Thanks to Shari for the Kofis! Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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After receiving a positive response from Tong Zhanyan, Qing Jiyue ended the call and immediately contacted the Planting Alliance.

Elders Wang and Xu, who were already compiling a list of remaining seeds, learned they had the chance to visit the base in person and meet Tong Zhanyan. After exchanging a glance, their eyes lit up with excitement.

When it came to cultivation, they had so many questions they wanted to ask.

Moreover, seeing things through a camera lens was entirely different from seeing them with the naked eye. In truth, they were just like the crowd in the livestream—they’d been dreaming of visiting the base to see it with their own eyes.

Was this wish finally about to come true?

Gu Yunyang, Tao Zhengping, and Shen Ye, who were helping out nearby, exchanged glances, their eyes betraying an unmistakable look of envy.

They, too, had many questions and wanted to see the place for themselves, but since this wasn’t an academic exchange, it wasn’t feasible for all of them to go.

“I’ll go book the tickets and rooms.” Gu Yunyang took a deep breath and turned to leave.

He had helped with the harvest of those crops before, but this time, it was highly unlikely he’d be needed.

He felt an uncontrollable sense of disappointment, but he wasn’t angry. He knew how rare such an opportunity was, and he knew just how much Tao Zhengping, Shen Ye, and the others were looking forward to it.

At the Base.

After ending the call, Tong Zhanyan went back to continue teaching.

Yang Hong and the others weren’t new to farm work, so they picked things up quickly.

The only thing giving him a bit of a headache was that the Devil King was always clumsy when it came to detailed work, which made him anxious just watching.

After going through the instructions once and giving the Devil King a private lesson, he finally stepped aside to tend to his own tasks.

At the same time, he began pondering the matter of seeds.

If he had to choose a seed, given his current circumstances, soybeans would definitely be his first choice.

Soybeans are highly disease-resistant, don’t require much water or fertilizer, yet yield a substantial harvest—and most importantly, they fix nitrogen.

The root systems of most legumes form symbiotic relationships with a variety of microorganisms, such as rhizobia. Through this process, they convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen-containing compounds that plants can absorb.

He raised pigs specifically for the urea in their urine—for the nitrogen fertilizer it contained.

In other words, compared to other crops, soybeans actually produce fertilizer during the growing process, making the soil richer with each harvest.

Besides soybeans, Tong Zhanyan immediately thought of rice and wheat.

As for the reasons.

Fragrant rice, noodles of all kinds…

Does that even need a reason?

Moreover, both of these crops have decent yields. Compared to continuously growing vegetables as they do now, if the infection rate can also be reduced, eating these directly would be much more convenient.

Aside from these…

The first batch of flower buds and branches wasn’t very abundant, and with so many people working together, they finished the task by mid-afternoon.

Once finished, the group didn’t leave immediately; instead, they studied the bees and ants with great curiosity.

Tong Zhanyan took the opportunity to ask about the progress of the serum tests.

With eight mu of land, two types of livestock, and a small orchard, he currently has only two security cameras. As long as he was careful, there was no need to worry about anyone overhearing his conversations.

This actually reminded Tong Zhanyan that it was time to buy a few more security cameras.

The test results weren’t very promising.

It took a full eight days for the person who had previously fallen into a frenzy to recover; by that point, they had even considered giving up.

If recovery doesn’t happen early on, it only gets harder the longer it takes.

Because of this, Qing Jiyue had already decided to suspend the serum’s testing for now.

Tong Zhanyan didn’t know this, because Qing Jiyue had no intention of telling him—nor did he plan to ask him to provide food for five more people.

Fifteen people—even if they only ate three small bok choy plants per meal, that would amount to four or five thousand bok choy plants in a month.

Tong Zhanyan now had several fields of cherry radishes and small bok choy, but the reduction in the infection rate remained limited.

Besides, three bok choy plants per meal simply wasn’t enough.

Qing Jiyue didn’t want to shift the pressure from his side onto Tong Zhanyan.

Tong Zhanyan should just do as he pleased.

After hearing this, Tong Zhanyan stared silently in the direction of the back door for a moment before turning his gaze to the crops in the field.

If all goes well, the cherry tomatoes will be ready to harvest in another twenty days.

This was already their fifth batch of seeds; the reduction in infection rate would increase, and since they’d planted a lot this time, the yield should be substantial.

