Chapter 25
Delight lit up Li Yang's face.
One year was wonderful. She was more than satisfied!
For one thing, the wheat was so easy to harvest, and for another, there was just so much of it here!
Li Yang wasted no time. She swung her sickle deftly, hacking away at the mutated wheat.
[Lifespan +1 year.] [Lifespan +1 year.]
The constant stream of notifications filled Li Yang with energy. She worked up a storm, brimming with passion and fighting spirit.
This was the agronomy department!
This was her ideal life as a happy little farmer!
Meanwhile...
The agronomy department trio huddled together, watching in stunned silence.
Lü Shunshun stopped sleeping, too. She sat up and looked over with bleary eyes. "She's so energetic..."
Xia Putao, the third junior, had a decent mental stat. He took a closer look, his head full of question marks. "She's already opened three Star Apertures!"
Feng Yiqiao pondered for a moment. "That's why I said we've reeled in a real fool this time."
With three Star Apertures open, she was at least as strong as someone at the First Grade Third Stage, yet she was only a freshman who had just enrolled... That meant either her family background was extraordinary or her talent was extraordinary. Of course, the most likely possibility was that both were extraordinary.
Why would a Heavenly Chosen like that come to this godforsaken agronomy department to harvest wheat?
The third junior's imagination ran wild. "Senior Brother, do you think it's possible she's actually a rich young lady who's never seen wheat before, so she came to harvest some out of curiosity?"
Lü Shunshun began imagining things too. "That's very possible. This rich young lady grew up eating mutated wheat and reciting, 'Who knows that every grain upon the plate comes from bitter toil?' So she decided to come to our agronomy department and experience life?"
They sent Feng Yiqiao's thoughts down the wrong path too, and he couldn't help imagining the same sort of thing.
Still, he was older and more experienced. After taking the phone from the third junior, he immediately looked up the freshman's name. "Her name is Li Yang... Do either of you know a Grandmaster with the surname Li?"
Xia Putao shook his head. "I don't think so."
Lü Shunshun said, "A fake name?"
"How could it be? This is Zhongdu Military Academy!" Feng Yiqiao said. Students used their registered names to accept missions. Who would dare enroll under a fake name?
"Could she not be a rich young lady after all?"
"..."
None of the three could be sure. For all they knew, their own knowledge was too limited, and there was a great family surnamed Li that they hadn't heard of.
After all, Huaxia was vast, and some large, remote provinces had little contact with Central Capital. What if she was a princess or young lady from some far-flung corner?
An hour later...
Lü Shunshun had grown sleepy from watching. She yawned and said, "Probably not. What rich young lady works this hard, going at it for a whole hour?"
Two hours later...
Xia Putao was disappointed too. He sighed and said, "I thought our agronomy department was about to welcome a big shot and have a fortuitous encounter fall from the sky!"
Three hours later...
Feng Yiqiao, on the other hand, was starting to feel a little guilty as he watched. He murmured, "This kid really is honest."
He'd already told her there were no "wages" today, so why was she still working so hard?
It was making him feel embarrassed.
When darkness fell, Feng Yiqiao couldn't sit still any longer.
Though he spent his days swindling and deceiving people, it was all to support their family of four.
He had no choice. Their teacher had been pampered all his life, his second junior sister loved to eat and hated to work, and his third junior brother cut corners whenever he could. If he didn't hold the family together, they'd all go hungry.
But when it came to taking advantage of a young girl, Feng Yiqiao's faint conscience actually began to ache.
"Take a break," Feng Yiqiao said, coming over to Li Yang's side. "Your Star Apertures are almost empty too."
Li Yang had indeed expended quite a bit. After working for three hours straight, the Starlight power she had just accumulated in her three Star Apertures was nearly depleted.
Even so, Li Yang didn't feel tired at all.
Tired? What was there to be tired about?
She had easily earned ninety years of lifespan in just three hours!
If she weren't so close to the lifespan limit, she could work another three hours!
Li Yang wanted to build up a full hundred years. "Teacher, I'll rest after I finish harvesting these stalks."
Feng Yiqiao said, "..." You really do have energy to spare!
Li Yang watched her lifespan reach a hundred years, and the system gave her a notification: [Please note: lifespan has reached the upper limit.]
She finally stopped and looked at Feng Yiqiao with a smile. Full of energy, she said, "Teacher, I'll come back first thing tomorrow morning!"
Seeing her like this made Feng Yiqiao feel even more guilty. He couldn't help saying, "Um, would you like to stay for dinner before you go?"
Li Yang blinked. "May I?"
"Sure," Feng Yiqiao said. "But we don't have anything particularly good to eat here. Just steamed buns made from flour ground from the wheat you just harvested."
Li Yang asked in surprise, "Steamed buns made from mutated wheat?"
Feng Yiqiao nodded. "Yes, and a few pickles. If you..."
Before he could finish saying "if you don't mind," Li Yang said with delight, "Thank you, Teacher! I've never eaten mutated steamed buns before!"
Feng Yiqiao said, "..."
His conscience was in agony!
What rich young lady here to experience life?
