Chapter 278: Chapter 278

Among the three types of wine, baijiu is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive to make.

The location for brewing was solved first, but distilling baijiu presented quite a challenge for Jing Shu. Fortunately, she had a grandfather at home who was skilled at crafting anything by hand. Hearing that Jing Shu wanted to brew baijiu but lacked tools, he immediately began experimenting and tinkering. It took him four or five days to make the distillation equipment for the baijiu. Due to his limited skills, it was crude but usable.

Therefore, the alcohol content wouldn’t be very high, which perfectly suited Jing Shu’s objective of making medicinal wine.

The red wine would be ready to drink in twenty days. However, as Jing Shu was in a hurry to use the baijiu, she only brewed it for a month before starting to infuse large quantities of snake wine. After another half a month, this venture would earn her a handsome amount of Silver and considerable prestige.

Currently, Jing Shu had a variety of businesses. The most profitable was the Blood Mushroom. Unfortunately, it only produced a batch every ten days or so, yielding only about a dozen mushrooms each time. The yield was too small to propagate them further. Blood Mushrooms were originally a species that couldn’t be cultivated or propagated. The fact that Jing Shu could harvest them repeatedly was already defying the natural order.

Moreover, Jing Shu didn’t dare to auction them openly. Instead, she supplied them to Su Malie at a fixed price under a confidentiality agreement. Otherwise, if others discovered she could consistently produce Blood Mushrooms, she would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention.

The Red Earthworm Feed Factory was an investment. Although it was not profitable now, its price was expected to skyrocket after this year, and it should become Jing Shu’s most lucrative industry.

Next came the medicinal wine industry. Priced at about 1,500 Virtual Coins per catty, it would provide a steady stream of Silver for Jing Shu. Moreover, during this year’s gift-giving season, bringing a 250ml bottle of medicinal wine as a gift when visiting someone’s home was a very impressive gesture—even more so than Brain Gold. Additionally, the first batch of Jing Shu’s medicinal wine received excellent reviews. Those who had tasted it, like Li Yuetian and Su Xiangnan, found it extremely effective in eliminating dampness.

Su Xiangnan traded compressed natural gas for medicinal wine, and Li Yuetian exchanged 300 units of electricity for a bottle. Consequently, the medicinal wine sold effortlessly.

Next were the leeches. Currently, however, their usefulness wasn’t yet widely recognized. They would have to wait until at least the following year when the weather turned cold and people often suffered from chilblains and weeping sores. In an era when most could not afford medical treatment, leeches could play a significant role.

Last was the tobacco industry. The tobacco grown at home was used for cigars, while the tobacco from the Medicinal Materials Association was processed into worm-killing medicine.

By now, houses all over Wu City were covered in green moss, and the ground was overgrown with thick mold. It felt soft underfoot, just like stepping on grass. When it rained or the wind blew, the moss would float in the rain, bringing to mind the lines: "Seaweed, seaweed, swaying with the waves, dancing in the foam, regardless of the terrifying waves, I am joyously carefree!"

Soon, various poisonous insects would begin to wreak havoc in residential areas. Those with weak immunity would directly contract infections, leading to many deaths. The worm-killing medicine made from tobacco would become a necessity for everyone.

Jing Shu felt that since she was staying at the Medicinal Materials Association, she might as well grow the most urgently needed medicinal herbs. Firstly, it would reduce the number of deaths in Wu City; a small amount of tobacco could be turned into a spray capable of saving ten families. If the Medicinal Materials Association were to vigorously develop tobacco cultivation, it could definitely prevent many deaths. Secondly, she was about to be assessed for the position of vice chairman. A new official taking office was expected to make a significant impact, and a vice chairman should act the part. Previously, the difficult cases she had resolved weren’t considered entirely legitimate qualifications for the role. However, if she could now accomplish a few representative deeds, her position as vice chairman would be secure, resolving any lingering doubts about her suitability.

For this purpose, Jing Shu had intentionally planted the experimental fields full of tobacco, which would soon reach the standard required for medicinal use.

In May, Jing Shu’s assessment for vice president finally came through. She had met all conditions for promotion: all the medicinal plants she cultivated had reached pharmaceutical standards, and each was properly documented and monitored.

However, the appointment for the original vacancy had clearly been prearranged for someone else. Now that Jing Shu was poised to snatch this ’peach,’ some individuals were naturally unwilling. When Zhou Bapi informed Jing Shu that an additional interview assessment had been added, she instantly understood the situation.

「On May 16, 2024, a Thursday」

The daytime temperature had dropped to 25 degrees Celsius, while nighttime temperatures neared sub-zero. The weather had been growing increasingly colder, and the heavy rains were beginning to show signs of freezing.

Jing Shu received the notice for the vice president interview assessment. At eight in the morning, she had nang with tea oil fruit and hot soup with Zhou Bapi at Mary’s house. Then Zhou Bapi drove his Alfa, bumping and jolting along the road, finally reaching the Medicinal Materials Base just before ten o’clock.

Incidentally, the former Medicinal Materials Association was to be renamed the Medicinal Materials Base, as it now gathered all personnel related to medicine from the entire provincial capital. Consequently, it was much more crowded than before and developing very rapidly.

"You need to be careful. I don’t know what Old Tie is scheming, but he has resorted to every trick in the book to keep his position as vice president."

"Understood, don’t worry. I will make the most of this opportunity."

Jing Shu certainly intended to take full advantage of this opportunity. It was the only way she could think of to leap through the dragon’s gate, as other paths were not suitable for her. Moreover, for someone like her, proficient in plant cultivation, achieving the vice president position by demonstrating these skills was a much simpler path than others.

When Jing Shu and Zhou Bapi arrived, the place was already surrounded by people, three layers deep both inside and out. Jing Shu then realized that not only was she there for the vice president’s interview assessment, but so was an individual from an esteemed family of medicinal herb cultivators. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel(ꜰ)ire.net

In other words, one of the two would be chosen as vice president.

Jing Shu finally understood. The long delay was to wait for this person to also qualify for the vice presidency, thus increasing the difficulty for her.

"Jing Shu, the vice president has a very significant role to play at the Medicinal Materials Base. At the time, Chairman Tie agreed that for every major challenge you resolved—which he termed an ’opponent’—it would count as solving one complex medical case. This allowed you to be credited with resolving three such ’problems’ at once, thereby immediately fulfilling the conditions for promotion to vice president.

"Today, our main assessment will focus on your respective cultivation achievements. Most importantly, we must cultivate what the common people need most. Otherwise, even if they are medicinal materials, if they aren’t widely used or in high demand by the populace, then the appointment to vice president wouldn’t be truly legitimate, would it?" Chairman Tie said, smiling cheerfully.

Jing Shu replied with a slight smile, "You’re absolutely right. In that case, let’s see what each of us has cultivated."

"Then let’s start with Jing Shu. Come on, everyone, let’s go and see what Jing Shu has cultivated, and assess its current demand and efficacy. Today’s evaluation will be fair, based entirely on everyone’s votes!"