Chapter 11 The Invincible Potato
David didn't struggle for too long, because there was no point in continuing to struggle. Before he actually encountered this situation, everything was just his guess.
Instead of wasting time entangled in these uncertain things, it is better to deal with the problems in front of you: for example, clearing a field to plant potatoes.
Mark Watney has a bag of live potatoes in his hand, which is the basis for him to successfully open up a potato field on Mars and grow a large number of potatoes in the plot.
At this time, the bag of live potatoes was placed in front of David and Fording.
"Isn't this a potato?"
The well-informed Fording also knows this thing, and it is also a very common food in the world of Azeroth.
After hearing what Fording said, David remembered that the world of Azeroth also has many 'familiar' crops, which he had really overlooked before.
"Although the quantity is not large, it is enough to eat with venison and wolf meat for several days."
"No, this is for planting." David immediately explained the use of this bag of potatoes to Fording: "When I took Mark around to visit just now, I accidentally found wild potatoes growing next to the village, so Mark thought The land here should be able to grow potatoes."
"Oh? If it succeeds, will there be stable food production?" Fording finally realized what the bag of potatoes in front of him meant.
He is clear enough about the situation in David's Cold Winter Village—the situation is right there, and it can be explained in a few sentences.
Things such as the relatively low temperature in winter and difficulty in getting through can be overcome. Only the problem of food is the most difficult to solve.
If a stable food supply cannot be ensured, it will be difficult to truly establish a village, and there is no way to attract more people to settle here.
Once the food problem is solved, the rest of the problem is not a problem.
It’s cold in winter, so put more effort into the house. Even if every family builds a fireplace, it’s not impossible to burn firewood. After all, there is a forest not far away, and there are enough firewood there.
At the same time, it can open up fields that can produce food stably, and can also attract farmers to live here. With enough farmers, it will also attract blacksmiths, stonemasons, tailors and other professionals to settle here, and gradually the village will be perfect and prosperous. up.
Fording can think of these things, and of course David can think of them, so he is very happy now.
On the contrary, Mark Watney is still lamenting that he can travel between different worlds at will. As a scientist, he is very curious about what causes this magical phenomenon? Even the potatoes in front of him couldn't attract him anymore.
For Mark Watney, most of the food problem was solved when he found out that he could come to this world; after he discovered wild potatoes, it ceased to exist.
As an excellent botanist, he is very confident in his judgment and doesn't think his judgment will be wrong, so a large number of potatoes are waiting for him to enjoy at will, it just takes some time to get it.
"It's amazing. Not only did I become the first human being to live alone on Mars, but I also became the first person to set foot on and confirm the existence of another world... Well, it may also be another world far away from the solar system. planet."
After talking for a long time, Mark Watney took his attention back and put it on how to cultivate the fields.
"Where are you planning to cultivate the potato fields?"
"Do you have any requirements?" Mark stood outside with David and Fording, looking at the vast river in the distance: "If possible, I want to plant it here."
Mark chose the west side of the village, a little distance from the village, but not too far. This location may be chosen because it wants to be as close to the Lindong River as possible, so that it is convenient to fetch water.
After observing carefully for a while, David suggested that Mark open up the potato field next to the wooden house, closer to them.
His reason is also very good: the closer the distance, the better the care, because this place is not as peaceful as it seems, and the beasts in the forest will not come out obediently.
"Well, what you said is indeed reasonable." Mark approved of David's suggestion, not knowing that David made such an arrangement out of insurance.
The wild potatoes popped up suddenly, and the land conditions around the cabin seemed to be different from those farther away. Although David couldn't be sure if he was thinking too much, but there were only so many live potatoes at the moment, so he didn't want to gamble.
So planting next to the wooden house is the safest. Even if you want to test it, you have to wait until you have enough potato reserves.
After choosing a place, the next step is complicated manual labor.
Fortunately, the three people present are strong enough. Even Mark Watney, who has undergone rigorous training, cannot be treated as an ordinary person. To become an astronaut has very high physical requirements, and he has to accept various challenges. A physical training.
