From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 114 - 105: If Only I Had a Kindergarten Diploma...
Central Base, the outskirts.
Dr. Qi stood in a pile of stinking, withered branches and dead leaves, surrounded by a circle of armed soldiers.
They had just finished another simulation of the environment in the NX1984 Area before the mass plant mutation, hoping to discover the cause.
But clearly, they had failed again.
Dr. Qi took out a snow-white handkerchief and wiped a speck of dirt from his glasses, then silently stepped back.
A soldier with an Earth Ability immediately stepped forward and activated his power, exposing the remaining root systems of the plants and the various Crystal Core Fragments that had been buried beforehand.
Some began taking pictures, some began digging through the soil, and some watched the surrounding mutant plants with wary expressions, on guard against a sudden mutation...
Dr. Qi, for his part, took the petri dish and gloves handed to him by his assistant and began collecting samples for on-site analysis.
Nearby, people had already begun setting up a temporary laboratory. All sorts of equipment was being continuously delivered, while a fully armed squad of soldiers patrolled the perimeter.
After several hours of work, the group finally found a few living cells in the soil mixed with withered branches and dead leaves.
Dr. Qi seemed very excited. A faint glimmer of light occasionally flashed in his dark eyes, hidden behind his glasses.
Several of the lab assistants at his side were so excited they bumped fists.
They had been conducting similar experiments for over half a month, and today, they finally had a breakthrough.
It was a truly exciting prospect.
Dr. Qi stood up and walked toward the temporary lab, eager to immediately begin studying the few living cells.
But just as he reached the door of the lounge on the outskirts of the lab...
"Mr. Zhou, I was ordered to deliver the items..." A young man’s cool voice sounded from inside.
’Why is Zhou Jinyu here?’
Dr. Qi frowned imperceptibly, then pushed open the door, his expression unchanged.
Sure enough, as he looked up, he saw Ye Junhan and Zhou Jinyu standing in front of the newly constructed lounge bar, speaking in low voices.
"You’re here?" Dr. Qi smiled, his attitude appearing very easygoing.
"Dr. Qi." Ye Junhan gave a slight nod.
Dr. Qi nodded in return. "Jun Han, thank you for your hard work. I heard you were on the scene when the incident in Canyon N003 occurred?"
"Yes." Ye Junhan briefly recounted what happened, including how they discovered the Crystal Cores buried at the bottom of the lake.
Just then, Zhou Jinyu, who was standing to the side, suddenly interjected, "I heard Qi Xiang was there at the time, too?"
The question was rather pointed.
Especially with Dr. Qi right there.
Sure enough, the moment Dr. Qi heard Qi Xiang was at the scene, his brow furrowed slightly, as if annoyed by his daughter’s willfulness and her habit of running around. He finally sighed in resignation. "That child... It’s a good thing she’s always been lucky..."
This statement was even more pointed.
It was as if he was implying that this major discovery was all thanks to Qi Xiang’s luck.
Mr. Zhou smiled and, as expected, dropped the subject.
Dr. Qi, however, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked at Ye Junhan. He saw the young man standing silently beside Zhou Jinyu with his eyes lowered, as if he hadn’t heard the verbal sparring between him and Mr. Zhou at all.
’Young people these days are really something else.’
’No wonder Xiang’er chose him. It’s just a shame...’
「Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, on the outskirts of South City.」
Gu Xi looked up at Mr. Zhao in astonishment. "You want me to write the paper?"
Mr. Zhao nodded, his eyes full of encouragement. "You deserve the primary credit for the success of the grape vine’s reverse evolution experiment. I don’t think anyone would object to you writing the paper."
Beside them, Yang Chi and the others all nodded in agreement.
Gu Xi thought, ’If I had so much as a kindergarten diploma, I wouldn’t refuse.’
’But the problem is...’
"Professor, I’ve never been to school. I have no idea how to write a paper," Gu Xi said frankly. "So you should probably give this task to someone else."
When it came to fighting, she’d never back down. But writing a paper? She really couldn’t do it.
Gu Xi’s tone was sincere and her attitude was frank; she made no effort to hide the fact that she’d never attended school.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhao just laughed. "Gu, don’t sell yourself short. Zhang and I have been teaching you for over half a year. As our student, how could you not know how to write a paper?"
"That settles it. Think of this paper as a small test," Mr. Zhao said, patting Gu Xi’s shoulder with a smile. "You can do it. Feel free to come to me anytime if you have questions."
"And if you don’t do well on the test, you know what will happen..." he added at the end, his threat sounding almost like a joke.
With the "devil professor" mode activated, what could Gu Xi do?
She could only accept the task with a look of utter despair, much to the amusement of Yang Chi, Qi Xiang, and the others. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
That night, Gu Xi lay in bed, lost in thought. ’Mr. Zhao gave me the paper to write because he’s actually trying to help me. If I want to get involved with the seed project, I need more than just approval from the higher-ups; I also need the support of insiders in the field. And to get the support of the big shots in the field, I have to show some results. In Mr. Zhao’s circle, there’s no more tangible achievement than a published paper.’
Thinking of the paper, Gu Xi sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.
A moment later, she rolled over and sat up. With a blank expression, she opened her personal terminal and began to go through research materials.
In the days that followed, Gu Xi was completely unaware of the brewing storms and swirling undercurrents in the outside world.
She focused all her energy on her paper. When she occasionally hit a wall and couldn’t write anymore, she would wander over to Mr. Zhao’s experimental fields to help accelerate the growth of the ratoon rice and, hopefully, get some fresh ideas.
From the outside, her life seemed quite peaceful and quiet.
A few days later, Mr. Zhang also returned.
But Fangfang, who had left with him, did not come back. Rumor had it she was kept at the Central Base.
This left Mr. Zhang one lab assistant short. So, not two days later, Gu Xi heard that Mr. Zhang had requested Zhou Jing to work for him.
Honestly, Gu Xi found this move utterly baffling. ’He knows I’ve seen through Zhou Jing’s identity, yet he still actively requests to have her transferred to his team. Is he trying to expose himself?’
’Or is he trying to show that he has nothing to hide?’
Gu Xi couldn’t figure it out.
But she wasn’t worried.
’Either way, she’s right under our noses. With Shen Yue and Yang Chi keeping an eye on her, nothing can go too wrong.’
Half a month later, Gu Xi finally managed to grind out a first draft of her paper.
After the two professors read it, Mr. Zhao just gave her a complicated look, frowned, sighed, and said nothing.
Mr. Zhang, on the other hand, chuckled and offered Gu Xi a few words of encouragement, while also pointing out the many shortcomings in her paper.
At first, Gu Xi thought he was deliberately making things difficult for her. But later, according to Qi Xiang, the issues Mr. Zhang pointed out were all genuine problems.
To be honest, even Gu Xi herself was extremely surprised that Mr. Zhang was helping her edit the paper so conscientiously.
It was a remark from Wei Heng that made her realize something—"Don’t you guys think Mr. Zhang has been showing up a little too often lately?"
Gu Xi thought about it and realized it was true.
Although both professors were nominally in charge of the experimental fields, Mr. Zhao had always been the one to handle any issues that arose.
Mr. Zhang was usually a very low-key person; in the eyes of outsiders, he never had much of a presence.
But after returning from the Central Base this time, Mr. Zhang seemed to have become much more active.
’And there must be a reason for this change...’
Gu Xi was lost in thought.
