Chapter 181 - 177: Taking Down Both Teacher and Student

Chapter 181: Chapter 177: Taking Down Both Teacher and Student

After Miss Liang returned, Chen Mingming asked her about the job interview. Upon learning it was just a simple technical inquiry, he also went to see Manager Hu.

The interview process was simpler than he had imagined, just some questions about basic agricultural knowledge.

Hu Xia looked at Chen Mingming with some curiosity. She knew he was a researcher from the Jade Vineyard, and now he was applying to be an agricultural technician for Lin Xian Village.

"Dr. Chen, you’re here to apply? What about your advisor? I thought you hadn’t graduated yet?"

Chen Mingming said calmly, "With a job this good, it doesn’t matter if I don’t graduate."

Since he came to apply, he had already decided to give up his studies and leave the path of scientific research.

After leaving, he returned to the Jade Vineyard, wondering how he was going to explain his decision to abandon his studies to his professor.

"Miss Liang, how are you planning to tell Professor Qian?"

Liang Miaomiao glanced at Brother Chen and asked quizzically, "What’s there to prepare for? I’ll just message the professor and tell him."

’In her view, this was a perfectly normal choice, and it didn’t violate any university rules.’

Chen Mingming realized he was overthinking things. ’That’s right, I can just send the professor a message about it.’

Just as he was thinking about how to phrase the message to his professor, Zhou Yongqiang also found Hu Xia to ask about the recruitment.

Looking at Zhou Yongqiang before her, Hu Xia’s expression was a little strange.

’It seemed like all three people from the Jade Vineyard wanted to work for Lin Xian Village.’

"Professor Zhou, although the work at Lin Xian Village’s agricultural company is mainly focused on cultivation, there are also some research tasks."

"Of course, these research tasks are quite special, and all resulting discoveries will belong exclusively to Lin Xian Village."

Hu Xia was quite familiar with collaborating with professors like him; her family had partnered with a university before.

Zhou Yongqiang asked, "May I know what the main area of research is?"

Although his primary field of study was grapes, as an agricultural professor, he had delved into other areas as well.

"Of course, that’s no problem. The main research focus is on abnormal plant mutations."

"Hmm? So if I apply to work for Lin Xian Village, will I still end up researching Jade Grapes?"

"Of course not. Besides the special Jade Grapes, we have other plants in Lin Xian Village that have also mutated."

Zhou Yongqiang was stunned. He had been researching Jade Grapes in Lin Xian Village, but he had never heard of any other mutated plants.

Clearly, Lin Xian Village had kept these mutated plants hidden and had not publicized them.

"Are these plants like the Jade Grapes?" he asked, his voice tight with a mix of nervousness and excitement.

"How could that be possible? The Jade Grapes are a very special plant. The other mutated plants definitely can’t compare."

Zhou Yongqiang asked eagerly, "If I join the Lin Xian Village agricultural company, will I be able to research these mutated plants?"

"Yes. We’re hiring technicians precisely to study these mutated plants."

Hu Xia wanted to complain. ’If she hadn’t taken Zhao Shiyun to the greenhouses to pick cucumbers and tomatoes, she would have never known about the mutated chives over there.’

When she returned, she told Lin Feng about it, only to find out he already knew but had simply forgotten to mention it.

It was only then that she learned it wasn’t just the chives; there was also Mint in the Medicinal Herb Garden and kiwis in the Orchard.

Lin Feng had ultimately used the fruit tree enhancement on the kiwis.

In any case, with these kinds of mutated plants, even without using a reward-based mutation, it was possible for plants to mutate accidentally.

It was just that accidental mutations usually affected only a few individual plants, whereas a mutation from a mission reward would affect an entire mu of them at once.

"Manager Hu, what do you think? Can I join your Lin Xian Village agricultural company?"

Hearing he could research mutated plants, Zhou Yongqiang wasn’t going to hesitate. ’If I miss this opportunity,’ he felt, ’it will be very difficult to get another one.’

