Free Web NovelChapter 55: Chapter 55: Breakthrough from Zero
He arrived at the temporary lab for the edible fungi.
At the temporary lab, insulation layers covered the outside of the greenhouse to ensure the temperature was controllable. Several large industrial air conditioners had also been installed.
Inside the experimental greenhouse, which was divided into many small rooms.
Shuya, dressed in a full-body protective suit and a helmet with a filtration system, was observing the substrate bags, occasionally taking samples and recording data.
Even though she was cultivating edible fungi, Shuya wasn’t careless. After all, edible fungi were still fungi, and inhaling large quantities of spores could potentially lead to respiratory fungal infections.
Many farmers and workers who had spent years in the edible fungus industry suffered from fungal infections to some degree, simply because they neglected to wear protective gear.
In fact, this was a common bad habit among many blue-collar workers in the country.
For example, air conditioner technicians working at heights without safety harnesses, or stonecutters working without dust masks.
Cases like these were extremely common.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford the safety gear, but that they thought of themselves as seasoned experts—so skilled they could afford to be bold. Little did they know, if you walk by the river often enough, your shoes are bound to get wet.
As the old saying goes, it’s the good swimmers who drown.
This was why Jiang Miao had repeatedly stressed to Shuya that nothing was more important than her health; her body was the foundation of everything.
Therefore, ever since she began researching edible fungi at Nanhu Farm, Shuya had always worn her protective suit and helmet when entering the greenhouse.
Just as Shuya was focused on observing the substrate bags, the walkie-talkie on her belt crackled to life.
"Ah Ya, which greenhouse are you in?"
Shuya picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button. "In White Truffle Greenhouse No. 1."
"Can I come in?"
"You can. Come on in!"
About ten minutes later, Jiang Miao entered, also wearing a protective suit and helmet.
Shuya was still observing a row of substrate bags.
Jiang Miao didn’t say anything to disturb her, instead focusing his attention on the other substrate bags.
He scanned the small rooms one by one.
He continued until he reached the small room labeled No. 17.
After opening the door, he brought up his Appraisal Panel, as was his habit, and began to observe carefully.
[...Status: Pinhead Stage. Fruiting body has formed. Estimated to enter Growth Stage in 86 solar days...]
Jiang Miao’s gaze sharpened.
’It’s actually entered the pinhead stage! We’re just one step away from success!’
Generally speaking, the life cycle of a macrofungus can be divided into five stages.
Namely: the mycelium stage, the primordium stage, the pinhead stage, the growth stage, and the mature stage.
In her previous research, Shuya had successfully induced the white truffles to enter the mycelium and primordium stages, but she’d had no success yet in reaching the pinhead stage.
Reaching the pinhead stage was the crucial turning point in the artificial cultivation of edible fungi. Once a culture entered this phase, success was just a stone’s throw away.
Jiang Miao took another careful look.
He found that within this room’s control group, not all of the bags had reached the pinhead stage. Out of thirty substrate bags, only seven had succeeded.
Clearly, the substrate formula for these bags wasn’t perfect yet; there was still room for optimization.
He observed for a while longer.
He didn’t immediately go to tell Shuya. Instead, he checked the remaining three small rooms as well.
Among the substrate bags in those last three rooms, he found four more control groups that had also reached the pinhead stage.
Evidently, the formulas for these four control groups contained components similar to the first one he’d found.
For these four control groups, the number of bags that reached the pinhead stage were 5 out of 30, 6 out of 30, 13 out of 30, and 1 out of 30.
The control group that produced 13 successes out of 30 bags had the most valuable formula by far.
After recording the data for these control groups and collecting samples, Jiang Miao finally went over to Shuya.
"Ah Ya, I have some good news."
Shuya pressed the internal anti-fog button on her helmet. As the mist on the transparent faceplate quickly cleared, she could finally make out Jiang Miao’s figure. "What good news?" she asked casually.
