By evening, Xie Shian returned to his dormitory.
His harvest from the charity bazaar today had been abundant. In addition to the bookmark Senior Si Xiu had given him, there were also snacks and handmade accessories gifted by Xia Zuo and the others.
After putting everything away, Xie Shian suddenly felt his wristband vibrate. Logging into the system, he discovered that his volunteer application had been approved.
There were many tasks to choose from in the backend. Scrolling down the list, Xie Shian spotted an entry for a botanical garden volunteer.
Perhaps because he had heard Senior Si Xiu mention the gilded wood during the day, Xie Shian chose the botanical garden from the massive list of tasks.
The following day, Xie Shian headed to the botanical garden to begin his volunteer assignment.
The botanical garden was located in the South District, and he was greeted upon arrival by Butler Owen.
“Good day, Young Master Shian.” Butler Owen smiled warmly, leading Xie Shian to a changing room next to the botanical garden.
Visitors had to change into dedicated work uniforms before entering the botanical garden. Once changed, Xie Shian officially stepped into the interior grounds.
Butler Owen walked ahead to lead the way, carrying a tool box and asking, “Young Master Shian, are you getting used to things at the school during this time?”
Xie Shian nodded: “Pretty good.”
“There might be some unfamiliar aspects when you first arrive at school, but you’ll gradually adapt as time goes on,” Butler Owen comforted.
Butler Owen had already checked Xie Shian’s file in the system backend. Seeing that several routine points had been deducted, leading him to come to the botanical garden to clear his record through volunteering, he understood the situation.
The young master of the Xie family had transferred not long ago and still needed some time to get accustomed to the school’s various etiquette rules and regulations.
Before long, Butler Owen led Xie Shian into a grove of trees.
“The tasks in the botanical garden change every day. The basic task is applying nutrient solutions, and different plants require different ratios of nutrient formulas.”
Stopping beside a tree, Butler Owen opened the tool box and took out a tube of nutrient solution.
“This entire area consists of cloud-mist firs, a species transported from another planet. Their bark is quite thin, so the injection method is used.”
Demonstrating the usage, Xie Shian squatted halfway down beside him, noting down the steps.
Suddenly, Xie Shian sensed a gaze and quickly looked up to the side, spotting a pair of dark-green beast pupils peering out from a nearby small thicket.
Xie Shian asked, “Butler Owen, is that an animal kept by the garden?”
Following Xie Shian’s line of sight, Butler Owen watched as a white shadow suddenly bolted out of the thicket, scrambling in a hurry right up to Butler Owen’s feet.
It was a large, snowy-white wolf, roughly three meters long, rubbing its head against Butler Owen’s leg while glancing back at Xie Shian from time to time, its entire body tensed and highly alert.
Putting the nutrient solution back into the tool box, Butler Owen bent down to pet the big wolf’s head and said to Xie Shian, “This is a snow wolf that the Prince rescued previously, brought back and raised here in the garden ever since. It might be a bit timid around strangers.”
Xie Shian didn’t mind the snow wolf’s display of hostility; instead, he caught onto another piece of information—
The Prince.
However, regarding the Prince, Butler Owen simply mentioned it in passing.
Fumbling into the tool box, Butler Owen fished out a snack bone and fed it to the snow wolf, smoothing down its fur. Only then did the snow wolf wag its tail contentedly and trot away.
Watching the snow wolf’s retreating figure, Butler Owen explained patiently, “The snow wolf is initially quite wary of strangers, but it gets used to them over time. If you run into it, just give it a bone to eat; it really likes these little snacks.”
Xie Shian nodded and continued following Butler Owen to get familiar with the workflow.
After the two of them walked through the grove, a broad lawn opened up before them, with only a giant tree standing quietly in the center. Its golden leaves reflected dazzling light in the sunlight, surrounded by a faint golden halo of light.
Looking at the golden tree, Xie Shian asked, “Butler Owen, is this the gilded wood?”
