There's more and more work to do now, and Old Shen is going to study rice, so I need to find you two more helpers."

Aunt Wang wiped her sweat and waved her hands repeatedly: "Dr. Su, you pay me 1.5 yuan a day, which is equivalent to the work of ten other people. If we hire more people, how can Xiu'er and I feel at ease? With such a high wage, the more I work, the more at ease I feel, and I feel justified in taking the pay."

Su Wanqing shook her head: "Auntie, we need to think long-term. Judging from Comrade Guo's attitude, he's going to take over the business in dozens of counties and towns around here. With just the three of us, we won't be able to finish even by next year. We'll need to hire a few more helpers. I'm afraid we'll have to expand into a big factory next year."

While moving the mushroom boxes, Xiu'er chimed in, "Mom, Dr. Su is right. Brother Guo said that we need to expand next month, and our few cultivation rooms are not enough. Dr. Su needs to talk to Secretary Liu as soon as possible and build a few more rooms. We also need to hire two more people, otherwise it will delay Dr. Su's business."

She had already done the math in her head—more cultivation rooms, a few thousand more kilograms of oyster mushrooms, and the profits could multiply several times over. In a few months, the shiitake mushroom cultivation bags and silver ear mushroom cultivation bags also needed to be launched; how could they function without someone?