Chapter 277: Planting Cotton and Tobacco

Jing Shu did some calculations. Although the spirit spring in the Rubik’s Cube Space still produced only one gram (20 drops) per day, the six additional farmland plots meant the space automatically supplied one drop of spirit spring to each plot daily. That added six more drops per day. After the upgrade, the Rubik’s Cube Space had 24 plots.

From the initial 6 plots to now 24, Jing Shu felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment—like the early days of QQ Farm when you started with 6 plots, and the veterans at level 50 had a whole field. It was a proud feeling.

Especially in this apocalypse where almost nothing could grow, having a high-yield farmland where you could plant whatever you wanted was so safe and precious that Jing Shu almost cried.

However, the farmland in the Rubik’s Cube Space had a downside: even if nothing was planted, the spirit spring would still automatically flow in one drop per day. This made Jing Shu feel that the land needed daily nourishment from the spirit spring to maintain its doubled yield.

So! The farmland in the space must not be wasted. Something must be planted every day.

Of course, as the space upgraded and expanded, Jing Shu’s needs grew. So far, there was no overproduction or waste. The number of plots was limited, and although the output was high, Jing Shu’s demand was also large. Plus, planting a batch took about ten days. Jing Shu often fed vegetable roots and unwanted leaves to livestock and used all branches as firewood.

Currently, Jing Shu arranged the 24 plots as follows:

Six plots were still used for various vegetables, producing crops every ten days. Jing Shu would stockpile one or two months’ worth before processing them into finished products.

Six plots were for fruits. Jing Shu usually made juice from them, fed leftover pulp to livestock, and transplanted some to the second-floor greenhouse for family consumption. Occasionally, she made dried fruit from the surplus.

Six plots were for medicinal herbs. Since the last upgrade was only half a year ago, some herbs had matured and were stored in the space. Jing Shu planned to dry them next year because this year was too humid.

But herbs like ginseng and lingzhi required years to mature, so no rush there.

Now, with six new plots added, Jing Shu planted cotton on three and tobacco on the other three.

Because the farmland was limited and output constrained, Jing Shu planned to build a foundation here but still relied on luxury goods in the apocalypse. As the saying goes, those who directly trade rice and flour in the apocalypse are courting death—they’re basically telling the world they’re grain merchants. The government would probably envy and find reasons to tax them heavily.

But high-end goods like tobacco and alcohol were different.

Jing Shu had two red worm farms, which were like the ubiquitous corn before the apocalypse—huge output but cheap, half fed to livestock, and unnoticed. These farms were seasonal—good to run during the rainy season but not later. Later, it was a matter of sales and personal use.

Tobacco was different—a sustainable, safe business. Poor people couldn’t afford it; only the rich who were full and bored wanted to enjoy life and had money to spend.

Luxury goods were the easiest money in the apocalypse. Some areas suffered drought, others floods, many starved, and some had no place to spend money. Although they had food, low productivity meant many things were out of stock. Whenever something appeared, everyone scrambled for it!

With her title in the medicinal herb association, Jing Shu’s business was legitimate. To meet market demand, she planned to produce high-end cigars. She aimed to trade the fewest cigars for the greatest capital. How many cigars could 18 square meters (3 plots) produce? Of course, some would be for personal use—like Jing Ye and Jing Ba, who had no cigarettes and were nearly going crazy.

As for cotton, Jing Shu hadn’t expected so many family members, so soon after the apocalypse, they started running out. Later, with cold weather, even more cotton would be needed. Cotton could be considered a semi-currency in the later period. Sending a cotton coat in winter could solve many problems by calling in favors.

Another big reason: the cows in Jing Shu’s space were pregnant. This time, a few more cows would be added. Jing Shu planned to breed cows vigorously and make more shredded beef jerky, beef energy bars, and braised beef. In ancient dramas, when entering a tavern, people often order a pound of beef, showing its status.

When hungry, biting into cumin-flavored, spicy, or scallion-flavored shredded beef, slowly chewing the perfect blend of meat aroma and seasoning, or dipping thin slices of braised beef in chili sauce—just thinking about it made her salivate.

The beef jerky made last year was all eaten and not enough. Now with more space, Jing Shu could breed more livestock and produce mature meat.

Cottonseed and other cotton byproducts were the best feed for cattle and sheep. Planting cotton solved the food supply problem for expanding production. If they only ate red worms, cattle and sheep wouldn’t produce milk, and quality would drop significantly. So Jing Shu fed her livestock the best feed she could.

Don’t ask why Jing Shu didn’t use her surplus food to help those who couldn’t afford meals but fed it to livestock instead. You can’t save someone once and expect to save them forever. In her past life, she never saw a rich person give her rice to eat.

But anyone who helped Jing Shu would be repaid a hundredfold this life. Those who framed her wouldn’t be repaid a hundredfold but would be made to live hard in the apocalypse, watching her live well and hearing others envy her improving situation.

If someone wanted to die because life was too hard, Jing Shu would kindly save them. If they still wanted to die, she would save them again—like Su Meimei. But that’s another story.

To reduce deaths, Jing Shu planned to store a batch of red worm cakes. She could provide these in the hardest times, but not for free—only in exchange for labor. She wouldn’t give charity or expect gratitude.

Just like in her past life when starving, she thought if she had lots of food, she would only trade for equal value, respecting others.

The next day, Jing Shu had Jing Ye set up racks and lights on the third-floor terrace. She wanted to plant tobacco and cotton since the space’s farmland needed to be supplemented. Hearing this, Jing Ba and Jing Ye surprisingly didn’t argue but quickly built the racks. Jing Shu then planted these two crops on the 20-plus square meter terrace.

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