“It is the gilded wood, and it’s already five hundred years old,” Butler Owen remarked with a hint of awe.
Approaching the canopy of the gilded wood, Xie Shian looked up at the leaves on the golden tree, which looked as though they were hung with golden gemstones.
“Many students usually come here to collect gilded wood leaves to take back for carving assignments,” Butler Owen said, raising a hand to lightly brush the soft leaves overhead. “Once the leaves of the gilded wood naturally fall to the ground, they harden and become sturdy.”
Gazing at the massive tree, Xie Shian recalled the materials Si Xiu had mentioned yesterday and asked again, “I heard from a senior that the gilded wood also has silvery-white leaves. How do you collect those?”
Butler Owen replied, “Silvery-white leaves are probably quite rare.”
Only newborn leaves of the gilded wood were silvery-white, and they rapidly entered maturity after three days. Wanting to collect a silvery-white leaf meant waiting for a newborn leaf to fall naturally, and then gathering it within one hour of hitting the ground.
Because it had to fall naturally without human intervention, it all came down to pure luck.
In the Ater Empire, silvery-white gilded wood leaves carried another meaning: they represented the blessing of the God of Luck.
Xie Shian spent the entire daytime in the botanical garden, putting in six hours of volunteer work.
Upon returning to the villa, Xie Shian rushed straight to the kitchen to find something to eat, taking the opportunity to log onto the forum and search for the keyword snow wolf, which brought up several threads.
[Topic Thread: Question, can we adopt the snow wolf in the botanical garden?]
[Thread Content: Every time I go to the botanical garden, I see the snow wolf lying on the ground sunbathing, and it even comes over to let me pet its head and smooth its fur. I love it so much! Want to take it home!]
[1L: Think twice, thread starter. That snow wolf in the botanical garden was brought back by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.]
[2L: The Crown Prince probably just left it at the school for temporary boarding; he’ll probably take it away once he graduates.]
[3L: Actually, I’ve been eyeing the snow wolf for a long time too. I sneakily get my fix every time I do volunteer work.]
Reading through several snow wolf-related threads, Xie Shian learned that the snow wolf had been brought back by the Crown Prince a year ago.
At the time, the Crown Prince had traveled to another planet on behalf of the Ater Empire to attend an event, accidentally encountered an injured snow wolf, and brought it back to the school botanical garden to recover. Ever since, the snow wolf had remained at the school.
However, the Crown Prince’s attitude toward the snow wolf was rather ambiguous. After all, the Crown Prince was rarely at school under normal circumstances, leaving him with even less time to care for the snow wolf, prompting quite a few people at the school to line up in hopes of adopting it.
Browsing the threads, Xie Shian headed upstairs. Passing the third-floor public living room, he spotted Xia Zuo and his companions sitting together, discussing something.
“What are you guys talking about?” Xie Shian went over to join the fun.
The boy sitting on the sofa looked up and said, “Helping Xia Zuo revise his draft. He has to go up on stage to give a speech in a couple of days.”
Xie Shian went over to listen in, learning that this was in preparation for Xia Zuo’s speech at the upcoming auditorium assembly. Xia Zuo would be taking the stage as the freshman representative to encourage everyone regarding the upcoming practical combat course assessments.
Practical combat course assessments? Xie Shian had no idea about any assessments and quickly logged into the system backend to check, discovering that a practical combat assessment was indeed scheduled for next week.
Xie Shian asked in a hurry, “What happens if you fail the assessment? I haven’t attended a single practical combat class yet.”
The boy beside him answered, “If you’re really not prepared, you should be able to apply to the school for a deferred exam.”
The boy speaking was named Ji Xun, who, just like Xie Shian, had also chosen close combat classes.
Xia Zuo, sitting in the middle, pondered for a moment and added, “But deferred exams are held in separate testing rooms, and there’s no way to team up with anyone, which makes scoring points a lot more exhausting.”
Not quite understanding the specific process of the school’s practical combat assessments, Xie Shian found an empty spot on the sofa to sit down, snacking while listening to them talk.
