TNAB Ch 20

Everyone knew that a researcher’s answer costs at least 100,000 points. This is not a price that Class C students can afford. Moreover, the answer to just one question is worth 100,000 points. In the planting process, any problem can arise, and the amount of points spent by agricultural students is enormous.

At the Ninth Agricultural Base, Class C typically faces two outcomes. One is that the class disperses, with each group responsible for its area. By the end of each semester, most students were eliminated, and by the third year, no one remained. The second outcome was when there was a leader in the class, and they followed Class B’s method of pooling resources and sharing purchased materials.

However, unlike Class B students, who can ask their families for financial help, Class C has to raise money on their own. They desperately took on the tasks assigned by the base in each grade to earn points. As a result, the annual mortality rate for Class C at the Ninth Agricultural Base was extremely high, with eight or nine out of ten students not making it through—statistics show this for every grade in Class C.

Before arriving, Yan Jingshui was confident that Class C didn’t have a leader. If they had one, Wang Zhi wouldn’t have resorted to spying. So when Yan Jingshui heard what Zhao Linong said, she was shocked.

She mentioned consulting the researcher, not the planting officer. Could Class C have gathered that much money in less than a day?

“We already know what disease the tomatoes have, and we sprayed pesticides last night,” someone angrily retorted with sarcasm, “We don’t need your kindness.”

He Yuesheng propped his head on his hands, glanced under the table, and sighed softly, “How dare you!”

Everyone knew that Yan Jingshui was Yan Shengbian’s daughter. Yan Shengbian held an influential position, and every planting officer and teacher at the Ninth Agricultural Base tried to stay in good standing with her. This classmate was probably bold because they had nothing to lose, daring to confront Yan Jingshui directly. Though they may not become a researcher, offending her would make even becoming a planting worker difficult.

Unfazed, Yan Jingshui responded calmly, “Since you already know how to manage the tomatoes, I won’t say much more. If you encounter any issues in the future, feel free to come to Class A and discuss them with me.”

Even He Yuesheng couldn’t help but glance up after hearing that.

Discuss with Yan Jingshui? Could it mean what everyone thought it did?

No one was sure how much Yan Jingshui knew, but her connection to Yan Shengbian meant she could access any current agronomy information regarding the tomato crop.

It was hard to believe, and the weight of her words hung heavy in the air.

Without waiting for their reaction, Yan Jingshui nodded at Zhao Linong and left the Class C classroom.

…

In a single bedroom on the inner dormitory floor, someone asked, “Does she know Wei Li?”

“A while ago, you weren’t at the base, and there was a C-level mint mutation in the cafeteria. Zhao Linong saved Wei Li. But they knew each other even before that.”

Hearing the voice over the light-brain device, Yan Jingshui frowned unconsciously. She walked to the window, opened it, and looked across at the dormitory opposite. A short-haired girl sat barefoot on a table, eating fruit while laughing at something on her light-brain screen.

The words “muddling through” seemed practically written on her forehead.

The girl’s laughter didn’t last long, as her chair suddenly toppled over. She fell backward, and the fruit plate hit her face directly.

Speechless, Yan Jingshui shut her window with force, no longer looking at Wei Li in the opposite dormitory. She didn’t like Wei Li.

Anyone with ambition would have chosen agronomy over breeding. Wei Li’s family was wealthy, and her mother had resources. If she wanted to, Wei Li could easily become a planting officer, and with a little more effort, she could certainly become a researcher in the future.

To Yan Jingshui, Wei Li was wasting her potential.

Last year, when she heard that Wei Li had come to the Ninth Agricultural Base, even though she had chosen aquaculture, Yan Jingshui admired her decision to come. She had even considered befriending her. But after arriving this year and ending up in the dormitory across from Wei Li, she saw the girl’s true nature—laziness.

Wei Li spent her days in the dorm imitating chicken noises or playing chicken sounds.

Disappointed, Yan Jingshui abandoned the idea of befriending her.

