Heh. I want to die.
Jiang Luokui stared numbly at the Agronomy Fundamentals professor, who was speaking nonstop at the podium—but she couldn’t absorb a single word.
Just a second ago, she had been happily holding the freshly issued badge of a First-Grade Spirit Plant Master. The next second, she was reborn—back in a university classroom.
Who would understand this? She had already graduated from college… and if you add the years she spent cultivating in another world, it had been over a hundred years! And now she had to study everything all over again?!
To be honest, after a century, the people and events of her previous life had long faded.
Jiang Luokui only vaguely remembered that life had been very difficult when she first got into university—but exactly how difficult, she couldn’t recall.
Suddenly, her classmate and roommate to her right, Lin Zihan, whispered, “Good thing the school provides seeds. We only need to buy pots, soil, and stuff like that. Teacher Li just said we get a 10% discount at the agricultural supply store with our student ID. Luokui, how about we split a bag of soil?”
Jiang Luokui snapped back to reality and asked calmly, “…How much is a bag of soil?” After so long, she had no sense of past prices.
“I asked earlier. A 10-liter bag is 279 at the original price, and a 20-liter bag is 499. If we split a 20-liter one, it should last us the whole semester.”
In the wasteland era, all soil carried radiation. The nutrient soil sold in stores had been treated to reduce radiation, making it suitable for beginners.
Jiang Luokui’s expression stiffened for a moment. With only 2,000 yuan in savings, how could she afford even half of that—249.5 yuan—for a bag of soil?
She couldn’t. She absolutely couldn’t.
Studying agronomy was exhausting, difficult, and expensive. Seeds, pots, soil, fertilizer—everything had to be bought, along with all sorts of tools.
A person truly couldn’t empathize with their past self.
She, an orphan raised in an institution, without parents—how had she dared to choose agronomy???
Jiang Luokui couldn’t remember her original reason at all. She let out a faint sigh. “Alright, let’s split one.”
After all, this wasn’t the cultivation world where spiritual energy was abundant and any patch of dirt could grow crops. Money that needed to be spent couldn’t be saved.
“Then go ahead to your part-time job at noon. I’ll buy the soil myself,” Lin Zihan added.
Part-time job…?
That keyword triggered her memory. Jiang Luokui suddenly recalled how, when she first entered university, she had taken on three part-time jobs just to survive.
Delivering food at noon, unloading goods at an agricultural supply store in the evening, and tutoring middle and high school students outside the walls at night. After tutoring, she still had to rush back to the dorm before the 11 p.m. curfew.
Resources were scarce, and the Third Academy cafeteria was expensive.
Every meal, Jiang Luokui ate flatbread with a single vegetable dish. When money was tight, she ate just bread with water. Even then, her monthly food expenses were close to 2,000 yuan.
Even with three jobs, earning 3,000 yuan a month, she could barely cover food, living expenses, and the cost of studying agronomy.
Jiang Luokui carefully calculated all the assets she had accumulated in the cultivation world, converted the currencies between the two worlds, and came to a conclusion:
By being reborn, she had lost at least one billion.
“Heartbroken” wasn’t enough to describe how she felt.
Because not only had she lost that massive fortune, she now had to work like a beast for others—and earn only 3,000 yuan a month… her desire to die reached its peak.
If she ended things now, would she be able to return to the cultivation world?
Just as that thought flashed through her mind, the class bell rang. Their counselor, Teacher Lu, suddenly appeared at the classroom door.
After greeting Teacher Li, she smiled at the freshmen. “Everyone, line up. Since you don’t have classes this morning, I’ll take you to do an ability assessment and experience the new equipment our school introduced from the Central Base!”
After reaching adulthood, every citizen received an ability activation agent, and evaluators would manually assess the type and level of their awakened ability. It was a crude method, but abilities had only appeared for about ten years.
However, last year, Professor Huang from the Central Base developed a machine that could precisely measure abilities, allowing people to better understand them.
The freshmen were excited.
But not Jiang Luokui.
Her ability was only D-rank—the first student in ten years of the Third Academy’s Agronomy Department to be admitted with an ability below C-rank.
In the world of abilities, D-rank meant underdeveloped.
The tenth cohort of agronomy students had fifty people, divided into two classes based on overall ranking. Jiang Luokui was last in Class Two, and Lin Zihan was second to last.
At that moment, the two stared at each other—both looking utterly despairing.
“Why do you look so pale?” Jiang Luokui asked first.
