Chapter 1392: The Mandatory Field Fallowing Plan
Having just crossed the entire room, Silvan paused to catch his breath before speaking.
"Your idea couldn"t have come at a better time," he said to Ji Shanqing. "Last night, I had a hunch about where the exit might be. I spent hours trying to find it, but I hit a wall. However, with your plan, we might actually stand a chance."
Lin Sanjiu"s gaze darted between the two, her expression mirroring the others" confusion. Horst, looking lost, plowed aimlessly.
"You tried last night?" Ji Shanqing asked, taken aback. Something seemed to spark in him. He scanned the room—up, down, left, right. A look of realization crossed his face, and he suddenly raised his hand to rub his eyelid. "You think... I see. I was too exhausted last night and didn"t hear anything after I fell asleep."
"What is his eyelid-rubbing supposed to mean?"
"Right, but I tried flicking the lights on and off, and that didn"t reveal anything," Silvan replied, shaking his head slightly.
"What exactly was he doing last night?" Their conversation was so vague, it was frustrating to follow.
"I was searching for the exit along the walls," Silvan said, responding to Lin Sanjiu"s silent inquiry. He seemed reluctant to delve into why he"d pursued this seemingly pointless task in the dead of night.
"Is that why he woke up so late?"
He must have expended a lot of energy. Lin Sanjiu felt a twinge of guilt, having a.s.sumed he was just resting the whole time. Before she could voice her concern, Louisa spoke up. "You must be tired. Why not grab a food ball?"
Lin Sanjiu turned to see Louisa smiling up at Silvan. "You"ve gone above and beyond for us. Thank you."
Silvan glanced at her, exhaling softly. He exchanged a look with Ji Shanqing, then addressed everyone, "No need to give me a food ball. From this point on, store all newly produced food b.a.l.l.s except for the most basic supply."
Everyone looked surprised. "You mean..."
"I"m going to go ahead with Ji Shanqing"s plan, and I need all of you on board," Silvan said, leaving no room for discussion.
They all had different roles; he clearly had no right to order others. However, when the words came from his mouth, they seemed to make perfect sense.
However, if the purpose of the plan wasn"t clear, how could they persuade the others? As Lin Sanjiu felt her anxiety rising, Jian Sheng asked, "Could you explain why we should go through with this plan? I don"t see the point in it."
Silvan frowned, tilting his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "This isn"t a strike."
"Then what is it?"
"It"s a... necessary measure for letting the field lie fallow," Silvan said, crossing his arms. "As you all know, our room is small, the field is limited, and the population is large. Overworking the field leads to soil erosion and eventually diminished yields. To rejuvenate the land, we need to let it rest."
"I wouldn"t have guessed he knows so much about farming."
"So," he continued more smoothly, patting Ji Shanqing on the shoulder, "Ji Shanqing is suggesting we work but avoid producing food b.a.l.l.s. That"s the only way to let the land recover."
"If that"s the case... then there isn"t really a choice," Nu Yue said. "If we lose the land, we won"t survive."
"Then why did he call it a strike?" Horst asked.
"Isn"t fallowing the field essentially a strike?" Ji Shanqing quickly countered. "It also changes the status quo. Maybe it will prompt the game to offer us a new opportunity."
Though doubts lingered, everyone began nodding and murmuring in agreement, finding the explanation reasonable. Only Lin Sanjiu still felt a nagging doubt, as if something crucial was being overlooked.
After a moment of thought, Silvan called out, "Louisa."
She jumped, her face flus.h.i.+ng, and quickly stood up. "Yes, what is it?"
"I know you charge for repairing farming tools, and for tax reasons, you can"t lower your prices," Silvan began, his tone gentle, almost soothing. "However, to minimize our overall consumption of food b.a.l.l.s, I need to ask you to do one more thing."
Louisa nodded eagerly. "Sure. If there"s anything I can do to help—"
"Check and reinforce the farming tools every morning and evening to prevent damages," Silvan said, dousing her enthusiasm. "Can you manage that?"