“The name ‘Zhao Linong Ting’ was on the ID of the spectator. She watched the researcher’s answer and then went to watch the planting officer’s answer,” the person on the other side of the light-brain device said. “She also visited Wei Li yesterday afternoon. I guess that Zhao Linong might have borrowed money from Wei Li.”

“So, it was Wei Li.” Yan Jingshui could easily imagine the situation. The students in Class C were frustrated, and Zhao Linong just happened to know Wei Li, who wasn’t short on money. It all made sense.

Once she understood, she ended the conversation with the person on the other side.

Crossing her arms, she paced in her room, deep in thought. She had come to the Ninth Agricultural Base at her father’s suggestion. Recalling his words, she furrowed her brows even more, still unable to fully grasp his intentions.

…

In the dormitory across the hall, Wei Li got up from the floor with a large bump on her forehead. She picked up the fallen fruit pieces, washed them, and resumed eating.

Meanwhile, the computer continued playing a video of a group of yellow chicks wobbling behind their mother hen.

Wei Li watched for a long time before reluctantly closing the video. Various messages popped up on her screen, and she skimmed through them casually. After finishing the last piece of fruit, she made a video call to Zhao Linong.

“Junior sister, are you borrowing money to vent your frustration on behalf of your classmates?” Wei Li asked excitedly. “This is the first time I’ve seen you like this.”

Zhao Linong: “…” She couldn’t tell if Wei Li’s words were meant as praise or criticism.

“Where did you hear that, senior sister?” Zhao Linong asked calmly.

Wei Li slapped her thigh and said, “News spreads fast in this base, especially with me keeping an eye out.” She loved being in the know.

“But junior sister, you’re something else,” Wei Li continued. “Why did you listen to the researcher’s answer and then go watch the planting officer’s answer? Do you not trust the researcher, or do you think the planting officer’s explanation is better?”

Zhao Linong replied calmly: “The researcher explained that bacterial wilt is distinguishable from other diseases, but mentioned that many planting officers struggle to tell them apart. However, he only discussed how to prevent and control bacterial wilt. I wanted to know the prevention and control methods for other diseases. So, I watched all the planting officers’ responses at the same price and eventually found the right pesticides for those diseases.”

Wei Li suddenly understood and praised Zhao Linong’s approach: “Junior sister, you’re really smart! You saved a lot of money at once.”

People who enjoy watching drama are essentially gossip, and they love to share what they know. In this regard, Wei Li and He Yuesheng were quite alike.

The difference was that one enjoyed gossip for fun, while the other used it to make money.

Within two days, the news of Zhao Linong watching both the researcher’s and the planting officer’s answers spread throughout the Ninth Agricultural Base.

“She’s sharp,” Kang Anru whispered when she overheard her colleagues discussing it. The 200,000 points were well spent. Now Zhao Linong had learned about several tomato diseases and knew how to handle them when planting in the future.

“Did you read the summary she shared in the group?” a teacher asked. “It’s well-written and very clear. I understood things much better after reading it.”

Zhao Linong had compiled a document summarizing the information, which she later forwarded to the freshman group. Each major had its freshman group, and once the document was shared there, it essentially became public. The freshmen forwarded it to their seniors, and soon the entire base had access to the document.

This act wasn’t illegal it was perfectly within the rules. Since the document was summarized by Zhao Linong herself, and not copied from the researcher or planting officer’s answers, she was well within her rights to share it. According to the central base’s regulations, anyone who comprehends and processes information can manage it as they see fit. It was just that no one had ever chosen to make such information public before.

“It’s rare to get something for free like this,” another teacher remarked, looking at Kang Anru. “Thank your student for me.”

Kang Anru scoffed. “I don’t think she’s thinking straight. Even the poorest students in Class C usually have a thousand points on them. If they don’t, they can complete a task or two. After a few days, they can pool enough money to buy the answers together.”Over the years, all the surviving Class C students had managed in this way. But Zhao Linong chose to shoulder the cost herself, even borrowing a significant amount of points. What would happen in the future? Would she handle things like this every time? Kang Anru felt that Zhao Linong wasn’t being sensible and might encourage the Class C students to rely on luck. One of the other teachers sighed. “If she keeps sharing like this, I’m going to lose some of my income.”

