From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 30 - 28: Working is Hard

Gu Xi didn’t understand the scientific side of things.

But her intuition told her it probably wasn’t that simple.

Back when Ye Xin was awakening her ability, her physical condition was so poor that she nearly failed while in a coma. At that time, Gu Xi had secretly transferred some of her own ability into Ye Xin’s body...

Gu Xi had never told anyone about this, not even Ye Xin herself.

But since her ability could increase a plant’s capacity for X Energy, what about Ye Xin, who had only succeeded in awakening her own ability because of that influence?

’Could Ye Xin’s ability also...’

Gu Xi looked up at Mr. Zhao.

’This kind of thing could only be left to the professionals. Hopefully, the samples she’d sent over after deliberately controlling her ability’s output would be of some help...’

Just then, Mr. Zhao had already opened his personal terminal and was starting to submit a seed request.

The climate and soil here were both good, suitable for growing quite a few types of fruit.

Grapes, tangerines, loquats, cherries, bananas, oranges, plums... and so on. Since he didn’t know what they would actually be able to get, Mr. Zhao simply requested a bit of everything.

Gu Xi naturally had no objection. For her, the more fruit, the better.

The Qin sisters and Wei Heng had already gathered around. Only Shen Yue still stood off to the side, lazily teasing a foxtail weed, though his ears were perked up.

Qin Yi had sharp eyes. She caught sight of a "strawberry" option in the corner of the Light Screen and immediately gave a quiet, tactful reminder, "Mr. Zhao, I think strawberries are pretty good too..."

Mr. Zhao laughed and immediately added strawberries to the list.

After submitting the request, Mr. Zhao looked up at Gu Xi. "Gu, I can’t just give you these seeds for free..."

Gu Xi nodded. She already knew how precious these seeds were. After a moment’s thought, she said, "Then I’ll trade you sweet potatoes and watermelons for them. Or something else. Just tell me what you want..."

’She could grow anything, after all.’

But Mr. Zhao waved his hand. "That’s not what I mean. Gu, you have to understand, even for me, I can only request these precious seeds in the name of scientific research..."

Gu Xi didn’t think she understood.

Then she heard Mr. Zhao laugh again as he revealed his "true colors"—

"So, Gu, for the foreseeable future, how about you come work for us and help cultivate improved fruit varieties?" Mr. Zhao asked with a grin.

Gu Xi: "..."

She was suddenly reminded of something Li Ming used to say—when it came to mind games, people like them who only knew how to fight and kill could never outsmart the scholars.

The terror of scholars was truly terrifying.

Although, as the team’s strategist, Li Ming was considered half a scholar in the eyes of his teammates.

But Li Ming never considered himself a scholar, because he was the type who was just incredibly smart and self-taught, without any systematic education.

Thinking of her old comrade-in-arms, Gu Xi’s mind drifted for a moment.

Wei Heng came over and nudged her with his elbow, signaling that Mr. Zhao was still waiting for her answer.

Sure enough, when she looked up, she saw Mr. Zhao watching her with a grin. Even Mr. Zhang had come over at some point.

Gu Xi, completely at the mercy of the fruit: "..."

’He requested the fruit seeds right in front of her. How could she possibly say no?’

Like she said, when these scholars played mind games, it was truly terrifying.

...

Gu Xi had originally thought that working for the two professors would be as simple as occasionally using her Wood Element ability to help accelerate plant growth. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

She never expected that on her very first day as a worker, she’d be subjected to a full day of theoretical knowledge classes.

From plant growth environments to cultivation processes, the two professors took turns teaching her. They taught with great dedication and would even look at her with expectant eyes from time to time.

They even threw in the occasional pop quiz.

And whenever Gu Xi couldn’t answer, the looks the two professors gave her... could only be described as heartbroken.

Gu Xi: "..."

’Working is so hard.’

’It’s even harder than killing a hundred Zombie Emperors!’

In the evening, Wei Heng saw her stumble over, her face devoid of all hope and her steps unsteady. He quickly went to meet her. "What happened to you?"

Gu Xi gave him a wooden look. "...Where are my upland rice seeds?" She had been mentally tortured by knowledge all day and desperately needed to eat something good to recover.

"They’re all stored in the house." Wei Heng knew Gu Xi wanted to eat rice, but he glanced at the sky, which was already nearly dark. "How about we plant them tomorrow?"

