I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 95 - 94 Aquaponics

Obviously, Li Wensheng originally intended to use wind turbines for power, providing sufficient electricity for his shelter, but clearly the harsh environment has greatly shortened the lifespan of the three wind turbines.

Although they can’t be said to be completely broken down now, the paralyzed wind turbines are evidently not something Li Wensheng can repair on his own.

Therefore, he can only rely on the generator that was originally planned as a backup power source to supply electricity to his shelter, maintaining the operation of his fish-vegetable symbiosis system.

But this clearly has exceeded the consumption limit Li Wensheng can sustain, plunging him into a predicament of energy shortage.

"Then you surely can’t hold on for long?" Chen Xin couldn’t help but worry about Li Wensheng’s situation, especially since he just took an oxygen generator from Chen Xin, which, though not consuming much electricity, needs to run continuously.

"Who says not? I’ve already used more than half of my stored diesel. Without replenishment, I won’t last more than three months." Li Wensheng couldn’t help but shake his head, his expression filled with bittersweet helplessness: "I’ve now shut down half of the fish-vegetable symbiosis system, and temporarily processed and stored the harvested vegetables and fish to reduce consumption, hoping to last a few more months, or maybe repair the wind turbines.

If I really can’t hold out, I’ll have no choice but to bring my wife and children to the official shelter, because I can’t watch them starve to death!"

After hearing Li Wensheng say this, Chen Xin felt a bit uneasy and almost spoke up to say he could help repair the wind turbines, but he held back.

There are some things you can help with, and there are others you shouldn’t be overly enthusiastic about.

Holding back the urge to help, Chen Xin thought for a moment and still couldn’t bear to stand by and do nothing, so he said to Li Wensheng, "Old Farmer, if you have excess output, try to barter with the official shelter. Right now, I exchange the vegetables grown in the greenhouse for supplies from them, managing to barely get by."

Upon hearing Chen Xin say this, a glimmer of hope appeared on Li Wensheng’s face, and he quickly asked Chen Xin, "How did you barter, Writer? Can you help me exchange some resources too? I don’t need anything else, just diesel!"

However, before Li Wensheng finished speaking, he could tell he said the wrong thing just by looking at Chen Xin’s gaze.

Chen Xin didn’t say much to Li Wensheng, only reminded him, "The official shelter should be quite lacking in vegetables and fresh meat. Although they raise rats and grow mushrooms themselves, and the municipal government has an underground growing area at the power plant, fresh vegetables and meat are still relatively scarce. Old Farmer, you should be able to exchange for the gasoline you need."

"Okay, thank you, Writer! I’ll head back first!" Li Wensheng felt somewhat embarrassed because of what he had said earlier, thus carrying the oxygen generator given by Chen Xin, he left his shelter.

Chen Xin also closed the shelter door tightly, and carrying a box of fresh fish, he walked into the depths of the shelter.

It’s not that Chen Xin couldn’t help Li Wensheng exchange diesel, but he and Li Wensheng didn’t have the same depth of relationship as he did with Mo Qingyan, Ding Ning, and Qin Lan. Giving him advice was fine, but for Chen Xin to personally help him exchange gasoline seemed too eager.

Stories like "a gift of a measure of rice becomes animosity from a fight over two measures" have happened too often in history, so while Chen Xin isn’t stingy about helping others, it doesn’t mean he will selflessly assist them.

Ultimately, Chen Xin barters supplies with the SWAT team not only because his fresh vegetables are what they need, but the main reason they can achieve fair trade is due to his relation with Ding Ning and Qin Lan, leading Uncle Ding to offer relatively favorable exchanges as a nod to Ding Ning and Qin Lan.

If Li Wensheng really falls into hard times, Chen Xin might help him exchange diesel once or twice to address the emergency, but to expect Chen Xin to long-term help him exchange diesel to maintain his shelter is impossible.

This kind of thing can be done once or twice but not repeatedly over and over, after all, Chen Xin doesn’t have a reason to spend his resources on helping others.

However, the fish-vegetable symbiosis system mentioned by Li Wensheng actually gave Chen Xin great inspiration and temptation; he might also consider setting up a similar vertical agricultural system.

Should he try it when upgrading the shelter next time?

This thought crossed Chen Xin’s mind, causing him to seriously contemplate.

While putting the exchanged fresh fish into the freezer to freeze, Chen Xin began considering the feasibility of this idea.

The fish-vegetable symbiosis system combines fish farming and hydroponics into a cyclic composite cultivation system. Its primary principle is using bacteria to decompose ammonia nitrogen from fish waste into nitrite, which is then decomposed into nitrate by nitrifying bacteria, and nitrate can be directly absorbed and utilized by plants as nutrients.

The water absorbed by plants becomes relatively clean and can be reused to supply the fish, thereby realizing fish farming without changing water and vegetable planting without fertilization.

Consequently, fish, vegetables, and bacteria can form a complete cycle. Before the disaster, with sufficient sunlight, the system could even achieve a closed-loop cycle by feeding the fish with leftover vegetables, requiring only 2-3 cubic meters of water paired with 20-30 square meters of vegetable planting area to essentially meet the vegetable and fish consumption needs of a family of 3-5.

In the current apocalyptic environment, maintaining such a system requires supplementing with lamps to replace sunlight, and expanding the planting area to provide staple food output.

Chen Xin’s current greenhouse doesn’t have the conditions to establish this, although during the initial construction of the shelter he did consider setting up a fish-vegetable symbiosis system. However, realizing that the energy consumption of this setup far exceeds that of soil cultivation, he abandoned the idea due to energy concerns, opting for an ordinary planting greenhouse instead.

Yet now, with the system in place, Chen Xin feels he can reconsider upgrading his planting greenhouse to a fish-vegetable symbiosis system.

However, the energy consumption issue is indeed a critical concern, especially since Chen Xin can only barely maintain the shelter’s operation, with all electricity supply dependent on the monthly gasoline exchange with the SWAT team to power the generator.

Without upgrading the power system, he’s not planning to increase the shelter’s electrical load.

Thus, besides setting up a medical room, Chen Xin’s primary upgrade target is the power system.

Despite having prioritized power system upgrades from the start, step by step other upgrades were completed, leaving the power system untouched.

Though the current power system is still adequate, Chen Xin decided it’s best to upgrade it, at least installing biogas fuel cells to reduce the generator’s load.

Of course, these things can’t be rushed, for now...

Chen Xin looked at the fresh fish already placed in the freezer and couldn’t help but swallow; he hasn’t eaten fish for quite a while.

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