Chapter 356: Chapter 341: Perhaps... She Wasn’t Obvious Enough?

The next morning, when Huo Changzhou came over, Gu Xi mentioned that she wanted to take a look at the planting area.

Huo Changzhou seemed troubled. "Miss Gu, although our Farm 0101 is quite large, our production actually relies mainly on ability users..."

It wasn’t just Farm 0101. In fact, after the apocalypse, almost all large-scale farms operated on this model—ability users were responsible for production, while ordinary people handled the rest of the work.

"Well... our farm doesn’t have a single Wood Element ability user right now. You won’t see much if you go to the planting area, Miss Gu." Huo Changzhou suggested an alternative. "Why don’t we go check out the storage warehouse instead? We collected quite a few things when the farm was first established..."

’Is he trying to pass off that space meteorite as part of the inventory and present it to me without a fuss?’

’If Gu Xi didn’t know their plan beforehand, wouldn’t it be hard for her not to be tempted once she saw and recognized the meteorite?’

’So, they’re planning a scheme within a scheme?’

’Clever of them.’

Gu Xi was noncommittal about Huo Changzhou’s proposal. She simply raised an eyebrow and said slowly, "I’m also a Wood Element ability user."

Huo Changzhou was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. The higher-ups had long wanted to test the limits of Gu Xi’s abilities, and today was the perfect opportunity.

After all, this farm he managed had thousands upon thousands of acres of fertile land!

"It would be wonderful if you’re willing to help, Miss Gu." Huo Changzhou’s face was full of gratitude, his tone sincere. "City A has just suffered a disaster, and we’re in dire need of food. For you to offer help in our time of need... On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of survivors in A City Base..."

Qi Xiang couldn’t listen anymore. ’Is he trying to pin the responsibility for all of City A’s food supply on Gu Xi?’

Ha!

She let out a light laugh, cutting Huo Changzhou off. "Mr. Huo, please don’t speak for everyone. Your Farm 0101 may have no ability users left, but I refuse to believe you can’t find a few among the hundreds of thousands of survivors in A City Base."

Huo Changzhou looked up at Qi Xiang, not yet understanding what she meant. Just as he did, he saw an off-road pickup truck rushing toward them from the far end of the fields.

’Who’s driving that thing?’

’Have they no discipline?!’

Huo Changzhou frowned slightly. He saw Tang You get out of the truck first and walk up to Gu Xi, his face pale. "Miss Gu, mission accomplished. The people... I’ve brought them all for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He clutched his chest and turned his head to the side.

URGH! ’Next time, I’m never riding in a car driven by these ability users again. My old bones just can’t take this kind of abuse.’

Before Huo Changzhou could process what was happening, a group of more than ten people jumped out of the pickup truck and walked over to Gu Xi.

"These are...?" Huo Changzhou had a bad feeling and looked up at Gu Xi.

Gu Xi said, "These are all ability users from A City Base who have volunteered to come help with the farming."

Hearing this, the group that had just walked over all nodded in agreement. "That’s right, we all volunteered to help." They would have to be idiots to pass up the chance to learn about farming from Miss Gu Xi, the pioneer of reverse plant evolution.

You have to understand, the ability users among City A’s survivors nearly fought to the death for this opportunity last night. This group only managed to snag a spot because they had Wood, Water, Earth, and Wind abilities—the most suitable for farming.

The group stared at Gu Xi with shining eyes. They had to seize this chance to get close to a master! If they performed well, maybe they could even join the master’s team...

The crowd of aspiring followers began to rub their hands together, eager to get into the fields and show what they could do.

Gu Xi gave everyone a slight nod.

At this point, the smile on Huo Changzhou’s face stiffened.

After a moment’s thought, he took out a bottle of water and handed it to Tang You. "Mr. Tang, are you all right?"

’The entire farm is under my supervision, so when did Tang You go back to City A to round people up? How did I not know?!’

Huo Changzhou took the opportunity, as he handed over the water, to give Tang You a deep, meaningful look.

Tang You knew what he wanted to ask, but he simply didn’t have the energy to play bureaucratic games with him right now.

’Those ability users were insane, driving to see Gu Xi. They were going at pre-apocalypse highway speeds out in the wild. The bumping and jostling... URGH!’

After throwing up, Tang You took a moment to recover. He then handed the empty water bottle back to Huo Changzhou, who was still standing beside him waiting for an explanation. A look of regret crossed his pale face. "What a waste of that hot pot I had last night."

I threw it all up.

Huo Changzhou frowned slightly. ’What does hot pot have to do with anything?’

He then saw Tang You give him a very subtle look. ’How could it not be about the hot pot? Last night, it was precisely because I couldn’t resist the smell of hot pot from next door that I delivered myself right to their doorstep.’

’And the result... right after I finished the hot pot, a rat stole me away to the city!’

’Who would believe that if I said it out loud?’

’But that’s exactly what happened. That giant rat, reeking of hot pot, grabbed my leg and, with a few teleports, zapped me right back to City A... Ugh, forget it. It’s too painful to talk about.’

The aftereffects of the teleportation still had his head spinning, and on top of that, he’d been bouncing around in a car all morning... Tang You shot Gu Xi a resentful look.

’Miss Gu, I’ve really gone through hell and high water for you this time.’

’This trip alone probably took ten years off my life!’

Meanwhile, Gu Xi had already sat down at the edge of the fields and started chatting with the ability users from City A.

At first, everyone was a bit reserved. In their eyes, Gu Xi was a legendary figure who had single-handedly solved the food crisis!

But soon, with Qi Xiang and the other two deliberately lightening the mood, everyone discovered that this Miss Gu was very approachable. She looked no different from an ordinary young woman, just prettier and seemingly more delicate.

The atmosphere in the fields quickly relaxed.

In fact, because Gu Xi’s face was so deceptive, a hint of pity even crept into the way people looked at her.

’I heard she used to be a drifter, grew up alone in the ruins? It’s all because of this damn apocalypse. It couldn’t have been easy for a young girl like her. Who knows how long she must have spent figuring out this reverse plant evolution method? She was probably forced into it by hardship...’

Not far away, Huo Changzhou, who was still trying to get a straight answer out of Tang You, saw that an Earth Ability user had already started tilling the land. He couldn’t sit still any longer.

He walked quickly over to Gu Xi and asked probingly, "Miss Gu, what are you planning to plant here? Do you need me to send over some seedlings from the experimental greenhouse?"

"No need," Gu Xi said, pulling a large burlap sack out of her dimensional space. "I brought my own seeds."

With that, Gu Xi opened the large burlap sack right in front of Huo Changzhou.

Huo Changzhou craned his neck to look inside. It was filled with all sorts of separately packaged crop seeds—the variety and quantity were even greater than what their farm had!

It was just... absurd.

Huo Changzhou was dumbfounded. His gaze toward Gu Xi turned a little strange. ’Is she really planning to farm here at our Farm 0101?’

’What else would I be doing?’

After a moment’s thought, she said to Huo Changzhou with sincerity, "It seems Mr. Huo still doesn’t understand me very well." From the very beginning of her return, she had been following a farming script.

’Why do some people insist on ignoring that fact?’

Gu Xi couldn’t help but reflect. ’Perhaps... I haven’t been obvious enough?’