Once Yun Xi returned home, she set the orchid mushrooms down, closed her door, and locked it. Then she pressed the small red dot embedded in her left arm—the hidden panel of her portable micro-lab slid open.
This device would be her “laboratory” from now on.
Until she had the means to build a real one, this was all she had.
She opened the microscope and examined each mushroom closely. The mycelium inside was still active. Using a tiny pair of scissors, she clipped off the stems, and with a micro-forceps, she carefully extracted a bit of the mycelium from under the mushroom cap and placed it into a test tube filled with nutrient solution.
If the temperature and humidity remained suitable over the next few days, the mycelium would grow into pure culture. Once that happened, she could transfer it into a substrate and cultivate actual mushroom spawn.
But orchid mushrooms were high-temperature fungi, growing best at 28–35°C. Without lab equipment, she couldn’t regulate temperature. So she had no choice but to keep the culture box against her body, using her own warmth as an incubator.
Primitive, but workable.
Next, she gathered materials from the village—rice straw, cotton waste, and cottonseed hulls—all basic ingredients for cultivating mushroom substrate.
She chopped the rice straw into 5–10 cm pieces, soaked them in lime water, then did the same with the cotton waste. After soaking, she piled them up, covered the heap with a thin membrane, and allowed the materials to ferment.
Over the next few days, Yun Xi stayed home constantly, secretly working on her cultivation setup.
Finally, her unusual behavior caught Madam Yun’s attention.
“Xier, you haven’t left the house in days. What are you doing?”
She had been out digging sweet potatoes every day, but she still noticed her daughter’s odd behavior.
She walked into Yun Xi’s room—then froze.
The tiny room was full of piles of straw, cotton scraps, and other “junk,” all giving off a strong, sour smell from fermentation. Yun Xi kept the windows shut to maintain warmth, making the odor even worse.
“Xier, what on earth is all this? Why did you drag all this smelly mess inside? If anyone saw, they’d laugh at you!”
Madam Yun bent down, wanting to clean up the mess.
Yun Xi panicked.
These materials had taken days to gather—she couldn’t let her mother throw them out!
“Mother, don’t touch them! I’m researching something. You’ll understand later.”
“Research? What could you possibly be researching? Ever since you woke up, you seem to know so much… not like before at all.”
Madam Yun frowned, suspicious.
“Mother, I was just lazy before. Now I’m bored at home and want to help Father somehow.”
Yun Xi clung to her arm, acting spoiled.
Madam Yun sighed.
“Alright, alright… as long as you don’t overdo it.”
She left, still shaking her head in confusion.
As soon as the door closed, Yun Xi checked her culture tube.
The mycelium had successfully grown—weak, but alive.
Not perfect, but considering the crude conditions, she was thrilled.
Her first “ancient world experiment” was officially a success.
She lifted the membrane on her fermentation pile—the materials were ready.
Earlier, she had asked Yun Lu to help her build a four-tier wooden rack in her room. She placed large baskets on each level. Ideally, she needed cultivation beds, but baskets were the best substitute available.
She lined each basket with a thin layer of mesh to prevent materials from falling out, then spread the fermented substrate evenly inside. A thin blanket of cotton waste went on top, and the rice straw formed the base layer.
Finally, she sprinkled the freshly cultivated mushroom spawn evenly across the surface, making sure the spawn touched the substrate well. Then she covered the baskets again with a membrane.
The preliminary setup was complete.
Now all she had to do… was wait.
If the mycelium took hold, she would have created the first mushroom cultivation in the history of this world.