Due to the current food crisis, growers at the major bases preferred to plant crops with higher yields that were easier to store and could be used as both a vegetable and a staple food, like sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes.

This meant that the younger generation, like Wei Heng, who were born thirty years after the apocalypse, had basically grown up eating sweet potatoes and corn.

So it was hard for him to understand Gu Xi’s desperate craving for a bowl of rice.

But Gu Xi was different.

"No, I have to eat rice today." ’And it has to be the most authentic, delicious white rice, without any of that strange energy!’ Gu Xi insisted.

Wei Heng was a little confused. He had eaten rice before. It tasted strange—sour, bitter, and astringent. It wasn’t even as good as mutant sweet potatoes, which were at least a little sweet.

Besides, he already had sweet potatoes steaming on the stove...

"Wei Heng," Gu Xi said suddenly. "Tonight, we’ll have to eat in secret..."

She really couldn’t bear to wrong her stomach any longer, but she also didn’t want to expose her secret just yet... so she could only make a special meal for herself.

As for why she was bringing Wei Heng along... he was a pretty good cook.

And, of course, he wasn’t a bad person either.

Wei Heng froze for a second, then remembered the sweet potatoes they had eaten on the first day. He gave Gu Xi a complicated look.

An hour later, the sky had turned completely dark.

The two of them snuck out of the house under the cover of darkness.

"Gu Xi," Wei Heng asked, carrying the upland rice seeds, "where are we going?"

Gu Xi glanced at him. "Do you know why we have to eat in secret?"

Wei Heng was silent for a moment, then frowned slightly. "...Then let’s not go too far." ’Visibility was poor at night, there were weeds and shrubs everywhere, and there wasn’t a proper path. It wasn’t safe.’

"Don’t worry." Gu Xi nodded casually, glanced toward the other side of the stream, and then led the way toward the forest behind them. "It’s not far. Just be careful and stay behind me."

Wei Heng watched in amazement as her figure zipped through the waist-high, withered weeds, clearing a path for herself as she went. For a moment, a myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind.

In the end, he could only remind her, "Gu Xi, then... be more careful in the future."

He didn’t say what she should be careful about.

But Gu Xi nodded. "I know."

「An hour later.」

When he took a bite of the authentic clay pot rice, his mouth filled with the fragrant aroma of real rice. Wei Heng closed his eyes in contentment, all of his earlier complicated feelings thrown to the wind.

’This rice is so delicious!’

After the two foodies had polished off the entire clay pot of rice, their eyes landed simultaneously on the layer of scorched rice at the bottom...

Anyone who has eaten scorched rice knows that it’s the most tempting part. This was even more true for someone like Wei Heng, who had never eaten authentic white rice before.

Wei Heng subconsciously swallowed and licked his lips. "Gu Xi..."

"Don’t even think about it." Gu Xi immediately hugged the clay pot. "Fifty-fifty."

He had thought the rice was the most delicious food in the world, but the scorched rice was so fragrant it made his mouth water. With one bite, he felt like he could bite his own tongue off!

Wei Heng licked the last crumbs of scorched rice from his fingertips. As he savored the aftertaste, he couldn’t help but recall how, while Gu Xi was preparing the clay pot, he had habitually measured the mutation coefficient of the rice...

0.00

The moment he saw that result, the first thought that popped into Wei Heng’s mind was—’Is my portable Abnormality Detector broken?’

At that moment, he hadn’t hidden his shock and complex feelings, just as Gu Xi hadn’t hidden her secret tonight when she brought him out alone for a special, private meal.

This was a form of trust.

And also a test...

"Gu Xi."

After Gu Xi had spurred a new batch of wild grass to cover up any trace of the upland rice, Wei Heng walked over to her and opened his personal terminal. "Take a look."

Gu Xi glanced up at him. ’Looks like someone didn’t eat that rice for free tonight.’

Wei Heng rubbed his nose, seeming a little embarrassed, but his attitude was frank. "Um, a friend of mine sent this. I thought... maybe... you’d be interested in this information..."

Gu Xi raised an eyebrow. ’A friend? Is it the same friend who gave you the mask?’

An image of a person suddenly appeared in her mind.

When her peripheral vision swept over Wei Heng’s Light Screen and she saw the two words "Ye Junhan" at the top, Gu Xi felt a strange, inexplicable sense of ’I knew it’.