Later that day, as soon as Yang Hong and the others left, Tong Zhanyan immediately opened a shopping app and ordered some security cameras.

He bought the same model as before, purchasing ten at once.

There would be frequent prize draws from now on, and since they’d planted so much, the number of participants would also increase; having a few extra cameras would certainly provide greater peace of mind.

With Yang Hong and the others around, he could no longer afford any unexpected setbacks.

The next day at noon, just as Tong Zhanyan had finished eating, he received a message from Qing Jiyue: the representatives from the Planting Alliance had arrived.

Tong Zhanyan tidied up the living room and hurried to the door.

At the entrance, Old Xu and Old Wang were staring nervously at the massive glass doors in front of them.

“Old Xu, here’s your medicine.” Shen Ye handed Old Xu the medicine that Gu Yunyang had shoved into his hands before leaving.

Beside her, Tao Zhengping quickly pulled a respirator out of his bag. “Old Wang.”

“No need.” Old Master Xu glanced at it but didn’t take it.

Old Master Wang did the same.

This wasn’t like when they were just watching the livestream.

A few minutes later, Tong Zhanyan spotted Qing Jiyue and the two elders and two youths from a distance outside the door.

“That must be…” Tao Zhengping craned his neck.

In front of him, Old Wang took two deep breaths before turning to look at Tao Zhengping. “Why don’t you just give it to me after all?”

Earlier, he’d been furious; now, he was both nervous and excited.

That was Tong Zhanyan, after all.

Old Xu instinctively started to make a sarcastic remark—he and Old Wang had been rivals for half their lives—but when he glanced over and saw Old Wang’s flushed face, the words he’d been about to say died on his lips.

Because his own face was burning hot right now, too.

Old Xu took the heart medicine from Shen Ye’s hand and tucked it into his pocket.

In that brief moment, Tong Zhanyan had already pulled up at the entrance.

The door opened, and Tong Zhanyan introduced himself with practiced ease before leading the group into the facility.

On the way to the small building, Qing Jiyue gave a brief introduction.

Realizing that the two elders were the heads of the two branches of the Planting Alliance, Tong Zhanyan couldn’t help but take a closer look; he was still somewhat curious about the Planting Alliance.

Tong Zhanyan led the group to the living room.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they got down to business.

For long-term planning, regulations stipulated that only ten types of seeds could be unsealed at a time.

Tong Zhanyan had originally assumed they intended to set aside three or five slots for him, but after discussing it, he learned they planned to let him decide on all ten.

That came as quite a surprise to him.

In his view, his ability to grow crops successfully directly impacted the interests of businesses, farmers, and the Planting Alliance—all of whom were primarily involved in cultivation.

Especially the Planting Alliance.

Before his arrival, the Planting Alliance held such sway that no one dared to speak out against it; a mere patch of land could even lead thousands or tens of thousands of people to willingly risk their lives.

But with his arrival, while the Planting Alliance hadn’t exactly become a laughingstock, it was undeniable that they had lost their influence.

Previously, their partnership with the Qing Family Alliance—and their willingness to help him sell his crops—had, strictly speaking, brought them some benefit. But this time, their actions bordered on selflessness.

Noticing Tong Zhanyan’s surprise, Old Xu and Old Wang exchanged glances, each seeing a hint of bitterness in the other’s eyes.

“We all watch your livestreams. You grow crops better than any of us—that’s a fact.”

“We two old-timers have been at this for over twenty years and have achieved nothing. If, at this point, we were to cause you trouble just to save face, we wouldn’t even respect ourselves.”

As they spoke, both looked at Tong Zhanyan with complete candor.

Under their gaze, Tong Zhanyan actually felt a bit ashamed.

The paleontologists were like that, and so were these two men before him. Their excessive candor only served to highlight how overly cautious he had been, always on guard.

Old Wang looked at Tao Zhengping beside him, and the latter immediately pulled out his terminal and opened a document filled with crop names and descriptions.

“These are all seeds that can still be activated.”

Tong Zhanyan didn’t take them, but said directly, “Soybeans, peas, rice, wheat, potatoes, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, loofah, water spinach, and large tomatoes.”

Soybeans and peas can fix nitrogen.

Rice and wheat are staple foods.

Potatoes, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, luffa, water spinach, and large tomatoes can be grown without special temperature control; they’re relatively easy to cultivate and have high yields.

