A familiar electronic female voice suddenly echoed through the dormitory: “The class list for each major has been announced. Please log in to the official website of the Ninth Agricultural Base to check.”
Zhao Linong and her new roommate instinctively looked up at the broadcast on the wall.
“Classes were assigned this quickly?” Tong Tong said as he opened his laptop and found his name on the list. “I’m in Horticulture Class B. What about you?”
“Agriculture Class C,” Zhao Linong replied, scanning the list. The majors were broad, divided into agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fishery, and animal husbandry, with each major split into Classes A, B, and C, consisting of about a hundred students each.
It was quite different from the Agricultural College in her original world, but then again, the plants in this world were entirely different as well.
At the bottom of the list, it was noted that classes would officially start at 8:00 a.m. on March 3rd. Attached was a more detailed map of the base, much more comprehensive than the rough floor plan He Yuesheng had shown her earlier.
The classrooms for freshmen and sophomores were on the 18th floor in the inner circle, while those for juniors and seniors were on the 19th floor. Each floor accommodated two grades, a testament to the massive size of the circular building in the inner circle. The base had two canteens, located between the north and south inner circles and the middle circle, respectively.
While Zhao Linong studied the list, Tong Tong began unpacking the two large bags in the corner.
She rummaged through one and exclaimed, “The base provided us with quilts and pillows!”
Seeing the quilt in Tong Tong’s hands, Zhao Linong felt a bit relieved. At least she wouldn’t have to buy those herself. She still had no idea what her 88 points would be useful for.
By the time they had made their beds and hung up their clothes, it was already five o’clock in the afternoon.
Tong Tong, eager to explore life at the base, dragged Zhao Linong to the cafeteria, chattering about her grandmother’s photo of a rainbow rose.
“It’s a photo my grandmother found. She didn’t know what kind of flower it was,” Tong Tong said, her dimples deepening. “Now that I’m at the Ninth Agricultural Base, I can ask the teachers if they have seeds for this flower.”
“It’s called the Rainbow Vine,” Zhao Linong finally said. “But the flower’s shape is irregular, with petals that curl outward. It doesn’t look very nice up close.”
Tong Tong’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’ve seen it?”
Zhao Linong had grown one before. She had found it discarded on the way to the farm—a family in her village had tried growing it for a few months but ended up pulling it out because they thought it was too ugly.
“My grandma always wanted to see it in person,” Tong Tong said hesitantly. “I want to grow it.”
Zhao Linong understood and added a few positive notes. “It does look beautiful from a distance, with petals that change color like a rainbow.”
“So that’s why it’s called the Rainbow Vine?” Tong Tong’s eyes lit up.
They continued chatting as they entered the cafeteria. Zhao Linong noticed screens at each window displaying the day’s vegetable prices. After a glance, she felt an overwhelming urge to leave immediately.
With her current balance, she couldn’t afford anything here.
“As expected of the Ninth Agricultural Base,” Tong Tong said happily. “Look at all these vegetables!”
Zhao Linong noticed that Tong Tong didn’t seem fazed by the food prices.
Today’s special: stir-fried pork with chili peppers1
, 398 points.
Without 200 points, she couldn’t even afford a simple dish.
In this world, points functioned as currency, with similar purchasing power to money in her world. However, food was considerably more expensive, and the quality of the average person’s diet was not very high. While plants had a high mutation rate, making them rare and expensive, animals were less prone to mutation, making meat cheaper.
Now, Zhao Linong understood why there were so many young people with pale complexions and thin bodies in the city—they were probably as poor as the previous owner of this body.
Suddenly, she heard He Yuesheng’s voice. She looked up to see him waving at her from across the cafeteria.
“I was just about to message you,” He Yuesheng said as he approached. “Did you see the list? We’re in the same class.”
The three of them greeted each other, and as usual, He Yuesheng began sharing his knowledge. “Don’t worry about the points. Freshmen get benefits—free meals for three months, plus a fruit distribution on the first of every month.”
Zhao Linong felt her stomach growl. She was hungry.
“I’ve heard about that, but the free meals are just set menus,” Tong Tong said, eyeing the screens at the windows with envy. “There are so many dishes here that I’ve never seen before.”
“Getting a free meal is good enough,” He Yuesheng said. “Shall we go?”
There were only two canteens at the base, so canteens 1 and 2 were large and crowded. By the time they reached the free meal window, a long line had already formed.
The free meal included a portion of rice, one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a bowl of fish soup. It seemed like a decent meal.
After receiving their meals, they found seats nearby.
Zhao Linong tasted her food. It was nothing special, but it was edible, so she didn’t complain.
“Delicious!” Tong Tong said, smiling as she took a photo with her laptop. “I’m going to show my grandma. Look at all these dishes!”
Halfway through her meal, Zhao Linong looked up at He Yuesheng. “After three months, when the benefits end, how will freshmen afford to eat?”
