Chapter 29: 029 part 1
After finishing his conversation with ‘Ye Chaochaochaochao,’ Zhu Ran used his shop account to announce the list of winners and began the teaser for the new product, Lavender.
[Zhu’s Shadow and Fragrance: Answer Reveal: The new product is Lavender. Lavender is a relatively cold-resistant flower, and its scent has the effect of relieving stress and aiding sleep. The shop will be listing Lavender soon, so please stay tuned~]
[First!] [Wow! A new plant, looking forward to it.] [Can it relieve stress and help with sleep? Iâve been suffering from insomnia lately; Iâll buy it and give it a try.] [What a beautiful purple, it suits me~] [Where did the shop owner get so many natural plants? This is just too impressive!]
…
Zhu Ran then proceeded to do his daily plant division and shipped out the goods. The delivery person who came to his house this time was the one with the standard, toothy grin: Deliveryman Zhao Weiwei.
“Deliveryman Zhao Weiwei is at your service once again. Which items would you like to send out?”
Zhu Ran handed the goods to him.
The deliveryman praised, “Theyâve bloomed so beautifully!”
As he left, he still wore that standard grin. “Starbuy Express, every second counts. If you are satisfied with my service, please give me a five-star rating~”
Not five minutes later, Zhao Weiwei emerged from the Starbuy channel again, carrying several large boxes. He placed the boxesâcontaining 10kg of ordinary soil and glass containersâon the floor, his breathing a bit unsteady. “The items you purchased have arrived. Please give me a five-star rating~”
With that, Zhao Weiwei disappeared back into the spatial corridor.
After sending off this highly professional deliveryman, Zhu Ran actually found himself missing the days when Z was his deliveryman. At first, Zhu Ran had been a bit afraid of Z because of the aura he unconsciously radiated, but ever since Z had helped him move 1000 flower pots, his opinion of Z had changed.
Speaking of which, Zhao Weiwei was already panting after moving just 10kg of soil, yet Z could move so many flower pots without even breaking a sweat. Zâs physical strength was definitely superior.
10kg of soil might sound heavy, but before the apocalypse, it was only about the weight of four bags of cat litter.
Zhu Ran first poured all the soil into the pots he had bought. He filled 16 pots, each about one-third full. Afterward, he channeled his spiritual power to purify the soil.
He then took the eight pots of daisies he had been using to make daisy tea and divided them into the pots. He purified the remaining soil and covered the roots of the divided daisies.
As a result, besides the daisies listed for sale, Zhu Ran now had eight pots of soil-grown daisies and eight pots of hydroponic daisies.
Using the same method, he created four pots of soil-grown freesias and four pots of lavender. The soil that had just arrived was used up in an instant.
The plants that had just been divided were somewhat small, and they didn’t take up much space in the 16cm diameter pots. However, after just one night of growth, the small divisions would become lush and leafy.
After watering the soil-grown plants with purified water infused with spiritual power, Zhu Ran was already looking forward to tomorrow.
“Based on the previous control group, two pots of soil-grown daisies are enough to make one jar of daisy tea. This way, the production of daisy tea can increase; I can produce five jars a day now.”
“As for the freesias, I can list a few more every day, and I can even launch a ‘Plus Version’ of freesia, which will be more lush and grand than the regular version.”
“Regarding the lavender… I need to make lavender essential oil once to estimate its yield.”
Zhu Ran recorded his to-do list one by one using his optical computer. The once-blank notepad was now filled with a long, dense list. Although busy, it felt fulfilling.
After a brief rest, Zhu Ran logged back into Starbuy. Following his agreement, he began creating the holographic ecological garden for the artists.
the Starbuy App’s holographic world featured a virtual community, and this was the first time Zhu Ran had access to this function since creating his account. Using it was similar to decorating his shop. Players first selected a neighborhood based on their budget and the surrounding environment, then chose a house type on the street.
Once selected, it could be purchased directly. The houses came with sample decorations; if a player didn’t like them, they could pay to change them. It was also very convenient to change houses later; a player could exchange their current house for a new one, simply paying the difference.
The holographic world was just that convenientâeverything was settled with one click.
Zhu Ran was buying the house mainly to make it easier for others to visit the ecological garden, so he had no social requirements for the surrounding area. He chose a relatively remote and quiet neighborhood.
As for the scale of the ecological garden, Zhu Ran planned to build it to be about 20 square meters first, equivalent to a small garden, and expand it later.
