Scholars in the courtyard

Time flies like water, and it’s already May in a blink of an eye.

In early summer, the sun is shining brightly.

People have been wearing cool clothes, white shirts and gray trousers, and work clothes have become single clothes.

Peace has returned to the courtyard again. The days that need to be lived must still be lived, and the work that needs to be done must still be done.

Even if it's a little harder than before, you can still survive.

Even the Jia family, the most noisy family in the courtyard, calmed down a lot after receiving relief from the first uncle.

In addition to looking at Yang Xiaotao, his eyes were still filled with resentment.

As for the third uncle, apart from hanging around the middle courtyard from time to time, he couldn't say much. He just wanted to see when the corn would mature.

Apparently he hasn't given up yet.

In fact, Yan Fugui also knew that Yang Xiaotao could harvest a hundred kilograms of corn from a small area, which was quite good. He came to work hard like this, which was purely calculated and made him feel uncomfortable.

Of course, Yang Xiaotao ignored him and wanted to catch corn, just dream.

Yang Xiaotao stood at the door, holding a notebook in his left hand and recording with a ballpoint pen in his right hand.

In the yard below, the corn has grown to the height of a person. At this time, you can see the difference between tall stalks and short stalks.

The tall pole almost reaches the top of the head, while the short pole only reaches the chest. The difference is clear.

Today Yang Xiaotao specially took a day off to look after the corn in the yard in order to select seeds.

For this reason, Yang Xiaotao specially sold Wangcai and asked him to take Uncle Chen out for a walk.

There was no one in the yard.

At this time, the corn has reached the stage of pollination. At this critical moment, Yang Xiaotao did not dare to take it lightly.

Xiaowei has settled in the cornfield and stays there all day long in order to select the most suitable parent corn.

Mendel's experimental data flashed through Yang Xiaotao's mind, and Liao remembered the key points, difficulties and key points.

Of course, as tall buildings rise from the ground, there is still a long way to go between practice and truth.

It's one thing to know, and another to actually do it.

Especially in the initial stage, it is necessary to proceed step by step and accumulate experience.

The first thing Yang Xiaotao needs to do now is to find the best of the two corns for subsequent hybridization.

This work is tedious for humans and requires not only time to select, but also a large amount of scientific data to prove.

But for Xiaowei, who can control plants and identify the energy contained in plants, it couldn't be easier.

What Yang Xiaotao wants is the one with the most energy.

Coming to the two rows of corn in the experiment, there was a ring of burrs on the edges of the slender leaves.

Yang Xiaotao didn't want to go in. In his previous life, when he was a child, he broke corn at home. Every time he went there, he would get bloody marks on his arms and face wherever they were exposed. He was so itchy and uncomfortable that he didn't dare to scratch.

"Xiaowei, now start fertilizing the four rows of corn outside. Don't let their pollen get inside."

Yang Xiaotao pointed to the outermost layer of corn. The biggest function of these four ridges was to block the view and provide cover for the experiments inside.

咻咻

Xiaowei received the instruction and flew over the corn. The outermost corns were rotating in unison. The pollen on the male flowers fell on the female flowers below, quickly completing the fertilization process.

Then, Xiaowei wandered away again, and the male flowers that had just been released quickly withered and lost the ability to release pollen.

"Well done!"

Yang Xiaotao looked at the withered male flowers on the corn stalks outside and praised Xiaowei.

咻咻

Xiaowei was running up and down, very happy.

“Find the root with the most energy!”

Yang Xiaotao pointed to the short-stemmed corn and said that corn must have a well-developed root system to resist lodging, so that it can be meaningful for hybridization.

Otherwise, as Mr. Yang said, a natural disaster can destroy all the hard work.

Xiaowei was busy, and from time to time she would stop in front of a corn and make hissing noises.

Yang Xiaotao didn't care about anything else. He ducked in and used a wooden stick to mark the target corn.

Soon, Yang Xiaotao recorded in his notebook that a total of seven corns were selected, with the root system having the most energy.

"Find the one with the most energy here."