This was clearly a poor, lonely, honest child who was still full of gratitude after being tricked!
Chapter 25
Feng Yiqiao led Li Yang to the agronomy department's living quarters.
Li Yang was curious the whole way. She would be part of this place from now on too, so naturally she wanted to get to know it beforehand.
The agronomy department occupied a large area, but it was in a remote location. A little farther west and they would be outside the academy.
Though both locations were remote, the Starlight concentration in the agronomy department was much higher than in the fourth-class dormitory where Li Yang lived.
Was it because of the wheat field? Li Yang couldn't figure it out either.
Directly behind the wheat field was a small hillside. It seemed that going over the hill would take one outside the academy, and the agronomy department's residence stood at its foot.
Through layers of bamboo groves, Li Yang could just make out an especially exquisite little courtyard halfway up the hill. She didn't know whose residence it was.
Feng Yiqiao led Li Yang into the large courtyard at the foot of the hill. The first thing she saw was a spacious granary, with many heads of mutated wheat piled haphazardly inside.
When they went around the granary, Li Yang's eyes lit up.
It was a clean, bright farmhouse courtyard, with a row of rooms straight ahead and two side rooms beside them.
Though it wasn't furnished as exquisitely as the fourth-class dormitory, it was neat and tidy. Most importantly, the air was fresh and the Starlight abundant.
Li Yang couldn't help asking, "Teacher, do the agronomy department's students live here?"
Feng Yiqiao thought nothing of it and answered casually, "Of course."
Li Yang cleared her throat softly and asked carefully, "Is there an accommodation fee?"
"No," Feng Yiqiao said. What accommodation fee? I raised every last one of them.
Li Yang's little heart gave another thump.
The agronomy department was wonderful!
There was a wheat field—a lifespan field-out front and rooms full of Starlight in back. Best of all... it was free!
Lü Shunshun and Xia Putao were already waiting in the kitchen. After Feng Yiqiao brought Li Yang over, both of them looked her up and down curiously.
Feng Yiqiao introduced her to Li Yang. "Her name is Lü Shunshun. She's at Grade One High Stage. You can just call her Senior Sister."
Then he pointed to Xia Putao. "His name is Xia Putao. He's at the First Grade Middle Stage. Call him Senior Brother."
Li Yang greeted them obediently. "Hello, Senior Sister. Hello, Senior Brother."
Lü Shunshun and Xia Putao said, "!"
The two said in unison, "H-hello to you too."
Lü Shunshun and Xia Putao were about the same age, and Xia Putao had no respect for seniority, so he never called her Senior Sister...
As for Xia Putao, he was looked down on whenever he left the agronomy department, and within it he was the youngest junior. Suddenly being called "Senior Brother" felt incredibly comforting.
It was wonderful...
A cute, well-behaved little freshman who was capable, too.
"All right, all right," Feng Yiqiao called. "Come eat."
With that, he brought out a steamer basket of buns from the inner room, along with a large plate of pickled vegetables.
One look at them made Lü Shunshun sleepy, and she yawned repeatedly.
Xia Putao grumbled, "Steamed buns, steamed buns, steamed buns every day. Can't we have one decent meal?"
Feng Yiqiao gave him a whack. "What's wrong with this? Steamed buns made from mutated wheat would cost a hundred yuan apiece at a restaurant outside the academy!"
Xia Putao pulled a long face. "Even if they cost ten thousand yuan each, I'm still sick of them!"
Feng Yiqiao glared at him again. "Then go have the buffet at the main cafeteria. A meal costs just one Merit Point."
Xia Putao fell silent. He grabbed a mutated steamed bun and took a huge, angry bite.
Li Yang listened in surprise and asked, "Are mutated steamed buns that expensive?"
Feng Yiqiao cleared his throat softly. "The restaurants outside the academy just use them as a gimmick... Ahem, we don't have much else here, but we have plenty of steamed buns. Eat as much as you like."
Li Yang said sincerely, "Thank you, Teacher!"
That "Teacher" made Feng Yiqiao's old face turn red.
Lü Shunshun and Xia Putao were used to it and couldn't be bothered to expose their eldest senior brother's little scheme.
Li Yang picked up a mutated steamed bun and examined it carefully. Starlight gathered on the mutated wheat, and sure enough, once it was made into a steamed bun, a great deal of Starlight gathered in it too.
She took a bite and found it fluffy and soft, with a pleasant wheaty aroma. After a few more chews, delicate threads of sweetness spread through her mouth.
"Delicious!" Li Yang exclaimed.
The trio who had given up said, "..."
They had thought themselves miserable enough, gnawing on steamed buns every day. But after meeting this poor child who had never even eaten one before, they actually felt their own lives weren't so bad after all.
After finishing one bun, Li Yang was surprised to find that the Starlight in it had gathered in her Star Apertures. Though the amount was small, it was much faster than recovering naturally.
"May I have another?" Li Yang looked at Feng Yiqiao expectantly.
Feng Yiqiao's heart melted completely. "Go ahead, go ahead. Eat as many as you want!"
"Okay!" Li Yang said happily.
One steamed bun... two steamed buns... three steamed buns...