[Notice: Tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock, the Central Base Researcher will give everyone a lecture in the Round Building Square.]
The announcement echoed through the dormitory, repeating three times before fading away.
“Did they just say that a researcher is giving us a lecture tomorrow?” Tong Tong, who had just laid down, immediately sat up in excitement, turning to Zhao Linong.
Zhao Linong nodded, her light brain buzzing with notifications from the Agriculture Class C group chat.
The entire group was buzzing with excitement. After all, who wouldn’t want to be a researcher? While most of them would never achieve that goal, the honor of being close to one, let alone attending their class, was immense. Researchers usually only guided planting officers, making this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
[Which researcher is so generous?]
[I heard that the researchers were initially going to do a Q&A session for the third and fourth-year students, but the second-years begged to attend, so now the whole base gets to participate.]
[We’re lucky freshmen to get this chance.]
[Yeah, what other freshman class is as “lucky” as us? We encountered a C-level mutant plant before starting school.]
[We were fortunate to meet Ye Changming and Luo Fanxue at that time.]
Zhao Linong scanned the messages, recognizing the names mentioned—names she had heard from day one. Realizing there wasn’t any useful information, she turned off her light brain. Tong Tong, however, was fully engaged in reading the gossip.
Zhao Linong then pulled the blank diary from her drawer, signing “Zhao Linong” in the lower right corner of the first page with a black gel pen. With no desk lamp and the dormitory light behind her, her shadow cast a dim hue over the notebook. She hesitated before starting to write again.
After finishing her entry, she glanced at her light brain to check the time before adding another line to her notes, followed by three more words in the corner. Her fingertips brushed over the written words with a touch of nostalgia.
Back in her world, even after laboring in the fields, she had to organize and record data, stay up late to research, and write papers. This relentless routine had become so ingrained in her that she felt uneasy without documenting something.
**Plant Name:** Zeqi (Annual Herb)
**Observation Status:** Rapid growth, unchanged characteristics, upward-branching, alternate leaves, can grow up to 3 meters long, and capable of sucking human blood.
After jotting down her observations, Zhao Linong closed the diary and turned back to her light brain to make an electronic record of the lettuce she had been growing.
The next morning, Tong Tong was already awake and calling for Zhao Linong to get up.
“It’s only five o’clock,” Zhao Linong grumbled, glancing at the time.
Tong Tong, brimming with excitement, couldn’t hide her dimples. “He Yuesheng called and said we should go early to reserve a spot closer to the researcher.”
Zhao Linong reluctantly got out of bed, asking, “Do you even have a question to ask?”
“Not really, but they’re researchers! It’s every agricultural student’s dream to be close to them,” Tong Tong replied, undeterred.
Resigned, Zhao Linong got up, and after they both got ready, they headed toward the inner square where He Yuesheng was already saving them seats.
The notice hadn’t specified seating arrangements by grade, so everyone could stand wherever they liked. By the time Zhao Linong and Tong Tong arrived, the square was already filling up.
“Over here!” He Yuesheng called, waving them over. He had managed to secure a spot near the front corner, though the area was already packed.
“These people are crazy,” He Yuesheng said, shaking his head. “As soon as the announcement went out last night, some people brought blankets and camped out here to reserve seats.”
Zhao Linong looked around and indeed saw a student in the middle of the front row with a folded quilt under their feet. Despite the intensity, she respected their hunger for knowledge.
By seven o’clock, the square was full, with nearly all the agricultural students at the base present. As the sun rose, the anticipation grew.
Squatting in the corner of the front row, Zhao Linong browsed the Central Base website, which sold agricultural tools, seeds, and pesticides. However, everything was too expensive.
*I need to earn more points,* she thought, adding green vegetable seeds and okra seeds to her shopping cart. She would have to wait until her lettuce was grown and sold before buying more.
Suddenly, the square buzzed with excitement.
“They’re here!”
Zhao Linong stood up, spotting a middle-aged gray-haired man stepping onto the stage. He tapped the microphone, adjusting it until it was just right.
“Good morning, fellow students. Today, we are honored to have Researcher Luo Fanxue from the Central Base to answer your questions.”
The crowd erupted in whispers and exclamations.
“Luo Fanxue! Isn’t she the youngest researcher at the Central Base?”
“Weren’t the freshmen saved by Luo Fanxue and her guards recently?”
“I can’t believe we’re getting to attend a class by Luo Fanxue!”
“Are they on a mission nearby?”
Zhao Linong, curious, turned to He Yuesheng. “Who’s the man on stage?”
“Zhou Qianli, the dean of the Ninth Agricultural Base,” He Yuesheng explained. “He’s also a researcher, originally promoted from the Second Base.”
“The Second Base?” Tong Tong asked, surprised. “So he…”
He Yuesheng nodded. “He’s a livestock officer. He solved the animal feed problem early in his career, which earned him a promotion to a central researcher and later the position of dean at the Ninth Agricultural Base.”