Xia Zuo added two sugar cubes to his teacup, gently stirring with a spoon as he chatted idly, “I wonder what this year’s assessment reward will be. I heard from the instructor that this reward is going to be a huge surprise.”
“Last year’s first place was an energy dagger, which went for sky-high prices on the black market. You couldn’t buy it even if you threw money at it,” Ji Xun said with intense envy.
The boy next to him sighed, “Even if there are good things, we first-years won’t be able to secure a top ranking anyway. In the end, the seniors will still take first place.”
Xia Zuo offered reassurance: “It’s fine. As long as we stay neutral and secure enough points for ourselves first, that’s what matters.”
Luoxi Academy’s social rules were terribly complex; Xie Shian didn’t understand them and simply went back to quietly eating his food.
However, for Xia Zuo’s speech, the other classmates discussed presenting flowers to Xia Zuo when the time came, and Xie Shian planned to gift a bouquet as well.
Two days later, the auditorium assembly arrived.
The assembly was attended by all first- and second-year students. With everyone else having already arrived at the seating area one after another, Xie Shian hugged his bouquet of flowers and sneaked off to the backstage area alone.
It was a little past five o’clock in the evening, and the assembly hadn’t officially started yet, leaving quite a few people mingling and chatting backstage.
As Xie Shian wandered back and forth backstage searching everywhere for Xia Zuo, a male voice sounded from behind him: “Darling, I’m delighted we meet again.”
Turning around, Xie Shian recognized the blonde senior and promptly bowed in greeting: “Senior Eles.”
“Darling, you’ve been wandering in circles in the exact same spot for five minutes. Do you need help?” Eles was dressed in a dark blue evening coat, his eyes carrying a smile.
Xie Shian explained, “I’m looking for Xia Zuo. He has to give a speech on stage, and I wanted to give him these flowers.”
“Xia Zuo went upstairs to change clothes just a moment ago.” Eles glanced at the bouquet in Xie Shian’s arms. “Darling, I’m giving a speech today too. I wonder if I might have the honor of receiving the flowers you prepared?”
After a brief second of thought, Xie Shian replied, “These flowers are meant for Xia Zuo. Senior Eles, I’ll give you flowers next time.”
Eles gave a low chuckle, his gaze dropping to the neckline of Xie Shian’s shirt as he remarked, “Darling, is your formal wear all tidied up? Although I’m not on duty today, you should be careful not to let anyone else deduct points from you.”
Straightening his flower petals, Xie Shian looked up again at the color of Eles’s formal wear, confirming it was dark blue and not the Disciplinary Department uniform.
Xie Shian answered instinctively, “It’ll be fine. Senior Si Xiu is still outside, and I’m wearing my gloves.”
“But your shirt button is undone, darling,” Eles reminded him.
Startled, Xie Shian instinctively reached up to touch his shirt collar, realizing it really was unbuttoned, and quickly said, “Wait, it looks like my button fell off.”
He had checked his formal wear repeatedly before leaving his room, confirming his shirt buttons were securely fastened before stepping out, only for a button to vanish entirely now.
Just as Xie Shian lowered his head to search for the button, a cold, austere male voice rang out beside him—
“Shirt buttons unfastened, deduct one point.”
Raising his head, Xie Shian saw an unfamiliar Disciplinary Department senior holding a record book in the middle of handing out point deductions.
The person was wearing the dark red Disciplinary Department uniform, though with a distinct difference: the embroidery patterns on the collar and sleeves were far more ornate, and a special Disciplinary Department emblem was pinned to his chest, indicating a higher rank.
Eles gave a light cough, turned around, and addressed the other person: “Dear Vice Minister, the junior didn’t mean to do it; the button accidentally fell off.”
The Vice Minister raised his head, fixing his dark eyes on Xie Shian standing nearby, and said coldly, “Rule Book, Page 1, Article 1: Maintain your deportment at all times.”
Unmoved by the excuse, the strict Vice Minister closed his record book with one hand.