After discussing business, Julianna Garland tactfully prepared to get up and take her leave.
Once she left, Cedric Sutton suddenly remembered something: Earth Star was obscure, neither in the Major Quadrant nor a popular tourist planet, meaning travel and shopping would be quite inconvenient.
While money could solve these problems, what Ms.
Garland lacked most right now was exactly that—money.
If she wanted to mail something to him, it wouldn’t be as convenient as when she was on First Star.
Unfortunately, Julianna had already left.
If he deliberately left a message just to remind her about this now, it would seem rather impolite.
He thought to himself, “Never mind.
This Ms.
Garland will naturally find out all of this before she tries to mail anything anyway.”
He didn’t need to remind her, and Julianna would be spared the embarrassment.
As time passed, the matter would naturally fade away.
After leaving Cedric’s home on the Interstellar Net, Julianna remembered the task issued by the Earth Recovery System: promote rice.
She had already filmed the winter-related video for the rice, and now might be a good opportunity to upload it to the internet.
However, Novus was technologically advanced, and corresponding information was highly transparent.
If someone was determined to trace the past, a person’s life history could be completely uncovered.
From the time she inherited the estate to when she set foot on Earth Star, only a little over a month had passed.
This timeline left traces during her handover at the Aeturnum Firm, and the Novaria Starship Corporation had records of transporting her.
It was simply impossible to hide.
Even if she had been incredibly lucky to cultivate rice seeds during this period, the maturation time was still too short.
Rice itself was a lost artifact from the Earth Era.
Once discovered, it would sooner or later trigger an uproar on the Astral Domain Net.
When that time came, she would be thrust into the spotlight, and her past and origins would likely be exposed on the Interstellar Net.
This was not the right time to upload the video.
Julianna thought for a moment and decided it would be safer to hold off for another ten days or half a month.
Having made up her mind, she finally had the peace of mind to check the messages she had received on the Interstellar Net over the past month.
To Julianna’s surprise, most of the messages were from the original owner’s former classmates and friends—even Rosamund Keating, whom she had chatted with a while ago, had sent a message.
Rosamund’s initial messages were just greetings, but since Julianna hadn’t replied for a “long time,” she had clearly grown anxious, her later messages laced with concern.
“I’m fine,” Julianna replied.
The moment her message went through, Rosamund immediately sent a voice call request.
As soon as Julianna answered, Rosamund let out a long sigh of relief.
“You finally replied.
I thought something had happened to you.
“Ever since we last chatted, I haven’t heard a peep from you. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
You stopped updating your social media, you haven’t sent out any related resumes, and you never logged onto the Interstellar Net again—”
Rosamund talked for quite a while before Julianna finally understood what her senior meant.
Ever since leaving First Star, she had practically lived an isolated life.
Moreover, because she had been busy tilling soil and planting rice recently, Julianna hadn’t gone online at all.
To the people of Novus, this was practically inconceivable.
Furthermore, someone had mentioned on the campus network that she had unexpectedly fainted and been sent to First Star Hospital a while ago.
As the rumor mill turned, people began gossiping that Julianna might have met with a mishap.
Rosamund hadn’t believed it at first, but when Julianna stopped coming online altogether, she naturally became anxious.
The two of them had shared a brief camaraderie in a club back in the day, which was why Rosamund had sent her so many messages in succession.
After figuring out the whole story, Julianna didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Nothing happened.
It’s just that I’ve been busy with other things on Earth Star.
Once I finish my daily work, I just don’t feel like going online.”
She had been busy with manual labor lately and had marks from mosquito and insect bites on her body.
At her words, Rosamund looked at her hands.
The Interstellar Network realistically rendered a person’s physical condition.
There were actually tiny, fine cuts on Julianna’s palms, as if they had been sliced by something.
Sympathy flashed in Rosamund’s eyes.
“Julia, if you can’t find a job, how about I ask around for you?” she said.
“As I told you, Jude Sharp and I are already engaged.
He has taken over some of his family’s estates and is currently managing several companies.