Zhao Linong listened, recalling information she had found earlier. The Second Base specialized in livestock and poultry, with lower mutation rates and mortality rates compared to plants, but similar benefits for workers. It was a coveted place to work, though the exams were tough, requiring both high scores and strong physical fitness.
While they discussed this, Zhou Qianli had already introduced Luo Fanxue on stage. She was flanked by a team of guards, standing two meters behind her on either side.
The crowd fell silent, all eyes fixed on the person behind Luo Fanxue.
“Whoa, it’s Ye Changming!” someone exclaimed, breaking the silence.
Zhao Linong stood in the front row and heard someone shouting behind her. The man on stage wore a black helmet and face scarf, looking like a guard. Although his face was obscured, his tall and slender build, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, was noticeable.
Even without seeing his face, the power he exuded was unmistakable.
“As expected from the youngest and most talented researcher at the Central Committee, having Ye Changming as his guardian.”
“I recall Ye Changming only took on critical missions.”
“Luo Fanxue is important too.”
“Ye Changming was only 19 years old when he escaped Yuan Island alone to protect the data. In the years since he has completed several S-level clearing missions. He’s really impressive.”
“What is a clearing mission?” Zhao Linong quietly asked He Yuesheng.
He Yuesheng replied while messaging in the group chat, “There are too many people in the central base. We’ve been planning to expand outward for years and need to clear out new areas for living. Suitable places can’t have mutated plants, so the clearing plan was developed.”
So…
Zhao Linong looked at the young man on stage, recalling how efficiently he dealt with the mutated Zeqi. He was indeed formidable.
Perhaps she stared too long because the young man on stage lifted his long eyelashes, his sharp gaze sweeping over. However, Zhao Linong had already shifted her focus back to Luo Fanxue, unaware of his lingering look.
Zhao Linong looked up at Luo Fanxue on the stage, curious about the level of researchers in this world.
“The cause of the mutated plants is still unknown, but after decades of research, we’ve found that preventing plant diseases and reducing pests can significantly decrease the mutation rate,” Luo Fanxue addressed the agricultural students in the square with a serious expression. “I’m not here to give a lecture but to discuss and exchange ideas with you. I believe progress can only be made through communication.”
The researchers at the central base often kept their findings to themselves, only sharing them within their group, sometimes for a price. If Luo Fanxue’s actions were reported, it might spark discussion among other researchers.
The agricultural students in the square were shocked, and many raised their hands at once.
Luo Fanxue randomly selected an agricultural student who raised her hand: “The girl in red.”
The girl in red stood up. She was a fourth-year student, about to graduate, with good grades, and expected to become a plantation officer. However, there was a problem with the grapevines she planted, and she was only barely qualified to graduate. She didn’t expect to meet a researcher giving a lecture.
Excited, her eyes reddened as she tightly held the microphone, as if grasping a lifeline. “The grapevines produced well in the first year, but suddenly something went wrong last July. Many leaves withered and fell, and the bunches couldn’t develop properly. I sprayed them with lime sulfur in advance…”
According to base regulations, diseased crops must be destroyed immediately, which would mean losing her progress and having to select new crops.
Since it involved graduates, the base offered another option. The crops didn’t have to be destroyed, but the students needed to pay a large number of points to have the guard team monitor them and eliminate any abnormalities.
The girl in red chose the latter option, using all the points she had earned over the years to hire the guard team.
“What were the early symptoms?” Luo Fanxue asked her. “Do you have any photos?”
“Yes!” The girl in red quickly turned on her device, and the camera immediately displayed the images for everyone in the square to see.
Zhao Linong looked at the photos and the dates in the lower right corner.
In the early stages, there were translucent, irregular water-soaked spots on the leaves. In photos taken a few days later, the spots turned light green, and there was white downy mildew on the back. In the later stages, the spots became grayish-white, expanded, and turned yellow-green, then reddish-brown, as if scorched, before the leaves finally fell off.
After seeing all the photos, three words came to Zhao Linong’s mind: Downy mildew.1
The square, filled with people, was suddenly silent except for the rapid breathing of the girl in red, audible through the microphone.
All the agricultural students could relate.
They poured their energy into planting crops, risking their lives daily, only to fail for reasons they couldn’t understand. Sometimes it was more painful than death.
“This looks like downy mildew,” Luo Fanxue said with a frown. “July is its peak period. You can spray the Bordeaux mixture before the disease starts. You can try copper preparations now to prevent and treat downy mildew.”
“Really? Thank you, thank you.” The girl in red’s choked voice was clearly transmitted to everyone in the square through the microphone.
She had managed to graduate and didn’t want to lose it all now. Finally, she had a solution.
When the girl in red returned the microphone, the square erupted in applause.
Zhao Linong looked down, thinking. Something Luo Fanxue said wasn’t entirely accurate.
The onset period of grape downy mildew depends on the region and doesn’t necessarily occur in July. In some places, it starts as early as May.