Yang Xiaotao pointed to the innermost tall corn.

Soon, three more corns were marked.

Yang Xiaotao wrote it down in his notebook.

Wednesday, May 6th, the weather was sunny.

Find excellent parents and make selections.

A simple line of words, but the process contained in it is not simple.

Of course, Yang Xiaotao will not record in detail, as long as the results are achieved. As for the process, it is too fantasy, so it is better not to write about it.

When you're done writing, close the book.

"Xiaowei, fertilize the marked corn."

Yang Xiaotao directed Xiaowei to pollinate the selected corn, and his own male flower pollen entered the female flower tidbits to obtain more excellent parents.

Xiaowei finished quickly.

“Others, pollinate themselves.”

As for picking the rest, Yang Xiaotao didn't care and let Xiaowei handle it by herself.

When everything is over, Xiaowei is ready to carry out the next task.

Ripening.

Ripening selected corn is an important step in the experiment.

Only by speeding up the time can you get the results the fastest.

Tuesday, May 12th, the weather is cloudy

When I got home from get off work today, the corn I selected has grown on cobs. According to Xiaowei’s feedback, it will only take three days to mature.

May 16, Saturday, light rain

Harvest ten ripe corns today, put them in the house, and dry them in the sun.

There are ten corn cobs, three tall corn cobs are marked as type A, and seven short corn cobs are marked as type B.

Monday, May 18, sunny weather

After going to work during the day and returning home at night, the two rows of corn used for the experiment had already produced fruit, but the energy was absorbed by Xiaowei in the middle of the night.

The corn stalks withered instantly and looked a little scary.

I selected the seeds from samples A and B and planted them overnight.

Then the "cheating" started again.

Tuesday, May 19, the weather is cloudy

Through Xiaowei's efforts, the corn that was planted had already broken through the ground at dawn.

Fortunately, Uncle Chen's attention is focused on Wangcai.

Poor Wangcai.

On Sunday, May 24, the weather was moderately rainy.

After Xiaowei's full control and sufficient energy supply, samples A and B have become the same size as other corns, but they have not bloomed.

In the past few days, Uncle Chen also took a look at the yard. Although it was a little strange, he didn't think much about it.

I don't have to explain.

…

Yang Xiaotao closed his notebook. The rain outside the window was getting thinner, and the smell of earth came from outside the window.

Feeling Xiaowei's breath, Yang Xiaotao thought about tomorrow's work.

The new corn has reached the stage of pollination, and the next step is the hybridization process.

Yang Xiaotao divided the two rows of corn into two waves in his notebook.

The high poles are still type A, numbered A1 to 10.

The short ones are still type B, numbered B1 to B10.

Yang Xiaotao thought for a while and started to take action.

Male flowers A1 to A5 pollinate themselves and B1 to B5.

Male flowers B6 to B10, pollinate themselves and A6 to A10.

After arranging the numbers, Yang Xiaotao is not finished yet.

Yang Xiaotao took out a piece of paper from the side and began to write and draw.

The tall stalks of corn are dominant to short stalks and are numbered D. The long stalks are dominant to short stalks and are numbered E. The corns with large kernels are dominant to small kernels and are numbered F. The ones that are not resistant to lodging and resist lodging are dominant and are numbered H. .

"Then, the high-stalk corn planted now may be homozygous or heterozygous."

Yang Xiaotao wrote down many permutations and combinations of uppercase and lowercase letters on the paper.

"Hopefully they are all homozygous, so it will be easy to cross."

"However, not being able to resist lodging is a problem, and you have to use heterozygotes to extract it."

Yang Xiaotao calculated various situations, and then listed the corresponding plans below to facilitate subsequent experiments.

At midnight, the rain outside has stopped, and the yard is muddy, especially in the cornfield, where there are puddles on top of each other, and it is as bright as a mirror under the moonlight.

Wangcai was lying in the doghouse, and Xiaowei was lying on its back.

Yang Xiaotao put down the pen and paper, stretched, glanced at the yard out of habit, and then went back to bed to sleep.