All things considered, Zhu Ran purchased a detached villa with a 30-square-meter garden. The villa was two stories high, 120 square meters in total, and came with a garden and a garage. The price was 30,000 Starbuy coins, equivalent to 3,000 starcoins.
[Congratulations to user ‘Zhu’ for acquiring a property in the Xilan District!]
The system broadcast sounded in Zhu Ran’s ear. Luckily, it wasn’t a street-wide announcement, or Zhu Ran would have been embarrassed enough to dig a hole and hide in it.
According to the design plan Yan You had given him, Zhu Ran built the holographic projection ecological garden in the courtyard.
Uneven terrain, a small waterfall flowing from a height, a crystal-clear pond, and strangely shaped rockeries and stones… none of these items were in Zhu Ran’s inventory, so he had to buy them from the projection library and arrange them one by one.
Then, he planted freesias on the top layer, placed daisies in the middle, and put lavender by the pond. In this way, a 3D model of a small ecological valley filled with natural plants was completed, costing nearly 30,000 starcoins.
When he clicked the ‘Confirm’ button, a wave of data light swept through, and the once-empty courtyard underwent a massive transformation.
The boundaries were blurred by the man-made rockeries of varying heights. Clear water flowed slowly from above into the pond, creating soft ripples and the sound of splashing water. The sunlight slanted across the water’s surface, draping the stream in a layer of light gold. Within the gold, occasional reflections of purple or white appeared, looking like a colorful dreamâpeaceful and beautifully unreal.
A cool breeze blew, carrying the scent of flowers.
With the tranquil scent of lavender as the top note, transitioning into the light, natural field scent of daisies, and finally ending with the sweet scent of freesias, a soothing aromatic arc was sketched out, making one feel refreshed and relaxed.
Zhu Ran stood in front of the ecological garden, examining it for a moment. Then, his lips curled up into a soft smile. Although the realism of the holographic world wasn’t perfect and couldn’t compare to natural plants in reality, it was thanks to the holographic world that Zhu Ran could build such an ecological garden in just half an hour.
“Ah… I suddenly don’t want to log off.”
Zhu Ran sighed. He admired the ecological garden for a while and fine-tuned the layout of the rockery to make the overall atmosphere more harmonious.
He then enabled private residence visiting permissions. Users with a digital invitation code could enter the courtyard to visit. Of course, Zhu Ran’s house was set to ‘no entry for others.’
He used the holographic world’s built-in camera function to take photos of the ecological garden. After sending the photos and ten invitation codes to Yan You, Zhu Ran logged off.
By the time Zhu Ran emerged from the holographic world, it was sunset. The golden afterglow shone through the glass window, radiating a deep orange warmth. The fragrance of the plants, combined with the warm light, made one feel pleasant.
Zhu Ran stood up from the lounge chair with a gentle, contented smile on his face. He enjoyed this leisurely and peaceful pace of lifeâsoaking in the sun every day and spending time with his plants.
When Yan You received the images and the ten virtual invitation codes from Zhu Ran, he was busy coordinating the auction for ‘Sprout.’
Yan You hadn’t had any works for three years and was just a ‘nobody’ in the painting world. He thought the starting price for ‘Sprout’ wouldn’t be very highâmaybe around 50,000 starcoins?
To his surprise, the starting price sent by the Starbuy Virtual Auction House was 500,000 starcoins. This price was already on par with the price of Yan Han’s paintings.
Yan You couldn’t help but ask, “Will anyone really buy it at this price?”
The Starbuy official replied, “Your painting is absolutely worth this price. To be honest, many buyers have already contacted us privately, willing to pay a high price for your painting. You have nothing to worry about.”
It took Yan You some time to accept that his painting could truly start at 500,000 starcoins. Although it was still far from the price of his teacher Bai Luo’s paintingsâwhich sold for tens of millionsâthis was already excellent for Yan You, whose paintings used to sell for only 5,000 or 10,000. He was truly happy that he could be accepted and liked by the public.
And all of this transformation was thanks to the ‘Zhu’s Shadow and Fragrance’ shop.
If he hadn’t entered the shop and if Zhu Ran hadn’t listed natural plants, Yan You wouldn’t have broken through his bottleneck to create a painting that everyone recognized, nor would he have been able to beat Yan Han in the livestream.
“Zhu Ran is truly my benefactor.”
Yan You felt grateful. He opened his optical computer to express his gratitude to Zhu Ran and happened to see the photos of the ecological garden and the invitation codes Zhu Ran had sent him.
“Zhu Ran is so fast.”
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