“Of course it’s real. My ability is special—I can stabilize plants that haven’t completely mutated yet…”
Before Jiang Luokui could finish her improvised excuse, Wang Meng excitedly grabbed her hand. “Junior, just tell me what it takes for you to help! Is five hundred per session enough!?”
She had heard during lunch that this year’s agronomy department had a top-tier prodigy candidate. Could it be the person right in front of her?
She certainly looked the part… Otherwise, how could a freshman already be renting farmland? Without confidence and strength, who would dare jump straight into hands-on practice?
It had to be her!
If she was a prodigy candidate, maybe her ability really could save her corn!
At once, Wang Meng looked at Jiang Luokui as if she were a lifeline. Then she wondered if five hundred was too little—after all, she was probably an A-level ability user… Should she add more?
They were talking about money this quickly?
Jiang Luokui was surprised. She had thought she’d need to do more convincing, but it seemed her senior was truly desperate.
She silently swallowed the “one hundred per session” she had been about to say. “Deal. But I still have class later—I can only come back after dinner.”
“You’re such a good person, junior.” Wang Meng opened her communicator. “Let’s add each other as friends. Contact me when you’re here. I’m Wang Meng, a fourth-year repeating student.”
“Jiang Luokui, first-year.”
Jiang Luokui…? The name sounded familiar, but if she was a prodigy-in-the-making, it wasn’t strange that she’d heard of her.
The moment they added each other, Wang Meng transferred the money to Jiang Luokui, then stuffed the straw hat from her own head onto hers. “This hat’s for you—the sun today is brutal. See you tonight, Junior Jiang.”
With that, Wang Meng hurried off.
Bubu popped out of Jiang Luokui’s pocket. “Abu—!” It was about to dry out!
Helping someone reverse plant mutation once earned five hundred, while her three part-time jobs only made her three thousand a month… The urge to quit was increasing exponentially.
Smiling, Jiang Luokui took Bubu out and placed it on the ground, then shut the wire fence gate.
Nothing in the experimental plot was free. Even the security system was included in the rent, ensuring students’ hard work wouldn’t be ruined by careless people.
Water, of course, also cost money.
There were buckets and ladles left behind by the previous tenant, which worked out well for Jiang Luokui. She generously spent fifty cents to draw about a third of a bucket of water, then picked up the anxious Bubu and dropped it inside.
Watching the little radish sigh in comfort, Jiang Luokui poked it. “Hey, you should be in your adult form now, right? Does your bathwater still work?”
Bubu nodded, then shook its head regretfully.
After a century together, Jiang Luokui easily understood. “You mean it works, but with limitations?”
Bubu nodded firmly.
Jiang Luokui sighed in relief. She hadn’t even reached the Qi Refining stage yet—if Bubu couldn’t produce its special bathwater, stabilizing plant genes would take enormous effort.
“Our future quality of life depends on you, Bubu!”
“Abu!”
Leave it all to me! The little radish clenched its fists.
By the time Bubu had recovered, it was already 1 p.m. Jiang Luokui went straight to her afternoon class instead of returning to the dorm.
She sent Lin Zihan a message.
[Jiang Luokui: I’m saving seats. Which row do you want? Bring my book when you come.]
[Lin Zihan: Obviously the last row! Book secured.]
In her previous life, Jiang Luokui had always sat in the front row due to her weak innate ability, hoping to compensate with knowledge. But now… she confidently chose the back row, using the straw hat to reserve a seat for Lin Zihan.
She’d already learned everything—slacking off was the real joy.
The afternoon class was Crop Cultivation, another large lecture with two classes combined.
The front rows were empty at first, but under everyone’s attention, the top students of Class 1, led by Li Jue Ming, calmly filled them.
Lin Zihan clicked her tongue and sat beside Jiang Luokui. “What are they showing off for? So what if their abilities are A-level? Your exam scores were higher than all of them! Before the wasteland era, you’d have been the top scholar!”
Jiang Luokui glanced at her. “You seem to have a problem with Li Jue Ming?”
“You didn’t check the school forum?” Lin Zihan looked at her in disbelief.
“No.”
Jiang Luokui was busy selecting seeds.
Sixteen scallions wasted too much land. Now that she had Wang Meng’s money, she planned to buy more cost-effective seeds.
“I thought you knew since you’ve been glued to your communicator… Your evaluation report somehow got leaked, and it’s spreading like crazy on the forum!”