Three men tried their best to dig the soil with their tools. The cold winter village, which seemed to disappear at any time, became a bustling scene in the spring of the third year.
David’s heart was full of enthusiasm, and he was so happy that he worked hard without knowing what it meant to be tired. He didn’t recover until Mark reminded him: “This size is enough.”
"What? Enough? I haven't used much strength yet." David lowered his head and looked. It seems that he hasn't cultivated much land yet? Is this enough?
Looking up and looking at the side, he understood that the work efficiency of the steel man Fording is too high. He is stronger than Mark and David combined. The large piece of soft land under his feet is mostly Fording. Get it done.
Fording, who was leaning on a shovel, didn't even sweat. This workload was not even a warm-up for him.
The next step is to plant the potatoes, and the subsequent work only needs Mark to look after them from time to time. David and Fording no longer need help before harvesting.
"Just leave it to me, I guarantee that there will be more potatoes soon."
Although the potatoes had just been planted, David seemed to have seen a huge amount of potatoes piled up in front of him. He even started to consider whether he should wait for the first batch of potatoes to be successfully harvested before going to Iron Tree Fort to recruit farmers.
is enjoying a bright future, and Laura gradually appears not far away.
She looked terrible, **** and messed up.
Seeing her situation, David immediately released a holy light, turning Laura into a big three-kilowatt light bulb.
"Don't worry, David, I didn't suffer any serious injuries, the blood is not mine."
Hearing what Laura said, David breathed a sigh of relief: "So, you are covered with enemy blood? How many robbers have you killed?"
"I don't know, there are too many guys on the island to count." Laura looked a little tired, not physically tired, but more mentally tired.
Ever since she was in trouble on that island, the things she experienced directly smashed the knowledge she had accumulated over the years. Many unreasonable things happened to her, and unreasonable enemies kept popping up. Laura, who has no choice, can only face it with strength.
After two or three days in a row, she was already exhausted. If she hadn't been able to go to David, an absolutely safe place to rest, supplement food and water, she might have collapsed.
Listening to Laura telling her story, David encouraged her, ‘You can do it! ’, and by the way, help her analyze and analyze what should be done next?
According to Laura's description, she had already successfully sent a distress signal to the outside world, and even had a plane come to rescue them who were in distress.
But weird things happened, as if some mysterious power wanted to stop them from leaving, the rescue plane crashed so bizarrely.
At the same time, the group of people who call themselves Brotherhood of the Sun seem to want to sacrifice their good friend Samantha. She urgently needs to rescue her friend now. If it is delayed for a long time, something terrible may happen.
"So, I can't stay for too long, I will leave after a short rest."
David expressed his understanding of Laura's urgency. In this generation of plots, Laura really doesn't have much time to breathe. The few rests in the story are more like fainting from exhaustion.
After eating a few bites of meat, Laura wiped off the stains on her face and hands, and then stood in front of David: "It's a good thing I met you."
"Don't be so polite, it's just a matter of little effort." David released the holy light again and provided Laura with shelter: "I really want to thank me, after you rescued your friend and escaped from that terrible place, you often bring some delicious food It's good that things come."
"That's the deal!" Laura watched the golden light on her body gradually disappear, she knew that this magical power was hidden in her body, protecting herself from harm—in countless battles, if it wasn't for this Protected by a magical force, she didn't know how many times she died.
Not only the bullets, the fragments splashed by the explosion, but also countless falls from heights, all because of the protection of this force, Laura was not injured and always maintained the best state to fight the enemy.
If she hadn't met David, she suspected that she would have died on that island, so she was very grateful to David from the bottom of her heart, and at the same time decided in her heart that after she left the island and returned to her home, she would try to Do what you can to help David.
With the Crawford family's financial resources and connections, it is not difficult to develop and build a remote village, but they don't know how to quickly bring various materials to this world.
"It would be convenient if you can drive here."
David, who didn't know that someone was willing to contract the infrastructure work in his village, was about to take his bow and arrow to the north to find some more prey.
Mark suddenly stopped David, and then ran back to Mars to bring some food.
"Come and taste the food in my world, this one is called sweet and sour chicken!"
(end of this chapter)