Chapter 77

Qing Mengzhu became more and more excited as he thought about it, and started taking out his phone to text Ming Chunxi and Zhao Hexi, telling them his thoughts.

After a while, Ming Chunxi replied first, saying that they could try this method.

Zhao Hexi came directly to their house in the evening to express her agreement with the idea.

Zhao Hexi: "How are we supposed to collect them? Should we just ask in the WeChat group if anyone has dead bugs?"

Qing Mengzhu rejected the suggestion. "We've already collected enough dead insects in the villages. We should at least collect them in the town, from several more villages."

Zhao Hexi: "Then let's set up a stall in town, selling them for 21 or 31 yuan a jin. People should come and buy them."

Ming Chunxi: "We need to first determine the type of dead insects. It's best to only accept insects that died from infection. If many healthy insects are mixed in, Gu Benshu's workload will be much greater, and he'll end up doing a lot of useless work."

Upon hearing this, Qing Mengzhu simply said, "Why don't we call Gu Benshu over and let him choose what kind of dead insects he wants? Forget about the price per pound, just pay the price per insect, one or two yuan is fine."

Zhao Hexi said excitedly, "I think it's a good idea. I'll go ask Gu Benshu."

Gu Benshu doesn't mind going to the market to set up a stall during his work hours at all—going to the market is much more fun than going to work.

So Zhao Hexi and Gu Benshu set up a stall at the town's market, with two signs next to it displaying high-definition images of various infected and dead larvae.

These pictures of larvae are all lepidopteran larvae, such as corn borers, cotton bollworms, and beet armyworms, which are all common pests in fields.

They buy dead insects for two yuan each; whether or not they buy them is up to Gu Benshu.

As an expert in insect viral epidemiology, Gu Benshu is used to seeing all kinds of insect carcasses. He can tell at a glance whether a dead insect is worth studying, which is a good opportunity to conduct a preliminary screening.

Two yuan for one insect is not a low price.

Soon, all sorts of people gathered in front of their stall. Some shook their heads and left without showing any interest, while others told them to wait a moment, saying that they had seen the insects that morning and were now going to collect them from the field.

Gu Benshu and his group waited in front of the stall. Around 11 a. m., people started coming over with the insect carcasses to sell.

They identified the insect carcasses and paid readily.

At first, they only wanted to collect the carcasses of Lepidoptera. Later, Gu Benshu discovered that some Orthoptera larvae, that is, their nymphs, were also very interesting. Insects from Thysanoptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, etc., also had research value. So they collected them all, one by one.

By the time they packed up around 5 p. m., they had collected over 3,000 yuan worth of insects, filling a tall stack of specimen boxes.

Zhao Hexi exclaimed in disbelief, "Everyone is so enthusiastic!"

Gu Benshu, holding the specimen box containing the insects, said with satisfaction, "Yeah, why didn't I think of this way of collecting insect corpses before? It's really interesting."

Zhao Hexi drove him back to the company. "How did you guys find the insect corpses before?"

Gu Benshu: "Whether you collect materials yourself in the wild or order them from other companies, most of the time the materials you receive are not very useful."

Zhao Hexi: "Isn't our company more fun?"

Gu Benshu glanced at him. "It's fun, but you'll be busy from now on. Remember not to withhold your overtime pay."

Zhao Hexi chuckled, "No, no, when have we ever withheld overtime pay?"

Their company has plenty of funds, and now that the white fungus and lotus seed soup is sold, their funds are even more abundant.

Overtime pay is only a few dollars; there's absolutely no need for a card.

Zhao Hexi hummed a song as she drove, in a very pleasant mood. Gu Benshu, holding the specimen box, was also full of excitement, completely ignoring Zhao Hexi's off-key singing.

After receiving the insect corpses, Gu Benshu immediately led his researchers into a new round of research.

Qing Mengzhu was mentally prepared that they wouldn't produce any results for several months, but to her surprise, she received a call from Gu Benshu Qing Mengzhu two days later.

Gu Benshu's voice trembled slightly. "Boss, we found an unfamiliar parasporal crystal inside a corn borer! It seems we've actually discovered the new Bacillus strain you mentioned!"

Qing Mengzhu composed herself and said, "Tell me in detail."

Gu Benshu: "You know that Bacillus thuringiensis also forms a special protein crystal when it forms spores, right?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I know."

Gu Benshu: "Bacillus thuringiensis can kill insects because of these crystals and other toxins. But we have now found a protein crystal that we have never seen before. I can say with certainty that this is definitely not a crystal formed by Bacillus thuringiensis!"

Gu Benshu excitedly announced, "We have most likely found another novel Bacillus thuringiensis, which also has insecticidal effects!"

Author's Note:

See you tomorrow!

Chapter 77

Qing Mengzhu and the others all gathered in the company's laboratory, taking turns examining the parasporal crystals under the microscope.

Looking at the irregular protein crystals in her field of vision, Qing Mengzhu felt a sense of emotion.

Although he personally set up the project to find Livingston Bacillus and gave Gu Benshu and others a lot of support to vigorously promote the project, this was the first time he had seen these spore-forming bacteria under a microscope.

Life is truly amazing.

After watching for a while, Qing Mengzhu raised her head, looked at the excited faces of everyone around her, and said, "That's amazing, everyone has worked hard."

Gu Benshu: "As long as there are results, the hard work won't have been in vain."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Yes, it's my treat. Let's pick a day this week and go to a five-star hotel for a buffet."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone cheered.

Qing Mengzhu added, "There will be an extra bonus this month; the finance department will make the payment in a few days."

As soon as he finished speaking, the cheers around him grew even louder.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Qing Mengzhu, Zhao Hexi, and Gu Benshu moved to the conference room for a meeting.

After closing the meeting room door, the three of them felt more relaxed and at ease.

Qing Mengzhu said to Gu Benshu, "Minister Gu, I'd like to trouble you to write the thesis."

Gu Benshu nodded. "I'll start writing tonight. Should I post it immediately after I finish, or hold off for a bit?"

Qing Mengzhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's see how the new strain is cultivated first. If it goes smoothly, we'll postpone it; if not, we'll publish the paper first."

Their discovery of new beneficial bacteria can only be considered a scientific discovery, and they cannot apply for a patent without artificial selection and modification.

If they want a patent, they need to screen, cultivate, or genetically edit the newly discovered Bacillus species to induce a new strain.

This process may take quite a while, so when the paper will be published depends on the situation.

Gu Benshu couldn't hide his excitement. "Boss, to cultivate new strains, we'll probably need to buy a batch of new equipment."

Qing Mengzhu: "Please bring up the list first, and we'll take a look."

Gu Benshu: "Okay, I'll fill out the form tonight."

When Qing Mengzhu and his team recruited people, the contracts they signed were very comprehensive.

Gu Benshu's team achieved results. Although the patent belongs to the company, the company and his team are jointly named as authors.

The more results they achieve, the higher their team's earnings will be.

Thinking of this, Gu Benshu felt a surge of energy, and his gaze toward Qing Mengzhu became even more passionate.

Choosing the right boss is so important; the new company offers more prospects.

Gu Benshu and his team have been working incredibly hard lately, putting in tons of overtime.

As the boss, Qing Mengzhu was a little worried. Seeing them working overtime all the time, she took the initiative to send them home, telling them not to work 996, it wasn't necessary.

Gu Benshu tried to argue, saying that the researchers could go back first, but he was willing to work overtime, that he could manage it, and that he felt energetic whenever he saw the new equipment.

Qing Mengzhu forcefully suppressed the situation, telling him to rest more and work less overtime, as there was no rush for the work.