Tong Zhanyan scheduled the third harvest for two days later.

He posted the announcement half a day in advance. That night, he appeared precisely on time.

By the third harvest, there were barely any fruits left. These were noticeably different from the first batch—the largest barely finger-sized, the kind Tong Zhanyan would have ignored before.

After picking the others, he squeezed the four remaining tomatoes. They were soft, a sign of full ripeness.

Tong Zhanyan picked them too.

With fewer tomatoes left to harvest, Tong Zhanyan’s picking time grew shorter each time. This round took less than a minute.

Seeing Tong Zhanyan wrap up so abruptly, the livestream chat exploded with question marks once more. These were all newcomers who had joined just these past two days.

Those who had witnessed this before were both amused and exasperated, their feelings complex. Seeing it again only reinforced their certainty that their previous impressions weren’t illusions—Tong Zhanyan genuinely didn’t take this seriously from the bottom of his heart.

That kind of nonchalance couldn’t be faked.

Tong Zhanyan’s nonchalance only stirred up the heavy memories buried deep within them.

After picking the fruit, Tong Zhanyan didn’t leave immediately.

By the time everyone noticed, he had already pulled two distant tomato pots closer to him. Then he raised his hand and… fanned them.

The group, still reeling from their complex emotions a moment ago, nearly choked on their own blood.

Most of them had only discovered this livestream when the five tomato plants were already beginning to swell with fruit, so they hadn’t witnessed Tong Zhanyan’s previous pollination session.

But Tong Zhanyan’s livestream comment section was pitifully sparse, with only forty or fifty comments total. So they had long seen the long, scathing comment from the melancholy research dog condemning Tong Zhanyan for fanning the tomatoes.

They knew about Tong Zhanyan’s “prior record,” but he’d been quite well-behaved lately. Plus, the harvesting had shifted their focus, and they’d all forgotten about it.

Who knew Tong Zhanyan would suddenly relapse at this moment?

They understood from that comment that Tong Zhanyan was pollinating, but with countless methods available, couldn’t he have chosen a gentler one?

Watching him move from one pot to the next, slapping harder with each one, countless viewers were banging their keyboards and pounding their desks.

What on earth was wrong with Tong Zhanyan?

After fanning every single tomato plant, Tong Zhanyan pulled over the two healthiest specimens as usual and gave them a couple of extra slaps.

With the previous batch of fruits nearly ripe, the second wave of flower buds had all bloomed. Compared to the earlier flowers, however, these looked sparse and stunted, clearly malnourished.

Tong Zhanyan wasn’t surprised. It was already remarkable that they’d managed to bear the first batch of fruit with just the small amount of wood ash and eggshell powder he’d provided earlier.

As for the second batch, Tong Zhanyan held no expectations.

But he was desperately short on cash right now, so he could only take things one step at a time.

After pollinating the flowers, Tong Zhanyan returned the pots to the corner and carried the picked tomatoes back inside.

Setting the plastic bag on the table, Tong Zhanyan rummaged through his backpack while speaking to Qing Jiyue, “I need to step out. Might be late getting back. If any teachers come for room checks, could you cover for me?”

Qing Jiyue had always paid close attention to his tomatoes, standing at the doorway watching as he picked them just now.

Now that he was done, he wiped his hair dry and returned to his desk.

Qing Jiyue never missed training, so his daily routine was strict.

“Okay.”

With his response, Tong Zhanyan found a clean bag to pack the tomatoes into his backpack before heading for the door.

Opening the door, he peered out cautiously.

Tian Xianqing’s voice drifted from Ning Langdong’s room to the left, while Su Yanran was reading in his own room.

Those from the outer city always had to work harder.

Confirming no one was paying attention, Tong Zhanyan quickly descended the stairs.

It wasn’t late—just past seven—and the dormitory area was filled with people returning from dinner.

The campus bustled, but the streets of the main city were even livelier.

When Tong Zhanyan arrived, the shop was packed with over a dozen customers. Most were just browsing the excitement, while only one person, who looked like they were picking up a vegetable order, was being served by the owner.

Spotting Tong Zhanyan enter, the man who’d first greeted him approached immediately. “What brings you here today?”

Seeing Tong Zhanyan again, he exhaled in relief. It had been six full days since Tong Zhanyan had taken that cooler.

Today, Tong Zhanyan had indeed come, but without the cooler.

Tong Zhanyan glanced at the name tag on the man’s chest: Fang Yiguang.

“I’m here to sell tomatoes today,” Tong Zhanyan said, opening his backpack to take out the tomatoes.

The moment he saw the plastic bag, Fang Yiguang’s smile stiffened uncontrollably.

He had never seen anyone so…

“This way.” Fang Yiguang forced a smile and led Tong Zhanyan to a separate meeting room in the back.

The boss had just finished a task. Spotting the items in Tong Zhanyan’s hands, he also entered.

“Sit.” The boss sat down in front of the sofa.

Tong Zhanyan placed the bag on the coffee table in front of him.

Fang Yiguang brought over three trays.

The boss opened the bag, carefully removing each tomato one by one. He examined each as he took it out, then sorted them into the three trays based on size and color.

Tong Zhanyan’s tomatoes weren’t numerous, but there were still seventy or eighty of them. It took him a good ten minutes to finish sorting them.

Tong Zhanyan shifted uncomfortably. Selling tomatoes by weight still seemed absurd to him.

As he waited for further instructions, Fang Yiguang approached carrying a gram scale. Together, they began labeling each tomato slice, weighing them, and recording the measurements.