People in the front row kept turning around to look at Jiang Luokui. Lin Zihan glared back at each of them while continuing:
“Li Jue Ming has a cousin who also got into the agronomy department this year—ranked right after you. Some people are saying you took his spot and are mocking you online.”
She huffed. “If this wasn’t Li Jue Ming’s doing, who would bother digging this up?”
Admissions rankings combined ability level and academic scores. Jiang Luokui had the highest academic score in the Jiangnan Base, but her ability was awkwardly low, so there had been rumors before school started that the department might reassign her.
Turns out someone wanted her to give up her spot.
“Good thing Old Qian stood his ground and kept you,” Lin Zihan said. “Otherwise those people with family backing would’ve pushed their way in.”
That did sound familiar.
In her previous life, not only had people questioned how she got admitted with a D-level ability, some even accused Old Qian of having an improper relationship with her.
Although there had been cases where underperforming students were transferred out of agronomy, freeing spots for others with more suitable abilities.
But Lin Zihan had misunderstood Li Jue Ming.
He might have an unpleasant face, but he wasn’t the type to use such underhanded methods.
Someone else was behind this.
Jiang Luokui clicked her tongue, then suddenly thought of another way to make money.
She looked at Lin Zihan. “Want a chance to get rich?”
In her previous life, someone had opened a betting pool during the chaos, betting on how long she could stay in the agronomy department.
No one dared bet she’d last the semester—most chose three months.
In the end, she stayed until graduation.
No one guessed correctly, and the bookmaker made a fortune.
She had just checked the forum—the betting pool hadn’t appeared yet.
So she wouldn’t hold back.
Jiang Luokui whispered her idea into Lin Zihan’s ear.
“Can we really do that?” Lin Zihan was both hesitant and excited. She had never played such a big game before!
“Go for it. If we don’t, someone else will. Might as well be us making the money.”
That made sense.
“Alright! I’ll think about how to write the post!”
The teacher was still introducing the course. Jiang Luokui listened for a while before zoning out and calculating seed costs and vegetable prices. In the end, she bought lettuce, red cherry radish, and Shanghai greens seeds for a total of 100 yuan.
After class, Lin Zihan went home, while Jiang Luokui returned to the dorm alone to prepare Bubu’s special bathwater to treat the mutated corn.
Bubu converted spiritual energy in its body into essence, which, when released and mixed with water, became a special solution.
Jiang Luokui didn’t dare let Bubu release it directly into the field bucket—the water was too precious.
Her two roommates from the combat department were also there, but after greeting each other, the dorm fell silent.
Bai Xiang’s bed was near the door, curtains tightly drawn—a shy, socially anxious girl.
The other roommate, tall with long legs, had a commanding presence but was quiet.
Jiang Luokui knew their personalities well enough and didn’t feel awkward. She grabbed the plastic cup given by the school, filled with water, and went to the bathroom.
When it was about 80% full, she put Bubu inside.
She silently mouthed, “You can do it, Bubu! Release as much essence as possible.”
Bubu nodded, took a deep breath, and sank to the bottom.
Then it clenched its fists and tensed its whole body.
Half a minute later, bubbles rose from the water—and from where the radish’s “butt” would be, if it had one.
As the bubbles appeared, the clear water gradually turned pale green.
That’s enough!
Jiang Luokui quickly scooped out the exhausted Bubu—and was shocked.
The vibrant green radish had turned white!!
“What’s going on? That’s never happened before…”
“Abu…” Bubu’s voice was weak.
Soil… bury in soil…
“That scared me to death,” Jiang Luokui said, wiping sweat. “Wait here—I’ll get some nutrient soil.”
Compared to the soil in the scallion pot, the nutrient soil Lin Zihan bought was less radioactive and looser—just the way Bubu liked it.
Jiang Luokui peeked out to check her roommates, then casually opened the bag under the window. Like a thief, she took Bubu from her pocket and buried it in the soil.
Although Bubu squirmed uncomfortably, the fading of its green color slowed, which reassured Jiang Luokui.
It must have overexerted itself. Its size had reverted to its juvenile stage, and as its master, she was too weak to support it or create spiritual soil.
Although her cultivation method was running and she had successfully drawn energy into her body, she hadn’t reached the impurity-cleansing stage even after an entire afternoon.
The progress was painfully slow.
Thinking about it, Jiang Luokui felt doomed.
The mutated plants could be stabilized with this bottle of bathwater.
But the radiation in plot 147… she had originally planned to dilute it slowly using brute-force energy infusion.
That would drain her dry.