Chapter 7: 007
Since the natural plants were selling quite well, Zhu Ran planned to make a few more cuttings today to sell on Xinggou.
He took some time to browse the housing prices on this planet. Near the central district by the transport track, the rent for a two-story loft of about 100 square meters was 3,000 Star Coins. With a deposit of one month and three months’ rent paid upfront, he would need to spend about 12,000 Star Coins.
Zhu Ran also wanted to buy some soil for soil-cultivating seeds.
Soil-cultivated natural plants could survive longer and were more suited for the growth of natural plants.
The price of 100g of pollution-free soil was 25,000 Star Coins.
Calculating this way, he would need to prepare around 100,000 Star Coins just to barely meet the growth requirements of one or two plants.
Zhu Ran currently only had a little over 40,000 Star Coins on hand, not enough for soil-cultivated plants.
No matter what, making money came first.
Zhu Ran first catalyzed the recently separated Freesia cutting.
His plant-type ability climbed up the cutting. After injecting spiritual power, in just a short while, the Freesia, which only had a tiny seedling leaf, transformed back into a lush, green plant, with its top white flowers emitting a faint fragrance.
“Spiritual power is still sufficient; I can do it two more times.”
Estimating this, Zhu Ran separated another cutting from the newly catalyzed Freesia.
Catalyze the cutting, snap off another piece, catalyze and grow again.
Through this process, three Freesias were fully catalyzed.
Zhu Ran wiped the slight sweat seeping from his forehead.
At his current stage, catalyzing three plants was about his limit. His spiritual sea was still severely injured, and the spiritual power he could mobilize was very sparse. However, as long as he basked in the sun to restore his spiritual sea in the future, he would be able to catalyze plants the size of a forest.
Zhu Ran placed all three Freesias into the original nutrient solution test tubes, added water infused with his spiritual power, wove the purification nets with his spiritual power, and then listed them in his Xinggou shop.
Midway through, he realized he didn’t have enough test tubes, so he drank a tube of tasteless nutrient solution to gather three containers.
After doing all this, Zhu Ran immediately collapsed under the sun, closed his eyes, and lay motionless.
He was too tired and needed rest.
The bright sunlight shone on his peaceful face, making his complexion look excessively pale and surreal.
The three Freesias also bathed in the sunlight along with him. Under the golden rays, they underwent photosynthesis, growing while emitting a pleasant plant fragrance.
Zhu Ran was covered in a tattered blanket, and the room was extremely shabby.
Yet, his peaceful sleeping posture and the three lush white flowers blooming in the room made one sigh that this crude room seemed to hold a rare tranquility amidst the noise mixed with cold metallic scents.
Natural and tranquil.
(Jialan Comprehensive University)
In the virtual battlefield, Mu Qingzhou was commanding a starship to eradicate mutant species.
In the vast starry sky, brilliant explosions filled the entire monitor.
A sky full of blazing sparks.
However, such a fiery scene could not add any color to Mu Qingzhou.
His expression was cold, his brows seeming to condense frost and snow, indifferent and colorless.
With two ‘beep’ ‘beep’ sounds, a temporary message interrupted the battlefield.
[Qin Ke: Senior, the Freesia has arrived! I’ll wait for you at ‘Shangshi’ in 1 hour.]
Mu Qingzhou’s gaze lingered on the words ‘Freesia’ for a few seconds before shifting away.
His surroundings seemed to still be filled with its faint fragrance, and his fingertips felt as if they still retained the texture of its leaves.
Mu Qingzhou’s fingers rubbed together gently, and something else seemed to appear in the depths of his cold eyes.
An hour later, Mu Qingzhou appeared at the ‘Shangshi’ restaurant as promised.
Qin Ke was wearing a red sports suit, holding the Freesia wrapped in blue packaging with red flowers, waiting in the private room.
Seeing Mu Qingzhou arrive, he hurriedly stood up with a face full of smiles.
“Senior, you’re here!”
Qin Ke greeted enthusiastically.
