“Cross-level assessment for planting officers?”
Following Zhao Linong’s sudden words, He Yuesheng braked abruptly. Tongtong in the co-pilot seat turned around and asked loudly.
“Yeah,” Zhao Linong replied, instinctively raising her hand to steady herself on the seat and, in the process, pulling Wei Li, who was leaning forward beside her.
“Impossible,” Wei Li said firmly after settling back in her seat. “Cross-level assessment? Researcher Yan Shengbian would be the first to oppose it.”
In the past, many people at the central base had attempted cross-level exams, but all were rejected by Yan Shengbian.
Zhao Linong glanced at Wei Li and said calmly, “This was proposed by Researcher Yan Shengbian himself.”
Wei Li froze for a long time before muttering, “Huh?”
It was He Yuesheng, still holding the steering wheel, who asked the critical question: “Why does Researcher Yan Shengbian even know you, let alone ask you to take the planting officer assessment?”
Zhao Linong slaughtered the central forum reward section. Except for Yan Jingshui, no agricultural students knew about it. After all, this was not a section that agricultural students usually visited.
“I answered a few questions in the bounty section,” Zhao Linong said. Seeing the three still staring at her, Zhao Linong could only add, “I answered a lot.”
The three exchanged understanding looks.
In the front seat, Tong Tong remarked, “So, she answered a few questions.”
In the back seat, Wei Li echoed, “A lot.”
He Yuesheng clicked his tongue and concluded, “As a result, Researcher Yan Shengbian was alerted and she was allowed to participate in the assessment of planting officers.”
“It was an accident,” Zhao Linong said, reflecting on the events that had unfolded. “Researcher Luo Fanxue and I answered the same question. The Central Agricultural Research Institute wanted to compare our answers, and that’s how they noticed me.”
He Yuesheng pulled up the relevant question on the forum and smirked. “This planting officer is something else. He gave up Researcher Luo’s answer and picked Xiao Zhao instead.”
In truth, Planting Officer No. 34 hadn’t fully confirmed the answer yet. He was waiting until the pear rust didn’t return to his orchard next year to award all the points to Zhao Linong.
“Anyway,” Wei Li said confidently, “you’ll definitely be remembered by the entire Central Agricultural Research Institute. Getting Yan Shengbian to make an exception? That’s way more impressive than just being a researcher.”
Zhao Linong: “…”
When she answered those questions, she thought it would attract attention, but certainly not from the top researcher himself.
If she had a do-over, knowing that a researcher had also answered the question, she wouldn’t have touched it.
“Linong, are you confident about the exam?” Tong Tong asked, turning to face her.
“I don’t know yet,” Zhao Linong admitted. She wasn’t familiar with the planting officer assessment’s scope.
Wei Li, however, was much more optimistic. “You’ll pass for sure—it’s not the researcher exam.”
Zhao Linong took it to heart but didn’t take it that seriously.
She continued tending her plots and preparing for the final exam.
However, some people were taking it very seriously.
Zhou Qianli, who hadn’t yet returned to the Ninth Agricultural Base, frequently called her.
“Team Leader Yan said your foundation is solid, and he’s made an exception to let you take the cross-level assessment. You shouldn’t have any trouble with the planting officer exam,” he assured her. “If there are questions you can’t access, just go ahead and check them. If you don’t have enough points… come to me.”
Although Zhao Linong wanted to see the answers to most of the questions, she had no access to them. Even if one had more than 500,000 points, they had to become a planting officer to pay for watching.
Zhao Linong just nodded and said yes.
Zhou Qianli’s face was complicated: “You should work hard and seize this opportunity.”
It’s a pity that he is not a researcher in agronomy, otherwise the Ninth Agricultural Base would not be so weak.
There has not been a real researcher in agronomy for years.
Because Yan Shengbian cut off the cross-level assessment path, the children of each of the respected families had to pass the exam step by step, and the Ninth Agricultural Base became their must-go-to-place.
Unfortunately, after these people passed the exam as researchers, they never mentioned the Ninth Agricultural Base.
The Ninth Agricultural Base had long struggled to produce notable researchers in agronomy. While other bases boasted researchers from prominent families, the Ninth was left with only junior researchers, many of whom served as ordinary staff at the Central Research Institute.
The public believed that there were around 30 middle and senior researchers who could have a say in the institute, but none of them came from ordinary families.
The most ordinary one was Zhou Qianli, but his family was a little rich, and his parents had industries in the Central Base. However, Zhou Qianli chose animal husbandry and studied animal mutations.
Zhou Qianli had reached his limit. He became the dean of the Ninth Agricultural Base, and this was because Yan Shengbian strongly recommended him.
Otherwise, he would still be just a marginal senior researcher at the Central Research Institute even if he made great contributions.
Although Zhao Linong had some background as an offspring of a first-generation researcher, she was from the central base. Moreover, Zhou Qianli heard from the dean that this student Zhao was willing to share her information.
Zhou Qianli seemed to have seen a glimpse of hope.
In addition to Dean Zhou Qianli, Kang Anru also talked to Zhao Linong about the assessment. But, she was more practical
“The planting officer exam shouldn’t be too difficult for you,” Kang Anru explained. “There are two rounds. The first is a written agricultural knowledge test—a sixteen-question paper you’ll need to complete in an hour and a half. The second is a practical diagnosis of symptoms, covering three items.”
After a moment of hesitation, she even shared details of her own assessment experience.
If her students were willing to share their information for free, she could do so as a teacher.
Zhao Linong carefully noted everything down, expressing her gratitude. “Thank you, teacher.”
At the end of the semester, there was another person who surprised Zhao Linong.
Late one night, Tong Tong’s voice broke the dormitory’s silence.
