20demayo Chapter 5: Already Ahead of the Vast Number of Interns!
Chapter 5: Already Ahead of the Vast Number of Interns!
After completing the first hair regrowth treatment.
Jiang Qiu tends to the spiritual plants in the greenhouse during the day.
Take care of the [Wood Edge Flower] at home morning and evening, and let it absorb spiritual energy.
Life went on as usual, flowing smoothly.
Eight days passed in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Wu Shan did not teach any more skills.
They almost never appear in the public eye anymore.
It's fair to say that everyone has been left to their own devices again.
But they released a notice when I left work today.
[Wu Shan, Training Director of the Ninth Plantation: @All members, given that intern Qian Cheng performed well and demonstrated solid basic skills during his time in greenhouse care, he will be transferred to Courtyard No. 17 immediately to learn from experienced staff.]
The message caused a huge stir. Jiang Qiu, who was having dinner, paused for a moment when she saw it. The internship class's private group chat had already exploded.
[Zhang San: Damn, @Qian Cheng, Qian Cheng, how come you transferred to Courtyard 17 like Wang Baisheng and Jiang Qiao? Does that mean you've been guaranteed a spot in the trainee spirit plant master program?!]
[Li Si: That goes without saying. Going to Courtyard 17 early is just to familiarize themselves with the future work environment. Besides, Wu Shan usually doesn't care about anything, but now he's specifically mentioning it. Qian Cheng is probably a shoo-in for the top three in the assessment!]
[Zhang San: When Wu Shan taught us about "growth cultivation" last time, all of our "Wood Edge Flowers" were growing at about the same rate, and we were all using the same low-grade level 1 pots. I'm still taking care of them wholeheartedly, sigh.]
[Li Si: Who doesn't want a spot in the training program? Turns out we didn't get one this year. I should have known better than to ask my family to buy a level 1 pot; what a waste of money!]
[Yang Zhilan: This is a one-time opportunity, let's persevere. Even if we don't get a training spot, we can continue planting. The underground market is open today, I'll go check the price for spirit fruits later.]
[Zhang San: I'm at the underground market. I was originally planning to buy some fertilizer and try my luck one last time, but after seeing the group notification, ha, I've lost all interest!]
[......]
[Zhang San was banned from posting for ten minutes by administrator Qian Cheng.]
[Li Si was banned from posting for ten minutes by administrator Qian Cheng]
[Activate nationwide speech ban]
[Qian Cheng (Administrator): Although the director is not in this group, please be mindful of your wording. There has never been any pre-determined allocation of training slots.]
[Qian Cheng (Administrator): Regarding the change of internship location, I'm only going to courtyard number 17 to do some auxiliary work. We're all in the same plantation, so I hope some individuals won't make unfounded speculations.]
[Qian Cheng (Administrator): Also, I happen to be selling spirit fruits in the underground market. Feel free to voice your opinions in person!]
The once bustling private group suddenly became quiet, the number of members decreased by two, and the group's information interface froze.
With a crunch, Jiang Qiu munched on a compressed nutritional biscuit, muttering, "The administrator, Qian Cheng, seems to be the one who can afford to buy a level 1 ceramic pot. He's on good terms with class monitor Wang Baisheng. Is he going to courtyard number 17 now?"
Courtyard No. 17 is one of the small-scale planting courtyards managed by Wu Shan, which is dedicated to training trainee plant masters. Usually only senior employees of the garden can be transferred there to work, and ordinary interns do not have access.
Previously, only two interns had gone in.
One of them was the class monitor, Wang Baisheng.
The other one was a girl named Jiang Qiao.
I heard they all have recommendation letters from spiritual plant masters.
And each has its own outstanding features.
But Qian Cheng didn't have a letter of recommendation.
Since its inception, it has not been considered to have outstanding potential.
How can I enter courtyard number 17?
Jiang Qiu frowned slightly, but her eyes remained calm and composed: "He most likely gave Wu Shan a gift. The value of the gift must be considerable to move a spirit plant master. Wu Shan will definitely favor him during the assessment. Even if he only cultivates one mid-grade fruit, barely reaching the upper level of the internship class, he can still skip everyone else and secure the third spot."