He Yuesheng pointed to the screens displaying the dish prices. “You’ll have to use your points to buy food. During these three months, freshmen can take on tasks assigned by upperclassmen, like planting and picking. That’s how you earn points. Later, when we start growing things ourselves, we can sell them for money.”
“Where do you get these tasks?” Zhao Linong asked.
“Go to the official website,” He Yuesheng said, pointing at her screen. “There’s a forum on the far right where you can pick up missions. The guard team, mainly patrolled by graduates and teachers, posts the most tasks because they deal with higher risks, like plant mutations during planting and picking.”
Everyone knew the benefits of becoming a grower or a planting officer, but the path was dangerous, with the constant threat of encountering mutated plants.
Posting tasks on the forum had become the preferred choice for many second- and third-year students.
Zhao Linong frowned. It seemed that the freshmen at the base were being used as expendable resources, thrown into danger to protect the upperclassmen. No wonder so many desperate people came to the Ninth Agricultural Base.
88 points. It seemed like she must have been just as desperate.
As she casually browsed the forum, she noticed that the minimum reward for tasks was over 500 points. The more plants involved and the longer the task, the higher the reward.
“Urgent! Harvest leeks tomorrow afternoon—900 points!”
“Two people needed to collect spinach on the 17th—1,000 points per person.”
“Manual weeding—5,100 points per acre!”
…
That night, as Zhao Linong lay in bed, she expected to have trouble sleeping, given how dangerous and unfamiliar this new world was. But as soon as she closed her eyes, darkness took over, and she fell asleep almost instantly. She had underestimated her resilience.
The next day, Zhao Linong received a message from He Yuesheng, asking if she wanted to walk to class together. He was waiting at the entrance of Buildings 2–5.
She replied and then asked Tong Tong, who was packing, “Want to go together?”
“Sure,” Tong Tong replied with a smile, following Zhao Linong. Tong Tong was always smiling—so far, Zhao Linong had never seen her dimples fade.
A straight road led to the inner circle building. They passed Buildings 3–11, then 2–5, and continued walking for about 30 minutes to reach the inner circle.
Along the way, Zhao Linong noticed many cars, mostly buses, heading out. He Yuesheng explained that the seniors were going out to farm, which would also become part of their daily routine as freshmen.
When they finally reached the circular building, it was even more imposing up close. The silver-white structure exuded a cold, almost menacing aura under the sun. Inside, they encountered a security gate and, beyond that, an array of elevators. Zhao Linong quickly estimated there were over thirty elevators, some with large interiors likely used for transporting goods.
On the 18th floor, Tong Tong parted ways with Zhao Linong and He Yuesheng to find Horticulture Class B. As the two of them searched for their class, Zhao Linong asked casually, “How are Classes A, B, and C divided?”
“Class A students have some experience or achievements in planting. They’ve invested money in buying seeds and equipment and know how to stay safe. They generally come from families that aren’t too poor,” He Yuesheng explained. “Class B students passed the basic entrance test. As for Class C, anyone over 20 can sign up and get in.”
Even with the three-month benefits, not everyone dared to come here. The Ninth Agricultural Science Base didn’t allow students to drop out without a valid reason. Once you were here, you either became a planter or faced death. If you weren’t good at farming and were eliminated, you’d be assigned to other, more dangerous work at different bases. Most people avoided this path unless they had no other choice.
“Here we are, Agriculture Class C,” He Yuesheng said as he found their classroom.
Inside, most of the freshmen looked pale and thin, clearly from poor backgrounds. Yet Zhao Linong felt a strange sense of calm.
The classroom was large enough to accommodate a hundred students, but Zhao Linong and He Yuesheng ended up sitting in a corner—unintentionally, as the other seats were already taken. Everyone seemed eager to sit closer to the front, perhaps hoping to learn more and increase their chances of survival.
The class was full, and the bell on the 18th floor rang, but the teacher didn’t show up until half an hour later. A middle-aged woman with her right arm in a cast and her shoulder bandaged finally arrived.2
“Sorry, I encountered a mutated plant and got delayed,” the woman said nonchalantly as she stood at the podium.
The entire class gasped. This was just the first day!
With sharp eyesight, Zhao Linong noticed that the teacher’s bandage was stained red with blood, and the stain was slowly spreading.
“My name is Kang Anru, and I’m a plantation officer. I’ll be your mentor for the next year,” the woman introduced herself. Her name and contact information appeared on the large screen behind her. “If you have any questions during this period, feel free to contact me.”
“There will be three classes each week. Make sure to attend,” Kang Anru continued, glancing at the schedule on the screen. “Later, I’ll distribute the seeds you’ll need to plant this semester—ten plants per person. I expect to see results by the end of the semester. If you fail to produce results twice, you’ll be eliminated. Additionally, you can choose any seeds for free today. Let me know when you’ve decided.”
She then looked at the students and asked, “Any questions?”
Zhao Linong stood up and asked, “What were the plant’s characteristics before it mutated?”
