Chapter 17

Chapter 17: This is going to cost extra

“For this…” Qian Qi looked troubled.

Seeing her face, Zhang Feng felt like the sky was falling.

Was Old Zhang really done for? No hope at all? He had already swallowed his pride and trusted the slacker Qian Qi. And even then it couldn’t be saved?

“…it’ll cost extra,” Qian Qi said slowly.

[…]

[Huh???]

“Wait, so there is a way?” Zhang Feng finally processed it and didn’t care about the money. Like a drowning person grabbing the last straw, he asked fast: “How much? If you can save Old Zhang, I’ll give you my meal money for this week!”

Old Zhang was the dicot Magiplant he had worked so hard to raise. He didn’t want to give up.

“We’re classmates. How could I let you go hungry for a whole week?” Qian Qi patted his back to comfort him, then held up two fingers and said: “Two weeks.”

“…”

[So much for not letting me go hungry!]

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Feng transferred 182 yuan. He looked at Old Zhang and put his last hope in Qian Qi.

Qian Qi glanced at the readout she had just gotten with her Analysis Skill:

[Magiplant Name: Man-eating Red Grass (sick)
Rank: E
Case Analysis: Severe leaf loss caused by hunger and missing microbes
Treatment: Feed 1 kg Magibeast meat to refill nutrition, replace humus soil every 15 days, feed 2 kg pork weekly.]

“Get ready,” she said kindly. “If you want to save Old Zhang, you’re going to bleed money.”

Zhang Feng misunderstood and asked: “What do you mean? Even more money?”

“No,” she said, pointing at the big mouth of the Man-eating Red Grass, adding: “It has a big appetite. First, prepare one kilogram of Magibeast meat and let it eat until it’s full.”

“Then change the humus soil twice a month. You know humus, right? It’s nutrient soil made from rotting leaves broken down by microbes. You should find some anywhere on the Back Mountain under trees. If you really can’t, buy it online.”

“After that, feed it two kilograms of pork every week.” She rattled it all off and got ready to leave.

“Wait!” Zhang Feng said, confused. “Why do I have to feed it Magibeast meat and pork? What’s the principle?”

“This is Man-eating Red Grass. It’s a carnivorous Magiplant,” Qian Qi said with a little hum. “If it doesn’t get meat, it can only pull nutrients from the soil. When the soil runs out, the leaves all drop.”

“Remember to feed it on time. If you feed it long enough, you’ll build a bond. Who knows, maybe one day it won’t try to eat you.”

With that, she looked at the plant a bit wistfully. Too bad Man-eating Red Grass is a non-moving type. Otherwise, it would be a walking weapon.

Beside her, Zhang Feng suddenly understood. He had focused on growing Old Zhang but never fed it even once. If the leaves fell because of hunger, that actually made sense.

“Qian Qi, where did you learn all this?” he asked. In his mind and others’, Qian Qi never went to class and never grew Magiplants. What kind of chance had she gotten that let her look at a plant for a few seconds and find both the illness and the cure?

“Did you Awaken some amazing ability?” His eyes shone with hope as he looked at her.

Qian Qi paused.

A moment later, she hefted her hoe and put her other hand behind her waist.

Zhang Feng tensed up at once. [Oh no. I messed up. I shouldn’t have asked. Is she going to hit me?]

But Qian Qi just lifted the back of her leather jacket and, with great effort, pulled a textbook from her lower back: Magiplant Studies.

“Read more, Class Rep,” she said, flicking the book and speaking earnestly: “Books can give you a house of gold. Books can give you a beauty like jade. If you study hard like me, you’ll naturally know.”

Zhang Feng looked at the brand-new textbook and fell silent.

[Why do I not believe she actually reads? And I’ve read this book like eighty times. How did I not think of these treatments?]

“Well then, Class Rep, keep it up,” Qian Qi said as she jammed the book back at her lower back. “Your Old Zhang is already starving. If you don’t feed it soon, it might try to eat you.” After building up her “I love studying” image, she hoisted her hoe and strutted off like a boss.

Zhang Feng stood there in a daze for a while.

After a bit, he turned to the bald, mouth-only Old Zhang and asked: “Are you really hungry?”

A breeze blew past and the big mouth wobbled, as if answering him with pure disdain: [If you get it, then hurry up and feed me already.]

That night, in the empty late hours again, Su Xing Le climbed the Back Mountain of the Magiplant Department. He wasn’t as scared now. Maybe it was because of the girl walking in front, textbook under her arm and hoe on her shoulder, who somehow made him feel safe.

At the test plot, he opened a plastic box and tried to show off, saying to Qian Qi: “Junior, I can buy this at a low price from a senior. I even bargained it down for you, 30 yuan a jin.”

That was a lifesaver for Qian Qi. Delighted, she gave Su Xing Le a heartfelt promise, saying: “Good bro, if you ever hit rock bottom, I’ll help you for sure.”

Su Xing Le fell silent. [Please don’t promise that. I’m not going to hit rock bottom.]

He sat on a small stool nearby and noticed many more bottles and jars around. Qian Qi was squatting in the field burying seeds, busy as ever.

Curious, he asked: “Qian Qi, why are you planting so many kinds of Magiplants?” He had heard that students in the Magiplant Department only needed to grow one Magiplant to pass. By his count, Qian Qi had planted at least ten kinds already.

She pulled out the textbook under her arm and waved it in front of him, saying: “Because I love studying, of course.”

Thinking back to the rumors, Su Xing Le gave her a doubtful look.

She thumped her chest and said: “If you love studying, you can bring honor to the school. Trust me.”

“…Okay, I trust you,” Su Xing Le said.

Qian Qi nodded, satisfied. Good. Her “I love studying” image was out there now.

As for why she was planting so many kinds: first, to make her “smart and studious” image look more real; second, to confuse people.

She stroked her chin, thinking. Once she brews Hemostasis Potion, people will definitely snoop around for the recipe. She was too smart to let them succeed.

[Can’t wait…]

She raised a shiny oversized pair of scissors and snapped them twice at the air, grinning in a very sneaky way.

Su Xing Le shivered. [Weird. Why is it suddenly so cold? Is it the night wind, or is the girl in front of me just scary?]

Two days later, Qian Qi received a money transfer from Li Shu Yun: a full 60,000 yuan.

“It’s money! System, look, it’s money!” Qian Qi stared at the 60,000 yuan in her Light-Brain account, and her eyes filled with tears.

She, Qian Qi, was finally not poor anymore.

[Only 60,000 and you’re that happy? (;???)]

“What do you mean, only? Do you know how long it takes an average person to save 60,000 yuan?” Qian Qi snorted, then added: “You don’t know! Just like you don’t know that when whales poop, their butts have to open super wide. After they’re done, it takes a long time to close and it hurts a lot. You don’t know, because you only care about yourself.”

System: [???]