The next day, it was bright and clear, and the air after the rain was particularly comfortable and empty.

Yang Xiaotao, who was full of energy, got up early, washed himself briefly, and was ready to start work.

Xiaowei was awakened, came to the corn field, and began to pollinate the corn according to Yang Xiaotao's instructions.

The whole process is short, but not simple.

After the pollen enters the corresponding female flowers, the extra male flowers are removed by Xiaowei to avoid "contamination". Then the male flowers of the pollinated corn itself must also be removed. Each step must be performed carefully and carefully.

Fortunately, Xiaowei was young enough and cautious enough to finish the meal in one meal.

Next, it’s all about waiting.

When Yang Xiaotao goes out to work, Wangcai still takes care of the house, Xiaowei takes care of it, and Uncle Chen and his aunt take care of it.

Came to the factory, said hello, and started working.

The workload varies every day. Sometimes there is too much work to do, and sometimes the whole day's work is done in one morning.

Looking at the workload at hand, Yang Xiaotao cigarette butts, then selected some level 4 workpieces for processing, and left the rest to Li Wei and the others.

The work is completed in the morning. If there are no arrangements, it is estimated that the afternoon will be free time.

When he came to the cafeteria at noon, Yang Xiaotao stopped selling meat and vegetables and directly ordered two portions of potatoes and two steamed buns with noodles, and then walked to his seat.

Several people in the same group were also like this. When they saw Yang Xiaotao sitting down, they quickly came over.

Che Wenwei looked at Yang Xiaotao expectantly, as did several people around him.

"Squeeze, squeeze!"

Next to him, Zhou Peng was holding a lunch box and inserted himself between Li Wei and Li Nan. The three of them sat on a long bench.

Then several people stared at Yang Xiaotao's trousers pockets. There were bulges there, obviously the things were not small.

Yang Xiaotao did not hesitate and took out a small bottle from his pants pocket. It was palm-sized and cylindrical. It had no packaging on the outside and was covered with a red iron lid on the top. There was a black word "Cow" written on the top.

There is a dark red paste inside, with some vague lumps visible, and a layer of red-orange oil and water on the top.

"Wait a minute, Brother Wang is not here yet."

Yang Xiaotao put the beef sauce on the table, and everyone looked at it eagerly.

"Brother Tao, the mushroom sauce was delicious last time, what is it this time?"

Xing Jiaqi almost climbed up, with drool dripping from the corners of her mouth.

"Beef sauce!"

"Of course, no beef!"

Yang Xiaotao added that he didn't know whether it was beef or not. The package said it was beef juice.

However, everyone is more willing to believe that there is no meat in it.

Meat is hard to come by these days, let alone beef?

But it doesn't matter. Looking at the oil in the small bottle, there must be enough oil and water.

It's not a waste of money, even if a single and high-quality man like Yang Xiaotao can do it, if it were someone else, who would dare to do this without being slapped to death by his family.

"Brother Wang is here!"

Wang Fa came over with a lunch box and placed it in the middle. It was filled with two portions of meat and vegetables.

Of course, there isn’t much meat in it either.

"Eat quickly!"

"Xiao Tao, did you change the bottle again? Keep this one for me today. Last week, the eldest son got a bottle, and the second son was in a panic again."

"You have to keep this for me."

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "Just take it back after you finish eating!"

There are a lot of bottles and cans like this in the storage space, but they are just not convenient to take out.

"Eat, eat!"

Yang Xiaotao opened the bottle and poured half of the beef sauce into Wang Fa's lunch box. Wang Fa took it and stirred it evenly with chopsticks before placing it in the middle of the table again.

Others were not polite. They stretched out their chopsticks to put the meat and vegetables mixed with beef sauce into their lunch boxes, and Yang Xiaotao was no exception.

Several people divided the meat and vegetables, then used chopsticks to spread the beef sauce on the steamed buns, and ate them with big mouthfuls.

After a while, someone next to him extended his chopsticks from behind. Yang Xiaotao also took them away, and a circle of people immediately gathered around the table.