I can upgrade the shelter

Mo Qingyan’s questioning of Chen Xin could only be considered a minor episode because Qin Lan was not related to the shelter. Although it made Chen Xin somewhat embarrassed and troubled, it didn’t cause any impact or bring about a change.

Chen Xin washed hundreds of pounds of fresh vegetables clean and handed them to Mo Qingyan to chop up. Afterward, he took these vegetables to the engine room and spread them out on the racks he made yesterday.

These racks were very simple, just welded together with a few steel tubes and covered with layers of netting. Chen Xin made them last night specifically to facilitate today’s vegetable drying.

Placed the shredded vegetables on the netting, spread them out to allow moisture to evaporate, Chen Xin then stationed these racks on the heating water pipes of the ground-source heat pump.

"Is this alright? Will they dry out properly?" Mo Qingyan saw Chen Xin only placing the racks over the pipes, not directly putting the chopped vegetables on the pipes as Chen Xin’s mom said, and couldn’t help but worry about whether they’d dry properly.

Chen Xin shook his head and explained to Mo Qingyan, "Putting them directly on the pipes is fine, but the utilization would be low, and it wouldn’t allow the steam to evaporate well. Considering the quantity, drying them like this is better."

Get full chapters from novèlfire.net

Upon hearing Chen Xin’s explanation, Mo Qingyan didn’t say much more but asked, "Is the temperature enough? I remember dehydrated vegetables used to be dried at 80°C in the oven. Even if you place them on the warm water pipes, the temperature might not be sufficient."

"The temperature of the heating pipes exceeds 80°C, and the air temperature above is close to 60°C, which is fine for drying vegetables." Chen Xin had considered this issue, so he wasn’t worried, "Besides, drying fruits and vegetables at around 60°C is usually enough. Plus, being open allows quick evaporation, so there’s no concern for them not drying out."

Despite Chen Xin’s assurance, Mo Qingyan still felt uneasy and reached out to touch the heating pipe out of caution. Indeed, she felt it was hot to the touch, and the air above the pipes was warm. Only then did she nod assuredly.

Although Chen Xin’s racks were multi-layered, several hundred pounds of vegetables couldn’t fit on just a few racks. Especially considering adequate ventilation was necessary, Chen Xin couldn’t place too many vegetables on the netting, so after filling all the racks, more than half of the vegetables were left unplaced.

Seeing this, Chen Xin had no choice but to tell Mo Qingyan, "Looks like we’ll have to dry them in batches. This batch dries here first, and when they’re almost done, we can place the rest."

"Do we need to gather the remaining ones?" Mo Qingyan looked at the leftover vegetables, worried they might go bad if left sitting like that.

Chen Xin thought for a moment and said, "Just leave them here, spread them out a bit, and turn them over every few hours to avoid water accumulation. A day won’t spoil them."

"Alright, let’s do as you said," Mo Qingyan nodded and, with Chen Xin, piled the remaining vegetables in the corner of the engine room.

Leaving the engine room, Mo Qingyan was heading towards the greenhouse when she suddenly stopped and asked Chen Xin, "By the way, those sweet potatoes you brought back, are you planning to plant them after this season’s rice harvest? You mentioned reducing the planting area for cabbage and lettuce, so what do you plan to plant next?"

"Hmm..." Chen Xin pondered when Mo Qingyan asked him this question. After considering it, he finally spoke up, asking Mo Qingyan, "Are the sweet potatoes I brought back ready to plant?"

"They are ready. I did the seedling preparation after you brought them back, and after a month, they are ready for planting," Mo Qingyan nodded, indicating that the sweet potato seedlings were already prepared for planting.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xin made up his mind and then said, "Since the lettuce and cabbage are harvested, this time, let’s plant only a quarter of them, freeing up a layer for the sweet potatoes. As for the remaining half-layer, look at what vegetables or fruits you’d like to eat and plant several types. Just having enough variety for us to consume is fine."

"Is that so? That’s fine, then I’ll plant randomly," Mo Qingyan didn’t object to Chen Xin’s decision, just confirmed with him, "Do you want more leafy greens or more fruits and vegetables in the new planting?"

"Please plant more leafy greens, I remember there are seeds for green onions, garlic, and cilantro, plant some of those too. They can be used as seasoning when cooking," Chen Xin recalled that he hadn’t eaten green onions, garlic, and cilantro in his meals for almost a year, and couldn’t help but crave them.

Mo Qingyan gladly accepted Chen Xin’s suggestion and nodded earnestly, "We should plant these, or meals won’t taste good! Plus, the fish in the pool below the greenhouse have been kept for so long, shouldn’t they be ready to eat now?"

"I almost forgot about those fish; have they laid eggs?" Chen Xin asked with care. He was very concerned about the fish in the greenhouse and had specifically asked Li Wensheng for half male, half female fish for breeding new fry.

However, Mo Qingyan shook her head in response, saying, "Haven’t seen any spawn yet. They might not be in the breeding season, but I’m not knowledgeable about fish keeping. This needs to be asked of an expert to find out."

"Alright then, let’s leave it for now. Dragon Lady, if there’s anything you want to eat, feel free to plant it," Chen Xin didn’t dwell on the issue. He believed that the fish would eventually produce fry, delaying the time to eat them wasn’t a big deal.

After chatting with Mo Qingyan, Chen Xin planned to take a look at the greenhouse, so they walked towards the greenhouse together.

Inside the greenhouse, the six-layer hydroponic planting tiers looked impressive, while the fish in the pool below appeared very healthy. If it weren’t for the recent harvest, causing two tiers of the hydroponic planting to be vacant and looking somewhat absent, this place would resemble a futuristic planting factory.

After inspecting each area in the greenhouse and the growth condition of the various crops, what Chen Xin cared most about were the young chicks kept in a nearby breeding box.

These chicks had now grown, feathers starting to show, as proper chicks rather than hatchlings.

Originally, these chicks were cared for by Qin Lan, but due to Qin Lan following Chen Xin to the city, they were subsequently handed over to Mo Qingyan for care, and now they seemed to be growing well. A hen lay in the breeding box, in the chicken nest Qin Lan specially prepared with straw, and appeared to have eggs underneath.

Seeing this, Chen Xin enthusiastically opened the breeding box lid, intending to reach in to touch the eggs.

However, just as Chen Xin’s hand was about to reach inside, Mo Qingyan smacked his hand, saying, "Don’t touch! These eggs are specifically set aside for hatching chicks!"