“Aren’t you the same? My barely C-rank ability isn’t much better than your D-rank,” Lin Zihan said gloomily. “I heard the new equipment digitizes everything. Thinking about being publicly exposed later… heh.”
Jiang Luokui replied calmly, “It’s fine. We’ll stay at the end of the line and go last.”
Compared to having no money, embarrassment was secondary.
She figured she probably couldn’t go back anymore. She needed to think about how to make money—those three part-time jobs weren’t sustainable.
Their classroom was on the third floor, while the new assessment room was on the first. A large group filed downstairs.
“Oh, Teacher Lu, you’re quick. We just finished calibrating the machine,” someone said.
“Perfect. Let the agronomy students go first. After this, I still need to collect seeds. Old Zhang, hurry up,” Teacher Lu said, pushing a student forward. “Li Jue Ming, you go first. Set an example.”
Li Jue Ming had a refined appearance and a calm demeanor beyond his years. Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, he adjusted them and walked into the assessment room.
The room looked like a normal classroom, except for a massive machine in the center, occupying half the space.
It resembled a CT scanner. The user had to lie on it and be slowly moved inside.
Old Zhang stubbed out his cigarette and turned on the machine. “Li Jue Ming, look at the receiver above you as if it were your plant. Channel your ability and apply it steadily.”
Li Jue Ming was the most talented student in the cohort. Several of his family members worked in the Ministry of Agriculture, and he had awakened an A-rank ability—[Cultivation]. He was expected to lead this group.
“Good. Now the receiver will move. Keep focusing and maintain output.”
A minute later, the results appeared.
Old Zhang exclaimed, “Not bad! Your stats are very balanced—top-tier talent.”
Teacher Lu glanced at the screen. “You calibrated the machine using a prodigy?”
“Had to test its limits. I hired Pu Qing from the fourth-year combat department,” Old Zhang said. “Your ability value is almost as high as his! Bright future ahead!”
Li Jue Ming looked at his data:
Overall Rank: A
Ability Value: 88/100
Efficiency: 75%
…
Capacity: 90/100
Old Zhang explained, “Focus on a few key stats. Ability Value shows your current strength. Efficiency means you can’t fully use all 88 points yet—only about 66 safely. And Capacity represents your potential. It’s usually close to your current value, sometimes higher. With time, your ability may grow to match it.”
The students were amazed.
“So with 90 capacity, he could reach S-rank someday?!”
“Damn, that’s insane!”
“Well, only people with high ability values even get that chance!”
“Teacher,” Li Jue Ming asked politely, “what is Senior Pu Qing’s ability value?”
Old Zhang gave him a meaningful look. “Confidential.”
…
At the very end of the line, Jiang Luokui and Lin Zihan crouched by the wall, staring blankly.
A classmate said enviously, “Li Jue Ming’s capacity is 90—he might become S-rank someday.”
Lin Zihan: “Oh.”
Jiang Luokui squinted at the sunlight. “Got it.”
“We might be witnessing the rise of a great agricultural scientist… too bad he’s not from Class Two.”
Lin Zihan snorted, “Obviously. Class Two is just filler for Class One.”
A great scientist? Jiang Luokui couldn’t even remember who Li Jue Ming would become.
Just then, Teacher Lu called her over.
“Xiao Jiang, come here.”
She lowered her voice. “Your student loan has been approved. Focus on your studies—you only need to start repaying a year after graduation.”
Jiang Luokui felt like she’d been struck by lightning.
Studying again was one thing—but repaying debts she had already paid once?!
Then she remembered something worse—
A 100,000 yuan upbringing loan.
Teacher Lu reassured her gently, “Agronomy graduates find jobs easily. You’ll repay it soon.”
Jiang Luokui nodded stiffly.
Because four years later, a catastrophic disaster would strike this wasteland. Plants and animals would undergo unpredictable secondary mutations, rendering all agronomy knowledge useless.
Humanity would be forced to survive by gathering from nature.
Back then, she had joined a gathering team to repay her debts—
And died during a mission.
Tragic.
She had just finished paying off her loans before she died.
Under the shock, all her memories returned. She carefully reviewed everything, afraid of missing any important detail—like hidden debts.
By the time she reached the assessment room, she confirmed she only had those two loans.
Old Zhang glanced outside. “Just these two left?”
Teacher Lu nodded. “Yes. Hurry up—lunch is on me after.”
Old Zhang looked at Jiang Luokui.
So this was the D-rank student.
Perfect.
They had already tested the machine’s upper limit with Pu Qing—
Now they could test its lower limit.