The first round of the planting officer assessment was a written test.
Standing at the entrance of the examination room, Zhao Linong passed through a security check to ensure she wasn’t carrying any prohibited items. She then removed her laptop and placed it in a storage bag mounted on the wall.
The Central Agricultural Research Institute no longer allowed candidates to visit the examination room beforehand, so this was Zhao Linong’s first time inside.
The room was arranged with 30 candidates, each spaced apart, under the constant watch of surveillance cameras.
The setup reminded her of the college entrance examination.
However, all the candidates here were at least 26 years old, and every one of them had graduated as a planter from the ninth agricultural base.
Finding her examination number, Zhao Linong took her assigned seat. On the desk in front of her were two pens—a 2B pencil and a black neutral fountain pen.
As the bell rang, the invigilator on the podium began distributing test papers, giving instructions:
“You have one and a half hours to complete 16 questions. You may not leave the room during the exam. Early submission is permitted.”
Zhao Linong sat in the sixth row of the second row and quickly got the test paper.
Candidates were prohibited from starting before the third bell rang. For now, she could only lower her gaze to the paper on the desk. A blank answer sheet covered the test paper, leaving the questions hidden from view.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring room of the Central Agricultural Research Institute, a group of middle and senior researchers had gathered. Their attention was focused on the surveillance feed of the examination room, particularly on Zhao Linong.
“Back when I was taking this test,” Luo Fanxue muttered hesitantly, “were all of you watching me like this too?”
“There’s a bit of a difference,” Shan Yun replied, lazily commandeering a staff member’s seat and nibbling on a small cake. “You were the only candidate being assessed then, so every screen in this room was just you.”
Luo Fanxue: “…”
Finishing the last bite of cake, Shan Yun glanced around at the researchers in the room. “But Yan Shengbian was here watching you that time. He’s not here today.”
“Team Leader Yan is probably still in the lab,” Luo Fanxue remarked. She’d seen him earlier while passing through the corridor.
Shan Yun let out a vague sigh. “It’s just a planting officer assessment. I doubt Yan Shengbian takes it too seriously. Look at how anxious these people are.”
Li Zhenzhang, one of these people, folded his arms and turned to Shan Yun. “Since Team Leader Yan is optimistic about her, of course, we need to pay attention. What if she turns out to be another young talent like Xiao Luo? It’s not good to bury her.”
Shan Yun took a tissue and wiped her mouth slowly without replying to him.
She was just here to watch the fun. Her daughter was very well-behaved today and gave her a small cake to eat. It tasted a little sweet though.
The third bell finally rang.
In the examination room, candidates moved the answer sheets aside, revealing the test papers, and began working on their answers.
Like the others, Zhao Linong removed her answer sheet, glanced at the first page of the test paper, and then quickly flipped through all the pages. After scanning the entire test paper, she wrote her name and admission ticket number on both the test paper and the answer sheet.
In the surveillance, it appeared as though she was flipping through the pages casually but they didn’t know that she had already scanned the entire test paper and started filling in the answers in her mind.
Once the invigilator distributed admission ticket barcodes, Zhao Linong pasted hers onto the answer sheet and officially began answering the first page.
“This question…” Shan Yun frowned at the first glance.
“It’s beyond the usual scope,” Luo Fanxue commented, shaking her head as she analyzed the test paper visible on the screen.
Planters were expected to demonstrate proficiency in diagnosing symptoms and applying appropriate preventative measures and corresponding drugs to control said symptoms, but the assessment had raised the bar. The 16 questions on the paper included a variety of formats.
The first question consisted of 10 judgment questions, accounting for the lowest proportion of marks. The remaining questions were far more challenging, involving fill-in-the-blank and essay formats that tested deeper knowledge and application.
In the surveillance, everyone saw…
The first judgment question was: Sclerotia are dormant bodies with special structures formed by mycelium to resist adverse environmental conditions.
This question was typically found on a researcher assessment paper, not a planting officer’s test.
On the screen, they watched as Zhao Linong uncapped her pen, straightened her shoulders, slightly lowered her head, and wrote the word “correct” with deliberate precision.
“She got it right,” Shan Yun muttered, raising an eyebrow as the word “correct” formed on the paper.
Li Zhenzhang didn’t care: “Just lucky.”
In the examination room, Zhao Linong didn’t know that someone was staring at her. She lowered her head to look at the second question: Corn borers lay eggs on corn leaves, on the front of the leaves near the main vein.
Wrong. Corn borer eggs are laid on the back of the middle leaf, along both sides of the veins—not on the front main vein.
Zhao Linong didn’t intend to pass by just clearing the passing line. She was accidentally seen by the most special person in the Central Agricultural Research Institute.
With Zhao Fenghe as her background, she would never let go of this excellent opportunity.
She wrote the word “wrong” and continued to answer the next question.
In the monitoring room, as she answered more questions, Shan Yun began noticing a pattern. “This test paper avoids all crops in the Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Cruciferae families, doesn’t it?”
These families included crops like tomatoes, watermelons, bitter melons, and cabbages—all crops Zhao Linong had cultivated at the Ninth Agricultural Base.
“Researcher Shan, that’s a biased interpretation,” Li Zhenzhang retorted with a feigned look of grievance. “The test also includes Asteraceae-related questions, and student Zhao answered them in the reward section. These shouldn’t be difficult for her.”
Zhao Linong had indeed worked with lettuce, an Asteraceae crop, during her first semester.
The researchers in charge of setting the questions had already investigated what Zhao Linong planted at the Ninth Agricultural Base.
Shan Yun wanted to say something, but her stomach suddenly started hurting. She didn’t care to talk anymore and ran to the toilet with her stomach covered.