Mu Qingzhou nodded: “Yes.”
“I brought the Freesia for you! It really is so beautiful…”
Qin Ke handed the Freesia to Mu Qingzhou.
After Mu Qingzhou took the flower, its light fragrance filled his olfactory organs, the subtle scent slowly dyeing his snow-like body.
It is very beautiful.
Mu Qingzhou admitted in his heart.
“I also didn’t expect to be able to buy a natural plant on Xinggou. This is truly a coincidence…”
While eating the exquisite dishes, Qin Ke recounted his recent experiences.
Mu Qingzhou occasionally took a bite of food, but mostly he just listened quietly.
His hand holding the Freesia couldn’t help but move slightly, gently stroking the tender leaves.
Smooth and cool.
It was a feeling he had long forgotten; this plant truly was miraculous.
Without noticing, Mu Qingzhou took a sip of the hot water that had just been poured.
It was steaming, forming a white mist.
Qin Ke opened his mouth, somewhat worried: “Senior, isn’t it hot?”
Only then did Mu Qingzhou realize he had drunk excessively hot water, but he hadn’t felt it at all.
He wasn’t flustered; his expression remained indifferent: “It’s fine.”
Qin Ke nodded, quickly convincing himself: “True, how could someone as amazing as Senior be burned!”
Mu Qingzhou merely touched the leaf and didn’t reply.
After the meal was finished, Mu Qingzhou paid the bill and also transferred the money Qin Ke had spent on the Freesia to him.
Qin Ke did not refuse.
After accepting the money, Qin Ke asked carefully: “Then in the future… can I still come to you, Senior? I promise I absolutely won’t disturb you!”
“Okay.”
Mu Qingzhou agreed.
In the end, he didn’t refuse the request of the person who had brought such a miraculous natural plant to him.
Having received permission, Qin Ke couldn’t hide his joy, his eyes shining brighter.
Yes!
Howling at the sky, awooo!
Mu Qingzhou bade farewell to Qin Ke, holding the bouquet of Freesia.
After returning to his dorm, he placed the two bouquets of Freesias together.
These two vibrant plants added a touch of humanity to his cold, minimalist room.
Mu Qingzhou sat by the table, gazing intently at the two green plants blooming with flowers.
He didn’t restrain himself, plucking at the leaves one by one, carefully and incomparably gently.
His cold features seemed to melt like snow, a dancing radiance faintly flashing in his black eyes.
His breathing grew a bit rapid due to his fondness, and his body unconsciously leaned forward toward the Freesias.
Only after his surroundings were filled with the faint fragrance did Mu Qingzhou stop his approaching movements.
He lowered his eyes, his vision filled with vibrant green.
“Smells so good, I want even more…”
Intoxicated by the scent of the Freesia, Mu Qingzhou had no idea that a picture of him holding the flowers tonight had already gone crazy viral online.
Title: [The ‘high flower’ of Jialan University has been conquered?!]
Content: [Several photos of Mu Qingzhou holding flowers]
Why is the high flower holding flowers? This must be a gift from someone else! Everyone at Jialan University knows that the high flower never accepts gifts from anyone, but he actually accepted flowers today? And he walked out of ‘Shangshi’… anyone knows that ‘Shangshi’ has high consumption and an elegant environment, it’s the favorite spot for wealthy couples. Sob sob… Has the high flower really been conquered?
1L: What a beautiful person! Matches the flowers perfectly.
[2L]: Mu Qingzhou? Is that the school grass whose pursuers supposedly line up from Planet Jialan to Planet Siren? He’s in love?
[3L]: Mu Qingzhou actually accepted flowers from someone else? I’ve lived long enough to see everything… I feel like something is really going on.
[4L]: I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it! How could someone as pure as snow like Mu Qingzhou fall in love?
[5L]: Sob sob, my youth is gone…
…
[28L]: Does anyone know what kind of flowers Mu Qingzhou is holding? They look quite pretty.