"That"s a lot of work..." Louisa said. "Would I be doing this voluntarily? Without charge?"
If it was voluntary, Jian Sheng the tax collector wouldn"t be able to turn a blind eye.
But the tax collector quickly grasped Silvan"s plan and stepped forward, saying, "You can include the checks as an added feature of your tool repair service. That way, the two food b.a.l.l.s you normally charge for repairs will now also cover these new checks and reinforcements, with no additional fees involved."
Horst chimed in, "Then you already owe me a day"s service, Louisa."
"It starts today," Jian Sheng said.
Lin Sanjiu sat aside, watching everyone discuss back and forth for a while, finding it unbelievable. For some reason, Silvan"s words carried more weight than others— to the extent that even when he asked Louisa to do more unpaid work, she did not object.
Although it was not quite the same as when they first started working together, and they were squeezed back together by external forces, she comforted herself with the thought that they could at least work towards a common goal.
Once the field fallowing plan was decided, everyone"s tasks were settled. Ji Shanqing said a few words to Lin Sanjiu, then got up and went back to Han Suiping. He would spend the rest of the day a.n.a.lyzing data. The more time he needed, the weaker his consciousness might be.
Watching him gently place a hand on Han Suiping"s forehead, Lin Sanjiu sighed and looked away.
Regardless of what the grand prize"s plan"s aim was, he was certainly trying to end the game. She felt that everything had become more straightforward. As long as everyone followed the plan, doing what they should do and eating what they should eat, there would eventually come a day when the clouds parted and the sun shone through.
On the second day of the game, as agreed, the day pa.s.sed uneventfully. The farmers started working at 5 AM, and despite breaks in between, they worked a full 15 hours. Taking into account the last food ball produced last night and the yield before the grand prize left the field, they had a total of 51 food b.a.l.l.s on the second day.
During this time, Lin Sanjiu"s farming tools broke once and she paid Louisa two food b.a.l.l.s. Including the half ball of tax that Louisa had to pay, Jian Sheng stuffed a total of thirteen and a quarter food b.a.l.l.s into his bag. The food b.a.l.l.s, given away for nothing, filled his bag to the brim and distorted it. Lin Sanjiu felt her heart bleed seeing the bulging state of the bag.
"Everyone who worked will get four food b.a.l.l.s today. Ji Shanqing willtake three today and go back to four tomorrow," Silvan announced as theyprepared to distribute the food b.a.l.l.s. "I only need three. I"ll save therest."
He explained that his role mainly involved sitting by the trough to check it, which didn"t require much physical energy, so it was better to save the extra food b.a.l.l.s for later. Lin Sanjiu wasn"t sure if three were enough for him. As someone who worked the fields all day, she knew all too well that eating only four food b.a.l.l.s was like suffering a slow, torturous death. She was so exhausted and hungry that everything she looked at seemed to be covered in a veil of blood. The thought of facing another day like this was unbearable.
The only consolation was that, including the 20 kcal rations they had managed to save from the previous day, they had acc.u.mulated a total of nineteen food b.a.l.l.s that day.
Finis.h.i.+ng his data a.n.a.lysis, Ji Shanqing returned to her side.
"During the fallow period, we"ll need 21 food b.a.l.l.s per day to sustain everyone," he whispered. "Once I join in tomorrow, one day"s savings will be enough to cover a day"s expenses during the fallow period."
He paused, lifting his gaze to look around the far end of the room. "I think the field needs to rest for at least three days to achieve the desired result."
In other words, they had to do this for at least three more days. She really didn"t know if she could last until then.
For those who had labored all day, sleep was a sweet release, even though they could only briefly escape from the endless labor for seven hours. When Lin Sanjiu was awakened again at 5 am, the thought of having to endure until 10 pm before she could sleep again made her pause for a long while, but she finally gathered enough strength to get up shakily.
At 9 o"clock on the third morning, Han Suiping, lying in the corner ofthe room, breathed his last breath without anyone noticing.