The old man hadn’t even finished speaking when someone snatched the phone away from him.

Zhou Huaijin appeared on screen with a helpless expression. "Wanwan, don’t mind him. I’ll just come over to get it tomorrow."

Seeing the old man trying so hard to smile kindly, as if afraid of scaring her, Chi Wan stifled a laugh. She then replied graciously, "It’s no problem, it’s convenient. I’ll wait for you both to come over tomorrow, then."

After the video call ended, Zhou Huaijin watched his grandfather grinning like a fool and rolled his eyes. "I work my tail off raising flowers for you, but I’ve never seen you give me such a benevolent smile."

The old man’s smile vanished in an instant. He huffed, his mustache twitching, "Benevolent? You nearly killed the orchid I went through so much trouble to get. The fact that I haven’t beaten you is the greatest benevolence I can show."

With that said, he smugly forwarded the photo Chi Wan had sent to himself, then posted it on his social media feed. He casually captioned it with a single word: "Elegant."

It was only up for a moment before comments started pouring in. Some teased him for showing off, while others asked where he had mastered his orchid-growing techniques. The old man couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

Putting his phone away with great satisfaction, the old man started lecturing Zhou Huaijin again. "Look how well Wanwan raises flowers! And you’ve been studying this for years longer than she has!"

Then, he asked conspiratorially, "That picture Huai’an posted last time, the one of a girl’s back—that was Wanwan, right? She’s pretty, has a good personality, and her skill with orchids is the cherry on top! Your flower-growing skills might be garbage, but your eye for people is pretty good."

Zhou Huaijin wanted to facepalm. "What are you even talking about? Wanwan is my junior from school. You better not say anything crazy when you see her tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll move all your flowers over to my professor’s place!"

The old man’s eyes widened. "You dare! That old coot Zhang Ruifeng only knows how to till a field; what does he know about appreciating flowers? Forget it. You’ve already been corrupted by Zhang Ruifeng. It’s best if you don’t go and mess things up with Wanwan."

Shaking his head, he went back to replying to messages on his phone. For convenience, he sent a voice message directly: "Old Bai, it’s not that I’m trying to be critical, but those flowers you guys had before... they just don’t compare to a Pure Crown Orchid. Especially this one I found, tsk, look at the patterns and shape of the petals..."

"Where? I just got lucky this time, ran into a young lady... my goodness, the way she raises flowers! I’ll send you a picture. An ordinary person could never raise a Golden Silk Horse Tail this well..."

Zhou Huaijin shook his head. ’At this rate, I don’t even need to promote Chi Wan,’ he thought. ’In less than a day, everyone in his grandpa’s gardening circle will probably know about Chi Wan, the ’master gardener’.’

*

While waiting for Zhou Huaijin to arrive, Chi Wan entered her space.

As Li Xingye continued to feed it High-level Crystal Cores, the space no longer looked small and cramped. It was now so vast you could barely see the edges.

The area covered by soil had also reached two-thirds of the total space. It wouldn’t be long before the rate of soil coverage caught up with the rate of the space’s expansion.

The former little puddle was now the size of a pond. Its water was perpetually clear, and all sorts of plump fish swam leisurely among the waterweeds.

Chi Wan had also transplanted more than ten fruit trees into the space and bought many more saplings. In a short time, they had already grown into a dense orchard.

Other areas were home to chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep. She had even set up a pigpen with two breeding hogs.

The most convenient part was that these animals didn’t need to be fed or even excrete waste inside the space. They just wandered around on the soil every day, yet they put on weight just as they should.

Even the breeding hogs, which hadn’t been there for long, had already given birth to a litter of piglets, each one white and chubby.

Li Xingye kept the space neat and orderly. He used vines and fences to divide it into several sections.

He built sheds and nests, planting everything from potatoes and sweet potatoes to grapes and bean pods. The superpower-wielding master had completely transformed into a diligent farmer.

Chi Wan also never tired of finding new seeds for Li Xingye—vegetables, fruits, flowers, and grasses. Every time a new plant sprouted, it felt like unlocking an achievement.

In short, every time she entered the space, Chi Wan had the illusion that she was playing a farming game like Stardew Valley.

As the space’s ecosystem gradually took shape, the supplies she needed to provide for Li Xingye dwindled. Now, it was mostly medical supplies, snacks, drinks, or seafood and the like.

This time, as soon as she entered the space, she saw Li Xingye once again directing his vines to work diligently. Chi Wan landed beside the vines. "Brother Xingye, what are you doing? We haven’t gotten any new seeds recently, have we?"

Hearing this, Li Xingye smiled. "I’m arranging a flower garden for you."

’A flower garden?’

Chi Wan followed the vines with her gaze. Sure enough, Li Xingye had fenced off a large plot of land and divided it into neat, square plots.

Each plot was planted with a different type of flower. Looking closely...

"Orchids?!"

Chi Wan stared in astonishment at the lush green leaves and the budding flowers nestled within them. They were elegant and varied in form, but without exception, they were all orchids.

And what’s more, they were all clearly of exceptional quality!

Li Xingye’s tone was casual, as if he didn’t think he’d done anything extraordinary. "You seem to really like orchids, and I happened to have some orchid seeds on hand, so I tried planting them. Perhaps due to the influence of the apocalyptic environment, they’ve all mutated to some degree."

Chi Wan almost fell to her knees in worship of this master.

’So this is the power of a Wood Element master... growing orchids from seeds! And all of them are mutated varieties!’

After all, orchid seeds have no endosperm. Without the help of mycorrhizal fungi, they can’t germinate at all, which is why they are mostly propagated by division.

Chi Wan moved closer to observe the magnificent orchids. From their flowers to their leaves, their quality was breathtakingly high.

"I’m really going to strike it rich this time..." Chi Wan murmured.

Selling orchids was different from exchanging gold bars. This was earning a living through pure skill. As long as she paid her taxes properly, all the money from selling the flowers would be her legitimate income!

Besides, even someone who knew nothing about orchids could sense how precious these flowers grown by Li Xingye were.

Chi Wan’s gaze suddenly fell upon one particular flower. It stood out among all the other orchids.

Not only because its stem was tall and its bloom was large, but also because its petals were green!

The translucent, emerald green was eye-catching enough, but upon closer inspection, she discovered it was a pure-hearted, lotus-petaled orchid.

Chi Wan quickly recalled the flower’s name from her memory. "Qingyi Suhe... It’s actually a Qingyi Suhe!"

She remembered a Qingyi Suhe being auctioned for seven million a couple of years ago, but that one’s color seemed a bit lacking compared to the one before her now.

It was a pure green without a trace of any other color, like jade. The leaves were arranged artfully, complementing the flower beautifully. You could smell its delicate fragrance without even getting close.

Chi Wan didn’t dare to imagine what an astronomical price this Qingyi Suhe would fetch if she took it to an auction!