Chapter 57: The Effort for Recognition

A light drizzle had fallen late into the third watch of the night, leaving a damp chill in the early morning air that made one instinctively shiver. Su Yao was up before dawn, sweeping the medicine factory's courtyard immaculately clean. The cool breeze gently swayed the Radix Isatidis hanging on the drying racks, filling the entire courtyard with a fragrance of herbs mixed with the scent of earth.

Lu Zhanye had borrowed a fresh piece of plastic sheeting from the military unit to spread over the eight immortals table in the main room, arranging the test reports strictly by date with their corners neatly aligned.

"Officer Liu and the others will arrive at nine, so we need to go down to the village entrance and wait ahead of time." Lu Zhanye wiped the table legs with a rag, his military-green trousers dusted with a bit of gray. "Officer Liu used to be a scout with extremely sharp eyes; we cannot afford the slightest negligence." Su Yao placed the freshly steamed corn buns into a bamboo basket and smiled, saying, "Our goods are of high quality, we aren't afraid of inspection." Despite her words, her hand trembled slightly, causing her to spill several stalks of pickled vegetables as she placed them into the basket.

Lu Xingchen carried his small schoolbag, which contained his notebook recording the tomatoes' growth along with several pressed leaf specimens. "Mother, I've memorized all the data; I guarantee no question will stump me." He patted his chest, sweat stains still uncleared on his forehead from helping move the table that morning. Su Wan had also arrived early, using a rag to wipe the glass on the medicine cabinet until it reflected like a mirror. "Wan, take a rest for a bit, don't wear yourself out," Su Yao called out to her. Su Wan shook her head and replied, "It's fine, looking clean makes it nicer."

Just past eight o'clock, Erzhuzi ran over to announce that he had spotted a military jeep driving into the village. Su Yao hurriedly pulled Xingchen outside. Lu Zhanye was already standing under the old locust tree at the village entrance, his military cap worn straight and proper. Within minutes, an olive-green jeep stopped beneath the locust tree. The door opened, and a tall man in military uniform stepped out first. His shoulder boards bore two bars and one star—it was Officer Liu, whom Lu Zhanye had mentioned.

"Zhanye, long time no see!" Officer Liu smiled warmly and extended his hand to shake Lu Zhanye's, the calluses on his palm rough to the touch. Lu Zhanye pointed to the person stepping out behind him and introduced, "This is Military Doctor Wang, who is specifically in charge of medicinal herb testing." Military Doctor Wang wore a white lab coat, glasses, and carried a black case, looking scholarly and refined.

"This is Comrade Su Yao, the person in charge of cultivating the space seeds." Lu Zhanye pulled Su Yao forward. Su Yao quickly stepped up to shake hands. Officer Liu's grip was very firm, making her knuckles tingle slightly. "I've heard Zhanye talk about how you've grown space crops for a long time; today I've come specifically to broaden my horizons." Officer Liu's laughter was booming, shaking the morning dew right off the tree branches.

On the way to the medicine factory, Erzhuzi and Widow Li stood at their doorways watching, wanting to approach but holding back a bit shyly. Officer Liu was quite easy-going; seeing the dried chili peppers drying at Widow Li's doorstep, he even paused to ask, "Are these peppers spicy enough? Our mess hall just happens to be short on chili peppers." Widow Li hastily replied, "Spicy enough, spicy enough! As many as you want!"

Upon entering the greenhouse, Officer Liu's eyes immediately caught the tomatoes hanging heavy on the branches, red and green clustered together, a sight that instantly lifted the spirits.

"Are these the space tomatoes?" He reached out as if to touch them, then quickly pulled his hand back as though afraid of bruising them. Military Doctor Wang took a small instrument out of his case, shone it against a tomato, and a string of numbers popped up on the screen. "The sugar content is quite high." He pushed up his glasses, then plucked a leaf to smell it. "No pesticide residue, the cultivation is very standard."

Lu Xingchen ran over, pointing at a cluster of the largest tomatoes and said, "Uncle, look, this cluster has six, and every single one is about the same size!" He handed over his small notebook. "This is my growth record, from sprouting to bearing fruit, recorded every single day." Officer Liu flipped through the notebook, growing more astonished with every page. "This child is truly meticulous, more thorough than our logistics records."

Coming out of the greenhouse, Su Yao led them to the drying racks. The Radix Isatidis was half-dried, its color turning to a deep brown, and the roots appeared much sturdier. Military Doctor Wang picked up a root, pinched it with his fingernail, and a little white sap oozed from the cross-section. "Not bad, the fibers are very dense." He took another sniff, and his brow slowly relaxed. "The bitterness is authentic; it has the proper flavor of genuine Radix Isatidis."

Half of the weight lifted from Su Yao's heart, and she hurriedly handed over the test reports. "This is the testing done by Professor Zhang's side. The vitamin content of the tomatoes is twenty percent higher than ordinary ones, and the active ingredient in the Radix Isatidis is more than thirty percent higher." Officer Liu flipped through the reports, his finger tapping against the data. "Can these figures withstand re-examination? Our military hospital's medications cannot afford a single error."

