Chapter 210: Chapter 210
Right, Jing Shu had been worried about when the Blood Mushrooms would make their debut. As it turned out, the evening news reported that Blood Mushrooms were being salvaged in various locations. After expert analysis, it was discovered that not only did they possess the aforementioned effects, but they were also extremely rich in trace elements. Consuming them could prolong one’s life.
The authorities also took this opportunity to formally launch the Big Data Auction platform, announcing an upcoming auction for these precious Blood Mushrooms, with a starting bid of 500 Virtual Coins per mushroom.
Suddenly, Blood Mushrooms became a hot topic in Huaxia. The negative publicity surrounding the disappearances of salvage workers during expeditions faded away. The Salvage Workers themselves were filled with immense enthusiasm, all eager to find these Blood Mushrooms. A single cluster contained at least seven or eight, meaning it was worth several thousand Virtual Coins!
Compared to their daily earnings of 4 Virtual Coins, several thousand Virtual Coins was more than enough to be considered life-risking money. This was an adventure worth taking.
The price of Blood Mushrooms soared. This was actually beneficial in a way: it accelerated currency circulation, gave the common people the dream of winning a 5,000,000-coin jackpot, provided the rich people with opportunities to spend their money, and thus stimulated the economy.
Dinner was unusually lavish: stir-fried garlic scapes with cured meat, smoked duck, fragrant fried rice, and a pot of old hen stewed with mushrooms. It was just that today’s mushrooms looked quite different from ordinary ones.
Grandma Jing, watching the news about Blood Mushrooms, gaped. "Why do the mushrooms Jing Shu gave us look so much like those Blood Mushrooms on TV?"
The entire family’s gaze shifted to compare them. Indeed, they looked very similar!
"Oh, those are the mushrooms from TV. Today, I took the Shark Submarine out for a spin, found some, and brought them back," Jing Shu said, sipping her chicken soup and taking a bite of a Blood Mushroom. It tasted so fresh and delicious! The flavor of Blood Mushrooms was truly different from those common, flashy alternatives.
"What a terrible waste! We should have stewed a large pot and had a bowl each day. This stuff can prolong life!" Grandma Jing lamented, completely oblivious to how precious the Spiritual Spring water she drank daily was.
"A single bite is worth half a house..."
That day, not a single scrap remained of the old hen stewed with mushrooms. Even the bones were sucked clean again and again before being given to Fat Chicken, making Fat Chicken look quite dissatisfied. Why wasn’t any meat left for it today? Had it lost favor? WHINE!
After Jing Shu finished her nightly patrol of the space, planted a new batch of papayas, tended to the various fruits and Bees in the greenhouse, and practiced the Magic Cube for a while, she drifted off to sleep.
She had thought she would get a good night’s sleep today.
But fate seemed to enjoy playing tricks on her at four in the morning, as if foreshadowing something. So, at four o’clock, she was jolted awake by the roar of an engine. Hearing the familiar revving sound, Jing Shu knew that Wu You’ai’s mentor, Chu Zhuohua, had arrived!
You can never understand what’s going on in a biologist’s mind.
"Ah, I just had a dream, and then I had a sudden flash of inspiration! I want to delve deeper into..." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
This was the explanation given by Chu Zhuohua, who had shown up suddenly in the dead of night, sporting dark circles under his eyes.
Wu You’ai looked at her mentor with dead-fish eyes. As the saying goes, no one understands a teacher better than their own student.
Jing Shu said, "...So, shall we go to the garage now to see about the RV modifications?" With someone so enthusiastic about RV modifications, she couldn’t dampen their spirits, could she?
Chu Zhuohua didn’t budge.
Wu You’ai put her hands on her hips. "Mentor, Jing Shu won’t let you dissect her Bell Horned Frog to merge it with other creatures. Jing Shu’s hen won’t let you study whether laying so many eggs daily could cause sagging issues. And my grandpa’s teeth didn’t regrow because he found a ’second spring’ in life. Just give up on those ideas."
Chu Zhuohua put on a heartbroken expression. "What a pity. Such a grand project."
Jing Shu: "???" What on earth are they talking about?
In the end, they still went to the garage for a look. The energy car wasn’t a big problem; with minor repairs, it would still be drivable.
Modifying the RV was a major undertaking, one that intrigued even the usually listless Chu Zhuohua. His curiosity wasn’t limited to biological research; the exploration and modification of anything could pique his interest.
Jing Shu took out the floor plans she had rushed to complete over the past few days and compared them to the RV. The main cabin was divided into three areas: the front lounge area with a sofa, the central kitchen and bathroom, and the master bedroom at the rear.
Jing Shu began explaining the modifications for the first level:
"A large opening has been cut behind the co-pilot’s seat. The original RV’s wraparound sofa and the co-pilot’s seat were ruined, so I decided to convert this section into a connecting passage.
I removed the original co-pilot’s seat and replaced it with a movable, foldable single sofa bed. When not needed, it folds to the side to create a passage. When it’s time to sleep, it unfolds into a single bed."
Chu Zhuohua mused, "From an ergonomic standpoint, an 80-centimeter-wide, 180-centimeter-long single bed is ideal for comfort. However, this would take up the space of one-quarter of the wraparound sofa behind the co-pilot’s seat. That section of the wraparound sofa would then be unusable."
Jing Shu nodded. "That’s acceptable. The wraparound sofa in the front of the cabin still has a section 1.6 meters wide and 2 meters long. I plan to convert it into an enclosed double tatami bed, with a height-adjustable storage unit in the middle. When not used for sleeping, it can serve as a living area where people can sit around. This way, it won’t obstruct the overhead cabinets and storage on the right, nor will it block the newly created passage."
"That’s feasible," Chu Zhuohua said. "This RV already has a liftable table, which can be used as a base component for this. But the rest of the materials will be hard to find. It would be best to look for government-acquired furniture or items from well-decorated places that were flooded."
The RV’s co-pilot seat is rather impractical. You can’t sleep in it at night, it’s tiring to sit in during the day, and it’s completely separated from the main living area of the RV. This means the driver is isolated while driving. To get into the main cabin, the driver has to stop, get out, walk around, and enter through the side door, making even simple conversation inconvenient.
Now, converting the co-pilot’s seat into a foldable single bed that also functions as a passage is an excellent modification that doesn’t negatively impact the rest of the layout.
"This kind of modification could loosen the vehicle’s structural connections, which is problematic," Chu Zhuohua noted. "I’ll have to reinforce it with other materials, but it shouldn’t affect the power."
"The front section of the cabin’s wraparound sofa will be converted into a double bedroom, complete with a television," Jing Shu continued. "It will be fully separated from the adjacent single bed, so they won’t disturb each other."
Jing Shu also had a small, selfish reason for this. She planned to have her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jing, stay in the double room at the rear of the RV, while Grandma Jing and Grandpa Jing would be in this new front area. This would give them more distance and some private space. That way, if any sounds were made, others wouldn’t hear, avoiding any awkwardness.
This modification adds a double bed and a single bed. The remaining sofa and table won’t need changes; they will serve as the dining area. It’s a bit small, but they can manage by squeezing in with an extra stool.
The left side of the cabin’s middle section is the kitchen area, equipped with a full set of kitchen appliances, including an electric ceramic stove, range hood, sink, refrigerator, and so on, along with cabinets and drawers. Even during rough off-roading, the interior fittings won’t be damaged.
Considering the number of electrical appliances they’d be using and the large size of her family, preparing a meal would be a major undertaking that couldn’t be done casually. Therefore, Jing Shu needed to make some modifications to this kitchen area as well.