Tong Zhanyan’s lips twitched, but he patiently endured the process.

Over forty minutes later, the two finally finished their work.

Fang Yiguang carried the tomatoes to the back inspection room.

Tong Zhanyan immediately stood up—his butt had gone numb from sitting.

The shopkeeper, sensing his confusion, offered, “If you’re interested, you can take a look too.”

”What kinds of seeds do you have here?” Tong Zhanyan had no intention of following. He’d watched both weigh their tomatoes; they weren’t going anywhere.

The shopkeeper was busy with accounts. Hearing this, he picked up his ledger and headed outside, intending to personally show Tong Zhanyan around the store.

Tong Zhanyan followed.

“What kind of seeds are you looking for?” the owner asked in front of the seed section.

“Short-cycle ones,” Tong Zhanyan replied.

Many crops took half a year to mature, but only seven months remained until the final assessment.

He needed to plant short-cycle varieties to earn more money quickly—enough to buy additional seeds and build greenhouses.

The shopkeeper considered this, then selected two items from the shelves and placed them before Tong Zhanyan.

There were two transparent plastic bags, each about three fingers wide. Inside each bag was a single small seed, labeled with its variety name.

Cherry radish. Baby bok choy.

Tong Zhanyan wasn’t surprised.

Cherry radishes had a growth cycle of thirty to forty days, while bok choy took twenty to sixty days—indeed, among the fastest among common vegetables. That’s why they were widely grown even in his previous world.

“How much?” Tong Zhanyan asked.

“Six thousand three hundred. Six thousand five hundred.”

Tong Zhanyan feigned surprise. “Why so expensive?”

The shopkeeper gave a faint smile. “These types of seeds are especially popular, so naturally the price is higher.”

Tong Zhanyan already knew this. He’d checked the prices online, and the shopkeeper’s quote was actually quite reasonable.

“Besides these, what other seeds do you have here?”

“Lettuce, eggplant, peppers, strawberries…”

“What about soil?” Tong Zhanyan pressed.

The owner promptly led him to the dedicated soil section.

The shop stocked over twenty types of soil, each touted with its own unique selling points.

Tong Zhanyan spotted one particularly fluffy variety, but ultimately chose the most common type—both cheaper and more familiar.

As they chatted, Fang Yiguang emerged with the appraisal results.

Holding the stack of appraisal slips, the shopkeeper continued calculating the total.

Half an hour later, the final tally was ready.

His cherry tomatoes fell just short of a pound, but since most were in decent condition, the total came to 106,400 yuan. Combined with the earlier 9,000-plus, it totaled over 110,000 yuan.

One jin of cherry tomatoes sold for 110,000 yuan.

Hearing that figure, that dazed sensation washed over him again.

This time, though, Tong Zhanyan snapped back to reality quickly. “If I buy both seeds and soil from you, could you give me a discount?”

The shopkeeper was both amused and exasperated. “What exactly do you need…”

By the time Tong Zhanyan returned, it was past eleven at night.

His terminal balance hadn’t increased much, but his backpack now held several lightweight small bags he barely felt, along with a copy of an order that actually owed him over 20,000 yuan.

Those five tomato plants could still yield more fruit.

He planned to have the store deliver the items after renting the training room, so he could haul them straight there.

He planned to rent the training room in a week. The remaining cherry tomatoes would take about another week to ripen, and his seedlings still needed time to grow.

Deep into the night, the entire campus was deserted, an eerie sight that made Tong Zhanyan quicken his pace.

Qing Jiyue had already gone to bed.

After washing up, Tong Zhanyan hurried to bed as well.

The next morning, Tong Zhanyan received a notification early on—the tools he’d ordered had arrived at the security office.

During lunch break, he secretly retrieved the items.

There was a lot of stuff. Even after unpacking some at the security office, he still ended up with three large bags.

Fortunately, the hallway was nearly empty by then.

After all that running around, there was no time left for a nap. Once the items were stowed away, Tong Zhanyan simply took the four fully ripened tomatoes sitting nearby and began using his newly purchased tweezers to carefully extract the seeds from each one.

In the past, he’d simply toss them into water and mash the pulp, relying on the seeds’ heavier weight to sink to the bottom for easy separation.

But now, with fewer seeds available, he had to handle them with care.

Tong Zhanyan had clearly overestimated his own abilities.

The seeds were minuscule, and the sticky, slippery pulp made the task incredibly fiddly. Before he could finish one tomato, he was already scouring the room for a suitable container to hold the water.

When Qing Jiyue awoke, he witnessed the pitiful sight of tomatoes bursting into juice under Tong Zhanyan’s hands.

“Won’t they spoil?” Qing Jiyue couldn’t help asking.

“They won’t.” Tong Zhanyan replied while continuing to crush the tomatoes.

Qing Jiyue stared for a moment before looking away.

Tong Zhanyan’s approach to gardening differed from others, something Qing Jiyue had noticed long ago while sharing the same space.

After crushing the tomatoes as thoroughly as possible, Tong Zhanyan quickly picked out most of the pulp. He rinsed the remaining bits clean with fresh water.

Finally, he spread two sheets of paper flat on the table, poured the seeds onto them, and let them air-dry.

After handling the seeds, he rummaged through the pile of supplies he’d just brought back, pulled out a pack of disposable cups, counted out twenty, and decided to make a few more seedling trays while he still had time before class.

He planned to plant all the seeds within the next day or two.