I can ask him; he might have a suitable position for you.”
Julianna hurriedly said, “There’s no need to trouble yourself for now.
I’m doing alright…” Seeing that Rosamund wasn’t convinced, she added helplessly, “I’m not just being polite.
If I truly hit a dead end, I’ll come and bother you then.
I’ll ask for your help when the time comes.”
Rosamund had no choice but to nod.
“If you ever need anything, just let me know.”
The two chatted for a bit longer before Rosamund disconnected the call, still half in doubt.
Among the other messages, former classmates, friends, and even community volunteer organizations had sent their regards.
Their worries were the same as Rosamund’s: they were afraid something bad had happened to Julianna.
After receiving her replies that she was safe and sound, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
After sending a quick message to her class group chat to let them know she was fine, Julianna finally noticed that at the very bottom of her inbox, Peachy Keen had also sent her a message.
Upon clicking Peachy Keen’s message, an electronically generated female avatar popped up.
The message had been sent thirteen days ago, and Peachy Keen’s voice sounded distressed.
I heard the news yesterday.
For my internship rotation in a month, I’m being transferred to the satellite channel’s agricultural division,” she said.
“You know the situation on Novus.
The agricultural channel has always been unpopular.
I heard the station leaders have issued a directive stating that once entering this channel, only those who manage to achieve some results during their internship will have a chance to stay at the satellite station as full-time employees.”
Peachy Keen’s face was generated by the Intelligent System, so no distress could be seen on it, but her words were accompanied by long sighs.
“But where am I supposed to find material?
Novus hasn’t discovered a new species in seventy-eight years!
Even if there was one, it wouldn’t be my turn to discover it—”
After Peachy Keen’s voice complaint ended, her avatar on the Interstellar Net flashed, and then another message popped up:
“Julia, haven’t you been online recently?
Did something happen?”
Two more greeting messages followed.
Just as Julianna was clicking them open, a call request notification from Peachy Keen rang out.
She accepted the voice call.
“PHEW!”
On the other end of the line, Peachy Keen let out a long sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness you finally showed up.
I thought something had happened to you.”
Julianna smiled.
“I’ve been busy lately, so I haven’t been online.”
After the two chatted for a bit and Peachy Keen confirmed that Julianna was safe and sound, she said in distress, “Julia, it looks like I’ll have to find another job.”
“I just heard you say it’s related to your internship rotation?” Julianna asked.
“Yeah,” Peachy Keen said.
“It seems the competition at the First Sector’s satellite channel has been very intense lately.”
Novus had a total population of twenty to thirty billion.
Every year, an endless tide of young people graduated from schools and entered the various Astral Domains for work.
“The internship rotation period is also the time for every intern to showcase their abilities.
The seniors in the department will evaluate us based on our performance,” Peachy Keen said, pulling a long face.
“I found out half a month ago that I was going to the agricultural channel.
There are no relevant resources there, and without a solid background or connections, there’s absolutely no useful information.”
Her tone carried a hint of bitterness.
“I think I can hold out until the three-month period is up at most, and then I’ll probably have to find another job.
I just hope my internship experience at the satellite channel will help me secure a relevant position at a local channel in another Astral Domain.”
Peachy Keen said dejectedly, “I originally thought that since you were on First Star and my internship was also taking me there, we could meet up.
I didn’t expect…”
At this point, Julianna suddenly interrupted, “Are you being transferred to the agricultural channel in half a month?”
“Yes.” Although Peachy Keen was somewhat surprised by her sudden interest in the topic, she answered anyway.
As soon as she finished, Julianna asked, “What kind of relevant material do you need?
Would discovering a new plant species work?”
“Of course it would!” Peachy Keen raised her volume slightly, answering loudly.
But after saying that, she added dejectedly, “If I could discover a new plant species, I wouldn’t just be interning here.
It’s even possible I’d become a full-time employee immediately and be put in charge of following up on the new project.
But—”
Before she could finish, Julianna cut in.
“If that’s the case, then I can actually help you.”