Among these, potatoes have a much longer shelf life compared to other vegetables, which helps prevent food shortages during the seedling stage.

The corn, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes he currently has serve the same purpose, but in the short term, these will be his main source of feed for livestock, so there likely won’t be much left over for human consumption.

Everyone froze for a moment. The next, Old Xu said, “Soybeans, peas, rice, and wheat are all gone.”

Now it was Tong Zhanyan’s turn to be stunned. “Gone?”

“These were all included in the first batch of seeds released. Back then, people didn’t know any better and just planted them directly in the fields. In less than six months, the infection rate for most of the seeds exceeded 50%.”

“Later, we urgently recalled some of them. Among the recalled batch, there were indeed soybeans, but their infection rate was also very high, and they’ve been sealed away again.”

For a moment, Tong Zhanyan didn’t know how to react.

Soybeans and peas were one thing, but his fragrant rice, steamed buns, and noodles were just gone like that?

Tong Zhanyan felt his stomach cramp.

Was he going to have to eat all that other junk for the rest of his life?

Old Xu and Old Wang exchanged another glance.

It wasn’t just those who were gone.

The first batch of seeds to be unlocked numbered over a hundred varieties, and through trial and error over the following years, many more were gradually unlocked. In the fifty-plus years since, ten new varieties have been unlocked every five years. All told, over three hundred varieties have been lost.

This figure includes some variations within the same species, but overall, at the very least, over a hundred varieties have been lost.

“Take another look?” Tao Zhengping handed the terminal to Tong Zhanyan.

Tong Zhanyan rubbed the bridge of his nose and accepted it with resignation.

Half an hour later, he selected ten more varieties.

Potatoes, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, loofa, water spinach, and large tomatoes remained unchanged.

Rice and wheat were replaced with green beans and radishes.

Soybeans and peas were replaced with peanuts and red clover.

Like green beans, radishes, and potatoes, these were relatively easy to grow and not particularly picky about temperature.

Peanuts and red clover, like soybeans and peas, could fix nitrogen.

Tong Zhanyan was certain he wanted peanuts, but he agonized for quite some time over red clover versus alfalfa.

Both are highly effective at nitrogen fixation, but unlike ordinary crops, they are more suited as wild greens and livestock feed. Considering the limitations on fertilizer and transportation, Tong Zhanyan chose only one of them.

A key reason for choosing red clover is that bees can feed on its nectar.

Bees would die without flowers.

The flowering period of red clover is determined by the climate, and the conditions it requires—specifically the 15 to 25 degrees Celsius range—are precisely the most common in the world. Theoretically, it could bloom year-round.

Once this batch of seeds arrived, he would have over twenty varieties in his possession. As long as he managed them well, there would be no shortage of flowers, but having more options was never a bad thing.

Having made his selections, Tong Zhanyan handed the terminal back.

Old Wang and Old Xu exchanged glances, wanting to ask but feeling too shy to do so.

It was clear that Tong Zhanyan hadn’t chosen these plants at random—especially the peanuts and the red clovers, which he’d agonized over for quite some time.

Noticing their curiosity and hesitation, Tong Zhanyan took the initiative to explain.

It was the first time either of the two had heard the term “nitrogen fixation,” and they pondered it for a while.

Seeing that they were interested in his explanation, Tong Zhanyan asked if they wanted to go out to the fields to take a look.

Sure enough, they were very interested and, blushing, went out with great enthusiasm.

Tao Zhengping and Shen Ye were the same.

Tong Zhanyan didn’t follow them out, letting them go on their own.

“You’re doing just fine,” Qing Jiyue said suddenly in the living room, where only the two of them were present.

Tong Zhanyan was puzzled. “What?”

“Being cautious isn’t a bad thing,” Qing Jiyue said, looking into Tong Zhanyan’s eyes with complete sincerity.

Realizing that Qing Jiyue had noticed his earlier embarrassment and was trying to comfort him, Tong Zhanyan felt a warm glow in his heart. “Thank you.”

Qing Jiyue said nothing more, but his gaze never left Tong Zhanyan.

The atmosphere in the room grew somewhat intimate.

Tong Zhanyan got up and went outside.

Old Xu and the others spread out, examining every single crop with great care.

Tong Zhanyan walked over and struck up a conversation with them.

Once he broke the ice, they immediately fired off a barrage of questions.

