Chapter 154: As Long as I Like It

It is inevitable that a sandstorm leaves a mess in its wake.

Zhong Di woke up early, ready to start cleaning, only to find that everything that needed tidying had already been taken care of. There was simply nothing left for him to do. He hadn't even slept in that late—maybe an hour or an hour and a half extra at most. He had just slept until he naturally woke up. The real kicker was that Shao Hong had managed to finish all the chores in such a short time, which was frankly ridiculous. It seemed the only slacker here was himself.

Under the shed by the entrance, the ground was damp, likely from being swept and then rinsed with water. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, and since the temperature hadn't climbed, it was perfectly normal for the ground to still be wet. Everything else, from the sand on the kitchen door to the interior of the rooms, had been thoroughly cleaned. Zhong Di searched for any remaining spots that needed attention, but finding none, he had to look for some trivial task just to kill time.

Maybe weeding would be a good idea. It didn't matter how much he pulled, as many areas were already stripped bare; Zhong Di felt that before long, he would need to buy fodder to feed the small animals. The orchard's "let-it-grow" plan might need to be moved up on the schedule. Usually, such a plan is adopted for orchards with poor soil where grass struggles to survive, aiming to slowly improve the soil and enhance its fertility. Simply put, it means stopping the weeding and letting the grass grow, die, and decompose into organic matter, eventually releasing humic acid to improve the soil structure. In his case, however, the plan was necessary because the grass had been ruthlessly plucked clean.

"You're finally here. Hurry, wash me off; I'm suffocating." Just as Zhong Di was about to pull a small patch of bitter grass, he heard a call from... well, a small character.

A tricolor bougainvillea? Zhong Di quickly confirmed this. In the farmhouse, there were very few things that could communicate with him this way, and the tricolor bougainvillea was one of them. As for "suffocating," perhaps someone had pinched its "nose"? After inspecting it, Zhong Di finally understood why it said it was suffocating. The entire plant was covered in dust—of course it couldn't breathe. Plants primarily breathe through the stomata on their leaves; when those are covered in dust, they struggle, especially green-leafed plants. Whether it’s the production of organic matter or the plant's own aerobic respiration, both require the leaves to intake air. Wait, shouldn't that be carbon dioxide or oxygen? Photosynthesis requires carbon dioxide, but aerobic respiration requires oxygen. "Air" is perhaps a more reasonable term.

(Note: There are many applications for this, which I won't go into here, such as injecting carbon dioxide into vegetable storage to prevent rapid decay.)

Therefore, anyone with gardening experience or knowledge of flowers would use a small spray bottle to wash away the dust the moment they saw it covering the leaves. It wasn't just about the dust blocking the light; clogging the stomata was a major problem.

"Beg me," Zhong Di said with a smirk.

"I beg you," came the reply.

Zhong Di was speechless. "You have absolutely no spine."

"What is a spine? I don't have one!"

Why was he arguing with a potted bougainvillea? Zhong Di felt he had truly gone mad, perhaps even delusional. He grabbed a sprayer and doused all the flowers.

The cables for the greenhouse were connected today, and the first greenhouse was already completed. Tomorrow, he would move all these flowers inside. He already had a rough plan for the six greenhouses—three for standard use and three for tropical fruits or plants. Simply put, he would plant whatever he wanted and eat whatever he felt like; he wouldn't consider whether it was profitable or if customers would like it. As long as he liked it, that was enough.

As he was watering with liquid fertilizer, he spotted Shao Hong. "Shao Hong, morning! Getting up so early every day—never mind whether the habit is good or not, you're making me look lazy."

"Don't say that. You’re the one planning the entire development of the farm; you do a lot more thinking. I get it. I don't have to consider all that, so I just can't sleep in." Shao Hong always felt a bit ashamed. Since he started working here, he had gone from a trial basis to an unexpected success, with an income so high he couldn't believe it. Especially on his last day off, when he treated his mother to a full day of food and entertainment, the happy smile on her face made him feel he had truly found his direction.

"Bah." Misunderstood again. In reality, he wasn't thinking about anything at all. He just wanted to be a slacker, and when he slept, he was genuinely just sleeping!

"By the way, Zhong Di, the cables are laid, and the rolling shutter machine is calibrated. How do you want to arrange the greenhouse?" After chatting for a bit, Shao Hong brought up the reason he had sought out Zhong Di.

Once built, it had to be put to use; that was Shao Hong's simple logic. Zhong Di raised an eyebrow. "So fast?" He was genuinely stunned. They had only talked about installing the cables yesterday, and it was done by this morning. This speed was anything but ordinary.

"What’s slow about it? With the money and the people in place, this is just standard speed. Do you think the title of 'Infrastructure Madman' for our Great China is just for show?" Seeing Zhong Di's surprise, Shao Hong smiled. He wasn't joking—if the red dates hadn't been ripening, he could have had the other five greenhouses up for him in just a few days.

"Alright then. Let me think about it, and I'll let you know. You handle the arrangements. Oh, and move these flowers inside first." Zhong Di pointed to the pile of flowers. Besides the precious tricolor bougainvillea, the rest were common varieties, but they were his own, and he was attached to them.

"Got it."

After they discussed a few more details, Shao Hong went off to handle the tasks. It was for the best; with the greenhouse, things would be much easier to manage. Zhong Di began to ponder how to make the most of it. Should he introduce tropical plants, or plant a season of off-season vegetables? That was the question. Hmm... perhaps he could do both.

Zhong Di quickly figured out how to utilize the space. Even if he planted tropical fruits, it didn't mean he couldn't plant off-season vegetables. He could perfectly solve the problem by planting tropical fruits in three of the greenhouses and intercropping vegetables. For the remaining three, he could use one for miscellaneous plants and two purely for off-season vegetables, making perfect use of the facilities.

Now, with the first greenhouse ready, he could immediately introduce tropical fruits and start seedlings in the empty spots—specifically for vegetables with longer germination periods, like nightshades such as peppers and tomatoes. Once the other greenhouses were finished, he could directly transplant the seedlings. It would be a seamless transition, and by then, he could make adjustments based on the tropical fruits already planted. Overall, it allowed for both planning and trial-and-error.