Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 790 - 780: Rebellion

Busy with matters to attend to and with Li Hongjun having already gone home, Shen Yunfang no longer had a reason to linger at home. Thus, she caught the bus to work early the next morning.

Upon arriving at the Agricultural University, she first visited the Principal’s office, mainly to inquire whether the corn intercropping with Ganoderma project could still be conducted at her farm. Although the university had filed the project on her behalf last year and even allocated funding of one hundred thousand yuan, she had not neglected the leadership in charge of this area or the professors who were involved. Yet, the current domestic emphasis on intellectual property and the lack of strong legal regulations to enforce it meant that such affairs were quite chaotic. It wasn’t impossible that this year I would take over the project, and someone else might do it the following year, largely depending on the university leadership’s decision.

The university leadership had been prepared for Shen Yunfang’s visit, considering it was nearly time to plant the corn, and many people had been inquiring about this matter in recent days.

"Xiaoshen, it’s good that you’ve come. Otherwise, I would have had to call you here," the Principal said.

Upon hearing his tone, Shen Yunfang’s heart sank. It appeared the Principal had already defected.

"Is that so? Then I’ve come at just the right time. Is there something you needed me for, Principal?" Even though Shen Yunfang had her suspicions, she didn’t show it, maintaining a smile on her face and acting ignorant.

"Haha, well, it’s like this. Last year the university filed for a corn intercropping with Lingzhi project, and we conducted the experiment on your farm. The results were very promising, which proved that this Lingzhi cultivation method was effective and could also moderately improve the economic benefits for farmers. However, the data collected from an experiment in just one location is a bit thin. Just a few days ago, several of our university’s leaders had a meeting specifically about this project’s ongoing experiments and decided that to collect more comprehensive data and to be more responsible to the people, this year’s corn planting with Lingzhi experimental fields need to shift to a different area with different environmental conditions," the Principal explained cheerfully, as he transferred the project from Shen Yunfang’s name to the university’s, which changed the implication entirely.

Although Shen Yunfang had braced herself for such news, she still couldn’t help feeling disappointed upon hearing it. Even though she had proposed the project last year, the project leader named in the application was the Principal, an unwritten rule for research conducted by the university. Now that the project leader had decided where the experiment fields would be, she, as a participant, had no right to object.

Therefore, Shen Yunfang accepted the outcome calmly and even-temperedly.

"Alright, Principal, as you say. Even if my farm isn’t the experimental field for our project anymore, you and the other leaders are always welcome to visit and provide guidance." There would still be many occasions to rely on the university, hence the necessity to maintain appearances.

"Good to hear, good to hear. I called you here mainly to explain this matter to you. A sudden change of location can indeed impact your farm’s development, but it was a collective decision made by the university’s leadership team. It’s also for the purpose of better completing the project and contributing to the country. Xiaoshen, I’m relieved that you can be so understanding," the Principal expressed, surprised at how readily Xiaoshen had accepted the decision, as it meant a significant loss of money.

"It’s no problem; we’re all serving the people. If our university leaders have considered everything, then it must be for the best," she replied, choosing to flatter rather than dwell on the situation.

"Oh, by the way, the reason you were looking for me today is..." Before Shen Yunfang could state her intent, the Principal swiftly cut to the point and asked her reason for coming.

Given the conversation had reached this point, Shen Yunfang certainly couldn’t persist with her request for the Ganoderma Spore Bags, "Oh, nothing much. I took a leave of absence because of family matters a while ago, and now that I’m back at work, I wanted to come say hello to the Principal."

"Hehe, you’re always so straightforward. It’s not such a big deal, definitely not worth making a special trip for. We teachers are also common people, and every household has its problems. Just keep in good touch with your superiors, and if anything comes up, go ahead and handle it," the Principal said with newfound openness.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the Principal, Shen Yunfang left his office.

Watching the office door close, the Principal sighed to himself. Xiaoshen was truly talented, and it would be a sure loss not to continue cooperating with her. Alas, it was unfortunate that she didn’t have strong enough backing. The city leaders had already made their intentions clear to him about wanting this project. It was a case of an arm unable to twist a thigh.