The four men’s questions were more targeted than those in the livestream—at least they weren’t hounding him about whether to water every five days or every seven.

But since this was their first time encountering his methods, many of their questions were vague even to themselves; they just had a general sense of what they wanted to know.

Tong Zhanyan patiently explained everything in as much detail as possible.

That took a full three or four hours.

By the time the four had finished asking their questions, Tong Zhanyan’s mouth was parched, and his throat was on fire.

When he saw them off, there was a look of reluctance in their eyes.

Tong Zhanyan took a nap at noon.

In the afternoon, he took a walk through the fields, pinching off some newly sprouted flower buds, side shoots, and leaves.

That night, while the bees were all back in the hive, Tong Zhanyan moved them to a new location.

He placed the hive at the foot of the hill to the right of the small house, behind the orange and tangerine trees.

Bees have a very strong sense of territory, so it’s generally not advisable to keep them near a residence. However, since there are only about two hundred of them now, he decided to leave them there for the time being.

Once their numbers grow, he could build a large hive farther away from the cottage.

With the bees settled, Tong Zhanyan tested the cherry radishes and bok choy in the greenhouse the next day.

They were nearly ripe.

The infection rate in crops increases as they grow, so testing is usually done right before harvest.

Ants can gnaw on roots and crops, potentially infecting them.

Tong Zhanyan compared these plants with the cherry radishes and bok choy grown normally in front of the small house.

The results were quite good; after testing over 400 plants, no significant increase in infection rates was found.

Tong Zhanyan did not relocate the ants immediately.

First, there were too few of them—their presence made little difference. Second, unlike bees, they do not all return to the hive at a fixed time; moving them haphazardly could easily result in losing some.

There were already pitifully few of them.

Tong Zhanyan decided to wait until their numbers grew before relocating them.

By the time he finished here, the cherry radishes and bok choy used for the bee test had mostly finished blooming.

Tong Zhanyan checked and found that pollination wasn’t very good; he wasn’t sure if it was because there were too few bees or because they weren’t experienced enough.

That gave Tong Zhanyan a bit of a headache.

A standard hive typically contains between 20,000 and 60,000 bees. In his plan, he intended to purchase at least 5,000 to 10,000 bees.

Who knew that a single hive here only had 200 bees…

Eight mu of land—if he relied solely on them, they’d probably work themselves to death.

It wouldn’t matter if they worked themselves to death, but the problem was that even if they did, they still wouldn’t be able to pollinate everything.

Tong Zhanyan silently opened his livestream and took a look. Seeing the over 300,000 viewers online, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, there were plenty of people.

After testing the bees on the cherry radishes, bok choy, and cherry tomatoes and finding they couldn’t pollinate them properly, Tong Zhanyan didn’t bother harvesting them; he just pulled them all up and tossed them into the shredder.

He had plenty of seeds for those two crops now.

Once they were shredded, he immediately tilled the soil and planted another round.

After this planting, he planned to switch to other crops on this plot.

By the time he finished, the healthier cherry tomatoes were already about to bloom, while the eggplants and cucumbers were gradually sprouting side shoots and flower buds.

That night, Tong Zhanyan arranged for a rain to provide one final, thorough watering.

Spring rain is as nourishing as oil, and his rain was nowhere near that effective, but the crops, having had their fill of water, were still full of vigor.

The day after the rain stopped, flower buds and side shoots began to spread wildly from the cherry tomato plants as if they were growing for free.

In less than five days, more than half of the half-mu plot had reached the stage where flowers and leaves could be pinched off.

Many of the cherry tomato plants had even bloomed their first flowers.

Tong Zhanyan didn’t try to control things as he had before; he announced the giveaway that very night.

Fifty people, for one day.

So far, he’d held over ten giveaways, but this was only the second time the number of participants had reached fifty.

In the livestream.

“It’s finally here.”

“I’ve already taken time off work.”

“I have to win this time.”

“Wait, how did we hit over 100,000 people in just a few minutes?”

“With more followers and more people online, the longer it goes on, the more people naturally qualify to participate.”

“I just coughed up a mouthful of blood.”

“I’ve been online day and night ever since I followed you, just to qualify.” ”

“I finally saved up enough online time. Please, let me win.”

…

Two days later, at the entrance.

Seeing the dense crowd, Tong Zhanyan silently worried about his cherry radishes, radishes, and bok choy. Between feeding the chickens and ducks and the gifts, this would likely take up more than half his plot.