"Professor Zhou, don’t you still have your collaboration with the university and your teaching duties?"

"Don’t worry about that. Once this semester is over, I’ll terminate my contract with the university and focus on working here in Lin Xian Village."

"Welcome aboard, Professor Zhou."

After signing the contract, Zhou Yongqiang had just stepped out of the office when he received a message from Chen Mingming.

Seeing that his student had joined Lin Xian Village before him and was now choosing to drop out to work here, he didn’t know what to say.

When he got back to the Jade Vineyard, he found Chen Mingming waiting for him, along with Liang Miaomiao, one of Qian Tu’s students.

"Professor Zhou, I..."

"Alright, you don’t have to say it. I understand. In fact, I just applied as well and have officially joined the Lin Xian Village agricultural company."

Chen Mingming was completely dumbfounded, staring at Professor Zhou in astonishment. Even Liang Miaomiao, standing beside him, had a strange expression on her face.

Liang Miaomiao said, "Professor, if all three of us have joined the Lin Xian Village agricultural company, what’s going to happen to the Jade Grape research project?"

"We’ll continue the research. Lin Xian Village hired us precisely to conduct research."

Chen Mingming quickly asked, "Professor, what about my degree?"

"Hmm, I’ll give you some experimental data later. Write a thesis based on that data, and try to graduate before I terminate my contract with the university."

’He liked to see things through to the end. Even if Chen Mingming really did drop out, it wouldn’t have much to do with him.’

’But now they were going to be colleagues, so he might as well help him graduate early.’

Liang Miaomiao said, "Congratulations, Brother Chen."

’Compared to Brother Chen’s good fortune, her situation wasn’t so great. Her only option was to drop out.’

"Thank you, Professor."

Chen Mingming knew very well that it would be difficult to graduate if he had to write a thesis based only on the experimental data he had.

"Don’t thank me. From now on, we’re colleagues. We might even end up working on research together."

Apparently, the two of them didn’t know about the other mutated plants in Lin Xian Village. They still thought joining was just to act as technicians managing the Farmland.

"You two should get prepared. It would be best to spend the next few days checking out the Lin Xian Village Farmland to get a clear understanding of the situation."

"Thank you, Professor. I’ll go find someone to ask about it in a bit."

Liang Miaomiao also said, "I’ll go with Brother Chen."

When Lin Feng heard that Professor Zhou and the two researchers from the Jade Vineyard had all joined the Lin Xian Village agricultural company, he had a strange look on his face.

"Did we just poach the entire Jade Vineyard lab?" he muttered.

"Isn’t there still Professor Qian Tu?"

That Professor Qian Tu was based rather far from Lin Xian Village, so he spent much less time here than Zhou Yongqiang.

Hu Xia asked, "By the way, now that the technicians have been hired, should we start researching those mutated plants?"

"Then let’s start the research. Let’s see what’s going on with those mutated plants."

Hu Xia gave Lin Feng a quizzical look. ’Could it be that the boss really doesn’t know what’s going on with those mutated plants?’ she wondered.

"Oh, right. That patch of mutated chives—I was planning to use it for seed propagation. Tell them to be careful when they study it."

"I’m not an idiot. It’s a shame it wasn’t the cucumbers and tomatoes that mutated."

The smell of chives was too strong, though she would still eat them in things like chive pockets, buns, and dumplings.

Still, they weren’t as appealing as mutated cucumbers or tomatoes would have been. The mutated kiwis, on the other hand, gave her something to look forward to.

However, those fruit trees had just been planted. To taste the mutated kiwis, they would have to wait until next year.

As for the mutated Mint, that would have to be handed over to the doctors at the Medicine House for research.

"About that matter of organizing employee exercise sessions—there might be a small problem."

"Oh? What problem?"

"Some people don’t live in Lin Xian Village, so they don’t have time for exercise."

"Let’s put that on hold for now, then. Let’s try organizing an employee sports day instead, to get people to join in voluntarily."

