Chapter 170: Chapter 169: It’s Simply a Waste of Talent!
Although Nanali had long known that her friend had an offbeat side, she had to admit that she was stunned when she heard Kuliya answer so confidently.
Is that even an option?
“You just don’t understand this, do you?”
Seeing her friend’s expression, Kuliya had to take her hand and explain it carefully.
“You shouldn’t think that judging by appearances is unreliable because, in our line of work, it’s fundamental.”
Kuliya’s words were not false. As an employee of the Alchemists’ Association, her main job was exactly this—identifying who came to genuinely collaborate and who came to freeload. Given the nature of the Alchemists’ Association’s work, you have to discern what is pseudoscience, what is advanced science, and what is layman’s science. Otherwise, you might end up reporting some trifling alchemy innovation like turning water into oil, and that would be truly embarrassing.
But after all, employees are just employees. Although Kuliya was not an alchemist herself, and despite the saying that “even if you haven’t seen a pig run, you’ve eaten pork”, these employees had to evaluate alchemy inventions from all over, of all sorts—flying in the sky, running underground, swimming in the water—a mixture of everything. You can’t expect these employees to know everything from astronomy to geography.
If that were the case, why work at the reception desk? They might as well be librarians.
In comparison, judging people was much easier.
At the least, you can discern some traits from a person’s speech, behavior, and demeanor. If someone likes to boast, then you have to be skeptical about their inventions. And if someone is honest and simple, then there might be some aspects of their invention that they haven’t explained clearly… All in all, Kuliya believed she might misjudge inventions, but she would never misjudge people!
At first, she indeed had her doubts about Nanali’s so-called “relative”, especially since Nanali’s evasive attitude only deepened Kuliya’s suspicions. Having grown up together with Nanali, Kuliya knew her friend’s nature too well and could tell from her demeanor that she was definitely hiding something. That was why Kuliya decided to come and see for herself.
The reason Kuliya had been badmouthing Ezio all along was to see Nanali’s reaction. If Nanali truly disliked that man, she would inadvertently agree with Kuliya’s opinions. But if Nanali were charmed by the man, she would at least retort a few times.
However, Kuliya was puzzled that, upon hearing her own “trash talk,” Nanali did not react as she had expected. She didn’t seem to find a confidante, nor did she act like a woman in love who would defend her oppa. Instead, she seemed troubled, as if more respectful—or perhaps coerced or enchanted—than smitten or deceived.
But when she saw Fang Zheng in person, Kuliya immediately noticed his extraordinary aura.
This young man was barely in his twenties, but his attire and behavior exuded a noble and graceful demeanor. Moreover, his gaze was calm, whether he was looking at her or Nanali, and it didn’t reveal any sinister intent. More importantly, when Fang Zheng looked at her, Kuliya even felt a strong pressure—it was as if a ruler who commanded the world was watching her, almost making her tremble!
But more crucially, the young man in front of her was extremely handsome!
Unlike Nanali, who always stayed at home as a science nerd, Kuliya had seen many young talents. The alchemy field was filled with emerging talents, and although this place was not the headquarters of the association, over the years, there had also been some “prodigies” and “geniuses” such as a blond dwarf who dreamed of obtaining the Philosopher’s Stone, or a large man who wanted to perform human transmutations…
Being an alchemist was both a costly and profitable profession, so Kuliya had seen many nobles and affluent young men. Among them, some had good looks, others had demeanor, and some had both.
Yet none were at Fang Zheng’s level!
Although Fang Zheng’s appearance had not changed much from before his rebirth—he was not unpleasant-looking before either—his body had been fine-tuned during the reconfiguration process, allowing his charisma to reach a C++ level. Now, Fang Zheng had both the appearance and demeanor, plus the commanding presence conferred by the Heart of the Swarm, which was unmatched by ordinary people.
For that reason, Kuliya’s attitude toward Fang Zheng could naturally not be too harsh. With such an elegant and refined long-legged oppa, how could Kuliya not like him?
It would be considered self-control if she hadn’t already hugged his leg, shouting “Oppa, I love you, autograph, please!”