As for the chickens and pigs, they’d probably be quite happy.

Since he’d planted more this time, the situation was naturally even harder to control; some crops had just begun to bud, while others were already in bloom and ready for pollination.

Tong Zhanyan divided the fifty people into two groups: forty to pinch off flowers and leaves, and ten to pollinate.

There are advantages to having a large group.

After the instructions were given and everyone had a chance to get the hang of it, even though they weren’t particularly fast, the team still made visible progress.

They finished up around 4:00 p.m.

Taking advantage of the large workforce, Tong Zhanyan mixed up some fertilizer solution and had the group water the plants.

Once the fertilizing was done, a little past 5:00 p.m., Tong Zhanyan escorted the group to the gate.

Upon returning, while it wasn’t yet completely dark, he went back to the fields to make up for any pruning that hadn’t been done thoroughly.

After 7:00 p.m., once it had grown completely dark, Tong Zhanyan returned to the small house and set up the next prize draw for three days later.

After the draw, it would still take two days for those people to arrive.

Five days later, with the same number of people, the same flower and leaf pruning and pollination tasks, Tong Zhanyan arranged another fertilizer application in the evening.

Crops at this stage require a significant amount of fertilizer.

However, with each application, the fifty-plus barrels of fertilizer Tong Zhanyan had painstakingly stockpiled were being depleted at a visible rate.

There were still over ten barrels that hadn’t fully decomposed and were unusable.

It pained Tong Zhanyan so much that he could barely sleep at night.

Another week later, by the time the third round of flower and leaf pruning and pollination was finished, Tong Zhanyan had less than fifteen barrels of usable fertilizer left.

That was barely enough for two more rounds.

Yet those crops would still need at least another month before they could enter the full harvesting stage.

The only consolation was that, thanks to the fertilizer, the crops were growing noticeably; many of the first batch of cherry tomatoes had already grown to the size of a thumb.

For the fourth round of work assignments, the distribution of labor was completely reversed from before: ten people were assigned to pruning flowers and leaves, while the remaining forty were all tasked with pollination.

The crops had reached their peak blooming period.

Pollination was more troublesome than pruning, and the efficiency was lower; surprisingly, they couldn’t finish the work in a single day.

At 6:30, when it had grown completely dark and they could no longer see clearly, Tong Zhanyan had no choice but to call a halt.

However, the group was somewhat reluctant to leave just like that, and many suggested turning on the lights.

After pollinating, they wanted to apply fertilizer—the others who had come earlier had all done so.

Tong Zhanyan refused. He could finish the remaining work tomorrow with Yang Hong and a few others, and besides, many of them had already booked their accommodations and transportation in advance.

With the work unfinished, as they left, the group kept looking back every few steps.

Tong Zhanyan found it amusing.

Even he felt a bit of resistance toward this tedious and boring work, especially after having done it for a full day.

These people made it seem as though he were the bad guy.

He actually wouldn’t let them finish the job.

That night, when Tong Zhanyan logged into his livestream to set up the next giveaway, many of these workers left comments in the chat, sounding incredibly aggrieved.

They didn’t blame Tong Zhanyan, but instead actively reflected on why they hadn’t finished the task.

Dusting the flowers was a bit of a hassle, but if they’d been a little more diligent, they could have finished it.

Especially since they’d spent too much time feeding the chickens and ducks when they first arrived at the base that morning.

Many people tried to comfort them, but the more they were comforted, the more they blamed themselves and felt miserable.

Tong Zhanyan watched in silence.

For a split second, even he found himself wondering if he’d been too heartless—after all, they just wanted to work, so why hadn’t he let them?

After reflecting on this, Tong Zhanyan quietly shut down the livestream and decided to watch it less often from now on.

Watching too much of it could mess with your head.

The next day, when Tong Zhanyan went to find Yang Hong and the others, before he could even speak, the five of them instinctively came toward him.

They had all been watching the livestream.

And it was the kind where, at Yang Hong’s suggestion, they’d set up a big screen for dozens of people to watch together.

Aside from Yang Hong and his group, the other ten people Tong Zhanyan rarely interacted with were staring at him longingly, with the words “we want to go” practically written on their foreheads.

Tong Zhanyan didn’t call them over.

Most of the work had already been done yesterday; there wasn’t much left today.

