Night fell, and the third-floor cafeteria had long since lost its bustle. The entire kitchen staff had gone off duty, leaving only one office with its lights still on.
A hand pulled open the refrigerator that stored ingredients. Because of Liang Quan’s strict standards, very little food was left over each day—anything extra would be dealt with before closing time.
Inside the fridge, there was only a single wilted head of lettuce.
The hand carefully took out a cloth pouch from a pocket—its material similar to a protective suit. After opening it, the person sprinkled something over the lettuce.
Click.
The office lights were turned off.
Soon, even the first-floor cafeteria closed for the night. The entire building fell completely silent.
Jiang Luokui slept soundly through the night. She seemed to have dreamed something, but couldn’t remember what. When she woke up, however, her cultivation had noticeably improved.
At five in the morning, Lin Zihan was still asleep.
Jiang Luokui quietly finished washing up and slipped out of the dorm. The moment she stepped outside, she eagerly began circulating her cultivation technique.
“Huh—my cultivation really did improve!”
At this rate, she felt she might break through the Qi Refining stage in just two or three months.
“Could it really be related to the radiation environment?” she wondered. “What exactly is the connection between radiation and spiritual energy?”
She didn’t have enough experience yet to figure it out.
“Forget it. One step at a time. First—harvest the vegetables!”
After a night, the lettuce and bok choy had grown a bit more, but they still needed at least two more days to reach harvest standard.
Jiang Luokui skillfully used [Growth] to force two plants to mature, then cut them with a knife, leaving the roots intact so they could continue growing.
She didn’t take much—these vegetables were meant to be sold, after all. Just one of each.
Bubu had already finished its tasks early and climbed onto the harvested vegetables, waiting to be carried along.
After watering and fertilizing the field, Jiang Luokui picked up her three “vegetables” and headed toward the cafeteria.
“Let’s go meet that Manager Fang.”
After receiving Manager Fang’s message the day before, Boss Zhao had decided to come personally.
Normally, he left such matters to his subordinates. He had full confidence in his company’s produce—after all, the plants were managed by top talent he had recruited from various bases.
But yesterday, Manager Fang had praised another supplier’s vegetables to the skies, and that piqued his curiosity.
He wanted to meet the student who could grow produce with such “top-tier flavor.”
A talent like that—he couldn’t afford to miss.
At dawn, a private car entered Third Academy through its designated access road and stopped at the cafeteria’s back entrance.
Manager Fang and Liang Quan had just arrived as well. Upon receiving the message, they went downstairs to wait.
Manager Fang immediately put on a warm smile and stepped forward.
“Ah, brother Zhao! Why did you come in person? This kind of small matter could’ve been handled by your staff.”
Meanwhile, Aunt Chen and Jiang Luokui were peeking from behind a window at the back of the cafeteria.
Seeing the car and the man, Aunt Chen frowned. “Who is this guy? That car must cost millions. I’ve never seen him in the base before.”
Jiang Luokui took a bite of her steamed bun. She didn’t recognize him either.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Boss Zhao turned his sharp, smiling eyes toward Liang Quan and spoke even more warmly than he had to Manager Fang.
“Master Liang, right? I’ve seen your competitions before! Your performance in the National Culinary Contest left a deep impression on me.”
Liang Quan smiled modestly and shook his hand. “Hello, Boss Zhao… um, did you bring the vegetables?”
“Of course! Xiao Wang, bring them out. Shall we go upstairs to take a look?”
“After you.”
The four of them took the elevator to the third floor.
Aunt Chen quickly pulled Jiang Luokui along. “We’ll take the stairs.”
From her brief glance earlier, Jiang Luokui had noticed that Boss Zhao’s vegetables looked excellent—uniform color, thick leaves, and consistent size.
However, she couldn’t tell whether they were radiation-free.
Even she would need to handle them directly to be sure.
In the office, Xiao Wang silently placed a basket of vegetables on the table and handed over a document.
“Master Liang, this is the test report. Please take a look.”
After Xiao Wang left, Boss Zhao said sincerely, “These reports are fresh and genuine—every metric is clearly listed. If you still think my produce isn’t good enough, then I really can’t do anything about it.”