Shen Yunfang didn’t know the Principal’s thoughts and assumed someone had simply outbid her half-way, enticing the Principal with a bigger kickback. She hadn’t realized that sometimes it’s not just about how much money is involved. With just a word from those in power, the common folk might run themselves ragged to no avail.

Since things had turned out this way, there was no use overthinking it. Even without the label of experimental fields, her farm would still be able to cultivate Lingzhi.

Having arrived at the office, Shen Yunfang was in luck; the Professor Zhou she was looking for happened to be there in his office. Seizing the opportunity, she approached and quietly explained her situation to Professor Zhou.

Professor Zhou’s family was experiencing some difficulties, indeed, there were elders to care for at home as well as young children; both his parents were bedridden, leaving his spouse unable to work and instead, they had to stay home to attend to the elders, and there were several hungry children to feed, so the family was quite strapped for cash.

The two had collaborated before, but this time it was a private matter. Since Professor Zhou was a key technical person for the project, assisting Shen Yunfang privately wasn’t technically allowed.

However, after Shen Yunfang promised a generous sum, she successfully swayed Professor Zhou.

Shen Yunfang was mainly interested in his access to Ganoderma spores and the technology for making the spore bags; as for the subsequent field management, there shouldn’t be any problems given her workers’ experience from the previous year.

After receiving a thousand yuan from Shen Yunfang, Professor Zhou really dedicated himself to the work.

Since last year’s successful cultivation, Shen Yunfang had expressed to Professor Zhou during the autumn harvest her desire to expand the cultivation area this year, so Professor Zhou had proactively stored up a lot of Ganoderma spores for such an occasion.

Now, the school’s leadership hadn’t specified how much land they were allocating for Ganoderma cultivation, so Professor Zhou decided on his own to reserve ten mu of spores, the same amount as last year, and gave the rest to Shen Yunfang.

After the two agreed, Shen Yunfang went back to Feiyang Farm to prepare the equipment and materials.

That evening, after Professor Zhou finished his work, he stealthily visited Feiyang Farm and began guiding the workers in the production of Ganoderma spore bags.

This time, as Shen Yunfang was in charge, Professor Zhou also offered several suggestions for improvements, but whether or not Shen Yunfang would adopt them was up to her.

Firstly, Professor Zhou suggested replacing the main material for the spore bags, sawdust, with corn cobs, thus, turning agricultural waste into treasure and increasing the comprehensive utilization of corn while enhancing the overall benefits of corn production.

Additionally, the agricultural residues and by-products left after the cultivation of edible fungi could be turned into "fungal bran." Feeding pigs with the bran mixed into fodder is better than using rice bran, as it contains higher nutritional value. Of course, the details such as the collection, fermentation, and control of the usage of fungal bran would need further consideration.

These two points alone thrilled Shen Yunfang; if the experiments proved successful, the returns from cultivating Lingzhi with the corn would be much higher than last year.

As a businessperson, finding efficient ways to reduce costs is of course ideal.

Under Professor Zhou’s guidance, the planting department’s employees worked together for a week, and they finally filled all the spore bags, ready to be planted with corn seeds after the spores had developed. (There may be some time discrepancies here, so dear readers, please don’t be too critical.)

This time Shen Yunfang wanted to train her own workers, so Sun Dawei selected a few sharp and clever individuals to learn consistently from Professor Zhou. By the time the spore bags were planted in the field, they had mastered much of the technique.

By next year, these workers would become the main force.

Having completed these tasks, Shen Yunfang didn’t fail to reward Professor Zhou. After nearly ten days of work, during which he came to the farm to guide for about three hours each day, Shen Yunfang gave him not only the promised thousand yuan but also an additional five hundred yuan bonus as a reward for his reasonable suggestions. This thrilled Professor Zhou immensely as it was akin to half a year’s salary. When Professor Zhou left, he subtly hinted to Shen Yunfang that if she ever needed help again in the future, she could still seek him out.