Chapter 66 - An unforeseen answer, but a correct one (1/2)

Lena grabbed out the present and handed to her grandmother.

”I got you a present but forgot to give it to you yesterday.”

”What is it?” Grandma Shen reached for the box.

”Open it.”

Grandma Shen gently opened the box. Neatly placed in the long red box was a traditional tassel. It was simple but delicate. ”Did you make this?” She asked.

”I did.”

The tassel was red and the top was like a flower with a diamond-shaped center. The center had a beautiful golden thread, creating a more detailed flower.

”It is pretty. I'll be sure to wear it during the New Years.”

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The next morning, Henry came and pick up Lena and James early. They had a four-hour drive before they reach the other farm location. Henry had one of the experienced workers drive because he knew the roads of the hills and countryside.

James sat in front with the driver and Lena and Henry were at the back.

”Are we going to the farm?” Lena asked.

”We will be going to the lab. We had collected samples from all three contaminated sites and had been working on identifying the cause of the disease to take preventative measures.”

Lena turned and looked out the window. Henry felt that Lena had been silent and uncheerful like her usual self since she left the main house.

”I am sure we will find a solution soon.” He assured her.

When they reach the lab, they had to wear proper lab gears. The lab was where they experiment with winemaking, taste, and testing with plant breeding.

Henry led Lena and James to the main testing room. When they arrived, Lena saw a hardworking team of scientists working together to solve the situation.

”How are the results so far?” Henry asked.

”Not so good.” The head biologist Sam replied.

”What do you mean?”

Sam pressed a button to show the results onto a screen. ”We tried several ways to stop the disease from spreading.” He clicked the control for it to go to the next results. ”We also tried killing it too.”

”What do you know so far about this disease?” Lena asked.

”The disease starts from the roots. We at first thought that they are spreading by water but that theory was scratch off because the irrigation of the three farms doesn't use the same system. We had also tested for natural and groundwater and found no result of the disease.”

Lena inserted herself forward and look at all the testing they had done for far in the last few days. She was surprised that they were able to get this much data in a short time.