[29L]: I also think the flowers are beautiful. These flowers actually weren’t suppressed in the slightest by Mu Qingzhou’s aura. Instead, they gave Mu Qingzhou a more human touch. Absolutely incredible.
[30L]: Are they genetically synthesized flowers? Never seen them before…
…
[56L]: Speaking of which… yesterday there seemed to be a thread where the OP claimed to have snagged a natural plant on Xinggou, and after giving it to their male god, the male god actively asked them out. No way, no way, could it be true?
[57L]: I saw the other thread too, teleport gate: [I used this method to make my male god actively invite me to dinner.] Did someone really use a natural plant to hook Mu Qingzhou?
[58L]: What plant is that miraculous? I don’t believe it, absolutely an exaggeration.
[59L]: These interstellar marketing tactics are truly endless. You can win over your crush by buying this? Who would believe that! Anyway, I absolutely won’t believe it.
[60L]: No one is going to be a sucker for this, right!
…
[102L]: Holy crap! What happened to not believing it? Just a few minutes ago I saw three Freesias in the shop, and while I hesitated, they were gone? Actually gone!
[103L]: How can interstellar citizens lie to interstellar citizens? Where is the trust between people?
…
[166L]: I’m going to give the flowers to my crush right now, wait for my good news.
…
After Qin Ke logged into the forum, he found that the thread he posted, [I used this method to make my male god actively invite me to dinner.], was ranked third on the trending list.
Surprisingly, many people in the comments suspected that the ‘male god’ he mentioned in the thread was Mu Qingzhou.
Many people were also clamoring to buy Freesias, wanting to try and see if they were really that effective.
Seeing that his identity was about to be exposed, Qin Ke immediately contacted someone to delete his thread.
It was better to keep the internet far away from reality!
After seeing his thread deleted, Qin Ke breathed a sigh of relief.
But a few seconds later, he felt something was wrong again.
Wait…
The people in the thread said they were going to buy Freesias?!
It’s over, won’t this mean I might never be able to buy a Freesia again!
The production of natural plants was extremely low. Qin Ke had been lucky to buy Freesias for two consecutive days before the shop was discovered.
It could truly be said he had stepped in dog poop luck.
If he had to compete with so many people to buy Freesias in the future, the difficulty would skyrocket.
Qin Ke felt a sense of impending doom.
He immediately logged onto Xinggou to check the monthly leaderboard for Mengxin shops.
This leaderboard, paired with the newbie event, ranked shops based on their cumulative turnover within their 7-day newbie period.
For the top three shops of the month, Xinggou would provide free promotion for them in the following month, equivalent to giving them a free advertising slot.
At this moment, the Mengxin Leaderboard was as follows:
First Place: [Store Name]: Ye Zhao Merchandise Store [Cumulative Turnover]: 156,000 Star Coins
Second Place: [Store Name]: Zhuying Anxiang [Cumulative Turnover]: 120,000 Star Coins… …
Zhuying Anxiang, that was clearly the name of the shop selling the Freesias.
One Freesia sold for 24,000 Star Coins, and a 120,000 Star Coin turnover meant 5 plants had been sold.
As of this afternoon, Qin Ke himself had only bought two plants, and at that time, the shop hadn’t restocked any Freesias.
Which meant… during the evening, the store owner had listed 3 Freesias and they were instantly bought out!
This was a luxury item costing 24,000 a pop! Equivalent to three months’ salary for a worker on a B-grade planet.
Ordinary people wouldn’t buy it, nor could they afford it.
Just who… who bought them all?!
Qin Ke stared blankly, feeling extremely disappointed and lost.
The joy in his heart from having dinner with Mu Qingzhou today was completely diluted.
“I originally wanted to buy two plants for myself, because they really are beautiful and smell great.”
“Now how am I supposed to buy them…”
That’s what you get for having itchy hands and posting that thread.
That’s what you get for not being able to resist showing off.
Look what you’ve done!
Qin Ke felt depressed.
Sigh…
Goodbye, my Freesia…
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