Chapter 16

Chapter 16: I, Zhang Feng, would rather die than ask Qian Qi, yeah, I take that back

Liu Da Bao was extra happy today, because his dying Magiplant finally came back to life.

Not only that, the plant looked full of energy. When it swung its leaves, it tossed him more than two meters into the air. Both sides of his backside turned purple from the fall, but he was still thrilled.

A classmate, Little Zhang, passed by and stared in surprise, saying: “Hey, Liu Da Bao, you actually managed to grow Burning Cloud Grass? Didn’t you say it was about to die?”

“Hey, I saved it,” Liu Da Bao said proudly, adding: “I borrowed some Magibeast poop from the Beast Taming Department, then cut back the stems and leaves and soaked them in hydrogen peroxide for two hours. I didn’t think it would really work, but it did.”

Little Zhang was shocked and asked: “Magibeast poop? Wow, how did you even think of that?”

Liu Da Bao looked around, then leaned to his ear and whispered: “Actually, Qian Qi taught me.”

“What?!” Little Zhang was even more shaken, saying: “You’re kidding. That crazy girl? And you actually dared to try her method?”

“I had no choice,” Liu Da Bao said, scratching his head. He couldn’t think of anything else, so he tried what Qian Qi suggested.

Because of this, he didn’t dare tell anyone he had signed a contract with Qian Qi. It felt too embarrassing.

Getting squeezed for 45 yuan was bad enough. If people found out he believed that failing, crazy student’s nonsense, wouldn’t that be what a total idiot would do?

Maybe that’s also why even though Qian Qi has signed quite a few contracts, many classmates still don’t know. Honestly, it’s because telling people would be way too embarrassing.

You would get laughed at for all four years of college.

Little Zhang waved it off and said: “Just a lucky hit.” He refused to believe Qian Qi had some amazing skill. He, Zhang Feng, even if he were cornered and about to fail a course, would never risk using that maniac Qian Qi’s method.

He shook his head and added: “Anyway, as long as it’s cured, that’s what matters. Otherwise you lose another month.”

Liu Da Bao nodded in agreement.

After a few words of comfort, Little Zhang kept walking up the mountain. When he passed a certain spot and saw someone, he blurted out in surprise, saying: “Oh hey, Old Li, your Magiplant is alive again too?”

“Yeah,” the boy called Old Li said with a goofy grin, adding: “I got some nitrogen-potassium compound fertilizer, mixed in a few jin of raw kelp and let it sit for a day, then I…”

Little Zhang’s jaw dropped as he cut in: “Wait, what? Raw kelp? Why would you use raw kelp?”

Old Li glanced around, then leaned in to whisper: “Actually… Qian Qi taught me.”

[???]

[Why is it Qian Qi again?]

Puzzled, Little Zhang kept heading uphill. Then he ran into another classmate who told him a few days ago that his Magiplant was dying. Now that classmate was excited, saying his plant had been saved, and…

“You heard it from Qian Qi too, right?” Little Zhang said flatly, already dead inside.

That classmate clapped his hands and gave him an “I get you” look, saying: “You signed the contract too?”

[??? What contract?]

After asking for details, Little Zhang finally understood what Qian Qi had been doing. His worldview took a major hit. It was hard to believe that someone like Qian Qi could bring so many classmates’ Magiplants back to life.

This didn’t feel like a random lucky hit anymore.

But… with that slacker, troublemaker Qian Qi, who hated Magiplants so much, could she really…?

Little Zhang couldn’t figure it out. When he reached his own test plot, his face suddenly went pale. He slid on his knees and knelt in front of his Magiplant.

“Old Zhang,” he said in grief, adding: “Why are you bald? Why did all your leaves fall off? What happened? The book never said you drop all your leaves!”

Watching his hard-grown Magiplant go bald at the most important moment, Little Zhang frantically checked references and tried to save the plant that was wilting more by the minute. No matter what he did, nothing worked.

What should he do?

He was just one step away from finishing his planting report.

Lost and panicking, Little Zhang-who treated “Old Zhang” like his life-suddenly heard a fateful name echo in his head without a sound.

“…”

[Should I… go ask Qian Qi?]

Qian Qi was busy working her plot when someone tapped her shoulder.

“Qian Qi, are you free?” a student asked.

She turned and saw a slightly awkward boy. She dug in her memory and remembered he was the class rep of their Magiplant 101 class, Zhang Feng.

“Oh, it’s the Class Rep!” Qian Qi wiped the dirt from her hands, held one out with a warm smile, and said: “Nice to meet you.”

Zhang Feng, a bit thrown by how friendly she was, shook her hand under the sway of the mood, saying: “Uh… nice to meet you.”

She pulled her hand back and asked curiously: “What’s up?”

He cleared his throat and said: “So… my Old Zhang-no, I mean, the Magiplant I’m growing-suddenly has a problem. I wanted to ask you to take a look…”

“Oh, I get it, I get it,” Qian Qi said, looking like she understood everything.

Wearing her flip flops, she walked over to a rock, pulled a contract from underneath, and slapped it in front of Zhang Feng, saying: “Forty-five yuan. Transfer the money and I’ll fix it right away.”

Seeing the legendary contract, Zhang Feng looked down and read it carefully.

Qian Qi sat to the side with a foxtail stem between her teeth, smiling as she eyed him. If she remembered right, Zhang Feng was the top student in their class.

So smart and eager to learn. Perfect to be a little class rep in her workshop.

When he finished signing and looked up, he caught Qian Qi staring at him with a weirdly satisfied expression. His scalp tingled as he asked: “Qian Qi, is there a problem?”

“No problem at all,” she said with a squinty smile as she put the contract away, then hoisted her hoe and added: “Come on, lead the way.”

Qian Qi followed him to his test plot and found a lonely “giant mouth” growing there. She stared for a while and still couldn’t tell what kind of Magiplant it was.

She pointed with her eyes and asked: “This is…?”

“It’s Man-eating Red Grass,” Zhang Feng said quickly.

Qian Qi’s mouth fell open. She looked back at the plant and said: “Your leaves… fell off a bit too bald.”

Man-eating Red Grass is like a pitcher plant. A dozen huge red rough pitcher leaves give off a faint sweet smell. They hide a flat, toothy giant mouth in the middle. Small Magibeasts who follow the scent fall into the mouth basin full of digestive juice and become the plant’s food.

A normal sick Man-eating Red Grass might lose a few leaves. But this one had dropped everything and only the trap mouth remained.

“Can my Old Zhang still be saved?” Zhang Feng asked nervously.