Different Balanced Bright Lamps were hung above the plants according to their specific needs, and everyone—including Bai Qiu—became busy.
Professor Lin asked Bai Qiu to reserve a portion of the area for controlled experiments at different temperatures, so he could determine the optimal growth temperature for each type of plant.
Bai Qiu readily agreed and added with concern, “However, Professor Lin, you’re getting older—you should take care to rest more.”
Professor Lin was deeply touched by Bai Qiu’s concern, but didn’t take it to heart.
He had spent most of his life researching crops, and now he could continue exploring and discovering new mysteries.
For him, it was like a withered tree blooming again, or even discovering a new continent.
After working alongside everyone for the entire morning, Bai Qiu looked at one of Professor Lin’s students and asked, “Are you all usually this busy?”
“Yes. Because the growth cycles of these special plants have shortened, the farming cycle has also been compressed, so the frequency naturally increases,” the refined male student explained.
He wasn’t planting anything himself, but was constantly inspecting and guiding others.
As Professor Lin’s student, both he and the female student were already capable of working independently.
Of course, due to her personality, the carefree girl had set aside a small patch of land for herself, growing a few plants of her own.
As long as it didn’t interfere with her work, she carefully tended to them in her spare time.
After helping with farm work for the whole morning, Bai Qiu had learned quite a bit—watering, fertilizing, pruning overly dense branches and leaves so that more nutrients could go toward root systems and fruit growth.
Because of the accelerated growth rate, these once easy and relaxing tasks had now become extremely frequent.
Even players whose average level had risen above level 8 were still working until they were drenched in sweat, sometimes needing to lie down nearby just to rest for a while…
Sweat made their hair sticky, clinging to their faces and around their eyes, forcing them to wipe it away constantly.
Their clothes were completely soaked, sticking to their bodies and contrasting sharply with the few dry spots left.
Bai Qiu couldn’t bear to watch and said, “Should we recruit more life players to share the workload? Working like this is really too exhausting.”
“That won’t do, Boss Bai!” the female student quickly replied.
She pointed at the lush green grove and explained:
“These crops were planted by everyone from scratch. No one slacks off because they treat these plants like their own children, caring for them attentively.
It’s like planting a small tree when you were a child—you always hope it grows new leaves quickly, becoming taller and stronger…
If we suddenly bring in new people to take over parts of their fields, no one would be willing to accept that! At the very least, we’d have to wait until this batch of crops is harvested…”
Bai Qiu looked over and activated his Gilded Eyes.
He noticed that although these people were exhausted, they all wore sincere smiles—something he found hard to understand.
But he didn’t think that, as an outsider, he knew better than professionals, so he respected her opinion.
However, given the current workload, the daily pay of 80 Sanctum Coins was indeed too low.
Bai Qiu decided to raise their wages and improve everyone’s living conditions at the same time.
He didn’t have to worry at all about this operating model running at a loss.
Based on the yield of Magic Tomatoes, the fruits produced by a single plant in one harvest were worth about 220 Sanctum Coins.
And one person was responsible for at least 120 Magic Tomato plants.
That meant that in six days, the value generated by one person would reach tens of thousands of Sanctum Coins.
Moreover, the first planting required a full growth cycle, but after that, new fruits could regrow every three days.
With no drop in productivity, the actual returns would be even higher.
Even when adding up all living expenses—food, clothing, housing, and transportation—they didn’t amount to even one-tenth of the total profit.
Compared to the costs of soil, materials, fertilizer, and water, labor costs were practically negligible.
In total, Bai Qiu cultivated nine types of plants: Magic Tomato (D+ grade), Vitality Strawberry (D+ grade), Antidote Fruit (D), Strength Fruit (D), Magic Fruit (D), Endurance Fruit (D), Agility Fruit (D), Nutrition Fruit (D), and Narcissus Grapes (C-grade).
Among them, Magic Tomatoes and Vitality Strawberries could restore mana and stamina respectively.
Although their effects weren’t as strong as directly drinking potions, they were delicious, had no side effects, and could even be used together with potions.
Antidote Fruit could remove D-grade and below negative effects and toxins.
Bai Qiu had a feeling this item would sell extremely well, which was why he specifically planted a batch.
As for the four types of fruits that increased the four basic attributes, there was no need to elaborate—they could help many life-type players improve their base stats and also correct imbalanced attribute distributions.
As affordable, “civilian-tier” fruits, they were ideal.
Zhang Shiyao had previously bought Nutrition Fruit from a mage merchant.
Ever since she overcame her malnutrition, she had grown a few centimeters taller in just half a month.
At this rate, she would soon reach and even surpass the average height of children her age.
It was certain that many people would like this kind of fruit.
After all, Nutrition Fruit also seemed perfect as a low-fat diet option.
Lastly, the Narcissus Grapes—coincidentally, Bai Qiu happened to have C-grade dense soil, which made it perfect for cultivating them.
Their effects were also excellent:
They increased water-element affinity, boosted water resistance, and raised the probability of learning water-element skills.
Aside from eating them himself, he could also give them to A Yuan as snacks—after all, it loved anything related to water.
Most of the life-type players he recruited were older individuals who no longer enjoyed adventuring or combat.
Their initial attributes were already low, and since they rarely fought monsters to level up, they usually just helped other players with small tasks to earn a living.
As a result, many of them had attributes below D-grade.
The reason Bai Qiu planted fruits that increased the four basic attributes from the very first batch was to improve these players’ physical condition.
Only by ensuring they had healthy bodies could they work more effectively.
Although people will look for food when hungry and water when thirsty—capable of enduring hardship, working tirelessly, and even treating their own illnesses like “perfect workhorses”—Bai Qiu was unwilling to be overly demanding toward them.
After all, he preferred to be the one standing on the streetlamp, not the one hanging from it.
Under his leadership, more and more life-type players would gradually live better lives in the future…
After finishing up the miscellaneous matters at the greenhouse, Bai Qiu left and eagerly prepared to craft the Wind Spirit Hoverboard.
Although it was a C-grade item, its usefulness was far beyond that of ordinary C-grade equipment.
Moreover, Bai Qiu didn’t intend to market it to the masses—this was currently the only item he planned to position as a luxury product.
This was because not only was it expensive to produce, it also required continuous resource input to operate as a means of transportation.
— The end of the Chapter–
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