Sun Mao squeezed his way out of the crowd and jogged over to Jiang Luokui, sweating profusely. With a wry smile, he said, “Xiao Kui, something happened in my family. I’m trying to recruit people, but no one’s responding. Among Third School students, you’re the only one I know—could you help introduce a few combat-type students?”
He was really grasping at straws.
Jiang Luokui herself was just a freshman—where would she find any reliable combat-type students?
Seeing her hesitate, Sun Mao quickly added, “About the other day—I didn’t mean to push down your base salary. That was the boss’s idea. I actually argued with him about it. If you’re willing, you can come back to work. Your pay will be the same as before.”
Jiang Luokui had quit too quickly, and Sun Mao had regretted it ever since.
In fact, the sequence had been this: the boss wanted to cut her base pay, and Sun Mao had fought to keep it for her. Only afterward did he bring it up to her on LingXun.
But his real intention had been to claim credit… he just hadn’t expected that the moment Xiao Kui heard the boss’s stance, she would immediately resign, insisting on leaving no matter how much he tried to persuade her.
Feeling awkward, Sun Mao secretly observed Jiang Luokui’s expression, worried she might have a bad impression of him.
Standing beside them, Lin Zihan was initially surprised that this man knew Jiang Luokui. Then it suddenly hit her—wait, Luokui quit her job? Then why is she still so busy every day!?
Jiang Luokui showed an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Team Leader Sun. You know I’m just a first-year student—I’m afraid I can’t really help you connect with anyone.”
Sun Mao nodded in disappointment. “It’s okay. I’ll think of something else.”
Jiang Luokui vaguely remembered that when she applied for a part-time job last year, the positions had already been filled. It was Sun Mao who, seeing that she was an orphan and had it tough, insisted on keeping her.
He wasn’t a bad person. If she could help a little, she would.
After thinking for a moment, she said, “How about this—I’ll take you to the General Office and explain the situation. Maybe the school can help you post a recruitment notice.”
It wasn’t unheard of. Occasionally, posts recruiting for cleanup teams would appear on the forum—rare, but they happened, usually to temporarily fill gaps.
For students, it was also a form of training, and the school generally supported it.
“If that works, I’d really appreciate it!” Sun Mao broke into a grateful smile. He didn’t even bother with the signboard anymore and followed Jiang Luokui.
Lin Zihan immediately sensed that Sun Mao might have some interest in Jiang Luokui. There was no way she was letting them go off alone. “I’ll come too. Maybe I can help.”
Jiang Luokui nodded, then asked Sun Mao, “Do you know roughly where your brother went missing?”
Sun Mao sighed. “The exploration team said it was around 7896.”
What a coincidence!?
Jiang Luokui had just set her sights on that area. She glanced at him. “Prepare to spend a lot.”
Lin Zihan clicked her tongue. “What kind of exploration team would dare go there? I checked the map—it’s at least radiation level nine! Even regular cleanup teams wouldn’t go in.”
“There’s been rumors lately about a gold mine in Chongshan Ridge. Just a group of people risking their lives for money.”
Sun Mao’s smile turned even more bitter. If not for his parents being unable to bear it, he wouldn’t have wanted to search for that troublesome brother at all…
At the General Office, the teachers received Sun Mao kindly and patiently listened to his explanation.
Suddenly, Jiang Luokui’s LingXun rang. She quietly said to Lin Zihan, “I’ll step out to take this. Put in a good word for him, okay?”
Lin Zihan agreed.
The call was from Aunt Chen. It seemed urgent—she had bombarded Jiang Luokui with messages all morning but hadn’t made a single call until now.
Jiang Luokui sat down on the stair steps and answered.
“Aunt Chen, what’s up?”
“There is something. I thought it over and felt I should tell you, just in case you end up at a disadvantage.”
Aunt Chen first explained Liang Quan’s identity, then talked about his conflict with Manager Fang and what had happened that day.
“That guy Fang is up to no good! He actually wants your lettuce to sit overnight and compare it with the new supplier’s goods tomorrow morning!”
Hearing that Manager Fang had thrown her lettuce into the trash, Jiang Luokui frowned, feeling a bit annoyed.
Vegetables grown in radiation-free greenhouses couldn’t even compare to her spirit plants—and he dared say hers weren’t good enough?
Suppressing her temper, Jiang Luokui asked, “Alright, I understand. It’s confirmed for tomorrow morning’s tasting, right? Can I come watch?”
She hadn’t expected things to line up so perfectly. She had planned to sell to the third-floor cafeteria anyway—and the person who contacted her just happened to be its head chef.
But that procurement manager clearly cared only about profit, and Uncle Liang wasn’t his match. If she didn’t go personally, she wouldn’t feel at ease.