“…Linong.”
“What is it?” Zhao Linong, a light sleeper, opened her eyes.
“There’s some kind of noise outside. Could it be… mutated plants?” Tong Tong asked nervously.
Listening closely, Zhao Linong heard faint sounds. She got up without hesitation.
Before Tong Tong could stop her, she had already turned on the light in the dormitory.
Zhao Linong put on her clothes: “I’ll go out and take a look.”
“Be careful.” Tong Tong had no choice but to get out of bed quickly. She stood in place, turned around, and finally picked up her chair, ready to throw the chair out if there was any movement outside.
Zhao Linong stood inside the door, listened for a while, and roughly distinguished the sound of footsteps walking back and forth outside, not the rustling sound of mutated plants, so she opened the door directly.
Tong Tong dragged the chair and stood nervously behind Zhao Linong.
“You…”
“What are you looking at?!”
Zhao Linong looked outside the door in surprise. Standing there, pacing back and forth, was Yan Jingshui from Class A of Agricultural Science.
Yan Jingshui hadn’t expected anyone to suddenly open the door. She froze, embarrassed, and her face flushed red, though the darkness of the night mostly concealed it.
Seeing that it was just a person and not something dangerous, Tong Tong breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the chair she had been holding defensively.
“I’m just passing by,” Yan Jingshui said, raising her chin slightly with feigned pride.
Zhao Linong, wearing only a coat, felt the cold and nodded politely. “It’s late. Go back and rest.”
She turned to head back into the dormitory with Tong Tong.
“Wait!” Yan Jingshui suddenly called out.
When Zhao Linong turned around, Yan Jingshui quickly masked her flustered state, raising her chin again. “I—I’m a little thirsty. Can I come to your dormitory for some hot water?”
Tong Tong, standing nearby, frowned. She found the whole situation absurd and was about to pull Zhao Linong back into the dormitory. But Zhao Linong said, “Come in.”
The three of them entered the dormitory together. Zhao Linong found a paper cup, poured some hot water, and handed it to Yan Jingshui.
Yan Jingshui didn’t take the cup immediately. Instead, she stared at it suspiciously. “This is a breeding cup,” she said firmly.
Regular breeding cups were expensive, so many students at the Ninth Agricultural Base used cheap paper cups for their experiments.
“It’s clean,” Zhao Linong replied calmly, holding the cup steady. “Do you want the water or not?”
Yan Jingshui hesitated for a long moment, then placed the items she was holding onto a nearby table. Finally, she took the paper cup from Zhao Linong with both hands.
The warmth of the water seeped through the thin paper cup and into her fingers. The tension in her brows eased slightly—it was cold outside.
She lowered her head and took a sip of the water. As she drank, her gaze wandered around the dormitory, but every time her eyes met Zhao Linong’s, she quickly looked away, pretending to focus on the cup.
Eventually, she finished the water. Tong Tong had already climbed back into bed, wrapping herself in a quilt and falling asleep.
Standing in the corridor of the dormitory, neither Zhao Linong nor Yan Jingshui spoke for a while.
Finally, Yan Jingshui held up the empty paper cup, turned toward the door, and said hastily, “I’m leaving now that I’ve finished.”
It was late, and Zhao Linong was also feeling sleepy. She moved to close the door after Yan Jingshui left but noticed something on the desk out of the corner of her eye. She instinctively grabbed Yan Jingshui’s sleeve and said, “You forgot your things.”
Caught off guard, Yan Jingshui instinctively tried to pull away, but Zhao Linong’s grip was surprisingly strong. The tug nearly caused her to stumble, and she rolled her eyes as the collar of her sweater tightened around her neck.
Frowning slightly, Zhao Linong let go and used her free hand to pick up the tightly wrapped item from the desk. She pressed it back into Yan Jingshui’s arms.
“…Thanks,” Yan Jingshui muttered, flattening the paper cup in her hands.
“Go to bed early, Student Yan,” Zhao Linong said gently.
The weather had grown colder, and the dormitory lacked proper heating. It was an uncomfortable night, and Zhao Linong needed to wake up early the next morning.
Reluctantly, Yan Jingshui walked out of the dormitory. At the door, she turned back as if she had something to say.
Noticing this, Zhao Linong waited patiently, standing in the doorway.
But Yan Jingshui simply tilted her chin and stayed silent, as if she expected Zhao Linong to ask her something first.
Eventually, Zhao Linong broke the silence. “Good night.”
With that, the dormitory door 11-111 closed firmly.
Yan Jingshui stood there, speechless.
The paper cup in her hand was crumpled into a ball again.
Taking a few deep breaths, she reminded herself to stay calm. Confronting Zhao Linong wasn’t worth it.
Still, she couldn’t understand why Zhao Linong hadn’t asked her why she was loitering outside the dormitory.
If only Zhao Linong had asked, she would have said she’d been pacing there for a long time, and then…
With a newfound determination, Yan Jingshui snuck back. Her movements were stiff and awkward, betraying her nervousness, though she tried to appear “righteous” in the dim light.
Reaching the window of dormitory 11-111, she suddenly flung it open, tossed the item she’d been holding inside, and slammed the window shut with a sharp snap. Then she turned and bolted.
“Pah! Pah!”
The loud thuds startled Tong Tong awake. She sat up immediately, looking around in alarm. “What happened?”
Zhao Linong quickly walked to the window and opened it, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of a familiar figure awkwardly running away, her arms and legs moving in uncoordinated sync.
What on earth is Yan Jingshui up to?
Frowning, Zhao Linong picked up the object from the ground. It was still wrapped in cloth. She unwrapped it carefully, lowering her eyes to examine the contents.
She froze in surprise.
It was… a sketchbook.
