Chapter 156: Chapter 155: Uproot the Cotton? I Say No!

The next day.

The large lecture hall of the Department of Agriculture.

Professor Wang walked onto the podium with his lesson plan in hand.

He adjusted the thick glasses on his nose and scanned the class like a spotlight.

Finally, his gaze stopped at the first row.

Zhao Xiaoya was sitting up straight, holding a pen, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the blackboard.

Professor Wang was momentarily stunned.

This girl had been lying on her desk groaning the past couple of days, her complexion as pale as parchment.

Why does she look so energetic today?

“Zhao Xiaoya.”

Professor Wang called her name.

Zhao Xiaoya stood up with a start.

“Present!”

Her voice was strong and full.

Professor Wang was even more puzzled.

“Recovered from your illness?”

“Yes, Professor, I’m better!”

“What medicine did you take? Is the school’s hospital so advanced now?”

Professor Wang asked casually.

With the season changing, many students had fallen ill, seriously affecting the teaching schedule, and he was quite annoyed about it.

A blush spread across Zhao Xiaoya’s cheeks, but her voice was loud and clear.

“I didn’t take any medicine!”

“It was the tomatoes and lettuce from Classmate Lin Wan Yi!”

“After eating them, I stopped vomiting, and after a good night’s sleep, I felt full of energy!”

The classroom erupted in commotion.

Lin Wan Yi again.

That Immortal Vegetable again.

Sitting in the back, Chen Zhiyuan squeezed the pen in his hand with a crack.

He let out a derisive snort, loud enough for those around him to hear.

“Superstitious nonsense.”

“A few measly tomatoes can cure illnesses? Then what’s the point of having hospitals?”

“I think some people are just desperate for fame, resorting to playing tricks.”

Professor Wang frowned.

He tapped the blackboard.

“Quiet.”

The classroom fell silent.

Professor Wang looked towards Lin Wan Yi, who was sitting calmly in the corner.

He was also puzzled.

The daughter of a capitalist family, rumored to have never done manual labor before, could she grow such things?

But he said no more.

“After class, everyone heads to the North District experimental field.”

“Today’s topic is cotton pest control.”

Professor Wang’s face turned serious.

“The situation is severe, everyone needs to focus.”

At the North District experimental field.

A stretch of yellowed plants.

The cotton plants that should be bearing fruits were mostly drooping.

The leaves were riddled with holes from insects.

Some only had bare stems left.

Professor Wang squatted by the edge of the field and picked up a leaf.

On the underside, several plump green caterpillars were wriggling.

Cotton bollworms.

And they’re the kind that have developed resistance.

“Sigh.”

Professor Wang let out a heavy sigh.

This experimental field was the result of three years of effort to cultivate a new variety.

Just as it was about to yield results.

Then a pest outbreak ruined everything.

“Professor, this seems hopeless, right?”

Chen Zhiyuan approached.

He kicked a nearby cotton stalk, smirking.

“I think we should just clear it out.”

“Before it spreads to the adjacent plots.”

“After all, the things grown using these rudimentary methods aren’t resilient either.”

The surrounding classmates all lowered their heads.

Clear it out.

It meant three years of effort would go to waste.

It meant Professor Wang’s research project for the year was a complete failure.

Professor Wang’s figure stooped a little.

He said nothing.

Because he also knew Chen Zhiyuan was right.

Pesticides had been sprayed three times.

To no avail.

These pests seemed to have consciousness, multiplying even as they were exterminated.

“What a pity.”

Professor Wang stood up, his voice somewhat hoarse.

“Prepare the tools.”

“Clear it…”

“We can’t clear it.”

A cool female voice suddenly interrupted him.

Everyone turned their heads.

Lin Wan Yi stood on the field ridge.

The wind lifted her white shirt, making her appear somewhat frail.

But she stood straight.

Like a tall young poplar tree.

Chen Zhiyuan laughed.

Laughed loudly.

“Lin Wan Yi, you think this is child’s play?”

“Even the professor says there’s nothing to be done, and you say we can’t clear it?”

“What, are you going to try watering them with your Immortal Tomato water?”

“Let the pests eat themselves to death?”

A few laughs erupted around them.

Professor Wang also frowned.

Though he had a favorable impression of Lin Wan Yi, he couldn’t tolerate nonsense when it came to academic issues.

“Classmate Lin, this is science.”

“The pesticide resistance of cotton bollworms is a global issue; once it breaks out, the only solution is physical removal.”

Lin Wan Yi ignored Chen Zhiyuan’s mockery.

She stepped off the ridge.

Walked straight to the withered cotton plant.

Reached out.

Grabbed the still wriggling fat worm.

Without minding its filth and repulsiveness.

“Professor.”

She looked up, her eyes meeting Professor Wang’s.

“Pesticides are ineffective because they’ve developed resistance.”

“Since chemical methods aren’t working.”

“Why not try biological control?”

Professor Wang was taken aback.

“Biological control?”

This term, in that era, was still a highly experimental concept.

Mostly confined to textbooks.

“You mean raising chickens and ducks to eat the pests?”

Chen Zhiyuan chimed in, full of disdain.

“With such a large field, how many chickens would you need?”

“The young lady is indeed naive.”

Lin Wan Yi didn’t even glance at him.

She threw the worm on the ground, crushing it underfoot.

“Not chickens and ducks.”

“Insect control by insects.”

The entire field was dead silent.

Even Chen Zhiyuan forgot to mock.

Insect control by insects?

It sounded so mystical.

But Professor Wang’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He took a step forward, eagerly looking at Lin Wan Yi.

“Explain further.”

Lin Wan Yi dusted off her hands.

Her voice steady and organized.

“Cotton bollworms, though fierce, also have natural enemies.”

“Red-eyed Wasps.”

“We can artificially breed Red-eyed Wasps and release their eggs into the fields.”

“The Red-eyed Wasps will lay eggs inside the bollworm eggs, parasitize, and consume them until the bollworms die.”

“This method is low cost, fast-acting, and moreover…”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the stunned crowd.

“It never develops resistance.”

Boom.

In Professor Wang’s mind, it was as if something had exploded.

Red-eyed Wasp!

Parasitism!

Could this be a solution devised by a first-year student?

This was clearly an advanced topic being tackled by national agricultural research institutions!

The mockery on Chen Zhiyuan’s face froze.

He didn’t understand what Red-eyed Wasps were.

But he understood Professor Wang’s expression.

It was…

Shock.

Ecstasy.

And an incredulity akin to discovering a rare treasure.

“You…”

Professor Wang’s voice trembled.

He stared at Lin Wan Yi, as if seeing a stranger.

“Where did you learn all this?”

“This is… this is a technology that’s not even publicly promoted yet!”

Lin Wan Yi’s expression remained unchanged.

“I read it in books.”

“Plus a bit of my own pondering.”

In truth, this was also part of her Spiritual Spring plan.

Using such advanced scientific theories as a cover.

She could rightfully get involved in managing the experimental fields.

And quietly use spiritual spring water to fundamentally alter the genes of these crops.

Professor Wang took a deep breath.

He looked at this young, calm girl before him.

The contempt in his heart long vanished.

Replaced by…

A deep confusion, and a trace of… anticipation even he hardly dared to admit.

“Classmate Lin.”

Professor Wang’s voice was extremely serious.

“If you were to lead this pest control effort.”

“How confident are you?”

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