Zuo Lin couldn't figure out how long it had been since he had returned to the two bungalows in his home. If you want to visit your grandfather, you go directly to the nursing hospital, and the medicinal herbs that need to be taken from the greenhouse are also taken by someone in charge of picking them up and sending them to the hospital. Many of the questions from Yu Pingzhang and those graduate students were also forwarded to him through Han Li, and he either dictated the answers for one of Yan Hokusai's secretaries to record, or simply sent back a recording. The intersection of the bungalow and the conservatory and his life seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

So, when he returned to the small piece of land where he was home, he could hardly believe what he saw.

On the basis of the small bungalows, a small two-story metal and glass office building was erected. The original bungalows are partially embedded in the entire building, which looks very postmodern. The bungalow section retains almost all of the original facilities, including the stove, and is now divided into only two functional areas: the canteen and the reception. After Yu Pingzhang brought in enough research funds, he simply built this place into a company, but the position of front desk was held by the students who interned here in turn.

As for farmland, the change is even greater. The appearance of Zuolin's original two conservatories has not changed much, except that the steel frames that have been corroded due to long-term exposure to the air have been replaced by aluminum alloy frames. As for the inside, it's a completely different story. From Yu Pingzhang to the students below, they couldn't wait to observe the two greenhouses inch by inch with a microscope. The probes are packed together and use thick-looking cables to transmit data directly back to the office building for monitoring and processing.

In the original place where the left forest was planted with general crops, rows of glass conservatories of different shapes occupied all the space. The greenhouse project named "microclimate environment" by Lin Jinghua by Zuo Lin practice has very low requirements for the greenhouse itself, just to reduce external interference, so that the internal circulation can be carried out with relatively low loss. Some aluminum alloy frames, some glass can be put up, but the key is the choice of crops planted in it, and how to make full use of the interaction between these crops.

After getting a general understanding of the situation in Zuo Lin's greenhouse, Yu Pingzhang encouraged the students under his command to form research groups one by one, build their own greenhouses, and choose their own crops to try. Whether to use ordinary glass or to use insulating glass, ground glass, brown glass, with or without sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation, whether you need to learn from Zuo Lin to plant tall trees in the greenhouse to filter sunlight and other choices are left to the students themselves, each group has a certain budget, there are also certain indicators, everyone competes with each other. As more and more students are interested in this project, the number of conservatories here has been on the rise. In general, although the land use efficiency is not very high, the economic value of this technology has been initially highlighted. Through these attempts, I learned about the interactions between many crops that I had not thought of before.

The students who enter the program affectionately refer to the increasingly fun place as the "Grassroots Biosphere" program. Small, over-coloured spray-painted advertising boards also add a touch of interest to the metal and glass landscape.

The first to discover Zuo Lin's arrival was Lin Jinghua. Although he is still in the resettlement office, almost all of Lin Jinghua's work now is to "cooperate" with Yu Pingzhang's research work.

"Zuo Lin, why are you here?" Lin Jinghua was inexplicably surprised by Zuo Lin's unexpected arrival.

Zuo Lin has not had much contact with Lin Jinghua, an old friend, during this time, although Lin Jinghua helped Zuo Lin a lot at the beginning, but now, in addition to this somewhat inexplicable research "base", he has gradually lost the common topic. It's an embarrassment not to be in touch for a long time, and it's equally embarrassing to be in touch and not find a topic to continue with.

"Teacher Yu asked me to come over, didn't he tell you? There are a few things that can be planted on a large scale, and they should be more popular vegetables and fruits. Teacher Yu said that he wanted to start trying from here. Zuo Lin said.

Lin Jinghua nodded again and again and said, "Teacher Yu said it, but I didn't mention to us that you were coming." I guess someone is looking for you to sign it. It's changed a lot here, so I'll show you first. ”

Under Lin Jinghua's introduction, Zuo Lin gradually understood how this seemingly extremely expensive "base" was built under Yu Pingzhang's concept of "experimental agriculture". In one corner of the field, a row of 12 larger, more standardized, and well-equipped vegetable greenhouses are neatly arranged. These greenhouses are not for the students to experiment, but for the rich to play. What is planted in it, how to plant, it is up to those rich people, and the people who work in those greenhouses are only responsible for doing it according to the guidelines set by those people, and there will be people who will give advice, but if those guys are not willing to listen, they will not force it. Moreover, those people are also welcome to work in the warm house by themselves, which may be to satisfy the freshness and sweat. Eating "homegrown" fruits and vegetables can be so fragrant that the guys forget that they actually pay for the rental of the greenhouse, the workers who do the daily planting work when they can't come, the labor of the occasional students, and the "expert advice" that gives advice add up to many times more expensive than buying fruits and vegetables from any farmer's market.