"Rest assured!" Su Yao hastened to say. "You may conduct random re-examinations at any time. If they fail to meet standards, we won't charge a single penny."

Lu Zhanye chimed in, "I use my honor as a soldier to guarantee there is no falsification whatsoever." Officer Liu looked at Lu Zhanye, then at Su Yao, and suddenly smiled. "I trust you. I can still trust Zhanye's character."

Inside the main room, Widow Li served newly brewed tea in her finest enamel mug, stamped with the slogan "Labor is Most Glorious." Officer Liu took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and said, "To be honest, our hospital has always had a huge shortage of medicinal herbs, especially Radix Isatidis, which we have to procure from other places every year. If your quality can be consistently maintained, we would like to sign an annual procurement agreement."

Su Yao's heart skipped a beat, thinking she had misheard. "You mean... long-term procurement?" Her voice trembled slightly. Officer Liu nodded. "Yes, at market price, we will give priority to procuring from you, but you must guarantee the supply without stock-outs." Military Doctor Wang added, "We will come for random inspections once a month. As long as the quality meets the standard, the cooperation can be renewed indefinitely."

"We can guarantee it! We can definitely guarantee it!" Su Yao was so emotional she couldn't say anything else, tears welling up in her eyes. The hard work of the past few months—from building the greenhouse to improving the soil, from arguing with Old Zhou to Su Wan admitting her mistakes—all finally had a destination. Widow Li wiped away her tears nearby. "That's wonderful! Now our medicine factory is secure!"

Officer Liu pulled an agreement out of his bag, already stamped with the military hospital's official seal. "Have a look; if there are no problems, sign it." He pointed to the clauses and said, "The acquisition price will be five percent higher than the market price, considered a reward for your high-quality cultivation." Su Yao looked at the words on the agreement, her palms covered in sweat. Her pen almost dropped when she signed her name.

They were asked to stay for lunch at noon. Lu Zhanye slaughtered a chicken he had raised himself, Widow Li stir-fried a plate of eggs, and Su Wan cooked a pot of corn porridge.

Officer Liu ate with great relish, remarking that it tasted better than the military mess hall. "This place of yours is wonderful, with clear streams and lush mountains; the things grown here are truly different." He took a sip of porridge. "If you can expand cultivation next year, we can also introduce other hospitals to procure from you."

When seeing them off, the sun was shining directly overhead, warm and comforting. As the jeep drove far into the distance, Officer Liu was still waving from the car window. Su Yao stood at the village entrance, clutching the agreement tightly in her hand, the paper damp with sweat. "Mother, we succeeded!" Xingchen hugged her leg, grinning from ear to ear.

Su Wan smiled as well, a sparkling light in her eyes, looking much brighter and more cheerful than usual.

Returning to the medicine factory, the fellow villagers gathered around, asking about the situation all at once. Erzhuzi snatched the agreement and read it aloud, his voice loud enough for the entire village to hear: "Annual procurement agreement! The military hospital!" Widow Li patted Su Yao's shoulder. "Comrade Su, you've made a monumental contribution to our village!" Old Zhou also arrived, holding a new sickle in his hand. "Next year, my few mu of land will also grow Radix Isatidis; I'll work along with you!"

Looking at everyone's smiling faces, Su Yao felt her heart bright and clear. She remembered the anxiety when she first obtained the space seeds, the panic when abnormal seedlings appeared, and the guilt when Su Wan lowered her head in remorse, suddenly feeling that all the hardship was worth it.

Lu Zhanye walked over and handed her a towel. "Wipe your sweat. Life will only get better from here on."

Xingchen ran into the greenhouse and whispered to the tomato seedlings, "Did you hear that? We're going to send tomatoes to the military!" The wind blew through the canvas, making a rustling sound as if answering him. Su Wan began to pack up the dried Radix Isatidis, preparing to bundle them according to the agreement's requirements.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting shifting spots of light on the ground, and the entire medicine factory was filled with the scent of hope.

At dinner, Lu Shihan cradled Suisui, singing a newly adapted nursery rhyme: "Radix Isatidis, truly great, military uncles all need it. Plant a lot, harvest well, every family smiles and laughs." Suisui clapped her hands in her embrace, giggling happily.

Lu Yuxuan said he wanted to design new packaging, printed with the words "Space Radix Isatidis," so that people from the military would find it extraordinary at a glance.

Su Yao looked at her family's smiling faces and pondered inwardly: tomorrow she would go to the commune to apply for expanded cultivation, utilizing all the idle land in the village; she would also invite Professor Zhang to guide them and see if they could introduce other space seeds; once they earned money, she would build a road for the village so that the medicinal herbs could be transported more conveniently.

That night, Su Yao lay in bed, still clutching the agreement in her hand. The moonlight outside the window shone in, illuminating the words on the agreement clearly. She thought of the day she had transmigrated—the sky had been just as dark, and she had lain on the cold earthen kang, not knowing where the future lay. But now, she had a direction, hope, and a group of like-minded people striving together.

"Things will get better," she whispered to herself, then carefully placed the agreement into the drawer, tucking it away alongside the packaging bags of the space seeds. These items were proof of her taking root in this era, as well as the hope she brought to this village. Tomorrow would be another day full of vigor and drive.