A Minor Setback

Red Sister came by to inspect the place, said a couple of casual words, and then left as if nothing had happened.

But all the Hongjie employees present were utterly baffled: What did the boss mean by that?

There was no doubt that Feng Jun had turned things around in an instant, and Red Sister had been the one to make the move.

That was right. A coach ranked above an underling, and to protect a coach, the lobby manager could openly play favorites, because that was real life. But once the company boss spoke, she could be as willful as she pleased—that was even more like real life.

He who paid the wages was king.

Actually, Red Sister's words made perfect sense and went straight to the heart of the issue. Although Liu Shuming was a coach and the people he had harassed were merely temporary customers, they were still customers of the company.

It was not only members who deserved to be treated seriously. Without temporary customers, where would members come from?

Red Sister seized on that point and warned Coach Liu. No one could say she had handled it wrongly. At the very least, her reasoning was more convincing than Manager Guo's—Liu Shuming had harmed the company's core interests.

But immediately afterward, Red Sister's consolation of Feng Jun was truly incomprehensible—his forage grass was planted well?

Was overlooking a graduate student's mistake over something like that really what a company boss ought to do?

Wasn't that a little too willful?

Guo Yueling paused before giving Feng Jun a meaningful look. "Did you report this to Red Sister?"

Feng Jun was equally baffled. Hearing that, he instinctively sneered. "Whether I reported it or not, what the hell does that have to do with you?"

Manager Guo's face turned pale with anger, but she truly did not dare make trouble for the kid again. The reason was simple: when Red Sister had pointed out Liu Shuming's problem, wasn't she also warning the lobby manager herself?

She had been right to single out an insubordinate example, but ignoring the company's core interests because of it was a huge mistake.

The lobby manager was senior management, but a single word from the company boss could leave her with nothing.

Guo Yueling took two sharp breaths before glaring viciously at Feng Jun and speaking unwillingly. "Fine. Yesterday won't count as you skipping work, but you were definitely late today. It won't help even if you get Red Sister to plead for you!"

Although the general manager had slapped her down and she had to retract some decisions, this bastard had been late today. She was strictly following company rules, so she was not afraid of the boss finding fault with her—she was doing this for the company's good.

Still, even as she said it, she was nervously calculating: What exactly was the relationship between this Feng Jun and Red Sister?

It was basically impossible that Red Sister had taken a fancy to him. There was no shortage of handsome, muscular young men at this club. Feng Jun was not bad-looking, but he was not outstanding either.

And on top of that, he was only five foot eight and slightly chubby...

Would Hongjie's famously cold and haughty boss be interested in someone like him? That was just ridiculous.

So figuring out the relationship between this kid and Red Sister was what she needed to do.

If she could force him to reveal it himself, then even wiping out this lateness would be acceptable.

The lobby manager was an employee too. Naturally, she had to cater to her superior's mood.

However, to her frustration, Feng Jun answered unhurriedly, "If you mark me late, I'll be in a bad mood. And if I'm in a bad mood, naturally I won't be able to plant the forage grass well..."

To hell with your damn forage grass! Guo Yueling nearly exploded with rage.

She desperately wanted to curse him out, but in the end, she only gave a cold snort. "Then this afternoon will count as your scheduled day off... Anyway, your home isn't in Yang City, so it's not like you have anywhere to go."

Feng Jun had originally intended to just take a lateness mark. It was only because the other side had pushed him too far that he had struck back. Whether he got a scheduled day off or not truly did not matter to him.

So he could not be bothered to make more trouble. With a light snort, he turned and went to work out on the fitness equipment.

However, he had underestimated everyone's appetite for gossip. Before long, Little Li from the front desk sidled up beside him and asked softly, "Hey, Dual Degree, what exactly is going on between you and Red Sister... Why did she protect you today?"

Feng Jun glanced at her, thought for a moment, then answered, "If I said it was because I planted the forage grass well... you definitely wouldn't believe me, right?"

Little Li rolled her eyes at him and snorted irritably. "Isn't that obvious?"

Feng Jun spread his hands, looking completely innocent. "Actually, I don't know why Red Sister is taking such good care of me either... Maybe she just doesn't like Manager Guo?"

"And you call yourself an educated man. Can't you say one honest thing?" Little Li gave him an annoyed look, then turned and walked away, swaying her pert little butt. "Manager Guo's cousin is Red Sister's best friend!"

That was what she said, but in her heart, she really was wondering: Had Manager Guo been getting a little too controlling lately?

Zhao Qi stood not far away, watching everything thoughtfully. After a long while, he took out his phone and opened Liaoliao Farm. After hesitating, he still shoveled up the ginseng fruit that was about to be harvested and silently scattered forage grass seeds...

Feng Jun worked out on and off for two hours, then went back into the shower room to rinse off. Only then did he carefully examine the Stone Ring mark on his wrist.