“Sure! I’ll sneak you in to watch… Actually, you should bring some fresh samples tomorrow morning too—that way it’s fair.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Chef Liang passed behind Aunt Chen and shook his head. “Sister Chen, you’ve gone too far this time. It’s fine that you introduced Liang Quan, but getting this involved—if you offend Boss Fang, it won’t end well.”
Aunt Chen shot him a disdainful look. “You think I’m helping your brother? You don’t even care as his own brother—why would I? I’m helping my friend, got it?”
“Forget it. You and Liang Quan are about the same upstairs—you wouldn’t understand anyway. I brought that bottle of scallion oil Xiao Jiang gave me. Tonight, I’ll open your eyes!”
The flavor of the scallion oil didn’t require a top chef like Liang Quan to appreciate—even an ordinary person could taste the quality of the ingredients.
There were only seven bottles in total, and Xiao Jiang had given her one. Such a thoughtful child—how could Aunt Chen not help her?
She opened LingXun, searched her contacts for “Fang Mingtang,” and tapped on the profile.
Boss Fang was a big shot and rarely came to the cafeteria—but something as important as switching suppliers… surely he would come see for himself?
Meanwhile, after hearing the coordinates where Sun Mao’s brother had gone missing, the teachers in the office declined his request with apologetic expressions.
“The school allows students to join exploration and cleanup teams during their studies to broaden their experience—not to send them to their deaths. We’re sorry.”
Lin Zihan tried her best to persuade them, but was still refused.
Strangely, upon receiving this answer, Sun Mao actually felt relieved.
After leaving the office, he said to Jiang Luokui, “Xiao Kui, no matter what, thank you for today.”
Watching him leave, Lin Zihan said sympathetically, “He’s quite pitiful, but Luokui, take my advice…”
She patted Jiang Luokui on the shoulder, her sympathy instantly gone. “He’s kind of into you. You’d better keep your distance.”
Jiang Luokui: “…?”
Wait—that kind of into me?
How did I not notice?
Forget it. Explaining this to her would be pointless—she clearly hadn’t figured these things out yet.
“Alright, enough of that,” Lin Zihan said, changing the subject. “Where did you germinate your rice seeds? In an incubator? Take me to see!”
Looking at Jiang Luokui like she was some kind of expert, she grinned. “I’m going to take a photo and post it—otherwise those people from Class One will never shut up.”
There was a trace of gritted teeth in her smile. They hadn’t eaten together at noon—she must have been annoyed by something Class One said in the farm cafeteria.
Jiang Luokui asked, “You added people from Class One?”
“Yeah, I added both Class One and Class Two. I’ve been so busy lately—socializing is exhausting.”
Jiang Luokui, who barely socialized at all, fell silent.
She had almost no need for social interaction—not even adding all her classmates—yet Lin Zihan had such a wide network.
“Alright,” Jiang Luokui said. She was heading to Plot 147, but it wasn’t convenient to bring Lin Zihan along. “I’ll take photos and send them to you.”
Lin Zihan paused, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll head back to the dorm. I don’t even know how my tomato seeds are doing… sigh, I’m worried.”
Jiang Luokui patted her shoulder encouragingly, and the two parted ways.
Class One students were truly well-funded. Because rice seeds were limited and couldn’t be germinated through heat stacking, they rented temperature-controlled incubators from the school lab. After soaking and disinfecting the seeds, they used optimal temperature sprouting.
But rice was delicate.
Even with such careful handling, half of Class One still failed to germinate their seeds.
During today’s farm visit, Researcher Dong had repeatedly emphasized the importance of abilities in seedling cultivation and even demonstrated precise control.
Jiang Luokui lifted the straw hat covering her watering bucket. Inside was a ladle with a bit of pale green water, where ten seeds lay quietly.
After breaking dormancy and developing for two days, the sprouts had grown to about half a grain in length, while the roots had reached the length of a full grain.
Jiang Luokui was very satisfied. “They can be planted tomorrow.”
She hadn’t even bought seedling trays. With only ten seeds, it would be a waste—direct sowing was enough.
Sticky soil was best for rice, but Jiang Luokui saved the money. The soil in Plot 147 was black loam, suitable for most crops.
Getting things for free—she was quite experienced at that.
Before preparing the soil, she took a photo of the seeds. To avoid making others uncomfortable, she cropped out the details of the ladle so the background couldn’t be identified, then sent it to Lin Zihan.
【Lin Zihan: Girl, you’re amazing!!!】
Lin Zihan was stunned. The root system was perfect—these were growing unbelievably well!
If she posted this on social media, Class One would absolutely explode.