I can upgrade the shelter
Chapter 47: Farmland and Upgrade Materials

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Farmland and Upgrade Materials

Since it was decided to exchange vegetables for supplies, the greenhouse was clearly the area Chen Xin most needed to upgrade now.

Currently, half of the land in Chen Xin’s greenhouse is planted with carrots, which still need about two months until harvest. The other half was previously planted with lettuce and cabbage, which have just been harvested. Chen Xin needs to fertilize the land again, then till it and sow new seeds.

Fertilizing the land involves tilling, commonly known as plowing or cultivating the soil.

This is done to break up clumps in the soil and loosen it, facilitating crop growth. While fertilizing, the nutrients are also incorporated into the soil layers, allowing plants to better absorb the nutrients.

Tilling is one of the most important parts of farming, and it’s also one of the most labor-intensive tasks, which is why in ancient times, oxen or even warhorses were used for plowing.

Relying solely on human strength to till a plot of land is extremely exhausting, while using animal power saves human labor, increases efficiency, and saves time.

After all, plowing with an ox is entirely different from plowing by hand.

However, Chen Xin’s greenhouse is too small, and he doesn’t have an ox, so he can only till it himself with a hoe, bit by bit.

Fortunately, the area Chen Xin needs to till is not large, and since the temperature in the greenhouse is constant, there’s no need to rush. He only needs to finish and plant the seeds.

Even so, Chen Xin spent most of the day tilling fifty square meters of land and sowing seeds.

Looking at the tilled land, Chen Xin hammered his lower back, feeling that indeed farming was exhausting work. He also considered upgrading his farming tools while upgrading the greenhouse to improve the efficiency of tilling.

As the greenhouse is upgraded, the planting area will certainly increase, leading to an inevitable increase in workload.

Although there’s not much else to do in the shelter, and farming is fine, this physical labor is quite challenging for someone like Chen Xin, who hasn’t done agricultural work for thirty years. Plus, relying solely on manual labor is fine for small areas, but for larger areas, using machinery is the right way to improve efficiency.

Perhaps he could ask Mo Qingyan for a few small agricultural machines? Although survival points are valuable and can be used to upgrade tools, Chen Xin felt he shouldn’t waste them, especially since small agricultural machines aren’t difficult to obtain even in this post-apocalyptic era.

In addition to small agricultural machines, Chen Xin also planned to get a few supplementary lights, which are essential tools in the greenhouse and necessary materials for upgrading it.

As for other materials needed for upgrading the greenhouse, it’s just steel and cement, basic construction materials essential for expanding the greenhouse.

Of course, if Chen Xin included the equipment needed for hydroponic planting in the materials for the upgrade, he would not only expand the land area but also add another layer of hydroponic planting trays, doubling the planting area of the greenhouse.

This is the difference between using materials for upgrades and using survival points; using survival points only allows for one of two upgrade options given by the system, without the ability to choose both in one upgrade.

But with material upgrades, there’s no such trouble. As long as all the necessary materials are available, there’s no need for a choice of two, and both options can be achieved in one upgrade.

Regarding the functional differences brought by the two upgrade methods, Chen Xin felt it might be a feature set by a high civilization when designing this system to add enjoyment to the survival game.

After all, for individuals capable of playing survival games in high civilizations, they seek a better gaming experience.

Simply staying in one place and upgrading items with accumulated survival points seems somewhat passive, leading to a poor gaming experience with no real sense of participation.

Maybe at the start, one would spend some time setting up a hiding place or a small survival hut, but with stored survival points, there’s no need to gather resources or work to improve living conditions.

But collecting upgrade materials oneself is different; using hard-earned resources for upgrades and watching the place one built improve greatly satisfies those players’ sense of achievement and participation.

Additionally, collecting resources and upgrading also saves survival points, indirectly encouraging system users to upgrade with resources.

After all, resource upgrading saves some survival points; while collecting materials, enough survival points can be accumulated, which invisibly increases players’ survival chances using resource upgrades.

Especially since resources can be stored in advance, as long as there are enough resources and survival points, upgrades can begin.

Those who directly upgrade using survival points have weaker item functions and their progress is slower compared to those using resources.

For high civilizations, this might just be a game, but for Chen Xin, these are lifesaving items that greatly enhance his chances of surviving the apocalypse.

Thinking of this, Chen Xin hurriedly made a list to confirm what he needed.

"One hundred kilograms of steel, five bags of cement, a set of hydroponic planting equipment, supplementary lights..." Chen Xin listed his required resources, shaking his head: "These are quite a lot of things. To exchange for these, I might have to bleed dry."

The greenhouse had half its area planted with carrots, maturing and harvestable in three months, while the other half’s vegetables had a very limited yield. Before upgrading the greenhouse, relying on that production might require an entire month’s yield.

However, there’s no need to rush; he can first have Mo Qingyan help collect materials through Uncle Ding’s connections, using this month’s production as a deposit, and settle the remainder next month when the carrots are harvested.

With those materials, Chen Xin can upgrade the greenhouse, quadrupling its planting area.

Moreover, using the system for upgrades, he saves the construction time required for normal work, making it more time-efficient.

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