Because of this, as Tong Zhanyan turned to leave, he could even see a hint of resentment on their faces.

They could have helped, too.

Chu Yi was all smiles, and Wang Yanzhou and Tang Shijin were clearly in good spirits, as was Qing Suifeng.

Yang Hong kept glancing back as he walked, relishing the look of envy and resentment on everyone’s faces.

The ten left behind immediately shot him dagger-like glances.

While Ning Langdong, Yang Hong, and the others were pollinating, Tong Zhanyan walked around the entire field, pruning flowers and leaves.

At this stage, there wasn’t much left to prune.

Pollination finished just past ten o’clock, so Tong Zhanyan arranged for fertilizing.

That took quite a bit of time.

By the time they finished, it was already 1:00 PM.

Tong Zhanyan felt a bit guilty, so he quickly cooked a meal, but Yang Hong and the other four looked blissfully content after a day’s work.

Yang Hong and Chu Yi were one thing, but even the Devil King, Tang Shijin, and Qing Suifeng had smiles on their faces.

Tong Zhanyan rarely saw the Devil King like this; it gave him the creeps.

Thinking back to the grievances of the group in the livestream earlier, Tong Zhanyan felt for the first time in a long while that he wasn’t just “wearing” this body—he was going mad.

After eating their fill, Yang Hong and the others headed home on their own.

They rested in the afternoon.

The next day, Tong Zhanyan was plagued by another headache.

The first batch of cherry tomatoes to bloom had already started turning red, and they would be ready to harvest in just a few days.

Tong Zhanyan wasn’t in a rush since he already had experience selling them, but inspection was a major problem.

He’d planted a lot last time, but even then, it was only about a thousand plants, which took just a day or two to handle.

This time, not counting anything else, the cherry tomatoes alone covered a full two mu of land.

A little later, Tong Zhanyan contacted Qing Jiyue.

The Planting Alliance had already been making preparations.

It had been nearly three months since the last harvest, and they had already established distribution points in the outer city.

Tong Zhanyan also contacted Boss Bai.

Boss Bai agreed without hesitation.

“I’ll bring a few helpers along when the time comes,” Boss Bai said, glancing at Old Jin, who had been hanging around his shop like a leech for over half a month.

Ever since he found out that Tong Zhanyan had personally gone to his greenhouse to give him guidance, Old Jin had gone crazy.

He was green with envy.

Old Jin also wanted Tong Zhanyan to come take a look at his place, but he was too shy to ask outright, so he spent his days hanging around here, trying to “just happen” to run into Tong Zhanyan.

“Then I’m counting on you,” Tong Zhanyan said with a sigh of relief.

Without Boss Bai, he had no idea how much extra work he’d have to handle.

Tong Zhanyan looked at his own plot of land, pondering the possibility of getting Boss Bai to give up his shop and come work for him.

He now believed the Planting Alliance wouldn’t take advantage of him, but when it came to business matters, it was still best to have someone to summarize and handle things for him.

After confirming the details, Tong Zhanyan brought Ning Langdong along the next day to begin testing.

There weren’t many ripe tomatoes at the moment.

The two divided the work: Ning Langdong looked for plants to mark, while Tong Zhanyan collected samples.

After gathering a full tray of samples, Tong Zhanyan returned to the small building.

The testing wrapped up quickly.

While waiting for the results to print, Tong Zhanyan felt a touch of nervousness for the first time in a long while.

Although he had already guessed that the probability of a reduced infection rate in this batch of cherry tomatoes would increase, it remained mere speculation until the results were out.

The test results were printed out quickly.

This batch of seeds was all harvested from seedlings in the previous batch that had shown a reduced infection rate; at that time, the infection rate had mainly ranged between 42% and 45%.

This time, the rate was predominantly between 35% and 39%.

Perhaps because the seedlings that bloomed early were in better condition to begin with, the proportion showing reduced infection rates reached nearly half of the total.

Tong Zhanyan breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the past few weeks, he had rotated the planting of cherry radishes and bok choy across two plots. One plot used the remaining high-infection-rate seeds from before, and the proportion showing reduced infection rates was around 30%.

In the other plot, he planted low-infection-rate seeds purchased from the Alliance. Including this harvest, this was only their third planting cycle; the infection rate hadn’t decreased but had actually increased.

They were still in the seed-nurturing stage.

