Chapter 78

Chapter 79: Hee hee hee, hee hee hee hee

In her past life, because she was an orphan, people at school pointed fingers at her. Whenever something went missing in class, they blamed her first. When she went to wealthy people to ask for help for the orphanage, some told her to get lost, some sized her up like a thing for sale, and some even said the orphanage raised a bunch of useless trash who weren’t worth a cent.

With shallow, mean eyes, they poured scorn on her. They were just like Xu Jing and Fan Jing Hai now, standing above the Magiplant students and calling them useless to society.

But is that true?

Magiplants are complex, and the kinds are many. The Magiplant Research Institute has little money and can’t keep many researchers. So they can only target certain plants. Yet they still need data on low grade plants. That is why every assignment report the Magiplant students turn in gets entered as real data in the Institute’s database and becomes information researchers can use.

The Magiplant Department is like a nutrition tube plugged into the brain. They pour a huge flow of data into the Institute and quietly help researchers find Magiplants that benefit humans and contract beasts.

How could they be freeloaders?

And more than that…

Qian Qi turned to Xu Jing.

She said calmly, eyes steady like the quiet before a storm: “You’re wrong. My classmates have a special quality that someone like you will never have.”

Not everyone can spend day after day in a dull test field, studying complicated topics. Not everyone can stay calm around dangerous Magiplants, walking among them to sample and raise them.

In them, there is a quality of being a little crazy.

They have fallen to the bottom, so they’re tougher and a bit wild. They carry hardship, so in tough times they endure and still finish the job. When she taught them to plant and treat Magiplants, she watched them on purpose and learned this.

They can joke with Magiplants and make fun out of pain. They can stand in a hard rain for a whole day and night, draining the fields to save their plants. When a Magiplant hurts them, they cheer with excitement because it means the plant they raised is healthy and growing.

She only taught them knowledge. They are the ones who made it real with stubborn effort.

But that wasn’t what drew her most.

What moved Qian Qi most, and made her decide to gather them under her, was how they never give up on any Magiplant that can still be saved, not until the last moment.

They seek knowledge, truth, and results. They are nothing like the freeloaders Xu Jing calls them. What they need is a stepping stone.

She would be that stepping stone.

She lifted her chin and let a roguish smile return to her face: “Do you dare make a bet with me? Let’s bet on the duel tournament. Three months from now, your Awakeners versus the so called trash of the Magiplant Department.”

Her smile turned sly as she laid out the rules: “I won’t join the fight. You bring three E grade Awakeners. We bring three. Best two out of three. If you lose, you donate 900,000 every month to the Magiplant Department. We sign a written pledge, and you keep paying after graduation.”

Xu Jing sneered and answered at once: “If you lose, then you all kneel here and shout a hundred times that the Magiplant students are trash. Also, every Magiplant from your Back Mountain has to be given to us for practice for free. And I want your Hemostatic Potion formula.”

Qian Qi’s eyes flashed, then she smiled: “Deal.”

On the way back, Liang Yu Ting walked behind Qian Qi, rubbing the hem of her shirt and asking in a small voice: “Qian Qi, did I cause trouble for you? It was our small problem at first, and now it’s become so big.”

Qian Qi saw her guilty face and gave her a warm smile: “How could you cause trouble for me?”

Liang Yu Ting’s heart thumped. A sour rush of emotion rose up. She was about to speak when she saw Qian Qi rub her chin, and a wicked, crafty grin crawled onto her face.

Qian Qi chuckled and said like a little villain: “I should thank you. Without you all, how could I earn a monthly grant of 900,000? Hee hee hee, hee hee hee hee.”

Hearing her eerie laugh, all the Magiplant students shivered in silence, thinking: [What is happening? Why is junior Qian Qi laughing like that?]

Zhang Feng cleared his throat and chose trust first, then asked what everyone wondered: “I believe you, but how are you planning to beat them?”

E grade Awakeners couldn’t be underestimated. Normal people had no chance in a fight. Even if they kept eating Defense Fruit, at best they could tie.

No matter how he thought about it, Zhang Feng couldn’t see a way to win.

Qian Qi grinned even more strangely and said: “It’s simple. Remember how I said they bring three Awakeners?”

Zhang Feng nodded fast: “Yes, and you said we also bring three students.” He paused. “So what about it?”

“What three students? I never said three students,” said Qian Qi as she shook her head hard. “I only said we bring three. I never said we bring three people.”

Zhang Feng blinked, completely lost: [Huh? If not three people, then what? Three ghosts?]

They had no idea what scheme Qian Qi was cooking up. Even so, they had no choice now but to believe she could wash away the shame and free them from the trash label.

Some people didn’t believe her, though. Chen Miao Miao, for one.

She snapped with a face full of disgust and anger: “Are you all sick? If you want to kneel and shout trash, go kneel. Don’t drag me along. I never agreed to any of this.”

Qian Qi touched her chin and nodded like she agreed: “You’re right. We can’t drag you in.”

[When I teach the others to plant Fire Qilin Lotus, I can’t let Chen Miao Miao get a free ride,] she thought. [I need a way to make her vanish for a while.]

Thinking of how the pass in her closet had gone missing again, her fierce grin returned.

She stretched and said loudly on purpose: “Tomorrow let’s go to the Magiplant Research Institute and ask Dean Li for ideas. Oh my, my pass went missing last time, and I couldn’t even get in.”

Hearing that, Chen Miao Miao’s eyes flickered. The corner of her mouth lifted in a tiny cold smile as she thought: [So you plan to see Dean Li? Keep dreaming.]