A Minor Setback

Sister Hong came over to inspect the place, said a few casual words, then left as if nothing had happened.

But every Hongjie employee present wore a look of utter bafflement. What did the boss mean by this?

There was no question that Feng Jun had turned the tables in an instant. Sister Hong had made the move.

That was right. Coaches ranked above underlings, 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.

Heaven and earth might be vast, but the one who paid the wages was the greatest.

In fact, Sister Hong's words made perfect sense and struck straight at the heart of the matter. Though Liu Shuming was a coach and the people he had harassed were merely temporary customers, they were still the company's customers no matter what.

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

Sister Hong seized on that point to warn Coach Liu. No one could say she had handled it wrongly. At the very least, this reason was far more convincing than Manager Guo's—Liu Shuming had damaged the company's core interests.

Yet Sister Hong's consolation of Feng Jun immediately afterward was truly baffling—his pasture grass was growing well?

Just because of that, she overlooked the graduate student's mistake. Was that something a company boss ought to do?

Wasn't that a little too willful?

Guo Yueling paused in surprise, then gave Feng Jun a meaningful look. "Did you report this to Sister Hong?"

Feng Jun was still baffled himself. Hearing that, he instinctively gave a cold laugh. "Whether I reported anything or not, what the hell does it have to do with you?"

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

She had been right to make an example of someone disobedient, but if that meant overlooking the company's core interests, then she had been utterly wrong.

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

Guo Yueling took two quick breaths before glaring fiercely at Feng Jun and speaking unwillingly. "Fine, yesterday won't count as you skipping work. But you were definitely late today. Even if you get Sister Hong to plead for you, it won't help!"

Though the general manager had slapped her in the face and she had to retract some decisions, this bastard had been late today. She was following company rules to the letter, so she was not afraid of the boss causing trouble—she was doing this for the company's good.

Still, even as she said that, she was anxiously calculating in her heart: what exactly was the relationship between Feng Jun and Sister Hong?

For Sister Hong to have taken a fancy to him was basically impossible. There was no shortage of handsome, strong young men at this club. Feng Jun was not bad-looking, but he was hardly exceptional.

And then there was his height of five foot eight, and his slightly chubby build...

Would Hongjie's famously aloof and proud boss fall for someone like that? Come on, don't make a joke like that.

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

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

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

Yet what depressed her was Feng Jun's unhurried reply. "Mark me down as late, and I'll be in a bad mood. If I'm in a bad mood, then naturally I won't be able to grow the pasture grass properly..."

To hell with your fucking pasture grass! Guo Yueling nearly burst 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 you've got nowhere to go."

Feng Jun had originally intended to muddle through being late today. It was only because the other side had gone too far just now that he had turned the tables on her. Whether he had a scheduled day off or not truly did not matter to him.

So he could not be bothered to make more trouble. With a soft snort, he turned and went to exercise on the gym equipment.

Still, he had underestimated everyone's appetite for gossip. Before long, Xiao Li from the front desk sidled up to him and asked in a low voice, "Hey, Double Degree, what exactly is going on between you and Sister Hong... Why did she protect you today?"

Feng Jun glanced at her, thought for a moment, and only then replied, "If I said it was because my pasture grass grows well... you definitely wouldn't believe me, right?"

Xiao Li rolled her eyes at him and snorted irritably. "Isn't that just nonsense?"

Feng Jun spread his hands, looking utterly innocent. "Actually, I don't know why Sister Hong is looking after me so much either... Maybe she just doesn't like Manager Guo?"

"And you call yourself an educated man. You can't say one honest word," Xiao Li said, giving him an annoyed look. She turned and walked away, swaying her perky little backside. "Manager Guo's cousin is Sister Hong's best friend!"

That was what she said, but she was genuinely wondering in her heart: lately, had Manager Guo really been meddling a little too much?

Zhao Qi stood some distance away, watching it all 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 nearly ready to harvest and silently scattered pasture grass seeds...

Feng Jun exercised on and off for two hours, then entered the shower room again to rinse off. Only then did he carefully examine the Stone Ring Mark on his wrist.

After he had held 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 holding grass once more.

Yet Feng Jun truly had a headache over growing pasture grass, because harvesting it was really physical labor, and he could not gain any tangible benefit from it.

Although Sister Hong had said his pasture grass grew well, and he had kept his job because of it, that was not really much of a benefit. What Feng Jun wanted was cash, the ability to turn his miraculous encounter into money!

Using a legendary miraculous encounter to run Liaoliao Farm? Don't go ruining the phrase like that.

Besides, the conditions for gaining the ability to enter and exit the farm were a little too demanding. He could not keep damaging transformers again and again, could he? They were public facilities, and Feng Jun did not want to destroy them lightly.

One still had to have a little decency in life.

After showering, he returned to the dormitory. He held his phone and stared at it for a long time before finally deciding to plant pasture grass on just one plot. That way, harvesting it would not be too exhausting.

Who would have thought that just as he tapped the pasture grass seed option, before he could sow anything, his vision blurred and he entered the farm again.

"Damn it!" Feng Jun cursed in irritation. "I forgot—I was supposed to tap the screen with my right hand!"

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

No matter what, since he was already inside, regret was useless. Feng Jun found a coarse cloth sack on the ridge between the fields, filled with pasture grass seeds.

He had originally planned to plant just one plot of pasture grass, but when he thought of the six words, "Your pasture grass grows well," he hesitated, then scattered pasture grass seeds across all ten plots.

At worst, when the pasture grass matured, he simply would not harvest it. If the boss wanted to steal it, she could steal all she liked.

Planting the pasture grass did not take long, and Feng Jun had now grasped a few tricks for entering and leaving the farm. After doing everything he needed to do, he only had to silently think of leaving, and he could easily exit 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 video again."

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

He had quite the spirit of inquiry. Unfortunately, after obtaining this miraculous encounter, he had been so excited that he kept forgetting things. Not only had he forgotten to swipe his phone with his right hand, he had also forgotten to borrow a phone.

Feng Jun was a man of strong execution. Once he thought of something, he did it. He disliked dragging his feet. Just as back then, when he had accompanied his girlfriend south to make a life for themselves, he had left the moment they decided to go, without the slightest hesitation.

So he picked up his phone and directly called Wang Haifeng—that guy had not come to work for two days already.

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

Xiao Li was a girl. Upon hearing 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 replied decisively, "I truly don't know why Sister Hong protected me."

"Double Degree, you really are smart. How did that brain of yours grow?" Xiao Li had indeed wanted to ask that question. Hearing him refuse, she did not get upset. "So now you're not saying it's because your pasture grass grows well?"

"What kind of joke is that?" Feng Jun smiled faintly. "That was probably just an excuse Sister Hong casually came up with to protect me."

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

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

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

He was not someone who could be persuaded so easily. "Anyway, that was the reason she used to protect me. Just tell me, are you lending me your phone or not?"

Xiao 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 briefly, then asked, "Xiao Li, I often help you buy breakfast. Have I ever made any demands?"

Xiao Li immediately became a little unhappy and asked irritably, "You bring me breakfast now and then, and you still want to make demands?"

"Exactly." Feng Jun raised his brows and shot back, "I'm borrowing your phone for a moment. What could I possibly do to it?"

Xiao Li hung up speechlessly. She stared at her phone for a moment, then gritted her teeth and tapped uninstall. Frowning, she looked at the mobile banking, Alipay, Liaoliao...

At six thirty the next morning, Feng Jun got up. He pulled out his phone from beneath the bed and saw the prompt showing 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. "Fuck... Who shoveled up my pasture grass?"