The jeans filled with dirt were hanging straight on the wire mesh, with the trouser legs bulging. Although the buttocks weren’t filled, they looked quite realistic. At first glance, they genuinely resembled a human figure!
The field area was already dangerous, with mutated plants appearing now and then, making deaths common. This time, a mutated plant had killed someone even before the freshmen entered the base, leaving everyone on edge and highly sensitive to their surroundings.
If anyone saw this, who wouldn’t think it was a person who had been eaten by mutated plants, leaving only half of their body?
“Pants?” He Yuesheng finally realized what was hanging on the wire mesh and couldn’t help but angrily ask, “Who’s the crazy person who hung them up?”
He started to say something more but then froze, confusion washing over his face. “Ah?”
Tong Tong silently withdrew his hand, which had been about to drag Zhao Linong away, and quietly stepped to the side, thinking that perhaps her roommate was a bit odd.
“That’s a flowerpot, with lettuce planted in it,” Zhao Linong explained patiently.
He Yuesheng and Tong Tong exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously approached the pants hanging on the wire mesh. When they looked inside, they saw it was indeed full of dirt.
He Yuesheng patted the buttocks of the jeans and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “This looks scary.” I was scared to death.
“Are you planting lettuce in the cuts?” Tong Tong asked curiously. “That’s one way to save money on flower pots.”
Agricultural students were given limited land, and they had to buy pots and soil themselves. For most students, flower pots might seem cheap, but over time, they added up to a significant expense, so they used whatever containers they could find.
Things like empty mineral water bottles were prized possessions that ordinary agricultural students held onto tightly and never let slip away.
“Lettuce has shallow roots, so it doesn’t need a large pot,” Zhao Linong explained.
Tong Tong stood in front of the wire fence for quite some time, studying the lettuce pants, while He Yuesheng began filling his flower pots with soil to plant his lettuce.
As He Yuesheng worked, his eyes wandered back to the barbed wire fence, and he started to think the lettuce pants idea wasn’t so bad. He could just fill them with dirt.
“Where did you buy the pants? Send me the link,” He Yuesheng asked after finishing with his flower pots. He had a bag of soil left and was rubbing his dirty hands near Zhao Linong.
“This pair of pants is out of stock, but I bought it from another store,” Zhao Linong said, sending the link to He Yuesheng. She then pointed to the bag of soil he had left. “You can poke holes in the bag and plant lettuce.”
She had initially wanted a woven bag, but since they were buying together, the other party was helping her, so she didn’t press the issue.
He Yuesheng followed her finger to the white-green woven bag filled with soil on the ground. He suddenly understood and gave Zhao Linong a thumbs up. “You’re really smart!”
“It’s better to plant it in vegetable pots. Woven bags aren’t very durable,” Zhao Linong reminded him.
“Let’s plant it this way for now. I’m too lazy to buy more pots,” He Yuesheng said, looking at the flower pots on the ridge of the field and then glancing at the lettuce pants. “There’s not enough space. I’ll have to spend money to buy racks later. It might be better to hang pants all over the wire mesh.”
“Not all crops can be grown in pants,” Zhao Linong said as she stood up and walked toward Tong Tong. “Let’s go to the gardening area and take a look.”
After burying the last of his lettuce seeds into the punctured woven bag, He Yuesheng joined the two, and they headed towards the gardening area.
Tong Tong was more familiar with the place and explained along the way, “Flowers are popular among the wealthy in the Central Base, and the perfume extracted from flowers is very expensive. If you can make it to the Eighth Base in the future, you’ll live well.”
The crops grown at the Eighth Base provide all the spices and dyes. Spices sell at extremely high prices, and good ones are always in demand. As soon as they reach the Central Base, they’re sold out in an instant.
However, most valuable flowers are difficult to grow and often useless. You can imagine how high the mutation rate is.
The mortality rate of plantation workers has always been directly proportional to the mutation rate.
As they reached the gardening area, Zhao Linong noticed that, unlike the barren land of the agronomy class, the freshmen in the gardening class had planted cuttings.
Finally, at Tong Tong’s plot, she showed them the cuttings she had planted: “These are the rose cuttings provided by the base.”
Tong Tong pointed to a small area encircled by stones in the middle and said, “I planted the rainbow vine seeds there.”
“Rainbow Rose is also a type of rose,” Zhao Linong said, squatting by the field to examine the rose cuttings planted by Tong Tong. The thin green stems were branches cut from the roses.
Rose cuttings are easy to maintain and grow faster than seeds, making them more suitable for freshmen who will be tested at the end of the semester.
“Really?” Tong Tong had seen a photo of the Rainbow Vine but didn’t know much about flowers.