But when Kuliya followed Fang Zheng and the others to the greenhouse, she was immediately captivated by the unimaginably beautiful scenes before her!
“It’s truly unimaginable…”
Looking at the greenery inside the greenhouse, Kuliya stood there dumbfounded, completely at a loss for words.
Since this was only an experiment, Fang Zheng did not choose crops like wheat that have a long growth period and the effects of which are not as directly observable. For instance, to use wheat, you must mill it into flour and then bake it into bread… That process is just too long.
Therefore, they chose to plant a type of fruit called Tachibana Fruit in this world, which resembles strawberries. After all, this fruit has a short growth cycle, can be eaten directly, has a decent taste, and is easier to experiment with. And now, after days of cultivation, these Tachibana Fruits were almost ripe. The sight of those bright red, tender fruits under the verdant leaves, along with the intoxicating fruity fragrance, made Kuliya almost drool.
What’s more, this is winter! Winter!!
Tachibana Fruit is a very popular fruit because it’s delicious and everyone loves to eat it. It has a market both among the upper class and the common people. Unfortunately, Tachibana Fruit has high environmental requirements, so they only bear fruit in the summer. Although this fruit is very popular, so many people cultivate it, the fruits can only last until autumn, although they can also be preserved until winter using low-temperature magic. But low-temperature magic is quite expensive, and the taste after low-temperature preservation…is not that great.
Take Kuliya for example; she loves Tachibana Fruit, so every summer when Tachibana Fruits hit the market, she nearly kills herself eating them until she feels like vomiting. Because she knew that once this season was over, the fruit would be gone for the year.
Kuliya had thought more than once about what a delight it would be to eat a tart, sweet, crunchy yet soft, and refreshingly cold Tachibana Fruit next to a burning stove in winter. But at that time, she only imagined it, and now, seeing these large patches of plump fruits…
If there weren’t so many people around, she probably would have pounced on them and gorged herself! Fortunately, her rationality stopped the young woman from making such an impolite gesture in front of everyone. But even so, looking at the fresh and tasty fruits, Kuliya couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
“This is simply magical!”
Subconsciously wiping the corner of her mouth, Kuliya then turned to Fang Zheng with an excited expression.
“Sir, may I try one?”
In Kuliya’s view, her request was reasonable. To her surprise, Fang Zheng shook his head, refusing her proposal.
“They are not ripe yet, and even when they are, I still don’t plan to let people eat them immediately.”
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s response, Kuliya was taken aback, completely not understanding why he said that. Knowing these Tachibana Fruits were sweet and fragrant, and even visually bigger and brighter than those sold in the market from her memory, it was baffling why he wouldn’t have people taste them now to prove how great their innovation was.
No, in Kuliya’s view, being able to cultivate Tachibana Fruit in deep winter was already amazing!
“Because these Tachibana Fruits are not ripe yet, and their safety is also not certain.”
Fang Zheng seemed quite calm; he was not a scientific researcher, but he knew experiments should not be messed with. Honestly, the effect of this “fertilizer” was beyond Fang Zheng’s expectations as well; the “fertilizer” that Nymph and Nana had concocted with the Slime’s bodily fluids made the Tachibana Fruits grow faster than if they were on hormones, which gave Fang Zheng some trepidation.
You know, in reality fertilizers and hormones do not make things grow this fast. If this were in a horror science fiction movie, it might be some genetically mutated species… What if eating it caused some sort of mishap?
Even if it’s fine now, what if something goes wrong after eating it…who would be responsible?
“Then, then who are you growing these Tachibana Fruits for?”
Kuliya obviously didn’t know what was going on in Fang Zheng’s mind, but at this moment she was completely bewildered. Such good fruit, and he’s not eating it? What is he planning to do with it once it ripens?
“Anyway, I plan to start with animal experiments… maybe feed the dogs.”
Upon hearing this, Nana didn’t react much, but Kuliya exploded in an instant.
He wanted to feed such good fruit to dogs?!
This was simply a waste of heavenly resources!!!
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