Dong Yuxuan started dropping golden tears.
Lin Xiaohe turned her head away. What good was crying? If crying worked, the Lin family wouldn’t be in so much debt.
As if realizing his hopes of becoming a disciple were slim, Dong Yuxuan crouched down, covered his face, and tears streamed down between his chubby fingers.
“I’m such a failure. A member of the Dong family, yet I can’t farm. Everything I plant dies.”
“What about the B-grade wheat?”
“My brother helped me cheat on that. I can’t farm, and I can’t control stellar plants. I’m the Dong family’s useless waste. Everyone’s laughing at me, even my friends bully me.”
Mocking words, contemptuous looks kept echoing in Dong Yuxuan’s mind, crushing him until he couldn’t breathe.
Lin Xiaohe’s nose tingled with a sudden pang of emotion. In China, she had often been isolated by classmates because her family were farmers.
Her voice softened. “It’s okay. Work hard to become stronger, then prove them wrong!”
Dong Yuxuan looked up, full of hope. “You’ll take me as your disciple?”
Lin Xiaohe’s expression shifted, turning cold. “No.”
Dong Yuxuan sensed her momentary hesitation keenly. Clinging to this lifeline, he pleaded humbly, “I know I’m stupid, slow to learn anything, but I’ll work hard!”
He was going crazy trying to find his own strengths but couldn’t find a single one. “Wahhh! I have nothing, just a lot of money. You’re so amazing, you must look down on money. But that’s my only advantage…”
The chubby kid hugged Lin Xiaohe’s calf, crying so hard he could barely catch his breath.
Lin Xiaohe seemed to see in him the little girl walking along the field ridges, silently wiping away tears.
Crying really was useless. They wouldn’t let you off just because you cried.
Only by becoming strong yourself would others dare not look down on you.
Sigh.
“How much money do you have?”
Lin Xiaohe’s voice was stiff, but to Dong Yuxuan’s ears, it sounded like heavenly music.
Dong Yuxuan tapped his wrist device. “I have 1 million star credits, but I get robbed a lot, so my brother set a limit. I can’t transfer more than 20,000 per day. I haven’t spent any today; I’ll transfer it all to you.”
[Dong Yuxuan has transferred 20,000 star credits to you.]
Lin Xiaohe accepted the 20,000. “What’s your biggest problem right now?”
Dong Yuxuan glanced at Lin Xiaohe, lowered his head, and mumbled, “The family assessment. They gave me an eggplant seed, but the seedling I grew is short and thin. If I fail this assessment again, I’ll be sent to the Third Star Ring.”
Lin Xiaohe, who was in the Sixth Star Ring…
“Tomorrow, same time, same place. Bring the eggplant seedling for me to see.”
They exchanged contact information, and Lin Xiaohe exited the Central Avenue District.
She had Xin Bao download a huge pile of plant cultivation data, planning to compare it with what she learned in agricultural college and update her information.
As soon as Dong Yuxuan logged off, he received a holographic call from his eldest brother.
He had handsome features, eyes as deep as the night sky, sparkling with intelligence and resilience. He was at his desk, working on official documents. “You just spent 20,000? On what?”
Dong Yuxuan hung his head, unconsciously rubbing the hem of his clothes, inexplicably feeling a bit guilty. “I… I found a master.”
The handsome man pinched the bridge of his nose, his tone helpless. “This assessment is very important. I can’t help you cheat again. You need to focus, don’t take shortcuts. In farming, besides the First and Central Star Rings, who can compare to our Dong family? Don’t contact that scammer anymore, it’s a waste of time.”
Dong Yuxuan bit his lip hard, retorting softly, “Master is not a scammer!”
The handsome man said firmly, “Be good. Focus on the assessment.”
With that, he hung up.
Dong Yuxuan’s explanations were cut off. Staring at the empty room, he sniffled and whispered, “Master is a Stellar Plant Controller. I’ll definitely make you all see me in a new light.”
“Stellar Plant Controller? Hahahaha, Dong Yuxuan, you’re still so stupid! You’d believe such nonsense!”
The door was pushed open. A group of teenagers walked in, holding their stomachs with laughter.
“Holy smokes! Even if it was a real Controller, they’d never take you as a disciple! What do you have? C-grade physique, B-grade mental strength, a talent for killing anything you plant?”
“Maybe they just wanted his 20,000 star credits?”
Another round of laughter.
As if a Controller would ever lack money?!
“Dong Yuxuan, if I were you, I wouldn’t even take the assessment, to avoid humiliation. Just quietly go to the Third Star Ring. Why struggle?”
“Yeah, your parents have your eldest brother, he’s so outstanding. Having you was purely redundant, a waste of family resources.”
Dong Yuxuan’s face turned deathly pale. Again, always like this!
He covered his ears with his hands, trying to block out those heart-piercing words. “My master wouldn’t lie to me. My master is super powerful. She doesn’t want money, she just felt sorry for me. She’ll definitely help me pass the assessment.”
…
Lin Xiaohe, unaware that her new disciple was being bullied, was stealthily leaving from the back alley behind Fortune’s Arrival Cafe.
She couldn’t let Brother Cheng see her; it would be too embarrassing.
Fortunately, the journey was smooth.
Making 20,000 star credits in one day put Lin Xiaohe in a fantastic mood.
Xin Bao: “Xiaohe, didn’t you not want to take a disciple?”
Lin Xiaohe: “I didn’t want to either, but he paid… too much.”
Xin Bao, confused: “Really?”
“Truer than real gold and silver!”
Xin Bao believed it and became happy. “That’s great! Xiaohe, after paying off the family’s debt, can you level me up?”
Lin Xiaohe patted her chest. “No problem! How do we level up?”
Xin Bao was the big contributor, of course she had to satisfy it.
Xin Bao wagged its little leaf. “Star credits will do. Getting to level 2 only costs 100,000 star credits. If you don’t have credits, you can plant more wheat; I can absorb energy from it. The lower the stellar dust content in the wheat, the more energy I get.”
Lin Xiaohe felt a twinge of unease. 100,000 star credits to go from level 1 to 2? What about from level 2 to 3?
Xin Bao sounded a bit embarrassed. “Level 2 to 3 costs 200,000 star credits. Xiaohe, am I too expensive?”
Lin Xiaohe’s teeth ached. Holding her jaw, she comforted Xin Bao. “Not expensive, not expensive at all.”
Who doesn’t spend money raising a kid?
In China, weren’t kids famously called ‘four-legged gold-devouring beasts’?
Lin Xiaohe’s back slumped a little.
Fate, that little minx, just wouldn’t let her go. Making her shoulder the burden of supporting a family at such a young, blooming age.
Fortunately, she wasn’t alone on this family-supporting journey; the Lin family was with her.
“Mom, Dad, 1,000 star credits. Use it to pay the debt.” Big Brother Lin Chiyang, bruised and swollen, pulled out cash.
Second Sister Lin Jingqiu gave him a thoughtful glance. She took 500 star credits from her bag and gestured, telling everyone she had gone scavenging and had good luck, earning some money.
Grandpa and Grandma Lin pulled out a pile of small, crumpled bills. Counting them, it added up to about three hundred.
They didn’t say where it came from.
Father Lin clapped enthusiastically. “You’re all so amazing! We’ve saved a small part of our family’s lives! Congratulations to us!”
Hmph.
Lin Xiaohe stood up haughtily. She pointed at herself with one hand and opened her wrist device with the other, showing the balance. “Me. 20,000!”