The latter hadn’t ripened yet.

There weren’t many fruits in the first batch to ripen; the two of them finished harvesting in just one morning.

The next day, Tong Zhanyan picked an extra five portions of the low-infection-rate cherry tomatoes and gave them to the people who came through the back door to collect crops.

In the Live stream.

“A surprise harvest.”

“I’ve been wondering—are those crops Senior’s meant for the five people who come by to help regularly?”

“They live at the base, right? It seems like someone comes by every day to take some.”

“But this is the first harvest of this batch—and he gave it all to them?”

“It’s been almost two months now…”

“They live at the base, come by every few days to help out, and Senior gives them food every day—and it’s never a small amount…”

“Stop it, if you keep going, I’m going to be so jealous I’ll die. I haven’t even won a single giveaway yet.”

“Exactly. What gives them the right?”

“Who exactly are those people?”

“The Four Great Families? I can’t think of anyone else who’d have the clout to move in there.”

“I used to think Senior had come to his senses, but it’s been so lon,g and there’s been no follow-up.”

“Could Senior be under threat?”

“Could he have paid them off?”

“Just look at all those crops at his base—do you really think he’s short on cash?”

“……He wasn’t actually threatened, was he?”

“Threaten him? Are they out of their minds?”

“I’m starting to get angry.”

“Anyone who can threaten him must be powerful and influential, even if they’re not one of the Big Four.”

“Don’t let me find out they actually threatened him. If I do, even if they’re from the Four Great Families, I’ll smash their heads in.”

“Can anyone look into this?”

“Does anyone know how?”

“What about the Victims’ Alliance? Aren’t they supposed to protect him?”

…

Two days later, Tong Zhanyan held another contest.

Most of the crops were in full bloom. Fearing a repeat of the previous incident, he had specifically added twenty extra spots this time.

Seventy people—the largest number ever.

Tong Zhanyan had expected everyone to be thrilled, but after the winners were announced, the atmosphere in the livestream turned rather somber.

It was then that he realized many people were speculating about Yang Hong and his group’s true identities and why they were at his base.

Many believed he had been threatened.

Some even devised a secret distress signal for him—if he gave the signal, they would definitely come to his rescue.

Tong Zhanyan was momentarily moved.

But that was quickly followed by a sense of helplessness.

This time, it really wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak up.

Thinking it through, Tong Zhanyan took advantage of the moment right after the raffle results were announced—when the live stream was packed—to explain that Yang Hong and his group were just there to have fun, and that he wasn’t being threatened.

This was the first time he’d responded to the matter, and in an instant, the entire screen was flooded with a dense stream of text.

They didn’t believe him.

It wasn’t that they didn’t trust him; rather, the idea that he’d been threatened had become deeply ingrained in their minds, and now every move he made seemed forced by that threat.

Victims’ Alliance, a group.

Take Me Along: “I’ve already asked two people who are close to him, and they both said they really just went to have fun.”

Changge: “Why can’t I just believe it?”

Fish-Loving Kitten: “What’s their situation? Can we trust them? Could they have been threatened, too?”

Midsummer’s Crazy Cool: “Could they be working with those people?”

Craving Hot Pot: “It’s not impossible. The familiar faces you saw—it’s very likely they were surveilling the senior.”

Yang Hong, who had been glued to the screen the whole time, quickly chimed in, “What I’ve heard is also fine.”

After a pause, to make it sound more credible, Yang Hong added, “The source is very reliable.”

After all, he was one of the five.

“Alright…”

“As long as the senior is okay.”

“That gave me a scare.”

…

Seeing that everyone had stopped doubting him, Yang Hong let out a huge sigh of relief.

“I still don’t believe it.”

“Me neither…”

Yang Hong couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his eye.

“Isn’t the draw about to start? We can have the people who went over there ask him in person then.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“That’s a solid plan.”

“But if he really was threatened, Senior wouldn’t dare say anything, would he?”

“……”

…

Yang Hong rubbed the bridge of his nose as he glanced at Chu Yi and the others beside him.

Chu Yi shrugged and spread his hands—there was nothing he could do either.

Wang Yanzhou, Qing Suifeng, and Tang Shijin thought it over and shook their heads as well.

Two days later.

The moment Tong Zhanyan saw the group that had come for the raffle, they double-checked him immediately.