"You’ll know when you see this." Jiang Miao flipped his notes to the pages detailing the five control groups that had reached the pinhead stage, which he had deliberately circled in red.
She took the notebook and looked it over. After a moment, her eyes widened and her breathing grew ragged. "White truffles in the pinhead stage! And in five different groups! This is fantastic, Ah Miao! I feel like we’re so close to a breakthrough!"
Shuya was so excited she looked ready to jump for joy. A moment later, she hurried toward Room No. 17. "No, I have to see it with my own eyes."
Jiang Miao just smiled and shook his head without saying anything. It was a perfectly normal reaction.
Once they reached Room No. 17,
Shuya’s racing heart finally began to calm down. She cautiously observed the substrate bags that Jiang Miao had marked. Sure enough, on a patch of the substrate, she spotted a small, raised bump. Gently parting the soil with a pair of tweezers, she revealed a tiny white fungal body, smaller than her pinky nail. This was the pinhead of a white truffle.
"*HUFF... HUFF...* It’s real!"
She quickly covered it back up with the substrate, then carefully inspected the other marked bags, finding pinheads in all of them.
Ever the professional, Shuya didn’t stop there; she went on to inspect the remaining four control groups.
Then, taking the samples Jiang Miao had collected, she rushed back to the temporary lab in the shipping container building.
Seeing her so full of drive, Jiang Miao decided to give himself a little break and helped her with some of the prep work for her experiments.
Before they knew it, the sun was setting outside the window. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
The glow of sunset illuminated Shuya’s profile, making the fine hairs and beads of sweat on her face clearly visible. He took out a wet wipe and gently dabbed her skin.
Shuya barely reacted, likely accustomed to their easy intimacy.
Jiang Miao leaned close to her ear and reminded her softly, "Ah Ya, it’s quitting time. There’s no overtime pay for working late without permission."
"I like it this way!" Shuya rolled her eyes at him, but she still efficiently wrapped up her observation. She sorted the lab supplies and returned them to the cabinet, then placed the samples in a dedicated freezer.
Once they had tidied everything up, the two walked out arm in arm.
The late April evening breeze was cool, yet carried a hint of warmth.
"An Ning, you and Wenna drive back to headquarters."
"Yes, Boss."
Jiang Miao, meanwhile, drove his electric scooter, with Shuya sitting behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist.
Ke Yong and another bodyguard followed close behind in a pickup truck.
In reality, Nanhu Farm was less than a five-minute trip from the company headquarters. The two locations were very close, situated at opposite ends of the same village.
In no time, Jiang Miao and Shuya arrived back at the entrance of the company headquarters on the scooter.
After parking the scooter, he glanced at the newly renovated laboratory. The contractor in charge of equipping it had been delivering large batches of instruments and equipment over the past few days.
The contractor’s project manager, Manager Du, saw him and hurried over to greet them. "General Manager Jiang, Madam Jiang."
"Manager Du, have you had dinner yet?"
"Not yet, but dinner has been delivered."
Jiang Miao glanced at the boxes of all sizes stacked in the lab’s parking area. He saw a dozen or so of the contractor’s workers covering them with waterproof tarps.
They had also set up a dozen high-intensity floodlights, bathing the area around the stacked equipment in light as bright as day.
On the side nearest the road, several pickup trucks, small vans, and an RV were parked.
Clearly, a good number of the contractor’s employees would be staying overnight to stand guard.
This was perfectly understandable. After all, the equipment was worth over forty million. If it were stolen, or if a passing child or scrap collector grabbed an item or two, or even if a single component was damaged, the loss would be immense.
To prevent a potential traffic accident, the contracting company had even used their vehicles to form a barrier on the side closest to the road, blocking any passing cars from accidentally crashing into the area.
Jiang Miao chatted with Manager Du for a bit, asking about the installation schedule for the equipment. Upon learning that installation and calibration would likely be finished by early June, he bid the manager farewell and led Shuya into the company cafeteria for dinner.
