Nie Hong and Yun Sheng did not believe Meng Huai’s words. Yun Sheng spoke up directly, “Hey, impossible. You expect us to believe that, given how you managed to cultivate that flower?”
She was too young. This sort of thing relied on experience, and experience came from time and diligent exploration. Therefore, how could Meng Huai possibly cultivate flowers so well?
“Why is it impossible? Isn’t that stuff just casually grown?”
Actually, Meng Huai’s words held no malice or sarcasm; she was merely stating her honest opinion casually. However, it sounded different to Nie Hong and the others.
Nie Hong didn’t bother arguing with the young girl. He simply said, “Oh? So, you’re saying you can grow any plant well if you just put your mind to it?”
Meng Huai thought to herself, Is this person trying to provoke me?
“Pretty much.”
Meng Huai couldn’t be bothered to deal with him, responding casually.
“Let’s go, girl, come with me to the research institute.”
Although Nie Hong didn’t believe Meng Huai’s wild claims, the flower was indeed sold by Meng Huai. Therefore, he thought that by presenting Meng Huai with a difficult challenge, she would naturally ask for help. And this helper would be the person they were truly looking for.
“Why go to the research institute? If it’s nothing important, I’m going to eat, Teacher.”
Meng Huai felt that this old man was a bit peculiar, always speaking in halves, acting all mysterious. What, was she supposed to obey him? She had been training for so long, and her stomach was growling.
Nie Hong had never encountered a student like this before. The students at their research institute were unlike those in the combat academy. The combat academy students often had rebellious elements that required physical discipline, whereas the research institute students were very measured in their actions.
“Come, I’ll treat you to a meal at the faculty cafeteria. The food at our research institute is excellent!”
Hearing that the student was hungry, and being a big fish they wanted to keep hooked, Nie Yuan invited Meng Huai to eat.
As soon as they entered the research institute’s grounds, Meng Huai felt that the atmosphere here was very different from the combat academy. The students here appeared much weaker; Meng Huai felt they might blow away just by walking. Many were also looking at their optical computers, not watching where they were going.
Seeing such students, Nie Hong would call out reminders, “Be careful. When you walk, focus on the path and don’t always be studying!”
Look at their students, how hardworking they all were. Upon seeing Nie Hong and Yun Sheng, and hearing Nie Hong’s words, the student quickly closed his optical computer. He nodded in greeting to the two of them and said, “Greetings to you both, Deans. I understand, I will focus on the path.”
“Hurry along to eat!” Yun Sheng was used to this and let him go.
Most students at this research institute were passionate about learning and research. Most of the time, they were engrossed in their optical computers, poring over data and conducting research. Therefore, the paths in the research institute were made of special materials, so students wouldn’t get hurt if they fell.
Alas, thinking about this expenditure brought tears to his eyes.
After the student left, he mused: Who is that student next to the Dean? Why does he look like he’s wearing the uniform of the logistics department!
Meng Huai and the others arrived at the faculty cafeteria. Nie Hong led her on a tour and said, “Here, choose whatever you like.”
Meng Huai picked a few dishes that caught her interest and dined with Nie Hong and the others.
“Huh?”
As Meng Huai ate, she felt that the texture was not quite right. It didn’t seem like the substitute food she had been eating in the cafeteria these past few days. Instead, it tasted like delicacies made from real ingredients. Meng Huai picked up a piece of green vegetable and examined it carefully. Finally, she confirmed that this was indeed not a research-based food substitute, but real, cultivated green vegetables.
Nie Hong found Meng Huai’s expression amusing. “You can tell now, can’t you? These are vegetables, real green vegetables.”
Meng Huai nodded, but still asked, “Weren’t these vegetables said to be very rare? How come…”
Meng Huai didn’t finish her sentence, but she looked towards the place where the food was being served. The green vegetables didn’t seem scarce at all.
Nie Hong felt he could finally hold his head high. He said proudly, “These are all painstakingly cultivated by our researchers. If we couldn’t eat some ourselves, what would be the point of all this effort?”
Their research institute was very generous to its own people.
Meng Huai listened and nodded. “Indeed. I was thinking of finding some seeds to grow my own to eat. May I ask, where can I buy seeds?”
Meng Huai had been pondering this question. Seeing so many green vegetables here, she was sure they would know the source of the seeds.
Yun Sheng and Nie Hong heard Meng Huai’s question and thought: Since you’ve asked, it would be a waste of such a good opportunity not to test you, wouldn’t it?
Yun Sheng then said, “After we finish eating, I’ll let you take some.”
After the meal, Meng Huai indeed followed Yun Sheng to a laboratory. This area was specifically for food research, with researchers and instruments detecting something. Beside it was a planting area, but this plot was, in Meng Huai’s opinion, truly hard to describe.
The planting was sparse, and the growth was dismal. Scattered sparsely, there were only a few green vegetables that looked edible.
Yun Sheng found an office desk, swiped his finger on the identifier next to the drawer, and the drawer popped open. He took out some seeds and handed them all to Meng Huai.
“Do you need anything else? Like the Red Gold Soil. Or, you could just plant them here. I can give you a card for unrestricted access.”
Yun Sheng was truly casting a large enough bait to draw out the person behind Meng Huai.
However, Meng Huai refused. She only took some seeds and left. Of course, Meng Huai didn’t intend to take them for free.
“Teacher Yun, how much is it? I’ll transfer it to you.”
Yes, after one meal, Meng Huai’s address had changed from “Teacher” to “Teacher Yun” and “Teacher Nie.”
“No need for money. Take them to plant. After you’ve grown them, bring them back to show the teachers, so we can study them.”
Meng Huai nodded, “Okay, no problem.”
Just as Meng Huai was preparing to leave, Yun Sheng noticed a nearly dead plant on the corner of his desk. He called out to Meng Huai again, “Oh, right, student Meng. Since the flowers you grow are quite good, can you see if you can save this one?”
Meng Huai casually took it and walked away with it. She thought to herself that she would bring it back to Teacher Yun after saving it. Seeing how the flower looked, Teacher Yun must cherish it very much if he couldn’t bear to throw it away.
He did indeed cherish it very much. After spending a hundred thousand star coins to buy it, before he could even conduct a few days of research, it was about to die. Yun Sheng had tried every method possible, but it could only remain in its current half-dead state.
However, since Yun Sheng was going to discard it anyway, he might as well give it to Meng Huai to take.
Who knew that a few days later, this flower would be returned.
Meng Huai carried the bundle back to her dormitory, tossed the flower into her spatial dimension. Then, she divided the seeds into two portions. One portion was casually scattered in the spiritual field 4 within her spatial dimension. The other half, Meng Huai planted directly in her dormitory room.