“The report looks fine,” Liang Quan said, handing it to Manager Fang. Then he picked up a head of lettuce.
“But whether it’s good or not—my tongue will decide.”
He tore off a leaf and popped it into his mouth.
His sense of taste was extremely sensitive. With just one bite, he confirmed—the lettuce truly had no radiation.
Huh?
Was Boss Zhao running a charity?
If these were greenhouse-grown, the price was surprisingly low.
Before Liang Quan could comment, Boss Zhao confidently explained, “Not bad, right? This lettuce is a new variety developed by Professor Yu from the Second Academy of Zhongyuan Base. In the entire Jiangnan Base, I, Zhao Hai, am the only one who can get the seeds.”
In the stairwell, Jiang Luokui and Aunt Chen exchanged a look.
“This feels off,” Aunt Chen murmured. “New varieties should have more expensive seeds. Why is he selling cheaper instead?”
“Something’s definitely strange,” Jiang Luokui agreed.
Back in the office, Liang Quan swallowed and nodded.
“It’s indeed good. But…”
Hearing that “but,” Manager Fang and Boss Zhao both looked at him.
“But I still think the vegetables I had yesterday were better. Even though they’re both radiation-free, Xiao Jiang’s lettuce has a sweetness I’ve never tasted before.”
That sweetness wasn’t just on the tongue—it was something deeper.
“I’ll go get that lettuce. Boss Zhao, you should try it too—you’ll understand.”
He stepped out and spotted Jiang Luokui and Aunt Chen sitting by the stairs.
Jiang Luokui smiled and lifted a clear plastic bag—inside were two fresh vegetables still covered with dew.
Liang Quan nodded and hurried to the kitchen to retrieve yesterday’s lettuce.
The lettuce looked even more wilted after another night.
Seeing it, Boss Zhao felt slightly insulted—but given Liang Quan’s reputation, he said nothing.
Manager Fang, however, was stunned.
Why… hadn’t it mutated?!
Without changing expression, Liang Quan tore off two inner leaves and handed them over.
“Try it.”
Manager Fang’s face instantly turned green.
He remembered very clearly—this lettuce had been taken out of the trash.
And he knew exactly how dirty his trash bin was.
“Master Liang, maybe—”
Liang Quan cut him off. “It’s radiation-free. If it touches untreated water, the taste will be ruined.”
Boss Zhao nodded in understanding.
But just as he was about to eat it, Manager Fang suddenly grabbed his wrist.
“For… safety, let me try it first.”
Boss Zhao sensed something was wrong and quietly withdrew his hand.
Manager Fang forced himself to chew.
The next second—
He bent over a trash bin and vomited.
“Ugh—what is this?! It tastes disgusting! Bitter and awful!”
“That’s strange. It tasted great yesterday,” Liang Quan said innocently.
After rinsing his mouth, Manager Fang said darkly, “This lettuce has mutated! The taste is off!”
Jiang Luokui finished her bun, dusted off her hands, and picked up her vegetables.
“Let’s go. Our turn.”
Knock, knock.
“Sorry to interrupt. I’m here to deliver ingredient samples.”
Jiang Luokui walked in and handed the vegetables to Liang Quan.
“Uncle Liang, here.”
Manager Fang glanced at the two unexpected visitors, his mind racing. He forced a polite tone:
“So you’re Xiao Jiang? Your vegetables are too unstable. After just two days, they mutated. Our cafeteria won’t accept them—you can leave.”
He snatched the remaining lettuce from Liang Quan and smirked.
“If you don’t believe me, try it yourself.”
Jiang Luokui stared at the grains of sand on the lettuce, about to speak—
When suddenly, a deep, powerful voice sounded from outside.
“Try what?”
A middle-aged man strode into the office. Seeing the three different kinds of vegetables present, he raised an eyebrow.
“Xiao Fang, selecting new ingredients for tomorrow’s banquet? Why didn’t you inform me?”
Manager Fang immediately broke out in cold sweat.
Why… was the boss here at this moment?!