She Only Wanted to Live Well

Over an hour passed. The system finished converting the last plot of farmland, and the six plots Ming Jiu had planted first were already fully mature.

More than a dozen other plots had entered the maturation stage, with their planting progress reaching 70%.

Ming Jiu harvested them with a single click, then replanted the seeds she had obtained. She put the extra half portions of seeds back into their original packaging and stored them in the warehouse.

The grassland in her space was piled high with harvested crops. Ming Jiu kept one Hami melon, a small pile of cape gooseberries, and cherry tomatoes, planning to let her younger sister try them.

She sold everything else to the system, earning a total of 1 gold coin and 23 silver coins. The level progress bar, which had been displaying "0" all this time, finally changed to—[1.23/100].

Just as she finished selling them, more crops matured. Ming Jiu entered the cycle of harvesting, planting, and selling again.

There were 104 plots of farmland. The shortest maturation time for each crop was fifteen minutes, while the longest was only an hour and a half.

Harvesting and planting each plot took roughly forty to fifty seconds. As soon as she finished planting one plot, another plot's crops would be waiting to be harvested.

Ming Jiu kept at it for nearly another two hours. Only when she felt a dull ache in her head did she force herself to stop.

From the first planting to the final harvest, three hours had passed. Her total earnings were 48 gold coins and 65 silver coins, and the farm's upgrade progress bar was already nearly halfway full.

When she opened her eyes, the small bedside lamp was on. Its warm yellow light was soft and cozy. A small pile of fruit had appeared on the bed—when Ming Jiu withdrew her mental power from the space, she had brought them out with her.

She really wanted a management robot—but unfortunately, she would only be eligible to buy one once the farm reached Level 10. It was also absurdly expensive: a full 100,000 gold coins, even more terrifying than an ability activation potion.

Sitting up, Ming Jiu gently pressed her temples and took an empty storage box from her system inventory, packing the fruit inside.

For her now, the system inventory was much more convenient than the new warehouse, which she had to enter the space to inspect.

System: [The host is advised to consume crops produced by the farm immediately.]

[The farm crop varieties have been restored and improved. Their calories and nutritional value are twice that of Blue Star's existing crops. They contain abundant energy, can promote mental power recovery, and help strengthen the body.]

Ming Jiu took the advice and kept two clusters of cherry tomatoes. She rinsed them quickly with water and popped them into her mouth.

Her teeth broke through the thin skin, and sweet-and-sour juice burst out instantly, rich and pure in flavor.

[Does energy mean abilities?]

System: [You could say that. When our botanists improve and select seeds, they prioritize seeds with positive mutations. That is the highest standard; nutritional value and taste come second.]

Ming Jiu was more concerned about another question.

[Ordinary people can eat them too, right?]

System: [Of course, but they should be mindful of issues such as excessive nutrition and indigestion.]

Ming Jiu was relieved. She would make sure her younger sister had some tomorrow.

The crops produced by the system farm really were far more filling. Ming Jiu could not eat any more after half a cluster.

The crops' quality and flavor were simply too outstanding. Forget after the natural disasters and apocalypse—even if she took them out now, they would be eye-catching.

In her previous life, Ming Jiu had little ability to protect herself. Even with plenty of food in hand, she had not dared to trade it for gold.

She had acted impulsively only once, and even now, thinking of the losses still made her heart ache.

In the fourth year of the apocalypse, mutated animals and plants were extremely active. Bases were frequently attacked, and living environments were no longer safe.

At the time, she desperately needed one of the base's newly developed guns for dealing with mutated animals and plants, but she was still far short of the required points.

She could only take a risk—she wilted freshly harvested sweet potatoes in the sun, sliced them, steamed them, ground them into flour... and made some dried sweet potatoes and sweet potato flour. To avoid attracting attention, she disguised herself as an old man. She did not dare use her own points card for transactions and accepted only disposable points cards.

Yet something still went wrong.

The day after she finished selling, Ming Jiu had just bought the new gun she had been longing for. Before she had even left the trading center, she saw quite a few people in base guard uniforms holding portraits of her disguised appearance and searching everywhere...

Then she ran.

She emptied the points on her ID card, converted them into disposable cards, then exchanged all the disposable cards for gold and a battered Wuling Hongguang.

The system bought back the system farmland stored in the cellar at half price, then filled in the cellar with the reclaimed wasteland. She handed the van over to the system for modification, packed her luggage that afternoon, and learned the exact departure time of City B's supply support team that night.

Before dawn the next day, she drove the modified van behind City B's transport convoy and escaped successfully. After great hardship, she arrived in City B to start over—only to be killed by Zuo Junhao.

The facts proved that her decisive escape had been the right choice. G Province Safe Base had even spread its high-reward wanted notice for her all the way to City B.

Yet from beginning to end, Ming Jiu had never considered cooperating with the authorities.

The natural disasters and mutations were not caused by her, much less her responsibility. She was merely someone slightly special, someone chosen by the system.

The benefits of cooperating with the authorities were obvious. She could receive massive financial support. Forget one hundred plots of farmland—with the power of an entire nation, ten thousand or a hundred thousand plots would be no problem.

The system could obtain more crops, she could earn more gold coins, and the authorities could solve the food shortage problem.

The only downside was that she would be dragged into conflict and might be devoured whole if she was not careful.

She did not possess such noble ideals. She only wanted to live well.

There were only three people in this world for whom she would risk her life—her mother, her father, and her younger sister.

Even with this second chance, she still had no intention of getting involved with the authorities.

Ming Jiu turned on her computer. As she had the system connect to it and upload evidence of Zuo Junhao's illegal embezzlement of company funds, she chatted idly with the system.

[Host, your decision is correct.]

[Not interfering with worlds undergoing the super-evolution stage is an important clause of the Interstellar Civilization Convention. In fact, the existence of the farm system is already a borderline violation.]

[If the host truly chose to cooperate with official organizations while bringing me along—it would be fine if we were not discovered, but if those above noticed, they would very likely recall me.]

Ming Jiu:!!!

Well, damn. What a huge trap.

Thank goodness for being selfish!

But Ming Jiu was still somewhat curious—

[What happens if there is interference?]

[Is it because your world lacks resources? Would new arrivals create even greater pressure on survival?]

The function of the farm system alone made it clear that interstellar people lacked natural resources.

System: [I don't know. That is confidential, but I have heard some rumors.]

[Go on.]

[Before the non-interference treaty was incorporated into the Interstellar Convention, an interstellar faction once provided aid to a planet undergoing evolution. The purpose was simple: after drastic environmental changes, that planet produced large quantities of minerals scarce in interstellar worlds.]

A faction?

So the interstellar civilization was not one country, or even several countries?

[The interstellar civilization and the evolving planet exchanged what each lacked, trading weapons and medicine for enormous amounts of minerals. That planet successfully completed its evolution in a short period and rose to become a stellar civilization.]

[But twenty years later, that planet was completely erased. Everyone, every species, and every trace of civilization vanished.]

[No one knows the exact reason—one year later, the "non-interference" clause was formally added to the Interstellar Civilization Convention.]

Ming Jiu:...

They were wiped out?

[...Do I know too much?]

[It's fine. The host is a special talent. If the host performs well, you may even be able to apply for interstellar citizenship.]

Ming Jiu was tempted for a few seconds, then gave up.

She was prey on Blue Star. Would she become the chef once she reached the interstellar civilization?

Impossible.

She might even become a juicy piece of meat everyone wanted to take a bite out of because of her space.

But then again, if the choice before her was—either perish together with Blue Star, or enter the interstellar world and fight for a slim chance at survival.

She would definitely choose the latter.