Zhao Linong nodded. “Rainbow Rose is a climbing rose. Once it’s planted, it needs a trellis to grow upwards.”
Tong Tong recalled the photo and became a bit excited. “When it grows up, will it cover an entire wall like in the picture?”
Zhao Linong looked up at the faint dimple on Tong Tong’s cheek. “Rainbow Vine shouldn’t be planted too close to a residence.”
Tong Tong was taken aback and finally remembered that Rainbow Vine couldn’t be planted in urban areas, let alone near walls.
“I’m hungry,” He Yuesheng said, stretching. “There’s a platform up ahead. We can still catch the canteen’s meal if we head back to the city now.”
Tong Tong checked the time on her light brain and immediately exclaimed, “It’s ten o’clock! We’d better hurry back.”
It took nearly two hours to travel from the farming area to the urban area.
As they walked back, Zhao Linong looked up at the clear blue sky and smiled to herself. She realized she had adapted to the rules of this world even better than the people who belonged here.
The three boarded the bus, joining other agricultural students who were also in a rush to return for dinner.
Zhao Linong made her way to the last row, sat by the window, and opened it slightly to feel the wind blowing in.
The familiar scent of green grass mixed with earth filled the air, and for a moment, she almost forgot she was in a new world.
A girl sitting diagonally across from her felt the wind and turned to look at Zhao Linong with strong disapproval in her eyes.
A boy in the front seat also turned his head and said nervously, “Classmate, the bus windows have defensive strength glass, please close them immediately.”
Zhao Linong’s eyes opened. She apologized and closed the window.
…
In the end, the three of them missed lunch.
As the bus was about to enter the city, it suddenly stopped. The agricultural students inside looked out the front window and saw a row of buses lined up, all waiting to enter the city.
“Driver, we’ll get off and walk over,” He Yuesheng said after a while, unable to bear the hunger any longer. He stood up and addressed the driver.
Other agricultural students, equally eager to get off, stood up to follow.
The driver glanced back at the freshmen and pressed the door open button.
Zhao Linong was the last to leave. As she stepped out, she distinctly heard the driver mutter, “It’s no use going down.”
She turned back instinctively, but the bus door shut abruptly.
“Linong, come on,” Tong Tong called out, waiting ahead for her.
The three of them walked forward and soon found that many students were already gathered at the city’s outer perimeter.
Zhao Linong asked He Yuesheng, “Did something big happen at the base today?”
“Big? I haven’t heard anything from the seniors about anything special today,” He Yuesheng replied, scratching his head in confusion.
“Then why won’t they let the bus in?”
The freshmen around them buzzed with speculation until some seniors, also stuck outside, arrived.
“Just wait quietly,” one of them advised.
“People from the central base are coming. The city’s been locked down.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the restless freshmen fell silent, standing obediently on the side to wait. Some even returned to the bus.
“Central base?” Zhao Linong questioned, not understanding why the city needed to be locked down for a government visit.
He Yuesheng, rubbing his empty stomach, speculated, “It’s probably researchers. They’re ninety-nine percent of the reason.”
Tong Tong nodded in agreement. “Researchers are the base’s most valuable resource. They can’t be exposed to any danger.”
This was a widely accepted fact.
All the students at the agricultural base combined were not as important as a single researcher. To ensure the safety of researchers, the base would temporarily lock down, separate the urban area from the field area, and prevent the emergence of mutant plants, even though the farming area was nearly a hundred kilometers, or a two-hour drive, from the city.
Zhao Linong stood with her hands by her sides, waiting with Tong Tong and He Yuesheng for the city to reopen.
About twenty minutes later, two military helicopters appeared in the distance, flying over the city gate towards the inner circular building.
Zhao Linong looked up as the helicopters passed overhead, their rotors kicking up a wind that tousled the hair of the agricultural students below, and then quickly flew out of sight.
“Those are students from the Ninth Agricultural Base,” Luo Fanxue observed, looking at the crowd gathered below. “Why are they outside?”
The gray-haired middle-aged man beside him replied, “The city area was locked down in advance. They’ll have to wait.”
“President Zhou, you don’t need to be so nervous,” Luo Fanxue said, glancing at the young man behind her. “The Guardian is here to keep me safe.”
“It’s better to be cautious,” Zhou Qianli responded with a sudden smile. “Researcher Luo’s work is more important. It’s fine to let the students wait.”
Luo Fanxue said nothing more, turning her attention back to the petri dish in his hand, which contained a dead vine.
The young man sitting at the back of the helicopter seemed oblivious to their conversation. He leaned against the cabin wall in silence, carefully wiping his Tang sword with a white handkerchief, his eyes lowered.
The cold glint of the blade reflected off his face, making it difficult to tell whether it was the sword or the man that was colder.
