Chapter 202: Chapter 202

You devious old rascal! Jing Shu thought. To think he’d resort to such methods just to get me to join sooner—as if I wouldn’t have joined on my own! Honestly.

Things were going unbelievably smoothly, but the smoother they went, the more uneasy Jing Shu felt. My original intention in joining the Medicinal Materials Association was to leverage their influence, but why does it feel like I’m wearing a fox skin instead of a tiger’s?

Seeing that Jing Shu didn’t object, which he took as silent agreement, Zhou Bapi grinned, showing his Big Yellow Teeth. He was thrilled, feeling like he had found a treasure.

"Our President is in seclusion," Zhou Bapi began, introducing the people in the Medicinal Materials Association.

Jing Shu was puzzled. What kind of person is the president, and why is he in seclusion? Is he reliable?

"Everyone else is rushing to the countryside to recruit people," Zhou Bapi continued. "They aim to consolidate all individuals here who can cultivate medicinal materials, and there will be a competition later."

Zhou Bapi led Jing Shu inside and began to explain, "Currently, we’re cultivating mainly the easier-to-grow plants. This area has half moon flower, planted last year for its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties. Since the weather hasn’t been warming up recently, we’re planning to harvest this last batch and then stop planting it. After all, it consumes too many resources."

"This area has some lilyturf, which is good for invigorating the spleen and stomach. It’s mainly planted because someone sponsored the energy required."

"Look at that patch of honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is a widely used medicinal herb. Unfortunately, it only grows leaves and doesn’t bloom, so it fails to meet medicinal standards."

"This is aloe vera. Many we planted last year died. Only the aloe, being drought-resistant, survived."

Jing Shu was speechless. Damn it! I just spent 200 Virtual Coins on an aloe vera segment. If I’d known they had it here, I wouldn’t have bought it!

Zhou Bapi continued excitedly, "Even though we can simulate sunlight for photosynthesis here and adjust temperature and humidity with the ventilation system, slightly mimicking weather and climate, we still can’t replicate the four seasons. Some herbs need to be planted in spring and harvested in winter. Others should be planted in autumn. But now the seasons are completely chaotic. This leads to herbs that stop growing midway or, due to improper temperature and seasons, only flower without bearing fruit."

Jing Shu wholeheartedly agreed. You definitely can’t plant something in summer and expect to harvest it in spring, can you? Plants grown out of sync with the seasonal cycle won’t thrive due to temperature and other factors. Planting them would be a waste. Even those hundreds, or thousands, of winter varieties were developed through years of optimization.

"So, how exactly did you manage to grow them?" Zhou Bapi asked. "How did you overcome the issues with weather and seasons?"

This was a puzzle Zhou Bapi couldn’t figure out. He had thought about it all night but couldn’t find a solution. Everyone used constant temperature, even simulating night and day temperatures and humidity, yet nothing worked!

Faced with such a profound philosophical question, Jing Shu, who actually knew nothing about the theory, pondered for a moment and said, "It’s a secret."

I really just planted them casually, and they grew! All I did was water them daily with spiritual spring water diluted a hundredfold. It was just that brutally simple.

Now, I genuinely feel that the Magic Cube Space is an incredibly powerful cheat. In this apocalypse where nobody else can grow anything, my Magic Cube Space combined with the Spiritual Spring can cultivate crops!

When she activated the Second Form and compared her wonderfully plump eggplants to the deformed ones growing in the ground here, an immense sense of happiness washed over her.

Unfortunately, the Spiritual Spring only produces a small amount each day. I can only ensure my own household has enough vegetables and fruits; I can’t save the whole country.

The medicinal herb cultivation base was quite large and featured many varieties. However, some hadn’t survived, and others were wilting.

Whenever people passed by and saw Zhou Bapi inspecting the work, they would respectfully greet him, "President Zhou." None of these workers were officially registered, but their daily wage of 4 Virtual Coins was still quite high.

"Hmm, how is that patch of Angelica dahurica doing?" Zhou Bapi inquired.

"Still the same, sigh."

"Alright, I’ll think of something else. You may go now." Zhou Bapi could only feel his authority in this place.

Zhou Bapi led the way with his hands behind his back. "So, what do you think? You’re now a junior horticulturist at the Medicinal Materials Association. If you can cultivate a new variety, you’ll be promoted one level. If you can successfully grow five varieties and solve three difficult problems, you can be nominated for vice president."

"Does my pot of astragalus count?" Jing Shu asked.

Zhou Bapi shook his head. "It has to be successfully grown here and be usable as medicine. If any plant brought from who-knows-where counted, we’d have far too many vice presidents."

"Work hard," he urged. "The vice president position grants access to advanced big data permissions and comes with considerable rights, including immunity. The police and government can’t touch us; only the Medicinal Materials Association can regulate us. That’s a very powerful privilege indeed! You mentioned yesterday that the young police officer arrested you. If you were a vice president, he wouldn’t be able to arrest you." For original chapters go to novel•fire.net

Jing Shu’s eyes narrowed. Zhou Bapi is dangling a huge carrot in front of me, but I really want to bite. So, the Medicinal Materials Association is a rather special entity among all organizations, ranking above food and other societal foundations. In chaotic times, doctors are more valuable than antiques in peaceful times, and medicinal herbs are even more precious.

And those advanced big data permissions—that’s a level even higher than Director Mrs. Jing’s superior’s superior!

Mrs. Jing’s current direct superior is Minister Niu, who is at the ministerial level. Only those above that level have such permissions. From a military perspective, for Colonel Li Yuetian, his superior would need to be at least a Major General to hold such advanced permissions.

So, how could that not be impressive?

This means that although the Medicinal Materials Association has few members and fewer responsibilities, it holds a higher status. So, is the position of vice president equivalent to a Major General?

Most importantly, the path I’ve chosen offers excellent promotion prospects, and it’s in farming, which is my specialty! I especially like that the work is autonomous and performance is judged monthly. That’s what I like best.

However, an equivalent position doesn’t necessarily mean equivalent power. Judging by the powers currently displayed, Colonel Li Yuetian commands the military, which is far greater authority than Minister Niu, who manages agricultural cultivation, and vastly surpasses a figurehead like Vice President Zhou Bapi, who has a high rank but no real power. It’s like in ancient times: some officials with low ranks held substantial power and were formidable, while some with high ranks, like a mere noble title, had no real authority.

"But you need to hurry," Zhou Bapi added. "This year is the last time vice president positions will be open . Moreover, cultivators from all over the Provincial City will soon flock here, so the competition will be fierce. Opportunities are rare. Make sure you seize it."

Jing Shu finally nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice. That vice president position in the Medicinal Materials Association—it’s mine.

"Now, let me cultivate the first new variety: astragalus," she declared.

Although the trial field was only ten square meters, it had seven or eight layers of shelving. This scientific planting method indeed saved a lot of resources, which was precisely why the shelves were built so high.

"This is terrible! Terrible!" someone shouted suddenly. "A batch of gastrodia has numerous insect eggs on it! Someone must have irrigated them with unfiltered water, and now the gastrodia stems and leaves are about to be devoured!"