Little Pando had already been put down by his mother.
The two stood still in place, one curious, the other anxious, both staring intently at Uncle Mark,
After a moment, Uncle Mark opened his eyes: "So... this is the growth hormone that Young Master Lin Ke mentioned!"
"Uncle Mark, what is growth hormone?" Little Pando asked eagerly, full of curiosity.
But Lady Sier quickly covered Little Pando’s mouth and then smiled a little at Mark: "Well, Mr. Mark, you see, Pando is smart from a young age..."
"Hahaha, indeed, he’s quite smart." Uncle Mark laughed heartily before Lady Sier could finish.
In just a few minutes, Uncle Mark went from deep sorrow to great joy, with extremely mixed emotions.
Uncle Mark glanced at her.
She knew that Lady Sier was a newcomer to the city from the Azanen people.
More than ten years ago, the war caused young Lady Sier to become separated from the main Azanen forces, leading her to land in Viscount Mantis’s territory, where a farmer "married" her and they had a son.
However, Viscount Mantis was defeated later by Garoce who led a massive army against him.
Lady Sier’s family attempted to escape back to Azanen, but on the way, her husband was seemingly killed by a wild beast, leaving only Lady Sier and Little Pando.
As former Azanen people, the Great Wilderness City naturally welcomed them in at once.
Originally, Uncle Mark didn’t want to take in Little Pando, with his own hands full of affairs and no time to teach a kid who knew nothing.
Not to mention, he even suspected that perhaps it wasn’t a wild beast that killed Little Pando’s father!
However, truth be told, he quite liked Little Pando; the child seemed to have a natural love for plants, spending his days roaming around crops, sometimes sitting beneath a mulberry tree for an entire day.
Thinking it over, Uncle Mark said: "How about this, Little Pando turned six last year, right? Let him go to elementary school until he’s twelve, and if he’s still willing, I’ll take him as my apprentice!"
"Huh? School?" Lady Sier frowned.
They had only been in the Great Wilderness for a few months and didn’t quite understand these things.
She had heard about the possibility of schooling, but hadn’t given it much thought.
What good is schooling? Can it feed them?
With difficulty in making ends meet, she couldn’t bear the thought of her Little Pando starving in the future.
Seemingly noticing her concern, Uncle Mark smiled and said: "If Little Pando were to study, he might earn a dozen or so Azanen Coins a month in the future!"
He knew that for country women like her with limited perspective, grand ideals or human rights talk was useless, only tangible benefits worked.
"What?! A dozen?!" Lady Sier exclaimed, covering her mouth, as Little Pando wriggled out of her grasp.
One Azanen Coin could be exchanged for over three gold coins!
One could survive on as little as three copper coins a day.
A dozen Azanen Coins...
Lady Sier looked at her son, who was feeling a little frightened by her gaze.
Uncle Mark smiled, but his mind was elsewhere.
As a researcher in the Agriculture Department, it had been a while since the department’s establishment, and finally, there would be something to present at the release event!
A few days later, at the largest auditorium in the Land of Wonders.
This place is considered a sacred place by all performers, where only the most outstanding performers who garner the most applause and cheers can perform.
Once a year, there’s only one chance!
Just like the annual library knowledge quiz competition, the strongest gladiator battle in the arena, and so on.
Every year, there’s one opportunity to perform at the grandest auditorium!
By then, everyone on the Naseng Continent with access to live broadcasts will join in to watch this feast.
However, for the Great Wilderness City Hall, getting to the grand auditorium is quite easy. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NoveIꜰire.net
Simply put, it’s the release event!
Each department has twelve opportunities a year to hold a release event.
Journalists from the newspaper will come to write news reports, and there will be a live broadcast.
But there’s one requirement: it must be a truly significant, truly important discovery.
So not many people use these opportunities.
However, today, the grand auditorium was bustling, with former star reporters, writers, and the like gathered together.
The Memory Stones for the broadcast were already in place.
Today, the Agriculture Department would hold its first conference of the year!
Generally speaking, the Agriculture Department doesn’t have much to release, and neither does the Commerce Department or similar ones.
Releases are generally the domain of the Science Department, which frequently has inventions and scientific research results.
This led the Great Wilderness Newspaper to plan a special publication called "Science" in collaboration with the City Hall to feature the Science Department’s achievements.
The Agriculture and Industry Departments also wanted to create a couple of magazines like "Agriculture" and "Industry," which were in planning stages too.
Yet today, the Agriculture Department’s release caught quite a bit of attention.
There were even a man and a woman in suits sitting in the front row, with a magic notebook and a magic feather pen laid out on the table in front of them.
The City Hall’s reviewers!
One focused on fund review work, and the other on labor model award work.
Fund review involves reviewing the products of the release event and deciding on the next year’s funding budget.
Of course, Lin Ke had strictly set a minimum funding limit for each department, but not a maximum, although any issues would definitely lead to accountability.
The Agriculture Department almost always received the minimum each year, unable to present anything new, only things invented by Lin Ke.
The Science Department always received the maximum, deserving of high regard.
The female reviewer present today was a professional accountant, essentially just running through the process.
"So, do you think the Agriculture Department will have anything good discovered or invented today? I’d love to try some new fruits... Speaking of which, the pepper the Agriculture Department developed last time was quite tasty," the female reviewer chatted leisurely with the male reviewer beside her.
The male reviewer was relatively serious; he checked his pocket watch first, noting five minutes until it started, then said: "As long as it creates value for the Great Wilderness City, as long as labor has gone into it, whether mental or physical, it’s acceptable."
"That’s not the question I asked." The female reviewer said helplessly, not pressing further.
After all, she only reviewed funds; the one beside her evaluated labor models, which was on a different level.
What’s the point of having so much money in the Great Wilderness City?
Material enjoyment is far less significant than spiritual enjoyment for them.
"Ah, being an accountant means working more and harder, yet with no performance bonuses. I wonder when I’ll ever win a labor model in this lifetime," the female reviewer sighed.
The male reviewer glanced at her, remaining silent,
As a former Azanen soldier, his mind was steeled, unperturbed by anything, nothing!
And at this moment, as the time drew near, an elder dressed in coarse linen, resembling an old farmer, led a small boy onto the auditorium stage.
He held the boy with one hand and touched a faintly glowing potted plant with the other.
Within the potted plant was a small tree, bearing several clusters of plump rye, a few jet-black mulberries, clusters of pristine grapes...
Even potatoes, watermelons, quinoa, millet...
And his first words under the spotlight made both male and female reviewers stand up together.
Not just them, the entire grand auditorium was in chaos.
Because this elder said, "This thing can be mass-produced, bearing fruit every small month, and sixty plants can sustain one person."