After grabbing the grass for the second time, the Stone Ring mark seemed to have faded a little more. But judging by its current color, it should still be enough to support him grabbing grass once more.

Yet Feng Jun truly had a headache over planting forage grass, because harvesting it was real physical labor, and he could not gain any tangible benefits from it.

Although Red Sister had said he planted the forage grass well and he had kept his job because of it, that did not really count as a benefit. What Feng Jun wanted was cash—the ability to turn this miraculous encounter into money!

Using a legendary miracle to run Liaoliao Farm? Don't disgrace the word like that.

Besides, the conditions for gaining the ability to enter and leave the farm were a little too demanding. He could not keep damaging transformers over and over, could he? Though they were public facilities, Feng Jun did not want to casually damage them.

A person should have some basic decency.

After showering, he returned to the dormitory and stared at his phone for a long while. In the end, he decided to plant forage grass on just one plot. That way, harvesting it would not be so exhausting.

Who would have thought that just as he tapped the forage grass seed option, before he had even had time to plant it, his vision blurred and he entered the farm again.

"Damn it!" Feng Jun cursed angrily. "I forgot—I should've tapped the screen with my right hand!"

Would tapping the screen with his right hand keep him from entering Liaoliao Farm? Not necessarily. It was only a guess of his, and he had wanted to test it. But while distracted, he had habitually used his left hand again.

No matter what, since he was already inside, regret was useless. Feng Jun found a coarse cloth sack on the edge of the field, and it was filled with forage grass seeds.

He had originally planned to plant just one plot of forage grass, but when he thought of the six words, "You planted the forage grass well," he hesitated before scattering forage grass seeds over all ten plots.

At worst, once the forage grass matured, he simply would not harvest it. If the boss wanted to steal it, she could go right ahead.

Planting the forage grass did not take much time, and Feng Jun had now grasped a few tricks for entering and leaving the farm. Once he had finished everything he needed to do, all he had to do was silently think "exit," and he could easily leave the farm.

When his consciousness returned to the dormitory, he looked around, then suddenly slapped his thigh. "Damn it, I forgot to borrow another phone to record a video."

He really wanted to know what his body left in reality looked like after his consciousness entered the farm, and what state his old-fashioned phone would be in.

He had a strong investigative streak, but unfortunately, after gaining this miraculous encounter, he had been too excited and absentminded. Not only had he forgotten to swipe the phone with his right hand, he had also forgotten to borrow a phone.

Feng Jun was a man of action. Once he thought of something, he did it. He disliked dragging things out. Just like when he had accompanied his girlfriend south to seek their fortune, he had left as soon as he said he would, without the slightest hesitation.

So he picked up his phone and directly called Wang Haifeng—the guy had already missed work for two days.

Unfortunately, Coach Wang's phone was out of service. After thinking about it, he called Little Li at the front desk instead.

Little Li was a girl. When she heard that he wanted to borrow her phone, she immediately said there was a lot of private information on it. "...If you really want to borrow it, then I have one condition."

Feng Jun answered bluntly, "I really don't know why Red Sister protected me."

"Dual Degree, you really are clever. How did that brain of yours grow?" As expected, that was what Little Li wanted to ask. Hearing him refuse, she was not annoyed. "Aren't you saying it was because you planted the forage grass well now?"

"What are you talking about?" Feng Jun smiled faintly. "That was probably just an excuse Red Sister casually came up with to protect me."

Little Li gave an unhappy snort. "She's the company's general manager. Does she need an excuse to protect an underling?"

Huh? Feng Jun froze, suddenly feeling that her words made so much sense that he had nothing to say.

But there seemed to be something wrong with Little Li's logic...

He was not someone who could be easily talked around. "Anyway, that was the reason she used to protect me. Just tell me whether you'll lend me your phone or not."

Little Li fell silent for a while before answering, "I can lend it to you, but you have to use it in front of me."

How could that work? Feng Jun pondered for a moment before asking, "Little Li, I often help you buy breakfast. Have I ever asked for anything in return?"

Little Li immediately became a little unhappy and asked irritably, "You bring me breakfast once in a while, and you still want to ask for something in return?"

"Exactly." Feng Jun raised his eyebrows and shot back, "If I borrow your phone for a bit, what could I possibly do to it?"

Little Li hung up speechlessly. Looking at her phone, she hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and tapped uninstall, frowning at the online banking, Alipay, ChatChat...

At six thirty the next morning, Feng Jun got up. He pulled his phone from under the bed and saw the prompt showing it was at one hundred percent battery. Smiling in satisfaction, he casually swiped open the screen and used his right hand to open Liaoliao Farm.

Sure enough, his consciousness did not enter the farm space.

But the next moment, he froze. "Damn it... Who shoveled up my forage grass?"