All the teachers at the base were planting officers, and this teacher had been one of those who answered the question about tomatoes. When someone spends points to view answers, they have up to a month to provide feedback. The system then distributes points to the planting officers who provided correct answers based on that feedback.”There were so many planting officers who answered correctly—how many points could you have earned?” Kang Anru said dismissively.”True,” the teacher admitted with a laugh. “It’s the researchers who are feeling the loss.”

Regardless, Zhao Linong’s name was now well-known among the teachers at the Ninth Base.

In the blink of an eye, it was early July, and the Ninth Agricultural Base officially reached the end of the semester.

After periodic treatments, most of the agricultural freshmen’s tomato plants had recovered. For those severely damaged, the plants had to be uprooted and burned to prevent mutations. However, each student still managed to harvest at least ten fruits.

A tomato plant can yield many fruits, and with several plants, the total harvest could exceed twenty.

After Kang Anru’s assessment, no one in Class C was eliminated.

Class B, however, took a wrong turn early on. Some students misidentified the disease and applied the wrong treatments. However once Zhao Linong’s summarized document was made public, they quickly adjusted their plans and still managed to earn decent scores.

After the assessment, those who grew tomatoes could decide what to do with their crops.

Well-shaped horseshoe tomatoes could sell for as much as 800 points, but to achieve that quality, the fruits had to pass multiple inspections. Since this was the first time growing the new variety, most students were lucky to harvest a few good ones. The price for ordinary horseshoe tomatoes varied between 50 and 500 points, depending on sweetness, size, and appearance.

Zhao Linong had a great harvest of horseshoe tomatoes. Her fruits were particularly high quality, with very few bad or cracked ones.

She kept four for herself and took the rest to the trading market to sell.

Her bucket was nearly full—half a bucket more than He Yuesheng’s.

He Yuesheng looked at his bucket, then at Zhao Linong’s, and couldn’t help but feel puzzled. “This doesn’t make sense. What did I miss that you didn’t?”

Not only did he have fewer fruits than Zhao Linong, but he also had over ten cracked tomatoes. Cracked fruits were practically worthless, selling for only 50 points and typically used for juice or jam.

There were too many small details that made the difference, but Zhao Linong held back and didn’t explain.

The market was crowded these days, filled with students eager to sell their crops.

Zhao Linong waited in line for a long time before finally selling her bucket of horseshoe tomatoes.

As expected, the staff glanced at her several times before commenting, “These tomatoes are excellent.”

In the end, Zhao Linong sold dozens of horseshoe tomatoes for 38,000 points.

She also brought five watermelons and two kilograms of okra to sell. The watermelons fetched a good price—21,000 points for the five of them. However, the okra, which had been harvested a few days earlier to meet the weight requirement, wasn’t as fresh, resulting in a slight deduction. She earned only 1,800 points for the two kilograms.
Altogether, she earned a total of 60,800 points. In the end, fruits proved to be quite valuable. After finishing her sales, Zhao Linong saw He Yuesheng waiting by the door. She walked over and said, “Let’s go.”

He Yuesheng tilted his chin toward her and said, “Check the group.”

Surprised, Zhao Linong pulled out her light brain, opened the Class C agricultural group, and checked the messages.

Life is important: [Buddha! I made a lot of money! @AAA Farming Xiao Zhao]

Life is important: [Red envelope – 2000 points]

He Yuesheng followed right after.

Mr. He, the gossiper: [Thank our Bodhisattva for rescuing us @AAA Farming Xiao Zhao]

Mr. He, the gossiper: [Red envelope – 2000 points]

As soon as these two red envelopes were sent, more 2,000-point red envelopes started appearing in the group one after another, as if in a chain reaction. Everyone was waiting for someone to claim them.

Zhao Linong stared at the messages for a long time before suddenly laughing.