"Zuo Lin", Lin Jinghua asked very seriously, "I've always been curious, why are there so many kinds of things in your greenhouse that have never appeared on the plant list?"

No one who knows anything about biology would think that the "lists" and "encyclopedias" that have been published now really cover all species. Lin Jinghua understands this. Humanity's understanding of nature is still poor, and many biologists wake up with the joy of discovering new species in their backyards, or some variation of an old species. There are certainly many things that are not considered when it comes to exploring nature as a whole. However, the appearance of a young man from a mountain village with many plants that have never been registered in any encyclopedia still makes people have a lot of imagination and curiosity.

"I've never seen any of those Daquan", Zuo Lin sighed a little, "Since I was a child, my teacher has taken me all over the mountain. That kind of small mountain village, usually with little contact with the outside world, may only be visited once in a few years by a geological expedition or traveler. That's how many places they go, and my teacher and I have walked almost every inch of the entire mountain forest. Who do you think knows more about mountains and forests than we do?"

"Now, I don't know where the waterline is, but we can go and see where all the strange things you think are growing. There are so many things, and the entire mountain forest may only grow in one place, and there may be only a few in this place, or even only one. Before I came to Shanghai, I had been collecting seeds for a long time, and I didn't know if these things would survive on flat ground, but now I can basically survive, and I am really happy. You know, these things may be my last connection to the forest. Feeling that the topic was a little heavy, Zuo Lin hurriedly interrupted and said, "Brother Lin, do you think it's better to start with something if you plant a large area?"

Lin Jinghua blurted out the results that they had reached after studying for a few days: "Fruit!"

Zuo Lin was stunned for a moment, and then understood.

"Fruit" is not a general term here, but rather a very special kind of fruit. The fruit trees that grow this fruit have extremely high requirements for water and soil fertility, and the fruit produced is very special. The "fruit" is about the same size as a lemon, and the skin is also golden brown, but the "fruit" has almost no flesh. The outer skin is divided into two layers, the smooth and hard outer layer is the protective layer, and the inner layer is the "fat" part that is slightly thinner than 1 cm, which stores the nutrients needed for the growth of the seed. The most bizarre thing is that the seeds of the "fruit" are wrapped in an extremely fine membrane, which is located in the middle of the fruit. From the outer skin to the seed, everything is empty, and when the fruit grows, the whole fruit is filled with water. What can actually be called "juice" is colorless and odorless, but it is rich in nutrients and tastes much better than purified water. After the fruit grows, the fruit does not fall directly from the tree like other fruit trees, smashing into gravity or something. It will allow the seed to grow to a certain limit within the fruit before it falls. During these times between the ripening of the fruit and the fall of the fruit, this layer of "water" in the middle dissolves the proteins and fats on the rind and then provides it to the seeds through filtration through membranes.

"If you imagine it, it's the 'fruit' of this time, how fascinating it should be. Make a cut in the peel and stick a straw in it, making it the healthiest drink. It's a taste that makes my mouth water when I think about it now. It's not a matter of whether there is a taste or not, the feeling of drinking 'fruit' juice is like washing your tongue, and the delicate touch is so fascinating. For those girls, 'juice' is even better, the juice that has the effect of dissolving fat into the stomach, almost a natural weight loss medicine, and there are no side effects. Do some advertising and promotion, it is estimated that this will become a very popular drink at banquets and bars. Lin Jinghua said excitedly that almost the day after getting the introduction of Zuo Lin's planting method, they, the young people who were afraid that the world would not be chaotic, had almost completed the entire marketing plan, and various ideas emerged one after another.

"It's a little different from what I thought. Zuo Lin bared his teeth, and there was a chill behind his back. He didn't expect that this kind of thing that used to be used as a travel drink when they went out could be used to this extent, "'fruits' grow on the edge of mountain streams, and when the fruits fall, they are washed away, and then they grow again in an unknown place." In fact, if it is not cultivated, the 'fruit' is very difficult to live. Zuo Lin explained to Lin Jinghua, "We have a radius of hundreds of miles, and there are only two places where 'fruit' trees grow, and the number is very small. ”

"I would love to have the opportunity to see there, your hometown is such an amazing place. Lin Jinghua said with admiration.

"No chance, it's under the water now. Zuo Lin said with emotion.