Once they were certain he hadn’t been threatened, the group finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With so many people this time, and having learned from the previous incidents, they didn’t dare waste too much time feeding the chickens and pigs; the work was completed smoothly.

Before leaving, the group checked him one last time.

Only after receiving Tong Zhanyan’s assurance that he was truly fine did they leave.

With this round of pollination complete, there would be far fewer flowers in the coming days. However, since more than ten days had passed since the first pollination, the first batch of fruit was beginning to ripen on a large scale.

The day after Tong Zhanyan announced the harvest, Gu Yunyang arrived at the base entrance with a group of people to make preparations.

Meanwhile, Boss Bai had also made his preparations.

Early the next morning, Boss Bai arrived with Old Jin and two people whom Tong Zhanyan had met at Old Jin’s home—both of whom had prior farming experience.

Tong Zhanyan was somewhat surprised to see Old Jin.

Upon seeing him, Old Jin’s weathered face quickly flushed crimson.

Tong Zhanyan didn’t call on Yang Hong and the other four this time—partly to avoid any appearance of impropriety, and partly because it was the first harvest and there wasn’t that much to pick.

Ning Langdong and Mr. Bai had experience, and although Old Jin and the other two were helping out here for the first time, they had all grown tomatoes in their own greenhouses.

Tong Zhanyan simply told them which ones not to pick.

The ones off-limits were the ones he’d selected—plants in good condition with low infection rates, intended for breeding.

There were plenty of tomatoes in this batch, and the infection rate had dropped significantly, so Yang Hong and his group didn’t need to worry about running out.

After the instructions, the group got to work.

At the back door, in front of the enlarged screen, Yang Hong was grinding his teeth in frustration.

The other ten people standing nearby, who hadn’t had a chance to help until now, were actually in high spirits.

Let Yang Hong gloat.

Old Jin’s group was experienced; even though they hadn’t seen such large fruits up close before, it didn’t slow them down.

The first harvest of the morning was finished.

A total of thirty-four boxes.

Looking at the floor covered with boxes, Old Jin and his two companions’ eyes lit up, and the crowd in the livestream was exceptionally excited.

During the last harvest—the one with the most fruit—they’d only managed to pick a little over forty boxes. This was just the first harvest of this batch, and they’d already got over thirty boxes.

“How much more will we have to pick…”

“And these are just the cherry tomatoes. Besides these, there are a full six mu of land left.”

“That’s probably going to be several thousand jin, isn’t it?”

“Several thousand jin… Now I’m really starting to worry about whether we’ll be able to sell it all. The harvest is concentrated in just over a month, and the produce has a shelf life…”

“When’s the giveaway?”

“The money’s already ready.”

…

Mr. Bai, the tomato farmer, led Old Jin and the others out to the gate; Tong Zhanyan didn’t go with them.

After Mr. Bai and the others left, Tong Zhanyan took a walk around the other fields, checked on the ants and bees, then used a cart to haul a few compost barrels over to the pigsty.

He had already used up his other fertilizers, and the compost he’d set aside hadn’t matured yet. The only thing he could use for now was what was in the pigsty’s septic tank.

Tong Zhanyan scooped some out to set aside.

This time, Gu Yunyang brought even more people. Since the first batch of crops wasn’t very large, everything was settled and shipped out that same afternoon.

The next day, at 8 a.m., people were already showing off their purchases in the livestream.

“This is my first time buying one. It’s really huge—almost twice the size of the ones I’ve bought before. It looks so delicious.”

“Jealous as hell.”

“Damn…”

“I’m just about to head to the store to ask.”

“Now even I, who’s not in a state of frenzy, want to try one. Is it expensive?”

“I asked specifically—no price gouging allowed this time. There’s even a reward for reporting price gouging.”

…

At the farm, seeing everyone so engrossed in picking that they’d forgotten about the earlier incident, Tong Zhanyan breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, he began pondering the raffle again.

For the next harvest, there still wouldn’t be many cherry tomatoes, but the first batch of eggplants and cucumbers should be nearly ripe.

Yang Hong and the others wouldn’t be needed; it would just be him, Ning Langdong, and Boss Bai—at least a full day’s work.

As he weighed his options, Tong Zhanyan hadn’t yet settled on a specific date. As noon approached, the number of online users grew, and more people were purchasing crops, which led to a new problem erupting.

One by one, people began to notice that the infection rates of his crops didn’t add up.