Tsk, he wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth and looked at the [Wood Edge Flower] growing silently on the kitchen flower stand. It was taking shape, and although the green buds were tiny, they were accumulating the potential to bloom.
"But if my cultivation results were far superior to his at that time, would Wu Shan have completely disregarded his reputation as a spiritual plant master and blatantly lied for him?"
"The spiritual energy has just been accumulated to a near-complete level."
"Let's see the initial output of a one-time hair regrowth treatment."
With a whoosh, Jiang Qiu exhaled a wisp of cyan spiritual energy from her fingertips.
[Consumes 10 strands of level 1 wood elemental energy]
【"Hair Growth" Level 1 Wood-type Spiritual Plant "Wood Edge Flower"】
[Optimization direction selected: expected maturity time 10 days ahead]
【...】
[Consumes 10 strands of level 1 wood elemental energy]
【"Hair Growth" Level 1 Wood-type Spiritual Plant "Wood Edge Flower"】
[Optimization direction selected: expected maturity time 10 days ahead]
With a whoosh, the [Wood Edge Flower] stretched out its branches and leaves as if it were yawning, lush and green, even more so than the one that Wang Baisheng had planted back then. At this moment, more than a dozen green flower buds were swelling and swollen between the branches, almost bursting open to bloom.
The expected maturity time has been reset to zero.
The moment of delivery is just around the corner.
Jiang Qiu took a slow breath.
Having exhausted the last of their spiritual energy reserves—
[Consumes 10 strands of level 1 wood elemental energy]
【"Hair Growth" Level 1 Wood-type Spiritual Plant "Wood Edge Flower"】
[Choose an optimization direction:]
[1. Expected ripening time 10 days ahead of schedule]
2. The fruit quality is medium grade.
[3. The yield of flowers and fruits on the wood edge has increased by 5.]
Now, option one is no longer worth considering. As for option three, which increases yield, it only results in 5 more low-grade fruits, which is not a significant improvement and not worth it.
With this in mind, Jiang Qiu decisively chose option two.
Whoosh, the cyan spiritual energy entwined in the branches and leaves flowed into the lake like a stream, pouring into the largest flower bud. Thud, its branches bent down, the flower cluster split open from the bottom, spreading out like a lotus flower, revealing the emerald green fruit.
Tap tap tap, the other buds also bloomed one after another.
They vary in size and are arranged in a pleasing, staggered manner.
1 medium-grade fruit, 14 low-grade fruits.
Although the two options only yielded one medium-grade fruit.
But it has already undergone a qualitative change.
Ahead of the vast majority of interns!
Jiang Qiu glanced at the calendar on her phone, her eyes deep and thoughtful: "There are still two and a half months until the assessment. I'll use this mid-grade fruit as a spirit seed for second-generation cultivation. The yield will definitely increase, and the number of mid-grade fruits will also be greater. At that time, I won't be inferior to Wang Baisheng."
"If my achievements can easily rival Wang Baisheng's, what reason would Wu Shan have to protect Qian Cheng to the death and be determined to secure a spot for him?"
"However, that's a story for another time."
"First, we need to cultivate the second generation of [Wood Edge Flower]."
He calmed down and made a plan in his mind:
"In order for the second generation to produce more than the first generation, multiple [growth] processes are necessary, which will consume a lot of spiritual energy. Relying solely on its own output for [growth] will only provide very limited benefits."
"Since the underground market is having a night market today, I'll pick some fresh, low-grade fruits to sell, increasing the number of pots I can use. I'll plant the remaining low-grade fruits in them, letting them specifically produce spiritual energy, accumulating it for a future burst of power!"
Snap, snap, the fruit stems are cut off, and the tender, low-grade fruits fall into the plastic bag, leaving only the plumpest, medium-grade fruits hanging from the canopy of leaves.
The surface reflects the streetlights from outside the window.
Jiang Qiu pushed open the door.
Head to the underground market.
Selling inferior fruits.