Lin Feng also felt that forcing everyone to exercise wasn’t a good idea, as not everyone had the time to participate.

"That’s a good idea. It looks like we’ll need to build a sports field in Lin Xian Village."

"Talk to your brother about that. See where a good place to build a sports field would be."

Hu Xia thought this was an excellent idea. Once they had a sports field, they could do other sports besides their daily exercises.

Lin Feng had just stepped out of his office when he ran into Zhou Jun, who was on his way over.

"Lin Feng, there’s something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?" He led Zhou Jun back into the office.

Once inside, Zhou Jun said, "It’s about the Medicinal Cuisine. Someone wants you to supply it to the sanatorium at the foot of the mountain."

After all this time, with so many people eating the Medicinal Cuisine daily and with the data on their physical changes, some people were getting antsy.

Many didn’t care that it tasted good; they weren’t driven by the pleasures of the palate.

But when it came to their health, just like with the Jade Grapes, no one could remain indifferent.

This was especially true for those with elderly family members or people suffering from chronic illnesses; they had been restless for a while.

However, someone outside was running interference, so no one dared to come to Lin Xian Village and cause trouble.

Especially after some things happened that he wasn’t privy to, even some hard-line individuals had changed their attitude toward Lin Xian Village.

Currently, the going price for the Medicinal Cuisine outside had risen from the initial 10,000 yuan a jar to 50,000 yuan a jar.

Even with the price so high, the employees of Lin Xian Village were no longer selling their Medicinal Cuisine to outsiders.

This was especially true after their salaries were paid out and Hu Xia required all employees to worship the Earth God every month. Some employees who had originally been selling their Medicinal Cuisine had stopped.

No one knew if selling their Medicinal Cuisine would get them fired from Lin Xian Village.

It was a risk they weren’t willing to take. If they were fired from Lin Xian Village, they wouldn’t just lose the Medicinal Cuisine; they would also lose their high-paying jobs.

The direct result was that less and less Medicinal Cuisine was flowing out of Lin Xian Village.

As for the tourists who came to visit, although they knew the Medicinal Cuisine was valuable, very few of them would sell it unless they were truly desperate for money.

Lin Feng thought about the situation at the Restaurant and said, "Not right now. We’ll have to wait until the Restaurant at the foot of the mountain is built before we can supply any."

"After the Restaurant at the foot of the mountain is built? Alright, I’ll let them know."

Zhou Jun had no objection to this. It was impossible for Lin Feng to halt the supply of Medicinal Cuisine to his own Restaurant just to provide it to the sanatorium.

However, he was already planning to bring his grandparents over to live in Lin Xian Village for a while.

Moreover, he wasn’t planning on having them stay in the sanatorium; it would be much better for them to live directly in the Lin Xian Village Houses.

Having lived in the Houses himself for a while, he had long since discovered their benefits. The temperature in the rooms was always comfortable, no matter the time of day.

His family was currently discussing how to arrange for the two elders to move into Lin Xian Village without causing any trouble.

"By the way, you’re hiring security personnel. Are you looking for retired soldiers?"

Lin Feng thought it was a test from the higher-ups. "Of course. It would be a great way to enhance the professionalism of our security team."

"In that case, I’ll recommend some highly skilled retired soldiers to you."

Zhou Jun thought, ’If there’s a group of highly skilled retired soldiers working as security, I won’t have to worry about my grandparents’ safety.’

At the same time, he thought of some of the special personnel on Professor Quan’s side, but then shook his head. ’Those people aren’t a good fit for security.’

After leaving Lin Feng, Zhou Jun relayed the situation to his father. How things were handled from here on out was no longer his concern.

At the same time, the news that Lin Xian Village had other mutated plants was also reported up the chain.

This news quickly caught the attention of certain people. They hadn’t expected Lin Xian Village to have other mutated plants besides the Jade Grapes.

「Meanwhile, in the accounting office.」

Amidst all sorts of rumors, the November salaries for Lin Xian Village’s employees began to be deposited into their bank accounts.