In the examination room, Zhao Linong was still answering the questions. Her hands were very steady, and she wrote without hesitation.
She didn’t know that with every stroke of her pen, the atmosphere in the monitoring room became silent.
For most planters, one and a half hours was barely enough to complete the 16 questions, and many often left two or three unanswered. Yet, when Zhao Linong submitted her test paper, she still had half an hour remaining.
This was after she controlled her speed and forced herself to read the questions several times before writing.
“Has she finished answering?” Shan Yun’s red shawl had disappeared long ago. She covered her stomach with one hand and slowly moved in. She couldn’t help asking after she saw Zhao Linong put down her pen
Luo Fanxue nodded, with some admiration in her eyes: “Except for the last question, she answered all of them
correctly.”
The last question was far beyond the planting officer syllabus, delving into intermediate researcher territory. Even Luo Fanxue had to pause and think when she first encountered it. It was no surprise that Zhao Linong left it unanswered.
“Team Leader Yan is right.” Luo Fanxue watched Zhao Linong stand up and hand in her paper on the surveillance, then turned to Shan Yun and said, “Student Zhao’s basics are indeed solid.”
Shan Yun didn’t respond—her stomach growled again, and she hurried back to the restroom.
Li Zhenzhang’s face was not surprised. Zhao Xian was a first-generation researcher, and he left a lot of information, so the questions didn’t stump Zhao Linong.
Fortunately, there was a second round of assessment.
Zhao Linong left the big question unanswered.
The question had too many professional terms and involved experiments. Most people probably couldn’t understand it. She had never been to a laboratory, so she shouldn’t know some data, so she left it blank.
When she went downstairs, she saw four people squatting next to the fake stone.
“Linong, you’re done with the exam?!” Tong Tong was the first to notice her.
“How was it?” Wei Li rushed over eagerly.
Seeing her friends, Zhao Linong smiled. “It’s done. It went okay.”
“What were the questions? Tell us!” He Yuesheng asked, his curiosity piqued.
Before she could respond, Yan Jingshui intervened. “You can’t discuss the exam questions.”
Wei Li rolled her eyes. “Every year, people talk about the questions after the exam. Don’t be so rigid, Yan Jingshui.”
“That won’t work either.” Yan Jingshui said with a straight face, “She hasn’t finished the exam yet. If she is caught and reported, she can be disqualified from the exam.”
“Will she be disqualified from the exam?” Tong Tong immediately pulled Zhao Linong to stop her from talking.
“Is that true?” He Yuesheng turned to Wei Li, looking concerned.
“Well…” Wei Li hesitated, guilt creeping into her expression. “It seems there is such a rule.”
But no one has ever enforced it.
Planters themselves tended to avoid openly sharing details, fearing that others might use the information to prepare for similar questions in the future and potentially pass the planting officer exam.
Whether a researcher or a planting officer, positions were limited. This wasn’t a period of expansion, so vacancies only occurred when someone retired or passed away.
Not wanting to dwell on the topic, Zhao Linong shifted the conversation. “There’s another assessment in the afternoon. Let’s go eat now.”
“Okay, I’ll treat you!” Wei Li declared enthusiastically, then reconsidered. “Forget it—let Yan Jingshui treat us. She has a lot of money on her card.”
“Fine, but I’ll treat you to a meal in the institute cafeteria,” Yan Jingshui replied, pulling out a light green ID card. “It’s clean and safe there.”
The card was a family pass, provided to senior researchers, allowing nearly unrestricted access to the cafeteria of the Agricultural Research Institute.
The group headed to the institute’s cafeteria. Along the way, He Yuesheng handed a piece of candy to Zhao Linong.
Wei Li, noticing this while empty-handed, explained casually, “I was worried the small cake might spoil, so I gave it to my mom.”
Zhao Linong nodded in understanding.
Shan Yun, who had just come out of the bathroom, held onto the wall with her hands and finally waited for the assistant to bring her antidiarrheal medicine.
After taking the medicine, the sweat on her face was reduced a little.
Shan Yun’s elegance was long gone, and she gritted her teeth and cursed: “Wei Li is trying to kill her mother!”
“Whose life are you talking about?” Yan Shengbian had just come out of the laboratory and met Shan Yun on the way.
Before he greeted her, he vaguely heard this sentence.
“Nothing, just a casual remark.” Shan Yun replied, straightening up. Inwardly, she resolved to redirect any future food from Wei Li to Dean Li—he could use the distraction from his pettiness.
Yan Shengbian didn’t press further. “How did Zhao Linong do in the first round of the assessment?”
“She seemed to do well,” Shan Yun replied, though she hadn’t seen much of the process. Spotting someone down the hall, she added, “Ask Xiao Luo—she stayed to watch.”
Luo Fanxue also saw them and walked over here: “Team Leader Yan.”
“Did you observe Zhao Linong’s assessment?” Yan Shengbian asked gently.
“Yes,” Luo Fanxue replied. “The test paper was significantly beyond the syllabus, but she answered well. There should be no issue with the first round.”
Yan Shengbian didn’t care how Zhao Linong answered.
He had anticipated the test paper to include off-syllabus questions—such things were predictable when family factions were involved. As long as they liked someone or something, they would be happy to stir up trouble.
“Student Zhao is quite capable. If you can give her some guidance, she can go further in the future.” Luo Fanxue hesitated, “Maybe she can join my team.”
“Xiao Luo, are you already building your team?” Shan Yun teased with a smile.
A little embarrassed, Luo Fanxue replied, “I’ll be working on research projects with Team Leader Yan soon, and we’ll need talented people to help.”
“We’ll discuss that later,” Yan Shengbian said calmly, his expression neutral. He glanced at Luo Fanxue. “For now, Zhao Linong needs to pass the planting officer exam first.”
