162: Chapter 162 Three and a half tons of flour are ready! The construction team eats noodles first.

5:15 PM.

Third-floor Greenhouse.

The wheat ears on the drying racks had turned into a pale golden dry hue; the grains had lost their moist luster and felt hard to the touch.

Lin Wan took a wheat ear from the drying rack and pinched a grain with her fingernail.

Crack.

It was hard.

She rubbed the grain in her palm a few times; the husk broke apart, revealing the pure white endosperm inside.

"Moisture content is thirteen percent," she said into the communicator.

"One point lower than estimated," Lu Chen's voice came through.

"Evaporation accelerated after the greenhouse temperature was raised by two degrees. The drying time was an hour faster than expected."

"Can we start threshing?"

"Yes."

"Begin."

Lin Wan turned and nodded to Song Ya behind her.

Song Ya and six Agricultural Technicians began collecting the wheat ears from the drying racks, carrying them basket by basket to the threshing area.

The threshing area was a temporary clearing on the east side of the greenhouse, with clean metal plates laid on the ground.

The eight of them formed a circle, each holding a smooth iron rod, and struck the wheat ears spread on the metal plates with force.

The sound of crackling and slapping echoed through the greenhouse.

Wheat grains popped out of the husks and rolled onto the metal plates, making a light tinkling sound.

Lin Wan squatted to the side, using a winnowing basket to separate the grains from the broken husks with quick, efficient movements.

"Lin Wan," Lu Chen's voice called.

"I'm here."

"Threshing by hand? No machinery?"

"There are no threshing machines in the greenhouse. The Synthesizer's grinding mode is only for making flour, not threshing. Manual threshing is slower, but with eight people working together, we can finish in two hours."

"Two hours. Finished by seven."

"Correct. After threshing, we'll sift it once to remove husks and impurities. We can bag it by seven-thirty."

"Bagging at seven-thirty, grinding starts at eight."

"We'll use the modified grinding mode on the Synthesizers. With twelve Synthesizers running simultaneously, each processing fifty kilograms of grain per hour, the twelve units can handle six hundred kilograms an hour."

"Five and a half tons of grain will take nine hours to grind."

"Right, it's unrealistic to grind it all tonight. My plan is to grind the first batch of five hundred kilograms of flour first—enough for over three thousand bowls of noodles—and continue grinding the rest tomorrow."

"What time will the five hundred kilograms of flour be ready?"

"Grinding starts at eight; the first batch will be out by nine."

"Nine o'clock." Lu Chen's finger tapped on the edge of the armrest. "Tell Han Zhengqing to go to the kitchen at nine-thirty to collect the noodles."

"Okay."

"There are one hundred and forty-seven people in the Engineering Team, plus Zhao Tiezhu's fifty novice welders—about two hundred people in total. One bowl each will take thirty kilograms of flour."

"Thirty kilograms is enough."

"Continue grinding the remaining four hundred and seventy kilograms tonight. Once finished, turn it into dry noodles for storage. We'll start distributing them to the residential area in batches tomorrow."

"Understood."

"Lin Wan."

"Yes."

"How will the noodles be made?"

"Mix the whole-wheat flour with water to make dough, roll it flat, and cut it into strips. The kitchen has induction stoves and large pots. Once the water boils, the noodles go in; they'll be cooked in three minutes."

"What about seasoning?"

"We have salt. There are also Mutant Beast bones in the cold storage. The bone broth we simmer from them can serve as the base."

"Cook the Engineering Team's noodles in bone broth."

"Will do."

"Use plain water for my bowl."

"With salt?"

"With salt."

"Okay."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen pressed another frequency.

"Han Zhengqing."

It connected after three seconds.

"City Lord Lu Chen."

"At nine-thirty tonight, bring your people to the second-floor kitchen."

"What's happening?"

"Eating noodles."

Han Zhengqing paused for two seconds on the other end.

"Noodles?"

"Six and a half tons of Fast-growing Wheat were harvested today. It's being threshed and ground now. The first pot of noodles will be ready at nine-thirty, for the Engineering Team."

Han Zhengqing's breathing came through the communicator, noticeably heavier.

"City Lord, noodles? Real noodles?"

"Made from whole-wheat flour, not those Nutrient Bars."

"How many days has it been since my people had flour-based food?" Han Zhengqing's voice trembled, but he quickly suppressed it. "The City-State's flour reserves ran out three months ago. The last meal of noodles was six months ago at The City-State cafeteria, made from the bottom of the bins. Everyone was only given three strands."

"Tonight, everyone gets a bowl, cooked in bone broth."

Han Zhengqing didn't say anything.

A coarse sound of sniffing came through the communicator.

"City Lord, I thank you on their behalf."

"No need for thanks. Your people have worked three shifts for ten days, welded nine hundred and sixty beds, modified three sets of vents, and taught fifty novice welders. A bowl of noodles is well-deserved."

"Alright, nine-thirty, I'll bring them."

"Bring Zhao Tiezhu's fifty novice welders along as well."

"They get some too?"

"Learning welding is also work. There's no distinction between veterans and novices when it comes to eating noodles."

"Understood."

"Han Zhengqing."

"Yes."

"Can the fourth set of vents be finished tomorrow?"

"Yes. The copper pipe bending was finished this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we'll install the coils, and in the afternoon, we'll do the seal testing."

"Once all four sets of vents are complete, we won't have to worry about the air quality in the residential area."

"Correct. With all four sets of Heat Exchangers open, the intake temperature will be above twelve degrees. After mixing, the room temperature will stabilize at eighteen to twenty degrees, and the carbon dioxide concentration won't exceed the limit."

"What about the light fixtures?"

"All thirty-six light fixtures will be installed by tomorrow night. The six Electricians already connected twenty-four today; the remaining twelve will be finished tomorrow morning."

"Good."

"City Lord, one more thing."

"Speak."

"The welding speed for the beds is faster than estimated. After the nineteen novices passed the Fillet Weld test, productivity increased by twenty-five percent. At the current rate, three thousand beds won't take six days; we can finish in five."

"Five days."

"Yes."

"Another day faster than expected."

"The novices' learning speed exceeded expectations. A few of them have good backgrounds in basic ironwork; they learned fillet welding in a day."

"Alright, see you at nine-thirty."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen leaned back in the driver's seat.

He glanced at the time on the panel.

5:41 PM.

In less than four hours, the Engineering Team would be eating noodles.

The first mouthful of hot food for thirty thousand people.

Starting from a single Cabbage seedling.

To six and a half tons of wheat.

To tonight's three thousand bowls of noodles.

He closed his eyes.

His mind was on Truth Points; the next milestone was seven thousand.

When would Zhou Yuan be able to bring back the blueprints?